Synopsis Alchemists are knowledgeable and naturally talented individuals who can manipulate and modify matter due to their art. Yet despite the wide range of possibilities, alchemy is not as all-powerful as most would believe. Human transmutation is strictly forbidden, and whoever attempts it risks severe consequences. Even so, siblings Edward and Alphonse Elric decide to ignore this great taboo and bring their mother back to life. Unfortunately, not only do they fail in resurrecting her, they also pay an extremely high price for their arrogance: Edward loses his left leg and Alphonse his entire body.

More Ao No Exorcist Manga Rare images. Blue Exorcist (青の祓魔師, Ao no Ekusoshisuto) is a manga written and illustrated by Kazue Kato. It has been noted that the talent to be a Tamer is rare, since sheer spiritual fortitude is needed to tame the demon; natural talent is also essential. However, if the Tamer lacks confidence, the familiar will attack the.

Furthermore, Edward also gives up his right arm in order to seal his brother's soul into a suit of armor. Years later, the young alchemists travel across the country looking for the Philosopher's Stone, in the hopes of recovering their old bodies with its power. However, their quest for the fated stone also leads them to unravel far darker secrets than they could ever imagine. [Written by MAL Rewrite]. Background Hagane no Renkinjutsushi won the 49th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shounen demographic in 2004.

Hiromu Arakawa also won the 15th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in the New Artist Prize category for the series in 2011. As of 2015, over 64 million copies of the series have been sold worldwide, making it one of Square Enix's most successful publications, according to Nielsen Bookscan.

A live-action film is in development by Warner Bros. Japan and is scheduled for release in Winter 2017. The series was published in English as Fullmetal Alchemist by VIZ Media from May 3, 2005 to December 20, 2011, and in eBook format by Yen Press on April 15, 2014. A 3-in-1 omnibus edition was released by VIZ from June 7, 2011 to November 11, 2014 as well as a complete box set in November 1, 2011 (which included the novel Fullmetal Alchemist: The Ties That Bind).

The manga was also published in Italian by Panini Comics under the Planet Manga imprint from July 13, 2006 to September 3, 2011, in Polish by J.P. Fantastica from January 2006 to to April 2012, in Brazilian Portuguese by Jbc from February 2007 to April 2011 and in Spanish by Ivrea Argentina starting December 12, 2016. Overall 9 Story 9 Art 8 Character 9 Enjoyment 10 One of the problems with something being truly good is that every so often it becomes a victim of its own success, and in a sense that's what happened with the fans of Full Metal Alchemist. Arakawa Hiromu's tale of two brothers and their adventures in alchemy is one of the most well known stories in anime and manga to date, and has spawned a horde of games, a movie (with a second one planned), numerous doujins and fanfics, piles of merchandise ranging from tatoos to chibi plushies, and two very different anime series. The story itself is very typically shounen at times, however there is a depth to proceedings that belies the initial look and feel of the manga. While things begin innocuously enough, it's not long before the reader finds themselves wrestling with moral, religious, and even philosophical motives and actions as the Elric brothers make their journey towards their destiny. Enough waxing lyrical, on to the nitty gritty.

Anyone familiar with Arakawa's other works, especially her one shot manga, will undoubtedly find some surprising similarities to certain events and situations that occur in Full Metal Alchemist. The reason for this is because Arakawa had the foresight to test out various ideas in another form and format before adapting them for use in her flagship title, and this refinement process shows throughout the story. Although this is a shounen tale in the truest sense, there's a degree of complexity and innovation which has been carefully applied in an effort to draw the reader in, and this is one of the hallmarks of Arakawa's storytelling style. As with any work though, there are a few areas that could have been improved upon. In an effort to lighten the mood from time to time the mangaka has seen fit to apply a few doses of comedy here and there, and while stories like Raiden 18 make it clear that Arakawa has some skills in that department, the application of humour in Full Metal Alchemist is sometimes a bit haphazard.

That said, it seems like the mangaka herself also had a similar realisation as the tone of the series becomes much more serious during the latter half, and the frequency of comedic moments drops quite sharply. Surprisingly, the humour is less of a distraction and more of an anodyne for the reader during the later stages of the story, which is a testament to the idea that 'less is more'. The artwork is very typical of the mangaka, however once more there is that look of refinement about the characters and settings, and even some of the action sequences.

One big plus is that the reader is given a more visual, and sometimes visceral, look into the author's world than one might find in other shounen manga. That said, Rumiko Takahashi's InuYasha is a serious contender in this department, but like that manga, Full Metal Alchemist also suffers from the same problem - the highly stylized characters.

The main issue with the design is that some people may find it doesn't suit their tastes, which will in turn impact upon their appreciation of the story. That said, as an advocate of more individualism in manga and anime, it's nice to read something that remains true to the author's style as there are far too many titles that look identical to each other (e.g. Harem romantic comedies and about half of the shoujo manga out there). As for the characters themselves, suffice to say that the development of the lead roles is very good indeed, and the supporting roles are given a healthy amount of space to shine as well.

One of the more interesting aspects is the pace at which the characters are developed throughout the story, and a big plus is the degree of attention given to the 'bad guys', especially later in the series. It's a sad fact that shounen tales are filled with shallow antagonists who serve no other purpose than to give the lead character a wall they must 'beat down' in order to move the story forward, and while Full Metal Alchemist contains the basic elements of this type of progression, it manages to mask them far better than most action manga out there. Is there a major downside then?

Well, unfortunately there is, but it's one that's very much dependent on personal taste. The reason why the Full Metal Alchemist franchise is a victim of its own success is because of the original anime adaptation of the unfinished manga. Now one of the problems that fans have is that the two versions of the tale are wildly different in terms of atmosphere, story and character mentality (basically they're like chalk and cheese).

The main issue at hand is that while the manga version of Full Metal Alchemist is an excellent series, the original anime adaptation is becoming maligned and misunderstood because it deviates too much from Arakawa's story. Personally I consider both to be equally good, just not in the same way. Here's what I mean. Arakawa's manga is a very good story that incorporates a number of typical shounen aspects like never giving up, trusting in one's friends and allies, etc, and while the tale is excellent in both content and execution, in all honesty, it lacks a degree of 'darkness' that was inherent in the first anime. One of the things that struck me about this dissonance was the fact that the whole theme of obsession seems to peter out by the end of the manga, whereas the first anime actually ended with that theme still running strong. Now, some of you maybe a little confused by that perspective, especially as both tales feature the same characters to a degree, however one look at their respective endings will begin to make things a little clearer, and pay particular attention to Alphonse Elric as he is the reason why I consider the two tales to be so very different (and if you're still unsure, then feel free to ask me about it).

It's pretty obvious that I enjoyed Full Metal Alchemist immensely, however my only real gripe with the manga, especially after reading Arakawa's other works, is that there are too many occasions where it feels like the author has purposely moved away from a theme or situation that was used in the original anime, and this can make parts of the story feel a bit rushed. That said, this is actually a minor problem as the whole tale fits together extremely well, and in terms of content Full Metal Alchemist is easily on par with Takahashi Rumiko's masterpiece. What Arakawa Hiromu has given us is a work that is truly good, despite some minor niggles here and there, and while there are some typically shounen aspects to the tale, Full Metal Alchemist, like Inuaysha, is a far cry from what one would consider a typical shounen manga.

Isn't it ironic then, that the two of greatest shounen tales weren't written by men? Overall 7 Story 9 Art 6 Character 6 Enjoyment 8 Fullmetal Alchemist is not spectacular. What I mean is that nothing about the art or the plot immediately strikes the audience as impressive or unique. The art is not flashy or detailed. It gets the job done, but only just. The action is easy to follow from panel to panel, and it is just dynamic enough to be interesting.

The characters are all pretty much distinguishable from each other, despite their simple designs, and some of them look kinda cool. More than anything, the art is solid.

It never gets in the way of the audience's enjoyment. And sometimes that's enough. The only times I ever took issue with the style were when the characters were morphed into chibis in a weak attempt at comedy. And that brings me to my next point: The comedy. It's not comedic. Early on, there are many repetitive running gags and the only thing they accomplish is kicking me out of the story.

Such a blatant attempt to appeal to the audience can backfire if delivered poorly, and so it felt like a slap in the face delivered through the 4th wall. I don't want to deal with that. But I think that the mangaka realized this direction wasn't working early on, and the manga generally gets more serious as time passes. Although the presentation of the plot changes over time, the plot itself rarely deviates from a single unified arc, and this becomes more apparent towards the middle of the series. It's clear that the overarching plot was plotted out from inception to conclusion from the beginning. The major villains and major allies are essentially the same throughout the manga, and this helps with the sense of unity and harmony that I get from it.

(A unity that reinforces the main themes of the manga, which might otherwise seem to be poorly applied pseudo-philosophy.) There are no major power-ups or ridiculous ass-pulls. All of the plot developments are logical and well-paced. The action, unfortunately, can be a bit of a weak point. There are several characters who use special alchemy techniques to interesting effect, but Ed's (the main character) fighting style is rather pedestrian in comparison.

Still, the idea of equivalent exchange helps the fights maintain an appealing sense of reason and rationality that I appreciate quite a bit. It makes them feel less contrived, something that this genre tends to suffer from severely. Also, nothing was ever dragged out unnecessarily and mid-fight dialogue/flashbacks were never taken too far. Fullmetal Alchemist avoids the major pitfalls of battle shounen and brings in a sense of logic that is very rare to see. The characters are mostly static, and there is no unexpected development.

Sometimes they can feel like cardboard cut-outs. But other times I find myself thinking 'wow, a couple of these cardboard cut-outs actually look pretty good in context.' Rather than linear development, the characters are developed via increased insight into them and information about them. They are developed from the perspective of the audience. This is a very sensible approach given the relatively short time frame that the series covers; there is some linear development, but it is subtle. Not subtle as in hard to spot, because it is pretty clear when you see it, but it is slight. The characters don't suffer from any about-faces or drastic personality transplants.

The most apparent changes that the characters undergo are simply a result of us learning more about them. This makes the manga somewhat reminiscent of a well-structured canvas painting. It is all one unified and unmoving image, but as you look at it, you notice more about it and it seems to tell a story.

There are also some irritating imperfections, it looks better from a distance than it does up-close, but these flaws fail to ruin the whole. The issue with the above picture is that the foreground is probably weaker than the background, and isn't that where our eyes are drawn? Ed's character is mostly defined by basic traits, habits, and general goals; all nuance is absent. This is certainly intentional, to avoid alienating any of the audience from him, but this lack of ambition is irritating for me. Al's character is kind of empty.

(Pun retrospectively intended.) His most significant developmental event was his contrived existential crisis that was quickly resolved and never really dwelled on again. These criticisms apply to many of the characters, in varying degrees. Even as we get more in depth into them, they don't ever feel real. That said, they are often entertaining and they get the job done. Ed is not always the focus and even minor characters are established early on and given essential roles. Rather than any individual characters being well-written, what is well-written is their interactions and relationships with one another, and where they are placed and what they do.

Every character has purpose and motivation and defining character traits, even if they don't quite feel organic. If you pulled one character out of the plot, everything could collapse. No character is superfluous and no character is forgotten. This says more about the plot than the actual characterization, but it's a positive nevertheless.

More than anything, Fullmetal Alchemist is solid. Most of its imperfections are minor and don't reach the series' core. Nothing about the series is all that exceptional or original in itself, but it adds up into a very well-structured and cohesive work that manages to avoid making a lot of mistakes that are not often avoided. (And, despite its popularity, it never overstayed its welcome and was relatively concise for what it was.) Still, it doesn't really accomplish all that much that I haven't seen done as well or better. It is simply less flawed than most similar works. This makes it feel unique holistically, but not on a more critical examination.

It is unique in that you'd be hard-pressed to find a more perfect battle shounen, but this quality is negatively defined: Fullmetal Alchemist is most praise worthy for the things it does not do; what it does do is not nearly as impressive or difficult. The lack of originality or risk-taking factors against Fullmetal Alchemist, but the form and presentation of it warrants a solid 7. It's quite good, but not quite great.

Overall 10 Story 10 Art 9 Character 10 Enjoyment 10 Recently I have found it impossible to find a good shonen series to watch or read. It's come to the point that if it even looks remotely shonen, I stray away from it with untamed fury. Why do I keep coming back though? Why do I still look for shonen manga to read?

It's all because of series like Full Metal alchemist. When it comes to critiquing, I'm somewhat merciless.

I'm sure some of the people who have seen my reviews of their favorite series think I consider myself a know it all, but nothing could be further from the truth. Often I see 'but they make a lot of money,' as a response to my heavy critique, but not once have I considered it a valid excuse for a drop in quality or lack there of. This is something that I can guess Arakawa understood. She did not write just to get money, she wrote because she had a great idea. She wrote because she had a compelling fantasy world, and compelling story in which involving characters exist.As an aspiring novelist, this is something I can respect and one of the reasons that I'm proud to say I'm a fan of FMA. Story: Full Metal Alchemist story hits close to home, because I lost my mother when I was about four. It may sound like a lie but I had hopes of bringing her back from the dead, of course I couldn't because no such magic exist in the world and the hope that it did was just the hope of an ambitious kid.

Edward and Alphonse had this ambition and as a result, they were met with a gruesome response. Understanding their wrongs the duo set out, and that as they say is that.

The journey that the duo took immersed them in colorful characters and a well designed world. This would not be the first time alchemy was used in a series, but I sure it will be a time well remembered.

Art: While in an AIM group chat once, I heard a female speaker say that Full Metal Alchemist's art is simple, but I'll be honest I can't agree. For the record I can't draw to save my life, but I think there's something great about the drawings Arakawa provides. As I said earlier I'm an aspiring writer, so to me anything put into the story should have a certain charm to it that will make it memorable. That's what the art in full metal alchemist is. Even if its simple it does not stand in your way of falling in love with the series.

Characters: As I said above, anything put into the story should have a certain charm to it that will make it memorable, and like it can be said about the art, the same can be said about the story. Riddle me this; 'How do you get a reader to miss a villain, without giving them a sappy backstory?' 'How do you make an otherwise minor character one that your readers will remember?' To tell you the answers, I don't really know, but Arakawa figured it out. Not one character in FMA struck me as one dimensional.

While I thought 'god this guy is an evil bastard.' Not once did I find one appalling enough to insult Arakawa for creating. One of the things that I think drive a story is it's plot and it's characters, evident by the manga in question. Enjoyment: If it's not apparent already, I really did enjoy this series. I remember the moments I spent catching up with it and the 'full metal alchemist withdrawal' that I went into when I did. I had only seen the first anime before I started, so I didn't know what to expect.

Upon reading through I realized the difference right away, and realized more that the difference between the two made the first anime a very affectionate adaption. Overall: At this point, there is not much more to say. If you want a engaging fantasy series with affectionate art, and compelling story then this is one for you. The fights are great too but really, they shouldn't be your concern when going into Full Metal Alchemist, a manga that has much more. And even though Arakawa Hiromu will probably never see this, I congratulate her for making a great shonen series in a time that's majorly lacks them.

Overall 10 Story 10 Art 10 Character 10 Enjoyment 10 How is this manga NOT on the top ten most popular mangas! Normally with mangas, I have a few negative comments to say about it, such as the character development or the lingering plots that never seem to end, but I have nothing bad to say about Ao no Exorcist. As the summary says, it's a story about demons and exorcists.

Except, in this case, the main character, Rin, is both a demon AND an exorcist. And not just any demon, he's the son of satan. Rin has issues with his powers and keeping himself from being discovered by the other exorcists. The character development is what makes this story the most interesting! Even with only a few chapters out so far, you are wanting to read more about how the future will be for these teens that have gotten themselves into possibly more than they thought. The art I gave a 10, but of course it's personal preference of mine.

The art of this manga reminds me a lot of Soul Eater's art, and what I love about it is that you can tell what is going on. With some series, there's too much detail that it's hard to tell who's attacking or who is who! It's not that ANE's art is plain and without action, the fights are well drawn and have just enough detail to see the movements and fights clearly. Enjoyment for me is clearly a 10, as I mentioned, it has some really awesome fights and although it's not on the genres, this manga does have some comedy in it. It's also not just pointless fighting, there's a great plot with it that keeps you on edge and waiting for the next chapter! There isn't too much I can say about the actual story without spoiling things in this story.

I'll recommended this manga to anyone and everyone! I can only hope that more people will be willing to read this story and enjoy it as much as I have! Ao no Exorcist is easily on my top 3 favorite mangas! 10/10 without a doubt!!

Overall 10 Story 9 Art 8 Character 9 Enjoyment 10 when I stumbled upon this manga on OM, I honestly didn't expect much of it. How many mangas are there in the religious/inquisitive/exorcist genres? But Ao no Exorcist really caught my attention:) there is something that breaks out of the another-exorcist-cliche manga scheme Story: (9) It deserves a tenner, but I'm quite a persnickety person when it comes to the storyline. Mainly because most of the mangas are almost the same. Here, all the motifs (father dies, the protagonist grows up and wants to change, a great scheme, uber powers, demons and from chapter 9 or 10 even some boobs are there as well;-)). But it is not such a cliche that is expected.

Someone from another review said that it is a kind of mixture of bleach and beezelbub - I would add Holy Talker as well. Art: 8 Nothing to be ashamed of, although I seen more stunning mangas in my life. Nothing particular to complain about, except Rin's design when he's in his demon form - k'man, he looks like he was drawn by a five-year-old. Overall 6 Story 6 Art 9 Character 7 Enjoyment 6 I’ve heard enough about “Blue Exorcist” for a while now to get me interested in reading it.

I was so excited when I saw the volumes at my library and picked up the first four right away. After finishing the first four volumes, I’m sad to say that I am thoroughly disappointed. Here is why: The plot of Blue Exorcist sounds pretty interesting.That initial plot (+ the art style) was what made me want to read the series, but it’s also that plot that makes me not want to continue. First, let’s take a look at some similar plots such as: Naruto, Soul Eater, or D.Gray-Man.

Now, I like all these. I don’t really care that they share the theme of “dark powers within +trying to overcome and reach impossible goal” what I care is how the story progresses. By the fourth volume in SE, some of the main badies were reveled, there was the intrigue of the black blood, there was an obvious moving forward to the story. Things were happening and moving and it was really cool. 4th of DGM there was that progression also.

Intrigue about Allen’s powers, the organization, attacks were going on and they had to move to save themselves and the organization. After a couple of early wacky chapters, it dove you right into the war and it’s desperate battles.

Even Naruto, by the fourth volume they had one of the most remembered fights in anime, Naruto’s power revealed, near-death scenarios, and then the beginning of the Chunin exams which was the first lead intoorichimaru, akatsuki, madara and all that good stuff. Blue Exorcistwelleh? Okay so basically: He went to school, he made some friends, this guy is hiding something but nothing is really done about it. I don’t know. Something’s missing here. I thought the first volume was really great, the second too. It grabbed my attention, but then just let it hang and then fall by not moving forward.

There wasn’t even any cool fights to distract me from the fact that nothing is happening. I like the characters, I like the setting, I like the idea. The story-telling is killing me.

I don’t think I’ll be able to pick up the 5th volume and give it a decent try. I want to like this series so bad, but it’s just not happening. I give the first two volumes 8/10 Vol.

3 & 4 a 5/10 Over these four: 6/10. Overall 7 Story 6 Art 6 Character 6 Enjoyment 7 I was on a shounen reread roll, so I decided to pick it up again. And you’ll need to be in a shounen mood too to enjoy this manga, because Ao no Exorcist has it all – immature protag, ridiculous goals, struggle between siblings, blooming love and nakama power, even beach episodes – everything is as it should be. Though there has been no onsen arc yet (edit: fixed by the mangaka) and for the most part all of this stuff works – so give it a try. The current arc (the one that starts around ch. 50) drastically changes the mood. It’s hard to tell how it will end,but it's an unexpectedly good horror, brutal and scary.

MCs are drawn a bit shakily in the first chapters and Rin looks more of a devil than he, probably, is meant to, but later it becomes ok. Can’t say that it is the greatest shounen art I’ve ever seen, but it has its moments. Backgrounds are well drawn, but the range of facial expressions is somewhat limited. The designs are trickier. What do you think of darumas? I’d say that it is the best example. Everything is not exactly cool, not exactly cute – something in the middle and somewhat ridiculous.

Rin’s design is considerably less badass than in anime, he usually looks like a wild idiot, which, I must say, is at least fresh. The fighting scenes are enjoyable. But maybe you’ll need a fetish to keep you going, I was properly ogling over demon features – horns and tails. *sigh* Fluffy tails are the best. Characters are well-developed. Or, more exactly, the story takes the development very seriously and takes its time too, in chapter 60 we still get new interesting flashbacks.

Everyone has complicated past, worries and huge plans for future. Of course, teen angst can get to you sometimes, and the usual journey of selfdiscovery reeks of metaphoric puberty, but it’s bearable. There’re some redeeming characters and features, also it more or less makes sense, sometimes even serious adult sense. Thankfully, the cast isn’t overblown.

Female characters are unexpectedly good too (probably, cause the mangaka is female). I desperately want the second brother, Yukio to get development, but, sadly, it is only hinted on but saved for later. Well, that’s what is painful about shounen – any conflict is dragged forever in order for the series to never end. It takes place in a magical school.

So what do you expect? Fighting monsters for exams, competitions, school events.

Thankfully their school is ridiculous anyway (it’s governed by otaku demon king), and not that many time is spent on showing usual classes. Most of the boring school stuff as festivals or trips quickly boils down to beating demons. The flow of the story is the problem. It’s uneven to say the least. There is a lot of rubbish mixed with the good stuff, some arcs are extremely weak in their entirety. Though the last arc gives me hope, Actually, I’d say that it’s worth to read this manga for the sake of the last arc – it’s a seriously good heartbraking story. If it continues like that, the manga has potential, but I doubt it.

So, in the end Ao no Exorcist is a fine manga, if you’re able to put up with some of the sterotypes, characteristic of works from Jump Square. The last arc stand outs and easily makes to my list of favourite manga, but to understand it you’ll need to read most of the previous parts.

Software Kasir Full Crack. Though, in my opinion, liking something in particular about the world or the characters is necessary to pull through the lowest points of writing. Overall 8 Story 7 Art 9 Character 5 Enjoyment 10 Ao no Exorcist reminds me of a combination of bleach and beezlebub. The story and characters are fairly generic. You got your average shonen protagonist who has demon powers, and a super cool sword, but he doesn't want to be a demon so he against his father, Satan, and all demons. He has a calm and calculating brother, whose weapon is a gun, and there is a very shy girl. They fight monsters together and go to school, but despite it being so average and combining popular manga it manages to entertain me and enthrall me.

It knows when to be funny and when to be serious, plus it has some good art. All in all its worth a read. Overall 10 Story 9 Art 10 Character 10 Enjoyment 10 The manga is incredible. Best manga I've read so far. Story: It's not what one could call 'original' but it's not cliche either. It's a great story, making you anxiously wait for the next chapter.

I haven't once been dissapointed by any chapter and I'm really looking forward to any new ones. Art: One of the best things about the manga. The expressions, the bodies, the facial features, the clothes.everything. I love how she can draw very detailed and carefully sketched figures in one panel and in the other (or even in the same one sometimes!) very simple and chibi-like ones and still make it work perfectly. I simply love the art in there and the way she draws the characters. Characters: Ah.

My favorite part. One of the few manga/anime where I could say that I love about 80% of the characters. They're all made so different and yet, throughout the story and the things they go through together, they seem to be able to interact so well with each other. Even the ones who are considered rivals are shown to cooperate with each other at times. Another thing that I love about the characters is that, you can easily get emotionally attached to most of them. You worry when it seems that something is going to happen to one of them, you laugh with them when something funny happens, you get sad when they get sad.you just kind of wish you could be part of the manga.

And that's amazing. Enjoyment.I'm in love with it, I don't think this needs further explanation.

Overall: Incredible manga, I bow down to the mangaka. Shame it's not more popular, it definitely deserves it. Overall 9 Story 9 Art 10 Character 8 Enjoyment 10 Blue Exorcist.wow, what a series.

You know you've read good manga when the entire day melts away right before your eyes. Now, where to begin. Let's start with the bad.

Characters overall plot are taken from tried and true (and almost cliche at this point) tropes. The angsty teenager main character who sets out to be the best [insert super powerful being here]. You have the regular love interest, whom may never end up with the main character. There are the Tsundere's and the rivals.

It's nothing we haven't seen before. The story also relies on Deus Ex Machina writing to finish off boss battles. DEM writing can be good when used in context, but almost directly conflicts with the style of a shounen battle series.

So unfortunately I must call it out on that. But what the series does well, is its characters and design. Now, I will be the first to say it. All the characters in Blue Exorcist are hipsters. There, it's all out in the open now.

In real life hipsters are obnoxious, but in anime and manga, I will give it a pass since the characters are supposed to be hyper-stylized. The characters simply look great. The author has gone to lengths and bounds to make the characters unique and interesting in regards to their design.

The best designs are with the demon characters, in which the artist unleashes all of his creativity upon. The overall artwork just blew me away while reading it. The environments are up there with Rurouni Kenshin. Simply eye candy. On some pages I had to just stop reading and stare at the artwork just to soak it in.

It truly makes me wonder just how long and how much work went into the art of this manga. Everything about it's aesthetics is simply heaven. Personality wise, most of the characters you can describe with one word. But others, mostly the main three that he plot revolves around, cannot be described with one word. Which is a God-send. The shounen genre is terrible when it comes to characterization.

But, for the three main characters they progressed quite nicely. The three main characters really surprised me. Now, the other characters are not so surprising as they can all be described in one word. As mentioned above, there's the tsundere and then there's the pervert and the weak monk kid. So, I must deduct points for that. The overall story itself draws parallels with Naruto.

So much so that I can recommend you read Blue Exorcist if you liked Naruto.But where the similarities end is where the manga stands out. The plot picks itself up where the anime commits suicide. Everything else is just an introduction to the setting of Blue Exorcist, and if you have already watched the anime I strongly recommend you to begin at volume 4. Because the anime up to volume four sticks closely to the manga.

The ratings I give this manga are Story: 9, Art: 10, Character: 8, Enjoyment: 10, and Overall: 9. I cannot recommend this manga enough for fans of the shounen genre.

It was a treat to read and is worth reading once at the very least. Edit: As I sat on my opinions of BE, I seemed to have more to say. And instead of providing a general consumer review I will use this edit to touch upon the literary elements of the series. I will be examining some of the characters which delves into their personalities quite a bit. Which walks the line between spoilers and no spoilers. I must say that here I do not put any spoilers at all, which s true.

But I will be examining the character's personalities. Which can make some people uneasy. So, if that makes you uneasy I recommend that you go no further.

But If you don't mind knowing some of the character's personalities continue on, by all means! Blue Exorcist is a beautiful coming of age story.

It reminds the reader of what it is like to be a teenager again. The author takes his reader back to his or her youth using brilliant fantastical storytelling. The characters of Satan and Father Fujimoto being the most compelling and brilliant of all. Where in the series the father of the main character (Rin) is Satan and the priest Father Fujimoto has taken Rin in and raised him as his son. The Character of Satan is symbolic of the distorted views we have of our parents when we are teenagers. Versus Father Fujimoto who is how our parents really are.

The main character was also well written. He embodies all it is to be a teenager. He is fifteen (15) years old and is going through all of the changes that come with being a teenager.

He is beginning to get interested in girls and, like all teenagers, develops a crush on the most attractive girl he sees who happens to be close to him as well. Also, at the same time he is trying to find out who he is as a person, and is unsure of himself. Which is how many teenagers feel.

Sometimes in the normal teenage period, some teenagers in their search for themselves may feel like they may be the child of Satan as well! Rin's fraternal twin brother, Yukio, is also heavily themed and literary. But unlike Rin, who is a template for the average teenager, Yukio is the template for the not so average teenager. The character of Yukio is one who is heavily traumatized.

He is fifteen (15) years old as well, but because of his traumatic childhood, it forces him to grow up. So be becomes a really strong character. No matter how 'grown up' he is, Yukio is still only fifteen years old. And he naively tries to shoulder everyone's burdens upon himself. And there are many teenagers out there who have experienced something similar and try the same thing. Unfortunately all of their efforts will be futile because as teenagers they lack the experience and wisdom necessary to successfully shoulder those burdens. So almost 100% of the time they will collapse.

Again, as I sat and thought about it. The literary elements just came to light. And for any literary elements to be in a SHOUNEN MANGA, it is very rare. Blue Exorcist is highly underrated and deserves to be more known. Overall 9 Story 8 Art 9 Character 8 Enjoyment 9 Alright, so there is surprisingly less reviews for Blue Exorcist the manga than I expected. Seeing as most reviews came from people who've read up to chapter 30 or 40, years ago, I decided to give this a try. I'm one of those people who've watched the anime first and I watched it a while ago.

I tried the manga afterwards but only recently got invested into reading the whole thing. So this is my opinion after reading up to chapter 88 of the manga.

I will try to spoil as little as possible in this review, so I'll have to leave off ranting about some of my favorite characters in here. I'll start with personal enjoyment. I personally loved this manga.

I thought the anime was decent, but didn't expect much out of the manga. Yes, some characters annoyed me and the narrative slows down in some places. Yes there were several cliches in here. Overall though, I'd give it a 9 for enjoyment because after I got into it, I couldn't stop till I've read all the chapters. That was around chapter 50 I think. The story starts off pretty much a cliche. Parent figure dies, MC swears to become stronger and beat up what killed the parent figure.

Drama between siblings (and this still persists.) and MC goes to a magical school to become stronger! While this seems like the generic shounen, the plot gradually thickens. A lot of stuff comes to light in the recent chapters about the Blue Night and demons.

It's not as simple as I thought it was. While still retaining some lighthearted parts, the manga gets a lot darker after the anime veers off. I'm giving the story 8/10 because it still had a pretty generic beginning and the rescue the damsel trope does get repeated a bit which gets annoying. The art is really good. It's usually very crisp and detailed.

A lot of the characters are distinct. The colored spreads are also beautiful.

It portrays disgusting stuff as. Very disgusting (You'll see what I mean when you get there). The only complaint I have about the art is how sketchy it gets during some action scenes. I'm not sure if the author ran out of time or if it's done on purpose. Either way, being the only bad thing I found of the art, I'm giving this section a 9/10.

Getting to the final section of this review, the characters! There are many lovable characters in Blue Exorcist. The main character, Okumura Rin, is kind of the generic shounen MC, but sometimes proves to have more insight and depth than you'd expect. He cares a lot about his twin, Okumura Yukio, but part of the conflict of the series stems from the tension between them. You can say that Rin wants to surpass Yukio, but Yukio sees Rin as the stronger one and has an inferiority complex in a way, that is aggravated by the different characters he meets later on. They are both lovable in their own ways though, and it is hard to believe that the MC is the older twin because of how hyper and childish he acts compared to the more solemn and composed Yukio.

Minor character-wise, there are quite a few female characters in the manga, though male still takes the majority. Out of these female characters, I'd say Shura is my favorite because she is pretty badass. The females have the potential to be strong, but as previous reviews say, there are characters like Shiemi that can be strong but acts weak and always has to get saved by people. She does grow a bit more bold later on, but I still don't like her very much. Izumo is the tsundere of the series and also annoys me, but not to a huge extent. I am not sexist but for this manga, my favorite characters are all male. I like some of the more eccentric characters in the manga, from the Demon Headmaster Mephisto who holds the strings of many unexpected puppets in the manga, to the probably sociopathic Lightning who shows up a lot later in the series.

I like the different world view the manga presents us, from the more naive students, to more cynical students, through the manipulation of Mephisto and the carefree view of some other characters. For the characters, I would have given an 9, but the damsel in distress thing puts it down to 8/10. Overall, I think this series deserves a 9 for the ratings. There is still room for improvement in the future and the plot of the story is still thick! Now if only it had more frequent updates than the current monthly ones.

Hope this helped! Overall 10 Story 10 Art 10 Character 10 Enjoyment 10 I watched this anime because one of my buddies recommended it to me on Xbox. I started it on Crunchyroll and marathoned the entire thing. When I was down at AX this year I decided to buy Blue Exorcist Vol. 1 for 8 bucks.

And I have to say that the manga is very on par with the anime however it extends out further than the anime. It's a good read and Kazue also put some detailed information in the back of the book about Rin, Yukio, Mephisto, Shiro, Sheimi etc.

Its a good read and I highly reccomend it. If you dont want to read the manga watch the anime. If you have seen the anime, read the manga if you want to know what happens after Rin and Yukio destroy Gehnna's Gate. Overall 10 Story 10 Art 8 Character 9 Enjoyment 10 When I first watched the Blue Exorcist anime I felt very dissatisfied from about episode 15 onward and I didn't like the ending very much. So when I found that it was based on the manga and that the manga was incomplete, I was excited. I read from the beginning and discovered that the anime separates from the manga around where I started to lose interest. I continued reading and I simply loved the manga!

I personally prefer the manga to the anime and I enjoyed it much better. Also the fact that it is still ongoing is awesome, since I usually watch or read anime and manga that are already complete, this was a nice change to have actual cliff-hangers that I have to wait another month to see the conclusion. It's a great read and I really suggest that if you liked the anime or were dissatisfied with the ending or later episodes that you read this.

Overall 3 Story 3 Art 4 Character 2 Enjoyment 3 this review will have spoilers! You been warn. While I know I'm the only one feeling this way, I can't help but at last write how I feel. Even if I be the only one, at last some of you would know what you gotten yourself into. At first I really like this mange, especially the first arc and even the arc after that.

But with time this mange become not only more ridiculous and trying to look 'cool' by mimicking other mange's and doing it poorly (cough One piece cough) but also lost the reason's characters actually doing things. What hurt the story and here we are, in a place where the characters have no reason for doing what they doing and lost all their characteristic that was part of who they were and what make them good. Some character look more 'strong' but still need to be rescue every time!

(Shiemi) what didn't help much, has much has I'm trying to like them. And the other girl (Izumo background arc) it just make her look even more of a bitch then what she is. A bitch with even more fucked up bitch mother, what don't save her character. Shima is the perfect example of lack in reason and bad development for a character I have ever seen, and no, doing shit with no reason doesn't make him a good character!! Him deciding/choosing to be a spay for both Mephisto and the fuck up organization that will kill his friends for the simple reason that it fun this way, and more easy to live this way - fuck this shit! Even his father said it's stupid, and we don't get any other reason for his harming ways and why he can smile after he just betray again and again them and say 'it so much fun' or 'this is more simple life for me' - yap that what he's said himself. How the fuck is that simple or fun?!!

THIS IS NOT A REASON!! And Suguro, the one that look like a bad ass (that got my favorite voice actors ever in the anime!) don't get to run away from bad development and lack of reason when a new teacher come, showing up for two minutes, and after that talking to them 5 minutes and Suguro decided that he's in love with him/admiring him from basically no where and want to be his Pupil with no fucking good reason!!! And by becoming one, bow to him and ready to become his slave. While he guess this guy is fuck up in the head, this teacher said Suguro a masochist.

How the fuck he become one out of no where?!! Fuck this shit!! Other then that there is many small things that happen with no reason or don't get to be explain wall, but what happen with this two characters are the most big one's that show how bad a mange series can get with no proper reason. Don't expect a good development in the story or the characters, you won't get one.

This mange was the first mange I read after the anime that made me actually hate the characters that I like while watching the anime and regret reading it! And I could never liked them again!! It ruin it for me! What really make me sad cause there was a time that I really liked those characters. So save yourself the trouble and only watch the anime, it better this way. Vol 17 Ch 84.

Overall 7 Story 6 Art 9 Character 7 Enjoyment 8 So, this is my initial impressions review. Just right of the bat, I see a LOT of parallelism between this and Soul Eater, but I'll explain that as I go. As of this point, I have only read two volumes of Blue Exorcist, and I will try not to restate the description. The story is set in a world where our main focus of characters is Exorcists, who are essentially combat trained priests who specialize in destroying demons, similar to Meisters in SE. Themain protagonist of the story is a boy named Rin, who is both an exorcist (in-training, currently,) and also a half demon.the son of Satan, at-that!

He is namely suffering from the burden of feeling like he was the reason a priest, who was a father-figure to him and raised him all his life, was killed by Satan. Due to these events, he makes it his life goal to destroy Satan, his father. And how does his journey begin? Major parallelism #2, he has to attend a school for Exorcists so he can learn the basics from a group of psychotic teachers. A notable plot point is that Rin's younger twin brother, Yukio, who did NOT inherit the powers of Satan, is an Exorcist prodigy and genius.which leads to some brotherly squabbles.

Also, this manga DEFINITELY suffers from a bad case of the 10 Chapter struggle, as it dove straight into the action with nearly no backstory on Rin or Yukio, and has yet to get back around to that. I hope that some more of their immediate past will be revealed very soon, because everything still feels very rushed.

So-far, the story is good, but it is just VERY reminiscent of Soul Eater and I only see it getting more similar as the story progresses. The characters are interesting and diverse, and I'm quite sure I have already met the entirety of the main cast. I GREATLY enjoy the artwork.I'm just hoping for some original twist to not lock this in as another same-y school for destruction story like Soul Eater, Naruto, etc. I'm left with high hopes, but average expectations.