‘Blue Exorcist’ Season 2: ‘Kyoto Impure King’ Arc Premier Episode ‘Small Beginnings’ Proves Why ‘Ao No Exorcist’ Is The Most Anticipated Japanese Anime Of 2017

Season 2 of Blue Exorcist debuted recently. The sequel to the Japanese supernatural anime was eagerly awaited by its fans for over six years. The Season 2 premier of Ao No Exorcist, titled “Small Beginnings” proved it was worth the wait as Rin and Yukio resumed their duties as exorcists despite their lineage.

Despite debuting almost a decade ago, Blue Exorcist continues to keep its fans engaged with its clever plot, supernatural theme steeped in religious ideology, coupled with intense action and drama. The Season 2 premier of Blue Exorcist enthralled shonen fans, who can now stream the premier episode on popular international streaming platforms Crunchyroll and Daisuke. Interestingly, there is one more option for streaming the episodes as soon as they are broadcast in Japan, but more on that later.

[Warning: Episode 1 of Blue Exorcist spoilers ahead]

The first episode shows a scene that has almost become ubiquitous with anime or any crime related series across the world. The first few minutes of Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga are spent in proving how inept bystanders are, when they are near a crime scene. The innocent civilians neither flee the scene nor do they run when they are ordered to. A mother and her overly curious child are uncomfortably close to a active crime scene that is being handled by the True Cross Order. The boy races off to witness the perpetrator up close, but ends up being snatched by the shrouded villain. As expected, the rogue is shrouded in a burst of miasma.

Meanwhile, Blue Exorcist’s protagonist, Rin, is engaged in his daily routine of intensive training. He is seen vainly attempting to gain control over the dangerous blue, demonic flames that he unleashed last season. However, as expected, Rin fails miserably to make the flames work for him, and neither is Shura of any help. But the training and mastery over the flames have to wait because the duo is abruptly rushed to the ongoing crime scene.

Interestingly, Rin meets his twin brother Yukio at the crime scene. Incidentally, it is Yukio who has been tasked with resolving the hostage situation and bringing the chaotic and tense crime scene under control. The duo teams up with an older and experienced exorcist named Mr. Todo. They are briefed about the crime scene, which involves the theft of a dangerous item known as the “Left Eye of the Impure King.”

Rin disobeys an order to stay behind and follows Yukio to the place where the villain is holding the boy hostage. The kid appears to be in critical condition, and Yukio is forced to draw his weapon to kill the shrouded figure, but the latter disappears. When Rin leaps to save the child, they learn a very horrifying truth about the crime scene.

Rin and Yukio are shocked to learn that Mr. Todo, the elder exorcist they trusted to lead the operation, was behind the orchestration of the crime scene, reported Comic Book. The senior demonic former exorcist has turned evil. He taunts Yukio about his fears and inability to live up to Rin’s full potential before he disappears with the left Left Eye in hand.

The Impure King’s left eye, believed to be connected to his heart, was extracted after he was defeated in the late Edo period. As a precaution, the demonic king’s right eye was sealed away in the Kyoto branch of True Cross Academy. That’s where Yukio and Rin are dispatched because The Order’s Kyoto branch was ambushed as well, but the eye was kept safe.

Episode 1 of Blue Exorcist also showed a number of cadets of The Order, who learned about Rin and Yukio’s demonic lineage in the first season. The revelation has a deep psychological impact on their teammates, who consider it risky to work with the Satan’s sons.

[Featured Image by Kazue Kato/Blue Exorcist/Shueisha]