Just 12 episodes?
Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist) spoilers ahead!
Summary:
- The first episode of Blue Exorcist Season 3 did not live up to expectations, but the second was much better.
- Fans did not like the extreme naivety of Rin and the strong change in his appearance.
- There will be 12 episodes in the third season, which should span 27 chapters.
Blue Exorcist didn't have much luck with anime adaptations. Although the title became popular in 2011, all the glory was lost due to poor production decisions. By the time the second season was released in 2017, viewers had already forgotten about Blue Exorcist.
Even those who dared to watch the sequel were stunned, as they simply did not understand what was going on — the creators made up the end of the first season, and in the second returned to the events of the manga without explaining anything.
Still, the most loyal fans were excited to hear the news about Season 3. Although the first episode did not live up to expectations, the second one was much better.
Controversial start
As we said, fans had high hopes for Blue Exorcist Season 3. Unlike the Kyoto Impure King Arc, Shimane Illuminati is considered to be more popular and interesting, so some believe that the season will help bring the title back to its former success.
However, the first episode did not live up to expectations — it was very crumpled and extremely fast-paced.
Some fragments of the manga were skipped, including an entire arc. Even though these scenes were not vital, they were important to the audience. Many fans didn't like the new character designs, which changed because the rights to the Blue Exorcist movie went to another studio (Studio VOLN).
The new drawing was more realistic, but lost much of the charm of the characters, especially Okumura Rin. The audience did not like the extreme naivety of the main character and the strong change in his appearance.
Episode two did better
Blue Exorcist seemed to have a stigma of poor adaptation, but the second episode improved things considerably. Because some events were swapped, viewers assumed that the Academy Seven Wonders Arc had ended in the first episode, having only just begun.
However, the revelation of the mystery in the girls' dormitory restroom, which is part of the academy's 7 mysteries, gave viewers back their faith in the pacing. That's not the only thing the second episode did better.
In the first episode, we barely saw Yukio, even though he is the second main character of Blue Exorcist. In the second episode, the entire plot revolved around him.
Although there are fewer pacing problems, it's still unclear how the creators plan to develop the events. This season will have only 12 episodes, which should cover 27 chapters (two arcs). Despite the fact that there are rumors about 3 cours, there has been no official information.
So far, there are several options for the development of the events: either everything will be told in 12 episodes and we will get an incredibly compressed plot, or closer to the end of 12 episodes we will be told about the continuation. In any case, we will know a lot soon.