×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Gemnist



Joined: 10 Feb 2016
Posts: 1754
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:55 pm Reply with quote
By chance would anyone know which episode of the original series would I have to stop at to see this one? I know it's either 16 or 17, and that 17 has some canon elements but goes into original territory sometime in between.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 23 Nov 2015
Posts: 274
Location: USA
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 5:29 pm Reply with quote
Gemnist wrote:
By chance would anyone know which episode of the original series would I have to stop at to see this one? I know it's either 16 or 17, and that 17 has some canon elements but goes into original territory sometime in between.


You're fine stopping at sixteen; the canon scenes that are relevant get recapped, and everything else isn't super necessary to the story. One thing to keep in mind is that Rin's sword getting broken and all of the stuff resulting from that is anime only. As long as you're caught up to the battle with Amaimon at training camp, you'll be fine.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:26 pm Reply with quote
Well at least James gets something (more consistently) good to review this season. I'm definitely interested to see how the whole traitor in their ranks situation plays out.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
steelmirror



Joined: 22 Oct 2015
Posts: 342
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 7:02 pm Reply with quote
So far I'm loving the character work. I remember thinking that the original series wrapped up on a notably lower note than most of the rest of it, and I like this different direction a lot. Making Izumo the first to come around has been a nice way to give a new perspective on one of the less-utilized characters, and to give her and Shiemi a nice chance to bond a bit as well. Shiemi's a bit of a blob still, but assuming they use this arc as a way to jump her off on the path to becoming a bit more of a badass, I can see her character benefiting in the long run.

I also really like the character designs on the snake sisters. Distinctive and creepy as heck. I really hope they end up being loyal despite their off-putting appearance, for some reason they're my favorite new additions to the world and I'd hate to see them have to go down in flames.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Admiral Pizzaman



Joined: 08 Apr 2014
Posts: 504
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 6:56 am Reply with quote
So happy to see the anime back after watching it 5 years ago. Good thing I still remember most of it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:33 pm Reply with quote
I'll give this series one thing, every episode just seems to fly by. This last one felt like it was ten minutes long.

I think they've spent about the right amount of time setting things up now, with enough character beats sprinkled in so that didn't feel like a slog through an infodump, that they should be ready to attack the story hammer and tongs from here. I'm ready.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
steelmirror



Joined: 22 Oct 2015
Posts: 342
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 5:22 pm Reply with quote
I've been really happy with how the show was paced so far, but this was the first episode where it started to feel like it was dragging to me. I think the fact that the last episode was building up to some serious events, with betrayal and suspicion and daddy issues all building up to what felt to me like an anticlimax in this episode.

We left off with Rin going nuts, others finding out his secret, Bon cursing his father and getting into a physical altercation with Rin, and the huge scene with snake lady...and this episode doesn't really carry on that tension at all, the stakes just sort of get swept aside and the emotional intensity drops off the cliff, and then we spend quite a bit of time watching things like the old man running through the woods and ruminating and Yukio reading a letter.

Don't get me wrong, there were still good bits, and seeing the other characters coming together in a room and worrying about Rin was possibly the biggest moment this season for the group coming together and getting past some of their issues, but I did find myself checking the time on the episode a few times, and wondering why the characters didn't seem as bothered about the betrayal and theft of the eye as they had the last time it happened in the first episode.

The preview for the next episode looks promising though! I still feel bad for snake girl. I hope she finds redemption somehow after she realizes that her old teacher really is the bad guy, as I have a soft spot for her despite the fact that she's been basically a jerk for the entire time we've known her.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AksaraKishou



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 1410
Location: End of the World
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 5:22 pm Reply with quote
I think the problem is that everyone seems to be expecting a rehash of the garbage that were the last 10~ episode of season 1. Every time i hear a complaint about this show it's always "where the fight at?"... If i wanted a pure fighting shounen i would be watching OPM, not this. <.<
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 6:21 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
This episode didn't feel so much like a complete and individual narrative as it did a smaller, incomplete piece of a larger whole

I don't understand what you're on about here. I don't expect episodes of a series to be complete, individual narratives unless the structure of the series is episodic, like Cowboy Bebop or Kino's Journey. They're incomplete because they're pieces of the larger jigsaw puzzle. They're not photos in a mosaic portrait (which episodes can be, but it's not a flaw if they're not).

I've really got no complaints of any magnitude so far. It's moving along ok, the episodes keep my attention and engage me emotionally, and when one ends, I'm ready for the next. Smile

Quote:
boils down to “Rin Yukio arrives at the temple, and then he and Rin read a letter.”
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 23 Nov 2015
Posts: 274
Location: USA
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 6:30 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Quote:
This episode didn't feel so much like a complete and individual narrative as it did a smaller, incomplete piece of a larger whole

I don't understand what you're on about here. I don't expect episodes of a series to be complete, individual narratives unless the structure of the series is episodic, like Cowboy Bebop or Kino's Journey. They're incomplete because they're pieces of the larger jigsaw puzzle. They're not photos in a mosaic portrait (which episodes can be, but it's not a flaw if they're not).
.”
[/quote]

Well, you'll note that I actually liked the episode; I was just remarking on the lack of a cohesive narrative to this single episode. While of course an episode of a series is by nature going to be a smaller piece of a larger whole, there is also a fair expectation for each episode to individually tell a complete story, however incremental an advancement of the overall narrative it might be. Rising action, climax falling action- that sort of thing. This episode felt less like it had a full plot and more like a collection of different vignettes put together. This is not a bad thing; I just think it works a little better as a chapter of a book than as an episode of television, at least for this specific series.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
??????





PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 6:39 pm Reply with quote
This episode was just straight bad,the art and animation was off,they kept using unnecessary flashbacks for literally every little thing as if the viewer is stupid,and they cut off an actual important and new backstory in the middle when it could've of been a majority of the episode.They took the week off this episode.
Back to top
so751



Joined: 15 Jun 2016
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:28 pm Reply with quote
^ I did notice this week's animation quality slightly decreased compared to the last few episodes, which were amazing. Not to say this week's wasn't great though still.

The episode did wrap up in line with the end of Volume 6 of the manga exactly, which I could see why the comments were that the anime's been a bit "too" faithful to the manga. I never complain about that though, I'd rather less deviations tbh.

The change in Fujimoto's voice actor though this week was really noticeable unfortunately, even though the new actor did do a decent job, but it's just not the same.
spoiler[Not sure if it's that I'm caught up on the manga, but every time I see Yukio frown over Rin, I can't help but feel the tension he's building up magnified, since the tension's been on a ramp-up since the Kyoto Impure King arc in the manga and still hasn't reached a pinnacle yet lol ]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
DangerMouse



Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Posts: 3980
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 7:54 pm Reply with quote
Yeah I think the pacing is fine as long as they intend to keep going after this season ends.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
so751



Joined: 15 Jun 2016
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 2:53 pm Reply with quote
DangerMouse wrote:
Yeah I think the pacing is fine as long as they intend to keep going after this season ends.
It'd be awesome if that had a continuous flow going afterwards with another arc, but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon within this year. I think the making of this arc is at least promising in the sense that we will probably get more anime from the series. The question is, what are they going to animate next since imo the next big arc is the Illuminati arc, but there's the arcs around the Kraken (which they've technically done but as an anime exclusive) and the True Cross Academy Mysteries arc (which isn't all that exciting tbh but leads into the Festival, which then leads into the Illuminati arc) before it.

That last episode I think is the kickoff to all the action of this arc. Really hoping these upcoming episodes will bring some buzz to the series spoiler[now that the Impure King is finally revived.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
??????





PostPosted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 2:18 pm Reply with quote
If someone doesn't realize Blue Exorcist isn't an action series by now then they are just delusional. Just because the main character has a sword and powers doesn't mean it's an action series,people don't get that, same thing happens with series like Noragami.
Back to top
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group