Ao No Exorcist or widely known as Blue Exorcist is a Japanese action and supernatural manga written by Kazue Kato. It was serialized in Shueshia’s shonen magazine, the Jump Square on April 2009 and still ongoing. So far, the manga chapters have been collected and compiled into 11 tankobon volumes as of December 2012. It was later adapted into an anime television series under A-1 Pictures with the direction of Tensai Okumura and Hiro Maruyuma as the chief producer. The script was written by Ryota Yamaguchi together with Hiroyuki Sawano working on the music of the entire anime series. It made its way to fame on its debut on April 2011 which was broadcasted all over Japan on the JNN (MBS) network with 25 action-packed episodes. After its successful run, the anime was later licensed for an English release in North America by AUS, Madman Entertainment, Aniplex of America and Manga Entertainment.
In a world where demons run rampant, Ao No Exorcist revolves on a fifteen year old teenager, Rin Okumura, rumored to have remarkable strength and endurance, together with his twin brother Yukio, was raised by the infamous Father Shiro Fujimoto. On his 15th birthday, he had several run-ins with demons only to find out that he is actually the illegitimate son of Satan, the all powerful demon from Hell. Still in denial, he returns to the chapel seeking refuge from the pursuing demons where he was told of the demon-slaying blade, Kurikara which he was told to never ever draw from its scabbard. Enraged after witnessing Father Shiro died protecting him, he unwittingly withdrew the demon blade from its scabbard despite numerous warnings from Father Shiro. In that instant, it released his demonic aura and gained several demonic features like sharp fangs, pointy ears, fiery horns and an inexplicable demon tail, not to mention his ability to ignite himself with blue flames that can incinerate anything it touches to ashes. At Father Fuijimoto’s funeral, he meets Shiro’s long time friend, Mephisto Pheles, the principal of True Cross Academy, a prestigious school of exorcists. After having a short talk with Rin, he allows Rin to become an exorcist like Father Shiro all in order to defeat Satan under the condition that he must protect his identity from others. To make matters worse, he later meets his exorcism teacher which happens to be his twin brother, Yukio, already a veteran exorcist at True Cross Academy. On the path to avenging his foster father’s death and proving himself to other people, can the son of Satan really become a true exorcist?
The manga was widely accepted all over Japan that on the seventh volume of the manga, one million copies were already sold which is said to be the very first Jump Square manga to have reached such a milestone. Several famous people in the industry have given the both the anime and manga remarkable commendations on its plot and artwork. Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network emphasized how the execution was well-made which made the entire series a big success stating “the anime’s fight scenes are one of the anime’s strongest points”.
