Blue Exorcist

Overview

Blue Exorcist is a franchise created by the manga artist, Kazue Kato. It's a Shounen series that incorporates parts of many religions (Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism), supernatural elements, demons, and exorcism. The series begins its serialization in Shueisha's Jump Square magazine in April 2009. It has an anime adaptation that is produced by Hitoshi Okamura and directed by Tensai Okamura; Blue Exorcist aired on TBS and MBS on April 17, 2011.

Plot

Blue Exorcist is about two fraternal twin brothers, Rin and Yukio Okumura. Rin finds out about his true origin; his life changes forever when his father, Shiro, dies due to a fight between Satan. Rin vows to become the best exorcist to defeat Satan. As he goes to True Cross Academy to learn about exorcism, he is shocked that Yukio is his instructor.

Will Rin become the best exorcist and how will Rin and Yukio's relationship as brothers work out?

Characters

Rin Okumura (奥村 燐)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto in (Japanese) Bryce Papenbrook (English)

Portrayed by: Ryou Kimura (Musical)

Rin Okumura is 15-year old half demon half human who swears to become an exorcist in order to battle his father Satan who caused the death of his adopted father.

Yukio Okumura (奥村 雪男)

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese) Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

Portrayed by: Kimito Totani (Musical)

Yukio Okumura is Rin's younger brother he became an exorcist at the age of 7 as he could see spirits from birth due to him receiving his spirit wound in the womb from Rin.

Shiro Fujimoto(藤本 獅郎)

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese) Kirk Thornton (English)

Portrayed by: Yasuhiko Imai (Musical)

Shiro Fujimoto is the foster father of Rin and Yukio Okumura. After an emotional wound weakened him allowing Satan to be able to take over his body causing his death which Shiro had been fighting against for 15 years.

Satan (魔神)

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese) Kirk Thornton (English)

Satan is the god of demons who wishes to take control of the humans' world. He is also the father of Rin and Yukio. He plans to use Rins body in order to complete his goal to rule the human world but his plans are interrupted by Shiro's ability to fight him.

Mephisto Pheles (メフィスト・フェレス)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Japanese) Sam Riegel (English)

Portrayed by: Yūya Nakahara (Musical)

Mephisto Pheles is the Chairman of True Cross Academy and he is also a son of Satan making him Rin and Yukio's half brother. Mephisto is one of the "Eight Demon Kings", originally known as Samael, the "King of Time"

Shiemi Moriyama (杜山 しえみ)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese) Christine Marie Cabanos (English)

Portrayed by: Ari Nakajima (Musical)

Shiemi Moriyama is the daughter of the woman who runs an Exorcist-only shop. Spending her entire life working in the garden with her grandmother she decides to become an exorcist after being saved by Rin and Yukio months after the death of her grandmother.

Manga

Blue Exorcist Manga (April 2011 - Ongoing)

Blue Exorcist first began as a manga; it started in Shueisha's Jump magazine in April 2009. As of November 2011, the ongoing series has 30 chapters. Blue Exorcist has been adapted into Tankobon format with its first volume released in Japan on August 4, 2009. Viz Media bought the license for Blue Exorcist and released the first North American volume on April 5, 2011. As of November 2011, the series has seven volumes released so far in Japan.

Anime

Blue Exorcist (April 2011-October 2011)

Blue Exorcist has been adapted into an anime that was produced by Hitoshi Okamura and A-1 Productions. It was directed by Tensai Okamura and aired on MBS in April 17, 2011. Also, it airs on TBS as well.

For audiences outside of Japan, Blue Exorcist is broadcast through online simulcasts such as Crunchyroll and Hulu on April 20, 2011.

Light Novel

Ao no Exorcist: Weekend Hero (September 2011)

The light novel series was illustrated by Kazue Kato and was released on September 2, 2011.

OVA

Ao No Exorcist: Kuro no Iede (October 2011)

An OVA by Kazue Kato was released October 26, 2011 it had a run time of 24 minutes.

Game

Ao no Exorcist: Genkoku no Labyrinth (April 2012)

A game for the PSP by Bandai Namco Games titled Ao no Exorcist: Genkoku no Labyrinth was released on April 26, 2012

Stage Play

Live Act Ao no Exorcist ~Mashin no Rakuin~ (May 2012)

Written and directed by Satoshi Owada a stage play based on the series ran for 9 performances at Nippon Seinenkan Hall from May 11, 2012 until May 17, 2012.

Merchandise

Aniplex of America announces that they would release four sets of Blue Exorcist DVDs and the first one is released on October 18, 2011.