A bog-standard, Bleach-like, Shonen manga with a forgettable hero. I was hesitant to continue reading past chapter 1, but things get slightly better from there. The unique relationship between the twin brothers is the heart of the story. The East meets West demon and weapon designs are a plus. We'll see if future volumes pique my interest further. ( )

My tenth manga book ever and the longest out of all of them, I picked this up because of how appealing the title and premise sounded. While reading this, I felt let down. This was a case of the writing was worse than the premise because the execution of the story fell very flat for me. I expected the book to be darker and have more of a dark tone as we go but instead, it just felt silly.
Parts of the plot were occasionally pretty easy to predict, I just felt disconnected from these characters. I would have loved the drawings if they weren't so cluttered, there was so many characters drawn in one scene that I was surprised how they squeezed into that space.

The character development was something I thought would be an enjoyable thing in the book but unfortunately, it felt rushed. It might improve later, who knows?





Before Reading:
So I'm trying Manga?
I don't read much, I've only read 9 in my life?
SO lets see my thoughts? ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the first volume in the Blue Exorcist shounen manga series. There are 24 volumes published in this series right now in the US with the 25th due out Feb 2021. There are 26 volumes in this series right now with the 27th to be published in 2021 in Japan.

Story (4/5): Rin and Yukio Okumura are twin brothers being raised by Father Fujimoto (an exorcist). Yukio wants to go to school to become a doctor but Rin is kind of a dead beat...that is until he finds out he has the blood of Satan running through his veins. Following Father Fujimoto’s sacrifice Rin decides he wants to be an exorcist too and enters cram school at True Cross Academy to do so!

This was a fun and fast-paced story that had a lot of action in it, some humor and a decent plot. I found myself drawn into the story quickly and curious to know what will happen next.

Characters (4/5): I enjoy both Rin and Yukio a lot. Rin has kind of your typical over exuberant shounen attitude, but his heart is in the right place and I enjoyed him. Yukio was more enjoyable for me as a character and I liked watching his secrets be revealed. I also really enjoy Mephisto Pheles who is a crazy character and a huge mystery.

Setting (4/5): This book takes place both at the church where Rin is raised and at the True Cross Academy. Settings were well drawn but more a background feature than a huge part of the story.

Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): This is very well written and drawn. The drawing is easy to follow and characters are very distinct from each other, so it’s easy to follow what is going on. The story was engaging right away and I liked the characters. I also loved the Faustian references throughout. This was definitely an enjoyable read and I look forward to reading future books in this series.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a great start to this manga series. I liked the premise, the action, the characters and the story. The drawing is well done and easy to follow. I would recommend it to those who enjoy typical shounen type manga that have a supernatural bent to them. ( )

Oh, this is fun. It's a little Harry Potter but with demons and Satan! ( )

It's like ' Harry Potter ' plus ' D. Greyman ' meets ' Going My Way ' ( )