Manga Review – Blue Exorcist Vol 1 by Kazue Kato (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Manga/Shounen/Fantasy
Length: 202 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1421540320
Stand Alone or Series: 1st volume in the Blue Exocist series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Raised by Father Fujimoto, a famous exorcist, Rin Okumura never knew his real father. One day a fateful argument with Father Fujimoto forces Rin to face a terrible truth—the blood of the demon lord Satan runs in Rin’s veins! Rin swears to defeat Satan, but doing that means entering the mysterious True Cross Academy and becoming an exorcist himself. Can Rin fight demons and keep his infernal bloodline a secret? It won’t be easy, especially when drawing his father’s sword releases the demonic power within him!”
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.
