I’m not one to usually make mention of an episode title, unless it plays into the story of the episode, but I have to ask… what does “suspicion will raise bogies” even mean? It sounds like some kind of weird code phrase, and not a proper sentence.
To kick things off, both Rin and Bon are going through a bit of a hangover to start their morning; turns out, their drinks were meant for Shura, but they somehow got into their bags. Either way, they’ve taken the first step toward young alcoholism, and the next thing they know, they’re drinking heavily while watching episodes of Shippuden. Or maybe that’s just Rob. Well, anyway, Renzo’s feeling rather chummy with Rin, seeing how… you know, Rin is normal and whatnot. “But what if everyone finds out Rin’s the son of Satan?” his bald and glasses-wearing friend Koneko asks. Renzo don’t care, he’s taken the “que sera, sera” approach to Rin, and bless him for it. Discrimination will get you nowhere, and demons who are the spawn of Satan deserve the same rights we mortals do, just as long as he’s not a Nazi. And last I checked, Rin’s not a Nazi, so no one punch him in the face, okay? (Haha, topical.) Fun’s fun, but now it’s time for a meeting, with everyone gathered to talk shop… well, almost everyone, Bon’s father is noticeably absent. So what’s going on? Well, thanks to a flashback scene that was filled with a roaring fire and dimmed lighting to prevent seizures (thanks a lot, Pokemon), some stuff was going down with the housing place of the Right Eye, and le saboteur is somewhere to be found, a traitor with ties to the main culprit, Todo. My money’s on Colonel Mustard, I’ve never trusted that guy.
Time to shift the scene over to the girl all the otaku boys love, Shiemi, trying to help out with aiding the ill but, in a classic case of hijinks, spills a tea kettle after tripping. Soon after, she’s picking some herbs and lamenting on her weakness and uselessness – her words, not mine. And it’s no doubt meant to be a sequence of “Aww, isn’t she sooooo cute, everyone?” To which I say: no, she isn’t. Shiemi sucks. Go away. Oh, and then she starts crying over all of this, because she’s also ungodly irritating. At least there was some levity with Rin accidentally starting a fire on one of the rooftops from trying to ignite some candles and calling Shura “Boobzilla.” That’s always fun. And we immediately go to Shura laying on the rooftop in suitable attire. Show, you have redeemed yourself for that Shiemi nonsense. I have nothing to add, either – bikini top, daisy dukes, and fishnets? Mamma mia. But wth fanservice comes a trip back down to reality, as Koneko is paying some respects at a gravesite, and Rin manages to catch sight of this. As it turns out, Koneko’s family perished during “The Incident” 16 years ago, so he was taken into the Myoda Sect (their current location) with an end goal of repaying everything they’ve done for him. So… that’s why he’s a discriminatory jerk towards Rin, in a sense. And I get that he’s the whipping boy to a lot of traumatic anger, but come on, it’s a load and we all know it. Sure enough, Rin gives him some reassuring words, and off he goes. And then, the episode ends with a somewhat sinister look at Bon’s father, hidden away, doing… something with the flames surrounding the Right Eye. Eh, it’s probably nothing.
3 episodes in, and… I dunno, this isn’t clicking the way I was hoping it would. I mean, I like the mystery aspect of the story, so far, but nothing’s really happened at the start of the arc that’s left any kind of an impact. It’s not bad, by any means, but it’s not as grand and impactful as I would’ve wanted it to be, so far. We still have a lot of story left to cover, so maybe things will start to pick up later on, but for now, things are going at a pretty sluggish pace. Rin hasn’t even said his catchphrase yet; he vowed to beat the s**t out of Satan in the first episode of the first series, but here? Nothing. What gives, show? I’ll still be waiting, but I thought I’d hear it at least twice by now.
Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga is available on Crunchyroll, with new episodes every Friday at 1:30pm Eastern, and is also available on Daisuki.net, Hulu, and Amazon Video’s Anime Strike channel.