We’re almost done, folks. Almost done with this second series, or should I say, a stretching-out of a 2-hour film into 12 episodes. So let’s keep this train a-rollin’ and trek onward, with the last two episodes… before the last episode. #12 will come later, don’t worry.
Episode 10 – “Unbowed and Unbroken”
Ever been in a dust storm? That’s never fun. And that’s how this episode started out, with a dust storm of miasma from within the sporangium, only for a monster to materialize before Bon and Rin. And my understanding is that this beast is Mephisto’s younger brother…? And that it is, in fact, the Impure King? Whatever. At least Bon put up a barrier to prevent further harm from spreading. The fight with Todo and Yukio and the priests is still ongoing, but Todo continues to god-mod his way through it all. Boring villain is boring. It doesn’t help that the fight scene in question is anited at half the usual frame rate in some spots, it just looks really choppy. The plan of the fight was to overheat Todo to the point that his demonic body would start to turn to ash, and with a sudden appearance of rain, Todo just… dissolves and melts. Sure, whatever. But the limbs gain sentience and start attacking Yukio and the others, like it’s a horror movie of some kind… I’m sure this made sense in the planning stages, but in execution, not so much.
Meanwhile, tsundere girl is still trapped in the miasma, Shura leaps into the barrier to find Bon and Rin, Rin still can’t draw the sword, and I’m sitting here wondering where this show went wrong to begin with. Rin spouts some spiel of positivity, there’s some comedy relief with Bon and Rin, things are happening, and to close out the episdoe, Bon finally accepts Rin as his friend and swears to finish things off here, right before the Impure King starts consuming Bon whole. And then Rin pulls the sword, frigging FINALLY, and launches an attack on the Impure King. It only took 10 episodes, but hey, Rin did it, and for a good reason.
Episode 11 – “Shine Bright as the Sun”
How convenient that Shura shows up right at the start of the episode to assist, and not at the end of the last episode. And she’s here to also tell Rin, in succinct words, that it’s time to put up or shut up. Which he does the former of, slicing and dicing bits of the Impure King, but for Bon, he’s passed out, which means the barrier is going to break apart. I’m pretty sure that’s not good. Good thing it’s raining, otherwise all those spores would be spreading far and wide. Oh, and Todo? He’s regenerating. Frigging god-mod. And he’s still trying to play mind games with Yukio, because he’s also a one-trick pony. Thankfully it doesn’t take long for Yukio to shoot him dead… or, deader. For the moment, anyway. As for Rin, he’s still trying to slice and dice, but a familiar shows up to ask some questions, a familiar called Ucchusma who has long been at war with the Impure King.
After seeing the sword, said familiar decides to lend a hand to Rin; both chant a mantra and unleash an attack on the monster, complete with blue flames bursting everywhere, which… actually works. The King is dead, long live the King. And it’s a pretty well-shot sequence, too, arguably the best of the entire season. The flames spread and cause the remains of Todo to evaporate – good – as well as cause the surrounding lands to clear out. Everyone’s safe, the day is saved, Rin learned to control his flames, Bon missed all of the action, so let’s all celebrate by… watching Yukio punch Rin in the mouth. I guess he was a little mad at the whole “breaking out of the cell” thing, but you know how brothers are; they’ll beat the crap out of one another, but deep down, they love each other. And then Rin passes out after showing Yukio his flames. Well, no one ever said Rin was smart, you know.
Oh, and Shiemi saves tsundere girl from the miasma trap by pulling her out and hugging her. I guess that was an important plot detail, too.
You know, for all the flak I’ve given this season, at least the climax was a well-earned high point. So on that front, I have to commend the show for stepping up and hitting one out of the park, if only a little bit too late. But hey, better late than never. And so, in conclusion…… oh right, I have one more episode to get through. You’ll all see that a little later, so stay tuned. (And please don’t suck further.)
All 12 episodes of Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga are available on Crunchyroll, Daisuki.net, Hulu, and Amazon Video’s Anime Strike channel.