Welcome back to Anime Rants. I try to publish Blue Exorcist posts every Wednesday during the Winter 2025 season, but I was too sick and miserable. That’s why this post is a little late. Despite my efforts to keep writing, things are difficult right now. I’m stuck in the USA under a government of Nazis and/or those who suck Nazi dick. In addition to that, my health isn’t great, with depression, gastrointestinal illness, and addictive habits still kicking my ass. Nevertheless, I’m here to talk about Blue Exorcist.
These two episodes were both extremely entertaining and important to the overall story of Blue Exorcist. Please note that these reviews do not contain detailed recaps of all events, but rather, my initial thoughts and notes on each episode.
- Episode 4: Satan Awakening
- Episode 5: More Important Than the Body
Episode 4: Satan Awakening
Episode Rating: 10/10
This episode was undoubtedly the best in the season so far in addition to being one of the most important in the entire series. I’m glad the writing was good for this chapter. The suspense and pacing were both excellent. I felt anxious at several points. It was also great to hear the Satan theme from the first season. Hiroyuki Sawano wrote the epic OST for the original Blue Exorcist. Several of those tracks are mixed in with new music in the recent and current seasons.
Let’s talk about Rinka. Emotionally and behaviorally, from the moment of possessing Goro, he was a child. This makes sense for an entity that gained consciousness less than ten years ago. From early on, it was clear Rinka had high curiosity and low empathy, as is normal for children. But demons do not necessarily mature in the same way as humans. In Blue Exorcist, demons seem to be low-empathy creatures with very little regard for human life. (Mephisto is an oddball who loves humans as one loves entertaining toys.)
In other words, while it would be natural for a human to mature into someone who cares about others and society, it might be more natural for a demon to grow the opposite way: toward total selfishness and disregard for others. That seems to be what happened with Rinka on some level. But we should also remember that “demon” is a title invented by the True Cross Order to categorize the most powerful beings from Gehenna. In other words, Rinka could be called a god as much as a demon.
Sure enough, once he gains enough knowledge, Rinka calls himself a god. According to Lucifer, Rinka/Satan is the supreme god of the universe from whom all “demons” were born. All we can do is take Lucifer’s word on that. If nothing else, it’s clear that Satan can mentally/spiritually connect to all his “children” – including Amaimon, Mephisto, and Lucifer. This is all extremely fascinating, but arguably the most interesting part is that Rinka chose the name Satan for himself. He’s aware that the True Cross Order will never accept him as a god, so he’s rocking the “demon lord” thing.
(Side Note: The VA for Rinka is the same as the voice for young Shiro. His name is Daisuke Namikawa. The more mature version of Satan that occasionally talks to Rin and Yukio is a different VA (Keiji Fujiwara). Honestly, Namikawa’s distinct, nasally voice often rubs me the wrong way. But he absolutely killed the last line in the episode, executing it with perfection. I loved when he said “From now on, call me Lord Satan.” So cool!)
It wasn’t exactly clear what happened with Lucifer in this episode, so I was confused at first. However, a quick line from the next episode made it clear. Lucifer kept holding out for a new body, but never got one. Even though Amaimon got a new vessel, nothing so wonderful happened for the living corpse of Lucifer. However, a youth elixir was made from the blood of Rinka/Satan. This was given to Lucifer to buy him time for a few more years. That’s why he got a new face seemingly out of nowhere.
On a final note for this episode, I am surprisingly into the idea of Yuri and Shiro getting together. Maybe it’s because I relate so much to Yuri, but I want her to have the man she’s dreamed of since childhood. The relationship dynamic between Shiro and Yuri is well-written and entertaining. They definitely have sexual and romantic tension at some key moments. It’s a shame this arc ends in tragedy.
Episode 5: More Important Than the Body
Episode Rating: 9/10
This episode was almost as amazing as the previous one, keeping me interested and excited. Satan killed the hostage in front of Yuri like it was a prank meant to surprise her. He said he was a god above human morality. It didn’t matter to him anymore what Yuri thought. As she continued to treat him as a person instead of a god, Satan got angry. He even tried to kill Yuri on his way out – though it was a half-assed attempt. Shiro easily saved her. Satan was now on the loose.
Shura appeared briefly in this episode, which was a nice touch to show the passage of time. Little toddler Shura was adorable and funny. Shiro asked if Yuri would take care of Shura, but she declined because she was still waiting for “Rinka” to return. It would be foolish to get a child involved. According to the people at Section 13, Rinka/Satan would not last long because his vessel would degrade quickly. However, Yuri was certain that Satan would return to Section 13 before his body completely degraded.
Yuri was correct and Satan returned to the section 2 years later. He immediately took over the facility by force and demanded an elixir to repair his body. The researchers had no choice but to obey. To make things worse, Lucifer and three powerful demons all pledged their loyalty to Satan officially for the first time. Exorcists from the True Cross Order began to lay siege to Section 13, but Satan and his allies were easily killing them off. Many died and there was no sign of things getting better.
Yuri took it upon herself to sneak into Section 13 and meet Rinka/Satan. She planned to talk him into stopping the long battle, but she was also prepared to die in the attempt. But first, Yuri said goodbye to Shiro. This scene was surprisingly emotionally intense – probably because I’ve become so invested in these characters. I also think the scene was well-directed. It was so sad when Shiro let go of Yuri and allowed her to go to her demise on her own. Baka otoko! (Stupid man!)
The climax of the episode was at the very end, when Yuri faced Satan. At first, he acted like he didn’t care about her. He was a god, so he shouldn’t care about some mortal woman. However, under all his anger and arrogance, Rinka was still a scared child. And that frightened little entity had fallen in love with Yuri. When he saw Yuri being attacked by demons – which he sent to kill her – he realized this wasn’t what he wanted at all. So he threw the demons aside and pulled Yuri into an embrace, telling her not to leave him.
That moment was epic, beautiful, and painful. I don’t want Yuri to go down this road because we already know it ends badly, but still, I would probably do the same. This season has shown me that Yuri Egin is arguably the best character in Blue Exorcist. She’s courageous, altruistic, and weird (in a good way though). And of course, without Yuri and her love for demons, we wouldn’t have our loveable protagonists, Rin and Yukio. It’s no wonder the writers gave an entire season of backstory to Yuri – she’s just that awesome.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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