This manga so far is really cute. I was introduced to it in the most unusual way (saw the trailer for the anime after learning that 2PM was making their Japanese debut by singing the ending song for it!! ^o^). Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for it, so when I started reading the manga, I was pleasantly surprised. It utilized some typical shounen tropes, which didn't impress me, but the main character Rin is strong, sensitive, and very easy to relate to, which made up for much of the mundane. Ao no Exorcist doesn't really bring anything new to the genre; however, it certainly has its own interesting moments, so it's quite enjoyable for a light read. Thankfully, the author doesn’t rely on the “demon of the week” plot line that many shounen manga follow, and for the most part, the chapters aren’t episodic, and most do add up to something bigger. It’s sort of on the border between what I like to call “traditional” shounen (focus is on action and “fight scenes” with less attention being given to characters and character development) and “new-age” shounen (focus is on larger plot and more dynamic characters and tends to favor techniques of suspense over dramatized fight sequences).

For the most part, I agree with brid. This manga has wasted a lot of potential, and I feel like it alienated much of its shounen demographic with the latest religious plot line. In a manga geared toward young boys, I don't understand what the author was thinking in centering an arc around an obscure religious sect. What annoyed me most, though, was that it wasn't even the main character who starred in the arc; it was a side character's... old father? As a reader, I have no interest whatever in that character.

If you're looking for a manga with an intricate plot and diverse and complex characters, you might be better off trying Fullmetal Alchemist, Pandora Hearts, or Record of a Fallen Vampire. But if you just want something light and easy, Ao no Exorcist delivers. It's managed to hold my interest thus far, so as of right now, I'll give it a 6.4. Recommended.

... Last updated on August 22nd, 2011, 4:01pm

I think the characters are enjoyable (except for shiemi, because she strikes me as annoying; with her good girl attitude, stupidity, and ignoring rin when she finds out he's a demon) Rin is cool, he looks cool and I think hes the funniest character in the story. Although this manga is labeled as a comedy, it's not that funny. BUT it does make up for it with all the action scenes. The mangaka did a very good job on the illustrations. As for the plot it's pretty good . I really like this manga!!!!!
The only thing I hate about it is SHIEMI!!!! She's so annoying. She should just die in the story. Seriously like I wish she'd stop getting into trouble and wording everybody, and having those close up scenes when she talks about her feelings. GEEZ I really hope that there won't be ANY romance in this story.

(this comment may contain spoilers)

Yeah, I know that some of you readers will disagree, just by the title. But hear me out: the strength of this manga doesn't come from originallity, that much we all know. Its true strength lies in its simplicity.
It has some elements from D.gray-man, it is an EXORCIST manga after all, and Katou herself has done her best to bring someting new to the exorcist-genre (try reading her interviews), and she HAS. She has brought shonen back to the exorcists since D.gray-man began getting too complicated/boring. When making a shonen manga, there are some guidelines that you have to follow if you want your manga published (unless you want something like Death Note). There HAS to be hope, there HAS to be willpower and there HAS to be some cliche characters. What I think is original is the way that Katou has chosen to put all those very different characters together in ONE single class room where they cannot escape from each others. There's the hero, strong of will, the main girl, nice and doubting, the rival, the perverted nice guy, the mean girl, the... nerd(?), and then we of course have the woman with big (...) and the mysterious know-it-all-person with unclear motives. Plus there's a twin brother who's at the same time teacher of the hero, which is kind of original...

Let me end this comment by telling why I love this manga. I was bored. Naruto is in war, Bleach just ended one and had to (kind of) start all over again. Katekyo Hitman had gotten DBZ-like and D.gray-man was just confusing. Kuroshitsuji didn't have what I was looking for and neither did Pandora Hearts. (I could go on like this, but i choose not to.).
There was something that I was missing. Something that had been lost in most of my other mangas. It's difficult to describe what it is with any other words than these; Epicness. Pure awesomeness. Simplicity that could not be found simply by rereading the old mangas. I needed something new and yet familiar. And then I found a new anime, that seemed to have these things to it. I saw each episode that had yet come out and I read each and every chapter. This manga had what I had been missing, and I'm sure that even when it looses its simple way of telling the story, something new will come from it. Maybe originallity? Only time will tell, but please remember: this manga is just getting started.

I disagree with some of the comments below about the side characters not beeing good enough. I think more or less every side character gets some nice attention and they aren't boring, but yeah, they aren't super interesting neither. The mangaka just manges somehow to write an entertaining story, even though there is not a single idea, which you can call "great" or "creative" or whatever. I give it a 7 out of 10 because I really enjoyed it, it's a light read, but nothing to be excited about.
Sorry for my bad english, btw.

This series is pretty awesome so far, i have great expectations and i sure hope to see more development,potential manga for the future, im definitely keeping track of this. this has become my favorite ongoing manga/anime after naruto. xD

I think this manga is just starting and will be one of those manga that will replace naruto and bleach when they are over with fairy tail and others good manga out there.. some of you people are expecting to much from a manga that just started..

... Last updated on May 8th, 2011, 11:36pm

it is awesome~
the guy is really handsome and doesn't want to save the world. (:
the characters might seem failing in some points but its only 24 chapters, you can't expect more than that and it has a LONG way to go. (I hope so because it's really awesome)

All the elements for this to be a great manga are there but the mangaka hasn't developed the characters enough or exposed enough of the larger plot or sub-plots to really make this manga outstanding (the art's already there though). I would say that while it's definitely above average without some better character development it's just going to remain an ok manga.

Read: 24 chapters (the chapters are double length, ie 45pages)
Rating: 4 of 5

As a side note, anyone know what ever happened to the guy in the class who talked with the puppet?

... Last updated on April 30th, 2011, 12:37pm

I have to agree with everyone else that this series has potential. The art is great--the characters and the backgrounds all have a distinctive style that's somewhere in-between modern and fantasy. The premise is tried-and-true: a super powered delinquent must learn to control his powers and get along with his (also super powered) classmates. And the lead character is solid; he's powerful, but not arrogant or annoying. So yes, the series has potential. But at some point, a manga has to grow into its potential, and for me, it's long past the point where this manga should have done so.

The problem with this series is that while the main character is good, the other characters are poorly developed and the plot is largely uninteresting.

As far as the characters go, the mangaka doesn't make very good use of them. For the most part, the majority of the characters feel like they're there just to be there. For example, in the latest chapters, the cast has traveled to the home of one of Rin's classmates because there's trouble at his family's temple. We're given to understand he has some anger toward his father (the leader of the temple), but that's the extent of his character development. While the temple leader plays a major role in the events, the classmate strangely does not play an important part in the storyline; in fact, his part ends up being no bigger than usual.

Even major side characters like the female lead and the main character's twin are disappointing. Despite sharing a close relationship, the twins don’t get much opportunity to work together, and when they do interact, Yukio acts more like Rin’s teacher than his brother. The female lead is also under-utilized. She's intended to be cute and "inspirational," but I find her unlikeable and unsympathetic. Despite being quite powerful, she is convinced that she's a weakling, and thus spends large amounts of time wallowing in self-pity and berating herself for her supposed weaknesses. (What part of this does the mangaka think we will find cute or inspirational?) Even worse is the fact that there is something of a love triangle between her and the two brothers.

As far as the plot goes, this to me is the greatest weakness of the manga. With all the shadowy conspiracies and exorcists and devils running around, you’d think this would be a really, really exciting story, wouldn’t you? It’s not actually. There’s no real focus to the plot, villains appear out of nowhere, events happen seemingly at random, and it’s impossible to tell what the story is building towards at any given moment. There doesn't seem to be any point to the enemies the characters have fought, or to any of the storylines (especially the long "Impure King" saga) except to provide Rin with a chance to level up. Nothing that's happened so far has any direct connection to the defeat of Satan, which is supposedly the larger goal of the series. It feels more like they're fighting bad guys because that's what you do in a shounen manga, not because fighting these particular bad guys is advancing the story in any way.

And worst of all, I find the chapters increasingly boring. Rather than developing the major characters, the mangaka seems to prefer wasting pages on needless details like the shadowy back history of a character or a religious sect that will probably never appear in the manga again. (Just how much did we really need to know about the inner workings of Myou Dha?!) If I don't see the point to the plot and I haven't been made to care about any of the characters, then the manga isn't one I can continue with. For now, I’m putting this series on hold.

... Last updated on March 2nd, 2012, 4:52am

I wasn't going to read it at first, but once I started, something about this series hooked me and wouldn't let me stop reading. Really, I ended up reading all 23 fifty-page-long chapters in 2 nights, despite a headache. It's so addicting! And I think most of it is Rin, the main character. He may be the Spawn of Satan (with a sweet sword and blue flames), but as a character he's just so cute! And it's not only the pointy ears and teeth and tail (though I do love the ears and curly tail, lol. It's awesome somehow) Despite his natural short temper and violent tendencies he manages to be a friendly (for the most part), funny guy who really cares about his family and friends. Aside from him, the other characters are all really fun, with believable personalities, weaknesses, and strengths. Also the plot is exciting, the action is intense, and the art is good.