Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga

Episode 10

At first, I was worried about whether or not “Friends” would be a solid conclusion to the whole Izumo Rescue Mission Arc, because it starts pretty rough. The opening salvo of action consists almost entirely of still shots, and the overly bright visuals combine with the choppy pacing to destroy that delightfully grim, horror-esque tone that the last few episodes had built up so well. All of this, and after I went on so much last week about the whole “Wow them in the end" bit, too!

Thankfully, as has been the case for much of this arc, Blue Exorcist has the narrative chops to power through this season's lackluster production values. Izumo gets one final, emotional opportunity to connect with her mother, which becomes the key to saving her from being completely consumed by the Nine Tail Fox Spirit. Not only does Izumo have to bear witness to her mother making the ultimate sacrifice, but she also has to bid farewell to Tsukumo who no longer remembers her big sister. It's a heartbreakingly bittersweet ending to Izumo's story, which ensures that this is a satisfying conclusion. Don't think I wasn't shedding some tears when Izumo and Shiemi finally had the heart-to-heart that has been building up between them for the entire series!

The action picks up in the latter half of the episode where we get the most uplifting scenes of the week. Uke and Mike are back, and they get a nifty power upgrade to go along with their more humanoid transformations! If that weren't great enough, the familiars' return is all in service of getting to watch them help Izumo murder the ever-loving Bejeesus out of the monsterficated Dr. Gedoin. I'll gladly bear with the overreliance on tacky-looking stills if it means that we get to watch that grody sumbitch get his just desserts.

Outside of the weak action, my only other complaint about “Friends" is that Renzo got almost nothing to do the entire arc except be a nuisance for his former friends. I can only hope that the future chapters of this Shimane Illuminati Saga have more to offer on that front. Otherwise, Blue Exorcist didn't let me down. It promised me a good time with some old friends, and that's exactly what it delivered.

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Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.