Out this month is Volume One of a new to North America series Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato, published by Viz Media. It is also previewed in this month’s issue of Shonen Jump.
The story starts out pretty ordinarily: twin orphans are raised in a monastery by a Priest, Father Fujimoto, who is also an exorcist. One twin, Yukio, is a gifted student studying to be a doctor. The other, Rin, is the opposite, a trouble maker and bad student. Yukio is enrolled in the prestigious True Cross Academy, while Rin reluctantly sets out to find a job. The story turns around when a dramatic event leads to Rin discovering his true identity: he is the son of Satan. Born to a human mother, Rin is the only twin to inherit demonic power. He learns that there are two realities, the one inhabited by humans called Assiah and the other is the realm of demons, Gehenna. Demons can only possess things in the human world but nothing exists that can contain Satan, that is, until the creation of Rin. He has become the perfect tool to enable Satan to lay claim to the human world. Refusing to accept this reality, he sets out to defeat Satan by training to become an Exorcist while trying to keep his inheritance hush-hush. Once in training Rin discovers Yukio has been keeping secrets of his own.
Despite the book’s slow beginning, the story becomes more and more fascinating, making it worth keeping an eye on. I look forward to see what happens in next volume.
This story is rated T+ for older teens (16+).