English Dub Review: Blue Exorcist “Hidden True Feelings”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The True Cross students relax with a day at the pool, still coming to terms with the fact that Shima is a double agent, but Shima also leaves Yukio with a message from Lucifer, hinting at a meeting they apparently had before. Yukio apparently holds deep seeded jealousy over his lack of demonic power, but hides it from Rin and the others. To be continued…

OUR TAKE

And that’s that on this season of Blue Exorcist! The Illuminati have been thwarted for the moment, but their plans continue in the shadows, with Shima still technically a part of their team and still being led by a powerful demon. Things are definitely not done in this newly sparked war, but they are settled, if just for the moment. So, for this season finale before the long break between this and the next season, it makes sense that, like last time, we’re just about getting everything else wrapped up and looking ahead towards what threats may arise soon in the future. Thankfully, it turns out one of those threats will not be Shima, as he is still simply ACTING as a member of the Illuminati and only thinking in the best interests of his friends and family. I still do not understand how the Illuminati allow him to go back to his school and act like nothing’s happened or how this is going to work logistically when they get in a big fight again, but those are questions for next time if and when they get to that. This has definitely got to be the weirdest case of a secret identity, that’s for damn sure.

But it seems that the main concern will actually be coming from Yukio, who has supposedly had a deep craving for demonic power. Back when the first anime adaptation veered off into its own storyline (that I guess just got ignored by the later anime as some sort of gas leak period), part of that was Yukio feeling inadequate from lacking the blue flames that Rin possessed and eventually gaining control of them but then being taken over by Satan, his and Rin’s father. Well, it looks like we might be headed down a version of that route, as Yukio mulls to himself that he can’t protect Rin if he’s weaker than him. Hard to figure out if Satan himself will factor into this beyond their genes, though I think we can rule out the weird version of the backstory where he fell in love with a human woman whose father pulls a coup on the entire academy. Still, in terms of a finale that is mainly just meant to place the pieces in interesting pieces before pausing the game, I think it succeeds in that regard. But I guess we’ll see how the season as a whole stacks up next time for the Season Review. Kinda weird knowing we’ve got a whole other season coming in the Fall though, wouldn’t you think?