English Dub Review: Blue Exorcist “Hesitation”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Rin, Yukio, and the rest find out that the residents of the city they’re in are possessed by the food they eat, with those falling victim being put on a bus that presumably will lead them to the Illuminati. They find themselves in an abandoned mall and are faced with zombified humans who were Illuminati test subjects,then separated in an area completely covered in darkness. Back at Illuminati HQ, Izumo tries to make a break for it but is stopped by Shima, who seemingly destroys Izumo’s protector spirits.

OUR TAKE

Wow, didn’t think we were going to get zombies in this story, much less in a mall so things could go full Romero for a second, but there you go. Anyway, we’re back in the present day this week as the True Cross kids finally start making their way into enemy territory, but it doesn’t feel like there’s going to be a lot of interesting things to talk about on their end of things until they actually start facing off against some of the Illuminati’s named characters, which will probably happen soon. Instead, the real meat of the episode is still what’s happening with Izumo and Shima. Now that we have a lot better idea of what Izumo’s been dealing with in her past, as well as what is at risk now that she’s in the Illuminati’s clutches, the tension is a lot more tangible. The risk of her actually being turned into a test subject or facing any real damage is probably still pretty low, narratively speaking, but there’s also the risk that her little sister is in danger. Said sister was not a big part of the flashbacks last week, which MAY be a way of keeping her out of viewer’s thoughts for a big reveal down the road…or she could just not be that important.

As for Shima, we once again get him showing he is aligned with the Illuminati when he is able to to stop Izumo from escaping and even kills her spirits. But…I’m not sure, I get the sense that there’s something more going on here. He’s still very much his lackadaisical self without much care for anything, but he still seems very serious in making sure Izumo is secured. Also, worth pointing out that he found her himself long before anyone else, as if he were trying to make sure this was all taken care of by him and not others. He also doesn’t really seem to get along with any of the other Illuminati members, but then again none of them really get along with each other, so maybe that’s just a prerequisate for joining. Still, if Izumo’s spirits are really dead, the chance of him coming back to the good guy side is pretty damaged now, if that ends up being the plan. And lastly, we may be getting more Lucifer in the future now that he’s awake and healed, but I don’t really expect him to play much of a part until near the end of the season. Which is fast approaching!