Reviews: "The World God Only Knows" and "Blue Exorcist"

These are more like season previews than actual reviews, but out of the shows I've seen so far online that are premiering, I'm liking so far how this season is turning out.

Warning: There are some spoilers

Let's start with a show that some of you may already be familiar with from last season.

If you've never seen it...shame on you! It's a comedy that breaks the fourth wall on occasion and also makes fun of the cliches of dating simulation games.

"The World God Only Knows" tells the story of a dating sim otaku named Keima Katsuragi.  He prefers his dating sim women over the real ones in his school, even going by the name "King of Conquests."  He gets what he thinks is an invitation to join in another game, but instead finds himself paired up with a chibi demon named Elsie who tells him he has a task -- to capture loose souls from the hearts of girls by "conquering" them.  Problem is, Keima has never actually "conquered" a girl in real life.  But if he doesn't, both he and Elsie could lose their lives.  So now he's forced to rely on what he knows from dating simulators to figure out how to "conquer" the girls and capture the loose souls.

The first season of the show was a fun ride.  Season 2 has started, and is promising more of the same.  The first arc focuses on a female karate club captain (who is now the only member thanks to the rest of her club quitting two days after she took the position) who is trying to conquer her own personal demon -- she secretly likes cute things.

It's already starting some of the fun humor that the first season had -- the first episode set the tone where we get a recap of what the show is about, then Keima comes into the frame and asks the audience, "Didn't you watch season one?"

Keep an eye out this season.  It's now simulcasting on Crunchyroll.

 

"Blue Exorcist."

Do we really need another shinigami-type show? Why, yes.  Yes, we do.

Rin lives with his twin brother Yukio and Father Fujimoto, the man he's called Dad for as long as he could remember.  In this first episode, Yukio is about to go to the Blue Cross Academy to study, while Rin is facing a possibility of going from job to job and not being able to do anything with his life.  That changes when he saves a little girl from a demon in a grocery store, and when he discovers that he has powers he never heard of, Fujimoto finally tells him the truth -- he's the son of the Devil.

From the preview for next week, I'm assuming that we discover Rin makes the decision to be an exorcist himself. Or else the title would be just silly.

The show actually has some good things going for it.  It has some great effects animation, the writing is sharp, and you really get into it.  I plan to keep watching.

The show is currently simulcasting on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Anime News Network.