Blue Exorcist Vol. 24 is an action-adventure fantasy manga illustrated and written by Mangaka Kazue Kato. The English release is published through VIZ Media. The premise of Blue Exorcist revolves around Rin Okumura, a teenager who discovers he and his twin brother Yukio are the sons of Satan that were birthed by a human woman.
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The main protagonist, Rin, learns that he is the inheritor of Satan’s powers while his twin brother does not seem to have any demonic powers. After Satan kills their adopted father, an exorcist, Father Fujimoto. Rin enrolls at True Cross Academy to become an exorcist and vows to defeat his father, Satan.
Volume 24 consists of chapters 109 through 114. .In this volume, Rin had traveled back in time to witness to the fateful Blue Night when his mother, Yuri Egin, gave birth to both him and his twin brother Yukio. Rin never wanted to see or even know about—his birth, but now he has learned something about himself that he may need in the coming conflict.
Meanwhile, aboard the Illuminati’s airship, Lucifer and his followers move forward with their plans to bring forth Satan and return the world to nothingness. Lucifer has welcomed Yukio as an ally, but Yukio has other plans in store.
Kazue Kato’s illustrations in Blue Exorcist Vol. 24 highlights the range of their range and skills. From the beautiful and thorough details that she puts into backgrounds and character designs. The action scenes with the demons were especially stunning and were my favorite illustrations by far in this volume.
Blue Exorcist Vol. 24 is a great read as it continues coverage of the Blue Night of Remembrance arc. An arc that is one of the best in the series so far, because it has offered a lot of insight and depth into various characters. One character in particular that this arc gives more insight into is the main character, Rin Okumura.
This volume of Blue Exorcist put Rin in the position of having to face his worse fears to learn the truth about his mother, Father Fujimoto, and the role each of them played in the Blue Night. The event that is tied to the Okumura twins’ birth when Satan killed several powerful holy men and exorcists around the world over in an attempt to find a compatible host he could possess.
In this volume, Rin struggles with facing his worst fear, being the source of evil that he’s worked so hard not to become. Even before his birth, everyone, aside from his mother, only saw him as a source of evil, due to his birthright as the son of Satan, who inherited demonic powers.
However, since he learned about his powers and relation to Satan, Rin has strived to retain his sense of self. He doesn’t want to be seen as a demon or a tool of destruction. He wants to preserve himself. Now in Blue Exorcist Vol. 24, I thought it was very powerful writing on Kato’s part to show this insight into the inner turmoil that’s been building up in Rin for years and now manifests after he comes face to face with his truth.
I also appreciated it because it shows more depth and vulnerability to Rin. Even though he is the main protagonist of Blue Exorcist, he is still just a 16-year-old boy. And as such, it is normal for him to have a variety of emotions clashing inside of him after facing his worse fear about his birth and having guilt over his parents’ deaths.
Another thing I liked about this volume is the on-going sub-plot that involves Rin’s rival and classmate, Ryuji, and his mentor Lewin Lightning. As they continue to investigate the Illuminati’s connection to the True Cross Order.
I enjoyed the detail of the conspiracy theory and how deep the creator gives the readers into the conspiracy and investigation. The author has written it so that the sub-plot is connected to the main plot and as the story goes on the two plots are bound to collide with one another.
Overall, I highly recommend picking up Blue Exorcist Vol. 24. This volume shows off Kazue Kato’s range and artistic skills when it comes to illustrations. The story continues to get better and better as it provides more depth and insight into characters and plot alike.
Blue Exorcist Vol. 24 is available in bookstores and online on August 4. To find out where to buy, visit VIZ Media.
'Blue Exorcist', Vol. 24
TL;DR
Overall, I highly recommend picking up Blue Exorcist Vol. 24. This volume shows off Kazue Kato’s range and artistic skills when it comes to illustrations. The story continues to get better and better as it provides more depth and insight into characters and plot alike.
