I am not a manga person, but Blue Exorcist/ Ao No Exorcist is just one of my favorite stories period. Recently re-read all the released issues again buy purchasing volumes 1-25 and it was so much fun.

I’m glad the book is back to its regular monthly releases and today we have issue 130 hitting stands and it doesn’t dissapoint.

Shiemi’s Destiny: Already heavily implied, but we now have official confirmation of what Shiemi’s role is in the grand scheme of things. She is not destined to become an exorcist but rather the next Shemihaza of the Grigori! Away in the garden she has been training in order to develop her skills and take on her new role. Now, something that particularly caught my attention of this opening sequence is the detail about how time moves through the garden; one week there is just ten minutes in the real world.

This means that since Rin made his quick visit to Shiemi before finishing the story in the past and engaging in his battle with Yukio, MONTHS may have passed for her. We can see this in not just the change of her hair, but her clothing style as well. She has clearly become a fighter and has departed from the shy and scared girl we met at the beginning of the series.

This is FANTASTIC. I am personally not a fan of the bashful girl anime trope, and to see her gain this arc has made me love her even more. At this point there is no doubt that the Shemihaza to appear at the end the issue is a completely trained Shiemi.

What I’m a bit confused about is do the powers of Shemihaza (plant-based) come from the taming of Amaimon? Shiemi’s grandmother seemed to describe the submission of Amaimon from the original Shemihaza as a process that parallels a tamer taking a familiar. This would make sense considering he is the king of earth.

I would have liked to see that battle because Shiemi has, on more than one occassion, had her abusive run-ins with Amaimon and it would have been great to see her force him into submission with her new powers. Now, there is still a chance for some flashback action in issues to follow so here’s hoping. Shemihaza’s “taming” of Amaimon might also explain why the king of earth “sides” with humanity in the great war. He doesn’t have a choice! Speaking of kings…

King of Insects?!: The final king has finally made his appearance! Her Appearance? I actually cannot tell what gender this child is. I love that the little one takes the “king” title very literally with his scepter and royal garb. I am also shocked to see that he sides with humanity in the war of Ghenna and Assiah! this makes team Assiah: Time, Spirits, Earth, and Insects while team Ghenna is Light, Fire, Water, and Rot. four vs. four! Love it!

Battle Royale: June 3? Are you F**** kidding me! This issue was a great build-up but it’s giving me another anxiety… Are we getting ready to END Blue Exorcist!? Is this fight set to be the final arc?! It very well could be, but it also makes me think of the Demon Slayer Manga; that final arc was an INSANE amount of issues; the Final battle was broken into two arcs that consisted of forty-seven issues and twenty-two issues respectively and STARTED at issue 137 (not far from what will begin here at 131).

I am a little bummed that we might not get to see anymore of the relaxed school element of the series, but I am also ready to see the core team of seven show everything they got. I want to see what they have learned. I want to see Bon take Karura back! I want to Koneko have his moment. I want to see Izumo really show off her power as the shrine maidan since we haven’t seen her in action since the nine-tails arc.

It is going to be tough going into this one issue per month but we’re here for the long haul!