Blue Exorcist/Headscratchers

• In the anime, what's up with Faust showing up at the beginning of episode 3, and Rin acting like they had a long discussion about him becoming an exorcist? Am I gonna have to read the manga for this show to make any sense? That's not necessarily a bad thing, but a bit of heads up would have been nice.
  • I had to warn a friend about this. Go back to episode 2 and watch past the ending theme. Your question will be answered.
• It was established early on that demons couldn't manifest outside Gehenna without possessing someone or something from the mortal world. So how come most of the demons we've seen so far seem to have bodies of their own? The familiars, the Leapers, Mephy and Amaimon, etc.
  • I thought it was just Satan who needed to possess to get into Assiah...
  • Good question. I've thought about that for a while actually. I'm pretty sure that familiars can go wherever their masters want them to go, no matter what. If they've been summoned, then that should give them enough power to stay in Assiah. As for Mephy - I just love calling him that, don't you? - and Amaimon, I came to the conclusion that they were both just that powerful or privileged. They're Princes of Hell, after all. There may be some sort of loop-hole for them. Possible Wild Mass Guessing here, but it seems to me that only Satan - who's probably just way too powerful to be in Assiah in his "true" form without causing everything around him to fall apart - and a few other types of demons have to possess someone. But I'm not sure, so I'd like to get some Word of God on this at some point.
  • I thought familiars simply possessed whatever magic circle/paper they were summoned from, which is why all familiars disappear when the papers are torn/magic circles disrupted. It's possible that Amaimon and Mephistos are actually possessing bodies that are not their own?
  • I might just be assuming here, but aren't Mephisto and Amaimon Half Human Hybrids like Rin? If they were, then they would have no need to possess bodies.
    • ^ But if they were, then why is Rin so special to Satan? If Mephisto was half-human then Satan would have been able to have a body in Assiah for about 200 years and not have to wait for Rin the Accident to have happened.
      • Satan stated that Rin was special because he inherited all of Satan's powers(the blue flames), a feat that none of other sons of Satan managed to replicate, presumably.(Mephistos and Amaimon were never seen using anything like Rin's flames)
    • It's been confirmed in the manga that Amaimon is possessing a certain male's body. It is no far stretch to assume that Mephisto is doing the same.
  • If you look on the demon guide on the official site, it states what each demon possess. Leapers are demons that possess frogs, hobgoblins possess small mice etc. Basically, none of the demons who seem to have bodies actually have one - they're just possessing something else and causing it physical changes.
• exwire? esquire? just what is that rank supposed to be called? why are at least some of the official streams using exwire while the manga goes with esquire, and the translations by the fans tend to go with exwire? exwire makes no sense, but esquire shouldn't be hard to romanize properly since the first two kana of it romanize to "esuku" an an "ex" romanization should come from something that starts with two kana that romanize to "eku" (keeping in mind the romanization of the kana for Exorcist is Ekusoshisuto). personal theory is both are wrong and it's supposed to be a portmanteau of "exorcist squire" but there's nothing I've found yet to confirm or deny that.
  • Well, according to volume two of the manga, in English it's 'Esquire', and that's pretty official if I must say so myself. Although personally I think 'Exwire' is easier to say and more pleasant to hear.
    • Viz isn't always reliable, as is the case in their release of FMA where they alternate between Lin and Ling from time to time (granted, the mangaka does too on occasion, but you'd think a translation at least could fix an issue like that, after all, in the past it's typically be fixed in official translations). plus in the anime if you listen there is a hard sound at the beginning like "eku," not a soft sound like an "esu" would get. it does make it sound like "exwire" but then the first rank is page, and in knight training it goes page, then squire, and if there's a hard sound before there it is entirely possible "exquire" (which would be pronounced almost exactly like "exwire") would make sense if it's intended to mean "exorcist squire" and make more sense (especially when there are knight and paladin ranks as well) whereas "exwire" just seems like the odd title out.
• I usually don't think too hard about these things but I just want some confirmation on this, what exactly was going on when Yukio was reading the letter? As they read it in chapter 24, the flashback that accompanied his letter melded with what I presumed was going on in the present, because in chapter 24, Tatsuma (Bon's dad) caught up with Toudo and then had his Big Damn Heroes moment. And then, in Chapter 25 he loses against Toudo, falls, possibly dies, while Yukio finishes the letter with the message that Rin should defeat the impure king with the Koumaken. Now, here is what I don't understand: This Big Damn Heroes moment, where Toudo then gets the upper hand, and unleashed the impure king, that was happening in the present. Which means when Tatsuma wrote the letter, the impure king wasn't released yet, but the way he wrote about it implied that it already was. Does that mean that Tatsuma knew he was going to lose that battle, and that the impure king would be revived after he wrote that letter to Rin?
  • covering all bases in case of potential failure mayhaps?
• This is a minor nitpick that's been bugging me for a while now. Mepphy Land?
  • Yeah, someone working on the whole project probably made a mistake. Personally I like to think that, much like Mephisto's Fan Nickname is "Mephy," he also has a similar in-universe nickname. And, since he lives in Japan, that winds up being spelled "Mepphy." Mephisto might have seen it, knew it was wrong but thought it looked nice that way, and then built/named the amusement park in honor of his fans/students. It seems like something he would do. If this explanation doesn't work for you, consider it just a little translation error and recite the MST3K Mantra.
  • I'm not quite sure why this is a problem? Is that slang for something I just don't know about?
    • No, it's simply a misspelling. Mephistos = a single P, not a pair of them.
• Something that's been bugging me. It has been said that both of Konekomaru's parents died on the Blue Night 16 years ago. However, he is 15 years old. How does that make sense?
  • Authors can't do math? Alternately, they died pretty much IMMEDIATELY after he was born, and people round numbers. "16 years ago" sounds better than "15 years, 7 months, and four days ago".
• That snake-eye girl just helped unleashed a plague why the hell are they being so cool about it?
  • The plague itself. They have more important things to worry about than berating her for her mistakes. A lot of innocent lives are in danger, and they don't have the time to give the girl a lecture.
• I get that Rin is the one who inherited Satan's powers and is therefore (at least on the surface) much more dangerous than Yukio. But all do these people talking about the "Son of Satan" seriously not realize that--by virtue of being Rin's brother--Yukio is Satan's son, too? In the manga at least, several characters have remarked that due to his tendency to bottle his emotions, Yukio is much more susceptible to turning into a demon than Rin is. The anime's also dropping hints that Yukio's on the verge of losing it. And the Vatican is worried about Rin, who has only gone berserk when pushed/defending his friends and has clearly shown he wants nothing to do with Satan except to smash his face in? Nice Double Standard there, guys.
  • What do you expect? All that you say is true but Rin's blue flames are much more blatant and in-your-face than Yukio's blood relations and emotional instabilities. People are influenced strongly by visuals and Rin gives the Vatican (as well as Rin's class mates) plenty of that. Hence the Double Standard. Also it may have something to do with the fact that Yukio has been studying as an exorcist for a long time and, as shown in the trial against Rin, this is given some weight and trust even if you are a demon like Mephisto. Rin is something of an experiment, and the Vatican isn't used to him being around. Izumo at the very least has some sense and doesn't mind Rin's family relations at all. So really, it could just be the Vatican being corrupt and shallow. Considering the personality of their current paladin Arthur, this wouldn't be surprising.
  • Confirmed by anime episode 22. Yukio actually does have Satan's powers, and he was tested positive, but he kept it from everyone else until the end of the episode.
• Okay, seriously, I need to know. How in the world did Satan get Yuri pregnant? The anime makes it sound like he was only possessing her, but how does that lead to a pregnancy? Or am I incorrect and there was some type of physical interaction? Wait...that means he would have had to possess someone else...OH GOOD GOD! Ew, ew, ew, EW TO THE TENTH POWER, EW! Someone please tell me that last thing I just said was wrong...
  • Seems a bit unlikely, since in most cases, anyone he possess dies within a matter of seconds. Unless there is someone else resistant to his flames like Yuri was.
• This is just for the anime, but it's something that REALLY bugs me: did they have no understanding of how the Catholic Church operates? Take for example, how Yuri, Rin's mother, is stated to be the daughter of Egin, A DAMN CARDINAL OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH! I mean, isn't one of the rules for being a cardinal/priest/ANYTHING in Catholicism that you can't have sex or kids? Second, also in the anime, how is Egin just able to become Pope overnight? Seriously, HOW?
  • Well, that's not entirely true. In history, there have been a few sexually active popes. While Catholicism is strict, it is not set in stone. Depending on what type it is and what the person's beliefs are, it can vary. I mean, look at Bon, Shima, and Konekomaru's temple. In Buddhism, you're supposed to separate yourself from Earthly desires and objects. Well, Shima's dad has seven kids, Bon's dad is the head priest and he had to have Bon (plus he drinks a lot), and Konekomaru has to come from somewhere. There are a few priests who have children. So, you see, it IS possible for a holy man to have children, it's just not very common. As for your second question, you have to remember, Egin had a whole lot of new, high-tech weapons and men behind him, so it's not like he just took over the whole operation himself. Well, I'm not too sure, if that's the answer you were looking for, but that's what you get from me.
  • Even if the celibacy rule is still in effect, a widower can be ordained provided that he has not been married more than once. Now it certainly goes against protocol to ordain a man as a bishop if he has rebellious children, but if we assume that his wife is long dead, the vow of celibacy is no impediment.
• Something that's been kinda' bugging me for a bit. In episode 17 when Konekomaru was possessed by Gale for some reason, no one could see the dark, red-eyes, totally obvious demon sitting right there on Konekomaru's shoulder. Why the heck is that?!
  • To add to that, why was Rin just madly attacking Konekomaru? It was obvious nobody else saw the demon. If he'd just stopped to explain WHY he was suddenly shooting fire at his classmate, the whole situation could have been solved right there.
• This one is relatively minor, but it still had me going "????" Okay, so take a good look at Amaimon. He's arguably the skinniest character in the show. Flash forward a few episodes and we see him in hampster form and he is the absolute fattest hampster EVER. What???? At first I thought that maybe it was how his weight had to be transformed to fit the hampster.... And then I remembered Mephisto. Who can transform into a tiny dog. Except he doesn't get all crazy fat. So....what?
  • I think probably just because the animators thought it would be cute.