Blue Exorcist...wow, what a series. You know you've read good manga when the entire day melts away right before your eyes. Now, where to begin. Let's start with the bad.

Characters overall plot are taken from tried and true (and almost cliche at this point) tropes. The angsty teenager main character who sets out to be the best [insert super powerful being here]. You have the regular love interest, whom may never end up with the main character. There are the Tsundere's and the rivals. It's nothing we haven't seen before.

The story also relies on Deus Ex Machina writing to finish off boss battles. DEM writing can be good when used in context, but almost directly conflicts with the style of a shounen battle series. So unfortunately I must call it out on that.

But what the series does well, is its characters and design. Now, I will be the first to say it.... All the characters in Blue Exorcist are hipsters. There, it's all out in the open now. In real life hipsters are obnoxious, but in anime and manga, I will give it a pass since the characters are supposed to be hyper-stylized.

The characters simply look great. The author has gone to lengths and bounds to make the characters unique and interesting in regards to their design. The best designs are with the demon characters, in which the artist unleashes all of his creativity upon.

The overall artwork just blew me away while reading it. The environments are up there with Rurouni Kenshin. Simply eye candy. On some pages I had to just stop reading and stare at the artwork just to soak it in. It truly makes me wonder just how long and how much work went into the art of this manga. Everything about it's aesthetics is simply heaven.

Personality wise, most of the characters you can describe with one word. But others, mostly the main three that he plot revolves around, cannot be described with one word. Which is a God-send. The shounen genre is terrible when it comes to characterization. But, for the three main characters they progressed quite nicely. The three main characters really surprised me. Now, the other characters are not so surprising as they can all be described in one word. As mentioned above, there's the tsundere and then there's the pervert and the weak monk kid. So, I must deduct points for that.

The overall story itself draws parallels with Naruto. So much so that I can recommend you read Blue Exorcist if you liked Naruto.But where the similarities end is where the manga stands out. The plot picks itself up where the anime commits suicide. Everything else is just an introduction to the setting of Blue Exorcist, and if you have already watched the anime I strongly recommend you to begin at volume 4. Because the anime up to volume four sticks closely to the manga.

The ratings I give this manga are Story: 9, Art: 10, Character: 8, Enjoyment: 10, and Overall: 9. I cannot recommend this manga enough for fans of the shounen genre. It was a treat to read and is worth reading once at the very least.

Edit: As I sat on my opinions of BE, I seemed to have more to say. And instead of providing a general consumer review I will use this edit to touch upon the literary elements of the series. I will be examining some of the characters which delves into their personalities quite a bit. Which walks the line between spoilers and no spoilers. I must say that here I do not put any spoilers at all, which s true. But I will be examining the character's personalities. Which can make some people uneasy. So, if that makes you uneasy I recommend that you go no further. But If you don't mind knowing some of the character's personalities continue on, by all means!

Blue Exorcist is a beautiful coming of age story. It reminds the reader of what it is like to be a teenager again. The author takes his reader back to his or her youth using brilliant fantastical storytelling.

The characters of Satan and Father Fujimoto being the most compelling and brilliant of all. Where in the series the father of the main character (Rin) is Satan and the priest Father Fujimoto has taken Rin in and raised him as his son. The Character of Satan is symbolic of the distorted views we have of our parents when we are teenagers. Versus Father Fujimoto who is how our parents really are.

The main character was also well written. He embodies all it is to be a teenager. He is fifteen (15) years old and is going through all of the changes that come with being a teenager. He is beginning to get interested in girls and, like all teenagers, develops a crush on the most attractive girl he sees who happens to be close to him as well.

Also, at the same time he is trying to find out who he is as a person, and is unsure of himself. Which is how many teenagers feel. Sometimes in the normal teenage period, some teenagers in their search for themselves may feel like they may be the child of Satan as well!

Rin's fraternal twin brother, Yukio, is also heavily themed and literary. But unlike Rin, who is a template for the average teenager, Yukio is the template for the not so average teenager. The character of Yukio is one who is heavily traumatized. He is fifteen (15) years old as well, but because of his traumatic childhood, it forces him to grow up. So be becomes a really strong character. BUT! No matter how "grown up" he is, Yukio is still only fifteen years old. And he naively tries to shoulder everyone's burdens upon himself. And there are many teenagers out there who have experienced something similar and try the same thing. Unfortunately all of their efforts will be futile because as teenagers they lack the experience and wisdom necessary to successfully shoulder those burdens. So almost 100% of the time they will collapse.

Again, as I sat and thought about it. The literary elements just came to light. And for any literary elements to be in a SHOUNEN MANGA, it is very rare. Blue Exorcist is highly underrated and deserves to be more known.