Feel like Blue Exorcist has been laying the battles on thick lately? Don’t fret, because volume 9 eases off the throttle (if only slightly) to explore the finer things in life: intrigue, romance, vacations, and girls in bikinis—I know, I know, try to contain your excitement.  

But first, an epic battle: the manga kicks off with the conclusion of the fight between Rin and the humongous (and horrifically gassy) Impure King. Rin has the help of the powerful fire god—and age-old foe of the Impure King­—Ucchusma, but is Rin strong enough to actually wield the Ucchusma-infused Koma Sword? Or will the god’s roaring flames consume Rin and unleash his mad inner demon?

The volume also features some romance—and by “romance” I mostly mean “lots of forlorn looks, blushing faces, awkward misunderstandings, and repressed feelings,” but hey, it’s a nice change of pace from the nonstop demon slaying we’ve been seeing for the last few chapters. There’s even a marriage proposal! I don’t want to give away who it is, so instead I’ll insert a misleading image here that hopefully eats away at your curiosity until you give in and read the volume. 

We also see some intrigue and general sneakiness revolving around—who else—Mephisto Pheles. His motives for involving himself with Rin are still a mystery. Shura and Yukio, in particular, are suspicious of his antics, but without solid proof of anything, they can do little more than keep an eye on him. Shura makes it clear though that she is not amused.

We also get to see Rin really reconnect with his fellow Exwires as they hit up Kyoto’s tourist spots for some well-deserved R&R and bonding time.

The relationship between Rin and his friends post-“hey, I’m the son of Satan”-reveal has been rocky and tense, and this brief vacation allows them to smooth things over and enjoy being normal teenagers for once—everyone except the serious Yukio, that is.

And what vacation is complete without a trip to the beach? The Exwires throw on some trunks and bikinis (not at the same time, weirdo) and hit the beach! It’s not all fun in the sun though, as they soon find out they’re sharing the water with none other than a giant rampaging kraken!

Can Rin and the gang turn this giant squid into calamari, or is their vacation going to be cut short? Pick up Blue Exorcist volume 9 to find out!

by Gretchen Smail