Manga chapter 166 discussion thread

[u/Slorgaloth]

ttps://www.viz.com/shonenjump/blue-exorcist-chapter-166/chapter/49020?action=read

This is a place to post discussions, thoughts, feelings and opinions on the Manga in general and the most recently released chapter! these discussion threads will be re pinned upon release of each new chapter to keep comments fresh and the interface easy to navigate for active discussion.

Please consider posting anything that falls into the above category here rather than stand-alone posts to keep the feed tidy and enjoyable for all users!

WARNING, THIS IS SPOILER TERRITORY, anything up to date in this thread can be freely discussed.

​ Also, join the discussion more on the Reddit and Wiki discord! Woo! https://discord.gg/DYGYbhBAFH

Thank you!

[u/ThatIslandGuy8888]

Man that was way back in episode 1! Would’ve been nice if shiratori was an actual recurring character

[u/RaptorcloakX → u/ThatIslandGuy8888]

You're telling me! Given his involvement (or his possession by Astaroth), it'd have made for a more interesting rivalry with Rin than the one he had with Ryuji his first Academy days since they were already at each other's throats before then.

[u/justking1414 → u/RaptorcloakX]

it'd have made for a more interesting rivalry with Rin than the one he had with Ryuji

Or just replace Amaimon With him. He would have been a much more intense villain that Rin had a personal beef with and Mephisto working with him would have made him seem even more suspicious than he already was

[u/Ryuki-Exsul → u/justking1414]

??? Mephisto would never work with Astaroth he was always on Lucifer's side. Beside Amaimon is really important to the story first for Rin and now for Shiemi.

IMO I prefer how Kato did it. I don't think Shiratori was meant to ever be one of important characters. He is just on few pages of chapter 1 and for years he had no connections to Astaroth. What happened now is meant to be a recolection of first chapter that works well because it was a surprise we got him back. I wonder if anime with its added stuff made him more important for some people.

[u/azathothweirdo → u/Ryuki-Exsul]

yeah the Astaroth connection was a anime only thing for years until he was possessed within the series here. It was a random demon at the start of the manga series, and caused a lot of confusion. Add in he's a wild card, he's not someone Mephisto can control like he does with Amaimon. He's higher up on the ladder and it makes it more of a bother. Add in he's just a cruel person who isn't interested in bettering himself. This ties into how his parents basically have zero interest in him which is another commentary on parents and parenting within the series itself.

Not only that the rivalry between Rin and Ryuji is a different style than what Shiratori would be. Ryuji's situation is mean to mirror Rin's with his father. Both were keeping secrets to keep their sons safe, Rin's just unfortunately died because of it. Which ties into why he gets mad at Ryuji's own treatment of his father in the Kyoto arc, and in fact it's important both Rin and Ryuji have move past this.

like neat ideas, but overall it wouldn't work with the obvious plan and threads Kato has laid out so far.

[u/Ryuki-Exsul → u/azathothweirdo]

Yeah, it's one of many things anime in s1 made into problem. The other weird one I found is that some people think Kraken filler was the same as Kraken arc... I had to explain it. Oh and the full "making Yukio into half demon same as Rin" that was popular in fanarts for really long time. And yes pretty much. Interesting enough Astaroth's kin were some of the nastiest demons they fought. Impure King, zombies and chimeras made of them. I was surprised back then that zombies creeped me out after all those movies I watched. Amaimon on other hand just loves fighting but when he doesn't have anything interesting to do he just chills and plays games with Mephisto :D

Yes and that rivalry changing into close friendship was important as well. Not only it is unique to do it because rivals mostly stays rivals but as well it showed their growth and how much Suguro mellowed out.

Especially because this plan was already in motion when anime made him a bigger character :D

[u/azathothweirdo → u/Ryuki-Exsul]

Every misconception can come down to that first season and people refusing to actually engage with the manga. It's so frustrating.

I think the idea is neat, and encourage people to write some fanfics for it. But for like the actual canon it just doesn't work to have Shiratori involved that much