At the end of the countdown, the official website of the anime adaptation of Kazue Katou’s Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist) manga has revealed the first visual and promotional video for the upcoming 2017 TV anime.
The anime’s website has revealed that the anime will be titled Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Impure King Arc (Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen) and will feature the titular arc from the manga. It will be set after the events of the first anime season and the 2012 anime film.
The first promotional video for the upcoming season was also released:
The main cast of the previous anime adaptations will return for the 2017 anime. The returning cast includes:
- Nobuhiko Okamoto (Accelerator from Toaru Majutsu no Index) will return to voice Rin Okumura
- Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch Lamperouge in Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch) as Yukio Okumura
- Kana Hanazawa (Kanade Tachibana from Angel Beats!) is back as Shiemi Moriyama
- Kazuya Nakai (Roronoa Zoro from One Piece) is voicing Ryuuji Suguro
- Kouji Yusa (Kyousuke Hyoubu from Zettai Karen Children) will be voicing Renzou Shima
- Yuuki Kaji (Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan) voices Konekomaru Miwa
- Eri Kitamura (Yui from Angel Beats!) voicing the role of Izumo Kamiki
- Ayahi Takagaki (Lisbeth in Sword Art Online) as Kuro
- Rina Satou (Mikoto Misaka in Toaru Majutsu no Index) will be voicing Shura Kirigakure
- Hiroshi Kamiya (Koyomi Araragi from Bakemonogatari) is back to voice Mephisto Pheles
- Keiji Fujiwara (Tatsuya Kimura from Hajime no Ippo) is going to voice Shirou Fujimoto
The leading members of the production staff were also revealed. Whilst animation studio A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso) will be back to produce the anime, there has been changes to the director and series composer:
The director of the new series will be Koichi Hatsumi (Deadman Wonderland, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I), replacing Tensai Okamura (Darker than Black, Nanatsu no Taizai). Toshiya Oono (Gatchaman Crowds, tsuritama) will replace Ryota Yamaguchi (Digimon: Data Squad, Medabots) as series composer.
The returning staff members consist of:
- Music Composer: Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Aldnoah.Zero)
- Anime Character Designer: Keigo Sasaki (Boku dake ga Inai Machi, Nanatsu no Taizai)
Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist) is a supernatural action manga written and illustrated by Kazue Katou. The manga began in 2009 under Shueisha’s Jump SQ Magazine where a total of 16 volumes have been published to date. The series received a TV anime adaptation in 2011 from A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail) and Tensai Okamura (Darker than Black, Nanatsu no Taizai). The series was followed by an anime film in late 2012, directed by Atsushi Takahashi (Rideback). A manga spin-off and a live-stage adaptation were also produced.
Here is the series synopsis from MAL:
Humans and demons are two sides of the same coin, as are Assiah and Gehenna, their respective worlds. The only way to travel between the realms is by the means of possession, like in ghost stories. However, Satan, the ruler of Gehenna, cannot find a suitable host to possess and therefore, remains imprisoned in his world. In a desperate attempt to conquer Assiah, he sends his son instead, intending for him to eventually grow into a vessel capable of possession by the demon king.
Ao no Exorcist follows Rin Okumura who appears to be an ordinary, somewhat troublesome teenager—that is until one day he is ambushed by demons. His world turns upside down when he discovers that he is in fact the very son of Satan and that his demon father wishes for him to return so they can conquer Assiah together. Not wanting to join the king of Gehenna, Rin decides to begin training to become an exorcist so that he can fight to defend Assiah alongside his brother Yukio.
Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Impure King Arc TV anime is in production for 2017. It will animate the next major arc in the manga. Further information about the anime will be revealed at a later date.
You can visit the anime’s website here: http://www.ao-ex.com/
And follow their Twitter: @aoex_anime
“Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Impure King Arc”, “Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujouou-hen”, “Blue Exorcist”, “Ao no Exorcist”, images and all associated brands and titles © 2016 Kazue Katou, Shueisha, A-1 Pictures and the Blue Exorcist Production Committee