Thank you for stopping by Anime Rants. Today, I’ll present my thoughts on Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow Saga episode 2, which is appropriately titled, “Distress.” Yukio is going through a lot at this point in the story. There will be no recap section, but I will definitely discuss some important points, including Yukio’s distress.

Episode Rating: 7/10

There were two points where the visuals threw me off with their lower quality and/or unusual styles. First of all, the naiads (water spirits) summoned by Yukio looked uncanny and did not blend into the surrounding style in the slightest. Secondly, there was a moment where the camera focused on a still-shot of Shiemi for way too long. She looks stupid in that frame, and dwelling on it longer did nothing to help.

Unlike the off-putting visual style, the music in Blue Exorcist has always been excellent. The first season’s music was composed by Hiroyuki Sawano. I’m not sure about the second season, but later seasons had music composed by Kohta Yamamoto in addition to reused and remixed tracks from Sawano. At several points during this episode, I appreciated the music. Yamamoto may not be as distinct or creative as Sawano, but his sound tracks are still great in my opinion.

Now let’s talk about Yukio. He’s been trying to figure out why he awakened to demonic powers that activate blue flames like those of Satan. The stress is intense because the True Cross Order isn’t going to appreciate him having demonic abilities. He could lose all standing in the exorcist world. Yukio is one of the sons of Satan, but he’s convinced that his powers are not hereditary because, if they were, the True Cross Order would have identified it in his physical exams. So where did this power come from?

Rather than speculate about why this power manifested, I’m more interested in Yukio’s mental state. He seems to be ok with Rin being an exorcist despite his demonic heritage. After all, despite his fears and insecurities, Yukio loves Rin. However, I don’t think Yukio loves himself. If he has demon powers, he can’t accept himself. He can’t forgive himself. He will think of himself as a monster. Yukio desperately needs support from others, but he’s isolating himself to test his powers in dangerous ways.

Yukio’s way of trying to confirm his powers is basically indistinguishable from suicide attempts. He’s putting himself in danger so his survival response will trigger the demonic power to activate. Yukio doesn’t intend to die, so he’s not literally attempting suicide. But the imagery is very similar, and I think that adds to the idea that Yukio has strong feelings of self-loathing. I hope he reaches out for help soon. At the end of this episode, he’s assigned to a mission with Rin to find the missing Shura. Hopefully, this will provide an opportunity to open up to Rin.

I have two other quick notes. First of all, the scenes of awkwardness between Shiemi and Rin were a bit hard to get through. They are both so young and clueless. But watching their reactions and emotions is also entertaining and cute. I think Shiemi does have romantic feelings for Rin, but she’s not aware of it or perhaps not ready to accept it yet. Despite all the nervous blushing and secondhand embarrassment, I want to see Rin and Shiemi happy together.

My final note is just to say that I liked some of the light-hearted scenes in this episode. The boys’ study group scene was great. I especially loved when Suguro said he was “smitten” with Lightning. I’m sure I’m not the only one who reads Suguro as a gay or bisexual boy in denial. My pre-existing head-canon for him made his declaration even funnier. That’s all for today.

~Thanks for Reading~

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