New Blue Exorcist TV Anime's Returning Cast, New Staff, Plot, 2017 Premiere Revealed

The August issue of Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine revealed the main cast, staff, and plot information on Monday for the new Blue Exorcist television anime series. The new series, titled Ao no Exorcist: Kyoto Fujō Ō-hen (Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Impure King Arc), will debut in 2017.

The returning cast includes:
Nobuhiko Okamoto as Rin Okumura
Jun Fukuyama as Yukio Okumura
Kana Hanazawa as Shiemi Moriyama
Kazuya Nakai as Ryuji Suguro
Koji Yusa as Renzo Shima
Yuuki Kaji as Konekomaru Miwa
Eri Kitamura as Izumo Kamiki
Ayahi Takagaki as Kuro
Rina Satou as Shura Kirigakure
Hiroshi Kamiya as Mephisto Pheles
Keiji Fujiwara as Shiro Fujimoto

Koichi Hatsumi (Deadman Wonderland, Gangsta., Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King) is replacing Tensai Okamura as the director of the new series at A-1 Pictures. Toshiya Ono (The Perfect Insider, tsuritama, Gatchaman Crowds) is handling the series composition, replacing Ryota Yamaguchi. Keigo Sasaki is returning from the first season to design the characters, and Hiroyuki Sawano is returning to compose the music alongside newcomer Kohta Yamamoto (the same Legendoor management company represents both artists).

The anime's official website will stream a promotional video later on Monday.

The anime will adapt the "Kyoto Impure King Arc" that started in the fifth volume of Kazue Katō's original manga. Viz Media describes the manga's fifth volume as follows:

In the late Edo Period, a demon known as the Impure King killed thousands of people. After defeating the demon, the Knights of the True Cross kept its left eye safely sealed away on Academy grounds - but now someone has stolen it! Hearing the thief has taken a child hostage, Yukio and Rin go to help. The investigation and pursuit will lead Rin and his friends to Kyoto and involve them even deeper in a sinister plot! But will his friends' knowledge that Rin is the son of Satan drive a wedge between them?

The issue also revealed a visual for the anime, and asked fans to look forward to an announcement later for the voice cast for Saburota Todo and Mamushi Hojo, two characters who will appear for the first time in the sequel.

Katō launched the manga in Jump SQ. magazine in 2009, and Shueisha published the 17th compiled volume on Monday. The manga inspired a 25-episode television anime adaptation in 2011, and an anime film in 2012.

The supernatural manga focuses on Rin Okumura, a boy raised by a famous exorcist named Father Fujimoto. After an argument between the two, Rin discovers he is the son of Satan. Rin decides to fight his fate by joining the True Cross Academy to become an exorcist and defeat demons. However, when he draws his father's sword, it releases a dark power within him.

Viz Media publishes the manga in English simultaneously digitally as new chapters are published in Japan, and the company also releases the manga in print. Aniplex of America released the previous anime adaptations. The manga has also inspired several stage plays, the most recent of which will run in Tokyo in August. The latest stage play will also adapt the Kyoto Impure King Arc.
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