Blue Exorcist: The Movie (Anime Movie)

[tardar-sauce]

Oh, that makes sense. And it is very far away from Yukio's view of things. Yukio has a personal vendetta against them. Or, so to say, his personal feelings are a large part of why he hates them so much. He truly hates demons, but views Order-loyalists as an exception.

[NeeNee]

Am I the only one who was surprised that Lui never doubted Rin's loyalty? I mean, this is a demon preventing exorcists from hurting other demons. That should sound alarming to even the most trusting of exorcists, and Liu isn't the most trusting. And yet, the topic was never brought up at all.

I understand that they already beat the issue to death in the anime and probably didn't want to repeat it, but now the difference is so big that it feels like a plothole (especially since the movie is supposed to take place somewhere halfway the anime).

[Jae]

Oh, that makes sense. And it is very far away from Yukio's view of things. Yukio has a personal vendetta against them. Or, so to say, his personal feelings are a large part of why he hates them so much. He truly hates demons, but views Order-loyalists as an exception.

This is why Yukio can't have nice things. He's very emotional, whereas Liu is a sedate person (and thus less prone to be high strung, much less destructive). Boy should calm down and get a nice massage one of these days.

Am I the only one who was surprised that Lui never doubted Rin's loyalty? I mean, this is a demon preventing exorcists from hurting other demons. That should sound alarming to even the most trusting of exorcists, and Liu isn't the most trusting. And yet, the topic was never brought up at all.

I understand that they already beat the issue to death in the anime and probably didn't want to repeat it, but now the difference is so big that it feels like a plothole (especially since the movie is supposed to take place somewhere halfway the anime).

I was under the impression that he had time to sort out any mixed feelings on Rin prior to the film, judging by his casually bringing up the subject to Shura. He forms a concrete opinion once he sees the enigmatic son of Satan in action, and then he treats Rin for exactly what he is: a stupid, naive boy who doesn't know what he's doing.

That naivety is very familiar to Liu. By the halfway point, he's intimately aware of how Rin's mind works; however, he underestimates the extent of Rin's willpower due to the lack of his own in his childhood. Rin's choice deviates from Liu's expectations; this is what surprises him when they clash.

Liu's apparent apathy to Rin's heritage makes sense if he has a pinch of demon blood or is just used to the idea. Either way, there are no more surprises left after that; a stupid boy doing a stupid thing isn't worth the hullabaloo. The movie played an awkward twist by inserting a character with no outward reaction to Rin's special circumstance, but it worked due to Liu's sheer lack of an impression. He humanized Rin from the start, and, because of that, he didn't have expectations.

[manypets4me]

This movie was very interesting and colorful, but most of all it was one of the most emotional anime movies I have seen by far. 

[Jae]

I agree on how colorful the film was. I was a big fan of the vibrancy, which made it visually appealing and all the more deceptive of the occasional dark and eerie undertones.

That one soundtrack is also creepy as all get-out at the halfway point.


There's approximately enough material left for one more post for the short story. The newest update is the point where Liu opens up to Yukio a little, and where we learn that he's at least a better heavy drinker than Shura.

Yukio is at the end of his wits.

Of course, Mephisto would be expected to suggest games and manga. What's funny is how they refer to the stuff in relatively formal terms. Though the implication that Liu is willing to potentially buy all games and manga starting with "BI" is, financially speaking, frightening.

(Incidentally, my favorite line is Liu's "I was uncharacteristically stubborn.")

[tardar-sauce]

It means, as many people have assumed on tumblr, Liu or his family is FREAKING RICH.

[Jae]

Everything that's been said points to that, yeah. They should be minimally well-to-do, at the least. Material loss doesn't bother Liu at all, like with the malfunction of his phone, so his family must be economically comfortable, if perhaps thinking in tandem on their beliefs regarding materialism (Liu is implied to be Taoist).

[tardar-sauce]

"Implied?" I think he is blatantly Taoist, and rightfully so, since it competes with Buddhism as the most common religion in Taiwan by far. Both are at about 33% of the population following them.

Oh, did I mention I have a little headcanon that the Liu family is actually a merger of two different exorcist families? The indigeneous Taiwanese weren't Taoist, and wouldn't have had a Chinese name like "Liu". I think the families merged, and took the name Liu, when the Chinese were emigrating to Taiwan and brought their religion with them.

I only did a precursory study of Taiwanese history though... :/

[Jae]

I only say "implied," because there's no explicit statement of thus that I've seen in canon material. But it's quite obvious, yes!

I like the headcanon! It would make a lot of sense for all the reasons you've stated. I may use the idea for the future fics that I've been meaning to write for ages. If I ever find the motivation.

That reminds me, Liu's given name (成龍) is written with the same characters as Jackie Chan's stage name. Hence my joke that John's birth name must be Chon Wang. I have the lamest sense of humor.

[tardar-sauce]

Chon Wang huh? I'd take, but I've already started calling him Jinshu. XD Based on the Rat from the zodiac, and a descriptor of the Rat's behavior. Yeah...if I knew more about the different Chinese mythologies I'd have called him something different. I think the Zodiac is a cop-out.

Where did you get that from?

Jackie's brother or something?

I still like it.

Liu's given name is based on one of the four cardinal directions in some sort of Chinese mythology (I forgot the specifics). You probably know them as the four beasts: Suzaku, Seiryu, Byakko, and Genbu. The ones from Fushigi Yugi, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. The Chinese names are Zhuque, Chenglong, Baihu, and Xuanwu, respectively.

Which...I assigned to other Lius before I knew about John. XD Otherwise would have used Xuanwu. Zhuque is the grandpa in my headcanon.

Wait, does Grandpa have a name in the novel?! I NEED TO KNOW. D:

I only found out about Chenglong and the four beasts by coincidence. Liu keeps calling himself "Seiryu" in Japanese, and I researched it a bit.

That may be why Jackie called himself that. It's a cool name.

Are the kanji characters the same, though?

[manypets4me]

Liu should show up in the manga, even if it is a unimportant role his face should show up.  I can hope

[Jae]

Chon Wang huh? I'd take, but I've already started calling him Jinshu. XD Based on the Rat from the zodiac, and a descriptor of the Rat's behavior. Yeah...if I knew more about the different Chinese mythologies I'd have called him something different. I think the Zodiac is a cop-out.

Where did you get that from?

Jackie's brother or something?

I still like it.

It's the name of a character Jackie Chan played in a film. Another character misunderstood it as "John Wayne." No research done at all for this one, haha.

I like Jinshu. It rolls off the tongue nicely.

Wait, does Grandpa have a name in the novel?! I NEED TO KNOW. D:

I have no idea! If I ever nab the novel one of these days, I'll be sure to skim for that for you.

I only found out about Chenglong and the four beasts by coincidence. Liu keeps calling himself "Seiryu" in Japanese, and I researched it a bit.

That may be why Jackie called himself that. It's a cool name.

Are the kanji characters the same, though?

Seiryuu (セイリュウ) is the Japanese reading of Liu's name, much as how it would be along the lines of, say, Seong-Ryong in Korean. I rather like the idea of his name being based on Qinglong, even if their characters differ by one.

Liu and Jackie's name means "become [the] dragon," and is written exactly the same. Qinglong's is "blue dragon."

Liu should show up in the manga, even if it is a unimportant role his face should show up.  I can hope

I'm hoping with you. Katou labored to design him, so it would be great to see him used more.

[tardar-sauce]

Katou really did design him?!

Wait, it's Quinglong....?! Oh craaaaaaaap, I misread it. My epileptic tree....

Why does he call himself Seiryu then?

(It just dawned on me, after a precursory google search with no noteworthy results, that Jackie Chan may indeed be his namesake. Though some people have "misread" the blue dragon as Chenglong."

[MetallicArcher]

I hadn't paid attention Liu was using the Japanese reading of the ideograms of his name during the movie... But, as far as I understand, that quite common for the Chinese who move into Japan... The Japanese that move to China do the same (have the kanji of their names read with the Chinese reading).

[tardar-sauce]

I guess so. That's really misleading! Normally there's more thought put into the names, so I assumed it was THAT Seiryuu automatically.

So yeah, Imma steal Jae's name for John. :p If one has an actor/character namesake, they should all have it. :p