Bleach VS Blue Exorcist

I'm a fan of Bleach and Blue Exorcist so one thing I couldn't help noticing is how similar they both are which naturally lead me to ask, "which one does it better?" That's what I'm going to try to answer.

Characters

I can't be the only person noticing the similar character designs...

The most obvious similarity between the two is the characters. While Blue Exorcist's cast might not be as large as Bleach's (but then again whose is?) there is some unmistakable overlap.

Ichigo vs Rin-This is the most obvious comparison. Both are hotheads who don't always think things through. Both tend to get in fights and in trouble. Both mean well and would do anything to protect the people they care about. If I had to chose between the two I'd say Rin is the better character. He just gets a much better introduction. With Rin we get the tragic, albeit somewhat cliched story of revenge. Satan kills his father through Rin's own foolishness and Rin vows revenge. And this is made all the more effective because before and even after he dies we get to see examples of why father fujimoto is such an awesome guy. Ichigo eventually gets a tragic backstory about the death of his mother but it's not as developed as much. Again I like both characters but Rin is just slightly better developed.

Shura vs the countless bleach fanservice characters-I'd have to say Shura loses this one. Whenever I see her character all I can think about his how she's only her to the teenage boys reading the manga. At least some of the fan service characters in Bleach (Yuirichi) actually are interesting.

Shiemi vs Orihime- Honestly I can't stand either of them. They're both useless and only there to serve as love interests for the main characters.

Everybody else-I can't help but feel that Blue Exorcist is the superior of the two. Bleach just has waaaay to many characters. There's not enough time to develop most of them so they're essentially window dressing. Blue Exorcist on the other hand has focus entirely on developing it's smaller but better rounded cast of characters. Point to Blue Exoricst

Story

This is a bit more tricky not only because the similarities here are a bit more subtle but also because they both have their strengths and their weaknesses. So they both start off the same, our stubborn and rough around the edges protagonists find out about a whole other world beyond the one they've known their whole life. Namely some monsters (hollows and demons) that are unseen to most people pose a threat to their world and both characters, along with their friends take up the fight against these creatures. Now what do I like about each. Well with Bleach I do find the world very interesting, the hollows, soul reapers, and soul society are all very interesting concepts. I also enjoyed the first story arc were the heroes have to rescue Rukia. We get introduced to this interesting world and we're invested in Inchigo's quest because in the short time we've seen Rukia we've come to like her character so we want to see her saved. The problem is that after a fantastic first arc the story begins to collapse under it's own weight. There's too many characters, too much stuff going on. If the writer was smart the next couple of story arcs would have dealt with developing each of the many soul reapers introduced and showing us a bit more about how the soul society works. Instead we get another kidnapping story (this time it's Orihime) and even more underdeveloped characters dumped on us. And from there the story continues to devolve into mindless action. It's pretty upsetting actually because the first arc is so solid and is a pretty good set up. The whole thing just feels like a lot of wasted potential. Blue Exorcist has been more consistent in it's storytelling and while it's never had an arc quite on par with the rescue Rukia arc of Bleach, it's never quite let me down in the same way either. It knows what it wants to be and how to go about it. Blue Exorcist is a lot more consistent in tone and pacing and again, for me at least ultimately is the superior of the two. 

Action

But these are both Shonen so what's the action like? Well with Bleach we have a lot of really creative fights involving the different abilities of each zanpakuto (the soul reaper's swords) that make for really enjoyable fight scenes. The way the manga isn't afraid to have blood spew from every wound also helps to make the fights feel more intense, they carry weight and feel real. It's clear a lot of thought goes into every fight scene. 

Blue Exorcist has decent fights too, but none are quite on par with Bleach's. Blue Exorcist seems more involved with story telling and character development, which while I appreciate this, it also means the fight scenes don't get the same focus as those in Bleach. Point for Bleach.

Art

How does each manga look? Well Bleach certainly has more interesting character designs. In fact there some of my favorite out of any anime I've watched. Each character is distinct and unique but at the same time that's about it. Blue Exorcist has decent character designs as well, and beautiful detailed backgrounds. Seriously I love the backgrounds in this manga. I also appreciate all the extras and effort that clearly goes into making the manga volumes really nice. Something not nearly as evident in the bleach volumes. 

So again I'd say Blue Exorcist wins this one.

Conclusion

So if Blue Exorcist is clearly the superior of the two why is Bleach so much more popular? Well I can only speculate but I think there's several reasons why.

1. Bleach came first. It beat Blue Exorcist to the punch by almost ten years.

2. Anime. Bleach had a 366 episode run. That's a long time. A long time of new episodes and new twists and new things for people to discuss Blue Exorcist only got 25 episodes and the later half of the show didn't even follow the manga. The show came and went and so the conversation didn't last as long. The shitty second half probably didn't help either.

3. Bleach is more of a shonen than Blue Exorcist. Even though I think Bleach's cast is more of a problem than an asset as far as character development goes that massive cast means there's plenty for fans to talk about. Everyone can have their own favorite, fans can talk about which character they think would win in a fight, and everyone can have their own head canons. It caters to fan speculation. There's also the better fight scenes to take into consideration. Most people come to a shonen for the fight scenes and Bleach does do that element at least better.

Again this is all just my opinion but in my mind Blue Exorcist is the better of the two. I'm a fan of both but Bleach is definitely the more flawed story.

Blue Exorcist Manga Summary and Review (Volumes 1-11)

Blue exorcist is standard fare as far as manga goes, but it's the story's execution rather than originality that makes it memorable. Let me give a few examples.
So the story begins with our protagonist Rin finds out that demons exist in his world (unseen by most people) and that he is the son of Satan. Before he can properly process the information his father figure, father Fujimoto, is possessed by Satan and dies. Rin, understandably upset over what has happened vows revenge. So already we have a few tropes at work here. We have the protagonist finding out about an previously unknown supernatural aspect of his world. We have the struggle he feels between his demonic heritance and his good nature. And we have the death of a family member starting the character's quest for revenge. What makes this work though is how damn well it's actually pulled of. In the short amount of time we get to see father Fujimoto we instantly connect because the character is so likeable and even after his death we get several flashbacks throughout the story fleshing out his character more and making it so the sadness of his passing keeps hitting the reader.
After the initial chapter setting the story up, Rin joins the true cross academy an organization dedicated to fighting demons run by the enigmatic Mephisto. There Rin meets and befriends several other students training to be students as well as his twin brother who turns out to be his instructor and who it turns out knew about demons the whole time. The majority of the first four novels deal with introducing the characters and the class's progress towards becoming exorcists. I've arranged a brief character roster below.

Left to right (front row): Yukio, Rin and Shiemi.
Left to right (back row): Konekomaru, Shura, Izumo, Suguro, Mephisto and Shima.

Rin Okumara-hot headed and stubborn. He doesn't always think things through and he isn't the smartest but his heart's in the right place. In other words he's just like every shonen protagonist ever.
Yukio Okumara-Rin's twin brother who didn't inherit Satan's powers. Unlike Rin he is hardworking and studious. The dynamic between him and his brother is one of the best aspects of the series hands down. Their relationship feels very real and genuine in part, because they don't always get along. Despite this there is a strong sense that both would be willing to do anything to keep the other safe.
Shiemi- The ditzy love interest character. Completely useless damsel in distress that Rin has to save over and over again. Needless to say she's one of the less interesting characters.
Ryuji-Similar to Rin in temperament only not as foolish.
Renzo-Comic relief
Konekomaru-stereotypical nerd
Izumo- Token Tsundere
Shura-Boobies Mcfanservice
Mephisto-Mysterious demon who runs the academy and whose motivates aren't completely clear.

At the end of the fourth volume Rin's secret (that he is the son of Satan) is revealed and his friends are shocked. The next volume sets up the first real arc in the manga. That of the impure king. And it's one of the few sections I have a couple of gripes with. So someone steals one eye of the impure king (and an attempt is made on the other). We get introduced to a new villain and the students, now exwires, are sent to a temple where the second eye is guarded. This also happens to be the place where Ryuji, Renzo, and Konekomaru's families live, introducing us to a new source of conflict. My problem with this arc is that there's way too much going on at once. We get introduced to a whole slew of new characters. We have a new set of conflicts and we see all the characters struggling to deal with the knowledge that Rin is the son of Satan. With emotions ranging from anger and hostility to outright fear there's a good deal of emotional turmoil along with all this new information the reader is given. Thankfully by the next volume the story smooths out and there's actually a good deal of tension as it is revealed that their may be a traitor in the midst and that Ryuji's father is keeping secrets. Eventually the arc ends in a giant fight and is, for the most part, resolved. We're then introduced to another weak point in the story a short pointless arc dealing with a Kraken demon. The only saving grace here is a good deal of conflict between the Okumara brothers and the introduction of Yukio's insecurities and self doubt which made for some interesting segments in an otherwise dull conflict.

After this the students return to the academy. We get to see Yukio continue to struggle with his own personal issues and Mephisto finally has a good deal of time delving a little bit into what makes him tick. These are without a doubt the highlights of the arc. We also get introduced to a new threat (an expanding portal to the demon world). Rin and his friends have to deal with several demons (the seven mysteries of true cross academy) my least favorite segments in the series so far. And the eleventh volume ends with a bit of suspense that I won't ruin for those of you who haven't gotten that far.

In short I've enjoyed what I've read of the series so far. It's not perfect but the characters are well developed and the story seems to have a bit more restraint than most shonen choosing storytelling over mindless action most of the time. The components that make it up may be familiar but it's well executed and enjoyable. I have a few gripes here and there but they're relatively minor. For the most part it's a fun read and I'm excited to see where the story goes from here.