Back in May, a translation error caused some fans to believe that Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi was on the verge of cancellation after just fifteen chapters. While a closer look at the original Japanese reveals this to be false, one of the reasons why this idea spread like wildfire was because it fit a preexisting narrative. Shoichi Usui’s series has felt like it has been on shaky ground for a while, but the latest story arc has proven that it has more than enough fight left.
In terms of why Kiyoshi felt like it could get cancelled at any minute, the first reason comes down to sales. Not only did the first volume rank at number 266 on the Shoseki Ranking blog, it disappears from subsequent data sets, meaning that it only sold somewhere between 2700 and 1800 copies during the first week of its release. Usually this would spell certain doom in the cutthroat world of Weekly Shonen Jump, but somehow it survived, along with Hima-ten! from the same period.
The Black Parade arc, stretching from chapters 28 to 57, then gave off all of the signals pointing to an early ending. Although the worldbuilding made it very clear that there were no less than three Great Demon Lords, the fight with Asuta Roth ended up becoming such a spectacle that it seemed like Shoichi Usui was trying to go out with a bang. Indeed, it was difficult to imagine just how the series could top the clash in terms of stakes and scale, even if preexisting narratives once again colored the perception at the time.
Even so, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi did not die. To be fair, there is no evidence to dispel the idea that the series was supposed to end after the Black Parade arc, but it is equally true that there is no evidence to prove this either. At the end of the day, the only thing you can say for certain is the fact that the series did continue and is currently still continuing in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, whether by the skin of its teeth or not.
In any case, the Demon Realm Infiltration arc proves that this decision wasn’t a mistake. As the name suggests, this latest story arc sees the titular protagonist head into the Demon Realm for the very first time, meeting powerful foes and making new friends along the way. It’s also the best thing that the series has produced so far, tying up several loose ends and setting the story up for a very bright future.
First of all, a contradiction has always existed at the heart of Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi. One of the very first depictions of Kiyoshi in chapter one is him immobile, unable to exorcise a demon that has possessed a little girl due to crippling fear. This demon, who later turns out to be called Yamada, then teaches Kiyoshi a calming breathing technique and helps him come to the realization that the only thing scarier than a demon is the thought of losing a loved one.
Regardless of how much the narrative attempted to explain away this depiction with character development, the fact that the so-called ultimate exorcist was scared of demons seemed counterintuitive to a series about fighting demons. If anything, this seems like an artefact of a lighter, more comedic story before the focus shifted almost entirely to action. Nevertheless, the Demon Realm Infiltration arc successfully retools this contradiction as a key part of the series’ overall message.
During his fight with the Great Demon Lord Helze Bobo, Kiyoshi ends up drawing on the power of a crowd of lesser demons led by Yamada. Not only does this incorporate their initial meeting back into the narrative, it uses their friendship to cast Kiyoshi as a hero of the downtrodden, especially in comparison to the tyrannical Bobo. While the latter binds the weak in oppressive contracts for exploitation, the demons give Kiyoshi their power willingly, entrusting their safety to someone who is supposed to destroy them.
Plenty of fantasy series play with the idea that the divisions between good and evil aren’t so black and white, but Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi seems to be seriously taking up the idea that not all demons need destroying. In fact, this very concept has been vocalized by Kiyoshi recently when set upon by Utsugi Hijiri, a Cross Paladin who is widely considered to be the strongest exorcist in the entire world. This silly series might have a backbone, after all.
Moreover, characters both old and new got a chance to shine in the Demon Realm Infiltration arc. By far the standout addition to the main cast is Goro Shishido: an idol-loving Cross Paladin punk who gains power by eating things, edible or otherwise. There’s also Toji Shuten, a Grand Cross exorcist who further adds to the developing grey zone around demon-human relationships by being a half-demon, half-human hybrid.
Surprisingly enough, however, Sosuke Hitsugi probably got the biggest boost in popularity during the arc. It was somewhat hard to believe that he could seriously be Kiyoshi’s rival because of the protagonist’s insane power level, but his fight with Kurose Sata showed that his strength comes down to brains over brawn. The technical use of his ice-based exorcism powers was not only oddly cerebral for the series, but served as an amazing spectacle that should neutralize any doubts.
All of this is to say that Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi now feels much more secure than before, and especially since the flashy Black Parade arc. With sales also on the up, Shoichi Usui’s series seems poised to become a new flagship title for Weekly Shonen Jump.
