Rin's friends are now all aware that he's the son of Satan. The three young monks, ie. Bon, Neko and Shima, don't want to have anything to do with him, but when they are assigned to a mission that takes them back to the environs of Kyoto, they don't have a choice but to accept that Rin is there, whether they like it or not.This arc marks the divergence of the manga from the anime. The Kyoto arc introduces the families of Bon, Neko, and Shima and the entire Myodha sect. The Myodha are different from the usual Buddhist monks in that they are exorcists, with Bon's irresponsible father as their spiritual leader. While Rin and Yukio still figure prominently in this volume, this is the beginning of the Bon Show. With the introduction of his parents and the legacy that he inherited, this volume explains his motivations and desire to become the exorcist who will also defeat Satan. I love the in-chapter illustrations that show his stress meter, as well as the omake comic that shows his morning routine. This volume does two things: deals more heavily with the aftermath of Rin being revealed as Satan’s son and to start a new storyline.The new storyline looks like it could be very involved. Someone has stolen the left eye of the Impure King and someone tried to steal the right eye. Many years ago the exorcist organization exorcised the Impure King and took his eyes which causes disease and pestilence, leading to tens of thousands of deaths. Yukio is failing to make his twin understand you can’t save everyone (and I keep wondering when Rin will learn this the hard way). Yukio is assigned to go after the left eye with several other exorcists while Rin, under the watchful eye of Shura, goes with his classmates to Kyoto to learn how the right eye was also almost lost.Rin quickly learns that he can’t laugh off the effect the revelation has had on his would-be friends. Shiemi, Renzo and Konekomaru are terrified of him. Bon hates him. The only one talking to him is Izumo who calls the others cowards (in a failed attempt to shake them out of it). Once in Kyoto Rin actually takes a backseat to the storyline.This is Bon, Renzo and Konekomaru’s home town. We learn about the various factions of Buddhist exorcists including the de facto leader, Renzo’s dad and Bon’s dad who is apparently a wastrel drunken/womanizing monk (which I’m going to assume is a cover for something that his resentful son will learn later). After an opening action scene, there is little action and little of the humor that usually lightens this manga up. I felt vaguely disappointed by this one. It’s not bad but it’s more a bridge volume with a lot of info dumping. Still, it’s filling out the minor characters nicely (though I guess Bon isn’t all that minor). I’m looking forward to what comes next.
