Finding exactly where to watch Blue Exorcist is, honestly, a bit of a mess. You’d think a massive shonen hit about the son of Satan becoming an exorcist would be easy to find in one place. It’s not. Between the original 2011 run, the Kyoto Saga, and the newer seasons like Shimane Illuminati Saga, the licensing has bounced around more than Rin Okumura in a fistfight.
Crunchyroll is basically the "home base" for the series right now. They’ve managed to consolidate most of the content, but regional lockouts still exist. Depending on whether you are sitting in a coffee shop in Seattle or a flat in London, your library might look totally different. If you are looking for the absolute latest episodes—specifically the Beyond the Snow and Blue Night arcs—Crunchyroll is basically your only legal bet for a simulcast experience.
The Streaming Landscape for Rin and Yukio
It’s annoying when you want to binge a show and half the seasons are missing. Hulu used to be a reliable spot for the first season, but their contract status for anime is always in flux. Right now, most fans are funneling toward Crunchyroll. They have the 2011 series, the Kyoto Saga (Season 2), and the 2024 sequels.
📖 Related: Why Adam Lambert Ghost Town Still Hits Different Ten Years Later
Netflix used to be the king of Blue Exorcist. They had the show everywhere. Now? It’s hit or miss. In some regions, like the UK or parts of Europe, you might still find the original episodes, but in the US, it’s largely vanished from their catalog. It’s a licensing tug-of-war. Sony (who owns Crunchyroll) has been aggressively pulling their big titles back into their own ecosystem. This is great for consolidation but sucks if you’re already paying for four other streaming services.
If you are a purist who refuses to stream, the Blu-ray sets are still around. Aniplex of America handles the distribution. Warning: they are expensive. Aniplex is notorious for "boutique" pricing, meaning you might drop $100 for a single season. But hey, at least you don't have to worry about a "This content is not available in your region" popup.
What happened to the movie?
This is the part that bugs me. The Blue Exorcist: The Movie (2012) is surprisingly hard to find on the major subscription platforms. While the TV series gets all the love, the movie often sits in a digital limbo where you have to rent it individually on platforms like Apple TV or Amazon Prime Video. It isn’t strictly "canon" to the main manga plot, but the animation is gorgeous, and it’s a shame it isn't bundled with the rest of the seasons.
Understanding the Watch Order (Because it’s confusing)
Before you decide where to watch Blue Exorcist, you need to know how to watch it. This series has one of the weirdest structures in anime history.
In 2011, the anime caught up to the manga. Instead of doing filler, they just... made up an ending. Episodes 18 through 25 of the first season are completely non-canon. When Season 2 (Kyoto Impure King Arc) came out years later, they just ignored that ending. They went back to episode 17 and continued as if the "Satan in the Vatican" stuff never happened.
🔗 Read more: Why the Gardens of the Night Cast Still Haunts Us Years Later
- Step 1: Watch Season 1 up to Episode 17.
- Step 2: (Optional) Watch the rest of Season 1 if you want an alternate reality ending.
- Step 3: Jump to Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga.
- Step 4: Watch Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga.
- Step 5: Dive into the 2024/2025 Beyond the Snow and Blue Night arcs.
Most people get stuck because they finish Season 1 and the start of Season 2 makes no sense. Rin is suddenly being treated like a pariah again even though he "saved the world" in the Season 1 finale. It’s because that finale didn't happen in the original story. Streaming platforms don't explain this. They just list them as Season 1 and Season 2. You’ve been warned.
Is Disney+ getting in on this?
You might have heard rumors. Disney+ has been snatching up anime left and right—Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Sand Land, Tokyo Revengers. Luckily for Crunchyroll subscribers, Blue Exorcist hasn't fallen into the "Disney Jail" trap yet in the US. In some international territories, though, Disney+ has distribution deals with certain distributors that might include Blue Exorcist.
But for most of the world? Stick to the specialized anime sites. They usually have the better subtitles anyway.
A note on the Dub vs Sub
The English dub for Blue Exorcist is actually pretty iconic. Bryce Papenbrook brings a certain chaotic energy to Rin that matches the Japanese performance by Nobuhiko Okamoto. If you are looking for the dub specifically, Crunchyroll usually has it, but sometimes there’s a delay between the Japanese airing and the dubbed release for the newest seasons. Usually, it's about two to three weeks.
Why the platform matters for the new seasons
The newest installments, like Beyond the Snow, are being handled by Studio VOLN instead of A-1 Pictures. This change in studio also coincided with a push for more centralized streaming. Because of the production committee's structure, they want viewers in one place to maximize metrics.
🔗 Read more: Why the Transformers Dark of the Moon movie trailer Still Hits Different After 15 Years
If you're trying to watch for free? It’s tough. Crunchyroll has a "free with ads" tier, but they’ve been tightening the belt on that. Usually, new episodes are locked behind the premium wall for at least a season, or sometimes indefinitely. Honestly, the $7 or $10 a month is better than dealing with the sketchy malware-laden pirate sites that pop up when you search for "Blue Exorcist free stream."
Buying vs. Streaming
Look, digital ownership is a lie. If you love the show, maybe buy the digital season on Vudu or Amazon. That way, when the licenses expire and the show disappears from Crunchyroll or Hulu, you still have it.
Buying digital:
- Amazon Prime Video: Usually has both sub and dub available for purchase.
- Apple TV: Good quality, but sometimes the seasons are split up weirdly.
- Microsoft Store: Great for Xbox users, though the interface is a bit clunky.
Actionable Steps for the Best Experience
Don't just click the first link you see. To get the best quality and actually support the creators, follow this path:
- Check Crunchyroll first. It is the most complete archive of the series currently available.
- Use a VPN if you're traveling. If you're a US subscriber traveling to a country where the show isn't licensed, a VPN set to your home country will let you keep watching.
- Skip the Season 1 filler. If you want the story to flow into the Kyoto Saga, stop after the fight with Amaimon in the forest (Episode 17).
- Check the "Specials" tab. Many platforms hide the OVA episodes (like Kuro Runs Away From Home) under a separate tab or at the very end of the season list. They are worth the watch.
The series is finally getting the full adaptation treatment it deserved back in 2011. It took over a decade, but the exorcists of True Cross Academy are back. Stick to the official channels to ensure the studio keeps seeing the numbers they need to finish the entire manga.