January 2024 "Blue Exorcist: Shimane Enlightenment Arc" OP theme release PV

On the official Japanese Aniplex YouTube channel, the Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga anime gave fans a new look at the long-awaited adaptation of the seventh story arc from the original manga by Kazue Katō. The trailer also revealed that Japanese rock band UVERworld is performing the new Blue Exorcist anime opening, titled "Eye's Sentry." UVERworld previously contributed two anime theme songs for the original Blue Exorcist anime -- "Core Pride" for the first 12 episodes of Blue Exorcist Season 1 and "Itteki no Eikyō" for the entirety of Season 2. In September, Blue Exorcist fans were treated to the first official teaser of the new anime series. A-1 Pictures, which produced the previous Blue Exorcist anime series as well as others like Sword Art Online, will not return for Shimane Illuminati Saga. In its place, Studio VOLN (Karakuri Circus, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas) is producing the new anime season. Daisuke Yoshida will serve as director, while Toshiya Ōno returns as the series' scriptwriter. Yurie Oohigashi is the show's character designer and chief animation director. Blue Exorcist: Shimane Illuminati Saga is set to premiere in January 2024, seven years after Blue Exorcist Season 2, which itself premiered six years after the 2011 release of Blue Exorcist Season 1. The long wait for Season 3 is reminiscent of Bleach fans having to wait a decade for the animated adaptation of the final "Thousand-Year Blood War" story arc. Prior to Season 2, a theatrical animated movie called Blue Exorcist: The Movie was released on Dec. 28, 2012. The original Japanese voice cast is expected to return for Shimane Illuminati Saga.