Old demons have come back to haunt Sasaki in Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 19 as he takes on the culprit behind all of the recent demon appearances: his former apprentice Yuda. Meanwhile, Kiyoshi takes part in a summoning ritual that surely won’t go anywhere… right?

It’s been a big week for Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi. Not only did the first volume come out in Japan, it carried a comment from none other than Eiichiro Oda as series author Shouichi Usui used to be an assistant on One Piece, which actually makes a lot of sense in hindsight. The art on Kiyoshi does feel very Oda-like in terms of line work and facial expressions, but the net result of this comment is that volume one managed to rank in at a very respectable number 28 in the first day of Shoseki rankings. With this in mind, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 19 feels like a good place to start our coverage. 

As mentioned, the clash between Sasaki and Yuda is the main focus here. Their disagreement, seemingly dating back several years or decades at this point, is a classic one: why should those with special powers be forced to use them for the sake of the powerless? While Sasaki wants to ensure that normal citizens can live out their lives in peace without fear of demon attack, Yuda describes them as “human refuse” who don’t deserve the protection of exorcists. Going by the tropes, it wouldn’t exactly be surprising to find out that this point of view is rooted in some sort of childhood trauma or great betrayal.

Moreover, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 19 reveals that Yuda even went as far as to sell his soul to a devil in exchange for power to fulfil his aims. This allows him to summon deadly spears out of thin air and absorb enemy attacks, but the main draw here is undoubtedly still Sasaki’s chance-based ability. Much like Kite in Hunter x Hunter, he can summon a random weapon depending on what he gets on a dice roll: it was awesome there and it’s awesome here. End of.

That being said, the battle between Sasaki and Yuda turns out to be nothing more than a time-wasting tactic. Last week, Kiyoshi himself got roped into joining the Occult Club’s demon-summoning ritual, which didn’t seem like it would actually work due to the shoddy setup and strange incantations. Nevertheless, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 19 throws a final curveball on the last page as it reveals that the ritual really did work and the students have succeeded in accidentally summoning the Great Demon Lord.

Just where the story goes from here remains to be seen, but the future does seem bright. With some respectable first volume sales under their belt, all Shouichi Usui needs to do now is keep improving on the foundation of cool powers and snappy dialogue that makes Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi so readable. To live up to the praise of Eiichiro Oda is no easy task, but it’s possible with enough hard work.

You can read Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi chapter 19 for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump.