All Fantasy Action Fans Simply Must Binge This New Series Endorsed by One Piece Creator

1 week ago 18

Published Apr 12, 2026, 10:49 PM EDT

An experienced Editor representing Canada via Screen Rant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa since 2022, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com.

His favorite moments in media coverage include reviewing the series premieres of Zom 100 and Bleach: TYBW Part 2 back-to-back and briefly meeting Junji Ito at a VIZ gallery event in 2023.

While some Weekly Shonen Jump manga are bound for front-cover greatness and anime stardom rather quickly, it doesn't tell the whole picture of its many circulating stories at any given point. Behind each series is at least one creator bringing their own personal twist, admittedly to a highly formulaic publication, but with fascinating potential nonetheless. This has resulted in unprecedented successes like One Piece, of course, but as seen with one of creator Eiichiro Oda's former assistants, smaller series bearing the DNA of Shonen Jump greats are easily also worthwhile.

While this discussion could just as easily be framed around Naruto and Black Clover, Shoichi Usui's Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi is what's on the menu instead. Running since June 2024, Kiyoshi may have taken a while to truly take off as a series, showing early promise only to momentarily squander it in the Black Parade Arc. However, in the months since then, with the Demon Realm Infiltration Arc in full swing, manga fans might find Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi to be an impressively breezy read, with a lovable cast of characters (bearing One Piece design philosophy) to easily feature as its biggest hook.

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While readers may have doubted its longevity, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi has successfully avoided any stops on the Shonen Jump carousel of cancellation for 88 chapters and counting so far. It's easy to see why, too: Kiyoshi Harai, beyond his gimmicky introduction as a socially awkward stock overpowered protagonist who fears his primary enemies, is incredibly sweet as a main character. But even within the first arcs, as Usui carefully introduces a world of exorcists, knighthoods, and demons ranging from friendly familiar recruits, to devious Demon Lord threats.

The greatest exorcist knighthoods bearing the most powerful, distinctive fighters in Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi are the following:

Sanguin, the Iron-Blooded Knights
Concordia, the Knights of Light
Caelum, the Celestial Knights

While the world feels rather thin even now, the characters upholding the various aspects of society defended by its exorcists are worth recognition. This is thanks largely to Kiyoshi and his sometimes obsessive desire to have formative high school experiences, namely making friends. While this also nets Kiyoshi some key rivalries, even if he doesn't see them that way like the case of Sosuke Hitsuji, it also makes him a fascinating character when reaching across the aisle to sympathetic demons he finds harmless. But as the roster of exorcists introduces its eclectic members while the series goes on, another massive strength emerges in Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi.

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While the premise is wildly different from that of One Piece, largely staying within its primary setting, Naraku City, fighting off demon invasions like the Black Parade, this hasn't stopped shades of Oda's classic from appearing in Kiyoshi. Character designs are uncannily similar to those of One Piece, with Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi's paneling featuring similar character poses and body language, with their exorcist-themed attacks, dubbed Xr-Cisms, mildly resembling other Shonen Jump hits, namely Yu Yu Hakusho. And, again, like with the case of Black Clover, while these can reasonably be seen as derivative, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi remains engaging despite inevitably falling into formulaic territory.

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi Is Enjoyable Beyond Formulaic Tendencies

Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi fantasy manga like One Piece Memmy

The earliest Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi arcs can occasionally feel like familiar territory, which is why it's refreshing that Usui's pacing, possibly being careful to power through to key story arcs before an early axing, makes these moments relatively quick. Kiyoshi, despite being deemed the "ultimate" exorcist, wants to scale the ranks of his profession in order to protect his friends from any and all threats. This includes a Chunin Exams-like arc, where the comparisons are clear as day for Naruto fans, in which Kiyoshi must ascend from Class 1, an already high rank, to Grand Cross, the penultimate exorcist position beneath Cross Paladin.

Exorcist classes in Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi, and the corresponding demon threat they can handle, are the following:

Rank

Max Corresponding Demon Level/Responsibilities

Cross Paladin	Demon Lord
Grand Cross	Top-Level
Class I	High-Level
Class II	Mid-Level
Class III	Low-Level
Class IV	Association Work, etc.

Other formulaic aspects include fighting off an early invasion reminiscent of Black Clover's Royal Capital Assault Arc, and brief interludes such as at a hot spring. Yet, Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi maintains its fun tone, such as introducing unorthodox training methods. Thus, it doesn't always feel like a bland "hits" playlist, but rather, a remix of Shonen Jump fan favorite tropes.

If fans can get past these elements, they'll find Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi is impressively breezy as a reading experience, quickly getting through dozens of chapters to catch up within a day or so. Character interactions are frequently either funny or cute, and as Usui's battle renditions evolved from tight, concise affairs in early chapters, to glorious confrontations even as early as chapter #22, the inevitable hopes of an anime capturing this mix of One Piece character designs and unusually thrilling action are an exciting prospect.

As for when Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi "gets good", it's a subjective matter. While the Black Parade Arc, chapters #28-57, are somewhat controversial, the chapters preceding it and following it, particularly #58 onward, are especially rewarding for binge-readers. It's an enjoyable series, and can sometimes resemble Shonen Jump comfort food, yet it remains reliably entertaining on a weekly basis at this point, and deserves recognition from the loyal fans who stuck to it by this point.