の (no) vs ~i for colors, can they be used indistinctly?


There is this title of a manga called "Ao no Exorcist". Is this exactly the
same as Aoi Exorcist? can they be used indistinctly or there is a nuance or
something?




の is a linking particle that has a wide variety of meanings, and 青のエクソシスト
(literally "exorcist of blue") can potentially refer to various things.

  * exorcist who is somehow related to blue or symbolized as blue
  * exorcist who belongs to a group somehow related to blue
  * exorcist who has a title/license related to blue

In this case, this exorcist uses special blue flame to defeat enemies, so it's
used in the first sense. Similar examples include 鋼の錬金術師 ("alchemist of
steel"), 愛の戦士 ("warrior of love"), 自由の女神 (Statue of Liberty; literally
"goddess of liberty") etc.

青いエクソシスト ("blue exorcist") usually just means someone whose skin or uniform is
blue. It may also mean "an inexperienced exorcist" (see the [last definition
on jisho](https://jisho.org/search/%E9%9D%92%E3%81%84)).




の is a linking particle that has a wide variety of meanings, and 青のエクソシスト
(literally "exorcist of blue") can potentially refer to various things.

  * exorcist who is somehow related to blue or symbolized as blue
  * exorcist who belongs to a group somehow related to blue
  * exorcist who has a title/license related to blue

In this case, this exorcist uses special blue flame to defeat enemies, so it's
used in the first sense. Similar examples include 鋼の錬金術師 ("alchemist of
steel"), 愛の戦士 ("warrior of love"), 自由の女神 (Statue of Liberty; literally
"goddess of liberty") etc.

青いエクソシスト ("blue exorcist") usually just means someone whose skin or uniform is
blue. It may also mean "an inexperienced exorcist" (see the [last definition
on jisho](https://jisho.org/search/%E9%9D%92%E3%81%84)).

