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by Carlo Santos,... have to be subjected to either of them. ⏎Beelzebub ⏎ Rating: 2 (of 5) ⏎ Review: ⏎ Beelzebub sounds like a great name for a metal band, the kind that tries to make up for its technical shortcomings by being as loud and fast as possible. The same could be said of this show, where the characters seem to be constantly yelling and being subjected to exaggerated acts of violence (or at least running from them). The story begins with Tatsumi Oga, a delinquent who is hated by the other troublemakers at his school—and weirds them out even more when he shows up one day with a baby in tow. As he explains to his best friend, Oga found the baby floating down the river (a covenient excuse that requires no further backstory!) and took it into his care. However, Oga's adventures in babysitting take an abrupt left turn when an imperious woman bursts in and tells him that the baby is the spawn of the Demon Lord and must now be raised to destroy all humanity. Well, that would certainly explain why he crackles with lightning and causes minor calamities everytime he cries. ⏎ This is one of those comedies where the premise itself is a lot funnier than the actual execution, which relies too much on repeating the same lowbrow jokes: Oga is a real tough guy!!!!! But he's trying to raise a baby. Ha ha, contradiction! Also the baby shoots lightning when it gets upset! It's like one of those Vince Vaughn goofball movies combined with supernatural-fantasy theatrics. The visuals are dialed down accordingly to meet these middling standards: Oga and company look fairly detailed with their sneering facial features and intense yanki poses, but the action itself lacks finesse, resorting to still-frame pans, looping animation patterns, and occasional cheap special effects. But they're yelling a lot and people are fighting and there's falling electric pylons so who cares! ⏎ If low-budget cheeseball humor suits your tastes, then by all means, enjoy this series as much as possible. Just don't expect subtlety and substance in a show where the title character has his privates hanging out. ⏎ Beelzebub is available streaming on Crunchyroll. ⏎ Gosick ⏎ Rating: 3 (of 5) ⏎...