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by Carl Kimlinger,... room, making for a unique conversation piece. ⏎Blue Exorcist ⏎ Rating: 4 ½ ⏎ Review: Ever wonder if you were cursed? Rin Okamura does. He's a high-school dropout who can't seem to keep a job or keep out of trouble. He can't help breaking everything he touches, which makes him a liability on any job, and can't help butting into the business of pretty much any punk he meets. His fuse is so short that he doesn't have one, so punk encounters rarely end well. So rarely, in fact, that his polar opposite twin brother Yukio has no shortage of practice for his future occupation of emergency room doctor. His dad, a priest specializing in exorcism, is ive—if deeply weird—but still Rin hates being such a drag on his family. Has to be a curse, right? In a way, yes. Everything makes a bit more sense when he learns that he's quite literally the spawn of Satan. Super strength? Crappy luck? Bad temper? Able to see demons? Aaahhh...so that's what that was all about. ⏎ Yes, Blue Exorcist is an anime about a teenager who learns he has special powers and a correspondingly special fate. Yes, it peddles the exact same mixture of action, humor and pathos that every Shonen Jump wannabe property does. Yes, it bases its action on alternate world nonsense about demons invading our realm, blah, blah, blah. But it's also a reminder of why Japan keeps pumping these kinds of series out: when done just right, they kick humongous ass. And Blue Exorcist does everything right. Rin is cool, sympathetic, and just that little bit vulnerable and little bit terrifying that any good hero must be. Director Tensai Okamura handles Rin's personality and feelings with a certain grace and stages excellent pratfalls, but most importantly has a proven knack for action. Darker Than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini alone kicked more butt than most directors' entire oeuvres. Ryota Yamaguchi, whose uncanny ability to lead genre series in fruitful directions has resulted in some of the nicest surprises in anime, takes lead writing duties, completing the series' promise. If your faith in anime's action potential has been flagging, this is just the kick in the rear it needs. ⏎ Blue Exorcist is streaming on Hulu, Crunchyroll and here on ANN. ⏎ Hyouge Mono ⏎ Rating: 2 ½...