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べるぜバブ
250
28
Finished
Feb 23, 2009 to Mar 13, 2015
7.7/10
Average Review Score
92%
Recommend It
12
Reviews Worldwide
Good comedy, funny characters, weird school life, great fight scenes… if you you're looking for these standards then Beelzebub is a good choice for you. Beelzebub was really one of my favorite manga, they were many funny moments that made me laugh for good…the fight scenes were good and interesting , it follows the story of Oga Tatsumi… a junior delinquent student of Ishiyama high school, who (by chance and in a weird way) get to meet baby Beel (most people prefer to call him like that)…who's a son of the demon's lord, strangely baby beel liked Oga from the first meeting (thanks to his viciousappearance) and this is where everything begins. Story: the beginning of the story is really interesting…Oga (the protagonist) finds himself obliged to carry the demons' lord baby on his back as he attend his school (hence the name of the "Badass rearing Baby")…since it's a school full of delinquents Oga finds himself in many troubles…later he finds himself dealing with the demons too…which makes the plot really exciting and laughable, sadly because this manga went axed I just had to hate the ending…the series ended quicker than expected so there were many question marks (easily put this way), it's not like it's a bad ending but it's really a disappointment. My rate for the story 6 out of 10. Art: the art was really fine since it's a comedy story, I liked the settings, the characters designs were good…well I can't find any flaws and in the same time I can't find anything special about the art, so simply my rate for the art 7 out of 10. Character: the personalities of the most characters fit well with the background of the story; no matter how serious they seem most of them have a humor side, what strange is that many antagonists will have a twist and turn to be supporting characters throughout the story; I really didn't mind that at all (well same thing happen in a lot of anime&manga stories) since the Ishiyama gang are the ones that keeps this story lively… especially Oga and Baby beel with their random personalities and their main supporter...Furuichi Takayuki, and of course I don't forget the best two female characters...Hilda and Kunieda Aoi. My rate for Characters 7 out of 10. Enjoyment: I really loved Beelzebub, I didn't find any arc to be boring and I really enjoyed reading it… but this work went axed (don't know the reasons) so the author somehow was obliged to end the story in a way you must hate (but I guess it couldn’t be helped)… so the only thing I hated about this manga was the ending (and of course the most important things about a story is its beginning and ending). My rate for Enjoyment 7 out of 10. Overall I rate this manga with a 7 out of 10, I can't say I hated this manga just because of its ending, I really enjoyed and laughed a lot while reading this work so I guess this rating is fair. Thanks for reading :) Sorry for any linguistic mistakes.
Ishiyama High—land of the delinquents. No matter how tough you think you are, you don't mess with an Ishi-high student. One of the most infamous students is first year Tatsumi Oga, called "Demon King" by those he's defeated. One day, while Oga is finishing off a gang that attacked him, he stumbles upon an infant. In a rare moment of kindness, Oga tries to care for the baby. As a result, the child becomes overly attached to him. In a panic, he brings the baby to his best friend Takayuki Furuichi's house. While there, they are attacked by Hildegard, a demon maid who says the baby is actually Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV. She also reveals that he was sent here to destroy humanity, on a whim of his father Beelzebub III, Great Demon Lord of the Demon World. After failing to remove Baby Beel from Oga, she declares that he must raise him, as moving more than 15 meters away will result in instant death for Oga. With his delinquent past and unfriendly nature, Oga must deal with the burden of raising a demon baby. Beezelbub follows his story through encounters with demons and dangerous classmates, all while being an unorthodox role model and carer for the young Baby Beel. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
I have read my fair share of fantasy fiction and anything involving the demons tends to be on the darker side of horror and it is not usually fit for mainstream consumption. The ones that are mainstream, unfortunately, tend to be a mere shadow of the original. Yeah, Beelzebub is nothing like that. I wasn’t quite sure if Beelzebub would live up to its hype – despite the acclaim it has received. But within a few pages, it had me in splits. To start with, Oga Tatsumi is a terror to be reckoned with. He picks up a strange green haired baby who, he’s informed, happens to bethe son of the Demon Lord. Enter Hilda, the violent wet nurse; the Tohoshinki, the four big powers at Ishiyama High and Furuichi, the only normal guy. Hilarious shenanigans ensue. Aside from the ‘life raising a young demon lord’ thing, the other central plot point within Beelzebub happens to be power struggles on various levels but without the politics and with 100% more humour. Baby Beel and Oga seem to get inadvertently caught up in them and deal with it the only way Oga really knows – with sheer brute force. They’re not kidding when they call him the ‘Strongest Delinquent’. Probably the biggest plus point of Beelzebub is how it constantly delivers. I have read through 167 chapters and, so far, there hasn’t been a single one of them that I’ve disliked. It (literally) punches any conventional proceedings in the face – screw super-stretched out fights with ‘evil’ villains waxing eloquent on their greatness, Oga just nonchalantly takes them out with one of his attacks before they can do a thing. The humour is not sophisticated – given that it’s a shounen, Beelzebub has a juvenile edge to it – but perhaps that’s what really increases its appeal. There no talk of adhering to the principles of Shounen Jump, there’s just a lot of bizarre situations which are brilliantly interspersed with even better character interaction. Speaking of characters – practically everyone within the main cast is either: a) a Demon, b) a Delinquent or c) Furuichi. So, you have chock full of comic opportunities that are rarely wasted and each of the characters are interesting and do not grate the nerves in any way. Furuichi provides delightful ‘tsukkomi’, being the only sane individual throughout the manga and is usually the butt of several pervert/paedophile related jokes. The Tohoshinki are amazing – each of them is distinct and memorable, The Great Demon Lord is a hilarious, flaky individual who's sole purpose in life is to make you choke on your own laughter every time he comes up with a new frivolous scheme, Oga is a brilliant protagonist with both strength and denseness that is always amusing and Baby Beel is just plain adorable. Another thing I approve of is the way the female leads – Hilda and Aoi – are portrayed. There is a distinct lack of airheaded, helpless bimbos which only adds to the Beelzebub experience and the two ladies are more than capable of holding their own in an all out brawl. I personally enjoyed the inclusion of an all girls gang, though I wish they had more panel time and the fanservice is not as blatant as it could've been. Beelzebub’s biggest hindrance remains its art. If one were to compare it to other shounen series within Jump, it’s drawing style is heavily lacking. For one thing, the backgrounds in most panels are neglected and intricate detail is not present. Most of the men in the series adhere to a rather boxy build and it feels off sometimes. I have a personal gripe for the way Hilda’s shoes are drawn – the heels on her stiletto lace-up boots are just plain ugly. At the same time, Beelzebub is suited to this sort of art and it’s not as bad as to be unreadable. The characters are well drawn with crisp, sharp strokes. The male character designs are varied, though I find that most of the female characters have almost the same base. But the latter can be forgiven since there aren’t many prominent females anyway. That said, I commend the mangaka on his expressions. He captures the incredulous expressions so well, it certainly adds to the humour. I particularly love any of the ‘demon faces’ that Oga takes on from time to time. Overall, Beelzebub takes a solid 9/10 since the art doesn’t deprecate the series’ enjoyment in any manner and manages to compound it instead, like any good manga should. Beelzebub doesn’t make any lofty promises – I’ll take down the great demon king and save the world? No sir! – and continues on in its own charming, if somewhat dysfunctional, way. It captures you with its puerile humour, delinquent characters and the ever-loved high school setting with just a dash of Demons (who are equally hilarious in their own right) and happens to be the perfect mood-lifter right in the middle of any normal, tedious week. Definitely recommended to anyone looking for a light shounen manga series. EDIT: Having finally finished the manga, I decided to bump down my score to a respectable 8, even though most of my other thoughts on Beelzebub still hold true in the intervening years I have been away from it. On rereading Beelzebub as a whole, it's still hilarious and I must commend Tamura Ryohei's comic timing and exaggerated art for it. I did appreciate how Furuichi was ultimately handled though; he did remain my absolute favourite to the very end. I also liked the romantic resolution (rather, the lack of thereof) because it remained true to its characters. The epilogue chapters don't add much to the story either; it's just more of the same - not that that was a problem with me. I was particularly happy with the chapter focused on Aoi, but apart from that, the rest were okayish. Unfortunately, one of the many pitfalls the series encounters is at par for a cancelled series. The ending is rushed and much of the humour is sacrificed to get there, the ending itself is not really an ending at all and some characters remain underdeveloped (looking at you, Natsume). I can actually forgive a lot of that because Beelzebub never promises a deep story and it gives you exactly what's on the tin. It has its problems but they never outweighed the good for me, so my enjoyment of this series remains at a solid 10. In closing, I feel that Beelzebub should be taken at face value if one wants to enjoy it to it's fullest. I'm additionally glad that it was cancelled when it was, because it didn't overstay it's welcome (or maybe it did, but I digress). All in all, I look forward to what Tamura Ryohei comes up with next.
Beelzebub is one of my favorite manga (you can tell it by my nickname from years ago lol) and it has the funniest comedy I've seen in one; granted, I don't have a very wide repertoire of completed manga, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But, let's get to the juicy stuff: The story of Beelzebub is very simple and nothing to right home about, except when it is. Like any shonen, there are various arcs, and while I wouldn't call any of them bad, there are definetely golden ones that are just a delight to read. Beelzebub doesn't take itself veryseriously, and that's what I love about it; it leaves room for comedy, and the comedy is always there, making me laugh my lungs out. The characters, while great, in my opinion, sometimes are left behind and are seldom underdeveloped (I'm looking at you Toujou), which is fine, seeing this only happens with supporting charactes, but I really wish Tamura utilized some of the characters in a better way, story and comedic wise. And, since I'm talking characters, I'll mention the romance, which is there less as a truly romantic plot, but as a gag. It ended up with nothing set in stone, which I liked, leaving the rest to the reader's imagination and staying true to its roots. Now, talking about the ending: without spoiling, it was a satisfactory conclusion. It did felt rushed through some of the last few chapters, but that's just how business is for a mangaka. Nonetheless, it was still a very funny conclusion that made me laugh and ever tear up a little with the thought of "so this journey has come to an end, huh?". I love Tamura's art; it's simplistic, yet detailed, with an empashis on drawing jokes from it. I've always had trouble understanding action scenes in manga, because let's face it, drawing movement is hard, but I've had very little of this problem with Beelzebub; the battle scenes are easy to understand, for the most part, while still being detailed. I recomend Beelzebub to any fan of comedy, dumb and surreal experiences, and good ol' classic shonen. Altough I, personally, feel that Beelzebub is at its best when being a comedy, even though I do like the action in it. I may have given it a 9, but my enjoyment is 9000, ADABUH!
The premise of this story was certainly unique, for me anyway. And while it had a few ups and downs I definitely enjoyed reading this. Story 6/10 Art 9/10 Character 9/10 Enjoyment 8/10 Beelzebub honestly had really good character development, which is a big reason I found it as good as it is. The main & supporting casts were just really likable, funny, and unique. The story itself wasn't too gripping, and quite messy at times. I was never really engaged in the story nor taking it seriously, but I always enjoyed reading nonetheless because I liked the characters. Don't expect anything amazing from the story though, as it pertainsto pretty much how a typical shounen would go. As much as they try to hype up the fights and villains, it's very hard to get excited since Oga is just too Over powered, and beats the crap out of everyone. Gone through years of hellish training? Doesn't matter, since Oga is the main character and has a 'Goal' which gives him determination to beat anyone, when he himself has only trained like a few days. There is just no stakes for the fights since you know Oga is going to come out on top every time. The ending seemed rushed, and was very unsatisfying, compared to a lot of manga endings. But I did hear it was because the manga had declining popularity, so I can't really fault it there - just a heads up. But the journey was enjoyable all in all. Overall 7/10 If you're looking for great characters, detailed fight scenes, demons, hell even some romance, definitely give this a go.
Ahh Beelzebub, where to even begin with this masterpiece? Can you name a series that perfectly combines delinquents, gag comedy, demons, and battle shounen? Maybe you can, but I sure can't, and especially not the way Beelzebub executes it. It's a series that manages to always keep you on your toes with its unpredictability, keep you laughing with its unique brand of humor, keep you in awe of the godtier battle art, and keep you engaged with its intriguing story! But if it's truly as great as I'm making it sound, why don't more people know about it and yet how does it manage tobe one of my all time favorite manga? Why yes, it's true that many are aware of its existence, it's not typically known as well as its contemporaries at the time aside from the obvious big titles. Series such as Reborn, D.Grayman, and Sket Dance will be remembered more fondly by most familiar with that era of Shounen Jump than poor Beelzebub. But with such a wacky premise, I find this hard to believe. Since there's already a synopsis you can read, I'll keep this part brief. We follow a delinquent named Oga, who is the most feared yankee at his school, and one day stumbles upon a baby. Little did Oga know that the baby in question is the son of the king of the underworld, who is sent to Earth to destroy it. But baby Beel quickly gets attached to Oga. From here Oga is on a journey to raise Beel while running into tons of mischief along the way. Although I kept the synopsis brief, I bring it up not only for the sake of a thorough review but also to shed light on a less brought up accolade that's unique to Beelzebub. And that's to have a baby character, who's integral to the story and shows up in just about every chapter, to be both NOT annoying in the slightest and actually hilarious and a character I loved from start to end! It's not just in animanga where I'm not typically a fan of baby/adolescent characters, it's in most media (hell maybe even irl too). Typically this archetype does nothing but cry, whine, bring in some forced "cute" factor, and 9 times out of 10 will be involved in a scenario where they either cry or shit themselves and thus give away the characters sneaking around in some scenario where they're trying to hide from someone. Strangely specific example aside, this is NOT the case with Beelzebub at all! In fact, the baby in question is perhaps the most charismatic character in the story, next to Furichi, where his love for Oga is naturally conveyed through their teamwork improving in each passing scenario, the lengths they both go through to protect one another, the multitude of expressions, sounds, and spells Beel utilizes throughout the story, makes him so likable! He's one of the rare instances of a pure baby character through and through that you root for, feel pity for, and tear up for as you witness him truly become the king of the Underworld. Perhaps quite literally in a couple scenarios where he has to kick some ass as a giant! And that in my opinion is Beelzebub's biggest strength, and biggest weakness, its characters. No no no, don't think that I'm saying its characters are bad or anything! In fact it's the complete opposite! Every SINGLE character introduced in this story is incredibly compelling to follow and learn about. From best girl Aoi going from her 'nice girl' alter-ego to her yankee mode, Beel's narcissistic brother En, rich boy Himekawa, demon doctor Lamia, the list goes on and on with its incredible diverse cast where they all somehow manage to gel so well together that I actively looked forward to the more characters were crammed into a chapter or arc. Not only is this not usually the case with even my all-time favorite piece of media ever Gintama, but this manages to achieve this accolade while still balancing all sides of what makes Beelzebub, well Beelzebub! The yankee, demon, sol, battle shounen, and gag comedy elements are present throughout the story from start to end, while managing to never let its large cast get out of character! But like I mentioned, this is also its one and only blunder. It has a large cast, and for every new character that gets introduced (especially towards the end of the series) you'll just be DYING to see more of them to get their character expanded on. But nope, at least for those outside the main cast we follow from early on in the story. And their unique character designs only exacerbate this problem because of just how awesome they look, and how they usually fight! Oh my god, how could I forget, THE FIGHTS!!!! Now we're onto another huge strength of this manga, er more like a two for one deal. And that's the fight, action, and ART of this manga as a whole. Incredibly stylized art style by Tamura Ryyuhei. Not only is the art itself insanely crisp, smooth, and gorgeous to look at, but the paneling is bare bones and cut and dry which adds more emphasis to the amazing art within the panels. I'd compare to One Piece's paneling, but with slightly more diverse panel geometry. But back to the art at hand, the characters all have mostly proportional facial features, with more of the buff dudes getting increasingly wider, and the demons getting even more hell-ish and wicked the further along this manga you get, and the girls (especially En's Maids) are all a CUTE!!!! Each archetype is drawn with a rare type of finesse that doesn't poke fun or parody the origins of the character, (well save maybe for Himekawa, but even then he's so stylish! And as a child he still had drip, he was what I like to call, a drip dragon) but respects it and uses its exaggerated, cartoonish design to enhance a character trait about them. Let's take the main character Oga for example, attire is that of a casual delinquent, but with teeth like that of a shark, and a grimace that scares just about everyone in his path save for Beel. However, as a reader, and perhaps I can only speak for myself, but I found his design to be overall endearing! Which I think characterizes his personality to a tee! Oga is a guy, whom most shit their pants when being confronted by, however even when he's out for blood, his demeanor is usually that for the greater good even if he doesn't want to admit it. Grinning in the face of opposition, a desire to beat his opponent even if he doesn't get much out of it, other than to get stronger, and if that's not badass and inspiring to always max out your own potential (albeit in a somewhat twisted way), then I don't know what is. And the last part I'd like to touch up on in the visual department are the spreads usually showcasing the battles, or some crazy shit going on because god dammit you will get some damn fine art that will have you left aghast! Whether that's some obscene, weird scene going on with other worldly entities, people fighting demons with everything from their swords, to magic, bare fists, summons, and energy blasts that will leave you baffled how chaotically well these different types of violence mesh so well in this story! But that's when you remember, "oh yeah, this is Beelzebub.". And that's why it's one of the few series to blend so many different subgenres, yet still manage to maintain a sense of cohesion throughout its entire run. This is where I feel many may disagree with me on, as a lot of people seem to like one or two aspects of Beelzebub, and dislike the other. Whether that's them preferring the SOL moments, over the violence, or maybe preferring the gag arcs over the delinquent heavy ones. But for me, I found it transitioning from arc to arc very smooth throughout. The only bit I found somewhat jarring, was towards the end when Oga, Beel, Toujou and Co. are one shotting baddies we barely get to learn about before moving to the next one at a machine gun's pace. But even here, I found the fast paced momentum to be exhilarating! It's like, "Who the fuck are you?" "DEMON BISHOP THE 4TH" "BAM BLAST, EPIC FIGHT ENSUES, WITH A TSUKKOMI FROM FURICHI" "OKAY WHO'S NEXT?!". It has that type of energy which I'm all for in final acts of animanga personally. Welp that's Beelzebub, where to even begin with this masterpiece? Can you name a series that perfectly combines delinquents, gag comedy, demons, and battle shounen? Maybe you can, but I sure can't, and especially not the way Beelzebub executes it. It's a series that manages to always keep you on your toes with its unpredictability, keep you laughing with its unique brand of humor, keep you in awe of the godtier battle art, and keep you engaged with its intriguing story! The characters are lovable, it never completely disregards any of its components that make it unique at any point (eg; it will still have comedy in the battle bits, or drama in the SOL arcs), the art is just beautiful and exciting to admire, and its vast plot will leave you in anticipation dying to know what's going to transpire next! As for why more people don't know about it, well like I always say when it comes to comedy, it's perhaps the most subjective form of entertainment out there, combine that with the amalgamation of various genres that makes Beelzebub, Beelzebub makes it a varied experience that's right up my alley personally, even though many others may find all the variety tiring or confusing. But personally, it just makes the journey that is this manga incredible, unpredictable, and fun! So hopefully, if you're someone who hasn't read this series yet, I cannot implore you to do so sooner!
