Manga Review: Beelzebub

Beelzebub is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Ryuhei Tamura. It is published by Shueisha and is run in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. It first begun it's run in February 2009 and is still currently ongoing with 4 volumes so far. Beelzebub was first published as a one-shot by Tamura in Weekly Shonen Jump's 2008 volumes 37-38, where it won the fourth Gold Future Cup then it was serialized on the same magazine starting in its thirteenth volume in 2009.

The story follows the "strongest juvenile delinquent", Oga Tatsumi, he is a first year in "Ishiyama High" the school for delinquents. But one day while fishing by the river, he sees a man floating down it, he pulls him to shore and the man splits in half revealing a baby boy. This boy is the son of the demon king and he has been chosen as the one to raise it with the baby's maid Hilda. The story follows his life with the child and at the delinquent school. The story starts as he is telling the story of how he found the baby to his best (and only?) friend Furuichi Takayuki.

For a shonen manga, having a baby as a main character is quite uncommon, and don't you dare mention Reborn!. Beelzebub is a manga that is able to blend together two different character traits that are ussually very difficult to combine. This is slapstick comedy with badass roughness. There will be scenes in the story where seriousness is of the upmost importance, however the manga is pretty much 90% comedy. Yet how do they work so well together? in my opinion a bad example of gag work is kitman Hitman Reborn! yet it does have some badass scenes. Where as the core plot of the Beelzebub is quite loose were not bothered by it as much. It might be because the manga is still starting out, and that might change in the future. But right now we are witnessing the events of a manga that is a fine mix of badass comedy which I defintely want more to drink from!

Oga Tatsumi: He is your average highschool delinquent who we first see stomping down on classmates who are picking on him. He is the most evil guy in the school and prides himself upon destroying anyone who faces him. However when he meets Beelzebub for the first time, he finds their fates are connected. So much so that if he goes away from Beelzebub by more then 15 meters he gets struck by lightening. So he has no choice but to be his guardian and thus carrys him on his back whether he goes. However this does not mean he likes the duty, he would very much like to leave him. Although this is true this character pair can work together to unleash devestating results, but most of the time Oga likes to use his own powers to face his enemys.

Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV: As you might notice from his name, he is next in line to be the king of all evil in the underworld, however he must be sent to earth and find a guardian so his demon powers can grow. And to do this he must find the most evil person to be fit as his guardian, which is of course Oga. Beelzebub though is still a baby and acts very much like one, so much so that as I said if Oga goes away for more then 15 meters he will cry and strike him with lightening. And that is Beelzebub's power he wields demon lightening that even Oga can be weak against, and damn Oga doesn't get hurt by pretty much most things.

Hildagarde: Hilda is a demon maid who helps Oga take care of Beelzebub IV. She takes great pride in working for the Demon Lord and dedicates her life fo Beelzebub. Her most characteristic features include her Gothic Lolita appearance and of course her large bust size. She has an umbrella almost always at all times which conceals a sword in the handle. And funnily enough Oga's family is under the impression that Oga and Hilda had sex and that Beelzebub was the resulting consequence. At first she does not see Oga as a good enough guardian for Beelzebub, however that changes over time as Oga and Beelzebub's relationship grow stronger through every fight they have.

Furuichi Takayuki: For every strong male lead, his best friend, and I am sure his only friend must be normal in comparison. a, Furuichi seems to be the only non-delinquent character of the story thus far, and even seems to have no fighting ability. He often points out the absurdities in Oga's situation, acting as the rational and most passive member of the group. However unlike Oga also he is a major coward, yet even so he will display undying courage when he is infront of an attractive girl. This gives him the stupid Coward Trait. Though amazingly, you will not feel disatisfied with his character because he is quite humourous being the only sane member of the group.

Suprisingly the art quality is quite good for a shonen jump manga, you might think that in most scenes that there will be a lack of reasonable detail in the pages that you flip through. However that will change quite quickly as the manga develops and unfolds. Sure in the average page there will be alot of white backgrounds but there will be scenes where the detail and shading appear much better and of a higher quality. Though of course snce this a shonen manga the art quality really takes off whenever there is a fight scene, and since this is a manga about a fighting delinquent you can be sure that there will be a never ending supply of fights to satisfy your moods.

So what can I say? I really love how this manga is turning out. You think it might be boring because it is just your average highschool delinqueint who goes around beating people up to be the best, but can you imagine that kind of generic storyline when the guy carrys around a naked demon king baby on his back? no, I didn't think so, and it is that kind of humourous trait in this manga that makes it special. I would also be very much suprised if you did not even find one joke or gag humourous or funny. Ussually making light humour in a serious life or death situation is done badly, like bleach. But Beelzebub does it really well, so much so it is natural like One Piece. In the end read it for the awesome fights!