While I honestly haven’t been reading many new titles, I’ve been getting a hankering for “fun shounen stuff” lately (I’ve started reading Houshin Engi, and am finally getting into the chapters in the 300s of JoJo) in order to once again prove that my girlie tendencies come and go just like my memory and intelligence. In the midst of my manliness, I found Beelzebub, a (fairly) new manga title by Ryuuhei Tamura in Weekly Shounen Jump, where it won the fourth Gold Future Cup (which, as Bakuman has taught me, might mean nothing in the world of manga).
Beelzebub starts with the “Ogre” Oga Tatsumi, another high school delinquent who packs a mean punch (why aren’t there more Japanese boxers? Sorry, Ashita no Joe-wait, too old school for you?). Oga is, in the end, a typical high school dude. He has his one really good (and maybe masochistic) best friend, lives a normal life, and doesn’t care much about anything. Apparently, all of this put together makes him the ideal parent for the next-in-line demon king. Wait, what? Turns out Oga’s strong, arrogant, and uncaring attitude has attracted the attention of the netherworld, and, as a result, he ends up with a naked demon prince to babysit. Yes, naked. Always.
In the time-honored tradition of “single rough man raises demonbaby child, Oga becomes the father figure, explaining to Baby Be’El that real men fight when they have to, but for the right reasons. I’m not sure how much of Oga’s attempted parenting actually gets through considering the kid can’t even talk yet, but hey, his heart-or fist- is in the right place. Thus, hijinks ensue as Oga searches for someone stronger than him to pawn the kid off to (did I say ‘parenting’? It’s such a loose term, really).
So, throw all that in with a bit of potential romance with either a very racked demon maid, or a very repressed mob daughter, and you have Beelzebub. Which, just like it sounds, ends up being mindless fun. Oga and his friend Furuichi (apparently the only kid in school who’s NOT a delinquent) never cease to amuse me with their stupid antics and expressions and all-around coolness (after the initial shock) with the fact that they now sport a naked baby as their school bag.
The art is typical shounen style, with few tones, tons of angry faces, and heavy lines, but it completely fits the story. The pacing is very good with fair layout so the boredom doesn’t turn on. The characters are quickly developed but lovable, and the situations are stupid, but in a good way. In the end, it’s just a fun time, and though the chapters seem to be getting shorter and shorter (a shounen jump disease), I’ll definitely keep up with the scanlations. Don’t look for any deep meanings or secrets to life in this story, but if you want something light and fast-paced, have a go at it.

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