Manga Review: Beelzebub

Title: Beelzebub
Author: Tamura Ryuuhei
Release: Weekly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Shonen
Art: B
Originality: S
Story: S
Characters: A
Humor: A
Action: A

Impression: This manga is exactly what Shonen Jump should be publishing and thankfully they did. It’s rare for any newcomer to come up with a manga that’s so fresh and full of spirit that it embodies exactly what should go into a shonen manga. It’s about a young but incredibly strong delinquent name Oga Tatsumi who’s a freshman at a delinquent school that has been forced to take care of the baby demon king destined to end the world otherwise he could die. It’s got a strong and funny lead, a simple, clear and evolving plotline, excellent humor, short but great battles and a totally fresh concept. It’s got incredible potential and could surpass Mx0, one of the best shonen manga ever made IMHO, if the author has got a lot more planned than what’s being hinted at the moment. Seeing as it’s still just starting out, I can ignore the lack of heartwarming moments needed to complete a shonen manga but the manliness that Oga brings out at times makes up for it. The way I see it, there is potential for really heartwarming moments here maybe a couple of dozen more chapters later but at the moment, humor and manliness is the momentum that this manga is riding on so it’ll be impressive if the author can fit one without it being out of place soon. It certainly feels like he’s setting up for the start of the meat of the story and a powerful moment that could either be awesome, heartwarming or a mixture of the two. This manga is one to look out for.