Having tired of my posts about comics, this week I will be moving onto discussing some anime! Earlier this week I was sitting around, bored, with nothing really to do. I finished the last few episodes of Bleach that I hadn’t seen (yes, I was that bored), and then was left with nothing left to watch. So I opened up some links and started looking for lists of popular anime/manga. A name that repeatedly popped up was Beelzebub. I was unsure about it at first, since parody anime isn’t really my style. I generally run with the more serious and psychological anime, with shonen being somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine.
Nevertheless, I decided to give Beelzebub a try. I expected it to be silly, with attempts to be heartwarming mixed in with over the top action. I was not surprised. What did surprise me was how much I have been enjoying the show. I watched episode after episode, my interest never waning, in fact my desire to watch increased with each episode. Do not judge me until you watch it yourself!
Beelzebub at his finest.
The story is simple. It follows the character Tatsumi Oga, who is a juvenile delinquent who feels nothing for his fellow man. he is considered by some to be “the strongest juvenile delinquent”. He is a first year student at Ishiyama High School, a school that is well known for being nothing but delinquents. One day, he decides to take a nap near a river and gets jumped by some thugs from school trying to prove they’re tough by beating the supposedly strongest kid in school. Needless to say he trounces them, and then forces them to grovel at his feet. Upon his defeat and then domination of his enemies, he notices what looks like a man floating down the river. He jumps in and saves the man, who then splits in half, revealing a baby inside of him. Later you learn that he is a transport demon, and the baby he is carrying is named Kazier de Emperana Beelzebub IV, and is the son of the great demon lord.
The whole gang.
Having observed the way he easily dominated the thugs on the beach, the transport demon (named Alaindelon) decided that Tatsumi would make the best parent for the baby, to raise him in a way that would help him destroy humanity. Helping him in this task is Hilda, the baby demon’s maid who will act as the demon’s mother. Needless to say, Tatsumi is not at all looking forward to the prospect of fatherhood. Knowing that the reason he has been chosen as the parent is because he is considered the most brutal, strongest person in the school, he sets out on his own looking for someone in the school who is more ruthless than he is. If Beelz cries, then Tatsumi is shocked by thousands of volts of electricity. The further away he is from Beelz, the stronger the shock becomes. If he moves more than 15 meters away, he is dead. So he spends most of his time trying to keep Beelz from crying, and the rest of the time trying to find a parent for Beelz.That is the basic way that the first set of episodes go.
Beelz and Tatsumi
Each episode is a fight with different people, and a search for someone more brutal than he is. If you have any desire to watch anything silly, filled with over the top action and with the occasional heartfelt moment, then you should definitely check out Beelzebub. If nothing else, it is certainly good for a laugh. What do you think gents? Have any of you seen Beelz? If so, did any of you enjoy it? Let me know, and stay tuned for more posts in the future.