Beelzebub

[u6ory]

Why is everyone hating on the final arc 💀 That shit was awesome

True dat

 

[LuckyDenverMint]

Alongside Toriko and other Jump manga from the late 2000s, Beelzebub was a pretty good shounen, and, even with all of its problems, i would still recommend it to everyone, 8.5/10

 

[Ako_Z]

This is the first time I’ve written a review of a series I’ve read. For me, Beelzebub is a franchise that will always hold a special place in my heart and in my childhood memories. I remember staying up late to watch the anime, and now I’ve finally finished the manga...
Like many others readers, I loved this work, but I also noticed many plot points that weren’t fully developed:

Story:

• The backstories of Saotome, Ikaruga, Kunieda’s grandfather, and the President of St. Ishiyama: How they met and the war they fought in.
• The Salomon Company and Johan: Although they promote themselves as one of the final enemies under the pretext of defending the earth with anti-demon weapons, we ultimately see that they were willing to do anything to start another war. The story ends with them being humiliated because they failed to anticipate Oga’s actions and because the Demon King uncovered their plot.
• Hell: An arc focusing on this could have explained how Behemoth’s 34 pillars gradually disappeared, how the Solomon Corporation was able to intervene, and Satan’s role as the final boss.

Use of Characters:

There are many characters who were sidelined as the story progressed, such as:

• Everything related to “En”: The maids, the 34 Pillars of En, and En himself could have been developed further beyond just the Akuma-no arc and the introduction of Furuishi’s power-up with the handkerchiefs. The only thing revealed in the end was regarding the Pillars, who tried to help in the fight with the "Killer Six-elements" and later with Satan but were defeated literally within a page turn, and the advice En gives to Beel at the end of the manga
• Athrun: This may be due to the rushed ending, but it is revealed that he was a henchman of Satan, but that’s as far as it goes.
• Yamamura: He had the potential to be an informant or to play a more active role than just watching.
• The Rokkisei: Like everything related to “En,” once the Akuma-no arc ended, they were sidelined, only to be reused as background characters in some battles and for filler chapters.
• Fuji and Satan: They were occasionally mentioned as the strongest characters by the end of the series, but I don't feel like we were given enough reason to hate them to see them as final bosses.
• The Demon King: The strongest character in the story and the comic relief. I think that by showing us how afraid all his servants were of him and the battles he fought in, it was enough to make us want to see him in action, but we never even got to see his face...

Relationships:

- Oga, Hilda, and Kunieda: I don't know what to say; I really would liked to see how this played out, but it's not like it was absolutely necessary to wrap up the story. P.S.: I’m Team Oga-Kunieda till the end.
- Tojo and Shizuka: Just like with Oga, this was another couple that could have developed based on the little we were shown, but just like with Oga, it couldn’t develop because they’re both only focused on fighting.

• Saotome and Ikagura: What can I say, This could be related to their backstories, but, as I mentioned in the first section, it wasn’t developed.
• Furuishi and Alaindelon: Okay, this is a joke, but it still would have been nice if the story between Angelica and Furuishi had been developed a little more, like we saw in the anime.
• The Demon King, Iris, En and Beel: Although the series didn’t give us a real reason to think of them as Beel’s family beyond their blood relation and the arc where they meet Iris, it would have been nice to further develop the emotional conflict Oga faced when letting Beel go to hell, giving us a glimpse of what Beel’s daily life would be like there.

As I said, Beelzebub has a special place in my heart and always will, no matter how much time passes. You might think that because I’ve written so much about the series’ potential flaws, I might end up hating it, but nothing could be further from the truth. And honestly, I would have loved to see how everything would have unfolded if Ryūhei Tamura had been able to write it at his own pace, without being rushed to finish it due to Jump’s demands or the poor reviews it was receiving at the time, from what I saw.
I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did.