203 chapters and continuing

Oga Tatsumi is such a terrible person that he is chosen to raise the son of the Demon Lord. One day while beating up other delinquents by the river (or as he put it, 'doing the laundry') he comes into possession of a baby through some very strange events. Beelzebub (the baby) immediately attaches himself to Oga and won't let go. If Oga strays too far from Beel he gets electrocuted. The only way to rid himself of Beel is to find someone stronger than himself to take Baby Beel. He is in luck. Oga's school, Ishiyama High, has the toughest, most badass delinquents around. Now onto the job of finding someone stronger than himself.

Beelzebub is more about the comedy than the action. Oga names his attacks just for the hilarity of it; a regular kick is an 'Oga Kick' to him. Beelzebub often uses references from popular culture. These include but are not limited to Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball Z. My favourite would be Oga telling friend Furuichi, "... It is as a great man once said, 'Give me all of your cash in spirit form,' " with an accompanying picture of Goku (with the eyes censored out) readying the Spirit Bomb.

Beelzebub will occasionally break the fourth wall. It works for Deadpool, it works for Beelzebub as well. As two characters were 'preparing to fight' the dialogue went "Lets fight!" "Come at me and stop wasting panels!" In another instance, Oga (or Furuichi) calls a newly introduced character 'half-assed' or 'winged' (translations vary) because he is a blue blob with a hat.

Power struggles are continually used as the main plot for almost every arc, though there have been hints of a bigger picture, of a storm brewing in the background. I don't mind the repetitions because I didn't expect anything serious when I started reading this. Fillers aren't unwelcome because they're mostly funny, which is the whole point. I still find the story interesting.

Don't watch the anime; Oga is given super powers so he can quickly finish off the enemy and subsequently the series (called 'pulling a Soul Eater'). Ryūhei Tamura, illustrator and writer for Beelzebub, did a damn good job with the manga. I can recognize the motions taking place. I don't feel a lack of animation or the need for it. Read the manga.

Rating: 8.5/10