Beelzlebub

Out of all the anime I have watched, only two have made me laugh. The first one was Great Teacher Onizuka. The second one is Beelzlebub. It's absolutely ridiculous, has almost no depth or plot, and throws slapstick at you every second. Yet I loved every second of it. If you're looking for something stupid and different, Beelzlebub is exactly what you need. Almost every anime principle is twisted and parodied, and while many of the jokes fall completely flat; they are fired so quickly some are bound to hit the mark.

The baby Beelzebub does some amazing stuff.

Beelzebub is about an unruly student at a school of delinquents. Oga Tatsumi is beating his way out of an ambush one day when he spots a gigantic man floating down the river. As the huge man bobs past, he suddenly opens up and deposits a baby next to Oga. The baby clings on to Oga's back and decides to follow him everywhere. The demon maid Hilda turns up soon after, and explains to him that the baby is actually Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV. The child of the great demon lord, destined to wipe humanity from the face of the earth.

Oga quickly decides that he doesn't want to raise a child, especially one that explodes with electricity when it cries. So he tries to pass the baby on to someone else. For Beelzebub to attach himself to another human, they have to be stronger and more evil than Oga. Unfortunately, Oga is the demon Ogre. This anime is about Oga fighting his way through Ishiyama High School with a baby on his back.

The delinquents are characteristically stupid and prone to fight.

Although the anime seems pretty shallow at the beginning, it quickly changes into something more. The characters have great personalities, backed up by brilliant writing. The graphics and animations are nothing special, but up to date because it's a modern anime. Because it's all comedy, the few serious plot points actually have some weight behind them.

Beelzebub really surprised me. For the first 20 episodes there's barely a single step forward in the plot. Oga beats down countless opponents with ease, and he doesn't even break a sweat. Without a shred of development, Beelzebub still manages to be hilarious and captivating. So once the ball starts rolling and the plot moves forward, it goes from amusing to addictive.

Oga doesn't meet anyone to contest his strength until he's stomped almost everyone in his school.

I am particularly choosy when it comes to anime. I don't like shows that are focused on comedy, because I miss out on many jokes that only someone who lives in Japan would understand. Even more jokes are badly translated into English, making it very hard to watch a comedy anime and actually understand the jokes. Thus, I didn't expect much out of Beelzebub when I caught the first episode. I did not expect to find a show that could not only make me laugh, but keep me laughing throughout it.

There's so many reasons to smile while watching Beelzebub it's hard not to. Oga and the baby perform magical feats on a regular basis, such as exploding with electricity or punching someone into a wall. Despite this, everyone remains oblivious to the fact that the naked baby on Oga's back is actually a demon child.

Some of the episodes are basically filler, catching up on the side character. Normally I will skip these episodes, like a lot of people do. However, the writers did such a brilliant job even the filler is watchable. Even the fanservice is subtle, I couldn't notice it at all.

After a while the baby gets in sync with Oga. They make a great team.

My favorite part was the cast of characters. Hilda and Alaindelon are both demons, tasked with protecting the baby. They are both sadistic and hilarious in their own ways. Since the anime begins in a delinquent school, they are all evil bastards. Furuichi is Oga's best friend, instead of being evil he's horrendously perverted. After Oga defeats someone they tend to become his ally, and join his side from there onwards. As you can imagine, a bunch of delinquents from a bad school with a baby makes for countless humorous situations.

Beelzebub is a slapstick anime that doesn't take itself seriously, even during the most intense moments. The premise itself is ridiculous; a baby attaches itself to a students back, and the student decides to go around beating up anyone who can challenge him to get rid of the baby. It's basically all slapstick from the beginning until the end. Good thing I love slapstick comedy. If you're here and reading this, I strongly suggest you watch Beelzebub. I can't imagine anyone hating it.