Forum - View topicThe Apocrypha of Hareluya II BØY & Why It's Worth Watching
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1499 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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Awesome article, I love me some editorial pieces on obscure anime, regardless of how rightful or wrongful said obscurity is.
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OH&S
 Posts: 306 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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Now this is a blast from the past! Though not necessarily too far back for me. I first came across BØY in the late 00's during my read-any-manga-you-can phase.
Definitely one of the most craziest manga I've ever read; though it needs to be put in perspective. Aside from the premise of the original series (which doesn't really carry over into the sequel), this isn't anything supernatural; its just 90's Japan. But man, there is some high octane shounen antics in this one (even if its mostly teenagers and adults fistfighting each other). One scene that sticks out to me and I've remembered for over 10 years is when the two main leads are chasing down some gang in their headquarters (or something) and they run into the gang's pet? bear. Somehow it ends with this awesome single page panel of them riding the bear (whose size was exaggerated) rodeo style. |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2545 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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Hi there, I was the author of this article... and it got comments?! I wasn't sure if anyone was actually going to read this thing, since I'm sure only crazy people read articles about anime that they likely never even heard of.
(beat) Anyway, I should clarify that BØY is indeed more of a yankii/delinquent series than anything, which makes the anime all the more unique, since until Tokyo Revengers it was pretty much the only yankii anime to ever be made for TV, as while the genre has a following in manga, it's never really been given a real chance on TV for anime; hence why Rokudenashi Blues remains the longest Jump manga to have never been given a TV anime. Apparently, the original Hareluya manga did start seeing some popularity once Umezawa focused more on the delinquent side of things, rather than the "Son of God" stuff, so it's possible that Umezawa simply decided to let Hareluya get cancelled (he did give it an honestly decent ending, at least) & reboot it as BØY, so that he didn't have to deal with the supernatural aspects anymore.
Sadly, this moment is NOT in the anime. While a good amount of the anime is from the manga, pretty much all of them feature some sort of changes to them, and some stories, like the fan-favorite Million Arc, aren't here at all. I would love to see the BØY manga get licensed for English release, but considering its length I don't think it'll ever happen, so I am glad to see that the anime is at least being given the opportunity. |
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horseradish
Posts: 574 Location: Bay Area |
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I have a soft spot for '90s delinquent anime, so I've been meaning to watch this since the license was announced. Hopefully it doesn't get too repetitive with gags and fights as many of them tend to become.
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2545 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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I'd argue that BØY manages to keep things reliable for the most part, but without feeling old hat. The fights aren't in the usual "Jump style" as you'd expect, as they're more a means to an end than a focus, and the anime having Hareluya pull out all sorts of stuff from behind his back keeps that gag fresh throughout. Probably the most often-used stuff would be smaller things, like Hareluya constantly calling Ichijo a "Closet Pervert" (though I do like the old fan translation of "Sullen Lecher", which does fit this Hareluya's more proper way of talking, at times), or Kiyoshiro usually being the one who gets everyone involved in a situation to solve. Also, Hareluya's ability to continually get back up from anything dished out on him, though this is one part of the point of Hareluya's character. That's mainly why I feel that BØY is a spiritual precursor to Gintama & SKET Dance, as they all mix together comedy & serious storytelling in differing amounts, depending on the situation, & similar to Gintama there's the occasional big fight in BØY, though they are mostly more straightforward in this series. |
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BlueAlf
 Posts: 1502 |
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I was sure I was pretty up to date with shonen mangas in the late 90s, but apparently, I totally missed this one.
Thanks for writing about this. |
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tomdean
Posts: 125 |
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loved the manga - it was for me, right up there with yankii manga legends like Shounan Junai Gumi and Kyou Kara Ore Wa.
the art got better as time went on, but most important for me, was what happens when you let manga be manga and be fictional creations, let writers write what they think is most interesting, and free from moral judgements or societal censoring tendencies - you'll end up with some dubious plots (sexual coercion on teens), unadulterated fanservice(i don't think it happened every chapter, but they were defnitely there) and mindless violence, but the end result of those now-oh-so controversial elements, is that you will have a manga that feels genuine and downrigtht enjoyable - and eexactly as the weiter intended it to be god i miss those days and those classics |
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