Manga / As Miss Beelzebub Likes

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As Miss Beelzebub Likes (ベルゼブブ嬢のお気に召すまま。) is a slice-of-life comedy manga written and illustrated by Matoba. It ran in Monthly Shonen Gangan from 2015 to 2020. An anime adaptation aired between October and December 2018, produced by Liden Films. It can currently be legally viewed on Crunchyroll. The manga is also licensed in North America by Yen Press.

Most people tend to think of Hell as a dark and dreary place, with torture, torment, and danger lurking every corner. Well, this cannot be said about it in this universe. Here, Hell is known as the paradise of Pandemonium, where angels who have turned into demons work. The demons of Pandemonium all admire the wise and capable ruler Beelzebub, including Mullin, who becomes her head attendant. However, as it turns out, she's secretly a klutzy airhead with a sweet tooth and a love for anything fluffy and cute. Mullin is shocked by this, but nonetheless, he strives to get closer to her the best he can.

This series contains examples of:

• A-Cup Angst: Astaroth sometimes pokes fun at Sargatanas by reminding her that she is the least well-endowed member of the female cast. However, at other times he pities her or attempts to instil some Petite Pride in her (with a focus on her generally excellent figure)… and utterly fails in part due to his usual behaviour. Unlike most examples, Sargatanas is well aware that buxom is not always better and that everyone is different, that said she wants to be more-or-less average size.
• Affectionate Nickname: Belphegor is called Gocchin by Beelzebub. Beelzebub is called Beel by a few people close to her including Belphegor.
• Amnesia Episode: In chapter 57, Eurynome gets amnesia from the shock of seeing Dantalion's adult form.
• Beach Episode:
  • Subverted. At one point, Beel and Belphegor try to plan a day at the beach with Azazel and Mullin and they spend the entire episode trying out bikinis in Adramelech's office. When the day for them to go to the beach comes, a storm ends up derailing their plans.
  • Later on played straight. Astaroth and Sargatanas go with the rest of the Finance Department to a beach, only to get stranded on a "deserted island"… which turns out to just be the opposite shore of the island they were visiting to begin with.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Astaroth and Sargatanas. He often pisses her off with his jokes, especially about her flat chest, and she beats him up. The attraction between them is still obvious.
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Beelzebub tries to show herself as a competent, but approachable woman to the people who look up to her in the workplace and in Pandemonium, but as Mullin works with her, he learns that she is basically a normal girl who is pretty klutzy and eccentric.
  • Sargatanas tries to put on the personality of a cold businesswoman in her job but she loves cute things and is easily over-excited about them.
• Beta Couple: Azazel and Belphegor play a second fiddle couple to Beel and Mullin. Astaroth and Sargatanas make up for the tertiary couple of the series, while Eurynome and Samyaza are the quartary couple.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: Molech and Dantalion. Dantalion is normally the size of a middle-school boy and Molech is only second to Azazel in height. Since Molech has assistants doing all his job for him, he hangs out in the library helping Dantalion getting books from high shelves.
• Bouquet Toss: Sargatanas tosses the bouquet at her and Astaroth's wedding. It falls on Dantalion's head, but he doesn't want it and gives it to the girl next to him.
• Bust-Contrast Duo: Beelzebub is rather buxom as well as being fluffy, spacey, and a borderline ditz, in sharp contrast with Sargatanas who is cold, sadistic, blunt, and flat as a board.
• Clark Kent Outfit: Molech is probably the most muscular male character in the primary cast, even more than Azazel, but it's hard to notice beneath his outfit. It only shows when he is bathing during the Hot Springs Episode.
• Clothing Damage: Unca Nisroch gets this whenever he cooks: his motions are so deft that his clothes fly completely into shreds in the process. He's Beel's private chef, so this happens a minimum of twice a day.
• Cold Opening: Each episode starts with a small, funny segment of Beelzebub eating fluffy food.
• Cover Drop: The first manga volume's cover is re-enacted in the opening theme.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The ending theme is performed by Saori Onishi (Beelzebub), Misaki Kuno (Belphegor), and Ai Kakuma (Sargatanas).
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • When introduced, Sargatanas was prone to threatening Astaroth with a gun and wrestling moves before tying him up. Later appearances entirely ignore the gun or that she ever dealt with them and only has her restraining him using elegant shibari-type knots and ropes. Meanwhile, the wrestling holds gradually cease to appear in favour of more elaborate rope techniques.
  • Similarly, in his first appearance, Dantalion is even more of a Sleepyhead, thinks that sleeping on the job is a-okay, and also Forgets to Eat. Subsequently, he at most dozes on the job and the sleepiness is comparatively downplayed while Molech prevents any meal skipping.
• Food Porn: Beel is the demon presiding over gluttony, so food shows up often. In the manga, this occurs whenever food shows up, so any chapter with meals, snacks, eateries, or bakeries. Meanwhile, a lot of the good art of the anime goes to showcasing delicious dishes and sweets that Beel likes to eat; this happens always in the cold opening and might happen more during an episode.
• Forever War: Subverted, for the most part. In chapter two, it's mentioned that, contrary to popular perception, the demons are still servants of God, just in a different capacity than they were as angels. Later, the war which reduced the various characters to fallen status is referred to as a feud with no particularly known cause (possibilities include Lucifer being angry God ate some food he had set aside and Lucifer having slept in when he'd promised to do something with God). On the flip side, chapter 67 reveals that the archdemon Lucifer is apparently frozen somewhere in Cocytus. So the conflict never ended for some, but it definitely is history for the cast and the underworld in general.
• Freudian Slip: When Beelzebub accidentally wanders into the Red-Light District, Mullin goes look for her and is approached by a pimp who talks about "having some good boobs lined up." Mullin lets this slip:
  Mullin: They're not the boobs I'm looking for!
• Headbutt Thermometer: Beelzebub almost kisses Mullin while checking his temperature with her forehead.
• Hot Springs Episode: In chappter 14, Astaroth creates public baths in the office in an attempt to get a chance to see the girls bathing. The episode ends up focusing entirely on the guys antics while bathing together since the girls were smart enough to wait until Astaroth tried to peek before actually bathing.
• Human Snowman: This happens twice:
  • In chapter 22, Molech, being well, Molech, randomly is one. He may or may not have done it to himself somehow.
  • During the Ski-Resort Episode, Sargatanas puts Astaroth into a shibari-tied one out of embarrassment (rather than Astaroth having done something to deserve it). An extra at the end of the chapter indicates that he was left there until it was time to go home.
• Inconsistent Coloring: Beelzebub's uniform was white in colored pages of early chapters, but the color got changed to pink later.
• Leg Focus: The resident Comedic Shotacon Eurynome hides behind the bushes so she can admire the bare legs of passing elementary school students.
• Like Brother and Sister: Both Astaroth and Unca Nisroch have this dynamic with Beel. Unca Nisroch playing the trope straight, whereas for Astaroth it's downplayed, being half a self-proclaimed example and half an annoying elder brother-type.
• Love Confession: The series has several:
  • In an early chapter, Belphegor accidentally confesses her feelings for Azazel, but bit her tongue, so it came out as something much more mundane.
  • At one point, Samyaza admits to having feelings for Eurynome, although he knows that she's got disturbing tastes and will probably never see him as a love interest.
  • In chapter 76, after chapters of misunderstandings, Astaroth and Sargatanas confess their feelings to each other.
  • Chapter 80 has two: Belphegor for Azazel and Beel to Mullin. Mullin finally responds in chapter 83.
• Luminescent Blush:
  • Belphegor nearly always sports one.
  • Sargatanas gets these whenever she's embarrassed.
  • Eurynome has this as part of her disturbing reactions to seeing young boys, sometimes overlapping with High-Pressure Emotion (usually coupled with a nosebleed or comedic Blood from the Mouth).
  • Samyaza gets these when Eurynome makes his heart pound or people ask him about his crush.
  • Mullin gets these surprisingly frequently (usually while covering his face).
  • Beelzebub also has this from time to time.
  • Even Astaroth has sported them on rare occasion, mostly in response to Sargatanas.
  • In chapter 80, Azazel gets one in response to overhearing Belphegor say that she likes him.
• Nominal Importance: A lampshaded subversion. In chapter 22, two background characters, the blonde office guys, are left in a daze at their actually having names. Overlaps with Breaking the Fourth Wall.
  Gusion: …So we… weren't just office guys A and B after all…
  Otis: We had names, huh…?
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Quite a few characters use personalized versions of the uniforms available, which is a blue, military-like outfit. Beel and Belphegor use dresses instead of these outfits, with Beel's having a Cleavage Window and Belphegor showing her mid section. Sargatanas uses a version similar to the men but with a long coat. Azazel uses a version with a short coat that mostly showcases his plain white shirt. Dantalion wears a version that has short shorts instead of pants and a huge bow on his neck to further his school boy appearance. That being said, this is actually a subversion: chapter 18 reveals that the rank and file have multiple standard options while the executive ranks have their uniforms customized by Adramelech (with that customization, along side the epaulettes, being indicative of their rank).
• Not What It Looks Like: At the close of the Hot Springs Episode, Astaroth tries to look at the girls changing, while Mullin tries to stop him. The girls conclude that they were both trying to peek and are disappointed with Mullin, who can't get a word in edgewise.
• Odd Friendship: Dantalion devotes as much time as he can to books, especially reading them, with no qualms about neglecting his basic life needs to do so. Molech is an outgoing, loud, athletic, Cloudcuckoolander, who basically never pays any attention to what others say. Yet the two are best friends and even room together.
• Office Romance:
  • Mullin and Beelzebub are in love with each other, but they're also working together, with him as her secretary. He notices a few times that his feelings for her are unprofessional.
  • The Minister of Finance Astaroth and his assistant Sargatanas are attracted to each other behind their bickering.
• Older Than They Look:
  • Zigzagged with Dantalion. He is a demon who normally looks like a middle-school-aged boy with bunny ears but is an extremely ancient entity. However, three days of every lunar month he takes on an adult appearance.
  • Mammon is a fallen angel and current executive but looks like a middle-school-aged girl.
• Periphery Demographic: In-Universe. A show for kids about a bunch of cute animals turns out to be a huge hit for attracting people of all kinds who love cuteness.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: All the characters have the names of mythological demons found in demonology.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Gossamers, also referred to as "Angel Hairballs"; small, adorable white balls of fluff that float all over the place. Beel keeps a large hoard of them in her bedroom. Interestingly, the terrestrial kind loose their fluffiness when wet while the aquatic kind, seen in chapter 51, are only fluffy under water, so as far as Beel is concerned, Gossamers have "fleeting" fluffiness and therefore cuteness.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Beel for Belphegor and Azazel, since she wants to help her friend get with the guy she likes. Belphegor's attendant, Camio, is also on deck.
  • Adramelech for Beel and Mullin, thinking that they are a cute couple. Downplayed with Azazel who mainly wants to keep watching over the two, but is definitely rooting for them.
• Shout-Out: There's a lot. Many are to various things in pop culture, especially Japanese pop culture (often with mentioned by name but censored with an underscore or circle). However, there are also references to Abrahamic legends about fallen angels, a few works on said fallen angels, and Dante Alighieri's Inferno.
• Sick Episode: In chapter 7, Mullin and Beel had planned to go see a movie together on their day off, but Mullin caught a cold. Cue Azazel and Beel making a get-well visit.
• Ski-Resort Episode: The majority of the main cast visits Cocytus in chapter 67.
• Succubi and Incubi: There is a side character named Morrigan who is the head of the succubi and a specialist in seduction. In the anime, she helps Beel and Belphegor pick up swimwear to seduce men and plays Ms. Fanservice.
  • The head of the incubi, Sitri, appears in chapter 26.
  • There's also Lilim, a demon who aspires to be a succubus, but chooses the altogether wrong target and can't switch targets if she wants the job. For good or ill, there's no time-limit. Eventually, she passes the first round any way, on the grounds of her good luck and sheer persistence (the rest of batch had long since either passed or dropped out), and due to there being another opening in the department.
• Sugar Bowl: Pandemonium. Hell has never been this colorful or comfy. Even better, the underworld does in fact include the ultra-cold bottom of Hell, Cocytus… which has long ceased to be a place where demons regularly work and is instead a warehouse and tourist district… because apparently the underworld has really good workers' rights.
• Those Two Guys:
  • Dantalion and Molech are nearly always together.
  • The four officers seen in Beel's office come in pairs. The pair seen most frequently are the two tall blondes, Gusion (has a side part), and Otis (has bangs). The other two (with toned hair) are Curson (has a bob cut) and Bathin (has freckles).
• Toilet Humor: Belphegor had a lot of it, as being in a stressful situation made her want to pee really bad. This however is later downplayed for her other traits, such as being easily flustered, in love with Azazel, and a good friend and confidant to Beel.
• Transformation Sequence: In chapter 47, Camio, who is usually in the form of a monocled bird transforms (à la Sailor Moon, heavily abbreviated) into a dandy elderly butler in order to attend Belphegor at a French café. Mullin isn't sure which weirds him out more: the sequence or the fact that Camio is now in human form. Unfortunately, it only lasts three minutes… and his clothes go first.
• Twice Shy: Azazel and Belphegor. They're both painfully shy and have a hard time even having a conversation, especially because of Belphegor's social anxiety.
• The Voiceless: Azazel never speaks to avoid frightening others, instead writing on signs. In chapter 80, after overhearing Belphegor confess her feelings for him, he responds by assuring her attendant that he'll never make her cry… Rather than responding to what Azazel said, the attendant is shocked that Azazel is actually talking.
• Wedding Finale: The final chapter shows the wedding of Astaroth and Sargatanas.
• What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Unlike other characters, Molech never gets introduced with an identification of his position in the rankings of Pandemonium, even though he's about as old as Beel there. He does have a job there, according to himself, but he has many assistants that do his job for him, so he's free to do whatever he pleases instead of actually working and goes to goof off in the library.
• What Is This Feeling?: Beel had never fallen in love before and after feeling something for Mullin, she wonders what exactly her feelings are.
• When She Smiles: Male example. Azazel's smile makes Belphegor faint from happiness the first time she sees it.
• World of Technicolor Hair: The only normal hair color characters have is yellow. Outside of that, characters have pink, purple, blue, white and green air all around, and all of them are treated as perfectly normal. They are demons, after all.