Creative Staff:
Story/Art: matoba
Translation: Lisa Coffman
Lettering: Lorina Mapa
What They Say:
Love is ever daunting for the demon girls of Pandemonium, and the subtle twists and turns of daily life aren’t making thing any easier! Is Sargatanas strong enough to wear a skirt for an impromptu parti-time job? Can Belphegor’s bladder endure the mere mention of marriage? Will Beelzebub’s life be forever changed by fried chicken?! No matter the challenges, these fallen angels refuse to stay down!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If you are looking for something radically different from the previous volumes…then you’re not going to find anything of that nature here. Granted, Beelmama is not the kind of work that trades in rapid shifts of emphasis and mind-bending plot twists. Instead, you can expect more of the same. Of course, if more of the same is what you were hoping for, then you will find much that is welcome here.
That is not to say that this work is completely static or lacking in any kind of progress. But it is slow. Expecting any real advancement in the relationship between Beelzebub and Mullin is a fool’s errand. You should all know that by now. But we can see some slow development in others. The major recipient of more focus and attention is Sargatanas, the assistant to the skirt-chasing Astaroth. It has been building up every so slightly before, but the author is presenting the seeds of a budding relationship between the two, as unlikely as it might seem. It’s been far under the surface, though clearly both sides have feelings about the other which they do not want to be fully honest about. Here, Sargatanas continues to agonize over her lack of femininity, especially her lack of a discernible bust and a lack of “cuteness” (highly prized in women in otaku works of entertainment).
This gets “remedied” (as if it were a true problem—it’s not, Sargatanas is rather cute already) by having Sacchan help out a friend of hers who runs a patisserie. The friend is the owner and pastry chef, but all of her front of house part-time staff are out. So, Sargatanas has to step in as a part-time assistant at the register—which requires her to wear the extremely frilly and cute outfit that her friend’s employees usually wear. Naturally, Sargatanas does not think she could look cute in such an outfit (need I point out the obvious? It has already been established that Sargatanas has a nice, tall, slim build and this outfit shows lots of leg…again, need I state the obvious?). Of course, her luck is horrible as guess who visits this bakery regularly on the weekend? Astaroth.
Does Astaroth find her cute in this outfit? Do I need to answer that question?
We do get one new character introduced: Marchosias, a former angel-turned-demon-turned-aide-de-camp to the archangel Michael, who is also a childhood friend of Beelzebub (back when they were in Heaven). She seems to serve two purposes: one, to introduce the possibility of Heaven-dwellers coming for a visit; two, to provide another person who realizes what is going on between Mullin and Beelzebub, while those two remain utterly dense and clueless. In a similar vein, we see Camio, Belphegor’s aide, desperately trying his best to advance the other slow-as-molasses romance in this series, the pairing of Belphegor and Azazel, by asking Beelzebub to help him convince Gocchin to make her move—Camio being unaware of how incredibly dense Beelzebub is about affairs of the heart.
I don’t see any of these romances advancing at any time in the near future.
So, plot (is there a plot?) advancement and character development continue to move at a pace comfortable for a snail. The gentle comedy and playful interactions of the characters continue, but that’s all that is really on offer in this volume. If you are satisfied with just this, have at it. If you are desirous of more, this volume might leave you a little flat.
In Summary:
Sargatanas has to help out an old classmate who runs a bakery and needs some part-time help. When she is forced to wear a cute outfit, will she manage to overcome her lack of confidence in her cuteness? Will Astaroth showing up make it worse? Then, Beelzebub has an old friend visit from Heaven, followed by lunch with Camio, Belphegor’s aide, who is seeking help to push forward Gocchin’s romance (can we even call it that?) with Azazel. Do not expect romantic fireworks. You can expect more fluffiness (though no angel hairballs this time) and cuteness.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: T (Teen) L N
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 19th, 2019
MSRP: $13.00
