is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written by

Riku Sanjo is a Japanese manga writer and screenwriter. He works as a story writer for manga, anime and live-action film. Sanjo graduated from Meiji University. '' Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai'' (1989–1996), which he created with illustrator ...

and illustrated by Koji Inada. It takes place in a fantasy world where humans have been suffering from the attacks of the demon-like Vandels. Humans can fight back by becoming a Vandel Buster, a paid monster and Vandel assassin. Beet, is a young boy who becomes a Vandel Buster to be like his heroes, the Zenon Warriors. The manga ran in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

's ''

Monthly Shōnen Jump was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. History The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine started ...

'' from 2002 to 2006. After a nearly ten-year hiatus, the series resumed in '' Jump SQ.Crown'' in 2016, before entering a short-term hiatus. It is currently being serialized in ''Jump SQ.Rise'' since 2018. In North America,

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

licensed the manga for English release and published its first twelve volumes between 2004 and 2007. A 52-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

was broadcast on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

, followed by a sequel, ''Beet the Vandel Buster: Excellion'', which ran for 25 episodes. The anime series was licensed in North America by

Illumitoon Entertainment Illumitoon Entertainment was a production company based in Fort Worth, Texas that specialized in anime. It was founded in January 2006 by former Funimation executives Stephanie Giotes, Richard Ray, and Barry Watson. Illumitoon's goal was to hav ...

, who only released one DVD in 2007 before discontinuing it.

Story

Set in the Dark Ages, a term referring to the time since Vandels (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsvampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and "

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

")"On the Beet." '' Shōnen Jump'' Volume 2, Issue 11. November 2004.

. 8. appeared and started attacking humans. Beet is a boy who dreams of joining the "Zenon Warriors", a group of "Vandel Busters" who are considered to be the strongest on the continent. When the group comes to protect his village from the Vandel, Beltorze, Beet tries to join them but is rejected. When Beltorze appears, the Zenon Warriors seem to have the upper hand until Beet cheers them on, causing the Vandel to notice his presence. Beltorze attacks Beet, and the Zenon Warriors are forced to break formation to help him. Beltorze uses that moment to attack again, which mortally wounds all of them. Hidden in the smoke, the Zenon Warriors decide to rescue Beet's life by putting their life force into their “Saiga” and giving them to Beet. When Beet complains and asks them why they are doing this, it is revealed that Zenon is Beet's brother. The now weaponless Zenon Warriors then emerge from the smoke and continue to attack Beltorze. When Beet regains consciousness, both Beltorze and the Zenon Warriors are gone. Guilt-ridden and sad, he cries and vows to destroy all the Vandels and end the Dark Ages. He then goes on a three-year training expedition. His childhood friend, Poala, later joins Beet and they form the “Beet Warriors”. As Beet continues his journey, more is learned about the fight between the Zenon Warriors and Beltorze and the fantasy world of Beet is expanded on.

Media

Manga

''Beet the Vandel Buster'' is written by

and illustrated by Koji Inada. The manga was first serialized in

's ''

'' from March 6, 2002, to July 6, 2006. After a nearly ten-year hiatus, the series resumed publication in '' Jump SQ.Crown'' on April 15, 2016. However, the series went on hiatus on October 14 of the same year. ''Jump SQ.Crown'' ceased publication in January 2018 and the series resumed publication in the inaugural issue of '' Jump SQ.Rise'' on April 16, 2018. Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. The first volume was released on October 4, 2002. As of April 4, 2022, sixteen volumes have been released. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by

, who released its first twelve volumes from October 19, 2004, to October 2, 2007.

Anime

''Beet the Vandel Buster'' was adapted into a 52-episode

television series by

, which was broadcast on

from September 30, 2004, to September 29, 2005. It was followed by , which ran for 25 episodes from October 6, 2005, to March 30, 2006. In North America, ''Beet the Vandel Buster'' and ''Beet the Vandel Buster: Excellion'' were licensed by

in 2006. However, they only released one DVD in 2007 and discontinued it.

Reception

As of April 4, 2018, the first 13 volumes of the manga had 4 million copies in print.

Notes

References

* Gifford, Kevin. "Beet The Vandel Buster". (January 2007) ''

Newtype USA is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime (and to a lesser extent, tokusatsu, manga, Japanese science fiction, seiyuu, and video games). It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985, with i ...

''. Volume 6, Number 1, page 154.

External links

* * * * {{Toei Animation 2004 anime television series debuts 2005 anime television series debuts Adventure anime and manga Anime series based on manga Fantasy anime and manga Manga adapted into television series Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Toei Animation television TV Tokyo original programming Viz Media manga