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Saint Young Men Omnibus #2
Saint Young Men Omnibus, Vol. 2
THE SAGELY SAGA CONTINUES
Buddha, the Enlightened One, and Jesus, Son of God, continue their goofy adventures through modern-day Tokyo, with escha-pades aplenty. The wise guys of Tachikawa, along with their band of saintly companions and immortal foes, immerse themselves even deeper into daily life among their new neighborhood acquaintances. As the seasons turn, new adventures await them around every corner: from the blissful highs of bullet train travel and gaming with friends to the mundane challenges of staying on budget when you have to pay for rent and groceries, not to mention Valentine's chocolates when you are filled with love for all of humankind...
Buddha, the Enlightened One, and Jesus, Son of God, continue their goofy adventures through modern-day Tokyo, with escha-pades aplenty. The wise guys of Tachikawa, along with their band of saintly companions and immortal foes, immerse themselves even deeper into daily life among their new neighborhood acquaintances. As the seasons turn, new adventures await them around every corner: from the blissful highs of bullet train travel and gaming with friends to the mundane challenges of staying on budget when you have to pay for rent and groceries, not to mention Valentine's chocolates when you are filled with love for all of humankind...
300 pages, Hardcover
Published March 17, 2020
About the author
Hikaru Nakamura
100 books62 followersHikaru Nakamura (中村光) is a Japanese manga artist who is mostly known for "Saint Young Men" and "Arakawa Under the Bridge". According to a magazine article in Nikkei Entertainment from August 2011 she is the 9th most successful manga creator by sales since 2010 (5.54 million copies sold).
She is married to the voice actor Hiroshi Kamiya and has one child.
She is married to the voice actor Hiroshi Kamiya and has one child.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 17, 2020
This series continues to delight. There's really no ongoing story, though there are callbacks to previous episodes. Jesus and Buddha are sharing an apartment in Japan as young adults. They're essentially on vacation--sightseeing, playing video games, pursuing hobbies. They attempt to keep their divine nature under wraps, but it's not easy. While this is a humor series, the humor is on the gentle and low key side. The tone is generally fairly respectful toward both Christianity and Buddhism. It's a gentle, warm, and affectionate series.
Not a lot more to say, really. If you liked volume 1, you’ll certainly like volume 2. I’m definitely a fan. Recommended!
Not a lot more to say, really. If you liked volume 1, you’ll certainly like volume 2. I’m definitely a fan. Recommended!
May 25, 2016
This was just so much fun. I love all the references to Jesus and Buddha's life, and also to angels and other people. Will definitely be buying omnibus 3 soon.
February 9, 2020
When I first heard about Hikaru Nakamura’s Saint Young Men, I was curious but cautious. Could a manga about Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha sharing an apartment be funny without relying on “edgy” shock humor? Fortunately, Vol. 1 set me at ease with its well-thought-out jokes and earnest character development. Vol. 2 is out now from Kodansha Comics, and it follows the sacred pair as they get into earthly adventures at Christmas time, shopping districts, Buddhist temples, bathhouses, and more. So, is it good?
This manga continues to do a great job of incorporating references to Buddhist and Christian lore without bogging events down with too much exposition. Most of the humour works even without prior extensive knowledge of either religion, but there’s also an index at the back with information that’s helpful if you want to gain more context. My favourite example of this volume converting religious references into slice-of-life(-ish) comedy involves Buddha playing a crane game. The mechanical claw is likened to the titular silk from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “The Spider’s Thread”, turning a scene with cute stuffed animals into a comedy about damnation. Juxtapositions like this are among the manga’s best, as they draw upon fascinating religious material and pop culture affectionately and without being afraid to get silly. Other highlights include references to the Tower of Babel, Buddha’s being birthed from his mother’s side, and even ABC’s Lost.
A lot of the fun also comes from the protagonists’ earnest personalities and bonds. Take for instance Jesus’s excitability and eagerness to spend money, while Buddha has to be the more financially conscious one and hold him back. Jesus’s amusing fondness for the extravagant also shows in his love of Christmas, which he doesn’t realise is a celebration of his birthday– he thinks it’s all about Santa, and really, can you blame him? Buddha’s goings back-and-forth between serious spiritual matters and just trying to relax are also relatable and fun to read about.
The pair’s banter with each other is well-written and flows quickly, smoothly linking one joke to the next. With that said, it’s the moments where they go out of their way to assist or be kind to one another that shine the brightest. Despite all their heavenly significance, these iterations of the characters are lovable due to how well they’ve been humanised. All the light commentary on modern society’s strangeness and doing the right thing wouldn’t be nearly as affecting otherwise.
Art-wise, this volume is similar to the series’s debut: clean, functional, and heavy on physical comedy. Seeing the son of God make so many over-the-top facial expressions, from pouting to laid-back joy, is a lot of fun. The flow of the humour, and events in general, from panel to panel is polished and effective. These aren’t the most groundbreaking or unique visuals you’ll ever see, but they consistently impress where it matters most.
Once again, Saint Young Men entertains by mixing the sacred and the silly without ever feeling too edgy or cynical. Jesus and Buddha’s adventures in this volume are among the series’s funniest to date, and religious lore references get used in very creative ways. Of course, the odd gag might be a bit less amusing than the others, but there are no flops here– just an earnest good time.
This manga continues to do a great job of incorporating references to Buddhist and Christian lore without bogging events down with too much exposition. Most of the humour works even without prior extensive knowledge of either religion, but there’s also an index at the back with information that’s helpful if you want to gain more context. My favourite example of this volume converting religious references into slice-of-life(-ish) comedy involves Buddha playing a crane game. The mechanical claw is likened to the titular silk from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “The Spider’s Thread”, turning a scene with cute stuffed animals into a comedy about damnation. Juxtapositions like this are among the manga’s best, as they draw upon fascinating religious material and pop culture affectionately and without being afraid to get silly. Other highlights include references to the Tower of Babel, Buddha’s being birthed from his mother’s side, and even ABC’s Lost.
A lot of the fun also comes from the protagonists’ earnest personalities and bonds. Take for instance Jesus’s excitability and eagerness to spend money, while Buddha has to be the more financially conscious one and hold him back. Jesus’s amusing fondness for the extravagant also shows in his love of Christmas, which he doesn’t realise is a celebration of his birthday– he thinks it’s all about Santa, and really, can you blame him? Buddha’s goings back-and-forth between serious spiritual matters and just trying to relax are also relatable and fun to read about.
The pair’s banter with each other is well-written and flows quickly, smoothly linking one joke to the next. With that said, it’s the moments where they go out of their way to assist or be kind to one another that shine the brightest. Despite all their heavenly significance, these iterations of the characters are lovable due to how well they’ve been humanised. All the light commentary on modern society’s strangeness and doing the right thing wouldn’t be nearly as affecting otherwise.
Art-wise, this volume is similar to the series’s debut: clean, functional, and heavy on physical comedy. Seeing the son of God make so many over-the-top facial expressions, from pouting to laid-back joy, is a lot of fun. The flow of the humour, and events in general, from panel to panel is polished and effective. These aren’t the most groundbreaking or unique visuals you’ll ever see, but they consistently impress where it matters most.
Once again, Saint Young Men entertains by mixing the sacred and the silly without ever feeling too edgy or cynical. Jesus and Buddha’s adventures in this volume are among the series’s funniest to date, and religious lore references get used in very creative ways. Of course, the odd gag might be a bit less amusing than the others, but there are no flops here– just an earnest good time.
September 4, 2021
To wit, gag comics were never truly meant for such large, omnibus compilations. So it is with mixed relief one concludes a tome the size of SAINT YOUNG MEN #2, replete as it is with outrageous physical comedy, snarky religious satire, and cultural social commentary. The more one reads of this manga, the more difficult one finds it to recommend to others. It's a funny and clever comic, certainly, but to continuously wade through the wordy awkwardness and delayed punchlines requires a rather godly form of patience, one might say.
SAINT YOUNG MEN #2 is sharper and more consistent than the previous volume. Buddha and Jesus, as domestic partners, stumble their way through "vacation" and manage to survive all contemporary Japan has to offer. The manga is a veritable gag strip, seeing as how directionless and unmotivated both the characters and the overall narrative happen to be. However, the subtle growth the characters exhibit by the end of the volume shouldn't go without mention.
Jesus, for example, tames his impulse buying and quells the social anxiety that comes from doing new things with a high failure rate. Buddha, likewise, expands his horizons and increases his aptitude for exploration. Whether heading to an onsen (and running into the archangels), going ice-skating for the first time (and getting a little too excited), or going apple-picking (and combatting errant suspicions of that whole Adam & Eve thing), these two guys are still quite the mess. Yet somehow they manage.
This is an easy manga to love but a difficult one to follow. Buddha still acts like an fretful housewife and Jesus still acts like a spoiled, NEET gamer kid. Which is fine. And the character art is consistent and does surprisingly much given the near total lack of shading. But the book's overly chatty characters and extended, drawn-out set-up-to-punchline dynamics will either thrill or bore, with little room in-between.
SAINT YOUNG MEN #2 is sharper and more consistent than the previous volume. Buddha and Jesus, as domestic partners, stumble their way through "vacation" and manage to survive all contemporary Japan has to offer. The manga is a veritable gag strip, seeing as how directionless and unmotivated both the characters and the overall narrative happen to be. However, the subtle growth the characters exhibit by the end of the volume shouldn't go without mention.
Jesus, for example, tames his impulse buying and quells the social anxiety that comes from doing new things with a high failure rate. Buddha, likewise, expands his horizons and increases his aptitude for exploration. Whether heading to an onsen (and running into the archangels), going ice-skating for the first time (and getting a little too excited), or going apple-picking (and combatting errant suspicions of that whole Adam & Eve thing), these two guys are still quite the mess. Yet somehow they manage.
This is an easy manga to love but a difficult one to follow. Buddha still acts like an fretful housewife and Jesus still acts like a spoiled, NEET gamer kid. Which is fine. And the character art is consistent and does surprisingly much given the near total lack of shading. But the book's overly chatty characters and extended, drawn-out set-up-to-punchline dynamics will either thrill or bore, with little room in-between.
September 12, 2021
There is something deeply soothing about the universe in which these stories take place. Jesus and Buddha are really nice young dudes, with godly powers, and some harrowing life experiences, trying to have a nice gap year in Tokyo. They deal with being mistaken for celebrities at 7-11, having part time jobs, budgeting, trying to keep the apartment clean and the land-lady happy, navigating Japanese holidays as foreigners, and the occasional difficult visit from other supernatural entities.
It just-- it's so funny, so pure, so good.
I'm exhausted about religion, but this is a story to rest in.
It just-- it's so funny, so pure, so good.
I'm exhausted about religion, but this is a story to rest in.
September 6, 2020
Again, what a charming series! There is just something so pure about the stories of Jesus and Buddha in Japan. They have such a genuine love and adoration for each other, as well as the people around them.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars is the first few stories didn't grad and hold my attention like in the first volume, but the later ones were great!
I really hope there's another volume in the works!
The only reason I gave it 4 stars is the first few stories didn't grad and hold my attention like in the first volume, but the later ones were great!
I really hope there's another volume in the works!
August 21, 2021
The adventures of Jesus and Buddha continue with hilarious shenanigans for all. Again, gag manga jokes are hit and miss, but this series is a hit with me. And I officially have a favorite character: Uriel. The curse of wasabi and the Fanta spring was too funny. Why are my favorites always the gremlin characters?
This omnibus contains volumes 3-4.
This omnibus contains volumes 3-4.
July 1, 2022
As a Christian, it's borderline sacrilegious lol. Some of the jokes are funnier than others, depending on personal taste as all humor is. *Spoiler* I love the Yakuza guy's reaction to Jesus and all the jokes related to "Yakuza Jesus." I also love the angels and their antics, especially Uriel. All in all, a good fluff read!
September 25, 2020
I have mixed feelings for this series. On one hand, it's very smart and witty; on the other hand, there's not much "pull" that made me want to keep reading. There isn't too much in ways of plot, just random hijinks that Buddah and Jesus find themselves.
February 1, 2021
Low key slice of life comedy and theological puns, what more could you want? When the ArchAngel Michael does karaoke he has to be restrained or else he'll get carried away and sound the final trumpet, beginning the end of days.
April 9, 2023
Some dud chapters, but also had some of my favourite bits I've seen so far in the series. The panel of Jesus, crazed after seeing an emotional movie, still stopping to respect the pedestrian stop light will make me laugh for the rest of my life.
July 22, 2020
3.75 stars.
August 16, 2020
This series is the most amusing manga I have ever read. There are so many inside jokes that they explain at the end of the chapters playing off biblical stories as well as Buddha's background.
September 10, 2020
It's light and funny, and I adore slice of life stories.
October 7, 2020
I can't believe I finished this in one sitting! I was cracking up the whole time! A wholesome manga about Buddha and Jesus still makes me smile and laugh~ especially gaming jesus and his disciples~
December 9, 2020
Fun but not as enjoyable as the first volume. I get the feeling I might get bored with the series.
December 17, 2020
Hilarious, it may be recency bias but I liked it more than the first one.
January 1, 2021
Funny and fun. Irreverent homage.
January 5, 2021
So wholesome ☺️
August 27, 2022
I love them and love how thoughtfully this silly manga is put together
August 24, 2023
Its funny and I love the concept. The story can be a bit slow but its a nice read
January 11, 2024
The continuing adventures of Jesus and Buddha on their gap year in Tokyo is gentle and humorous in the extreme.
March 9, 2024
Better than Bible Jesus.
September 21, 2024
This book was so cute! I laughed pretty hard at God sending a rainbow to Jesus telling him to chill out after watching a dumb action movie.
May 2, 2022
Surprisingly accurate on the religious details, for such a bizarre premise!
June 14, 2020
A series of delightful little tales of Jesus and Buddha in Tokyo. What's not to like?
June 4, 2020
Great continuation to the series. I can't wait for the next one!
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews