The inciting incident is brilliantly stupid. Oga hears a baby crying by the riverbank while heading to school. Assuming it’s abandoned, he goes to investigate, only to find a bizarrely muscular, grinning infant wrapped in green leaves. The moment Oga touches the child, a giant, terrifyingly voluptuous demon maid named Hildegard (Hilda) arrives. She reveals that the baby is Kaiser de Emperana Beelzebub IV—the son of the Demon Lord—and that Oga has been chosen to co-parent him. If Oga refuses or fails to raise Beel, humanity is doomed.
Episode 1’s genius lies in Oga’s reaction: he doesn’t panic or cry. He simply refuses. What follows is a 10-minute slapstick war where Oga tries to hand the baby off to every fellow delinquent he meets, only for little Beel to electrocute anyone who isn’t Oga. The episode climaxes with Oga reluctantly accepting his fate, shocking the school’s biggest bully, and walking off with a baby on his back—cementing the strangest, funniest odd couple in anime history. The success of Beelzebub anime dub episode 1 hinges almost entirely on voice casting. Comedy is notoriously difficult to translate, and scatological or violent humor can fall flat without proper vocal energy. However, the dub produced by FUNimation (now Crunchyroll) delivers a powerhouse performance. beelzebub anime dub episode 1
If you love shows like The Way of the Househusband (violent man goes domestic), Gintama (scatological insanity), or One Punch Man (OP character who doesn’t care), then drop whatever you’re doing. Go watch Tatsumi Oga get electrocuted by a laughing baby. You won’t regret it. The inciting incident is brilliantly stupid