[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saint-young-men.jpg]]

''Saint Young Men'' is a SliceOfLife manga about two guys sharing an apartment. They face more or less ordinary problems like not having enough money, facing Japan's packed public transport and so on.

The Catch? The two guys are Jesus and Buddha, currently on vacation in Japan.

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!!!Tropes that appear in this series:

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Played with. As part of Buddha's StraightMan act, he can get really scary at times, which normally results in him starting to radiate light, akin to ScaryShinyGlasses.
* {{Bishonen}}: The archangels, especially Michael. Jesus perhaps also qualifies.
* BlackComedy: Rare, but not infrequent.
** When the two are undergoing extreme poverty, Jesus asks Buddha to sell him - "Apparently, you can get at least thirty silver coins."
* BlandNameProduct: Averted, Jesus is using a Sony VAIO Laptop, the product name is not altered.
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: Jesus and Buddha are forced to ad-lib a ''manzai'' act as [[StageNames "Long-Hair and Punch"]] to win a standup comedy contest.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Jesus, probably to balance out Buddha's StraightMan role. It works.
* ChristmasEpisode: Chapter 9. The big question is "How do you throw a ''surprise'' birthday party for Jesus on Christmas?" Buddha doesn't know either.
** Easier than you'd think, though, considering [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Jesus]] is too excited about SantaClaus to remember.
*** And much to Buddha's dismay, he's actually afraid Jesus' excitement will summon the real St. Nicholas.
* ComicBookFantasyCasting: Jesus looks a ''lot'' like JohnnyDepp. This is even referenced in-universe.
* {{Cosplay}}: Jesus and his Shinsengumi outfit, originally bought as pajamas and even tried to use them to go to the autumn festival.
** This seems to be a running fascination for Jesus. He also considers cosplaying [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]] a few times, thanks to the resemblance.
* DeadlyEuphemism: "Going home". Played for laughs.
* {{Eagleland}}er: A bunch of Type-2 tourists run into the pair and take pictures.
* FluffyCloudHeaven: In some panels, Heaven is depicted as this.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: A lot of humor is had in how animals are willing to help Jesus and Buddha. One of Buddha's ambitions is to one day find a way of being hated by animals, to the point of [[ImagineSpot of daydreaming about having a cat claw at him]].
** UpToEleven: Even '''cats''', the selfish animals par excellence offer themselves as food (even willing to be cooked alive!) when Jesus mentions that Buddha and himself do not have enough to eat.
* FunTShirt: Buddha makes them. He actually has a bit of a bet going with himself: he slips his T-shirts into Jesus's drawer without him noticing, then has a competition between them to see which ones Jesus wears the most.
* GodInHumanForm: Well, ''duh''.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: The portrayal of Buddha and Jesus is funny but not really disrespectful to Buddhism or Christianity. Trying to avoid any type of FlameWar here. That being said, Buddha and Jesus seem to spend ''a lot'' of time together, and Jesus' blushing face never helps.
* HijackedByJesus: '''Literally.''' Jesus likes to participate in a Buddhist traditions with Buddha tagging along. He even prays to Buddha, who is right next to him. HilarityEnsues.
* HistoricalInJoke: All of the flashbacks to Jesus's and Buddha's lives are these.
* IJustWantToBeNormal: The premise behind the story in the first place, as they're taking a break from their heavenly duties.
* InJoke: Buddha draws a manga about a "rib dance", which everyone in heaven finds hilarious. Jesus tells Buddha not to publish it though, because nobody outside of heaven would understand what a rib dance was or why it was funny.
* JesusTaboo: Averted.
* JesusWasWayCool: Jesus is a lovable goofball to balance out Buddha's StraightMan role. It's hilarious and {{adorkable}}.
* LooksLikeJesus: Inverted, people think Jesus looks like JohnnyDepp.
* OccidentalOtaku: Jesus is a bit of a Japanophile.
* OddCouple: Most people would think so.
* OldShame: One of Buddha's concerns with modern society is that all the statues of him seem to be based on the less svelte periods in his life.
* PalsWithJesus: Buddha is Pals With Jesus, and conversely, Jesus is [[InvertedTrope Pals With Buddha]].
* {{Phobia}}: Jesus has several, the particularly strong one being of salesmen, [[HistoricalInJoke which he says was the real reason for his famous outrage at the money changers in the temple]]. He also cannot stand putting his head under water, and (somewhat understandably) cannot stand touching nails for fear one will go through his hand. Buddha is comparatively stable, but admits that he can only buy expensive mushrooms which say where they came from due to the specific circumstances of his death.
* PowerIncontinence: Accidentally causing miracles in public is a daily concern. It's hard to stay undercover when your [[HolyHalo divinity]] is showing.
* {{Satire}}: When you have two major religious figures living with each other and commenting on the democratic, capitalist Japanese society of today, you get a whole lot of this.
** Buddha comments on how nobody in Japan really knows what Christmas is about. Turns out neither does Jesus, as he describes Christmas as the time when Santa Claus roams the world giving gifts, and not his own birthday. It could be a veiled reference to the fact that Jesus was NOT actually born on December 25th - the actual date is unknown, but Orthodox churches following the Julian calendar (which was current when Jesus was born) celebrate it on January 7th.
* SmallReferencePools: In the first five chapters at least, there are far more direct references to events that supposedly occurred in the life of Buddha than equivalent ones for Jesus. One gets the impression that the author either did not research the Gospels properly, or she decided not to confuse her audience with material that would likely be unfamiliar to them.
** There's more Jesus focus later on, especially with the Christmas chapter. Overall, the Buddhist and Christian references seem about equal on average.
* ShoutOut:
** Billy Blanks
** ''Manga/DeathNote''
** ''DenshaOtoko''[=/=]''Train Man''
** ''TheMoomins''
** ''PeterPan''
** ''TheRing''
** {{Nintendogs}}
** ''{{Lost}}''
** ''Series/TwentyFour''
** ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean''
** ''{{Buddha}}'', which is read by Buddha, natch.
*** Later on as a bonus illustration to chapter 22, when he is urged by Brahma to draw his manga series, Buddha puts on Osamu Tezuka's signature glasses and beret. And a fake Tezuka nose.
*** In the OVA, there's a T-Shirt with the text "Siddharta" hangin' out to dry.
** The Bible, e.g. there's a T-Shirt with text "Samson and Delilah" and "Babel" hangin' out to dry.
* ShownTheirWork: The author at least knows about Bible stories and uses them for humor.
* StraightMan: Buddha, most of the time. He's also somewhat of an OnlySaneMan since Jesus is portrayed as a bit wacky.
* SuicideAsComedy: A side-effect of their holiness is that animals are willing to sacrifice themselves to serve as food for the two whenever they're hungry. HilarityEnsues.
** [[FridgeLogic Wait...if they're both holy, immortal beings, why do they need food?]]
*** The guess is because their souls are immortal, but they reincarnated as full grown-ups to spend their vacation in Japan. [[MST3KMantra Just roll with it.]]
*** Buddha at least doesn't really need food - he can do with only air for a long time. Jesus enjoys food, and would rather NOT turn stones into bread and water into wine - it gets tedious after a while, especially since the only bread he can make is rye.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Jesus is so afraid of water that the reason that he walk on water was so he didn't have to swim. And the whole being Baptized by St. John? John had to baptize him that way since Jesus couldn't be submerged and the dove was God making sure that Jesus was okay.
* {{Theremin}}: A single line character summary in chapter 2 simple states, "Jesus: he's curious about theremins."
* {{Troll}}: [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Mara]]. In Buddhism, he attempted to seduce Buddha while he meditated under the Bodhi tree. In ''Saint Young Men'', he constantly spams Buddha with phone messages, which Buddha won't read as they are obviously just abuse (with subjects making fun of his weight or the weird name he gave his son). Jesus opens one out of curiosity and finds it's a shot of Mara posing in front of an unflattering [[{{Wii}} Mii]] of Buddha he made.
* VideogameCrueltyPotential: What Buddha plans on doing with "Together With Your Puppy."
* {{Yakuza}}: Jesus makes friends with one in a sauna, who thinks that Jesus is a yakuza as well after hearing about his run-ins with the law. After relating the story of being sentenced to death but getting out of it after three days because it was His Father's will, the yakuza believes he is the second generation head of his group. Not so far off the mark, really.
* WunzaPlot: One's achieved perfect enlightenment! One's the Son of God! They [[strike:fight crime]] hang out!

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