Saint Young Men is a Slice of Life manga about two guys sharing an apartment. They face more or less ordinary problems like not having enough money, facing Japan's fully packed trains and so on.The Catch? The two guys are Jesus and Buddha, currently on vacation in Japan.
Fridge Brilliance: Although the series' depiction of Jesus may be considered by Fundamentalist Christians as blasphemous, most Christians find it hilariously accurate, as the core concept of Christian faith states that Jesus incarnated himself as a human in order to feel human pain and weakness, as a preparation for his great sacrifice.
Heterosexual Life Partners - STOP. The portrayal of Buddha and Jesus is funny but not really disrespectful to Buddhism or Christianity. Trying to avoid any type of Flame War here. That being said, Buddha and Jesus seem to spend a lot of time together, and Jesus' blushing face never helps.
Hijacked By Jesus - Literally. Jesus likes to participate in a Buddhist traditions with Buddha tagging along. He even prays to Buddha, who is right next to him. Hilarity Ensues.
I Just Want to Be Normal - The premise behind the story in the first place, as they're taking a break from their heavenly duties.
Power Incontinence - Accidentally causing miracles in public is a daily concern. It's hard to stay undercover when your 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 Neither is 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.
Small Reference Pools - In the first five chapters at least, there are far more direct references to events that supposedly occured in the life of Buddha than equivalent ones for Jesus. One gets the impression that the author either did not research the evangelia 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.
Shown Their Work - The author at least knows about Bible stories and uses them for humor.
Straight Man - Buddha, most of the time. He's also somewhat of an Only Sane Man since Jesus is portrayed as a bit wacky.
Suicide As Comedy - 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. Hilarity Ensues.
The guess is because their souls are immortal, but they reincarnated as full grown-ups to spend their vacation in Japan. 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.
Super Drowning Skills - 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."
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.
Wunza Plot - One's achieved perfect enlightenment! One's the Son of God! They fight crime hang out!
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