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Member Reviews

*I voluntarily read and reviewed and ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

I've been waiting to read this one since I heard there was an anime of it-- because of course I still haven't gotten around to watching the show.

Anyhow, it follows Jesus and Buddha as they vacation in Japan. Like... this is comedy gold. I want to mention how and give examples, but I'm worried I'd be ruining it. I will say there is some need to know background on the religious figures, but there are explanations to some of the words, situations, punchlines in the back of the book. For the most part, just basic knowledge is needed to understand the jokes and even then I don't think it is always truly needed-- just knowing these are religious figures getting into strange situations is great.

I don't think any of the jokes are mean-spirited or snubbing either or any religion, so no need to worry there.

I'm going to leave my review there before I start trying to repeat jokes. I recommend this to people wanting to laugh and not looking for a plot.

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I was overjoyed when Saint Young Men was available in Netgalley. I've heard of this comic ages ago and now after reading it (and since I couldn't add any gif on NG), here, have my reaction written in capitals:

VERY HILARIOUS AND RECOMMENDED.

I honestly made questionable noises because I read this during office hours.

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This isn't the first time I've read this BUT it is the first time I've read it in English.

As someone who read it in its first language, I have to say a lot of the jokes were lost in translation which was unfortunate. But I tried to think about how I would translate it and I don't know that I could have done a better job other than better translation notes at the end. I thought they were confusing and didn't really explain anything very well.

I tried looking at this as a first-time reader and I think it's more than ok. I think it's a fun read. But maybe not for someone who was deeply connected to either religion. I think that's just an American thing. We're kind of uptight (at least in the midwest where I'm at)

Not looking at the translation, I think the little snippets of life for Jesus and Buddha are also. I think it's better since I know about all the topics involved (Buddhism, Christianity, Japanese life)

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I've been waiting so long for an official translation of Saint Young Men, and I'm really excited to share it with the patrons of my library! (Print volume soon, please, Kodansha?) It's a very sweet, gentle (but maybe not quite all-ages) comedy about Buddha and Jesus Christ taking a gap year on earth together. If you're worried that the jokes will be meanspirited about religion, please don't! Both Jesus and Buddha are very human figures, but they're portrayed with love. A lot of the jokes do make references I didn't get immediately, but the translation notes at the end of the volume are extensive and I enjoyed learning from them. There's not much in the way of overarching plot, so if you're mainly into action/adventure or romance you might not find what you're looking for here, but if you like slice of life stories, give Saint Young Men a try! They're different genres but I think it would actually pair very well with What Did You Eat Yesterday? by Fumi Yoshinaga.

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** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Saint Young Men, by Hikaru Nakamura
★★☆☆☆
150 Pages

DNF

Really intriguing concept. Some mistakes in the dialogue (such as repeated words). Nice, simple illustrations/sketches.

While I found the idea really interesting and unique, there wasn't much purpose to the 'story'. It was all little short stories about what Jesus and Buddha got up to in the human world. Parts of it were kind of funny, other parts were more interesting than entertaining, and overall I just felt that it was lacking some kind of overall plot. Maybe if they had a 'mission' to go with their adventures, but it's basically a 'day in the life of' story and it didn't grab me.
Sadly, just not my cup of tea.

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This was a highly entertaining manga and I really don't have high expectations for this at first. Saint Young Men chronicles the lives of Buddha and Jesus in the modern world and how they cope with the advent of technology and cultures present. It may be disturbing to some readers but I think once they get to delve in this manga they'll see how life is now reflected in the eyes of their icons. It's still highly entertaining though.

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