What if God was one of us?

Hi there! :D

Mare's here. It's been a while, huh? This is actually my first post after that belated introduction post. I'm just a lazy bum like that, sorry. But the good news is, I'm still alive, so thank God.

First of all, this post is not a bashing post towards anyone's God. I was just find that it was insanely creative how people managed to make an 'alternate universe' story about their almighty God. I wasn't making fun either, and I don't planning to turn you people into a bunch of people who mock their God. So, if you can't stand it then you may leave. But I guarantee, you'll regret it. Because what I'm about to write down here can really make your day and make you hooked within two minutes. You've been warned. No hard feelings! ;)

Moving on, I've been hooked into an 'alternate universe' fiction story called "Saint Oniisan" since last week. It is actually a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nakamura Hikaru that turned into an original video animation (OVA). PRAISE THE LORD, it is amazing as hell. I'm instantly hooked with the story plot and the animation. It was rather awkward at first, because the main characters are not just ordinary character Goddamnit. They are the Gods for God sake, yet THEY WEAR JEANS AND TSHIRT!!?!?! Is it just me or I'm using too many 'God' words here?

Anyways, Saint Oniisan (Saint Young Men, Seinto Oniisan) is the glorious slice of life and gag (also parody) manga where Saint Jesus Christ and Saint Gautama Buddha, the founders of Christianity and Buddhism, are living together as roommates in an apartment in Japan while taking a vacation on Earth. The comedy often involves jokes about Christianity, Buddhism, and all things related, as well as the main characters' attempts to hide their identities and understand modern society in Japan. Each chapter shows how they go about or react to an average day, though they also go sightseeing or visit amusement parks. You can basically sum it up as “cute deities doing cute things.” It’s very damn funny, endearing, and sure as hell to make a believer out of you. LOL. And oh it’s actually very educational too. I just love this.

These are the main characters:

Jesus Christ (イエス・キリスト Iesu Kirisuto)

Jesus is portrayed as a care-free, generous, and humorous "sei-jin" (holy man or adult in Japanese). Unlike Buddha who is very strict about the relationship between him and his disciples, Jesus is very friendly to his apostles. But because Jesus is even nice to Judas, this makes Buddha worry. The residents of Heaven are overly protective of Jesus and will sometimes attempt to intervene to save Jesus if they hear his cries, even if they were from riding a roller-coaster. As a holy figure, Jesus' head will shine with a halo if he does or says something especially virtuous. Whenever Jesus' emotions are at a high or low peak (due to finding something funny or being scared), miracles may happen unexpectedly. Jesus is a devout follower of drama shows, and reviews them on his online blog.

Gautama Buddha (ゴータマ・ブッダ Gōtama Budda)

Buddha is portrayed as a calm, rational, and kind "sei-jin". However, he tends to be very tight with money. When Buddha sees things too seriously, he is often "saved" by Jesus’ care-free simplicity. But when the same care-free nature appears as Jesus being an impulse buyer, it often irritates Buddha. When his anger shows, often as a result of Jesus' antics, his head will start to shine with a halo and increasing in brightness until Jesus either calms him down or apologizes. His head can also glow if Buddha says anything especially virtuous, upon which he will have to do something to lower his virtue. Ever since Buddha spent a night in a manga cafe, he has become a follower of Osamu Tezuka's works such as the one about himself.

The first OVA is actually released last December. It was bundled with the special edition of the eight manga volume as a bonus, while the second OVA will be released alongside the ninth manga volume on July. This May, the two hours duration movie will be released. The movie itself is kinda sum the stories in few chapters of the manga. I sooooooo can't wait. While waited for the movie, here's some of the scenes from its first OVA.

Ah, in case you're interested to give it a try. Here's the download link for the first OVA, English subbed of course. So enjoy, and spread the epic-ness! ;)

Download link

And here's the preview of the movie that will be released in this month! OHMYGOD I'm so excited! Until next time! :D

Movie trailer

-Mare-