Beet the Vandel Buster

Beet the Vandel Buster (Bōken Ō Biito) is a Japanese manga that was created by Riku Sanjo. The series was illustrated by Koji Inada. The two have created a few series together, but Beet the Vandel Buster has become the most popular. It was released first in 2004 and went on hiatus at the end of 2006. There are twelve volumes that have currently been released, both in Japan and in the United States, and the series has become a popular anime series. The anime ended up having 52 episodes.

Synopsis

Beet is a young boy who dreams of being like his heroes, the Zenon Warriors. The Zenon Warriors are a group of Vandel Busters who only take the best. In Beet’s time, Vandels ransack villages and destroy any humans they come upon. The only way to destroy them is to become a Vandel Buster, and Beet wants to be the best one of these. A Vandel known as Beltorze ends up coming to attack his village. Suddenly the Zenon Warriors are there! He asks if he can help them, but they decline his offer. They start fighting Beltorze and look to have everything well in hand, until Beet starts to cheer them on. Suddenly the Vandel, Beltorze, notices Beet. He heads for him, which causes the Zenon Warriors to break formation in order to rescue him. The second they do this, Beltorze attacks, badly wounding all of the warriors.

In the smoke of the attack, the Zenon Warriors agree to put all of their life force into a weapon to give to Beet. Beet questions as to why they are helping him, and why they are giving him their weapon, and Zenon replies that he is Beet’s brother. Beet passes out. When he wakes up, Beltzore is gone and so are the Zenon Warriors. Beet feels guilty and vows to end the Dark Ages by killing all of the Vendals that roam the earth. He leaves his village and goes on a training expedition that lasts for three years. An old friend, Poala, later joins Beet and they become known as Beet Warriors.

Characters

• Beet – Beet learns to grow and handle the gift that was given to him by the Zenon Warriors in his three years of training. Most Busters can use what is known as Divine Power. Beat can not. He is constantly ashamed by this, even though he can wield his Saiga remarkably well. He can stay awake for as long as three days, but after the three days he goes into a coma-like sleep for at least a full day.

• Paola – Paola believes that she will be Beet’s future wife. It is her family that adopted Beet after his older brother, Zenon, left to become a Buster. She uses the time that Beet is training to become a Buster herself, so that she can protect her village, should the need arise. She ends up traveling with Beet and is the one who keeps track of everything. She is also the one that comes up with the strategies, although she hardly ever gets credit for it.