Project #84: Hoozuki no Reitetsu

Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Talking about the afterlife and Hell in general is no funny matter. That is unless you’ve watched the dark comedy Hoozuki no Reitetsu. Hoozuki no Reitetsu when translated means Cool-headed Hoozuki, it’s a dark comedy anime based off the manga under the same name written by Natsumi Eguchi. The series focuses on the demon orge Hoozuki who is the advisor of King Yama himself in Hell and follows his adventures of the day to day activities of maintaining order in Hell and handling all of the unusual problems and people that occur in Hell. At the beginning of the year the up and coming studio Wit Studio (Attack on Titans) decided to turn this manga into an anime making this the studios second anime series and their first attempt at making a comedy anime. When I heard about it I didn’t pay much attention to it, it just seemed like a harmless anime with nothing special but then I started hearing a lot of mix response to it. Some saying it’s a funny anime while others say it’s a bad comedy and going as far as calling it the worst comedy they’ve ever seen. That’s a pretty big statement to say. So naturally I decided to check it out and today I’m here to give my thoughts on this dark comedy and to help me out on this comedy I’ve called in a specialist so please welcome this week’s special guest host the Wolf Princess of Comedy Yin-Yang. *Yin-Yang appears* (Yin-Yang): Hello all my comedy lovers out there. I’ve taken time away from ninja training to come and give my input on whether or not Hoozuki no Reitetsu is worthy of calling itself a comedy or earning the title worst comedy ever. Let’s get the laughs or boos going and take a look at Hoozuki no Reitetsu.

 

Opening and Ending Theme

 

The opening for this anime is “Jigoku no Sata mo Kimi Shidai” (You Also Dictate Hell’s Judgment) by Jigoku no Sata All Stars. This opening is one of my favorite openings of the year so far. It’s catchy, fun-loving, addictive, and happy. It almost makes Hell sound like a fun place to go if that’s even possible. (Yin-Yang): Yeah it is rather catchy and welcoming to you the viewer. It really does reflect the overall atmosphere and tone the series is going for. (Nitsuj): The ending is “Parallax View” by Sumire Uesaka. While I’m not a big fan of the song I do like the bass in the song, it’s loud, upbeat, and fast. The singer Sumire is also very good but her voice keeps getting drowned out by the bass. So while not really a bad song it’s not a song I like.

 

Episodes 1-4

 

(Nitsuj): We start the anime with King Yama voiced by Takashi Nagasako (the voice actor of Donkey Kong in Japan) swamped in paper work and dealing with complaints such as Animal Torture Hell being low on workers and Heaven asking for more staff workers to maintain Shangri-La (so when Heaven needs more workers they ask Hell for help? Makes sense, you’re in Heaven let the wicked do your work while you enjoy eternal paradise). Not knowing what do Yama sends the request to Hoozuki who at the moment is out patrolling. We then cut to Hoozuki voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto (Agil from SAO) where the requests reach him and he calls Yama a moron for being lazy and not handling these complaints himself (wow Hoozuki has no respect for his employer. No different from my assistants. (Yin-Yang): Hey we respect you master. We just love making you suffer. (Nitsuj): Why? (Yin-Yang): Why do you keep peeping on us in the hotsprings when you know we’ll kill you if we catch you? (Nitsuj): Because it gives me pleasure and I enjoy the challenge. (Yin-Yang): Exactly). But before Hoozuki can settle these complaints he gets called by one of the residents of Hell to take care of Momotaro and his three companions (he slayed an island full of Oni why the hell is he in Hell? (Yin-Yang): I guess the demons were the good guys after all). Hoozuki goes to face Momotaro where we see that the great and courageous warrior we heard in the story is actually kind of a coward who’s all talk (reminds of Hercule from Dragonball Z). At first Momotaro wants to take on Hoozuki but once he sees Hoozuki’s power he gets cold feet and instead sends out his companions and Hoozuki beat them with his words. I mean it, he addresses the wrongdoings of the Monkey, he says there’s nothing special about the Pheasant (which is true) and he calls the dog Shiro the son of Softbank (//youtu.be/9xfzZ7KGEv8, *Yin-Yang starts laughing* (Yin-Yang): Okay that was a good one. If this had been localized the punchline would have been Snoopy). Momotaro decides to step up and face Hoozuki and his iron orge club (Yin-Yang: Iron spiked steel club vs a steel sword. It’s like a rock taking on a pair of scissors) where Hoozuki easily destroys the sword and easily beats Momotaro. The animals finally come clean and confess that the only reason Momotaro defeated the onis so easily was because they were drunk off their asses and after the victory he started getting a big-head not caring about anyone. Hoozuki reprimands Momotaro for his actions with a bitch slap and the animals tell Momotaro to quit while he’s ahead which he agrees and apologizes for his actions. With that problem solved Hoozuki hires the animal companions as new recruits for the Animal Hell and he sends Momotaro to be a worker in Shangri-La where he’s happy. In the second half while on a lunch break in the cafeteria King Yama and Hoozuki talk to each other while watching an animal show in Australia (they have TV in Hell and it’s not stuck on PBS or Fox News? There’s hope for this place after all) where we learn a little more about Hoozuki (Yin-Yang: Oh this should be interesting). Surprisingly he has a soft spot for animals he finds them cute and lovable. In fact his pets are goldfish plants that he attends to on a regular bases (don’t question it just go with it). We find out that his ideal woman is someone who likes animals, can laugh off danger and that he’s not all that concerned with looks (I gotta say it’s pretty interesting stuff). At the end while the two are talking about how much they want a vacation we see that Hoozuki won this contest for a three day vacation to Australia upsetting King Yama.

 

In the first part of episode 2 the characters talk about underwear (I’ll save you guys time. Briefs are better) and disapprove the whole idea of demons only wearing tiger underwear saying that even if they did it would get boring really quickly (for guys yes because they look like Tarzan but for ladies it be a wonderful sight to behold). In the second part Satan the ruler of Europe’s Hell comes to visit in the hopes of scouting out Japan’s Hell so he can take over (Yin-Yang: So every continent has their own Hell and ruler? Who rules the American Hell? (Nitsuj): Isn’t it obvious, it’s Uwe Boll. (Yin-Yang): Uwe Boll? That jackass German director who can’t take criticism so he calls people retards and challenges critics to boxing matches? (Nitsuj): Yes that same director, it is the only way to explain his actions. Sure Michael Bay makes action movies that sexualizes females, make no sense, and betrays childhoods and M. Night Shyamalan started off as a good writer but lost his way fucking up one of the greatest animated series of all time but to actually make a bad movie after bad movie after bad movie and still make money off of them at the expense of the video game industry than it can only mean one thing. Uwe Boll is the devil). Yama gets Hoozuki to give Satan a tour around Japan’s Hell and as you would imagine Satan is confused and scared by the way Hell is run. King Yama is somewhat incompetent and laid-back but everyone still respects him and Hoozuki just scares the shit out of Satan at how ruthless, cold, and insincere Hoozuki can be (Yin-Yang: And that’s the joke. Out of everyone in the anime so far he’s the only one that seems the most competent to run Hell but at the same time he’s also just as nice and friendly as everyone else in Hell). When they prepare a dinner for Satan he makes the excuse to go to the bathroom and sneaks into Hoozuki’s room (the guy scares you and you sneak into his room. I’m sorry but that is a dumbass move on his part) and he finds a scroll where he gets the impression that Hoozuki is planning to kill and eat him so he runs away screaming begging God for help and vowing never to return to Japan. At the end we find out that Hoozuki meant to spell Santa but he mistakenly spelled Satan instead.

 

(Yin-Yang): In episode 3 the dog from the first episode Shiro wants to get his supervisors a wedding gift since they’re getting married. King Yama tells him to get an immortal peach from Shangri-La so he gets Hoozuki to go with him even though he has the day off from pulling an all-nighter job. They go to Shangri-La where we meet Momotaro’s supervisor Hakutaku a Chinese mythical beast that represents luck skilled in the knowledge of medicine, a playboy who partakes in lewd acts with various women (Nitsuj: Man whore) , and a guy who Hoozuki just can’t stand and vice-versa. The two chat with each other a little with Hoozuki receiving a rare kintan ball that he ordered from Hakutaku and when Hakutaku runs off to get some medical herbs for Hoozuki so he can leave Hakutaku falls down a hole where he goes through Heaven and Earth and winds up in Hell (divine punishment) where we find out that the hole was dug by Hoozuki who pulled that all-nighter digging that hole so that Hakutaku would fall in (Nitsuj: *starts laughing* okay that’s funny. He spent an all-nighter just to pull a prank on someone he doesn’t like. Childish yes but I can honestly say there are people out there who would do something like this). The story of Hoozuki and Hakutaku continue in the second half where we find out why the two hate each other so much (Nitsuj: You mean besides the fact that one of them is Japanese and the other is Chinese). It turns out that at a goodwill sports festival (just imagine the Olympics without the USA) Hoozuki and Hakutaku were referees and they made a bet to see if the next woman to come out of the bathroom has a bust size greater or less than 85cm with the loser buying dinner (Nitsuj: Oh hey Yin-Yang that’s about- *Yin-Yang throws a series of daggers at Nitsuj just barely missing him* (Yin-Yang): Finish that sentence and the next one goes between the eyes). Hoozuki says less than 85 and Hakutaku says greater than 85; when a person comes out the two can’t figure out if the person is male or female so they get into a fight whether to count that person or not which resulted in them hating each other and being the one thing that’s stopping them from being friends. King Yama is able to track down that individual and we find out that they’re transgender (well. . .fancy that).

 

In the first part of episode 4 we focus on the legendary Yoshitsune Minamoto a brilliant strategist and leader of the Tengu-crow police who protect Hell (because even the most lawless of places need a police force. Also Yoshitsune://24.media.tumblr.com/9dd9cd0521eec0038b85d78be9e13641/tumblr_myls9vKFnI1to21edo1_500.gif, *Yin-Yang howls* what a cutie). Anyway, Yoshitsune is tired of his pretty boy looks and wants to change his image to something more masculine (REJECTED! Pretty boys like you are a national treasure in the world of anime don’t you dare go changing your appearance). Hoozuki tells him to just stay the way he is because that’s what everyone likes about him. In the second part the servants of Hell have been slacking off on torturing the sinners so in order to fix it Hoozuki takes them on a field trip through the many stages of Hell showing how to act sadistic and evil and finishes up with a lecture from a rabbit named Mustard who at first seems like a very peaceful and kind-hearted creature but in truth this bitch is psychotic as hell. Long ago she killed this badger just because he killed some old lady and I don’t mean kill I mean she literally tortured this badger. She lit his back on fire, applied some burning lotion to his back, and then drowned the badger in the lake. Because of this she gained a sadistic hatred for the badger and anytime she hears the damn word she goes apeshit on sinners torturing them until they beg for mercy. Jesus lady you are scary beyond belief (//youtu.be/Ge4oufdIOMc?t=14s. If you wanna get the full story search the internet for the story The Farmer and The Badger it’ll explain everything)!

 

Episodes 5-8

 

(Nitsuj): In episode 5 Hoozuki and Hakutaku are preparing food at the same time but when they’re missing an ingredient they each go to visit Cow-head and Horse-head the watchers of Hell’s gates where Hoozuki picks on Hakutaku. In the second half its sports day in Hell and Hoozuki is determined to whip everyone in shape by putting them through life-threatening obstacle courses all for his amusement and at the end we find out that everything they went through was just a rehearsal for the actual event which is tomorrow (damn Hoozuki why aren’t you running Hell? Seriously, the position of assistant belittles you).

 

In the first half of episode 6 a shady nekomata magazine writer wants to get the scope on Hoozuki but Hoozuki isn’t interested in him or the article so he pretty much ignores him (have you tried talking to those around him I’m sure they have plenty to say about him. (Yin-Yang): Like he’s a sadistic bastard who takes pleasure in watching others suffer and looking down on them). We also get introduced to Peach Maki a new idol in Japan who gets on a somewhat friendly bases with Hoozuki (is that even possible?). In the second part Satan’s right hand man Beelzebub comes to Japan’s Hell for some important business where he meets Hoozuki and just like Satan, Hoozuki messes with him (Yin-Yang: He tends to do that to foreigners). But somehow these two do find a mutual ground when Hoozuki goes to Europe to sign some important document and he talks about his love for maid dresses (hey a guy who can appreciate maid dresses and likes maids in general is a good guy in my book).

 

(Yin-Yang): In the first part of episode 7 two young demons Karauri and Nasubi want to take a tour of Mortal Hell the hell for perverts and sex offenders (you should watch this closely master on account of you’ll be going there one day. (Nitsuj): I don’t commit lewd acts with actual females unless I have their consent because I know it’s wrong and I’ll go to jail. I just commit lewd acts with you AI girls giving me a loop hole in the system). Hoozuki decides to take them on a tour of Mortal Hell which is run by Oko another assistant of Hell and who Karauri has a crush on which is why he wanted to visit Mortal Hell. As they’re exploring this hell we see that Karauri is into S&M and wouldn’t mind doing some S&M with Oko as the S and him as the M (Nitsuj: I wouldn’t mind playing the S with you as the M. What say we take a break and give it a try? *Yin-Yang roadhouse kicks Nitsuj to the ground* Of course I wouldn’t mind you being the S as well. (Yin-Yang): Go to Mortal Hell). In the second half King Yama has thrown out his back and it’s up to Hoozuki to fix him up. He tries various procedures such as pressure points but they have no effect on Yama until Hoozuki finally does electrocution acupuncture and kicks Yama in the back fixing his back but also giving the poor guy diarrhea (//youtu.be/GUfS_2UGftg?t=11s).

 

The first half of episode 8 is pretty pointless it just focuses on the Nekomata again trying to find a story but having no luck so he tries to get Maki to date Hoozuki which doesn’t work out. The only interesting thing however in the first half is Maki singing this strange song called Caramel Peach Jam 120% (I don’t know what to think of this. (Nitsuj): That makes two of us). In the second part a wall mural is falling apart and Hoozuki wants to make a new mural that comes out and attacks people. So he hires Nasubi who despite his absent-mindedness is actually a skilled artist to help Hoozuki paint a new mural and they use this special paint to make the center piece of the mural come to life and attack people whenever they pass it (literally).

 

Episodes 9-13

 

(Nitsuj): In episode 9 we get an alcohol awareness episode. First off is Hakutaku who owes 500,000 yen to Daji a demon in Mortal Hell who owns a geisha house that over-charges its customers for food, wine, and home service if you know what I mean (//youtu.be/rv9qs5WVHS8?t=31s). Deciding he wants to drink some more (because that’s what you do when you owe people a ridiculous amount of money. You go out and drink) he runs into Hoozuki and Yama who are having an after work drink with a few other workers in Hell. But that gets cut short when the sinners in Screaming Hell the hell for drunks get their hands on the wine that Orochi one of the baddest demons in Japan mythology and overseer of Screaming Hell drinks (and to make it even more ironic it’s the same wine that was used by Susanoo-no-Mikoto to kill Orochi). The sinners get the big jug of wine and dance around it while praising it like the golden calf from the story of Moses protecting it from Orochi and his men. Hakutaku tells them that if they want to drink let them drink and he tells Hoozuki he’ll let him borrow this heavenly wine for 500,000 yen and he agrees to it. With the heavenly wine he has Orochi’s men dress up as business bosses and drink the sinners under the table creating a new form of torture for Screaming Hell.

 

(Yin-Yang): In episode 10 after scarfing down offerings along with the 9 other kings of Hell, Yama gets fat (as if he wasn’t big enough already) so Hoozuki takes him to the gym where he puts Yama through weight loss hell in the hopes of getting him into shape. Eventually Kararuai, Natsubi, Shiro, the pheasant, and monkey join in Hoozuki’s weight loss regiment (not by choice mind you) and Hoozuki gets Oko to help them lose weight where she takes them to the Frozen Hell (Nitsuj: I imagine this is the Hell for those who cheated in snowball fights when they were children) where they get lost in the snow and have to setup camp in the hopes that someone will find them. At night some snow oni comes across them and take them to a cabinet where they have food and drinks (and like that the diet is over).

 

We focus on the inch-high samurai in the first part of episode 11. For those of you who don’t know this story allow me to briefly explain it. The story follows a samurai who is only 1-inch-tall and goes to work in the service of his kingdom. When out with the princess as a bodyguard an ogre came to attack her but the samurai jumped into the ogre’s mouth, attacked him from the inside, and pulled out the miracle mallet which allowed him to grow to normal size. After defeating the ogre he and the princess got married and lived happily ever after (Nitsuj: Or did they). In this anime we find out that the samurai is working in Hell as a blacksmith because in truth he got the princess banished from her kingdom by falsely accusing her of stealing his rice (it was a big deal back then. Stealing rice back then was like the equivalent of pissing off an AI girl. Death on the spot). The king believed the samurai (King: I believe you tiny samurai over my one and only daughter) and when the samurai spoke up for the princess instead of killing her the king just banished her and the samurai went with her to protect her (that sneaky son of a bitch). In Hell we see that he’s treated with much disrespect because he’s no longer the inch-high samurai which frustrates him to no end. That is until he meets Momotaro where he understands the hardships of the samurai and the two become friends (by the way does anyone else find it ironic that these two are known for slaying demons but in the afterlife they’re working for demons?). In the second part we get introduced to Kodama a tree spirit who’s having trouble in the mountains. It turns out 2 mountain goddesses were married off to Ningi-no-Mikoto (the grandson of Amateratsu) but he only chose the little sister and sent the big sister back because she was ugly. Because of this the big sister which they call Princess Rock grew to hate her sister who they call Princess Blossom and beautiful people in general. This worries Kodama because there’s going to be a party on Mt. Fuji and he’s worried that Princess Rock is going to cause Fuji to explode because of her hatred for her sister (Nitsuj: I’ve always heard the rage of a woman could destroy a mountain but this is ridiculous). Hoozuki takes an interest in this situation and decides to go to the party with Kodama where Princess Rock obviously falls for him but nothing really happens with their develop and the episode ends on a somewhat bitter note with the punchline falling flat which is sad because the setup was good.

 

(Yin-Yang): In episode 12 Satan returns to Japan (so much for never returning) to give a lecture and while he’s giving a lecture we get to meet Beelzebub’s wife Lilith who is pretty much. . .what’s the word I’m looking for? (Nitsuj): Gold-digger, slut, whore, bitch, or my favorite Hell’s classiest succubus. (Yin-Yang): Yeah something along those lines. She gets Hoozuki to show her around Hell and take a picture with her with surprisingly nothing happening between the two. After showing her around Hoozuki meets up with Beelzebub who’s determined to finally beat him so he challenges Hoozuki to a series of sports (basketball, golf, tennis, soccer, and table tennis) where Hoozuki keeps slamming the ball back into Beelzebub’s face each time (he’s doing this on purpose). Beelzebub rubs it in Hoozuki’s face that he has a beautiful wife hoping to upset Hoozuki but Hoozuki shows him the picture of Lilith locking arms with Hoozuki and smiling which shocks Beelzebub and he withers away (Nitsuj: Haven’t you figured it out Beelzebub the whole theme of this show is that Hoozuki always wins). In the second half Hakutaku talks about how he got so drunk that he fell from Shangri-La and down to Earth where he got captured by the Yellow Emperor said to be one of the greatest emperors of China. Hakutaku works out a deal with the emperor that if he lets him go he’ll tell him all about the various demons in the world. The emperor agrees to this and this resulted in all of those various pieces of art that depict demons and other mythical creatures in Chinese mythology. In the end we find out that the reason Hakutaku got so drunk was because of Hoozuki who at the time didn’t know who Hakutaku was. Back when Japan’s Hell was still working out a system a few demons traveled to China to learn from their system. During his travels Hoozuki came across Hakutaku where he got him drunk so he would spill the beans on China’s Hell and this resulted in Hakutaku falling to earth and being captured by the Yellow Emperor (Nitsuj: So I guess the moral of this tale is don’t drink with strangers).

 

(Nitsuj): In the final episode we get treated to the summer bon festival going on in Hell. We’re told that this is the equivalent of summer vacation for the minions as minions get to take time off from work and enjoy themselves while the prisoners get to go back to the mundane world and be with their families. We also see almost everyone in the show in this part of the episode. We see Hakutaku and Momotaro operate a medical herb soup stand with the bipolar Mustard next to them cooking up badger stew (let it go little bunny), Oko runs a takoyaki stand, and they even break the fourth wall by talking about Junji Inagawa the narrator of the series and how his voice is so soothe (that was nice of them). Everyone else is just a passerby and at the stroke of midnight everyone gathers to close out the summer festival by dancing by a bonfire and gets ready for the main event. Going after the souls of people who refuse to come back to Hell or try to escape Hell. In the second part King Yama has a sore throat during work time so Hoozuki gives him a few drinks to cure his throat which turns his face into the face of a goldfish (ugh, fish face. Nothing creepier than that). At the end of the day when Yama tries to eat his secret dash of donuts Hoozuki eats them without his permission making him upset. Tired of Hoozuki always playing with him Yama decides to pass judgment on him but Hoozuki just swats his lightning of judgment away (Yin-Yang: Bitch please). When Yama finally gives up he admits that Hoozuki would make a better King Yama than him (finally! The anime recognizes that joke). Hozuki says no simply saying that being an assistant is easier and allows him to manipulate Hell to his will behind King Yama’s back (well at least he’s honest) and that’s pretty much the end.

 

Final Thoughts

 

So that was Hoozuki no Reitetsu and not only is it a good anime but it’s actually quite funny. The story is pretty basic, it just follows the life of a demon and his hectic day to day activities in Hell. Hoozuki is a rather cool lead. Much like the title says he’s very cool-headed, staying calm, showing little emotions, and being a complete sadist but at the same time he’s also a good guy who respects his boss to a certain degree and has the respect of his follow workers who recognize how great he is. I do like the idea of Hell being run as a business where everyone has a part in running Hell showing that even the most evilest of places needs order otherwise everything falls apart. The animation is also nice, I like how the backgrounds are done in the old Japanese art style like an old Japanese scroll has come to life to tell us a story. The animation style really adds a lot to the tone and feel of the anime really giving it that ancient feel. As for the comedy, I think it was very good, I laughed quite a bit and got a majority of the jokes. I really can’t believe people found this anime to be bad. I wonder what made them say that. (Yin-Yang): I can explain. While I admit the comedy in the anime is good the comedy is very Japanese based. (Nitsuj): How so? (Yin-Yang): Well take for example the Softbank joke in the first episode. The reason why that joke hurt Shiro so much is because Softbank is a telecommunications company whose mascot just happens to be a white dog. (Nitsuj): Yeah, I knew that, so what? (Yin-Yang): Can the casual anime watcher say that as well? (Nitsuj): Doubt it. *Eyes widen* Oh I get it now. That’s why a lot of people didn’t find this anime funny. (Yin-Yang): Exactly, this anime derives most of its comedy from Japanese folklore, mythology, and theology and is under the impression that you the viewer have a basic understanding of these three subjects. Because of this the casual and even a few regular watchers of anime will miss the joke. Sure they’ll get a few of the jokes and get a good laugh out of the slapstick routines the anime offers but for the most part the main jokes that the show wants them to get goes flying by over their head. So while the comedy isn’t bad, actually being funny and good, it does require that you the viewer have a good and basic understanding of Japanese folklore, mythology, and theology to really enjoy it. (Nitsuj): Which in the end isn’t a bad thing as it is interesting stuff but it’s something that really hinders the comedy because comedy is universal, you should be able to either hear the joke or see it and get it right away or let it sit for a while and then get it. (Yin-Yang): Bingo. The student has just had a break through. You get a pat on the head.

 

Final Score

 

The final score for Hoozuki no Reitetsu is a very positive 7/10. (Yin-Yang): That sounds good, I give it a 7/10 as well. (Nitsuj): It’s a good dark comedy with plenty of characters that’ll make you laugh, a setup that’ll make you giggle, and a good show to watch when you feel down or need a good laugh. The only downside is you won’t see much character development but for an anime like this I don’t think it’s really necessary. If you do decide to watch this anime I recommend studying a little bit on Japanese folklore, mythology, and theology just so you won’t be confused or out of the loop on the jokes. This anime is a good comedy and if you want a good laugh I recommend checking this anime out. Thanks for reading and thank you Yin-Yang for offering your comedic insight. We’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.

 

*All images, videos, and music do not belong to me and belong to their respected owners*

 

Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave comment, feedback, or request in the comment section below or sent to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com

 

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