Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
literaturenerd
Cool Headed Hoozuki came out almost 10 years ago and to this day remains one of the most underrated comedy anime outside of Japan. The basic premise is that Buddhist Hell is an incompetently run bureaucracy and is only kept operational due to the incredible micro-managing and organizational skills of a single ogre named Hoozuki. Reception in the United States was mixed at best with many critics calling the series inexcusably boring, dry, and even "A Japanese Dilbert that requires a PhD in Japanese cultural studies to get any of the jokes. The series was licensed in the US and quietly given a physical release, but it never received a dub.
Honestly its reputation as dry, boring, and difficult to understand, is rather undeserved. Comedy is highly subjective, but I personally think Hoozuki i…
Read at the sourceotaku86
It's possible you might have talked to someone like Ms. Eguchi before. A person who has two or three very specific interests and is very knowledgeable about them. You might know a thing or two about those things as well, but not at all like that person. You end up doing all the listening. She goes on talking about the things she likes and it might be a little hermetic at first, you might even consider coming up with an excuse to leave, but soon you get caught up in her web and things get so interesting you end up completely immersed in it. Then, when you realize it, hours have passed and you were having a great time listening to that person, even though you didn't think much of it at first.
That's how I feel about Ms. Eguchi's title, Hoozuki no Reitetsu. She has a fascination for ink wash…
Read at the sourceDonSarkerus
I don't remember how I found this anime, but I don't really regret it. It simply shows us how the Japanese Buddhist hell is managed, some of its divisions, and the roles of the characters, especially Hozuki-kun the right-hand man of the Underworld King Enma who constantly helps him to get everything in order.
There is no story, only comic situations and with a limited cast. Of course, the visual section is very nice like a painting to move. He has a very fresh sense of humor.
The bad thing is that it works a lot with the Japanese tradition and references such as mentioning the life of Katsushika Hokusai, an ancient Japanese painter, of playing with words or mentioning characters from ancient Japanese anime, which makes us miss the joke, it takes too long to arrive or we do not understand…
Read at the sourceUnconfidence
No Spoilers.
This show was pretty enjoyable and quite humorous. It made me laugh a lot, and I liked the way they incorporated traditional myths into their worldbuilding. The light-hearted treatment of effecting eternal torment is tactfully done and adds a lot to the ability of the show to deliver some continuous laughs.
But there were things which put me off from this show as well. Notably, the consistent direct-face shots of the characters speaking was repetitive over time. The way the demon characters' teeth would be drawn in such shots just made me feel weird, not in a good way. I get the metaphors and allegory they were trying to impart through it but it still got old. Also Hoozuki's character is pretty annoying in the long run, and I found myself commiserating with the people who wa…
Read at the sourceLegendmons
For me this anime has been really enjoyable.
The story is fresh, it is about the hell and how it is divided, and you follow the second in command of the Japanese version of Hell.
It's story is made full of references to real life legends, urban myths and actual people and contains a lot of jokes as well.
The art style was very nice to see and despite the fact that i dont like to watch most anime more then once this was definitely an anime i could watch multiple times due to its diversity.
The music is fun to listen to and sing along to and overall i really like this anime.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a anime which is fresh in its content and able to learn about some real life facts from Japanese Hell.
It's one Hell of an anime ;)
Read at the sourceAmishaelMA
Boy am I glad I decided to pick up this anime. I’d been looking for something like Saiki K no Psi-Nan, one of my all-time favourites, and found this on the list of recommendations. The two anime are actually totally different in many aspects, but Hoozuki no Reitetsu definitely filled the void left by Saiki K, at least for a little while.
The anime was fun to watch, it was interesting, it had an utterly brilliant and hilarious set of characters, and it even ended up teaching me a lot of Japanese folktales and history. Granted, there were a lot of references that I either needed to look up or only knew from other anime/manga, but that isn’t a bad thing so no negative votes on that. It’s actually a testament to the anime that I enjoyed it so much despite likely missing a lot of the reference…
Read at the sourcesilvery-saber
If you like dry, slightly absurd humour and have a passing familiarity with Japanese folklore, I strongly recommend Houzuki no Reitetsu. It takes a couple episodes to get going, but the dry humour is great and the characters are a joy.
Content Advisory: episode 3 part 2 has the old "is it a man or woman" transphobic chestnut as the foundation of an extended joke. Hakutaku and Houzuki had a bet whether the next woman who walked out of a bathroom had a large or small chest; they can't agree whether the person is a man or a woman, and in a later scene where they actually ask the person - she's a non-op trans woman - the two of them argue about whether she's a woman. Again. OAD1 also has a gag about a person of indeterminate gender, where being trans is treated as "other." (I know I know, cul…
Read at the sourcediabolicalx
I'll cut the whole "i don't normally write reviews" short and get right into why I would rate Hozuki to be one of my absolute favorite anime.
Personally, I enjoy thriller, mind-bending, mysterious, or sometimes a (guilty) pleasure of an occasional Kamisama-kiss type romance. If I'm watching a comedy, I enjoy good sarcasm, irony, and satire like references...especially considering the kind of strong hold Japan has on a possible mainstream show.
Why Hozuki? Almost every character is unique. Sometimes an anime will have a great story, great personalities, amazing art, and wrap it all up at the end with an amazing twist. However, the viewer can feel a bit unsatisfied, as if they didn't get what they either wanted, or expect to feel from the show.
Hozuki is an anime where you wish the cha…
Read at the sourceDunedane
This is one of my favorite shows, not just animes. The only problem I have with the show is that you need to pause constantly during your first viewing, because there is so much additional information subtitled in places other than the character dialogue location (so much worse to watch with a DvD player rather than a streaming site).
I couldn't give the story a 10 because it is episodic with no real overarching story, but every episode is funny. It is a show that I was hesistant about because the pictures displayed on the info page didn't strike me as great, but I was very wrong to be worried. There are tons of jokes and references that a westerner will have difficulty understanding (being ready to google a bit can make the story more enjoyable), but enough jokes do land that you won't m…
Read at the sourceBlaufisch
If brutal honesty in polite situations is your idea of comedy, this show delivers!
Story (6)
Story wise, it's mostly just slice of life / office storys; most don't even have a real story arc. The Setting is japanese hell and chinese heaven; japanese hell seems pretty accurate and well researched, and the enviroments unique propertys are used for comedy. As for chinese heaven, it's only a side thing; they're rarely there, but it seems fine, but you already notice that they don't use the places full comedic potential (also way less respect). It only gets really obvious when they talk about western ideas of hell (and western hell characters) that the author obviously didn't bother to research any of it. Pretty inaccurate, i mean dantes inferno is prety explicit about the topic, but it doesn…
Read at the sourceNightcreed101
This is my first Review ,I hope you like it.
This Anime was a life saver, i have been feeling bored for a very Long time and havent been able to watch many animes in the past few weeks but this anime saved me. It was funny ,sincere,full of references that could reach the level in Gintama ,here is the status :
Art: 9 , the art is really unique and you feel that it is new, although its close to a comical one but its truly fantastic and special in its own way .
Music : 8, The music is really more to the Fun side than the Epic Side , Its the kind of music that you dance to ,ALONE!!
The music was really fun and interesting and very different than what we hear these days in Anime.
Character : 8, This series has many characters and all of those characters had their own specific time on Air ,…
Read at the sourceMsCommunication
This show aaabsolutely cracked me up. It is full of dry humour, which I love, so I guess it is a bit of a biased review in that sense. It is episodic, often episodes are split into two stories.
All the reviews here go into detail about the story and characters so I'll leave that. I found it to be supremely enjoyable to watch. Easy-going, good light watch, funny enough that I'll probably watch it again sometime. I'm sure there are tropes in here, but unlike many anime (and other genres), you don't sit there and notice them like you do with most series these days.
Due to the fact that I laughed multiple times through every episode, and had a low-key permanent grin on my face throughout, I'd say it's one of my favourites. It aims only for comedy and it delivers. I absolutely recommend you…
Read at the sourceDreary-Deary
If you're looking for a great laugh then this is it. I didn't expect this show to be so funny. I think part of my enjoyment had to do with the characters, Hoozuki especially. He's such a straight faced sadist who does some crazy things. The whole cast is very lovable. Just the way they interact with each other is hilarious.
Another thing that I liked were the jokes themselves. There are a lot of references that you get, that you don't have to be Japanese to understand them. There isn't much of a plot which is understandable. The show is basically the everyday life in hell and the people that live there. I like that though, because something new is always happening in each episode.
I also want to say that I enjoy anime that shows a lot of Japanese culture and history. There are many stori…
Read at the source_Megami
The afterlife consists of Heaven and Hell. The Japanese hell is divided into Eight Fiery Hells and Eight Frozen Hells, while those are further subdivided into 272 sections. In both our world and the afterlife, proper governing requires sound decision-making. Unfortunately, there are far more charismatic leaders than there are wise decision-makers. The Great King Enma, may be the ruler of all the above, however Hoozuki, the chief of staff to his greatness is the one owning the attributes of both charismatic leader and wise decision-maker. And even after all of the minor torture, experiments and cold blooded pranks his assistant puts Enma through, it takes quite a long time for the gigantic but naive Daiou sama to realize that Hoozuki would make a better Great King. Although the facts from H…
Read at the sourceFragglepuss
Hoozuki no Reitetsu
Review By: John Fragglepuss Evans
Hoozuki no Reitetsu uses a lot of Japanese mythology and history in its episodes. For example, there are many different levels of Hell for people to be sent to, based on their wrongdoings in life. There is an animal cruelty hell, where people are sent that abused animals in life. In this hell, the animals abuse the people relentlessly. The whole Hell system in the anime runs like the normal world does, with demons taking jobs and being able to travel to the different sub-hells. They even put on festivals and Satan from European Hell comes for a visit.
You might enjoy this if: You want to watch slice-of-life in Hell.
You might not like it if: You want character development and a continuing storyline.
Note to the Viewer: Be prepared…
Read at the sourceParabi
I just finished watching this anime and I have to say that it's brilliant! Art and animation etc are all great. Story is minimal, its an episodic anime but it has quite an interesting cast.
I pissed myself at some of the jokes but many of them are very Japanese orientated and if you aren't really knowledgeable about the culture a lot of these will fly right over your head.
When I saw the first episode I was a little confused; it's a somewhat strange anime., but I ended up getting hooked by the second episode.
The opening and ending credits are quite weird but also really fun, it was one of the few anime I watched the opening and ending credits for every episode. I highly recommend watching the closing credits at least once or twice as they are part of one of the best jokes I have ever s…
Read at the sourceJammin_Rabbit
There aren’t many anime in the comedy genre that does well what Hoozuki no Reitetsu has done. That is delivering an amusing tale that parodies a mythology. And it is made even more interesting as it teaches you the history behind the mythologies portrayed in the show.
The show operates under the premise that the viewer has a basic gist of Japanese Hell, as well as other worlds such as European Hell and Chinese Heaven. It follows the character, Hoozuki, a very sadistic, no-nonsense-but-sometimes-I-want-my-own-fun, advisor to the King of Japanese Hell in a slap-stick and often subtle humor that takes a little thinking of the viewers’ end.
This comedy isn’t just a show where there are simply running gags, well-delivered punchlines, and clichés that you would typically see in a comedy. The…
Read at the sourceUnthinkable92
This was a great anime personally, ill get straight to the point 8/10 from me.
Story:
Now about the story there is none .... You might be thinking well if there is no story how did they manage to put this together, the answer is they made it like there are mini stories within each episode, very smartly put together and the comady is different from the usual intake within other anime out there.
Art style :
depending on how you look at it, it can be good or it can be bad your own opinion personally its great at times but at other moments it just lacks the modern type of arts style considering they implemented the mordern era aswell and basing it around hell.
Sound:
Same as usual nice simple and the songs are very catchy and some even make you confused but summing it up very nice.
Cha…
Read at the sourceVallety
Loads of anime have a hard time being original, espacially in the comedy genre. Hoozuki no Reitsu has been a fresh breath of air. I mean, how often do you see the king of hell being treated like a little punk. Hoozuki is a badass.
Story: 7
The anime is episodic and does not follow a story with a clear end goal. It revolves around the funny cast and their interactions. The consept they used with the multiple hells and meetings between their respected cheif was brilliant.
Art: 8
The art is just awesome. The way they incorporate old classic japenese art into the background is fantastic. The animation is good for a comedy anime and the designs are pretty unique as far as I have seen.
Sound: 9
THis is one of the strongpoints of this serie. The opening theme keeps playing in your head, it's h…
Read at the sourceFuggyber
This is one of those animes that just make you happy.
I have to say I quite like the layout of the series and how it's made up of lots of mini stories.
It makes it easy to watch and you can just play it whenever you just feel like having a laugh.
Also throughout this series you come to love the main character.
He's got dark humour, always seems to know what he's doing and is literally the strongest and most sadistic person in hell (although maybe I'm not making him sound appealing).
I would highly recommend watching the series, it's something with character so that you will actually remember as well (unlike a lot of animes nowadays which follow similar styles and trends-not to say they are bad though)
Oh and the art style is brilliant!
Read at the source