Hozuki's Coolheadedness

duchessliz Jul 3, 2014

7

                 Hoozuki is the aide to the Great King Enma. Calm, cool, and super-sadistic, Hoozuki tries to resolve the various problems in Hell. However, he also enjoys spending his free time on his hobbies ... such as fawning over cute animals and raising his Goldfish plants. Hoozuki has this laid back atmosphere that you wouldn't expect from an anime set in ... well ... hell. It's not in your face comedy but, there are a few episodes that made me burst into outright laughter! Overall I think the intention was just to make you smile or chuckle a bit ... and for me it did that and more. The first time I heard the OP I make a face like -_-" The OP is absurdly cheerful for an anime set in hell and at first I didn't care for it. But it grew on me ... kind of like mold >.<"  I actually love it now and I had begun to look forward to hearing it every episode ... go figure lol. The ED though was akin to torture, but again ... if you take into account where Hoozuki is set ... it fits! xD The characters were fun! Hoozuki scared the sh*t out of more than half the characters but that added to the fun!  I loved the rivalry between Hoozuki and Hakutaku. That was endlessly amusing to me! :D Hoozuki was a badass!  Enma was a funny character in the way he was supposed to be 'The Great King Enma' and yet ... Hoozuki was totally the one in charge! (Enma just didn't quite realize that fact!) xD Overall a very laid back anime that I enjoyed a great deal. I miss it! :(

FullmetalDragon Dec 24, 2017

8

Do you like crazy, over the top humour and Japanese mythology? If yes, then this is the perfect anime for you. No, seriously, don't even bother reading the rest of this and just get watching. If you prefer your humour less sadistic and insane, then seriously why are you even considering an anime with so many tags relating to it? If, however, you need a little more persuading, then you've come to the right place. There's a great review right above this one, go read it, it's... ok, ok, just kidding. I feel like I should probably stop waffling and actually get on with the review.  Hozuki no Reitetsu is a rather over the top comedy, with a lot of physical homour. It really doesn't differ much from others of that genre, other than it being in hell. It doesn't particularly break any boundaries, but it's still a funny ride with some interesting and colourful characters.  Hozuki's one of those weird characters that kind of seems to be pretty two dimensional, but actually ends up with quite a bit of depth. He's a total sadist, very coolheaded (as the name of the show implies), and all round generally awesome. He's very much the main character, and the show really focuses on his interactions with the other characters rather than focusing on the other characters themselves. I won't go into too much detail about them all, otherwise we'll be here all day, but they're all interesting to watch, if a tiny bit two dimensional.  Overall, this is a great watch for fans of ridiculous comedies. It's funny, with interesting characters, and you get to learn a bit about Japanese hell along the way. What could be better than that? Review for Secret Santa 2017

CaptainSlow Mar 2, 2016

8

What I Liked: The ending theme and the equally catchy opening theme. The character designs, which felt like simplified versions of classic mythological depictions, were all unique and colourful. There was a nice uniformity in set designs for each of the hells, and many of the backgrounds had a classic Japanese art feel to them. Animation was consistent and just as colourful as the cast. A nice mixture of cultural / mythology-related jokes, silly puns, physical humour and satirical allusions to Japanese society. Hiroki Yatsumoto is perfect as the stoic yet strangely charming Hoozuki. What I Didn't: Like most skit comedy anime, the show simply ends. YMMV on the humour, depending on how much one knows about Japanese culture and history and/or enjoys gallows humour. The humour is a little hit-and-miss anyway, with some skits suffering from slow pacing issues or generally weak jokes. The second-last skit may have functioned better as an ending in this reviewer's opinion. Final Verdict: Irreverent, dry and dark but nonetheless hilarious, Hozuki's Coolheadedness can best be described as "colourful" - it features a lively cast of characters with interesting personalities living in a fascinating depiction of Japanese Hell making a variety of jokes about a number of cultural subjects. Sure, sometimes the jokes fall completely flat, but I found it an otherwise enjoyable and unique skit comedy anime. After all, who knew Hell could be so fun?