It’s very much more of the same with Hoozuki no Reitetsu, a show which really doesn’t seem to waver much no matter who directs it, and at which studio.  It’s the kind of consistency that could be boring in a lesser series, but never is with Hoozuki because this show is so intellectually restless and thematically diverse.  It would be foolish not to credit mangaka Eguchi Natsumi with the bulk of that, Occam’s Razor being what it is, but I do think the care the various adaptations have received is important too.  Clearly this is a series that matters to the anime’s creators (and to the disc-buying public).

After what may or may not have been an unofficial appearance last week, Koban (I still can’t figure out the police box pun with that name, if there is one) rejoins the cast for real here.  He’s on-hand to photograph Miki-Maki as they participate in a “Hell minions for a day” publicity stunt.  Hoozuki reckons that Koban, while entirely untrustworthy, is dedicated enough to self-preservation not to cross Hoozuki again (and he seems to be right).  As for the idol heroines, Miki is much more willing to throw herself into the promotion with abandon, but Peach Maki (whose neurotic tendencies are one of Hoozuki no Reitetsu’s great comic delights) clearly doesn’t have the stomach for the job.

This experiment is an opportunity for Hoozuki-san (who’s been employed in the role of audience tour guide more and more as we progress) to lead us through many of the myriad Hells over which Enma has dominion.  Who would have thought that beating the deceased with sugarcane was a thing – not to mention a special Hell for sins like running ahead of your friend at the end of a marathon?  The special allowances made for the corrupt rich of one of the highlights here, including the “Human Head Staff” which acts as a sort of underworld lie detector.

Next up is a visit to the records department, as Hoozuki (a guide again) takes the boys on a tour after Karauri wonders why it is that the records are kept in the Fifth Hell and not the First.  My favorite element here is how the department head Hageito-san (Nasubi calls him “Haggy”, his co-workers “Hagei”) describes it as the “most Japanese department in Hell” because its motto is “keep on working”, and the work “the dullest of the dull, but oh so worthwhile”.

For those not familiar with Japanese corporate culture, this whole segment is a really vicious satire on the backwards nature of it – right down to the insistence on hand-writing stuff that could easily be done on computers.  It’s finally being questioned in recent years, but a culture where workers routinely work themselves to death (literally) at mindless tasks and prioritize ritual over efficiency is a hallmark of Japanese life.  Like much of the satire in Hoozuki no Reitetsu, this one is both funny and powerful because it hits so uncomfortably close to reality. Japan needs more series like Hoozuki no Reitetsu, because it’s a society that could use a little more questioning and a little less meek acceptance.