One of the many things I love about Hoozuki no Reitetsu is the way it always seems to provide a lesson in some aspect of Japanese history or culture with which I was previously unaware.  This is a subjective pleasure, I admit – that’s obviously not everyone’s reason for watching anime.  But hey, horses for courses…  And of course this being Hoozuki, the above can be either high or low culture – and very often it’s both.  This is a larger element of manga especially that I love – so often they’re based on ancient myths and historical legends of the sort that the Japanese seem to have much more of a lasting attachment to than most cultures do.

• The vehicle for such exploration this week is “Maniacal Minion Monks: Chinese Angels“, a fictional manga about a Taoist monk and the “hopping vampires” who work for him.
• Is this based on a real series?  That I don’t know, but otaku Yomogi (Uzu had his spotlight turn last week, so it’s only fair Yomogi gets his here) is a huge fan.  He’s donated his old volumes to the local library, where the likes of O-kou have read them.
• As any good otaku will be, Yomogi is fully in his element when preaching the awesomeness of the series he loves.  And don’t get him started on the difference between the manga and anime (and why the manga is better).
• Real-life manga counterpart or no, “Maniacal Minion Monks” is clearly based on “RL” events in Hoozuki no Reitetsu, as Hoozuki-sama explains to Nasubi and Karauri (as ever, his lessons to the boys prove the basis for some of this series’ most entertaining diversions).  The monk in question is Gotoutenrin, the tenth (and final) king and judge in Hell.  And the main angel is Chun, his chief of staff.
• Chun…  Not named after a sparrow’s call (sorry, Youkai Apato) but a Mahjong tile.  And she’s a Kyonshi – a Chinese (where they’re called Jiangshi in on’yomi reading) “hopping vampire”.  In hindsight I believe I have heard of this myth – it pops up in Chinese horror films a lot – but I’d totally forgotten whatever I knew.
• Basically, Chun is the opposite of Hoozuki as chief of staff – the only thing they have in common is a propensity for violence.  Chun does no paperwork – she pretty just tracks down runners (this being the sentencing Hell, there are a lot of them) and kicks their ass.
• Actually, Chun does have one more thing in common with Hoozuki – Hakutaku is the one they especially love to beat on.
• Hakutaku, “hentai alpinist” – as ever, Momotaro gets off the best wry asides.
• One thing I can honestly say about Hoozuki no Reitetsu – most of the time it’s impossible for me to imagine what it does happening in any other series.  Not only couldn’t they pull it off, but they’d never even try.  And that’s a big reason why I love it as much as I do.