How can you make a show about folklore realistic? Add some reliability through the pain of bureaucracy. That's exactly what Hozuki's Coolheadedness does.
This story follows Hozuki, Hell's Chief of Staff, who oversees the work of the hellish part of the Japanese afterlife. He is, as the title states, coolheaded, almost to the point of coldness, stoic, and quite effective at his job.
But he is seemingly the only one who tries to keep the semblance of order in Hell. Even King Enma, the ruler of Hell, is almost useless at his job, preferring to slack on it until Hozuki beats some sense into him. Literally beats.
See, it's a comedy anime, and part of the comedy lies in the torturous part of the specifics of Hell. The workers here cannot die; the dead people are already dead, so violence is quite often the answer to the majority of the conflicts in this world. It's a fun trip through Japanese (and, partially, Chinese) folklore, one that parodies a lot of the legends and makes the grim topics of dying fun.
Some of the concepts, like a flaming mirror that shows the person's life to the jury, are replaced by modernized versions — a set of monitors connected to CCTV cameras; the most effective torturer is a cute rabbit with a timid voice; the greatest enemy is the paperwork.
The manga was finished in 2020, and two seasons of the anime series were released. Both manga and anime have an episodic nature, the story not really progressing, but you still get more attached to the characters — Hozuki himself, his helpers, and colleagues.
Technically this show can be called a slice-of-death comedy, filled with dark humor that doesn't necessarily feel dark.
The mix of esoteric and mundane, or, rather, the infusion of mundane into a completely esoteric world is what feels refreshing about this show. It's fun in its purest form, and its focus on Japanese folklore doesn't make the show inaccessible to the greater audience — on the contrary, all the concepts are explained in a very easily digestible way, thanks to the humorous approach.
It's an adult workplace comedy; it's just that the workplace itself is a little bit prone to abnormalities from the point of view of a regular human. And that makes the show even more charming.
You can't escape paperwork even after death.
How can you make a show about folklore realistic? Add some reliability through the pain of bureaucracy. That's exactly what Hozuki's Coolheadedness does.
This story follows Hozuki, Hell's Chief of Staff, who oversees the work of the hellish part of the Japanese afterlife. He is, as the title states, coolheaded, almost to the point of coldness, stoic, and quite effective at his job.
But he is seemingly the only one who tries to keep the semblance of order in Hell. Even King Enma, the ruler of Hell, is almost useless at his job, preferring to slack on it until Hozuki beats some sense into him. Literally beats.
See, it's a comedy anime, and part of the comedy lies in the torturous part of the specifics of Hell. The workers here cannot die; the dead people are already dead, so violence is quite often the answer to the majority of the conflicts in this world. It's a fun trip through Japanese (and, partially, Chinese) folklore, one that parodies a lot of the legends and makes the grim topics of dying fun.
Some of the concepts, like a flaming mirror that shows the person's life to the jury, are replaced by modernized versions — a set of monitors connected to CCTV cameras; the most effective torturer is a cute rabbit with a timid voice; the greatest enemy is the paperwork.
The manga was finished in 2020, and two seasons of the anime series were released. Both manga and anime have an episodic nature, the story not really progressing, but you still get more attached to the characters — Hozuki himself, his helpers, and colleagues.
Technically this show can be called a slice-of-death comedy, filled with dark humor that doesn't necessarily feel dark.
The mix of esoteric and mundane, or, rather, the infusion of mundane into a completely esoteric world is what feels refreshing about this show. It's fun in its purest form, and its focus on Japanese folklore doesn't make the show inaccessible to the greater audience — on the contrary, all the concepts are explained in a very easily digestible way, thanks to the humorous approach.
It's an adult workplace comedy; it's just that the workplace itself is a little bit prone to abnormalities from the point of view of a regular human. And that makes the show even more charming.
