Hozuki's Coolheadedness
Hozuki's Coolheadedness is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsumi Eguchi. The plot revolves around Hozuki, a demon who works for the King and Head Judge of Hell. It was serialized by Kodansha in the magazine Weekly Morning between March 2011 and January 2020, with chapters collected in thirty tankōbon volumes. The manga was adapted into a television anime series; Wit Studio produced the first season in 2014, and Studio Deen was responsible for a second season in 2017–2018. The former studio also produced three original animation DVDs in 2015, while the latter produced one OAD in 2017, and Pine Jam produced three more OVAs in 2019 and 2020.
The first season was made available to English-speaking audiences through Crunchyroll, which streamed it, and Sentai Filmworks, which licensed the series to be released on DVD. The second season was acquired by Sentai, who released it on home media and made it available through the streaming website Hidive. In Japan, the Hozuki's Coolheadedness manga had over 11 million copies in print as of May 2019. The manga and anime have been featured at various times in weekly top ten lists of best-selling in their respective media. The anime has been well received by English-language reviewers, and was usually elected one of the best anime of 2014.
Plot
The story centers on ogre-like demon who works under, the King and Head Judge of Hell who determines what kind of hell the dead will be sent to. The serious-minded Hozuki attempts to manage and troubleshoot unusual problems which occur in the Japanese hell. Two of the most prominent subordinates of Hozuki are and. Other people in the hell include, the chief assistant of Mortal Hell;, a famous idol in Hell; and, a commander in the Crow-Tengu Police. The main rival of Hozuki is, a Chinese medicine expert who works at Shangri-La. Hakutaku is assisted by, a famous samurai in his days of living. Momotaro's three pets are also regular characters in the series:, the dog;, the monkey; and, the pheasant.Production
In 2010, Natsumi Eguchi won the Honorable Mention Award of the 57th Chiba Tetsuya Awards for Hinichijōtekina Nanigenai Hanashi. The character Oni of this work was the model to create Hozuki that would first appear in her debut in the Morning 32nd issue of 2010 with the story Jigoku no Sata to Are ya Kore. Some time later, after changing its name to Hōzuki no Reitetsu the series started to be serialized in the magazine.Eguchi developed a sympathy for yōkai manga such as GeGeGe no Kitarō and Akuma-kun because of her parents influence. Their "strange" preferences for these instead of the typical girl's manga or battle manga lead her to declare that she "has been reading only afterworld yōkai books since can remember". The horror-themed The Laughing Salesman and the Japanese folktales-based were also series that influenced her. Eguchi attributes this childhood experience to the fact her mother was a classical studies professor, and as such she had access to several mythology and folklore books. One such book was Shigeru Mizuki's compilation of 101 yōkai stories. The influence of the anime adaptation of Mizuki's GeGeGe was highlighted by Eguchi, who appreciated the characters' scary but cute features and their variety through each episode. Other non-horror works also influenced her, including Doraemon, especially the main character's bossy personality in the "insane" manga—as Eguchi dubbed it—as opposed to the educational anime.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Natsumi Eguchi, the manga series Hozuki's Coolheadedness was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Morning seinen magazine from March 3, 2011 to January 9, 2020. Its 271 chapters were collected into thirty tankōbon volumes by Kodansha; the first was released on May 23, 2011, and the last was released on March 23, 2020. In addition to the regular edition, some volumes were also released in a "limited edition" accompanied by new cover artworks and series-related merchandise. An English-language translation is published by Kodansha Comics through its digital content distributor Kodansha Advanced Media. The first volume was released on March 21, 2017.A comic and anime official guidebook was released by Kodansha on February 3, 2014, while an artbook was released on November 20, 2015. A special chapter was published in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine on December 27, 2014. In the same magazine, a four-panel spin-off by Monaka Shiba was published from December 1, 2015, to April 3, 2020; subtitled Shiro no Ashiato, it focuses on Shiro. Its first tankōbon volume was released on November 22, 2016, while the latest—the fourth—was released on September 20, 2019.
Anime
An anime adaptation of Hozuki's Coolheadedness was first announced through Mornings 31st issue in June 2013. The exhibition of the anime's first promotional video took place in July at Japan Expo in Paris and Anime Expo in Los Angeles. The Hozuki's Coolheadedness anime series was produced by Wit Studio and directed by Hiro Kaburaki, with screenplay by Midori Gotō and characters design by Hirotaka Katō. It was broadcast by Mainichi Broadcasting System's programming block Animeism from January 10, 2014 to April 4, 2014. The entire series was released by King Records from April 9 to August 13, 2014 both in DVD and Blu-ray with an "A" and "B" version for each one of the six compilations.The series was simulcasted by Crunchyroll and was available for several countries, including the English-speaking United States, Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series to the North American market in January 2014, and released the series on a single box both on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 17, 2015. At the Supernova Pop Culture Expo in April 2015, Madman Entertainment announced the series's licensing. Madman made it available through its streaming site AnimeLab in August 2015 and through a DVD box released on October 21, 2015. An English-subtitled version is also broadcast to Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore by Aniplus.
In June 2014, a series of three original anime DVDs was announced to be produced by the same staff of the anime series. After the release of three teaser videos in August, October and November, the OADs were screened between December 6 to December 28, 2014 in eleven theaters in Japan. They were released along with the 17th, 18th, and 19th manga volumes on February 23, May 22, and August 21, 2015 respectively. In November 2016, the twenty-third volume of the manga announced that the series would receive a new anime project, beginning with an OAD. It was bundled with the manga's twenty-fourth limited edition volume, and released on March 21, 2017. The staff was the same from the anime and previous OAD series, with Studio Deen taking over animation production from Wit Studio.
A second season was announced in March 2017, with the staff from the 2017 OAD returning to reprise their roles. The second season premiered on October 8, 2017. Sentai Filmworks licensed the season for home media and digital release in North America. Sentai's website Hidive simulcasted the season with English subtitles in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. After the 13th episode aired on December 31, 2017, it was announced that the second season would take a break and return in April 2018. The second cour of the second season premiered on April 8, 2018, and ended on July 1, 2018. In December 2018, Crunchyroll added the second season to its catalog. Four DVD and Blu-ray boxes were released between January 17, 2018, and September 19, 2018. Sentai released the second season into a single-volume DVD and Blu-ray boxes on June 11, 2019.
Three more OADs were produced by Pine Jam. The first two were released along with the 29th and 30th manga volumes on September 20, 2019 and March 23, 2020; and the third will be released along with the 31st volume on August 21, 2020. Kazuhiro Yoneda and the rest of the staff from the second season will return to reprise their roles.
Other
The Hozuki's Coolheadedness anime series's music was composed by Tomisiro under Starchild Records, while Sound Team Don Juan produced the sound. The anime's first season soundtrack album was released on December 3, 2014 into two version; one with only the CD and another with a CD and DVD. The second season soundtrack was released as the fourth disc in first cour's DVD and Blu-ray box on January 17, 2018.An online radio program was and broadcast by Animate TV between December 28, 2013 and April 6, 2014, lasting thirteen episodes. The show, titled Hito ni Kibishiku, was hosted by Hiroki Yasumoto, Hōzuki's voice actor, and received the other anime's voice actors as guest. To accompany the return of the anime in 2017, a second season titled Motto Hito ni Kibishiku started to be broadcast on September 15.
A free smartphone game for iOS and Android was first announced in March 2018. Developed by Taito, the game titled Hōzuki no Reitetsu: Jigoku no Puzzle mo Kimi Shidai was made available on June 13, 2019.
Reception
| No. | Peak rank | Notes | Refs |
| 1 | 20 | 1 week | |
| 2 | 22 | 2 weeks | |
| 3 | 29 | 2 weeks | |
| 4 | 12 | 2 weeks | |
| 5 | 6 | 1 week | |
| 6 | 7 | 3 weeks | |
| 7 | 8 | 3 weeks | |
| 8 | 6 | 3 weeks | |
| 9 | 6 | 3 weeks | |
| 10 | 10 | 2 weeks | |
| 11 | 7 | 3 weeks | |
| 12 | 6 | 3 weeks | |
| 13 | 3 | 4 weeks | |
| 14 | 5 | 4 weeks | |
| 15 | 2 | 3 weeks | |
| 16 | 5 | 4 weeks | |
| 17 | 5 | 3 weeks | |
| 18 | 3 | 4 weeks | |
| 19 | 4 | 4 weeks | |
| 20 | 6 | 3 weeks | |
| 21 | 3 | 3 weeks | |
| 22 | 2 | 4 weeks | |
| 23 | 3 | 3 weeks | |
| 24 | 6 | 3 weeks | |
| 25 | 4 | 4 weeks | |
| 26 | 6 | 4 weeks | |
| 27 | 3 | 4 weeks |
Public response
As of May 2019, Hozuki's Coolheadednesss first twenty-two volumes and related works, including illustration collection, had 11 million copies in print. Several volumes of the series have been featured on Oricon's weekly chart of the best-selling manga; all volumes since the fifth one have reached the top 10. Hozuki's Coolheadedness was among the best-selling manga series of 2014 and 2015, and individual volumes have also reached the list for the first half of 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The series's guidebook also entered the top 25 of one week's best-selling comics.All the six compilation of the anime series were featured both on Oricon's weekly chart of the best-selling DVD and Blu-ray, reaching the top 10 in both categories. Its first two volumes were released the same day and they ranked first and second on the DVD list, while they were second and third on the Blu-ray list. The first DVD, the fifth Blu-ray and the sixth DVD volumes topped the list. The first Blu-ray sold over 6,700 copies and the last one sold over 4,700 discs. In a survey by Rekochoku with 500 men and women between the ages of 10 and 50, Hozuki's Coolheadedness was voted the best anime that started in January 2014. Asking the same question the site Animeanime.jpg received over 2800 votes, and the anime was the fourth most voted in general, while it was atop among women.
Both the first two DVD boxes and the first two Blu-ray boxes of the second season ranked fourth on Oricon's weekly chart of the best-selling animated media. The DVD version sold about 1,000 copies per box, while the Blu-ray one sold over 2,000 discs per box. The third DVD box charted at number eleven and sold 725 copies. The fourth DVD charted at number three and sold 770 copies, while the fourth Blu-ray charted at number two and sold 1,479.
Critical response
The 2012 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi!, which surveys people in the manga and publishing industry, named Hozuki's Coolheadedness the nineteenth best manga series for male readers. In 2012, it was one of the 15 manga nominated for the 5th Manga Taishō and was selected by jury for the 16th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards. The series was nominated for the 38th Kodansha Manga Award for Best General Manga, and ranked fifth on the "Book of the Year" by Media Factory's Da Vinci in 2014. It also ranked 25th and 37th on Da Vinci "Book of the Year" in 2018 and 2019, respectively.Several reviewers named Hozuki's Coolheadedness first season among their favorite anime of 2014 or of that winter season; this include Vichus Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Seb Reid of UK Anime Network, Kelly Quinn of Tor.com, and Amy McNulty and Gabriella Ekens of Anime News Network. Most reviewers pondered over its humor that requires some understanding of Japanese culture, but they ultimately appreciated it. Quinn considered it to be one of the most original comedy shows of the year because of its "sadistic humor and bizarre setting". Ekens affirmed that "While not every episode provoked peals of laughter, there was just enough cuteness and cleverness aside to make me love this little show." Reid compared it to Polar Bear Cafe because of its "dry, sarcastic" humor style and "weird" stories, and praised the writing for its peculiar stories and dialogues, as well as its "deadpan acting". Josh Tolentino of Japanator often compared it to Lucky Star for its slow pace. He commented, "I've heard rumblings in some circles about being intensely boring, but I'm having fun so far. It's just really low-key in the way that, say, Dilbert is low-key." Nicoletta Christina Browne of THEM Anime Reviews also found it similar to Dilbert and salaryman manga, especially on the depiction of Hozuki–Enma relation.
ANN's Carl Kimlinger was generally unfavorable; although noted its premise as singular, he criticized its music, characters and "comedic incompetence". He nevertheless praised its sumi-e-inspired visuals, which are "startlingly beautiful at times, and utterly distinctive at all times". Quinn also echoed a similar praise for its visuals, while Tolentino stated "one of this show's best qualities is how it shows off traditional Japanese art". Browne commended the mixture of modern character designs with classic art style that creates a "unique and appealing look", and said that "the animation is generally quite good, if low-key". Kate O'Neil of The Fandom Post also praised it, stating "the animation is quite superb". O'Neil also said, "It's the weird artsy kid sitting in the back row of desks combined with The Office. Many viewers won't get the appeal, but it's always been a fascinating and often funny watch with a great artistic style and well defined personalities."