Hozuki no Reitetsu Episode 1 | TFP Review
bctaris: I overlooked the announcement for this initially, and tried it on a whim when it appeared on CR’s listings on Thursday. Something quirky about this: in some ways just a workplace, slice-of-life dark comedy, but with a creative eye for direction and design, and a chance to play with Japanese (and others’) history and folklore. The comedy’s dry, sometimes understated, sometimes intentionally lame, like a usual workplace comedy, actually. Playing up common management issues, like labor issues, that even the afterlife’s administrators would have to deal with is easy. But I liked most the easy-going scenes like Hozuki and King Enma sitting down together in Hell’s cafeteria, watching a Japanese travel show on Australia, as they discuss tastes in women and vacation wishes. The direction is kind of fun as the view takes in the fact that they are in a cafeteria, with the table next to them taken up by Momotaro’s animal sidekicks on their break from Animal Hell.
And that historical/folklore stuff may make some of the humor in the show hard to appreciate for some audiences. Peach-boy Momotaro may be reasonably known to anime viewers, as well as amusing references like Shangri-La. But if I hadn’t watched Kyousougiga last season, I wouldn’t have appreciated at all the pretty neat reference to the Chousougiga scrolls that Hozuki makes at one point. Bigger than that, though, is the intriguing art design in the show. The first half of the episode, taking place outside in some random section of Hell, existed in a background that was directly out of a historical Japanese watercolor or woodblock print. A lot of the backgrounds reference classic Japanese art. (Stuff I recognize, but have forgotten the details about…fell like researching it now.)
Then there are the goldfish plants Hozuki raises. Second Hozuki in the last two seasons into goldfish. (Some meaning I’m missing there? 
Nork22: No expectations going into this but I found it quite funny. A certain amount of Japanese folklore is needed to get the jokes and a few Japanese pop culture thrown in for good measure as well (Oto-san! from Softbank).
Also enjoyed the discussion between Hozuki and Emna about their lives outside of work, hobbies and vacations. I can definitely relate. My days off is taken up mostly by my hobbies and if I want a vacation, I have to seriously plan for it.
Hitusgi Amachi: Wacky workplace humor in Hell?
That wasn’t half bad. It was fairly amusing.
Yeah, the reference knowledge level of this show is pretty damn high, but I was able to get enough of it to make it enjoyable. I even knew about Oto-san before, so I laughed at that one. I suspect a good number of other jokes may have flown over my head though.
bctaris: I did not know about the Oto-san bit (damn funny, though). I had a better time getting the historical and art/design references than the more up to date pop culture stuff. 
