Volume eight opens appropriately with a tale of the Eight Cold Hells! In this edition, we review the similarities between the Greek and Japanese underworld, eavesdrop on King Enma and King Shinko grumbling about their respective aides, sit in on a conversation between Hozuki and Hakutaku on the intricacies of badmouthing, and get a peek into the life of Kakisuke. Volume eight, now with nine laugh-packed chapters!
Hozuki and Enma, Hozuki and Hakutaku, Hozuki and Koban. The usual vignettes are here to stay, but this volume continues to introduce characters one after another. Behold as Yoshitsune, Yamata-no-Orochi, even Rabbit-don of Kachi-Kachi Mountain fame toil away as Hell wardens. Incidentally, the unrivaled beauty, Daji, is running a clip joint in Crushing Hell!
What more is there is to say about the main character's sadistic tendencies? We've got Lurio the pheasant, the most humble of Momotaro's companions; Oiwa the lantern from the Yotsuya Kaidan, who hasn't appeared since volume two; Kama, the designer, who appears...surprisingly often; and even Hageito of the Records Section, who briefly appeared at the end of the last book. Volume seven's all about side-characters, and they're here to shine!
In this 22nd edition of Hozuki's Coolheadedness, fierce battles are breaking out all over Hell! Uzu and Hageitou fight over proper Japanese, Lord Satan ropes Hozuki into some friendly fighting game practice at the arcade, and Karashi takes on many vicious hell beasts in an outrageous inter-species martial arts competition!
This volume is all about curiosities held by Hell's residents! Shiro's curious what sort of place is the authentic Hell Hot Springs are really like. Momotaro's curious to see what the deal is with this so-called “folktale folk meet-and-greet.” And Karauri and Nasubi are curious to find out more about a certain jiangshi named Chun, King Godo Tenrin's aide and the model for the heroine of a popular manga. Don't let her cute face fool you, she's so ferocious that even Hozuki's no match for her. What's more, she's Hakutaku's ex-girlfriend?!
Hakutaku's mortal realm fashion sense is so lame, he looks like an old man going for a game of gateball! There are so many animal wardens in the Shoko Court, it looks like a scene out of a nature documentary! Karashi's backstory is too terrible for words! And as usual, the zashiki-warashi twins are too darn deadpan!
Come this 26th edition, the first appearance of King Enma's second aide…has already been made by an unsuspected individual! Then, much to everyone's surprise, Hozuki appoints Lurio as the new fifth aide! Meanwhile, Karauri's sister charges into the Enma court to give a piece of her mind to Uzu, only to lead to another unexpected development… What's more, we get a look into Karashi's living quarters, the contents of which come as no surprise to anyone!
The Jizo is an avatar of King Enma? There's a special hell for sending an elephant on a drunken rampage?! Learn these and other veritably useless Hell trivia in this eventful edition! We've got a goldfish plant pageant, a day in the life of Shiro, a look into Hell management, and much more! And what's this? It turns out Hozuki is actually King Enma's second aide?!
In this 24th edition, the curtain rises on the commemorable Chapter 200 with a fearsome roar by Hozuki that leaves King Enma's grandson shaking in his booties! Speaking of getting shaken up, the grand tale of Hozuki's struggles to survive as a youth will surely leave you quivering! To top it off, MakiMiki take part in a spine-chilling punishment game as part of a TV segment!
Life in Hell goes on as usual, but not without a few changes here and these. Karauri and Nasubi find themselves mentoring new hires, Yashaichi's pups are growing up fast, and the Ten Kings are debating how best to renovate the gates to the Afterlife! Alas, money makes the world go round, even in Hell. You know what that means…budget cuts!
In this tenth edition, Hozuki is invited to give a presentation at an elementary school, fills in at a mixer at the behest of Karashi, investigates a group of ogres terrorizing the mortal realm, and even has to deal with Haruichi, a spy from the Eight Cold Hells. As if he wasn't busy enough, Hozuki still finds time to drop by European hell to give Satan a piece of his mind for sending King Enma a most offensive missive!
Chirp chirp chirp. What's Chunko from The Sparrow Lodge up to these days? Squeak squeak squeak. There's a whole mess of mice wardens in Hell! Meanwhile, the Taira clan's Princess Takiyashi keeps ring ring ringing the crow tengu police for some reason. And the engineering department's Uzu is bang bang banging away at a new torture device! Sounds like a lot of hoopla to me!
Godlike? More like godawful! Meet Amanojaku, the supposed goddess who makes it her mission to annoy everyone she meets! Miki, who'd rather die than be made a laughingstock on TV, begs Maki to teach her how to cook! Meanwhile, Karauri's sister vehemently refuses to meet with any suitor her parents find for her. Husband? More like husb…ugh?
More Mao Hao Hao, more fun! Volume 12 marks a huge milestone with the series' 100th chapter! In this monumental edition, Hozuki shows great interest in the legends surrounding King Enma, while the others show great interest in the antics of a 15-year-old (in human years) Hozuki, skipping class to check out a cursed club. Meanwhile, half for business, half out of morbid curiosity for cruel fairy tales, Hozuki heads to Heaven to have a chat with the goats of The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats. And at long last, the names of Hozuki's two lifelong friends are revealed!
“The wardens here are a joke!” So says the leader of a decedent revolt to Hozuki's face. Elsewhere, the bumbling daoshi, King Godo Tenrin, incurs Satan's wrath. And in ECH, Haruichi has a serious discussion with the head of Kakaba Hell-in the pinnacle of insubordination! Even the meticulous and reserved Hageito-san has a few things to say in this 27th edition!
What in the world is Hozuki doing when he visit the mortal realm? How do Hell's ogres feel about Setsubun? Is it just me, or do a lot of ogres have curly hair? Why is King Shinko's personal aide the Heian noble Ono-no-Takamura? Are there dinosaurs in Hell? Find all of that out and more in volume 6! And at long last, Hakutaku's age is revealed!
Whether it's Cow-Head or Amanosagume, Hakutaku is a lover of all women! But have you ever wondered just where he draws the line? At the court of the machine maniac King Henjo, we'll get a first-hand look at his next-in-line chief of staff, the mechanical Memeko-chan! Next, ever the derrière devotee, the man-faced dog catches a few hands when he goes around sniffing one too many rears! And at long last, Hozuki's beloved goldfish plants bloom! An event so momentous, it made the cover! Ogyaaaaah!
This time, Hozuki takes Karauri and Nasubi on a trip to the Eight Cold Hells, as well as the Momotaro brothers to visit an elementary school. Then he himself is taken by Kama-san along to a meeting to discuss the costume for MakiMiki's new song, and again by Takamura to a hair salon. Whether it's as a leader or a follower, Hozuki just has a way of showing up all everywhere, even at a gathering of neighborhood cats!
Don't go thinking you're a Hell expert just yet! Come learn about the prison system with MakiMiki as they work as wardens for a day! Meanwhile, the zashiki-warashi twins suddenly awaken to the world of fashion, Karuri's sister suddenly drops by the Enma Court, Anubis suddenly pays Japanese Hell a visit, Momotaro gets a sudden phone call from Shiro...all that and more in this suddenness-filled volume!
In search of his own roots, Kan the cat takes a trip to Egypt, where he hits it off with the goddess Bastet! And on another occasion, he throws out his back while trying to memorize a bollywood dance… The iconic cat of the Sotai Court is as whimsical as ever. Despite no real attempt to feature him, Kan's presence dominates this 23rd volume!
As usual, our resident dimwitted dog, Shiro, finds himself in an unprecedented pinch when an insect hell warden called a Colon Cadger sets its sights on his furry rear! Meanwhile, despite continuing to slack off since his debut in volume 12, the Clothes-Hanging Geezer shows up out of the blue begging for Peach Maki's autograph! And the lucky tanuki teapot that Karashi's always giving a thrashing shows off his entertainer skills! All that and much more!
CMX launches an exciting new era of manga with its first Flex Comics title! Flex Comics is a joint venture between DC Comics and Flex Comics, a Japanese company that creates exciting, original manga for the web, mobile phones and print. In ZOMBIE FAIRY, a boy named Aoto brings a coffin belonging to his grandfather to a Japanese TV show to determine its worth. Suddenly, a 400 year-old Chinese girl named Chun-Ai pops out of the coffin. In a trance-like state, she becomes violent and super-strong and trashes the studio. After she emerges from her trance and calms down, Aoto decides he has no choice but to bring her home, where his quirky family agrees to take her in.But they soon find themselves in over their headsChun-ai is quickly joined by a friend from the past, and then they find themselves in the middle of a deadly battle with a giant, raging tiger spirit.
Born and raised in the now-extinct Shitmachi district of Asakusa, a neighbourhood brimming with Kabuki theatres and geisha, Sadako Sawamura tells of her rise to icon status, including her account of serving a jail sentence for her pro-communist sympathies.
A visual guide to the culture, history, and society of Japan.