Let’s start with weird. 2 months ago I swing by the site for a fansub group known as the New York Anime Exchange. They are subbing a batch of new series, all of which have been aired within the last year in Japan. Yours truly saw their asking price ($8 a tape) and decided to sign up for an interesting show titles “Houshin Engi”. I order volumes 1&2 but realize that I won’t be able to send the cash for at least 1-2months because I’m light on the green. So yesterday my room mate opens the front door and see a package on the doorstep. I look at the package and the return address and wonder whom mailed it to me. I open it up and there are volumes 1&2 of “Houshin Engi”. I sit in front of my television and enjoy.
“Senkaiden Houshin Engi” began appearing in Shukan Shonen Jump in 1996 by artist Fujisaki Ryu. Fujisaki took upon himself the daunting task of translating a historical novel set in feudal China into manga. The novel “Houshin Engi” was written several hundred years ago, sometime during the Ming Dynasty though the book takes place in the 11th century, and is about the quest of a small band of adventurers to seal away an evil Demoness named Dakki, who has usurped the power of the Emperor. Fujisaki’s take on the story is downright insane as he has thus far taken a novel with no fewer than 300 characters and made it into an incredibly successful franchise. To date “Senkaiden Houshin Engi” has spawned 3 videogames, several TV soundtrack collections, a manga that is currently still running (to date 20 Volumes of “Houshin Engi” have been collected and released) and the 26 episode television series that aired on TV Tokyo in 1999. Not bad for a novel that most outside of Asia have never heard of.

Houshin Engi

There are 2 realms, the realm of the Sennin (Gods and Demons) and the realm of humans. One of the sennin named Sinkohyo watches these events upon his mount Kokutenko (a giant cat, I don’t mean a lion or tiger, I mean an oversized kitty cat fit for riding). He watches, Chu-Ou (Emperor Chu) is seduced by the Demoness Dakki and as Dakki and her minions use the Emperor as means to a life of luxury. The people starve as Chu-Ou and Dakki bleed the country dry. An attempt on the Emperor’s life is thwarted as Dakki incinerates the attacker with a smile on her face. Meanwhile on Kongrong Mountain the wise sage Geishintenson (henceforth known as G-san) determines that it is time to put the “Houshin Project” into action and orders Hakubatsukan to go find Taikoubou. Taikoubou is brought before G-san and informed that he is to seal 365 demons in order to bring about the demise of Dakki. Taikoubou is less than thrilled with the assignment, even after G-san gives him a paopai (mystic weapon) that shoots concussive blasts of wind and can double as a baton. G-san summons the riding beast Suupuusyan (literally “unlike four things”, Suupuu is made from different animals) so Taikoubou can begin his journey.
Elsewhere, the monk/ruler of Chintou, Li Sei, attends to his wife as she gives birth to their son. The child is born but bears a paopai on his feet and hands. Sinkohyo watches all these events but is most intrigued by Taikoubou and takes it upon himself to see if the boy poses a threat to the Sennin. Taikoubou is busy reading the list of the Sennin he has been ordered to destroy when Sinkohyo introduces himself. Not sure what to make of the Sennin and his cat mount Taikoubou checks the Sennin list and discovers that Sinkohyo is the very first name on the list. Unfazed by this development, Taikoubou arrives at the conclusion that sealing away the Sennin is a waste of time and he should just confront Dakki directly. Sinkohyo informs the boy that would not be wise and sets to make an example the Taikoubou by unleashing the power of his own paopai. Taikoubou tries to deflect the shot but is overpowered and shot miles away.
Taikoubou wakes up as Suupuusyan laments that he has such a weakling for a master. Taikoubou comes to the realization that he will never beat Dakki alone and thus he must find powerful allies to bring about the objectives of the “Houshin Project”. “We’ll find powerful allies and they’ll beat Dakki for us” he boasts.
 

James Take – It took me 3 episodes before I warmed up to this show. Still if you don’t watch episode 1 you will be lost as to just who is who. You also need a scorecard to keep track of all the characters by episode 8. Hell I just gave a synopsis for the first episode and my favorite character, Bunchuu, hasn’t even made his appearance yet. Still “Houshin Engi” is a solid show. An interesting premise with some nifty character design and a cool opening song (“WILL”), “Houshin Engi” really gets fun around episode 4. The politics of those who serve Chu-Ou and those who want to kill him are fascinating, as Chu-Ou always seems to be a step away from being free of her control only to give into her every whim. By episode 5 you can see factions starting to form and you gain a certain respect for Dakki’s ruthlessness (wait till you see what she does to the Empress to solidify her control). Overall “Houshin Engi” is show definitely worth examining. You should get a kick out of it and get those character scorecards ready because brother… you’re gonna need’em.

Houshin No Miko's Houshin Engi Page
 
 

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