Hoozuki no Reitetsu OAD 6

I worked on the original Hoozuki no Reitetsu TV series when I was in FFF, and I fell in love with the show's weird vibe, deadpan comedy, and outrageous cast of crazed characters. FFF dropped the show midway through its second season but continued on to do the first five OADs (original anime discs). However, the last two came out after FFF disbanded and have never been subbed. The show's esoteric language and insane typesetting requirements discouraged most other teams from considering it (Orphan included). Now, with its usual timeliness, Saizen is picking up the ball and releasing OAD 6, a mere five years after it became available.

Hoozuki was always a fairly discursive series - vignettes rather than a through plot line - and the OADs continue that tradition. This episode focuses on two minor characters, both cats: Koban, the tabloid reporter for a local scandal sheet, and Kan, the male infidelity investigator for King Songdi. They may be inhabitants of Hell, but they cannot disguise or escape their feline nature.

In the first segment, Koban is on the prowl for a story. For him, prowling consists of going to his usual haunts, napping, and avoiding Hoozuki. 

He sees Kan going about his rounds. He imagines an interview with the scatterbrained young demon Nasubi. 

He runs into King Enma, who has developed a passion for interlocking metal puzzles (Hoozuki solves all of them easily). 

And he attempts a stakeout, which is promptly disrupted by Shiba, Momotarou's dog, who thinks stakeouts are an excuse to play. 

In short, nothing much happens, except a series of random events in keeping with the Hoozuki ethos.

In the second segment, Kan introduces himself and demonstrates that, like most cats, he is utterly self-absorbed. 

He visits Hoozuki to offer him a chance to relax through petting a cat (Hoozuki declines). He speculates on the nature of a Pharoah's symbolic beard (Hoozuki tells him the answer, which Kan ignores). Finally, Hoozuki gets him to leave by pointing out that Kan resembles an attendant of the Egyptian goddess Bastet. Kan goes to the Great Library to research the idea, and with help from Okou, the snake-wearing tormentor demon, he confirms that he is likely of Egyptian origin. 

Greatly pleased with himself, he returns to his job, where he boasts of his new found knowledge to his coworker En the snake, who couldn't care less.

Twenty minutes is not enough time to showcase all the secondary characters of the Hoozuki universe, but it does have some of my favorites and their superb seiyuu:

• Sugiyaki Noriaki (Koban) played William T Spears in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, Uryuu in the Bleach franchise, Sasuke in the Naruto franchise, Katsumi in the Cardfight! Vanguard franchise, Shirou in the Fate franchise, UK in the Hetalia franchise, Takuma in the Moyashimon properties, Akira in ReLife, and Usahara (the vicious rabbit) in Damekko Doubutsu,.
• Wakamoto Norio (Kan) (layed the title role in The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, Vicious in Cowboy Bebop, Cell in the Dragonball franchise, Katakuriko in the Gintama franchise, Oda Nobunaga in the Sengoku Basara franchise, Guren in Ushio to Tora TV, Shining Saotome in the Uta no Prince-sama franchise, and Oskar von Reuenthal in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He also appeared as Joshua Balboa in Plastic Little, Sakakibara in Sanada 10, Noa in Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99, York Denman in Apfelland Monogatari, Major Thrauza in Yamato 2520, Denon in Amon Saga, the Tengenji underboss in Koiko no Mainichi, and the Narrator in Joker: Marginal City, all Orphan releases
• Yasumoto Hiroki (Hoozuki) played Inohora in the DAYS franchise, Germany in the Hetalia franchise, the bear in Kumamiko, the hero's wingman Bonba in the Himouto shows, the antagonist Yuuri in Megalo Box, Kinjo in the Yowamushi Pedal franchise, and many other roles.
• Nagasako Takashi (King Enma) played Bill Atkin in Alice in Cyberland 2 and the principal in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu, both Orphan releases.
• Kobayashi Yumiko (Shiro, the dog) played the title role in Crayon Shin-chan, Poemi in Puni Puni Poemi and Excel Saga, Souchi in ex-Driver, Mamoru in Sister Princess, Shoubu in the Duel Masters franchise, and Norio in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu, an Orphan release.
• Saito Kimiko (En) played Rachel in Anne Shirley, Madam in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Melissa in BNA, Rem in Death Note, Sister in Eden of the East, Juri in Handa-kun, Micchan in Migi & Dali, Chieke in Kuragahime, and Fuji Mine in Yaiba: Samurai Legend.
• Kitamuri Eri (Okou) played Saya in Blood+, Alleyne in Queen's Blade, Hinata in Kanamemo, Rin in Kodomo no Jikan, Mahiro in Haiyoru! Nyaruani, Izumo in the Ao no Exorcist franchise, Megumi in High Score Girl, Mikagi in Arve Rezzle, Yachiyo in the Working! franchise, Araragi Karen in the *monogatari franchise, Homura in Senran KaguraI, and  Yakou in Amatsuki, an Orphan release.
• Aoyama Touko (Nasubi) had featured roles in Digimon Tamers, Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z, Hanamaru Kindergarten, and Zenryoku Usagi.

The director, Kaburagi Hiro, was also in charge of the first Hoozuki TV series.

This a Saizen release, but almost everyone involved also appears on the Orphan staff page. (If this were an Orphan release, almost everyone involved would also appear on the Saizen staff page. The overlap among back-catalog groups is now nearly total.) The staff was:

• Translation - convexity
• Timing - sangofe
• Editing - Collectr
• Typesetting - kokujin-kun
• QC - Eternal_Blizzard, Nemesis, Uchuu

The raw is a 1080p web rip. 

So grab this penultimate installment of the Hoozuki no Reitetsu OADs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Saizen|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Let the Hoozuki gang cast its magic one more time and whet your appetite for (one hopes) OAD 7. No promises, though.