English Dub Review: HAKYU HOSHIN ENGI “The Hoshin List”

This show just made the list!

Overview (Possible Spoilers Below)

The episode starts with a 1 min 15 second action sequence that we have yet to know the relevance of, but after a colorful & energetic opening, we get to the real meat of the story which takes place in a floating temple where we finally meet the protagonist “Taikobo” (or “Taiko” for short) who’s the pupil of his old Master. And like most strict mentor-types, he’s a no-nonsense asshole who’s quick to point out Taiko’s flaws with a very long info-dump to the audience. Taiko expresses concern to his master regarding a royal advisor/tyrant fox-lady named Dakki who’s become a Grima Wormtongue to the emperor when it comes to making bad decisions, along with Dakki’s underlings who also terrorize the land.

So rather than teach Taiko any traditional methods of mystical training, his master gives Taiko a scroll called the “Hoshin List” which contains the names & info regarding all of Dakki’s “365 underlings” that when defeated, will be sealed away in a mystical prison called the “Hoshindai”. He’s also given a magic wand and a flying talking magical creature with a hippo-head called “Supushan” or (“Supu” for short) as his method of transportation and is assigned to accompany a royal heir to defeat Dakki or be expelled from his temple. Although we don’t know how Dakki immediately knows about Taiko’s quest, she’s somehow one-step ahead of the problem and sends out one of her underlings named Shinkohyo, but Taiko manages to escape Shinkohyo’s wrath which earns his respect.

After the two hide from Shinkohyo, we reach the third act, Taiko & Supu talk about a plan to kidnap the emperor that Dakki has under her proverbial thumb, but later encounter a badass strong-man named Koh who claims that he’s so powerful, he resisted Dakki’s dark influence. Koh later helps Taiko gain entrance to the palace under a fake profession, but everything goes downhill when Dakki is quick to see through Taiko’s disguise and is given a death sentence. What makes up a good portion of the running time is a chaotic & suspenseful scene where Taiko is dragged with a large group of people who are also sent to be executed, but how Taiko survives the bloody aftermath, must be seen to be believed. Koh manages to secretly help Taiko escape and later gets his belongings back, including Supu and the Hoshin list, but the episode ends when Taiko harden’s his resolve by seeking powerful allies to aid him in ending Dakki’s rule once and for all.

Our Take

Upon research, I found out this is a remake of an older anime/manga franchise that was later localized in 1999 under the name Soul Hunter, but as someone who’s unfamiliar with the source material, everything moved at a brisk pace with how fast it jumped through plot points, character introductions, motivations, and world building. I don’t know if the intent was to be closer to the source material or to cram as much as possible within a half-hour to reward upon repeat viewings, but it felt like a chore.

The animation is pretty bright & colorful with well-designed scenery and landscapes that attempt to mix Chinese mythology with high-concept sci-fi. Taiko’s character design is as 90’s as it can get with his pointy hat and oversized shoulder pads, but as a character, I’m sure the quest for finding allies will set the stage for Taiko to better develop his character in later episodes.