Houdzuki Sanzou

* Anime
* Web Manga

**Houdzuki Sanzou** (三蔵 法月 *Sanzou Hozuki*) is a supporting character of the Nanbaka Web Manga and anime. He is an officer of Nanba Prison who is a junior guard of building five and the younger brother of Noriko Sanzou.

## Appearance

Houdzuki has grey hair and purple eyes with long eyelashes outlined with red makeup. He has fair skin and sports many piercings on his face and neck; three studs beneath each eye, one on each side of his nose, two rings and three studs on his lips, two on his neck, and several in each ear. According to Samon Gokuu, Houdzuki bears a notable resemblance to his older sister.

Houdzuki’s version of the Nanba Prison guard uniform consists of a long, white robe with gold trimming on the sleeves. He wears a purple cloth over his left shoulder, connected at the chest with a gold ring, and a yellow sash with a checkered pattern around his waist. He wears white and gold boots and retains the standard white shirt, white gloves, and red tie. His hat is white in color and decorated with gold accessories and a white veil. As a guard of building five, he wears a green armband on his left arm. He is also regularly seen carrying a staff with gold rings on the top.

## Personality

Houdzuki is a cheerful and well-mannered individual who takes his duties as a guard very seriously. He is noted to have worked hard for his position, having become a prison guard due to his great admiration towards Samon and Enki. He is a notably shy and timid person and has been since childhood, often hiding from strangers; he retains his timid nature as an adult, acting in a jumpy manner and being unable to maintain eye contact with others out of intimidation. Due to his shyness, he is often described as not unlike Seitarou.

Houdzuki is kind-hearted and cares greatly for his sister, determindly willing to put himself in harm's way to protect her in contrast to his usually demure nature. Following his frustration after her death, he seems to make attempts to become a braver individual.

## Background

Houdzuki grew up with his parents in China and one day discovered that he had an older sister. Despite his parents' refusal to talk about her, he became determined to meet her and managed to do so after accompanying Isou to her location. They met in a hospital-like environment, with Noriko being pleased to have a sibling and Houdzuki being relieved that she believed his story. Noriko then tried to leave, not wanting to cause trouble or harm to him; however, he refused to let her and promised to save and protect her. Isuo then appeared and attempted to take the two to a medicl examination; Noriko refused and ordered Houdzuki to stay away from him. she was dragged away by the examiners and Houdzuki, despite much coddling from Isou, put himself between them and tried to save Noriko. They promptly pushed him aside, with Noriko ultimately taking a blow for him which resulted in her falling down a nearby flight of stairs, injuring herself. Following the incident, Houdzuki was taken for medical treatment which altered his memories of the incident.

Houdzuki and Noriko continued to grow up together, with Noriko regularly helping people ease their emotional burdens. He would later meet Samon and Enki, whom he routinely hid from out of nervousness. However, one day their father reappeared and took Noriko away, eventually telling Houdzuki of her location on his deathbed. Houdzuki found Noriko, only for her to break free of her stone prison and kill her captors while he watched. As he deduced that she had stolen the Ki of her surroundings to survive, Noriko promised to protect him.

## Plot

### Part Two

#### Building Five arc

Introduced by Inori, Houdzuki appears in building five's training ground in order to help the latter watch over the inmates while Samon attends a meeting. As he supervises the inmates, he seems disappointed at Inori's lack of dedication. Later, Houdzuki lends his body to Noriko via their doukidoukon technique, allowing her to learn about Enki's past and attempt to save Enki, subsequently appearing to join forces with Inori to betray building five.

Houdzuki appears in his real body sometime later, having cut off his connection with Noriko out of fear that she wouldn't last much longer. He begs Hajime to save Noriko but the former only mocks him, asking him about the rest of his motives. Houdzuki asserts his desire to kill Jyugo, after which Hajime brutally attacks him and threatens to kill him, continuing to mock his efforts and weaknesses until Noriko arrives to protect him. Greatly affected by Hajime's words, Houdzuki seals Noriko's Ki with a charm before accouncing his desire to save her and embracing her. As they reconcile, Houdzuki is defeated by Hajime. Following the battle, Houdzuki is present in building five where he laments his cowardice and asserts his will to die to atone for the crimes he committed. His comments anger Samon, who empathises with his frustration and encourages him to keep living in order to make up for things.

### Part Three

When Hajime takes over building five for the day, Houdzuki appears to apologise to him, albiet very timidly. He later joins cell thirteen's mandatory training session where, despite his initial nervousness, he prevents the inmates from escaping using his acupuncture skills to imobilize them. He additionally applies acupuncture to Liang to help him relax after training. Later, Houdzuki goes on break with Seitarou who he appears to get along well with, attempting to have a peaceful break with him. However, he soon gets caught up in a fight with Youriki, Kokoriki and Rokoriki, apologizing profusely for failing to prevent it .

## Etymology

* The name **Hozuki** means "law, rule" (法) (**ho**) and "moon" (月) (**tsuki**/**zuki**), which literally means "law month" altogether.
* Houdzuki's surname **Sanzou** means "three" (三) (**san**) and "warehouse, cellar, magazine" (蔵) (**zou**) .

## Trivia

* Houdzuki, alongside Inori Hakkai and Samon Gokuu, is an allusion to the Chinese folklore Journey to the West, with Houdzuki representing Genjou Sanzou, the Buddhist monk after which he was named.
* Houdzuki's hobbies include making incense and helping others.

## References

1. ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 66
2. ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 67
3. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 134
4. ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 75
5. ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 151
6. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 161
7. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 161
8. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 152
9. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 133
10. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 135
11. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 65
12. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 66
13. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 113
14. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 75
15. ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 137
16. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 139
17. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 144
18. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 151
19. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 152
20. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 158
21. ↑ Nanbaka web manga, chapter 161
22. ↑ when-will-i-sleep.tumblr.com - Nanbaka translation page