Much to my surprise, I found volume 1 on sale in an FYE of all places (apparently this one sells manga and other otaku crap? I dunno). So apparently Viz has picked it up and is printing it (under the name "Hoshin Engi." I use the u out of pure habit). I'm sure a lot of people here became familiar with it from Jump Ultimate Stars.
It's gonna to be a little difficult for me to describe the plot since I personally haven't read the entire story, but basically, the series is a manga "adaptation" of Fengshen Yanyi (or, Investiture of the Gods), a classic, mythological Chinese novel.
The setting is in China, where the emperor has married the beautiful Dakki, an evil sennin (basically supernatural beings) who has bewitched him with her "temptation jutsu." She pretty much has complete rule over the kingdom now, and uses her power so she and her underlings can live in comfort, throwing parties while the peasants are suffering and usually enslaved.
Taikobo, a doshi (sennin-in-training) who was once a human, is sent on a mission called the Houshin Project. The goal of the project is to defeat and seal the 365 sennin on Earth listed in the Houshin Scroll, which includes Dakki and her underlings. Taikobo is given a paopei (magical item) called Dashinben, which has the ability to control wind. He is also given a raiju, a mystic riding beast, named Suppushan. Taikobo seems lazy and unheroic, but he's actually very intelligent and typically defeats his opponents by outsmarting them.
I've read volume one and the series is very amusing and interesting so far, and from what I can tell it only gets moreso later on. I really like Taikobo's character, which is nice because typically I don't like leads that much. Dakki is also probably one of the sexiest characters I've seen in a series. And from what I've heard the series is considered to be pretty "legendary" amongst the other Jump titles in its own right.
Apparently volume 2 is out so I'll pick that up soon.
