| Japanese Name | 越庵 |
| Romanized Name | Koshian |
| Profile | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Buddhist Monk |
| Media | |
| Manga Debut | Chapter 3 "A Man's Home Is His... Temple?" |
| Anime Debut | TV Episode 3 "Ah! Apprenticeship, Home, and the Goddess!" |
| Japanese Voice Actor | Mugihito |
| English Voice Actor | Mike Pollock |
Koshian (越庵 Koshian?) is a Buddhist monk and the former caretaker of the Tariki Hongan Temple. After witnessing Belldandy's Angel, Koshian believed it to be a sign of true spiritual enlightenment and left on a pilgrimage to retrain himself. He left his temple and house in the care of Keiichi and Belldandy.
Appearance[]
Koshian is a bald, older man, with thick dark eyebrows and beady eyes which he usually keeps closed. He wears the robes of a rural monk, garb befitting his position as the priest and caretaker of the Taraki Hongan Temple. The simple outfit consists of a long-sleeved black robe that covers most of his body, a white garment underneath visible at the neckline, and a pair of sandals. Upon leaving on a pilgrimage to retrain himself and seek new enlightenment, he dons a Chinese straw hat and ties a small sack of his possessions around his neck in preparation of the journey.
Personality[]
As the priest and caretaker of the Tariki Hongan Temple, Koshian is a devout and spiritual man who deeply values the importance of enlightenment, faith, and prayer. He is a friendly and cheerful man under normal circumstances, happily opening the temple doors to strangers, and welcoming Keiichi and Belldandy into his home when they were in desperate need of shelter. Koshian displays signs of surprise upon seeing Belldandy release her angel, but he interprets it as a sign of higher spirituality and becomes inspired by her display, prompting him to go on a pilgrimage and retrain himself in the ways of nirvana.
While Koshian is a kind and accommodating monk, he is also shown to be a strict disciplinarian, as shown when he forces his guests to work while staying at his home.
History[]
Little is known about Koshian's past, save for the fact that he dedicated his life to the beliefs of Buddhism. After training to achieve true enlightenment, he eventually became the caretaker and priest of Tariki Hongan Temple.
Synopsis[]
Introduction Arc[]
After a night of failing to find a place to stay, Keiichi and Belldandy arrive at the gates of the Tariki Hongan Temple. Koshian finds the two unconscious drifters in the rain and brings them into his home, changing their wet clothing, and putting them in a bed together for the night.
Belldandy wakes up hours later lying in a cot alongside her companion. She wakes him up to inquire where they are, but Keiichi jumps up in surprise, wondering how exactly they ended up in the same bed. Their worries are soon put to rest when Koshian enters the room, quickly apologizing for the inconvenience on the grounds that he assumed they were lovers. He tries to remedy the situation by throwing Keiichi over his shoulder and carrying him from the room, although he apologizes for jumping to conclusions when Belldandy clears up the situation. The monk openly admits that he has a tendency to act without fully surveying the situation, something which bothers Keiichi. As the trio sit down for breakfast, Koshian makes note of Belldandy's foreign appearance and asks her what she is doing in Japan. Although she tries to tell the truth about granting a wish, Keiichi cups a hand over her mouth and tells the priest that she had come as a tourist.
Koshian puts his guests to work around the temple in exchange for his hospitality, tasking Belldandy with the sweeping while Keiichi fixes the roof. At on point, Keiichi falls from the roof, only to be stopped by one of her spells. After repairing the broken tiles, she jumps onto the rooftop and licks his wounded elbow, inadvertently casting a spell to accelerate his metabolism and speed up his body's healing process. During the ordeal, Koshian sees her somehow ascend the rooftop without a latter and becomes suspicious of her true nature.
As night falls and the couple goes to bed, the monk notes his suspicion that Belldandy could be a demon in female form, and expects that if so, she will reveal her true nature at night. When he sees nothing more, Koshian dismisses what he saw as a trick and falls asleep on the porch outside of their room. The next morning, Koshian is surprised to find the Goddess surrounded by wild animals, making him wonder if she is some type of sorceress. Upon walking into the kitchen he finds that she had somehow already prepared breakfast, next asking himself if she could be a chef. He then enters the main hall of the temple to find the Buddha Statue and alter glimmering with brilliance. He ponders Belldandy's true nature again, noting that while she is no demon, she is clearly no ordinary mortal.
Upon noticing the mark on her forehead as well as her meditation practices, Koshian leaves the temple behind to go on a pilgrimage and find true enlightenment. The monk seeks to study the true Buddhism by visiting its roots in India, believing that Belldandy has done so in the past. He leaves the temple and his home in the care of Keiichi and Belldandy, telling them to use it as they please until he returns.