BoZ Brothers

The BoZ Brothers (ボーズ ブラザズ) are two of Hao's followers and a group of rock monks. Their real names are Sugimoto Ryo (杉本良) and Yoneda Zen (米田善). They are part of Team "Tsuchi-Gumi".

Appearance
When they first appeared the BoZ brothers have komusō over their heads while performing on the streets. When they finally reveal themselves to Asakura Yoh they no longer wear the komusō and instead wear traditional Japanese black robes and white overalls. After their defeat by Chocolove McDonell, they began to wear different sunglasses and simple t-shirts and cargo shorts, as well as acoustic guitars, instead of their former glittering instruments. When seen with the Gandhara, the shirts they are wearing have pictures of a bald man's head from behind on it, showing their allegiance to said group.

When they first met Hao, they both wore simple kimono and both brothers were presumably bald, with Ryo wearing a bandana. Five years ago, when the duo was known as the BOØWZ, they both had long spiky hair colored black and they wore black, Japanese school uniforms.

Personalities
They appear to be rather eccentric. When they first met Asakura Hao, they seemed rather shocked; however, they eventually grew loyal to him.

After Peyote Diaz misused them as mediums for his Over Souls, they quit their allegiance to Hao, deciding to once again pursue a musical career. Ryo seemed happy just playing Buddhist music, but Zen dreamed about teaching the Buddhist doctrine all over the world to make all evil spirits disappear.

Abilities
The brothers are capable musicians who have sold several records. Zen is the vocalist while Ryo is the biwa player. Because Ryo did not feel that his guitar sounded Buddhist enough, he instead uses an electric biwa. Zen, who was trained as a monk, wields a shakujō, a Buddhist ringed staff which is meant to be used in prayer, as a microphone.

Both are able to combine their music with furyoku to perform various feats. Zen is able to charge his voice with furyoku in order to chant and send spirits to the afterlife and Ryo can charge his melodies to create an Over Soul.

Spirit

 * See More: Chimimoryo

These ghosts are thousands of small animal, bird and insect spirits that inhabit the mountain, who cannot remember their original form. The BoZ brothers create these Over Souls with their song "Chimi-Chimi Moryo", by using small rocks.

Past
The Brothers are shaman originating from Gunma, Japan and were born on July 3, 1973, and July 1st, 1971. They were just a simple musical duo who played Buddhist Hard-Rock that was hated by their master. They became popular due to their catchy tunes and their unique appearances, and their first song "Joh! Butsu - Sankiemon" even made it to 49th place in the charts. Later on, Asakura Hao showed up at their monastery and offered them the ability to become shamans, which the Brothers accepted.

Five years before the Shaman Fight, the brothers, who at the time were known as BOØWZ, showed up very late and questioned if Bill Burton was the newbie of the group who had just arrived. When they asked him if he was prepared to bite the dust, Bill just glared at them and revealed his guardian ghosts, who frightened the brothers. Brocken Meyer advised them not to mess with Bill if they valued their lives.

Shaman Fight in Tokyo
Not much is known about their time in the First Round, but they both were able to pass by hitting a Patch Officiant at least once, as well as winning at least two battles to advance to the second round. Under the orders of Hao to try to take Asakura Yoh out of the Shaman Fight, the BoZ Brothers attacked Yoh and Tamamura Tamao as Yoh had attempted to return home quickly before heading out to China to save Tao Ren. They were successful in sending Amidamaru, as well as Ponchi and Conchi, away to the afterlife, and continued to launch wave after wave of Chimimoryo to attack Yoh until he was saved by the untimely arrival of Ryu, who easily destroyed the Chimimoryo and defeated the BoZ brothers. Later they were seen with Hao prior to taking off on the Patch Plane and sat with their allies once they had boarded it, as well as subsequently riding on the airborne Spirit of Fire with Hao and the others when dumped from the plane. The duo was eventually able to make it to the Patch Village, and formed up to make a three-man team, called Team "Tsuchi-Gumi", with Peyote Diaz as their leader.

Shaman Fights Second Round
Team "Tsuchi-Gumi" faced Team "The Ren" which consisted of its leader Ren, Chocolove McDonell, and Horohoro in the first match of the Second Round. The BoZ quickly launched an assault on Chimimoryo when the match started but was quickly knocked out by Chocolove's Shaft attack. Peyote then forcibly Over Souled the BoZ with his spirits, despite their bodies being too worn out to fight themselves. Chocolove tried to avoid attacking them directly but would come across difficulty in fighting his opponents whom he did not want to hurt. Peyote created cactus-like weapons on each of their arms that fired numerous Furyoku thorns. Chocolove eventually used his Ayers Rock Sunrise and managed to force the spirits that were Over Souled into the brothers to laugh and leave their bodies. After Chocolove was rendered unconscious, Ren quickly finished off Peyote and sealed a victory for his team, eliminating the BoZ brothers and Peyote from the competition.

After their defeat, the BoZ brothers appeared before Yoh and his friends and reveal that they have given up being followers of Hao, and recall to them how they came into contact with him. Thanking Yoh for allowing them to realize the error of their ways, they take off once again going after their passion; with a career in music.

Later on, during the match between Team "Myooh" and Team "The Ren", it is revealed the brothers had joined the Gandhara. Sati Saigan thanked them for helping reveal the identity of the Five Elemental Warriors. However, both brothers claim it was nothing to what she did for them, saying it was her who saved them, claiming they were grateful and at her service.

Invading The Plants
After Hao becomes Shaman King, the BoZ brothers are seen inside the Great Spirit, alongside the other members of the Gandhara.

Anime/Manga Differences
In the 2001 anime series, their names were changed to Ryo Kamishiro and Zen Hijiri. Their appearances are slightly different from their manga series counterparts, with Zen sporting a bandana and Ryo a priest-like uniform with crosses (which were edited out in the 4kids dub).

Additionally, in the 2001 anime series, they do not fight Team "The Ren" with Peyote Diaz in the tournament. Instead, they and Peyote attacked the group on the day when they first met Chocolove McDonell. They were also controlled by Peyote's Over Soul from the very beginning of the fight.

Trivia

 * Their stage names throughout the series are references to several popular Japanese music acts:
 * BoZ is a reference to Japanese rock duo B'z, who gained their fame in the '90s.
 * After their defeat, they changed their name to Bozu and switched their genre to folk, this is a reference to Japanese folk duo Yuzu.
 * In the past they're known as BOØWZ, a reference to 80's Japanese rock band Boøwy.