The only way to discover the truth about what’s bumping in the night is to hire a paranormal investigation team…

Ghost Hunt Part One

Plot Summary

Mai Taniyama loves a good ghost story, at least she does until she discovers a building on her school’s property is teeming with spirits! The first year high schooler comes face to face with the paranormal when she begins to work part-time for Kazuya Sihuya and his psychic research company, who’s investigating the haunted building.

The Shibuya Psychic Research Company is well known for getting to the bottom of hauntings, curses and other paranormal phenomena. Equipped with high tech gear, Kazuya, aka, “Naru“, and his trusted assistant Lin, can quickly determine if a haunting is real or hoax, man-made or supernatural.

With some help from a shrine maiden, a medium, a monk and a Catholic priest, Mai and her Shibuya associates delve into the supernatural to banish evil spirits and purify wandering souls. Mai, however, is learning that she has more than just a talent for answering phones, and she’s becoming an integral part of Kazuya’s research team. Ghost stories are tame compared to what Mai is discovering, and her new latent powers are leading her down paths she never knew existed.

Review

Classic tales of the Japanese supernatural come to life in this modern day ghost busting anime. The series tells its tales with realistic style, paying close attention to the things that send shivers down the spine. What’s creepier than the cries of hundreds of trapped children, wailing from a well? Or headless dolls moving about of their own volition? Ghost Hunt takes super creepy anime to the next level by adding a touch of realism to its supernatural brew.

You're Working For Me!

There are no giant monsters wreaking havoc, no loud visuals, just subtleness of mood and timing, like a cold breeze in a locked room, like an icy hand around a throat. Lighting and props take the place of outlandish ghouls (though they do make an appearance), giving an eerie air to the series. Watching Ghost Hunt is akin to prowling a deserted haunted mansion at midnight on Halloween. By yourself.

And standing stoutly through all the hauntings and possessions is Naru, equipped with either a worldly explanation or a knowledgeable paranormal answer. He’s collected through everything, never losing his calm or perspective. The anime reminds me a little of the American nineties television series, that paragon of the paranormal, the X-files- except with Japanese ghosts instead of aliens and with savvy teens instead of cynical FBI agents. It’s good fun, fit to give viewers goosebumps in the dark.

Ghost Hunt doesn’t have a repetitive format. The episodes don’t restart with a new case each and every time. The cases can take as long as four episodes or may be solved in just one. Cases which have a lighthearted theme only last about one or two episodes, but whether they’re spooky or humorous, all the episodes fly by and don’t drag.

Pacing is great in the series so far- each minute is maximized to inform, entertain or frighten. There were no wasted episodes in this half of the series. It was a sad moment when the last episode played and the title screen came up instead of another episode.

Character Development

Ghost Hunt is filled with a cast of mysterious characters, who are nonetheless given well defined personalities.

Mai Gets Scared

Naru is a good character. He has some unplumbed depths which promise to rise to the surface later in the series. His cool demeanor and straight-forward manner put him at odds with Mai’s intuitive nature and brash personality. Yet for all their dichotomy, they’re a good team and fun to watch.

The secondary characters are entertaining as well. The apostate monk, Houshou Takigawa, is the most effective exorcist on the the team, and knows his stuff when it comes to spiritual manifestations. When he gets to work, he generally gets the job done. His character is interesting since he left the priesthood to become a bassist for a rock and roll band and yet still retains the ability to perform exorcisms, and perform them well.

Character Design

Ghost Hunt takes place in modern Japan, and the clothing adheres to the general style in fashion. However, the anime has a very stereotypical feel to the designs. The girls have huge eyes and wear sailor uniforms to school, and the men have a generic bishonen feel.

The ghosts and apparitions add some interest, and they reflect traditional Japanese mythos, including long haired, entangled kimono-clad women. Aside from that the series has “meh” character designs. The storytelling is what sets this series apart, however, not the character designs.

Animation

Animation for Ghost Hunt was done by J.C. Staff, and was good. It was above average, and smoothly animated, but didn’t have any highly detailed shots. The lighting was well done, however, and further visual drama was created by splitting shots into panels in highly tense scenes. Attention to lightening and scene set-up added dynamic to the anime, and created mood.

Music

Ghost Hunt!

Ghost Hunt has fantastic mood music. The OP, the main theme, is a fun, orchestral number which sounds like something Tim Burton’s friend and score master, Danny Elfman, might’ve penned. Toshio Masuda scored Ghost Hunt, however, and did it justice with dark orchestral themes, and a quirky, but slightly ominous OP.

Voice Acting

The Japanese voice cast was my choice for Ghost Hunt since the English voice cast was average to poor. John Brown, the Catholic priest, had an English voice actor who gave the character a laughably fake Australian accent. It just wasn’t right. The rest of the English cast were fair, but not consistently.

Production

Funimation packaged the first half half in two slim line DVD cases set in a sleeve the size of a normal DVD case. It saves on space and looks good too.

Conclusion

The first half of Ghost Hunt flew by and was done before I could say boo. It’s a creepy series, with great visual storytelling and a good cast of diverse characters. The anime is fun, but frightful, in a “it could happen” sense, and presents its cases in a manner much like a quality horror story- you’re not so scared by what you see as by what you don’t see. What viewers do see, however, is a good anime sure to give them pause in the night.

Rating

Ghost Hunt, Part 01 gets 4.5 outta 5 Hammies!

Retail Info

• Publisher: Funimation
• Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Retail Price: $49.98
• Number of discs:2
• Episodes: 1-13
• Run Time: 310 minutes
• Rating: TV-14
• Language: English, Japanese
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen