In Ghost Hunt, normal girl Mai Taniyama winds up working for Kazuya Shibuya and the team at Shibuya Psychic Research investigating paranormal activity. With the help of a cast of mediums, monks, and exorcists, they seek to end the phenomena affecting those among the living. It’s a horror show of the bump in the night variety.
I liked Ghost Hunt. The episodes focus almost entirely on the paranormal investigations, and in that way, Ghost Hunt plays a lot like a traditional mystery program, except the ghosts in the show really are spirits instead of dogs covered with phosphorous. Ghost Hunt is all about the investigations and not really that much about the characters, at least so far. Given that the male lead (Naru) and female lead (Mai) are both teenagers and are opposite creatures, there could be a relationship angle, but it’s not really been explored all that much save when it’s convenient for a gag.
There’s really not much going on with the characters beyond their function in the plot, even with Mai, the person we’re basically following in this show, which itself isn’t bad out of principle, but the dribs of character that do come out during the down time and transition scenes are pretty clumsy and one dimensional. And that’s kind of a criticism I have of the show. Some of the scary moments could have more tension if I had a better connection with the characters. On the other hand it keeps it pretty light.
Still, it still does get creepy at times, particularly if you’ve got one of the built in phobias that Ghost Hunt tries to exploit. Dolls freak me out, so one of the arcs did have me on edge a little, but the rest no. I do hear that one of the later arcs is very creepy, so I look forward to that, which should be coming out pretty soon. The release schedule is quite nice, this came out 10/7 and part two should be 11/18.
Funimation’s first release includes episodes 1-13 on two dvds, which contains five complete investigations, which is nice. The package is pretty bare bones, thin cardboard cover housing two thinpak cases. As far as the English dub, it isn’t going down as one of my favorites, but it gets the job done and doesn’t seem to push it out of scope. Mai (Cherami Leigh) is good in the annoying spunky hey I’m the new girl kind of way, but I find that “Naru” (Todd Haberkorn) sounds slightly more tool than cool, plus the dialog script just doesn’t feel that natural.
This is one of those shows I dropped while trying to follow it on fansubs, but would’ve watched it if I had time at the time because it had promise. I’ll probably pick it up on rental or buy it if a cheap package exists…
That sounds like a pretty fair offer.I wish we would get a 2 DVD 13 Episode pack over here.We have to pay around 20-30€ for one DVD with 3-4 Episodes of a show…
I watched GhostHunt until they finished the doll Arc and i honestly dont know why i stopped it.I remember it as beeing a fun show.I guess ill pick it up again.Thanks for the reminder
This series has my interest, but I’m apprehensive due to the very mixed reviews it is getting. I don’t expect to be terrified by anime as animation just doesn’t really have that effect on me. I have a hard time getting terrified by horror movies because those alone appear very artificial, but when it’s just animated, I just haven’t found a show yet that can really scare me. Of course, I have to admit, the game Doom3 managed to do a decent job and it was just a game, so it’s not impossible, heh.
I’m frightened easily, at least on the subconscious. Horror shows usually scare me when I’m asleep, since I guess my imagination is impressionable that way. Like after watching the doll arc, that night I had a nightmare that woke me up…it was about dolls and playing cards. Yeah, I don’t get scared watching, but I sometimes check closets and behind doors for stuff several hours later.
The MSRP is $50 in the US, which is less than the standard $29.99 for 4 episodes, so it is a decent package, especially when you can get it for far less just about anyplace online — about $2.50-$4.00 an episode depending where you get it.
Ghost Hunt was a great show , problem is , when the story really starts and when you’re beginning to love the characters and want to know more of them , it’s the end …
They wanted to do a second season but they didn’t … I heard rumors it’s was still in planning so i guess it’s wait and see …
I was trying to find the manga, but the bookstores around here don’t have it. So I just bought the first anime box set. I like it so far, because I, in general, like ghost stories. The stories don’t creep me out, too much, but I do watch during the day when it’s easier to see things.
i bought 4 episodes for $20 online
i loved the book and gonna wach the show
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