Ghost Hunt review - 78/100
I’m really glad that I have seen an anime like Ghost Hunt. Yeah I know, this anime has its flaws, but overall it was an really enjoyable time watching. This anime is based on several cases, and that already has an nice influence. We don’t see a regular plot, with the prelude, the coming tension and then a climax. That’s not the case here, so it’s really .. quiet to watch. Most of the time because damn it how freaky this anime can be!
The story goes like this: We have an organisation. And to put it simply: they hunt ghost. We have an really egoistic leader, Naru, of the organisation who blackmailed a highschool girl into the organisation for doing the rather useless jobs: Mai. But after the first arc she is hired because they need some people. You could say that these are the maincharacters. But after a couple of episodes, we see that Mai also has some special powers. She has foreseen dreams that mostly give a lot of information about what is going to happen. First she didn’t believe it and that was rather annoying, but after a while people also say: Go to sleep! maybe you are of some use to us! Further she is not really of great use. And she knows it, and it frustrates her. And then she does the most stupid things, because really wants to help as well. Some find it annoying that she really doesn’t do anything, I find it realistic. Mai knows she is powerless. And to put her in the maincharacter position.. It’s rather original. 
The mastermind: Naru
And we have some really interesting side characters. The only problem is that we really don’t get the backgroundinformation about those dudes. They are just there, when they are needed and nothing more. That is a real shame because the characters are really interesting! We have Bou, a monk (but also plays in a rockband), a spoiled miko named Ayako, a girl named Masako who can sense spirits and a Christ who can exorcise. And don’t forget Lin. The only problem with him is that he is unsociable. They are all real nice characters. But they aren’t enough displayed on the screen. And that was a real shame, I think I might could really like some of the characters. I like unsociable characters, so I was really dissapointed that there was so little information given about Lin. For an example.
Anyway, except these points. I don’t have any complains left. I loved to watch this in the evening, it always gave me a nice atmosfere before I went to sleep. I can’t see anything negative about the tension. It is great. It’s really scary. The arcs, some are rather.. weird, and some scared the hell out of me. The difference in the cases is also really good to see. First we just have a poltergeist, after that a really scary woman, after that curses, and we end with a couple of terrifrying arcs. Litterly. You can really see they had put a lot of work in it, with reverences to ancient China and even to ancient Europe. There are not some real dumb cases in it, it’s always really intellectual. Except episode 13 but that was just a funny episode. I liked the ending too. The creators really put a nice way in it, and it wasn’t forced at all.
The art is nice, the music is fantastic. There is a lot of work put in the appearance of the characters, they wear something different every day. I loved it. Despise the flaws of Ghost Hunt, I can recommend it to everyone.
I agree with your review of Ghost Hunt. I really enjoyed the series but was also disappointed that we couldn’t get a bit more character background for everyone. I liked how the supporting cast were all atypical for their profession: The miko was NOT a young, pure, virgin; The monk was in a rock band and had LOTS of hair; The onmyouji was Chinese for a change (Lin), and John, who is a Catholic Priest, by the way, is a teenager (totally unheard of). Even the girl who could channel spirits was depicted, more than once, as a regular, jealous, high school-aged girl.
And then there’s Naru…and I really feel the series left WAY too much out about him. The unresolved romance bugs me too.
Speaking as a person who grew up in a very strong Catholic household, I was really happy with the portrayal of John as a sensitive, kind, and powerful character; rare that a westerner gets such a nice depiction in an anime. Also, it appears his profession as an exorcist was fairly well-researched as the prayers he used and the tools, holy water and the like, were spot on. The only thing that did bug me was the rosary around his neck: it’s a SIN for Catholics to use the rosary, a prayer tool, as jewelry. Otherwise, I had no complaints…
Except the aforementioned unresolved romance, darn it! Oh well.
Comment by Mary — April 14, 2007 @ 9:33 pm
I agree with your review of Ghost Hunt. I really enjoyed the series but was also disappointed that we couldn’t get a bit more character background for everyone. I liked how the supporting cast were all atypical for their profession: The miko was NOT a young, pure, virgin; The monk was in a rock band and had LOTS of hair; The onmyouji was Chinese for a change (Lin), and John, who is a Catholic Priest, by the way, is a teenager (totally unheard of). Even the girl who could channel spirits was depicted, more than once, as a regular, jealous, high school-aged girl.
And then there’s Naru…and I really feel the series left WAY too much out about him. The unresolved romance bugs me too.
Speaking as a person who grew up in a very strong Catholic household, I was really happy with the portrayal of John as a sensitive, kind, and powerful character; rare that a westerner gets such a nice depiction in an anime. Also, it appears his profession as an exorcist was fairly well-researched as the prayers he used and the tools, holy water and the like, were spot on. The only thing that did bug me was the rosary around his neck: it’s a SIN for Catholics to use the rosary, a prayer tool, as jewelry. Otherwise, I had no complaints…
Except the aforementioned unresolved romance, darn it! Oh well
Comment by Mary — April 14, 2007 @ 9:39 pm