Anime Review: Ghost Hunt

 

Do you ever watch Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi channel and think “Well that was unfulfilling. A show where everything is supposed to be spooky, but nothing ever really happens.” I watched a marathon of Ghost Hunters and thought those very words, accompanied by “waste of time” and “whatever happened to Sliders reruns?”

 

I’m not one of those jaded non-believers who think the word psychic should be replaced with scam artist, nor am I one of those die-hard believers who would hold a séance after my cat dies. No, I am, in fact, bored. I want to believe there’s something beyond this Earthly existence because I like a good mystery to solve; and things like Clue and the location of my free time just don’t cut it anymore. I want my heart to race and to get that little chill of fear of the unknown without thinking “Oh God, I’m gonna get mugged here.”

 

Since I don’t have the money or free-time to go traipsing in graveyards with a camcorder, I found another way to get a quality creepy feeling without having to leave my living room. It’s called Ghost Hunt, an anime based off a manga based off a series of light novels. The story revolves around Mai, an average high-school girl who stumbles into the middle of a paranormal investigation. While poking her head around, she accidentally breaks a camera and injures a total stranger (Murphy’s Law, hard at work). The stranger is the investigator’s assistant, and Mai is forced to take his place to pay off her now rather large debt. Thus begins Mai’s work on the paranormal investigation team, called Shibuya Psychic Research (SPR for short) led by young, handsome, and excessively arrogant Shibuya Kazuya, whom Mai dubs “Naru” for his narcissistic attitude. His assistant is Lin, a Chinese omnyouji (mystic) who doesn’t seem to say much or like anyone. SPR is hired to look into supernatural situations, determine the source of the problem, and find a solution. They are usually assisted (or interfered with) by a hodgepodge of psychic associates including a rockstar/Buddhist monk, a self-styled Shinto miko (priestess), a TV spirit medium, and a good-natured Australian Catholic priest.

 

Each case that SPR takes lasts for about 2-4 episodes, setting a nice pace for the show. The cases don’t last any longer than necessary and leave you with a comfortable feeling of completion while making you want more cases to follow. It’s a nice change from the majority of anime, which stretch stories as far as they can go to make as many episodes out of it as possible. 

 

What really made me take interest in the show was how detailed the investigations are. Watching Ghost Hunt is a lot like watching Ghost Hunters, they use all the same kinds of equipment; the fancy thermal cameras and recording devices. They even break down the kinds of specters and how to identify them. The only difference is that in Ghost Hunt, stuff actually happens. People get hurt, people get dead, and SPR find themselves in some serious supernatural danger. Thankfully, they have a monk, a mystic, a miko, and a Catholic priest there to save them with their own otherworldly exorcism abilities (yeah, you may as well go ahead and make your priest jokes here). There really isn’t a whole lot of action at the beginning of the anime, but it picks up as the cases become progressively more dangerous. It’s not a show to watch before bed if you’re faint of heart or get nightmares frequently. But it’s also not a show to watch expecting to get scared, because you might end up disappointed; everyone’s tolerance for the creepy is different. It’s a show that should just be taken for what it is and enjoyed thusly. For me, the show is mostly a whole lot of “Okay, that’s fucking creepy” with some “Jesus Christ what the hell was that?!”

 

As with any anime, my appreciation for the show is solidified with a good cast of voice actors (seiyuu). Being the main character and having to talk the most, Mai was gifted with an exceptionally talented voice actress; Nazuka Kaori. Nazuka is best known for her roles as Subaru in .//hackSIGN, Eureka in Eureka Seven, Nunnally in Code Geass, Tsubaki in Soul Eater and so much more it’s actually astounding she’s only 23 years old (I’m 23 years old, why they hell haven’t I voice acted in like 50 anime?!) Tai Yuuki (D’Eon de Beaumont in Chevalier D'Eon) does a wonderful job as the heartlessly arrogant and unflappable Naru. Also gracing Ghost Hunt are the equally talented Kugimiya Rie (Hotaru in Gakuen Alice, Miharu in Nabari no Ou, Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist), Narita Ken (Seimei in Loveless, Durand in Le Chevalier D'Eon, Sesshomaru in InuYasha), Hamada Kenji (Shuuichi in Ef – a tale of melodies, George in Paradise Kiss), Suzuki Masami (Amelia in Slayers, Nina in Lost Universe) and Okamoto Nobuhiko (Yorito in Sola, Musashi in Shugo Chara). By the way, Okamoto does a wonderful Kansai accent for the most unlikely of characters in Ghost Hunt.  It’s pretty funny if you know Japanese accents.

 

The English dub is pleasantly enjoyable. I normally find dubs obnoxious (unashamed elitist speaking here), but I was quite pleased with the dub. Todd Haberkorn (Allen in D.Gray-man, Firo in Baccano!) makes an excellent Naru, that casual arrogance ever-present. He has a weird quality to his voice that sounds unnatural and I find it a little annoying, but he gets the tone and personality right. Cherami Leigh (Himawari in xxxHolic) manages Mai’s range of emotions well, though her pronunciation of a few Japanese names makes me cringe on occasion. All around the voices fit the characters and didn’t sound too shabby until the Australian Catholic priest shows up. Oh dear god, the horror. They really shouldn’t let American’s do bad Australian accents and then try to pronounce Japanese words. Okay, he’s not that bad, as long as you’ve only heard overbearing Australian accents on American TV and know nothing about Japanese. I really expect him to be performing an exorcism and it to turn into a Foster’s commercial. “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy beer…”

 

The animation style of Ghost Hunt is pretty average. It doesn’t stand out, but it’s dark and moody without an abundance of overly bright colors. The music of the show is a little disappointing. The BG music works well to build up the anxiety that you should be feeling while watching, but the opening and end songs are boring. The opening is supposed to be this eerie song that just sounds cheesy. The closing song is really lovely, but glowing orbs? I mean, little glowing orbs for both the intro and ending? Not up to par with the quality of the show. What does measure up as far as audio goes are the sound effects. Somehow Ghost Hunt manages to find the creepiest fucking noises to add to the already creepy show.

 

The only thing that really irks me other than the lackluster opening is, alas, the main character. Mai is a typical anime girl, which is a little frustrating at times. She has a habit of knowing relevant information and never thinks to share it anyone. She needs to be rescued a lot and is the least knowledgeable character in the show. Fortunately, her ignorance is often a source of humor in the show, and her occasional girlish stupidity doesn’t detract from the awesomeness of the show.

 

To summarize…

Why I started watching Ghost Hunt: While I really feel there are too many paranormal investigation shows, Ghost Hunt looked a little more like the real deal. I also have a pronounced interest in Buddhist and Shinto traditions, so having a monk and miko sounded up my alley.

 

Why I kept watching: Ghost Hunt kept me hooked with its chilling stories and humorous character interactions. I really love how different and well thought-out each case is and the effort that the characters must exert not to get their asses kicked by the paranormal. There are a few running gags in the show that I laugh a little too hard at, and I think it’s hilarious that the monk’s fulltime job is playing bass guitar and his side job is exorcising. All-in-all, a great show. This otaku gives it a 9/10.

 

You can stream the first three dubbed episodes of Ghost Hunt on Funimation’s website, and the whole 25-episode series is on sale in two DVD boxsets.