Ghost Hunt Review - 74/100
Ghost Hunt is an arc-based anime, focusing on a group of people who exorcise haunted buildings, like mansions, houses and school-buildings. Every arc ranges from one to four episodes, in which some kind of supernatural being has to be taken care of, sometimes resulting in rather bloody scenes. The series clearly did its homework, as it’s able to present the viewer with complex cases, and if offers some quite complex ghosts and exorcism rituals. Interesting premise, but does it deliver?
First, let me say that the best episode of the series is arguably episode five. It’s a masterpiece of fast pacing, tension and great characters. After that, the anime tries, but it never quite manages to reach the same heights of that fifth episode. This is mostly due to the main character of this series: Mai. She’s a normal schoolgirl, who gets recruited for the group in order to handle some of the smaller tasks, like paperwork, fetching coffee, installing cameras, etc.
Mai’s character is quite useless throughout a major part of the anime, apart from some prophetic dreams she has, perhaps. All she does is wander around, talk to people, get scared, and let others do the dangerous work. It’s such a pity, as her character works best when she’s actually in danger and has to fight for herself. But when she keeps getting saved by others, the fun quickly dies. Only two arcs bring an exception to this: the second and the final arc. Because of that, these two arcs showcase the best of the series, and possibly the only arcs which I really enjoyed.
Ghost Hunt also messes up its side-characters a bit. They work good on paperwork, but they aren’t just used to their full extend. In one particular arc, some of them also end up baking cakes, in order to conveniently have them out of the scene for a bit. Attempts are given to give them a bit of background, but apart from one case, these backgrounds are never finished. Speaking of finishing, a lot of questions also are left unanswered after the final episode.
In terms of graphics and music, however, this series shines. Character-designs are crisp and detailed, the use of CG is brilliant and the animation is very acceptable. (Someone also noted that the different characters end up wearing something different for each single day.) The OP and ED are definitely something to remember, some of the monsters and ghosts look very creepy, while the music fits the tension-full series perfectly. And I could go on for a while longer.
About the question whether this anime was worth watching, well, it is. The second arc, the final arc and also the small fifth arc were definitely enjoyable. The other arcs were just decent stories, nothing special.
Is anyone interested in finding out the answers to all the questions left unanswered in the anime? Someone (LKK) has put up an essay explaining everything .
Am I allowed to post a link to spoilers here?
Comment by P_gal — April 1, 2007 @ 7:39
Sure, you can post the link, if it’s well marked. :)
Comment by psgels — April 1, 2007 @ 11:01
The essay is written by LKK (Thank you LKK). In my opinion, it explains everything and answers many questions that have been left unanswered in the anime.
Warning: It is not meant for those who wish to not be spoiled and willing to wait for another season/read the manga/read the novels
Here is the link:
http://lkk.livejournal.com/189335.html
Comment by P_gal — April 1, 2007 @ 23:40
ah, thanks that cleared up a lot of stuff
Comment by asdf — April 4, 2007 @ 0:12
Go to wikipedia.org, it says there that in Mai’s dreams, its actually Naru’s twin brother, Eugene who has been in her dreams, not Naru at all.
Comment by j — June 8, 2007 @ 5:30
I have read all of the Ghost Hunt books even before this anime came out. There is no Naru’s twin brother Eugene. I think there is a mistake about that.
Comment by kylie — September 4, 2007 @ 6:51