I watched…

Ghost Hunt episodes 1-13.

Ghost Hunt

 Ghostbuster jokes aside, Ghost Hunt is one of the few anime that manages to be genuinely creepy without depending on shock value. Never in the first thirteen episodes has a mutilated body appeared, or a grisly murder scene been found. Even the (very few) spirits that show up are not grotesque. Ghost Hunt really defines what horror anime should be, not gore fests like Elfen Lied or series that depend on dramatic changes in mood (When They Cry). Not that these series are godawful or anything, they just can’t be considered horror because they  don’t aim to scare people but shock them. Nor is Ghost Hunt one of those ‘I’ll-try-my-bestest-to-be-scary!’ series, either. Never do the cases in the series feel old or cheap, but that’s probably because each case is, gasp, original.

Ghost Hunt is the story of a high school girl named Mai (pictured above) who wanders into the rickety old school-house, rumored to have ghosts. She sees a high tech camera in the middle of the room and decides to investigate it, when, oops, she accidentally breaks it and injures the guy who came to stop her from messing with it. It turns out she’s stumbled onto a paranormal investigation, which two-man company Lin and Shibuya. Now missing an assistant, Shibuya (nicknamed “Naru”) forces Mai to become his assistant while the investigation is being conducted. Joining the investigation are four recurring characters, Hosho, a monk, Ayako, a priestess, John Brown, an Australian priest, and Hara, a famous TV medium.

Unlike most horror stories, whose characters are as well-developed as cardboard, Ghost Hunt actually takes the time to, if not flesh out, at least make the characters endearing to the viewer. The heroines of horror stories are also usually very annoying, and are only good for screaming, being oblivious, and making stupid decisions. Mai, however, is fairly intelligent, and while she does make some stupid decisions, she more than makes up for it in her usefulness to Naru. The other characters, especially Ayako and Hara, can alternate between annoying and interesting, but ultimately their good points win out in the end. Even the minor characters, especially the spirit of a woman in episode 8, are given enough personality to make us care about them.

But interesting characters don’t make a horror show by themselves, and Ghost Hunt has many more elements working for it. Firstly, the entire atmosphere of the series is creepy. ‘Bad things will happen’ seems to be scribbled all over the scenes. Speaking of the scenery, the artists get points for making all of the backgrounds of even normally uncreepy places look like scenes for The Exorcist. And while sometimes the scenes can be very dark, as in hard-to-see, it never completely covers up what’s happening and interferes with understanding what’s going on (lookin’ at you D. Gray-Man). And this series doesn’t need the cover of night to be scary, it can be just as climactic in broad daylight.

Secondly, the director of this series knows that good horror stories can’t be developed in 30 minutes. Each arc (or case) is stretched over at least three episodes, and the creepy doesn’t stop until almost the very end of the last episode of each case. Each story is also different from the previous, so the series never feels episodic. Also, if anyone’s ever watched any paranormal show on TV, we all know it isn’t as simple as throwing an exorcist in a house, putting up some charms, and chanting. Thankfully, Ghost Hunt, knows this as well. At least a part of every case is donated to simply preparing to investigate. And instead of magically reaching conclusions and methods as to how to expel a spirit, Naru and the others actually take time to investigate and try out different methods, sometimes repeating the same method more than once, until they come to the right one. And unlike other paranormal anime, Naru actually scrutinizes each case, and, believe it or not, is skeptical as to whether a spirit is actually involved. And sometimes a spirit isn’t involved, which is a breather from other series, where every little thing is caused by some sort of ghost.

However, most of Ghost Hunt’s creepiness can be attributed to its awesome musical track. It elicits just the right amount of creepiness, especially the opening and ending themes, which are simply called “Main Theme” and “End Theme”. Ghost Hunt’s OST is also entirely composed of classical tracks, without any vocals. It also takes advantage of the fact that sometimes the creepiest scenes are those without music at all and many of the climactic moments of each case are silent, depending on suspense and viewer interest to make them interesting. This is an approach that very few anime take, because they know that if the viewers aren’t into the show then the scenes don’t have the same effect.

And lastly, Ghost Hunt knows how to switch moods. Some of the cases are freaky, and some of them are bittersweet, but, most importantly, Ghost Hunt knows when to take a break. If there is too much seriousness, too many cases one after another, no matter how engaging the series may seem at first it will eventually get boring. Ghost Hunt puts a, and I hesitate to use the word due to its negative connotation, “filler” episode in to break up the seriousness. As with most filler episodes, this one is comedic, but it manages to make it genuinely funny instead of awkward “ha-ha” moments. Ghost Hunt proves that it is good at doing serious ghost-bustin business and comedy.

Unfortunately, it also has its downfalls. While I mentioned earlier that Ghost Hunt never really feels episodic, in some ways it does. The cases, no matter how unique, all follow the same formula, basically ’strange incident happens, the gang investigates, Mai has a prophetic dream, Naru solves the case’. And, sadly, there isn’t much at all of character development, especially in the case of Naru an Lin, who are simply mysteries to us all right now. I hope that the next batch of episodes will tell more about these characters, because I am interested in their pasts and, especially, the over-reaching plot.

But while Ghost Hunt may have some bad points I still skipped the opening out of the sheer fear that rose up after hearing it.