8:22 p.m. - Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009
Ghost Hunt Review 9/10
I'm doing another anime review today. I know I haven't done one in a while, but there are a lot of things I am following up on: my journal, my stories which include four, BoA's American success, Detective Conan the ongoing series, and Kingdom Hearts' latest release. I haven't really been watching many animes besides Detective Conan! ;) But since I already did that review, and this is animejournal, I am responsible for this.
This anime review is on Ghost Hunt.
The following anime is shojo, or meant to target a young female audience.*
I have just recently saw this anime on youtube. It was appealing when I first saw it. The opening is abnormal. Also, it has a XXXHolic feel. However, I don't really think it has the "genius" that XXXHolic had, but it is still interesting. I'll tell you this, I am a harsh critic when it comes to animes. With this review, I will consider the following things: story, characters, other adaptations/versions, authors and other works, reception/appeal. okay, lets do this!
Story
The story of Ghost Hunt is about a girl, a first year high school student named Mai Taniyama, who meets Shibuya Kazuya, a Ghost Hunter president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center (SPR). She went inside an old abandoned building which was rumored to contain bad spirits, and she ended up hurting Shibuya's assistant, Lin. So she was asked to take his place as compensation. She loved it so much, that she wanted to stay in the job permanently. Shibuya let her work for him, and in this job, she encounters all kinds of weird experiences. Eventually, she starts to gain feelings for Shibuya, only to find out something disturbing about his past.....I think the story is interesting enough, and yet, it is a bit cliche. It is predictable, and I can tell it was originally written by a woman...
Characters
The main characters are Shibuya and Mai. Shibuya, also known as Naru, and is actually Oliver Davis, is the ghost hunter and really should be the main character. He owns the equipment that detects ghosts, and there's even hints that he has powers...he also had an identical twin who was killed. Mai is the girl who falls in love with him and assists him in his daily work. Lin is his assistant from Hong Kong and knows the most about him. Houshou Takigawa was a Buddhist monk who left his work because they didn't allow music CDs. He is a man who has leadership qualities, and is really close with Mai. Ayako Matsuzaki was a Shinto minko who has a gruff personality. She was at first considered someone that was a bit of opposition to Mai, but later became closer to her. John Brown who is a Catholic priest and very nice...he also has a weird accent. Hara Masako is a spirit medium with a popular television show, and she's beautiful and in love with Shibuya, which makes her a rival to Mai. Osamu Yasuhara a client who gets involved after bad incidents. The characters seem interesting, but I have the biggest problem with Mai, one of the main characters. She is very cliche. First off, why does she girl always have to fall in love with the guy, and be a "glue-on" character? To me, that makes her boring. She isn't really important to the story, which is really bad. She has no special abilities. Also, she is just like any other anime girl: geeked over some guy, and saving everybody's life to show how caring she is. It really is annoying...not to mention how many times she called "Naru's" name! She was really a damsel-in-distress, which makes her character less appealing to me....but the outcome is interesting as I'm glad how the ending turned out.
Adaptations/Versions
This anime is based on a light novel. The anime is based on the Akuryou Series. It was converted to a mangaka series. There are slight changes to the manga to make it longer, and same with the anime. The manga has the other characters arrive later in the series.
Authors/writers and other works
The original writer is Fuyumi Ono. But the writer of the manga was Shiho Inada. Fuyumi Ono is well-known for writing Twelve Kingdoms, which I absolutely love! ;) I don't feel this anime can match it's genius.
Reception/Appeal
It is a lot like XXXHolic in the fact of spirits. It attracts the same audience, but it is missing the maturity. I think the cliche romance makes it childish, unlike XXXHolic. The high school romance is a little too immature for me at my age. It is too much of a fantasy....However, it has it's share of frightening horrors and scares. No episode will keep you bored! Trust me...I feel it can reach a wide range of audiences, but some parents may object for children under 12, do to the amount of gore and violence....but that's American standards. Still, even I had nightmares watching this anime....
Well, that is my review! Check out the anime and see what it is all about!
~Over and Out~
