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Studio : J.C. STAFF
Licenced by : FUNimation
Length : 25 Episodes
Year : 2006
Genre : Drama - Mystery
Synopsis :
Mai's after school activities were usually to tell ghost stories with her friends. All this changed when she met Kazuya, a narcissistic 17-year-old. You see, the last story she heard was about the old, abandoned building on the school grounds: the suicide, the deaths, and the freak accidents. Naturally, Mai's curiosity pushes her to check out this building. In that building, she spots a camera, not knowing of why the camera is there, she breaks it!
It turns out that the camera was there to investigate the mysterious occurances of that building, and who other than Kazuya (nicknamed Naru-chan) to lead this Psychic Research. However, Mai doesn't get off scott free, she's forced as an assistant because there is no way to repay for the damages of the camera.
Added : 2006-10-12
Synopsis by : Himitsu
Last update : 2008-03-05
Last update details : Link added
Score : 9.18 Ranked #12 by users
Number of reviews : 22
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Avex Mode's Ghost Hunt Website (Japanese)
Official #2 : Official Ghost Hunt Website (Japanese)
Official #3 : TV Tokyo's Ghost Hunt Website (Japanese)
A-Source #1 : Anime-Source.com Spotlight Review by Fission2
Hits : 60485
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Posted by : Veld 
Posted on : 2009-02-01  
Summarized in one word: Spooky
I really enjoyed this anime. Scary stuff rarely tends to get me, but this one really has the BOO! factor down. The episodes vary from really interesting and a bit spooky to HOLY $#!* and on the edge of your seat. I have never been much of a fan of ghost stuff, but I loved this one.
The bad:
Really not much to put here apart from a lack of character development, but I don't know if that's good or bad. It seems like for this style of anime, character development would have taken away from the plot. There isn't much on the drama side in this one, but the plot easily makes up for it.
The good:
If you want to be scared or a bit freaked out, this anime will definitely do the job. It was not free of the disturbing type scary, but I thought that it was very tastefully done and nothing was too gory.
I found the animation very pleasing. The animators really took advantage of the dark scenes and made the ghosts very interesting and scary looking.
The music was very well done. It was quite fitting for the mood.
Overall, I will give this one a 9/ 10. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn close. I would love to watch another season.
Posted by : Terentius
Posted on : 2008-11-22
In the eyes of the esteemed members of Anime-Source, Ghost Hunt is considered one of the very best anime releases around. I wonder why…
Animation
The animation was naturally very dark in nature. The character designs were never going to be anything like the cast of Lucky Star and considering the subject matter, I had very low expectations. This show was never going to win over fans because of its animation, that much was certain. As a result, all I can say on the matter was that the animation overall was better than average with nothing overly elaborate or fantastic.
Story
Now this is the area where Ghost Hunt scores VERY HIGHLY on. Rather uncommonly, each of the stories (which span several episodes) are referred to as 'case' files. Each case was self-contained and provided some very suspenseful moments. It takes a hell of a lot to scare me (nothing in anime has scared me yet) and if I were to be truthful, there wasn't anything within the show that truly terrified me. Nevertheless the scenarios that the characters were in were extremely tense and I couldn't help but share that very same apprehension and fear. Excellent story telling here!
Characters
To be frank, aside from looking ever so slightly into the past of Naru Shibuya, there was hardly any character development. Normally this would be one of the very first areas of a series I scrutinise. Unusually, it didn't matter one iota for Ghost Hunt. The show was most certainly plot/story driven and at times I felt you could have replaced a totally different character and it wouldn't have changed the dynamic of the show. So I will state this for perhaps the first and only time for an anime… Ghost Hunt has NO CHARACTERISATION whatsoever and is all the better for it!
Music
The music was eerily atmospheric. The OP and ED were vocal-less pieces that really set the mood for the entire show. The OP was an orchestral led dramatic and contemplative piece with some great use of the strings and creepy female chanting in the background. The ED was much slower with again, excellent use of the violin and other support strings. The score shared much in the way of the themes in the sense of them being very moody, atmospheric and of course suspenseful. Thankfully the show never overcooked things by over-utilising any particular piece.
Summary
Well… looks I can't disapprove of the choices of the greater Anime-Source community. This is deserving of its high placing in the top 50 of all-time list. Whilst not personally scary, it WILL BE FOR MOST (so be fore-warned)! It was fine story-telling at its very best that luckily managed to make up for the inherent lack of ANY character development. I was dying to give this a 5 star rating, but I'll have to award something more realistic. If there was only a slight smattering of characterisation, then I would have awarded another half star for the perfect 5. Instead I have to make do with a 4.5 star award. Not bad for a show that I had low expectations of ;-)
Posted by : xkrazydog
Posted on : 2008-07-01
Ghost Hunt is just what the name implies: An anime about hunting ghosts. However, this anime managed to pull off the impossible: being able to literally scare people not in the "Oh God, that's disturbing" way, but rather in the "Ghost movie BOO!" way. For a Japanese anime with cutesy characters, that's a pretty big accomplishment. Although the anime itself is good, it also suffers from some flaws.
Animation: Beautifully rendered. The colors are vibrant and the graphics/artwork is very nice. Also, it gets eerily dark during the right moods. All in all, Ghost Hunt definitely a decent work on the eyes. It knows how to please, and at times, knows how to scare.
Story: Pretty basic. A group of spiritualists work together to exorcise different ghosts. Each mission can pretty much be stand-alones and are sorted together, with each mission having 2-3 episodes to each of them . This can also be quite bad because there isn't much character development and order that makes you cohesively go from one arc to another like a story. However, this can be overlooked since some missions are quite interesting.
Music: Well done. Scary and eerie when it needs to be. No complaints here.
Characterization: Now this is where it falls flat. The characters are, quite simply, 2 dimensional and quite cliched. The fact that they have "spiritual" powers kind of dumbs down the fear factor because, quite simply, they have powers and aren't completely defenseless. The main character, is also rather annoying and when it comes to personality; he's not that great. There's the quiet one, the arrogant one, the reliable easy going one, the loud one that's useless, and the medium girl who faints at everything because she senses ghosts. These characters take away from the story. Perhaps if they were drawn a bit more realistically, and their characterization was a bit more "human," this wouldn't be such a problem. But the cliches are rather glaringly obvious.
The other flaw: The ending. The last mission was poorly executed, especially when the one before it, The Blood-soaked Labyrinth, was amazingly done and frightening. They should definitely sort those two out. Another flaw: The ending didn't feel like an ending AT ALL. It opened more questions and seemed like another episode could easily follow it.
My opinion: Watch "The Blood Soaked Labyrinth," "The Doll House," and "The Mysterious Play." These three were worth watching. The first mission and the last were let downs. Overall, it was a fun anime, but could have been way better if they worked more on "Fear" rather than making it cutesy, which, really, a horror supernatural anime doesn't need.
Posted by : killbethy
Posted on : 2008-06-15 
Ghost Hunt is one of the few animes in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The story follows and is told from the perspective of Mai, a high school student who lives on her own after the death of her parents, and her coincidental encounter with Naru (nicknamed for his narcissism), the president of SPR (Shibuya Psychic Research), and so Mai becomes Naru's part-time assistant. SPR deals with supernatural mysteries "worthy" of Naru's attention, and each case is covered in about a 3 - 5 episode arc. Not only does it deal with the mysteries of each case (some sentimental, some horrific), it pays close attention to the mysteries behind each character. If you are a fan of suspense, romance, or horror, this anime will have you glued to your seat.
Plot: The plotline of Ghost Hunt is very solid. Each case builds with increasing intensity, and it really draws you in to the story. There are many subtleties to the plot that are easily missed. The only downside is that, at the end, you will most likely feel a bit unsatisfied. Ghost Hunt is based off a novel series by the same writer of Twelve Kingdoms. And the series ends without covering all of the material. Hopefully, there will be a second season to answer these questions.
Animation: The animation again is solid but average. It is done well enough to let you enjoy the story without anything too flashy or distracting. The mood that the animation creates is excellent.
Music: Many people dislike the opening because there is no real song or lyrics to speak of, and yet it adds to the spooky feel of the anime. And honestly, how many openings with character flashes and special effects do we need? The ending theme is beautiful and great. The insert songs do justice in providing that eerie feeling in the anime.
Characters: The characters again are excellent. Each character's personality is very well-defined and you will feel a strong attachment to each one. Even minor characters throughout the arcs are well-developed. Again, the only downside is that since the anime ends without covering all the material in the books, much is missing. (Again, hope for a second season!)
Overall, Ghost Hunt is fun, amusing, eerie, and completely enjoyable. There are very few animes I would give a perfect score to, but this is one of them. It is very unique and intriguing. It has the mystery of XXXholic with the suspense of Monster. 10/10.
Posted by : SleepyLafiel
Posted on : 2008-04-19
Unfortunately titled, to say the least, Ghost Hunt was a solid production that encapsulates the Japanese style of horror in bite sized portions, sadly at the expense of character development. As a matter of fact, the characters could have been completely replaced in each of the sections and it wouldn't have mattered too much.
Plot: 6/10. Atmosphere: 9/10. Because the episode arcs are broken into .5-2 hour chunks, the connection the audience has with the storyline is minimal at best. But because of the nature of each arc, it was an ideal method of driving the show forward, stopping when an arc has overstayed its welcome. The atmosphere, however, especially in some arcs, is astounding. The foreboding creepiness of these arcs was more than enough to send chills down my spine, and enough for me to watch to the conclusion of said arc before sleeping. But interposed between the quality arcs are the weaker arcs that either didn't have the same impact, or are simply joke arcs, and this was a glaring flaw with the series.
Characters/Development: 6/10. Another weakness that's hard to ignore, especially when compared to the novelist's other work. Character development basically consisted of two paragraphs spoken by each character telling their comrades about their past, usually after spending 20 episodes being stereotypical anime archetypes. And in the end, the series leaves each character, especially the main male protagonist, with questions as to who they really are and their true potential. But overall, the interactions and rapport between them were fun and enjoyable, even if not too deep.
Animation: 7/10. Clean drawings and well produced, but little flair. A good portion of the series was in the dark, which can be hard on the eyes. Overall, animation was consistent throughout the series.
Sound/Music: 8/10. The intro music was well chosen; it had a "Outer Limits" feel to it, but at the same time, more upbeat, reflecting the nature of the series perfectly. The sound effects and music during tense moments were also not distracting as in most Western horror, relying on a more subtle, mental horror than the shock/sound method.
Overall: 7.2/10. A good, but not great series. Other than the wonderful atmosphere, Ghost Hunt was rather generic and brings nothing new to character development or storytelling. If you've seen one movie from the Japanese Horror library (Ring, Ju-on), then you've seen what this anime can offer; spine-tingling suspense mixed with lingering creepiness. But other than that, the high praise heaped upon it is somewhat undeserving considering that Juuni Kokki, a well crafted world with amazing character development, was created by the same author.
Posted by : kevinchaosvs
Posted on : 2007-11-28
Basically, it’s about a team who help to solve paranormal events. As such, this anime consisted of several short stories of the events the characters were involved in.
To begin with, I have never considered anime scary, or that anime can actually be scary. (And I've watched quite a few Horror genre anime) And mind you, Ghost Hunt isn't banking on blood/gore (as in the case of Elfin Lied or Hellsing ) to scare viewers. Neither is it banking on things-suddenly/abruptly-popping-out-of-nowhere-and-go-BOO!!! (as in the case of most Horror Movies in the cinemas.) to give shock scares.
Instead, it is the story itself that helped to build that spooky feel. The graphics were dark, but not too dark and the soundtracks used were really appropriate, helping to really spice up the anime. (especially loved the opening theme- it has a certain surreal feel)Yet, the atmosphere wasn’t solemn and dark throughout the series as bits of comedy were thrown in to ease the tension at suitable times.
The stories themselves are also very in-depth. You can really see the effort (and knowledge) being placed into production of this anime. From explanation of ESPs, poltergeists, to Japanese Folklore, Traditions and Customs and Cultural practices.
To cap it all, this Anime is certainly worth watching, and I enjoyed it.
Posted by : ErwinRommel
Posted on : 2007-11-19
This series gets progressively better. I liked it from the very first episode. I have never been outright scared but it has defining moments where I thought no anime could get any creepier then this.
The stories are exceptionally well done. You just want to watch the next episode constantly until it's over. The one thing that keeps me from giving this series a 9 or 10 is that the story just gets so good at the "blood soaked maze" chapter that the last one pales in comparison. It ended very anti-climatically.
Surprisingly for the writer of "Twelve Kingdoms" there was no character development. They pretty much stayed the same and that/s not a bad thing this time. This series are about the ghosts and their stories. The characters just are a part of that. Any side plots would just be a distraction.
The music is alright. The opening makes it feel like an episode of Scooby Doo. Ending is pretty good but not very memorable. Music played during the episode is very good. The piano theme always evokes the Silence Hill Movie so it definitely fits the mood (Regardless of how well the movie is). Ultimately, it was good enough that it doesn't hamper the experience.
Overall, I give this anime 9/10 because all the stories were well done. The ordering of the stories is what made me not give it a ten. I watched from start to finish and felt disappointed about the last chapter because the one before it was just too darn good. It made the last one look poorly done. I've watched Ghost Hunt several times and I still think the last story wasn't very good. Music and Character development isn't what this series emphasize but they were good enough that they didn't drag this anime down. Which is why they weren't really a factor in giving Ghost Hunt its score.
I would recommend this to anybody who enjoys a good ghost story; I STRONGLY suggest you skip the "Blood Soaked Maze" chapter until the very end so that you may enjoy this anime to the fullest.
Posted by : Himitsu
Posted on : 2007-11-16
A very good anime series. The producers did a splended job on all the elements needed to create this series. Name anything: music, colour, sound effects, tone, execution, shadows, voice overs... everything was executed in a harminous way. Changing anything would taint this title.
From my experience of horror anime, I've had the impression that most horror genred anime are keen on giving you a "scare" by throwing in copious amounts of blood (Elfen Lied), or creeping you out through psychopathic facial expressions (Higurashi). Ghost Hunt, however, was able to SCARE ME. Not the creepy-scary, or gory-scary; or even the startle-scary. It was the type of scary that will give you nightmares, doublecheck under your bed, and close your closet doors. There were plenty of cases where I couldn't watch this with my light off, even the introductory title would make me weary of going to bed alone...
Disclaimer:
Although I have admitted that Ghost Hunt actually scared me, there's no guarantee that you'll experience the same thing. Your thrill-seeking doesn't stop here for I am... chickensh-t. I get scared VERY easily (notice the emphasis on 'very').
Then again, I've talked to some friends who have watched Ghost Hunt, and they have admitted that it was pretty scary.
Ghost Hunt left me aching for more, each case was a mystery, and was solved in a clever way - don't you love detective stories? Loved the main characters: Naru, Lin, Mai, I even loved to see Osamu (a character that comes in later in the series). Actually, Osamu was able to put much comic relief, I love his personality! Osamu is the type of guy that "yanks your chain", but does it so swiftly, that it'll leave the victim confused, but the audience laughing. I hope to see more of his character sometime soon.
The only real complaint I have is that they had a lot of unecessary characters, they could have sufficed with just four. The OP and ED were boring, but that's not a real complaint.
Ghost Hunt was addictive, and there were plenty of quality equipment holding it together. The music really creeps you out, they use screeching violin sounds. The voice work was good and... oh, Lin was an attractive character. Great anime to dive into.
Posted by : Lomp5000
Posted on : 2007-11-09
If your looking for a slightly different type of anime, with memorable characters and an interesting story then Ghost Hunt might be a good choice for you.
First off, the story. Ghost hunt is divided into "chapters" I'll call them. Each of these chapters focus's on a different job, each in a different and well portrayed site. Of course theres the first introduction chapter, which gets the viewer acquainted with the main characters, and then lets the viewer see a glimpse of their different personalities and quirks. As the story progresses the viewer gets to see more of the personalities of the characters, and become more immersed in the unfolding mysteries of the ghost hunters.
Second, the characters. As I've already said each character is unique, and you will probably find yourself with a favorite early on in the series. The characters personalities barely get old, and when it seems like they might be about to cross the line of mediocrity the story does it's job in fleshing out the character.
Third, the animation. Generally I value the quality of the story over the animation (unless the animation is so horrible it's just distracting), but this anime has a great look to it. The art style isn't anything new or elaborately different *caugh* Gankutsou (not that I don't like Gankutsou's animation though), but it is a high quality what I consider "normal" style... and it works perfectly.
Fourth, the sound and music quality. Personally I didn't really like the opening or ending music... oh well, that doesn't matter all that much anyway. The real thing that matters is the application in the anime. The sounds and music they play go relatively well with the scene being portrayed, and nothing sounds too out of place or repetitive. The characters voices are done well as far as I can tell, I shouldn't critique them since I'm not a voice actor or anything but all of the character's voices sounded like they should have at the time, with the right tints of emotions in them.
To wrap this up, I really do highly recommend this to everyone. I'm not sure if the series really means to scare you, you could say it tries at parts, but It wasn't a stupid scare-fest show, and had a very high quality story with all the right things to make it a worthwhile watch. I do have to say though, the ending left me wanting much more of this, there is a Ghost Hunt manga so that might be worth checking out, but I'm hoping (really), there will be a season 2, or some kind of continuation.
Posted by : rae214
Posted on : 2007-11-06
I have always liked mysterious/supernatural stuff, and I have to say that Ghost Hunt more than exceeds my expectations on the matter.
Details:
- The storyline is divided into different stories, and I have to say each story was unique in its own way. All the stories excited me, some of them terrified me (like the dollhouse)... but all were really good. The stories made me want to watch more of the series until I had finished all of the episodes.
- Its also fun for people who are not familiar with occult stuff since they explain everything (or at least most of it) in the anime.
- The drawing was good, and although some of the ghosts look uhmmm... not scary, the lighting effects were good enough to make them at least passable.
- Music was great! I swear I loved the BGM, sound effects, especially the opening music! It totally fit the mood of the scenes.
If I could give this anime a score better than 10, I would! This is a definite watch for occult/supernatural/mystery lovers. You really cannot miss this one!
Posted by : szoku
Posted on : 2007-11-02
When my brother told me about this anime I thought it was going to be something that would haunt me in my dreams. Fortunately, it wasn't too scary but I was kinda hoping for more. Upon hearing the opening theme, I was expecting for something to pop out. Even though it didn't happen, I thought it would happen in the show. It seems more a mystery anime than horror. I did enjoy the stories and trying to solve the puzzles but I guess I was expecting to be spooked. The characters were so easy to get attached to and the cases made me begging for more new episodes. This is an all around good show. If only I didn't hear how scary it was I wouldn't be expecting too much thus giving it a perfect score.
Posted by : Sagen_Iwome
Posted on : 2007-08-31
I watched ghost hunt because I was out of anime to watch. The first few episodes didn't get my attention, but later in, this started to get really interesting, and getting really spooky!!
Story: 9/10
The cases getting more interesting every time, especially that creepy dolls case and dracula case really freaked me out. I would say that dracula in the old mansion was the spookiest one! I've never watch spooky anime like this before, but its kinda fun to watch, and watched at night kinda scared though. But there still some mysteries about Naru and Naru in Mai's dream haven't explain (it said that Naru is actually Eugene in Mai's dream, his twin brother), so let's hope for season 2!!
Music: 10/10
I love the opening and ending theme, kinda unique without any singer background. The opening was awesome (my favorite), spooky and mysterious, like a sort of Harry Potter feel, without any character's face whatsoever. The graphics really brought out the feeling. The ending was awesome too. This is the first anime I've seen without any singing in OP and ED, just soundtrack. Of course, the music background of stories is creepy enough.
Characters: 9/10
Characters are well developed, but I wish there was more development between Naru and Mai, well personally I don't really like Mai, but no choice, she's the main heroine. All the characters have their own abilities which is really good. Naru's power still a mystery, I still don't get what his power is.
Art/animation: 9/10
The art style is satisfying, Naru looks really hot, lol. The exorcism scene was cool enough when they fight back the spirits.
Overall: 10/10
Everyone should watch this, one of the best spooky anime!! GHOST HUNT SECOND SEASON PLEASE!!!
Posted by : crazy3jackal08
Posted on : 2007-08-20
To simply put it, this is one of those Animes that deserve your attention.
Main Story: The title tells you clearly its about solving mysterious spiritual incidents that occur pretty much out of the blues. Best part is you trying to solve the mystery as you watch the anime and also when your wrong about your predictions.
Character: Trust me the First episode clearly reveals Each character strong and weak points which makes you want to continue watching.
Music and Graphics: Just splendid, music gets a bit creepy to time to time. Made me clutch onto a pillow : no joke: and the visuals is top of the notch.
Overall: I would recommend anyone into mystery to check this one out. I was totally satisfied in the end because you know there are some animes out there that leaves you empty inside, but not this.
Posted by : Piotr
Posted on : 2007-08-01
There is a lot of mystery. There are three or four episodes per mystery case. Ghost Hunt compels you to watch the next episode even when the case ends, because it is a very good anime. However, the cases are not connected, this makes the plot somehow fragmented, with no unity.
The characters are not a strong point in this anime, because they are so predictable. Mai is the emotional one and Naru is the reasonable one. The whole anime, they only try to prove that and nothing more. Some romance between them or Naru and Masako is always secondary and never developed. When Mai is sad (that happens sometimes), the seiyuu does not do a good job, I really hated that low voice and, to me, it was obvious she was pretending.
The characters are there just because they are needed to the mystery cases, which is a good point in this anime. The mystery cases are all really good and that is why I give an 8 to Ghost Hunt. There are some clues that compels you to solve the cases by yourself and they are often complex. They always teach you something about spirits too.
In summary, a good anime for entertainment, but it does not add anything considerable in your life. If you are the kind of person that likes to watch many animes, this one is a good option.
Posted by : Molenir
Posted on : 2007-07-29
This anime is a unique experience for me. Spooky and scary at times, yet always interesting and fun. Due to the nature of this show, with story arcs that go for several episodes, I frequently had to force myself to wait for the next series of episodes to be released before watching them. Otherwise the frustration, irritation, and anticipation at having to wait another week for the next episode to be released would be overwhelming.
The main character of Ghost Hunt is Mai, a girl who unknowingly has some psychic ability, and who is recruited/coerced into helping Naru-chan in seeking out, and dealing with ghosts. She along with a group of helpers deal with a range of cases, each of them bringing their own talents to help with the situation.
Each episode of the story itself was wonderful, creepy and scary at times, some more so then others. There was an overarching romance between Naru and Mai that never really develops, but perhaps we can hope for that in a second season eventually.
The music definitely added to the effect, setting the tone. Particularly the OP with its driving melody. The Seiyuus each did a wonderful job.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Though the ending was a bit disappointing, as I was hoping for a bit more romance, it was nevertheless worth watching. I'd give it a 9.5 if possible, but since it isn't, I'll simply round up. In my estimation it really comes close to that level of quality. Since its completion, I've actually re-watched the series several times, each time enjoying it once again. I highly recommend this show.
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