This is a slightly more un-sung series than most of my past recommendations, but
FUNimation's
Ghost Hunt-- not to be confused with
Production I.G's
Ghost Hound,
a very different show that came out six months after Ghost Hunt ended
–is a really solidly enjoyable show, even for those less interested in
horror materials like myself.
The basic setup is thus: a high
school-age girl, Mai, finds herself in the employ of one Kazuya
Shibuya, a very young, excessively intelligent, and extremely
good-looking teenage ghost hunter. She nicknames him “Naru,” for
narcissist, because he's very aware of his positive attributes. The
anime series-- based on a novel series which also spawned a manga
adaptation, which
Del Rey has been releasing in English and you can see a preview of
here
–follows a series of cases which Mai, Naru, Naru's other assistant Lin,
and a handful of other charming supernatural experts solve, from
exorcisms to possessions to false alarms to curses and back again.
Mai and part-time bassist Monk-san shrug, while wealthy priestess Ayako watches
All
of the characters are nicely fleshed out, and there's a fair amount of
comic relief in Naru and Mai's interactions-- her bright, cheerful, but
easily-frustrated self pitted against Naru's closed-off ways and biting
sarcasm aren't unfamiliar, but are less common in these moe-infested
days –as well as those of the secondary cast. There is, of course, some
romantic tension between Mai and Naru, but it's not the primary focus
of the show.
The only downside of the anime adaptation is that
its final episode ends immediately BEFORE the Really Big Arc that is
effectively the climax of the novel series. We're kind of having the
same problem with the manga, actually, since the 11th volume has yet to
be released in Japan for reasons that remain somewhat mysterious.
Soundtrack Cover
In the meantime, you can check out the Ghost Hunt anime, which is solidly animated by
J.C. Staff, and it also has a decidedly under-appreciated soundtrack by
Toshiro Masuda, who also created the music for
Mushishi,
Excel Saga,
Mahoro Matic, and
Naruto (although not
Naruto Shippuden).
So
the short version is: it's a strongly-plotted and well-animated show
with some interesting horror stories and really fun characters. Also
worth noting, it's not a moe show, a mech show, a fantasy show, or a
samurai show...it's not something amazingly different overall, but it's
not the same stuff that's getting pumped out all over the place these
days either. (Not that anything's necessarily wrong with those shows in
general, it's just nice to try something different in the midst of it
all.)
The anime is currently available for free subtitled on
Hulu, and I'll embed the first episode right here. You can get the
entire anime series at Hulu for the time being, so
click here if you decide you want to watch more!
Be sure to share your #AniWednesday recommendations in the comments here or on Twitter, as well as your thoughts on Ghost Hunt!
