Ghost Hunt - Complete Series 1 [DVD]

For the record, "Ghost Hunt" is an anime series based on a manga series based on a novel series. Surprising, it doesn't suffer in translation.

And "Ghost Hunt: The Complete Series" does an excellent job bringing home elaborate and genuinely eerie scares, based on curses, possessions, psychic powers and the occasional roaming ghost. It can be rather slow-moving at times and some questions are left unanswered (just who is "dream Naru"?), but it has a winning mixture of comedy, horror and suspense.

After she destroys his camera and injures his assistant Lin, the icy "ghost hunter" Kazuya Shibuya (aka Naru) allows Mai Taniyama to work with him as his assistant -- he's investigating a haunted part of her school. They're soon joined by some professional exorcists: slinky Shinto priestess Ayako, renegade Buddhist monk Hosho, psychic Masako, and Catholic priest John Brown.

The little group soon find themselves dealing with many strange cases: a house oppressed by an evil doll and the ghosts of tormented children; a high school whose students and teachers are being tormented by strange apparitions; a Christmastime visit to a haunted Catholic church, and a ghost who likes to drench parkgoing lovers with water.

Then things take a darker turn when the gang is called in to deal with a school haunted by horrifying specters and fires; a vast labyrinthine house with a bloodthirsty secret; and finally a seaside hotel whose inhabitants have been possessed by vengeful spirits determined to stop any spiritualists who come around. Even worse, Naru has become possessed.

The supernatural stuff in "Ghost Hunt" is pretty intense stuff -- howling ghosts, haunted wells, curses, onmyodo, exorcisms, fox spirits, zombies, ouija, and a creepy possessed doll. Those who like a lot of action and melodrama will undoubtedly find all this to be rather slow, since every episode is a sort of supernatural detective story.

The overall series has a nice haunted house atmosphere, although the last couple arcs get flashier horrorwise (bloodbaths! Zombies!). There's a general atmosphere of overhanging dread, psychic/supernatural trivia (wooden effigy dolls) and eerie Japanese spectors (a buggy-eyed ghost that pulls a scythe out of its mouth). But fortunately the writers keep it from getting too grim with regular doses of humor, such as the rock'n'roll monk, or a romantic rivalry popping over Naru.

The big problem is that the otherwise satisfying open ending leaves some questions unanswered, such as Mai and Naru's budding relationship and the mystery of "dream Naru." Just what is going on there?

Mai is a likable heroine -- she's hardworking, honest and resilient, and seems to have some hidden psychic powers; Naru is a chilly, sarcastic teenage genius, but he has a lighter side that comes out in less stressful circumstances (his "talking pet coin"). And the supporting cast is a fun bunch -- the mellow, sweet Aussie priest, the strong-willed Ayako, the devious stalkerish Masako, the enigmatic Lin, and finally the hilarious rock'n'roll Buddhist cleric Hosho. And as the icing on the cake, all the voice actors are perfectly suited to their roles.

Ghosts, curses and bizarre occurrences abound in "Ghost Hunt: The Complete Series." It moves rather slowly at times, but has the right balance of comedy, suspense and horror.

Mai Taniyama was your average high school freshman, until one day after school she meets Kazuya Shibuya (who she nicknames Naru the narcissist)as she and her friends exchange ghost stories. The next day, curious to look inside the old school house, which is rumoured to be haunted, she causes Naru's assistant Lin to be injured. Unable to replace the camera that was broken during the accident, Naru asks Mai to be his temporary assistant while Lin recovers to pay of the debt.

Mai is soon pulled into the mystery behind the school house hauntings and makes some new friends along the way. Including a monk, a shrine maiden, a medium and a priest. Ghost Hunt incorporates the perfect mixture of suspense, intrigue, humour, romance and horror. Naru, is truly a narcissist, with a huge amount of pride, but you can't help but love him, as well as the good natured Mai, who finds herself thinking of her friends as her own little family, something she previously didn't have. Each case the team works on spans 3 to 4 episodes, though one case is only one episode long, allowing each story to be extremely well developed and slowly revealed.

The English Dub, is also of a great standard, with the voices of Todd Hakerborn as Naru (also known for voicing Watanuki in xxxholic, Death the Kid in Soul Eater) and Cherami Leigh as Mai (Himawari in xxxholic, Patty in Soul Eater). Other well known actors include J. Michael Tatum as Lin (Kyoya in Ouran Host Club) and Collen Clinkenbeard as Ayako (Yuko in xxxholic). If you like stories about spirits and haunted houses, this is the anime for you. Some of the cases Mai and Naru investigate are truly chilling, and others extremely sad; you are sure to be gripped to each episode, eager to know what will happen in the end. I highly recommend this anime to everyone.

I got this bought for me by a friend who knew i liked the series.
I havent read the manga books but i know that the anime is excellent.
Honestly, its as scary as any real life scary movie, even if it is a cartoon! The second to last 'file: The Bloodstained labyrinth' is so scary i couldn't watch it alone.
The characters are mysterious and the backgrounds for each aren't revealed straight away, which is suppose is the only downfall because i would've liked to know more.
Also the romance between the two main characters; Naru and Mai, is thrilling, i really want them to get together!

Cant wait for a series 2! :)
Sophie Lunn.