Review of Ghost Hunt

Ghost Hunt is an interesting take on the mystery genre that is pretty underrepresented in anime as a whole. Studio J.C. Staff has a rich history with some anime that are considered classics like Slayers and Revolutionary Girl Utena, but also getting into unfamiliar genre shows like Honey and Clover. Seeing the old studio touch on a mystery show along with the much unknown director Rei Mano could offer something fresh. Mostly these supernatural or mystery shows in anime come packaged with super powers or giant weapons, but Ghost Hunt is about bringing more realism into the genre. Basically, imagine if the live show GhostHunters had real ghosts, curses, and spirits.

The setting and plot focuses on a high school girl name Mai Taniyama. Somehow she finds herself in a position helping out the serious psychic investigator Kazuya Shibuya with various job solving the mysteries of events involving paranormal activity. Along the way the two are joined by a Buddhist monk, a Shinto priestess, a spiritual medium and a Buddhist monk each using their religion and techniques to help in given situations.

Ghost Hunt does not have so much of a plot as to the show being separated into arcs diving into each case the cast encounters. Each arc could stand alone with the exception being the first and last arc being the only to really give any character development at all. This kind of style is generally what was seen in anime back in the 80’s which makes sense since the light novel the show is based on was first released in 1989. Generally, the show is a new job of the crew learning the world and profession of paranormal activity and ghost hunting. The strength of the show comes with these arcs and the plot developed within each one.

Each character in the show is a common anime archetype. Not that this hurts the show, but does keep the show from being something truly special. Luckily, the shows stories do an excellent job in creating suspense and tension. Music to go along in the show emphasizes this fact. Even though the writing at the start of the show if fairly weak, each concurrent arc gets better and better. Even the English dub is done well which was surprising since the show can be dialogue heavy. However, resolutions to certain problems do seem a bit convenient and arbitrary at times which does hurt the show.

Overall, Ghost Hunt is entertaining despite some of the issues mentioned. It is almost like reading small mystery stories, and wanting more makes the show pretty hard to stop watching. No, the show does not break any new ground, but it does not hit the audience with nonstop tropes. For horror or mystery this is an underrated show that for those looking for something different while entertaining, then Ghost Hunt is the ticket.