Review of Ghost Hunt

I was recommended this anime by a friend but had only recently gotten around to watching the series myself within the last couple of days of writing this review. I managed to watch all 25 episodes within this time frame and so they are all very fresh in my mind. The series is split into a series of story arcs, or "case files", which makes it interesting in itself. Each of these files is between 1 and 4 episodes long, which alows plenty of time to develop the plot of that story, the charactrers involved and the atmosphere. This means that by the final episode thecharacters are very well developed, with new aspects of their beings revealed in almost every episode.

I have found both the characters themselves and the stories within the episodes very easy to relate to and believable. We follow Mai on her journey from mere observer to active participant in this strange new world and along the way are introduced to a veriety of colourful personalities that are both engaging and endearing. The fact that each comes from a different walk of life is also a point of interest; we have an Australian Catholic Father who is ony 19, a Shinto Priestess from a wealthy family, a Buddhist monk who gave up his vocation for music, a celebrity medium, an onmyoji, a paranormal researcher and two highschool students, one of whom is a psychic with a broad spectrum of talents. It seems like a recipie for either disaster or humour, and the latter can most certainly be true, but rather than disaster it is nice to see all these different beliefs pull together and work through their differences rather than be at odds with one another as can often be the case.

The stories themselves are likewise as engaging as the characters who act them out. All are typical ghost stories that you might read about, such as the spirits of murder victims returning to haunt the place in which they died, but because almost every "file" takes up multiple episodes the individual stories are allowed time to fully develop. We are given the full story as opposed to an edited version and follow the team from S.P.R. as they investigate each case as though we are also a member of that team.

Given this time to develop, the atmosphere also takes a life of its own, becoming suitably creepy or sad as required. This is helped by the soundtrack, the characters' reactions and the flashbacks we witness as the audience. The stories range from tragic and sad to shocking and sometimes downright horrifying, though there are also one or two more amusing ghostly antics too such as episode 11, a one-episode case file, and you fully empathise with the characters involved. I didn't once feel bored as i have with other series. The animation is also very well done and presented and the English dub (which i watched) doesn't sound as bad as other dubbed series i have also seen; in fact i'd say it's one of the best ones i have watched.

The information within the series itself i have found to be accurate so far as the studies of parapsychology and their terminology, and you feel as though you yourself are a part of the investigations conducted by Shibuya Psychic Research (S.P.R.), the group the series revolves around.

As with anything there is always room for improvement, and with only 25 episodes so far i would very much like to see these developments continue with further case files, but it is a very enjoyable series as it already stands and the feeling of it being unfinished does not spoil it.

All in all this is a terrific series that i would recommend to anybody, particularly if someone has an interest in this sort of genre or in the supernatural at all.