Ghost Hunt

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Ghost Hunt
Cover of the first volume of the original light novel featuring Mai Taniyama (center) and Kazuya Shibuya (top)
ゴーストハント (Gōsuto Hanto)
Genre	Occult detective
Light novel
Akuryou Series
Author	Fuyumi Ono
Publisher	Kodansha
Demographic	Female
Publishing label	X Bunko Teens Heart
Original run	1989 – 1992
Volumes	10
Light novel
Ghost Hunt Series
Author	Fuyumi Ono
Publisher	Kodansha
Demographic	Female
Publishing label	X Bunko White Heart
Original run	March 1994 – April 1994
Volumes	2
Manga
Author	Shiho Inada
Publisher	Kodansha
English publisher	Del Rey Manga Tanoshimi
Other publishers: Bongkoch Comics
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Original run	July 7, 1998 – ongoing
Volumes	11 (List of volumes)
TV anime
Director	Rei Mano
Studio	J.C.Staff
Licensor	Funimation Entertainment
Network	TV Aichi, TV Osaka, TV Tokyo, TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
Original run	October 3, 2006 – March 27, 2007
Episodes	25 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga Portal

Ghost Hunt (ゴーストハント, Gōsuto Hanto^?), originally titled Akuryou Series (悪霊シリーズ^?), is a light novel series written by Fuyumi Ono. It follows the adventures of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center, particularly its teenage manager Kazuya Shibuya and Mai Taniyama, a first-year high schooler who becomes his assistant after his usual assistant, Lin, is hurt while they are working on a case at Mai's school. They are joined by a monk, a self-styled shrine maiden, a famous medium, and an Australian Catholic Priest.

The novels were adapted into a radio drama for Akuryou Series in 1997. A manga adaptation written and illustrated by Shiho Inada began serialization in Nakayoshi in the July 7, 1998 issue where it is still on-going. The individual chapters have been collected and published in eleven tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. It is licensed for English-language release, under the name Ghost Hunt in North America by Del Rey Manga and in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi. An anime adaptation of the manga was created by J.C.Staff. It premiered on October 3, 2006 in Japan on TV Aichi where it ran for twenty-five episodes until its conclusion. The anime is licensed for English release on Region 1 DVD by Funimation Entertainment, which also used the name Ghost Hunt.

[edit] Plot

Ghost Hunt follows the adventures of Kazuya Shibuya, the president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center (SPR) and Mai Taniyama, a first year high school student. The story begins during an exchange of ghost stories between Mai and her friends, who are interrupted twice: first by a mysterious "male student" and then by a fellow classmate, who warns them of how their ghost stories attract spirits.

While out walking, Mai sees the building that all the ghost stories surround and decides to go in. As she is about to touch a camera she found in the middle of the room, a man stops her and ends up injuring himself. Mai is then forced to work as a stand-in assistant for the man, an employee of the "male student," who was hired to study the "paranormal" events occurring at the school. Mai nicknames this "student" "Naru" for his narcissistic attitude. Naru owns a paranormal investigation company SPR and Mai eventually earns a part-time job at SPR after assisting with the first case. The more involved Mai becomes with Naru, the more she learns about herself and her feelings towards him.

Along with Shibuya's assistant, Lin, the SPR also finds itself assisted by a monk (Houshou Takigawa), a shrine maiden (Ayako Matsuzaki), a famous psychic (Hara Masako), a young, Australian Catholic Priest (John Brown), and, later on in the series, a third year high school student (Osamu Yasuhara) who works as an assistant beside Mai.

It is eventually revealed that the person who guides Mai in her precognitive dreams is not Naru, but Gene, his dead twin brother. After Gene's body is found, Mai stops dreaming of him and Naru decides to go to England. Mai confesses her feelings for him. Naru asks if the one she loves is him or Gene, and Mai cries. When she stops, she is surprised to find Naru is still there. He tells her that whether she likes it or not, she will eventually see Gene again. Two months after Gene's funeral, Naru and Lin return to Japan and Mai becomes Naru's assistant once again.

[edit] Characters

• Mai Taniyama (谷山 麻衣, Taniyama Mai^?) is a 16 year-old orphan and first year high school student who temporarily fills in as an assistant for SPR to repay her debt when she accidentally injures Naru's regular assistant, Lin, and breaks a camera that was being used in an investigation of an old building at Mai's school (It is later revealed that the camera was covered by insurance, and the reason for her employment is unknown). After the conclusion of the first case, she is offered a regular part-time position for SPR and acts as an office and on-case assistant for SPR. She refers to Shibuya as Naru due to his narcissistic nature. As the series progresses, it is revealed that Mai has ESP abilities, which include precognitive dreams and clairvoyance. Mai also demonstrates an instance of astral projection, when she gives Masako a key to comfort her after she is taken by a monster. In Mai's dreams, Naru frequently appears to guide here. In the anime television series, Mai Taniyama is voiced by Kaori Nazuka in Japanese and Cherami Leigh in English.

• Kazuya Shibuya (渋谷 一也, Shibuya Kazuya^?) is a paranormal researcher and the 17 year-old manager of the Shibuya Psychic Research (SPR for short). His nickname "Naru" is short for "narcissist", given to him by Mai. Initially, it appears that he has no spiritual powers, but its later revealed that he is an extremely powerful psychic. However, using his power takes a massive toll on his body because it is difficult to control, so he does not use it. Though appearing cold and critical in front of his friends, he does care for them deeply and has earned their trust and respect. Eventually, it is revealed that Naru is actually the famed paranormal researcher, Oliver Davis, and that he had a twin brother named Eugene. There were nicknamed Gene and Noll. Masako is the only one who knows this as she had seen him perform. Mai's giving him the nickname Naru initially shocks him because its sound is similar to Noll. Naru and his brother were orphans who were later adopted by the Davises. Naru travelled to Japan after learning Gene had died through psychometry. Eventually they discover that Gene was run over by a car and later thrown into a lake to destroy any evidence of the accident by an unknown woman. In the anime television series, Kazuya Shibuya is voiced by Yuuki Tai in Japanese and Todd Haberkorn in English.

• Lin Koujo (林 興徐, Rin Kōjo^?), originally from Hong Kong, is Naru's calm and taciturn assistant who rarely speaks more than he needs to. He seems to get most of the unpleasant jobs, and works through the night. He appears to be an onmyoji and has a wide range of paranormal skills from exorcism to summoning spirit familiars. He acts as Naru's guardian to help him find his brother. It is revealed that the three are childhood friends. Lin says he dislikes Japanese people because of the past conflicts Japan has had with China. At one time, he told this to Mai and she told him that he should forget the past to move on and if he should hate her, it should be because he hates her as an individual. At this, he stated that a long time ago, someone told him the exact same words. In the novels, it is revealed that this person was Gene. In the anime television series, Lin Koujo is voiced by Ken Narita in Japanese and J. Michael Tatum in English.

• Houshou Takigawa (滝川 法生, Takigawa Hōshō^?) is a 25 year old hakkaisou, a Buddhist monk who has left his position, who studied in Mt. Koya. He claims that he left because they did not allow music CDs, and his normal profession is playing bass guitar in a popular band. He is one of the more powerful and effective members of the group and acts as leader in Naru's absence, as seen in the Cursed House File. The other members of SPR refer to him casually as "Monk". He is also very protecting of Mai (besides Naru) and are acting like a big brother for her. In the anime television series, Houshou Takigawa is voiced by Kenji Hamada in Japanese and Travis Willingham in English.

• Ayako Matsuzaki (松崎 綾子, Matsuzaki Ayako^?) is a 23 year old outspoken, self-styled Shinto miko, or priestess, because she was not raised in a shrine and is actually the daughter of a wealthy doctor who owns a community hospital. She is confident and proud of her abilities, though her attempts to demonstrate them have almost always fallen short. She does teach Mai some defensive sutras and it is later revealed that her powers only work when she is around living trees as she draws power from the spirits in them. In the anime television series, Ayako Matsuzaki is voiced by Masami Suzuki in Japanese and Colleen Clinkenbeard in English.

• John Brown (ジョン·ブラウン, Jon Buraun^?) is a nineteen year old caucasian Catholic priest from Australia who learned to speak Japanese with a Kansai accent, thus giving his sentences a rather odd, humorous structure. Good-natured and helpful, he helps Mai and Naru however he can. His means of exorcism is spraying holy water while reciting the first passage of John from the New Testament of the Bible. In the anime television series, John Brown is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto in Japanese and Jason Liebrecht in English.

• Hara Masako (原 真砂子, Hara Masako^?) is a spirit medium with a popular television show and the ability to speak to the dead, Masako is a 16 year old girl who resembles a Japanese doll because she is always wearing a kimono, even while sleeping. She has romantic feelings towards Naru and is jealous of how casual and free Naru is when dealing with Mai. This initially causes friction between Masako and Mai, as she views Mai as a rival; however, after Mai saves her in the Blood-stained Labyrinth File, they reach a shaky truce. In the novels, it is revealed that Masako knows of Naru's true identity and his psychic powers and has used that secret to extract favors out of Naru himself, despite his reticence to participate in social events. In the anime television series, Hara Masako is voiced by Rie Kugimiya in Japanese and Jad Saxton in English.

• Osamu Yasuhara (安原 修, Yasuhara Osamu^?) is a 3rd year top-ranked high school student and president of his school's student council. Yasuhara first appears as a client of SPR as a result of unexplainable phenomena occurring at his school. After the case is solved, he continues to help out SPR on other cases, including impersonating Kazuya Shibuya at the request of Naru and performing background research off-site while the others are on a case. He has no psychic powers of his own, but his sharp mind and work efficiency make him a good support to the team. In the anime television series, Osamu Yasuhara is voiced by Kousuke Okano in Japanese and Eric Vale in English.

[edit] Media

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (October 2009)

[edit] Light novels

[edit] Manga

Written and illustrated by Shiho Inada, the manga adaptation premiered in the July 7, 1998 issue of Nakayoshi where the series is still on-going. As of August 2009^[update], the individual chapters have been collected and published in eleven tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. The manga is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Del Rey Manga, which has released ten volumes of the series. It is licensed for release in the United Kingdom by Tanoshimi.

[edit] Anime

An anime adaptation of the manga was created by J.C.Staff. It premiered on October 3, 2006 in Japan on TV Aichi where it ran for twenty-five episodes until its conclusion. The anime is licensed for English release on Region 1 DVD by Funimation Entertainment,^[1] which released the entire series across two 2-disc volumes, and later in a single box set.

[edit] Reception

Pop Culture Shock's Michelle Smith criticises the Ghost Hunt manga for its "noticeable slide in quality" after volume five, attributing this to "to the end of Ghost Hunt’s serialization in Nakayoshi and the beginning of direct-to-tankōban releases.^[2] Mania.com's Eduardo M. Chavez criticises the main protagonist, Naru, for not taking "action on initial calls for distress. He then changes his mind, takes the case while always providing a perspective that is contrary to the work that he is actually assigning his staff." He also criticises the repetitive nature of the manga, saying, "every bit of paranormal, psychic and occult culture is dissected to death often repeating a few times a book".^[3]

IGN's D. F. Smith commends the first half of the Ghost Hunt anime for not falling "into a predictable rhythm". He criticises the second half of the anime for falling "into a predictable rhythm". He also compares the success of the manga to the anime, saying, "these plotlines probably worked a lot better in their original form, when they were the basis for novellas or short novels that you could sit down and read in the space of a train ride or two. They don't work as well when they're a TV show that you have to give your full attention for an hour and a half's worth of your evening."^[4] ActiveAnime's Sandra Scholes commends the anime for having "the feel of a well — known supernatural TV series with its roots deep in Japanese mythology and history."^[5] Anime News Network's Theron Martin commends the anime for its "excellent pacing, offers good entertainment value, sometimes genuinely intense and horrifying" however, he criticises it for "lax characterizations" and oversimplifying some things.^[6] DVD Talk's John Sinnott compares the anime to Case Closed with a supernatural twist.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Kodansha Ghost Hunt website (Japanese)
• Ghost Hunt (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Official TV Tokyo Ghost Hunt anime website (Japanese)
• Official Funimation Ghost Hunt anime website
• Ghost Hunt (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Manga Life vol 1 review
• Manga Life vol 9 review
• ANN manga volume 2 review