Ghost Hunt (novel series)

For the TV shows of a similar name, see Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International.

For the novel of a similar name, see Ghost Hunter.

Ghost Hunt
175
ゴーストハント (Gōsuto Hanto)
Genre	Occult detective
Manga
Akuryou Series
Written by	Fuyumi Ono
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Female
Original run	1989 – 1992
Volumes	8
Manga
Ghost Hunt Series
Written by	Fuyumi Ono
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Female
Original run	March 1994 – April 1994
Volumes	2
Manga
Written by	Shiho Inada
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	Del Rey Manga Tanoshimi
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	7 July 1998 – Still Running
Volumes	10
Anime
Directed by	Rei Mano
Studio	J.C. Staff
Released	3 October 2006 – 27 March 2007

Ghost Hunt (ゴーストハント, Gōsuto Hanto) is a manga series based on a light novel series called the Akuryou Series (悪霊シリーズ) created by Fuyumi Ono. A radio drama for Akuryou Series was made in 1997. It was then converted by mangaka Shiho Inada to a shōjo manga series.

Currently, the manga runs in the shōjo magazine Nakayoshi, published by Kodansha. An anime based on manga by J.C. Staff premiered on October 3, 2006. The anime series consists of 25 episodes (approximately 20 minutes each).

On October 31, 2007 FUNimation Entertainment announced both their acquisition of the licensing rights to the anime, and the release date of the first DVD in the United States to be in the fall of 2008.

Story

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 various spirit mediums and exorcists.

Characters

File:Ghost hunt characters.jpg

The main characters of Ghost Hunt From left to right: Kazuya, John, Houshou, Osamu, Mai, Ayako, Masako.

Mai Taniyama (谷山 麻衣, Taniyama Mai)

Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese); Cherami Leigh (English)

Born: July 3

Blood Type: B

Height: 155 CM

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 after developing an interest in the handsome boss of SPR, Shibuya Kazuya who she nicknames Naru for his narcissism. She openly dislikes Naru for his egotistical attitude and often argues with him, but harbors romantic feelings for him as well. She believes that her attraction to him manifests in her dreams as he often appears in them smiling and supporting her. It should be noted that both her parents have died: her father when she was little, and her mother when she was in middle school. Mai was taken in by a teacher who helped her through those years, yet when she reveals this late in the series, she is living alone and supporting herself through her wages at SPR.

Naru determines that she has ESP abilities through a test (although she does the complete opposite of what she is told to do: instead of predicting which light would light up, she predicts which wouldn't, and has a miss rate of 1000/1000). Naru refers to her abilities as "latent sensitivity", which include her dreams acting as a form of precognition and her seeming clairvoyance, akin to an animal's ability to instinctively detect danger. In recent episodes, Mai has also experienced "out of body" movement, when she gives the key to her old home to Masako while she is dreaming. Whenever she is having these dreams, it seems that Naru was always there to guide her.

In the novel, it was confirmed that it was actually Naru's dead twin brother who shows up in her dreams, smiling and always guiding her. However, unlike in the novel it has not been revealed that the man in Mai's dreams, the person whom she believes to be Naru is not Naru, but his twin brother. In the ending of the Evil Spirits series (wherein he found his dead twin brother's dead body), Naru is about to leave for England when she confesses her feelings for him. When Naru asks if the one she loves is him or Gene, Mai cries and is surprised to see Naru is still there when she stops. He tells her that whether she likes it or not, she will eventually see his brother again (after they found Gene's body, she stops dreaming about him). Two months after Gene's funeral, Naru and Lin return to Japan since there are more supernatural activities going on in Japan. At this, Mai becomes his assistant once again.

Kazuya Shibuya (渋谷 一也, Shibuya Kazuya)

Voiced by: Yuuki Tai (Japanese); Todd Haberkorn (English)

Born: September 19

Blood Type: A

Height: 175 CM

A paranormal researcher and the handsome 17 year-old president of the SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research. His nickname "Naru" is short for "narcissist", given to him by Mai. Contrary to the other characters, he does not appear to possess any kind of spiritual power, and must count on his companions' abilities and his own intellect and knowledge to solve the cases they investigate. It is later revealed that Naru is an extremely powerful psychic, but using it takes a toll on his body because it is difficult to control and can only be used as raw power.

Though appearing cold and critical in front of his friends, he does care for them deeply and has earned their trust and respect. He and Mai apparently share a close relationship as she is the only girl he addresses by given name, unlike Ayako (Matsuzaki-san) and Masako (Hara-san), resulting in the latter becoming jealous of Mai. When Mai notices that Naru treats her differently from their friends, she becomes angry and confronts him; Naru only smiles to indicate she is special to him. It is uncertain if he likes Mai romantically.

In the novels, it is revealed that Naru's true name is not Kazuya Shibuya and that he is the famed paranormal researcher, Oliver Davis. Naru had a twin brother named Eugene; they were nicknamed Gene and Noll (Naru). Naru's true identity as Oliver Davis is only known to Masako, as she had seen him in a video performing PK before they met, and uses this knowledge as leverage over him. When Mai first addresses him as Naru, he is shocked and asks how she knows the name because the Japanese pronunciation of Noll sounds identical to Naru, but she quickly explains it is because of his narcissism, ending his concern. Both Naru and his brother were orphans and were later adopted by the Davises. Naru actually went to Japan to search for his deceased brother whose death he experienced through psychometry; Gene was run over by a car and later thrown into a lake to destroy any evidence of the accident by a woman whose identity is still unknown. It is later revealed that Naru cannot use his ability without physically injuring himself, since Gene's powers normally would have prevented such injuries; therefore Naru was taught by Lin to control it. When Naru left for England after finding Gene at the end of the Evil Spirit series, Mai confessed her love for him. At this, he told her that the one she loves is Gene, who appears in her dreams and not him. Naru went back to Japan (together with Lin) two months after Gene's funeral stating that there is more supernatural activity there.

Also the novels reveals that the company named SPR, allegedly "Shibuya Psychic Research" at Dogenzaka, Shibuya, is actually a branch company for the Society for Psychical Research (also called SPR) and that the C.E.O is Naru's adoptive father, Martin Davis.

Lin Koujo (林 興徐, Rin Kōjo)

Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum (English)

Born: January 11

Blood Type: A

Height: 194 CM

Originally from Hong Kong. He 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.

Houshou Takigawa (滝川 法生, Takigawa Hōshō)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (Japanese); Travis Willingham (English)

Born: January 22

Blood Type: O

Height: 185 CM

A 25 year old hakkaisou, a Buddhist monk who has left his position, who studied in Mt. Koya. He claims that he left Mt. Koya because they did not allow music CDs. His full-time profession is a bass musician in a popular band. He usually acts as a brotherly figure to Mai, but does ask Mai out on a date when she becomes jealous of Naru going on a date with Masako at the end of episode 11. 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 "Bou-san" (Monk-san).

It is revealed in the novels that he actually has a driver's license but has never used it, not even once.

Ayako Matsuzaki (松崎 綾子, Matsuzaki Ayako)

Voiced by: Masami Suzuki (Japanese); Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)

Born: June 7

Blood Type: B

Height: 167 CM

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. To her credit, she did teach Mai some defensive sutras, particularly the Shinto Kuji exorcism incantation, "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen". It is later revealed that she is actually just as strong as Bou-san, but apparently only works well under certain conditions and is capable of hearing the spirits of trees. A running joke is that at the beginning of a new case, Ayako usually claims the incident is caused by an elemental earth spirit. She has also shown an interest in Naru, though he frequently rebuffs her with dry remarks concerning her age. Later in the story, she develops somewhat of an 'older sister' relationship to Mai.

John Brown (ジョン・ブラウン, Jon Buraun)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese); Jason Liebrecht (English)

Born: January 5

Blood Type: A

Height: 162 CM

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.

Masako Hara (原 真砂子, Hara Masako)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese); Jad Saxton (English)

Born: July 24

Blood Type: AB

Height: 152 CM

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.

Osamu Yasuhara (安原 修, Yasuhara Osamu)

Voiced by: Kousuke Okano (Japanese); Eric Vale (English)

Born: March 1

Blood Type: AB

Height: 177 CM

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 during "File 6". After the case is solved, he continues to help out SPR in what ever ways he can, such as 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. He has a wry sense of humor and is unafraid to poke fun at the different members of the team, often making homosexual remarks to Bou-san. He is planning to attend university and has been accepted to Tokyo University after passing his entrance exams.

Media

Manga

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	North America release date	North America ISBN
1	June, 1998	978-4-061-78894-7	September, 2005	978-0-345-48624-0
2	March, 1999	978-4-061-78912-8	December 2005	978-0-345-48625-7
3	October, 1999	978-4-061-78923-4	March 2006	978-0-345-48626-4
4	July, 2000	978-4-061-78941-8	June 2006	978-0-345-48680-6
5	January, 2001	978-4-061-78953-1	September 2006	978-0-345-49137-4
6	October, 2001	978-4-061-78974-6	December 2006	978-0-345-49138-1
7	March 2, 2002	978-4-061-78990-6	March 2007	978-0-345-49139-8
8	July 4, 2003	978-4-063-64025-0	June 2007	978-0-345-49140-4
9	February 6, 2006	978-4-063-64080-9	September 2007	978-0-345-49824-3
10	April 11, 2008	978-4-063-64130-1	August 2009	978-0-345-50134-9

Anime

Episodes

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#	Title	Original air date

External links

• Official Site (anime) Template:Ja icon
• Ghost Hunt (5466) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Official Funimation Site (anime) Template:En icon