Category: Finished Series: Horror

Short Synopsis: Not only are there lots of spirits in the school, they also devour each other. Creepy. Good: Great tension! New ED! Lots of potential! Bad: Why doesn’t Mai tell anyone about how Sakauchi was fond of ghosts and occult? Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10 Now that’s more like it! The pacing is much higher than in the third arc, which makes for some very nice scenes. In contrast with the fourth arc, which was comedic and the fifth arc, which was more touching, we’re really back to the usual arcs with Ghost Hunt, as they continue to develop Mai’s strange ability. You’d wonder why Naru-chan hired her. Because she looked cute, or because he knew that she had special powers. Regarding the bad points, it’s very strange that she doesn’t tell Naru, as the fact that Sakauchi was a huge fan of ghost stories and stuff is actually the key to the events which happened. We see Naru-chan wonder how so many spirits managed to gather from just amateurs. It’s because Takeuchi wasn’t an amateur. He probably had some experience in calling spirits, and he used Kokkuri-san to strengthen the effects of his summons. He probably wanted to call a really nasty spirit for the teachers to cope with, but something went wrong and he ended up committing suicide. After that happened, he went to the spirit world, and saw the spirits he called forth. Because of this, he just couldn’t resist to stay at the school, and wait to see what happens. Then the biggest spirit came, which had been devouring the other ones, and it ate him just like a midnight snack. The ending of the episode was pretty nice, but there’s something I noticed. It’s always the same people who end up fainting. Masako holds the number 1-title. Mai also knows how to collapse quite well, and Naru-chan also went down a few times. Bou-san, John, Lin, and Matsuzaki, however, have never had this.]]>

Short Synopsis: A school is being haunted by lots and lots and lots of spirits. Good: New OP! It’s even better than the first one; This case has lots of potential. Bad: A bit too much comedy at times. Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10 The new OP looks SO cool. It’s definitely something else than the usual OPs in which you see characters running around, trying to be cool with a semi-smart look. This one just looks freaky. A great way to start the series. Let’s first start with the bad part of the episode: the comedy. It’s not that I don’t really enjoy it or anything, this show is actually extremely funny. But these small moments of comedy do sortof ruin the overall atmosphere, not only in this episode, but also in the entire anime. Now that I think about it, episode five didn’t have that much comedy. That’s probably why it turned so great, it was nearly non-stop tension. The comedy may be great, what this show really excels in is its tension and mystery. Anyway, now the good part. This arc is filled with lots of potential. We’ve got a really evil ghost this time, who’s been luring spirits inside the school. Some of these spirits have even taken up the form of a huge dog, attacking and actually hurting students. He’s the ghost of a boy who committed suicide, because the teachers in his school were extremely oppressive. Especially when students keep playing Kokkuri-san, this effect only gets strengthened. Also, what role does Yasuhara have in this story. The fact that he’s being put in the spotlight must mean more than just him being eager to work. He must have had some relation to the guy who committed suicide. I suspect that they were in the same class, seeing that not everyone knows such detailed knowledge about him such as what he wrote down on his very first career assessment. I’m suspecting that Yasuhara had some kind of role in his suicide, he just doesn’t mention this.]]>

Short Synopsis: It’s now Mai’s turn to be possessed by Kenji. But what happened to his body? Good: Excellent mystery; The Ending Bad: Why weren’t Matsuzaki and Masato involved in the case? Did they spend their entire time in the church baking cake? Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10 After the previous episode, I began to wonder how such an arc could be made interesting. Still, the creators did it. This episode wasn’t good in the way of episode 5, but more of a heart-warming sort-of good. Kenji’s ghost is just too adorable. You almost want him to go to heaven. Especially after what that meanie of a Rin said to him. ^^ I also must congratulate this arc of Ghost Hunt for being the first arc with a really good ending. The previous arcs may have been interesting, their endings have always been nothing special. Still, I really have to say that the moment where Kenji’s body was found had a huge impact. He really did hide in an impossible place: behind one of the statues, high above the doors of the church. There’s indeed nobody who’d even think of looking there. Especially since he dropped his flute in a totally different place (he probably lost it when he was searching for a good place to hide). The scene afterwards, where he finally could go to heaven was beautiful, probably because of this. This episode had some interesting main characters. Since the usual main characters was out-cold for the major part of the episode, we see the story from the perspective of Bou-san. It’s interesting for a change. Too bad we don’t get to know his thoughts, like with Mai.]]>

Short Synopsis: It’s Christmas, and a local church gets pestered by a hide-and-seek-playing ghost. Good: Great to see a different side of Naru-chan and Lin. Kenji’s case is interesting. Bad: What can the creators do to make this arc special? Overall Enjoyment Value: 6/10 Ah, the beginning of the next case. This seems to be another small one. We have this church, who’s taking care of foreign children who can’t live with their parents for some reason. 30 years ago, a child named Kenji lived there. He loved playing hide-and-seek, though during one game, he never came back. People also never managed to find his body. Right now, 30 years later, he’s started to haunt the children who live in the church by possessing them, and forcing them to play hide-and-seek. I’m actually wondering whether this anime will be able to surpass the fifth episode. Sure, the episode was nice and all, but I’m feeling that the past few episodes got nowhere near the huge quality of episode five. Still, it could be that this is the intention of the creators, to make the middle arcs focus more on the characters and their development than on the ghost stories. If it’s indeed been building up for the second half of this show, I’m interested to see what the next arcs have in store for us. :)]]>

Short Synopsis: A rather persistent ghost has been hunting the local park, splashing couples with water. Good: A great moment for a light-hearted episode, away from the usual seriousness. Bad: What was up with Mai’s hands. Did she wear some strange gloves or something? If she did, they don’t suit her, as it looks like her hand got stuck between a very fast-closing door. Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10 Some shows decide at times to include a wtf-episode. It doesn’t have any meaning to the main story, it’s usually very strange and very funny, and it’s mostly meant to flesh out the characters a bit. Soukou no Strain did this the wrong way, but I have to say that Ghost Hunt succeeded. Not only did this episode crack me up majorly, it also offered some nice insights in the different characters. And were the couples some signs for in the future? :3 While the ghosts have been extremely scary for the past number of episode, this episode also shows that you can have crazy ghosts. This one came in the form of a girl who got emo after her idiotic boyfriend cheated on her. Probably the major focus of the episode was Naru-chan’s relationship with Masako. He’s getting a bit too clingy to her, seeing as he gives everyone else the cold shoulder. It could be like John suggested, that some kind of patron is involved. Mai also was getting very interesting. It’s been half a year already since she started working with him, and she still hasn’t made her move on him. Yet she’s still incredibly jealous of anyone going near him. Like I said above, I loved it when she went on a date with Bou-san at the end of the episode. The two of them make a great couple, just like Matsuzaki and John. I’d love to see these couples developed. ^_^ Also, I’m starting to notice similarities between the different arcs and other anime. The third arc had surprising resemblances to Ayatsuri Sakon, while this episode was like a strange episode of Jigoku Shoujo. Is this coincidence, or did the creators mean to do this? (P.s. What I really loved about this one is how the cheating boyfriend looked just like your standard male main character from a harem-show. It’s really good to see characters like these finally getting what they deserve. ^^)]]>

Short-summary: Inside the hospital, Naru-chan reveals the real culprit, and her case is revealed. Good: A good move away from the predictable mystery in this case. Bad: This arc just doesn’t match up to the second one. Overall Enjoyment Value: 6/10 Before I start with the usual episode review, a little something about the above lines. It’s a small experiment. I tried to include some new kind of feature to my blog, and since I love statistics, I tried thinking of some statistics I could add to every post. Well, I couldn’t, at least not without some completely far-fetched, nonsensical and doomed-to-fail ideas. Then I got the idea of including a small short blurbs, which summarized my thoughts a bit. When I read other blogs, I often catch myself skimming for short summaries, or episode ratings, so I figured to have a small experiment, to see whether this would work for my blog as well. I’m not sure whether I’m going to keep up with it, seeing as I already dropped the idea of including some additional information in the post title, but who knows. It’s also a good way for me to force me to be a bit more critical, and it may be good for when I want to skim back to previously seen episodes. Also, about the rating. I’m planning to have a very high standard for it, so that’s why this episode only got a 6/10, despite being good. The average episode ranks 5/10, when it doesn’t really have any interesting points. By adding some interesting points, like this one did, it gets a rating of 6/10. Needless to say that 1/10 is total garbage, while 10/10 ranks among the best episodes ever. Both don’t appear often, possibly once every few months. Anyway, about the episode, I’m glad it turned out good, despite the predictability. Luckily, it decides to focus on something other than mystery this time: the relationship between psychic abilities and the mass media. The episode brought Ubusuna-sensei’s case in a really good way. It’s a really interesting one, seeing as even during her confrontation, she kept smiling, thinking that her actions are the only things that matter. The mass media can be quite a bitch at times. Especially the gossipy ones are all after stories, and aren’t afraid to hurt people. What they don’t realize is the huge effect this can have on children, with a good chance of causing a post-traumatic disorder, like what happened to Ubusuna-sensei. I guess it isn’t necessary to mention that I hate these kinds of reporters in real life. Also, Naru-chan is quite a trickster. He fooled me yet again, thinking he had psychic powers, but as far as things look now, he’s the only main without any powers in this anime. At least, if Matsuzaki really has them and Naru-chan isn’t hiding something from everyone. Still, why was Lin so worried when Mai told everyone about Naru-chan’s “powers”?]]>

Now this is getting more like it! It turns out that we’re dealing with a 4-or-even-more-episode-arc. This one also turned up the pacing and intensity quite a bit. The question now remains: is the final episode going to do the same? I think one of my biggest problems with the previous episode was the predictability. During the first two arcs, you had no idea who was behind it, but with this one, it’s clear that the culprit is Ubusuna-sensei, seeing as she’s almost like the epitome of a red herring here. Luckily, this episode decided to focus more on Naru-chan and Mai than on her and Kasai. The only thing new about the two of them was the confirmation that all of the ones who opposed her in the beginning got into some kind of accident. Oh, and Ubusuna-sensei knows a lot about psychics, only confirming my theory about her being the culprit. Naru-chan is just a psychic, not a diviner. That’s Lin’s job. He’s really trying to look as cool as possible, without appearing too full of himself. I’m still not sure whether he has an eye on Mai or not. He does show up around her a lot when he’s not supposed to, though. 😛 For example, when Mai’s near the well (great scene, by the way). I’m also wondering whether something’s wrong with him or not, seeing as he’s going to keep up with his appearance until he collapses. That’s what this episode showed. ;)]]>

Ah, so that’s why Masako couldn’t find any spirits: we’re dealing with a curse now, initiated by a person. This person has to have some connection to Kasai, but isn’t interested in individual targets. It also has to be one who knows a lot about spirits and how to call them. Ubusuna-Sensei? Still, that doesn’t explain Kasai’s strange behaviour. Also, why was there a ghost who kept staring at Naru-chan, without doing anything, right after Mai told Kasai about how Naru-chan was more of an Onmyouji? Still, I actually was a bit disappointed with this episode. Okay, it was good, but it’s nowhere near the quality of episode 5. If this really is a 3-episode arc, then I’m hoping that the conclusion will prove to be worthwhile. This episode had a lot of explanation as well, about Psychics and Curses. It’s quite interesting, though they were at the place where normally the climaxes would be. I’m really hoping the best of this season lies in its third and conclusive episode. Ah well, the scene where Matsuzaki smacked Bou-san for his comment about her age really made this episode worth watching. ^_^]]>

Ah, finally Ghost Hunt is back, and they did it again, with a very interesting and different case. While in the first case a rather significant amount of walls and glass were broken, and the second case featured a ghost who liked to abduct small children, we now have something which likes to cause a large amount of accidents, brainwashing and other small incidents. All of this is combined with the usual gang, bickering like usual. Ah, gotta love it. ^_^ The first half of the episode featured the basic introduction. We get a bit of background info from Bou-san, it seems that his main profession is a bass player, while he occasionally exorcises spirits and stuff. The setting is a school, in which a number of not-so-pleasant things have been happening: – There is a desk, everyone who sat at that desk ended up in a train accident where the door closed with their arm still in-between it, causing them to get dragged away. – One teacher kept getting bothered by a white hand which kept knocking on his window at night. – One girl started acting strange when she randomly jumped on the desk, ate sand and jumped in an ice-cold pool with her normal clothes on. – Something has been messing around in the gym storage. – A strange shadow has appeared. – One girl’s desk has been possessed by a strange white hand. – I think you get the picture now. Then, things start to get interesting when Matsuzaki, John and Masako arrive. First, we have the usual bickering between the characters, and for some reason, Naru avoids any snide remarks regarding Masako, yet again, and started reminding Matsuzaki of her past failures, and that she hasn’t been too useful over the past few episodes. You’d wonder why he’s so scared of her. ^^ Also, it does seem that both Naru-chan and Mai have powers. Mai just doesn’t know it, while Naru doesn’t show it. Naru-chan has already proved to be a good exorcist, and now he’s even a psychic, while Mai keeps having strange dreams which hold some clues to the case. The question remains: did Naru-chan hire her because he knew this, or did he hire her in order to give some random girl this power? Central to this case seems to be Kasai, a psychic who kindof ruined herself by placing too much attention on herself. She caused quite a commotion between the ones who believed in her powers and the ones who didn’t, and her temper caused this to end up in a rather bad situation for her, in which the entire school with the exception of one teacher shuns her. She’s quite interesting as a character. Overall, an excellent episode yet again. I like how each of the characters are polar opposites to each other. It makes for good chemistry between them. :D]]>

So far, we’re at episode six. Two three-episode arcs have passed, and with each of these arcs, the best episode was the middle one, while for each, the third one offered a nice conclusion. Still, the second arc has been sooo much better than the first arc. While it doesn’t manage to top the fifth episode, the sixth episode was another great one. 🙂

This episode managed to give me the chills yet again. Even though we know what’s going on, the tension remains. It’s interesting that everyone has suddenly started to call Naru-chan Naru-chan, even though it’s a name made up by Mai. I guess they found that it was such a fitting name, that they kept using it. The strange thing is that Naru-chan doesn’t even seem to mind. ^^;

Ayako also had an interesting role this time. While the other exorcists are very serious when they’re doing their job, when she actually gets to attempt and exorcise an actual ghost, she gets scared. This suggests that she never really got to work against a real ghost, and therefore lacks experience. I’m also wondering what the relationship between Naru-chan and Masako is. I mean, we already knew that Naru-chan had a lot of respect for her, though now we also see that this is vice versa. Did something happen between the two of them that we don’t know yet?

(This was another example as to why I should write about an episode as soon as possible, and not stall it for a few hours. I kindof lost my motivation and original thoughts now)