If you’re looking for a standard anime with a standard storyline, then you should stay well away from Ghost Hound. This is one series that tries to be different, and it’s at the same time after Shion no Ou my favourite series to have aired during the past Autumn Season. It does feature a bunch of fourteen/fifteen year old boys, but this series manages to use them to their full extend.
One of the major themes of Ghost Hound is psychology. You can see that the creators are very knowledgeable about the subject, because this series really delves into the details of this subject. All main characters have run into their own kinds of traumas due to various things that happened in their childhood, and everyone has reacted to this differently. Ghost Hound shows how these people can be cured, and how just a small push in the wrong direction can lead to disaster.
There’s another thing that really sets this series apart from most others: it’s been directed by the director of Serial Experiments Lain, and it shows. Apart from that series, there is no other anime I can think of that puts more focus on its sound effects than Ghost Hound. The result is an continuously tight atmosphere as the events slowly develop.
And yes, this is a slow series, but don’t make the mistake that nothing happens. In fact, every episode builds up for the next one, and it keeps you on your toes, because you’ll never know when a sudden plot-twist might arrive. In this series, it’s not the destination that matters, but the road at which you get there. Because of this, the ending ended up being a tad rushed, but thankfully entertaining enough to keep interesting.
I didn’t have much series to look forward to at the previous Autumn Season, but this one really stood out, and it’s along with Shion no Ou my top-recommendation amongst the shows that aired back then. Don’t worry that it’ll start off slow, it’ll pick up its pace quickly enough and deliver a great storyline, an interesting cast of characters that develops very natural-like and a feast for the senses.
*hug* I am so glad someone else watched, loved and appriciated this series. It does not get enough love.
I have never see a series with better ambient music/sound or something that creeped me out as much that I still loved enough to watch.
I loved this show so much. I was hooked from the start. The characters were great, the sound was outstanding, and the building up was incredibly solid. Probably the best Psychological anime I will ever see. 94/100
I guess it’s time to try out Lain next.
Not just the director of Serial Experiments Lain (and Kino’s Journey), but the script-writer from Lain was involved, as well.
Definitely worth it! Not exactly horror as listed under genre types on some sites, but very high suspense and masterfully told storyline. A must watch for any high drama, high suspense, and some supernatural elements fan. The suspense in this anime with unique sound effects is different from usual, and it works great especially if you give the shinsen dd5.1 mkv files a try! I was hooked right from the fly on the lips sound effcts (think it was ep 1 or 2)
masamune shirow, the guy from ghost in the shell was doing this too. . .dont know if he did lain or not but when I saw his name on the first ep I new this was going to be good.
personally 92 is a bit low, the ending wasnt really rushed, all the questions were pretty much answered all the way through if you payed attention (which most people really didnt)
buy as I watched the series i felt that every episode in my opinion answered a question or two. this series may take a bit of brain power to pay attention with and energy to keep up with whats going on, or just a second run through to see where you missed the obvious explanations of what was going on.
Id rate it 97/100
-1 for the slow start
-1 for the misleading op sequence and theme
-1 for the main characters mother not snapping like I thought she would (heh)
Actually, Masamune Shirou simply designed the concept for this series. It was directed by the director of Lain and Kino no Tabi. 😉
Also, the rushed parts didn’t come from the plot, but the characters. I think that especially Tarou and Miyako became friends a bit too easily in that final episode.
For me the goal of the anime is to bring out-of-body experiences/astral projection/lucid dreams into the mainstream anime and to make theme an important topic for the viewer.
Don’t get me wrong but all these concepts are real!!I had out-body-experiences, I had lucid dreams and let me tell you that the anime describes them very well.
I get the feeling that no one seems to get the message very clear.Of course we should talk about the art, sound, plot but has anyone searched more about the topic of each episode(right when the opening ends they show it)
Maybe my thinking is weird but that’s because I had OBE’s and lucid dreams and everyone can have them.
Don’t treat this anime like some other supernatural series
Beautiful and highly underrated series. Watching it confirmed two things for me – one, I have had some…experiences in the past. And two…so have the people that created the series.
@Ryuk I used to think that I had experienced OBE’s as well, but I think this series does a good job at showing both sides of the debate on whether or not OBE’s are real or a fabrication of the brain. I myself believe that my own OBE’s were just extremely realistic dreams. Remember, it was the actual town itself that caused mutations in the brains of the inhabitants that allowed them to do such things. Regardless of what you believe, the series never really said that X is true and Y is false. It let you decide for yourself 🙂
THANK-YOU for acknowledging the sound in this series, I had mentioned it to friends several times that I had never “heard” a better anime, and to this date it rates as the best sounding series I have ever watched.
Cheers