“Ghost Hunt”

Mandatory anime group shot. The perspective is the most terrifying part. (Funimation)

I’m not much into anime these days, but occasionally something still comes along that piques my interest. One of these was Ghost Hunt, which I think I mentioned in a previous post. This show has a lot to commend it: a fair amount of research into the fringiest of fringe disciplines, parapsychology; characters who, while not particularly deep, are at least likable; and, of course, ghosts.

There are some of the crappier aspects of anime on display here, too, like non-sequitur goofiness and sweat drops; but these are thankfully minimized. Interestingly enough, there are actually a handful of moments that manage to be creepy, something I think of as virtually impossible with hand-drawn animation. Finally, the show quite deliberately includes an eclectic mix of religious traditions, all of which have various techniques for combating the supernatural. The team of ghost hunters, in fact, includes a parapsychologist and his assistant onmyoji, a Buddhist monk, a Shinto miko, and a Catholic priest.

It’s not perfect, but I watched the whole series and enjoyed pretty much all of it. There’s even a big tearjerker episode midway through, so be prepared if you decide to watch it–which you can do for free over at Funimation. 85/100.