Ani-Mania: ‘Ghost Hunt’

The supernatural mystery genre is a hot topic right now, with titles like xxxHOLiC and Higurashi setting the scene, but there’s always room for one more, and Funimation’s Ghost Hunt weighs in with an all star cast to bring us more spooky fun.

The dead have something to say, and supernatural researcher Kazuya Shibuya is ready to listen. He won’t be listening alone, however. As cold and aloof as Kazuya is (his haughty demeanor causes our heroine, Mai Taniyama to give him another name: Naru, as in Narcissist), he isn’t above working with a team, and in short order he assembles a cast of motley ghost hunters to help him in his work, including a priestess, a monk, an exorcist from the Catholic Church, a celebrity medium, a kooky would-be psychic, who unbeknownst even to herself actually DOES have mysterious powers, and our heroine, Mai, who’s chief ability seems to be knocking a bookshelf over onto Naru’s regular assistant, thereby netting her a part-time job as his replacement, until he can recover.

The bookshelf incident, and much of the first arc, feels a little contrived, serving mainly as an introduction to the show’s large and star studded cast. From there it breaks down nicely into several case files, or arcs of varying length, and while they do build on one another, watching them in order isn’t a necessity. The result is a highly watchable series that viewers can take in one episode or one storyline at a time. The cases vary widely in mood from laughable to downright bone chilling. “The Bloodstained Labyrinth” falls into the latter category, and is, in my humble opinion, some of the best material in the entire series.

While some of the cases are very intriguing, it’s the characters who keep things interesting. Young Mai is equal parts hard working and rambuctious. She gripes about how cold Kazuya is, and calls him Naru, but she is also fiercely loyal, and willing to defend him, even when he’s made a mistake. We quickly learn that she harbors feelings for him, which may or may not be requited (with the frosty Naru, it’s hard to tell), but she would never admit it. Mai gets her voice from veteran VA Cherami Leigh, who’s no stranger to the supernatural, having voiced Himawari in xxxHOLiC. Leigh has also done the voice of Naomi in Witchblade, a whole gaggle of Negima girls, and will be the voice of Patty in the upcoming Soul Eater.

Naru, the object of her affection/aggravation, is voiced by Todd Haberkorn, who played opposite Leigh in a very opposite role as the lovestruck Watanuki in the aforementioned xxxHOLiC. Haberkorn is showing some impressive range. He got the star role of Allen Walker in D. Gray Man, and he will appear with Leigh again when he too appears in Soul Eater as the wildly OCD Death the Kid.

Mai’s interests don’t go unchallenged, however. Celebrity medium Masako Hara has also set her sights on being the one to melt the frosty Naru’s heart, and she greatly resents the attention Mai gets as his new assistant. Elegant and demure, and always in a traditional kimono, Masako steals the show with some really stinging zingers — but will she be able to steal Naru’s heart? Masako gets her voice and feisty temperment from Jad Saxton, the voice of Eve in Baccano!.

We can’t print the nickname Mai would like to give Masako, but she dubs Houshou Takigawa “Monk”, appropriately enough, since he is from a Bhuddist order. Houshou is anything but traditional, but he is very capable, and gives weight to the group, just as his voice actor, Travis Willingham, provides considerable weight to an already impressive cast. Travis is probably best known for his work as Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist, and he made fangirls swoon as the voice of Kanda in D. Gray Man, but I think he deserves more recognition for his role as Ginko in Mushishi, an excellent title that will hopefully get it’s own column in the future.

Continuing the list of celebs and xxxHOLiC alums is Colleen Clinkenbeard, the voice of Yuko Ichihara. Here she gives her talents to the role of Ayako Matsuzaki, a miko who seems to be a priestess in name only. Naru’s initial remark to her is something on the order of “Aren’t shrine maidens supposed to be CHASTE?”. Clinkenbeard must have used up most of her supernatural powers as Yuko; Ayako’s attempts to use her priestessly powers routinely fail, but her cynical wit seldom misses the mark.

Rounding out the cast, Jason Liebrecht may not have got to be an exorcist as Lavi in D. Gray Man, but he makes up for it with his role as John Brown, a priest who specializes in exorcisms. Liebrecht was also Syaoran in Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

The cast is obviously top of the line, and Funimation doesn’t stop there. The packaging for this box set is your standard thin pack, two volumes, two discs each, for a total of four discs, all in a nicely printed cardboard sleeve. More importantly, we get to see the return of some extra features. Bonuses have been a bit slim lately, but Ghost Hunt sports some manga pages, courtesy of Del Rey, along with character case files, a ghost sightings slide show of the various supernatural phenomenon encountered throughout the show, and, of course, the standard trailers and textless opening.

Don’t forget to check back next week. There’s a ton of new stuff to cover, including the second season of School Rumble, the box set for Wallflower, a long overdue spotlight on the quirky Welcome To the NHK, and maybe even a review of Gantz, since one of our posters brought it up. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to see reviewed, post a comment, and I’ll try to get to it.