User:Shisaru Kiryu

Ghost Hunt

"Ghost Hunt" is also a ride at Lake Compounce.

Ghost Hunt (ゴーストハント, Gōsuto Hanto?) is a manga series based on a novel series called the Akuryou Series (悪霊シリーズ, Akuryou Series?) 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 3rd, 2006. The anime series consists of 25 episodes (approximately 20 minutes each).

On October 31st, 2007 FUNimation Entertainment announced[1] 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 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.

The anime has already ended its run. Many fans have asked for a second season, but while there has been no firm confirmation, some fans believe there is a possibility of a return to be around this fall. The manga is still ongoing; hence beliefs that there could be a possibility of a second season. The author has been quoted as saying that she is currently working on a girl's horror story that she began years ago (which is assumed to be Ghost Hunt). There is also a possibility that the Ghost Hunt manga will finish after all the storylines in the novels have been finished since Fuyumi Ono stopped writing "Ghost Hunt," the novels, in 1994.

Characters

Mai Taniyama (谷山 麻衣, Taniyama Mai?) Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English) Mai Taniyama

Born: 3 July Blood Type: B Height: 155 CM A first year high school student who takes up a job at the SPR when she accidentally broke the camera that Naru was using for their investigation. Later on, she began to be a regular assistant of Naru after having interest in her job and also to get close to Naru. She openly dislikes Naru for his egotistical attitude, but she seems to be harboring romantic feelings for him which manifests in dreams with him 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, she is living by herself. 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. Warning : the following of this charcter's description tells clues about the main story.

In the novel, it was confirmed that it was actually Naru's dead twin brother who shows up in her dreams, smiling and always guides her. In the ending of the Evil Spirits series(wherein he found his dead twin brother's dead body), Naru was about to leave for England when she confessed her feelings for him. In this, he asked if he is the one she loves or his dead twin brother, Gene. At this, she only cried. After she finally stops crying, she was surprised that Naru was still there. He told 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). This concluded the Evil Spirits series. Two months after Gene's funeral, Naru and Lin came back to Japan since there are more supernatural activities going on in Japan. At this, Mai became his personal assistant once again.

Kazuya Shibuya (渋谷 一也, Shibuya Kazuya?) Kazuya ShibuyaVoiced by: Yuuki Tai (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)

Born: 19 September 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 and Masako, who becomes jealous of Mai as a result. 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. Warning : the following of this charcter's description tells clues about the main story.

In the novels, it is revealed that Naru is actually Oliver Davis in disguise and had a twin brother named Eugene Davis. They were nicknamed Gene (Naru's brother) and Noll (Naru). Both were orphans and were later adopted by the Davises. Naru actually went to Japan to search for his brother, who 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 properly without the help of his brother. When he left for England in the end of the Evil Spirit series, Mai confessed to 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 the funeral of Gene because more supernatural activity occurs there than in England.

Koujo LinLin Koujo (林 興徐, Rin Kōjo?)

Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English) Born: 11 January 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. It is revealed that this person was Naru.

Houshou Takigawa (滝川 法生, Takigawa Hōshō?) Houshou TakigawaVoiced by: Kenji Hamada (Japanese), Travis Willingham (English)

Born: 22 February Blood Type: 0 Height: 185 CM A Buddhist monk from Mt. Koya, who is also a bass musician. He considers monk as a side job, while playing in a band is his real profession. 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 members of the group and usually with the most effective abilities against ghosts. The others refer to him as "Bou-san" (Monk-san). It is revealed in the novels that he actually has a driver's licence but has never used it, not even once.

Ayako MatsuzakiAyako Matsuzaki (松崎 綾子, Matsuzaki Ayako?)

Voiced by: Masami Suzuki (Japanese), Colleen Clinkenbeard (English) Born: 7 June Blood Type: B Height: 167 CM An outspoken self-styled Shinto miko priestess, given that 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 standard Shinto 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 BrownJohn Brown (ジョン・ブラウン, Jon Buraun?)

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

Born: 5 January Blood Type: A Height: 162 CM A nineteen year old Catholic exorcist priest from Australia who speaks Japanese with a Kansai accent, thus giving his sentences a rather odd structure. Good-natured and helpful, he helps Mai and Naru however he can. His means of exorcism is spraying holy water while reciting a prayer.

Masako HaraMasako Hara (原 真砂子, Hara Masako?)

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

Born: 24 July 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 young girl who resembles a Japanese doll because she is always wearing a kimono. She seem to have romantic feelings towards Naru and is jealous of how casual and free Naru is when dealing with Mai. 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 YasuharaOsamu Yasuhara (安原 修, Yasuhara Osamu?)

Voiced by: Kousuke Okano

Born: 1 March Blood Type: AB Height: 177 CM A 3rd year high school student and his president of his school's student council. Yasuhara first appears during an incident involving a curse at his school during "File 6". When the case is solved, he continues to help out the SPR in what ever ways he can, such as impersonating Kazuya Shibuya at the request of Naru and performing research when the others are occupied. He has no psychic powers of his own, but his sharp mind and work efficiency makes him a good supporter to the team. He is planning to attend university and has passed his entrance exams.

Anime

Episodes


 * 1)                             Title                                                                                         Original air date

01                 "FILE 1: Filled With Evil Spirits!? #1"                                                                 October 3, 2006 "FILE1 「Akuryou ga ippai!?」#1" (FILE1 「悪霊がいっぱい!?」#1)

Mai meets Naru while exchanging ghost stories with her friends, and learns her school principal has hired him to investigate an allegedly haunted school building. Mai later causes the injury of Naru's assistant and is forced to stand in as a temporary replacement. The principal also brings in several exorcists and mediums, and more help arrives in the form of a classmate of Mai's, who claims to have the ability to sense spirits.

02               "FILE 1: Filled With Evil Spirits!? #2"                                                                   October 10, 2006 "FILE1 「Akuryou ga ippai!?」 #2" (FILE1 「悪霊がいっぱい!?」 #2)

03              "FILE 1: Filled With Evil Spirits!? #3"                                                                     October 17, 2006 "FILE1 「Akuryou ga ippai!?」 #3" (FILE1 「悪霊がいっぱい!?」 #3)