Ghost Hunt Vol. #01A

By Eduardo M. Chavez     September 06, 2005
Release Date: September 27, 2005



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Ono Fuyumi / Inada Shiho
Translated by:Tsubasa Akira
Adapted by:

What They Say
The decrepit building was condemned long ago, but every time the owners try to tear it down, “accidents” start to happen–people get hurt, sometimes even killed. Mai Taniyama and her classmates have heard the rumors that the creepy old high school is haunted–possibly by ghosts from the Second World War. So one rainy day they gather at the told school to tell ghost stories, hoping to attract one of the suspected spirits.

No ghosts materialize, but Mai and her friends do meet Kazuya Shibuya, the handsome young owner of Shibuya Psychic Research, who’s been hired to investigate paranormal activity at the school. Also at the scene are an exorcist, a Buddhist monk, a woman who can speak with the dead, and an outspoken Shinto priestess. Surely one of them will have the talents to solve this mystery. . . .

The Review
Packaging:
As I am reviewing a very rough galley copy, I really cannot review the presentation properly.

I will share that at this point they appear to have the original headers – chapters and volume. They have included info on the mangaka and the creator of the series Ono Fuyumi (Twelve Kingdoms), messages from both, translation notes and a preview of volume 2.

Artwork:

SFX/Text:
As is Del Rey's policy, SFX are subbed. Their subs tend to be of a small font usually placed below the original SFX. Because of the font size, original art is not compromised, but with the lack of SFX in this series (kind of weird for an action title) one might not notice them at times. Still, I appreciate the effort and the more I see this done the more I find myself liking it (font size and placement can make a big difference).

As my galley is an uncorrected proof I will not grade the translation. However, as of this point, what is here sounds good and everything should be satisfactory by the time these hit the shelves in October.

Contents: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Everyone knows a few ghost stories. We either pass them down from relatives or friends. Some of us just make them up on the fly. In the end everyone gets a quick thrill or chill and we leave entertained and a little closer after the experience.

Taniyama Mai had been doing this with her friends after school recently. They would gather in the recesses of campus - the AV room maybe a science lab - and share tales deep into the night. What started as an after school activity with friends, would soon became a full time job for this high school girl as ghosts began to gather at her school. Well maybe not ghosts, but ghost hunters, Buddhist monks, Shinto miko, catholic priests and professional psychics were converging on her school to exorcise whatever has been haunting the old school annex.

Curiosity brought her face to face with these paranormal professionals. She got to see them doing their work from their respective perspectives. Miko use Shinto purification ceremonies. Monks and priests chant and perform exorcisms. Psychics can communicate with spirits.

Ghost hunters take a different approach. They use modern science with traditional ghost finding techniques. Inferred, microphones, cameras and barometers help ghost hunters find clues to what kind of spirit they are looking for along with its strength and location. These hunters do things in a very methodical way that is not very efficient but always gets the job done. They are also very stingy with their money and are tight-lipped jerks that care more about their property and image than the well being of others.

Shibuya Naru is one of these ghost hunters and he has blackmailed Mai into working for him. So she broke one of his $1,000,000 cameras. Big deal! He didn't have to force a teenager into such a dangerous profession. Now Mai is stuck with this narcissist and she has to deal with things like ghosts and poltergeists everyday. These two have to sleep in creepy haunted places taking scientific readings. So this is not just scary work, but boring work. Ghosts are much more threatening than she ever thought they were.

Comments
I remember the last time I reviewed this title at AnimeOnDVD (around late 2001 early 2002 I believe). I found the story pretentious and slow. I could not find myself enjoying the characters. I honestly felt as if I was missing something. I thought the writing had something but it was not fulfilled yet.

Going through this title again I still cannot stand the cast (which is funny, because main character Mai has issues with some of the cast as well). Mai is a little too naive and then her attachment to a guy she cannot stand rubbed me the wrong way. Shibuya-san is neither cool nor good-looking. He is cold and a little sadistic, as a businessman that's fine but as a lead male I wonder how long I can take that smug attitude. The rest of the cast was fine. I still felt I'd rather see these characters be colder towards each other, but as a whole they balance out Naru's narcissism.

While my opinion of the cast has not changed much, Ono's story-telling really disappointed me this time. The most important aspect of this story is the horror/mystery. Ono starts off well by playing with the idea of ghost stories. These are easy to imagine and relate to. They can come in all sorts of formats and styles with different idiosyncrasies with each person who shares one of these. Ono does this well, because she makes the scene playful but still mildly thrilling. Unfortunately, the rest of the story felt so flat. I guess it was the doubt placed from start that ruined the atmosphere. Instead of actively searching for ghouls Shibuya does his job passively through sensors and recording devices. This takes the thrills out of the horror. What is supposed to be supernatural is deconstructed too much and becomes dull.

Maybe I came into this title expecting something this title did not provide, like a ghost hunt. The scientific approach just was not very interesting. They could have gone with some humor or with a cast of characters that were not as difficult to approach. Sci-fi works best when the science is described with some detail, but it is never really delved into much. At the same time the whole concept just seemed too distant. The cast never really got into the story. Mai seemed lost most of the time. Shibuya Naru just seemed to be around, but he apparently was doing work all that time. The rest of the hunters were just hanging out while weird things were going on around them. I almost felt that even the characters seemed to lack interest.

Maybe Ghost Hunt might end up developing into a great horror title. Maybe it will change into something else along the way. So far it is just dull. No thrills, no horror and the mystery was completely lacking. At the same time knowing that there are very few horror and mystery titles at all in North American manga, I still want to wait to just until the next volume. Hopefully, things will improve from there.