Ghost Hunt

The anime tv series left me rather disappointed in how there were many open questions and lead me to read the manga. The manga answers those questions, however, in my opinion fails to end on a high note. This is my review and is kind of a mix with the anime series. The story: Ghost Hunt's story is rather segmented and only few episodes are tied together in a series. What I mean is that from one "file"/story to the next, there isn't much of a continuation. The season is structured as File 1 = episodes 1,2,3 (example), and File 2 = episodes 4 and 5 (example).In the end, the anime season finale ended without answering many questions. The anime followed the manga very closely and to really conclude the series, I would recommend reading from the start of Volume 8. Most of the questions are resolved in the end but the end result feels like there was no character progression in the end for the protagonist 'Naru'. The art: The art in the anime is better in my opinion. Although the style feels somewhat dated and may not appeal to all audiences. Overall, I enjoyed this series very much and would have given it a 9/10 if the series had ended up with better character development. In the end, I would recommend this series/manga to anyone as it is enjoyable and a series that you can read/watch without much thought for the previous chapters/episodes as the story is segmented like that.

Okay so Ghost Hunt is by far not perfect in any way but it is definitely one of my favorite mangas. This series has a completely different vibe than any other manga I've read (To be fair I actually haven't read a ton) and the anime adaptation also carries this vibe. To begin with the team of characters that the story follows all have equally interesting and important roles, even though Mai and Naru are the main two. Mai is personally the most relatable and through her we are able to learn more and more about the world of paranormal investigation. All of the storiesin the manga are filled with interesting lore from various cultures and extremely creative plots that never once seemed repetitive to me. The thing that really got me was the idea that the manga got across, especially at the end. The anime is interesting and a good way to pass time but after reading the manga, everything really does come together and the ending is a message that I will never forget. IMO you could read the manga and then watch the anime if you really wanted to but I watched the anime first. This is what sparked my interest in Ghost Hunt to begin with and led me to the manga. Considering that the anime does not have the last couple of volumes of the manga, I think it's a perfect way to start.

This is a great manga, because of it's balance between typical shoujo elements (romance, chibi moments...) and mystery. The manga has a episodic format, so if you prefer one smooth story line than this might not be for you. However, each of the story arcs, which is usually covered by several chapters, is very well put together and thought out. The mystery element is strong, where as the horror element is not. Horror can easily make me squeamish, but there's nothing bone chilling in here. There is some blood and random popping up of ghosts (but that is to be expected from the title I think).Each arc is basically a team of different kinds of 'ghost hunters' trying to solve some sort of ghost related problem and figure out why weird events are taking place. The art isn't amazing, but it is somewhat likable, and does not in anyway hinder the story. (Expect large shoujo eyes and pretty looking characters). The characters are very likable, though most of them do lack some depth. Details about these characters seem to be drawn rather reluctantly from the author, but that could just be because it is a work in progress, or because it is in the mystery genre...The protagonists are a high school girl (whose point of view we see the story from), and a young paranormal researcher who has a lot of fancy equipment, his own research center and is very self-centered. Other characters include and an atypical monk and a miko, a young priest, a spiritual medium, and a mysterious assistant.

Ghost Hunt is a horror manga, although by today's standards I would call it a thriller with great comedy and a hint of romance. The plot is relatively simple, 16-year-old Mai encounters a group of people who deal with ghosts. We have a young man who owns a ghost hunter agency, nicknamed Naru by Mai because of his narcissistic tendencies; a priestess with heavy makeup who wants to get a boyfriend, an ex-monk/band guitarist, a TV persona who's a psychic medium and a young exorcist from Australia who believes the Kyoto dialect is the polite form of Japanese language. After experiencing how they work anddestroying Naru's camera accidentally, Mai becomes his assistant at his agency and they all work together to solve paranormal cases. If you haven't guessed from my synopsis yet, this is a very fun story with an eccentric cast of characters. The story has an episodic nature, but every case is interesting because of all the new information we get about the paranormal and also the delightful interactions of the cast. They all play off each other very well and you never feel like they shouldn't be a part of the narrative. Although I said that the story is episodic, it doesn't mean that it's repetitive. Through every volume, we always get new additional info about the main characters and that's how the main mysteries of the plot slowly come together. And I cannot finish my review without talking about the art. It's absolutely gorgeous, the inking, the shading, they all just look so good while the characters are distinctive and you can easily tell them apart. It was such a pleasure looking at every page. I cannot recommend this series enough, it's a hidden gem if you like a good old msytery series.