All the Right Notes: Ghost Hunt Review

Whenever people see what shows I watch, they usually instantly make assumptions about the genres I like.  Often, this assumption is anime.  That I, in general, am an anime fan.  Often this is a dismissive assumption.  It is not only dismissive, however; it is incorrect.  (I insist on stating that I watch good shows, no matter the genre or style; I may delve more into this topic in another post.)  Now I'll admit that I do have a soft spot for anime styles; my personal tastes find them appealing.  That is no reason to assume, however, that I completely disregard my critical eye when I watch anime.  In fact, because of my "weakness" per se, I am even more suspicious of anime than perhaps any other genre, as it is far to easy too slip into watching mediocre shows of any favored genre without even realizing it.

It might come as a surprise to you that even up to early last year, I was still somewhat staunchly an outspoken disliker of anime.  As a child, I grew up watching normal kid shows on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, but I also grew up on Toonami--Cardcaptors, Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing.  This was before I was even aware of what anime was.  Eventually, probably around the time I entered late middle school, I "grew up."  I became more aware of what I watched, completely threw out what I had indulged in as a child, and turned against anime completely.  (Except Pokemon.  I was always a loyal Pokemon fan, even when I stopped watching the show.)

Up through high school, the only anime that I watched and admitted was actually an excellent show was Trigun.

That, however, was only the beginning of my conversion back into actually accepting shows as I see them instead of foolishly disregarding an entire style.

Right now, we're going to look at one of the "conversion" animes that I was introduced to a little over a year ago by a friend.  There are other animes I could list as well, but of the ones I watched that finally forced me to accept that good and excellent anime do exist, this is one of the lesser-known and underrated ones.

 The main cast of Ghost Hunt, from left to right: Masako, Ayako, Yasu, Naru, Monk, Mai, John (missing: Lin)

Check out the review after the break!