Forum - View topicREVIEW: Ghost Hunt Season One Part One
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championferret
 Posts: 765 |
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Again, I just...cant agree with calling Mai 'highly likeable'. She's the most boring lead I've ever come across and I continually forgot she was the main character.
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Ramadahl
Posts: 325 Location: MK, UK |
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Ah, poor Mai... I liked her. Although she was the "normal" character she didn't lack for development, and acting as the grounding force in the series I think she performed admirably.
But then, I think Aizawa Ayumu is a great lead as well... The review pretty much echoes what I would've said about the series were I more eloquent - not something totally amazing, but some damn fine entertainment nonetheless. |
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sailorsean
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Wasn't this in shelf life? I bought it last Friday and I'm planning to buy the rest of the series probably later on the week. I really like this show even though it might seem predictable at times.
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here-and-faraway
 Posts: 1528 Location: Sunny California |
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I agree. |
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teferi
 Posts: 400 |
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They explain it later on, pretty sure it's in the beginning of the second boxset. spoiler[ Her school let's her go to work when she wants to because she's a poor orphan.] It's a bit far-fetched, but I guess it works. If anything though, the main flaw I noticed was how they took a very Japanese approach to exorcism. Maybe it's just me, but the idea of a Christian priest actually having any sort of confidence that a Shinto exorcism would work is plain silly. But all in all I agree with the review, it's not exactly groundbrekaing, but it's a fun series. Although, it is pretty annoying knowing that the same exact DVDs are going to be released in a Viridian Collection release for half the price. It's still an improvement over singles, but I wish FUNi could've thrown us a bone here. |
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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A "C" for the music? Seriously?
 Personally, I found the music to be excellent, and I'm a stickler for a good soundtrack. Not only did it compliment the series wonderfully, it makes for a great listen as a standalone OST. I also LOVE the opening theme, as it sounds like something Danny Elfman could have written for "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
As for John's Aussie accent in the dub, I like it. The Kansai dialect is apparently supposed to be rather funny from a Japanese perspective, so replacing it with a funny accent in English works well from a humor perspective. I must say, Liebrecht does a pretty darn good accent. I do agree with the rest of the review however. Mai is an extremely likeable lead and it looks great from a artistic standpoint. As whole, though, first half of the series isn't anything particularly special, but it works well as quality entertainment. I was hooked from episode one when I first watched the fansubs. I will say that the second half of the series is on a different level entirely. Just you wait for File #7. Easily the best (and scariest) arc in the entire series. Oh, and you might want to fix "Ghost Hunt DVD DVD." 
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LKK
 Posts: 426 Location: Virginia, USA |
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I completely agree with Jedi General's comments especially with regards to the music. The reviewer is the first person I've found who thought the music was average at best. I think it sets the mood of the scenes perfectly and does indeed work well as a standalone music experience. Listen for even more beautiful music to be introduced in the Part 2 DVD set.
Last edited by LKK on Wed Dec 03, 2008 5:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Labbes
 Posts: 890 |
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I actually find the idea of any exorcism at all ridiculous, but that might be just me 
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ManSlayer07
Posts: 214 |
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She's one of the reasons why I couldn't watch past the few episodes back when it was airing. It's definitely not a show I ever intend to rewatch. |
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teferi
Posts: 400 |
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Dur. But in a context where exorcism is possible (i.e. this show), they should at least take common sense stuff like Christianity not getting along with Shintoism into account. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18189 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Yeah, this bugged me, too, and I might comment on that more when I do the Season 2 review. (Which I'm working on right now.) Also, I wrote this before seeing Season 2, and yes, the issue with Mai's status kinda does get explained there. (Though I agree, it's still pretty weak.)
Yeah, the second half does make a notable upgrade in intensity, doesn't it? I'll have a lot to say about that in the next review. About the musical score: either the score gets better in the second series or I just judged it too harshly the first time around. Either way, the grade in the Season 2 review will be a bit higher. |
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LKK
Posts: 426 Location: Virginia, USA |
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I want to add that I'm glad the review commented on the fact that the cast changes clothes on a regular basis because it is a rarity in animation (Japanese anime & US animation alike). If you look closely enough during File #2 (the doll house arc), you'll see that Mai mixes and matches her top and bottom outfits throughout the course of the multi-day investigation. She'll repeat a top a day or so later with a different skirt or pants, for example. Just like a real person would do if she were temporarily living out of a suitcase which is exactly what Mai's doing. It's one of the many subtle features that contribute to the realistic feel of the series.
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Symmetrical_Magician
 Posts: 274 |
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It's not technically season 2, just the second half of the first, but that's just nitpicking. On a more serious note, I agree with some explanation about Mai being a bit thin. spoiler[Even if she lives on her own, I suspect it was supposed to be an exaggeration that she could really take that much time off school, but it could also be true. Either way that seems forced.] I'm actually excited for the next review, it can be fun to get professional opinions about the series I'm into. This one was a very accurate reflection of Ghost Hunt. The shift into more intensity should be nice to read about, too... |
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R315r4z0r
 Posts: 717 |
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I absolutely loved this series and I think this review does it some justice despite a few points. For example, the "logical" things that says don't make sense.. actually do. You just need to either think about it or watch part 2 of the series.
Mai being able to be on most of these jobs is pretty easy to explain as most of the jobs take place on the weekend (most Japanese schools have off on Sunday). Lots of the cases start on, or go through Sunday (hence being able to sleep at the job on a Saturday and not go to school the next day). Her school/job switch off is also explained more later on in part 2 of the series which further reinforces why she doesn't seem to go to school much. As for Masako Hara being a celebrity but not seeming to get much attention, that is actually very easy to explain. You need to keep in mind that this anime is trying to stay pretty down to earth and "real." Meaning just because it is about ghosts and paranormal hauntings and what not, doesn't mean that everyone featured in the show will know about ghosts and spirits. How many celebrity spirit mediums or psychics do you know of? There are quite a few actually, but how many do you know of.. off the top of your head? Just because they say "celebrity" doesn't necessarily mean that everyone knows who she is. How many people do you know that watch shows relating to communicating with spirits? It's the same case here. This is reinforced in the anime by people not really recognizing her 100% of the time. Most of the time it takes someone eles' introduction of Masako to make other people recognize her from TV. This means that she has a Television show but it isn't exactly "top of the charts." As for the music, I have to agree there. The background music during the actual show isn't bad, I found it rather fitting. However the opener and closer are just terrible and do not match the mood of the anime in the least. In my opinion, it was just trying way too hard to say "OMG I'M TRYING TO BE SCARY! LOL!" |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18189 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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No, some of these cases cover too many days to be explained off that easily, and the explanation offered in the second part seems rather weak.
Oh, come on. You're the second person to say this, but this is a series which involved rampant and very palpable hauntings. What is at all "real" about that? The few things it does to promote realism - like Mai actually wearing different clothes - are more than balanced out by the oversimplification of exorcism and the fantastical severity of spiritual activity in most of these cases.
Sorry, but this is very weak. She's a big enough name to be recognized by many of the people she meets, and someone who has any kind of celebrity status who ends up in the hospital for job-related reasons as often as she does in the first half of the series would definitely attract attention. |
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