Ghost Hound review: Psychological horror meets reality

A comprehensive review and recommendation of Shinreigari Ghost Hound

■ Public Media

TV anime series

■ Original Media

Anime Original

■ Broadcast period

October 18, 2007 - April 3, 2008
WOWOW October 18, 2007 - April 3, 2008
(1st to 12th) Every Thursday 23:30 to 24:00
(13th to 22nd) Every Thursday 24:00 to 24:30

■Broadcasting station

Broadcast: WOWOW, DVD release: Pony Canyon

■Frequencies

24 min

■ Number of Episodes

Episode 22

■Original Story

Production I.G/Masamune Shirow

■ Director

Ryutaro Nakamura

■ Production

・Animation production: Production IG
Produced by: "GHOST HOUND" Production Committee (Pony Canyon, WOWOW, Production IG, Showgate, Mag Garden, TYO)

■Works

©2007 Production IG, Masamune Shirow/GHOST HOUND Production Committee

■ Story

"The world is a dream, and the dreams of the night are the truth" -- Edogawa Ranpo

Is it the "underworld" -- or a "wonderland", or a "multi-dimensional world", or perhaps a "world inside the mind"? The <other world> is where "divine spirits" reside. Divine spirits do not only take the form of human ghosts, but some also take the form of creatures that died out in ancient times. Divine spirits do not normally appear in the present world. However, something strange is happening in the <other world>. The strange events in the <other world> begin to encroach on the <present world>. Will the three boys be able to stop it?

■Explanation

Another world has been overlapping this world, the "real world," since long before the development of cyberbrains. Now able to travel freely to the "secret world," the boys discover through their adventures that the "secret world" is connected to the "real world" and to their own brains. It is horror fantasy and science fiction. It is spiritualism and philosophical physics. It is an adventure into an unknown world and an exploration of the brain. But above all, this series is a childhood story. Set in a small provincial town reminiscent of Japan's original landscape, it looks at life-size boys from a realistic perspective, vividly depicting their surprise, fear, and excitement.

■Cast

・Taro Komori/Kensho Ono ・Shin Ogami/Soichiro Hoshi ・Masayuki Nakajima/Jun Fukuyama ・Miyako Komakusu/Akiko Yajima

■ Main staff

・Original work: Production IG, Masamune Shirow・Original work collaboration: Crossroad・Director: Ryutaro Nakamura・Series composition: Chiaki Konaka・Character design and chief animation director: Mariko Oka・Art design: Kazuhiro Arai・Prop design: Minoru Ueda・Divine spirit design: Naoyoshi Shiotani・Color design: Hitomi Sano・Art director: Hiromasa Ogura・Director of photography: Naoyuki Ohba・3D director: Kenji Kobayashi・Editor: Taeko Hamauzu・Music: TENG
・Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka ・Sound Production: Rakuonsha ・Producers: Tetsuya Kinoshita, Daisuke Katagiri, Katsuji Morishita, Fuminori Yamazaki, Masahiro Yonezawa ・Animation Producer: Toru Kawaguchi ・Animation Production: Production IG
Produced by: "GHOST HOUND" Production Committee (Pony Canyon, WOWOW, Production IG, Showgate, Mag Garden, TYO)

■ Main Characters

・Taro Komori
11 years ago, when he was three years old, he was kidnapped along with his sister Mizuka, who was five years older than him. Taro survived, but Mizuka lost her life. The son of an old sake brewery in Suiten-cho, he grew up to be a gentle-natured second-year junior high school student, but he suffers from PTSD from the kidnapping and is aware of his narcolepsy (sleep disorder). He is currently receiving counseling. While sleeping, he experiences an OBE (out-of-body experience) and begins to wander through the spirit world.

・Makoto Ogami
He is the granddaughter of Ogami Himeko, the founder of the Ogami Hairei-kai, a shrine in Suitencho. His father committed suicide immediately after Taro was kidnapped. His mother left home and he lives a depressed life. His only hobby is playing the guitar, and he experienced an OBE while practicing fingering. He is invited to the spirit world.

・Masayuki Nakajima
He is the son of Yasuhiro Nakajima, who holds a leading position at the newly established research laboratory of Dainippon Bioindustry on Mt. Kameiwa, adjacent to Suiten-cho. He has just transferred from a junior high school in Tokyo. He always wears a mask of smirk and tries to forcefully bring out the horrible past of Taro and Makoto from behind closed doors.

・Komagusu Miyako
She is the only daughter of the head priest of Kameiwa Shrine. She is in the fifth grade of elementary school. Her father taught folklore at a university in Tokyo, but after Miyako was born, he returned home to take over the family shrine. She is divorced from her mother. Miyako cannot enter the spirit world, but she can apparently catch a glimpse of it from the present world. Although she is an elementary school student, she is more mature than Taro and the others.

・Yoshiya Komori
Furumori Taro's father. He is the head of the Furumori family, serving as president of Furumori Sake Brewery, using sake brewing techniques passed down from his ancestors. In recent years, he has personally experienced the pollution of rivers caused by the construction of new structures in Suitencho, such as Kameiwa Dam and Dai Nippon Bio Industries (DBI). He is running the brewery in line with the trends of the times, such as working on brown rice sake and hiring a young master brewer, Kei Kashi.

・Miki Komori
Mother of Taro Komori. 11 years ago, she was kidnapped by a young brother and sister in Suiten-cho, which caused her to become mentally unstable. She is currently in a stable condition, but she is hypersensitive to anxiety and occasionally suffers from tics such as twitching of the left eyelid.

・Malaria Master Kei
He is the chief brewer at Komori Sake Brewery. He lives in Kumada, the town next to Suitencho, and from an early age he was taught the skills of a chief brewer by his grandfather, Zenzaburo Kaji, the previous chief brewer at Komori Sake Brewery. His first job as a chief brewer will be brewing brown rice sake this winter.

・Atsushi Hirata
A clinical psychologist who visits Suitencho several days a week to counsel Taro Furumori. He has a particular interest in what goes on inside Taro's mind, having been kidnapped as a child.

・Ogami Himeko
She is the head of the Ogami Worship Association, a shrine known throughout the region. Ogami Makoto's grandmother. As a shrine maiden, she has given numerous pieces of advice to politicians and influential people. While she has high hopes for her grandson, Makoto, to be the next head, she tends to keep her mouth shut when it comes to Makoto's father, Ogami Hideo.

・Noriko Kabata
A maid to Ogami Himeko. Having served Himeko for a long time, she knows the customs of the Ogami family better than Shin.

・Yasuhiro Nakajima
Father of Nakajima Masayuki. He works at Dai Nippon Bio Industries (DBI). He is a bio researcher. He is so absorbed in his research that he neglects his family. He has a cold relationship with his wife, Chika, and only plays the role of a formal father to Masayuki.

・Takahiro Nakajima
Father of Komakusu Miyako. He serves as the chief priest of Kameiwa Shrine. Before becoming the chief priest, he was an assistant professor of folklore at a university in Tokyo. He likes alcohol, and sometimes hides from Miyako and takes out a One Cup sake from the refrigerator. He was friends with Ogami Makoto's father, Ogami Hideo, in high school.

・Reika Ohtori
A neurologist and brain surgeon working for Dai Nippon Bio Industries (DBI). He was the doctor in charge of Taro Komori, who fell down the stone steps of Kameiwa Shrine. He showed Taro his CT and MRI scans and explained brain functions. He is involved in some top-secret research at DBI, and has a close relationship with Yasuhiro Nakajima.

・Michio Hoshino
He is a classmate of Taro Komori, Makoto Ogami, and Masayuki Nakajima at Suiten Town Suiten Junior High School. He is in the same class as Masayuki and Makoto. He loves games so much that he often hangs out with Masayuki.

■Subtitle

・FOCUS:01／Lucid Dream -Lucid Dream-(2007/10/18)
・FOCUS:02／EMDR -Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing- (2007/10/25)
・FOCUS:03／Phobia Exposure -(2007/11/01)
・FOCUS:04／Altered States of Consciousness (2007/11/08)
・FOCUS:05／OBE -Out of Body Experience- (2007/11/15)
・FOCUS:06／Brain Homunculus (2007/11/22)
・FOCUS:07／LTP -Long Term Potentiation- -The ability to change and maintain synaptic circuits "The true nature of long-term memory in the human brain"-(2007/11/29)
・FOCUS:08／Revolution of the Limbic System - The limbic system, which controls memory and emotion, centered on the amygdala in the brain - Its revolution - (2007/12/06)
・FOCUS:09／Existential Ghosts (2007/12/13)
・FOCUS:10／Affordance/TFT -Thought Field Therapy- (2007/12/20)
・FOCUS:11/Syntax Error - Errors in logical syntax/program bugs - (2008/01/10)
・FOCUS:12/Homeostasis Synchronization - Homeostasis Synchronization Effect - (2008/01/24)
・FOCUS:13／For the Snark was a Boojum, you see. -Yes, that Snark was a Boojum-(2008/01/31)
・FOCUS:14/Emergence Matrix -Emergence Foundation- (2008/02/07)
・FOCUS:15/Toward an Abandoned City (2008/02/14)
・FOCUS:16／Hopeful Monster -Hopeful Monster-(2008/02/21)
・FOCUS:17／Implicate Order -Immanent Order-(2008/02/28)
・FOCUS:18/Holographic Paradigm -Quantum Gravity Theory at the Waterside-(2008/03/06)
・FOCUS:19／Negentropy -Plasticity Time-(2008/03/13)
・FOCUS:20／Shaman's District (2008/03/20)
・FOCUS:21/Stochastic Resonance (2008/03/27)
・FOCUS:22／Passage -The dimension of tacit knowledge-(2008/04/03)

■ Theme songs and music

・OP1
・Poltergeist ・Lyrics by Mayumi Kojima ・Music by Mayumi Kojima ・Arrangement by Mayumi Kojima and Isao Tsukamoto ・Singer by Mayumi Kojima

・ED1
・Call My Name ~Wind-Ringing Hill~
・Lyrics by Kyoko Fujii (tangerine.)
・Composition/Ai Kamachi ・Arrangement/aikamachi+nagie
・Song: Yucca

A comprehensive review and recommendation of Shinreigari Ghost Hound

■ Overview of the work

Ghost Hound is an anime series that aired from 2007 to 2008, and is an original work by Production IG and Masamune Shirow. The series skillfully blends a wide range of themes, including horror, fantasy, science fiction, spiritualism, and physical philosophy, to tell the story of the growth and adventures of a group of boys. It was directed by Ryutaro Nakamura, with series composition by Chiaki Konaka, character design by Mariko Oka, and music by TENG.

■ Story and Theme

The story is set in a small rural town called Suitencho, and follows three boys as they encounter a parallel world known as the spirit world, and grow up while confronting their own trauma and past. The spirit world is a world inhabited by spirits, and is home to ancient creatures and ghosts. The boys visit the spirit world through an out-of-body experience (OBE) and try to understand the phenomenon in which the boundary between the real world and the spirit world is collapsing.

The themes of this work are diverse, but the most striking one is "facing trauma." The protagonist, Taro Komori, suffers from PTSD due to a kidnapping incident in his childhood, and that trauma is deeply connected to his journey to the spirit world. In addition, Shin Ogami and Masayuki Nakajima are also depicted growing up while facing their respective family environments and past events.

■Character Analysis

・Furumori Taro: A gentle-natured second-year junior high school student who is traumatized by a kidnapping incident. He experiences narcolepsy and OBEs, and comes to terms with his past while wandering through the spirit world. His growth is the central theme of the work, and leaves a deep impression on the viewer.

・Ogami Shin: The grandson of a shrine priest, his only hobby is playing the guitar. Though he is burdened with the heavy burden of his father's suicide, he reexamines himself through his journey to the spirit world. His character symbolizes the weight of family ties and traditions.

・Masayuki Nakajima: A boy who has just transferred from Tokyo and often behaves in a testing manner. However, he is also troubled by his family environment and relationship with his father, and resolves these conflicts through his journey to the spirit world. His character depicts a calm appearance on the surface and inner conflict.

・Koma Kusumiya: A fifth-grade girl who cannot enter the spirit world, but can catch glimpses of it from the real world. Her character supports the boys' adventures, adding warmth to the story.

■Video and Music

The visuals of "Ghost Hound" are a work that shows off the high technical capabilities of Production IG. The depiction of the otherworld is fantastical, yet the boundary between it and the real world is ambiguous, giving the viewer a mysterious feeling. The character designs and background art are also very detailed, enriching the worldview of the work.

The music was composed by TENG and is an important element in enhancing the atmosphere of the work. In particular, the opening theme "Poltergeist" and the ending theme "Call My Name ~Kaze Nari no Oka~" have beautiful melodies that symbolize the theme of the work and will remain deeply in the hearts of viewers.

■ Evaluation and recommendation

"GHOST HOUND" is a work that skillfully combines a wide range of themes, including horror, fantasy, science fiction, spiritualism, and physics philosophy. As it depicts the growth and adventures of the boys, it also depicts the importance of facing trauma and the past, deeply moving the viewer. In addition, Production IG's high-quality visual technology and TENG's beautiful music also enhance the appeal of the work.

This work is recommended not only for viewers who enjoy horror and science fiction elements, but also for viewers who want to explore deeper themes. In particular, it is a must-watch for those who are interested in stories about boys growing up and dealing with trauma. It is also a work that will satisfy fans of Production IG and Masamune Shirow.

■ Related works and recommendations

For viewers who enjoyed "GHOST HOUND," we also recommend the following works:

・Ghost in the Shell: A science fiction anime based on the original work by Masamune Shirow, with a cyberpunk worldview and deep themes. Like GHOST HOUND, it is produced by Production IG.

・"Serial Experiments Lain": A science fiction anime depicting the boundary between cyberspace and the real world, featuring profound themes and unique visual beauty. Fans of "Ghost Hound" will also enjoy this work.

Higurashi When They Cry: A mix of horror and mystery, with trauma and past events at the heart of the story. Recommended for viewers who want to explore deeper themes like Ghost Hound.

Conclusion

"Ghost Hound" skillfully blends a wide range of themes, depicting the importance of confronting trauma and the past as the boys grow and go on adventures. Production IG's high-quality visuals and TENG's beautiful music also enhance the film's appeal, making it a recommended work for viewers who enjoy a variety of elements, including horror, fantasy, science fiction, spiritualism, and physics philosophy. Please watch it and enjoy its deep themes and beautiful visuals.