Comics / Manga

Ghost Hunt: Volume 4

By Julie Gray
September 3, 2006 - 04:44

Ghost Hunt Volume 4 Cover

Ghost Hunt is all about, well, ghosts. But it’s a whole lot more than that. It’s also a love story, or perhaps, more like a story of ill-requited love, but we’ll get to that later. On the surface, Ghost Hunt is a manga all about the SPR which stands for ‘Shibuya Psychic Research’, a group of teenagers lead by the enigmatic President, Kazuya Shibuya.

 

The team is introduced in the first few pages. Kazuya is joined by side-kick Mai (who is secretly in love with him), Lin – who works closely with Kazuya, Masako – a Psychic medium and Houshou who used to be a monk. All characters are actively involved in investigating supernatural occurrences and unexplainable phenomena; a little like Ghostbusters.

 

It’s great to be introduced to the characters at the beginning because no matter where you begin in the series, you will be able to get a good idea of who the characters are and what their role is throughout the manga.

 

The SPR are regularly hired to investigate ghosts, spirits and the like. In Ghost Hunt: Volume 4, the manga begins with the SPR team being approached by the President of the student council at Ryokuryou High School. It appears that there have been quite a few strange occurrences at the school that fit the description of ‘unexplainable phenomena’. At first, Kazuya turns down the project, citing unwanted media attention as the reason. But after listening to a description of the events that prompted the President of the student council to approach the SPR team, Kazuya decides to take on the project.

 

The story of Ghost Hunt:Volume 4 is well written and interesting and will certainly appeal to readers who enjoy scary subject matter with a little bit of humour in parts thrown into the story. And although the underlying love story between Mai and Kazuya doesn’t feature as a major theme, one can’t help but hope that something develops later on in the series.

 

The characters in Ghost Hunt: Volume 4 are well developed. We can easily see the stern and strict Kazuya leading his team with Mai in the background, eager and willing to do anything for the boy she likes. Kazuya and Mai feature the most throughout Volume 4. The artwork in the book is great and there are particularly detailed pages in various chapters that give the subject matter of this manga an almost dark and gritty feel to the pages.

 

Ghost Hunt: Volume 4 features additional story boards by the manga creator, Shiho Inada throughout the manga. At the end of the book there is a small introduction to the manga creator and story writer as well as extensive translation notes and a sneak preview of Ghost Hunt: Volume 5 in original Japanese. If you find this review piquing your interest in the Ghost Hunt manga, please take a look at the preview of the manga here at Del Rey's website.

 

Art Work: 8/10

Story: 9/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

 

Email the author: Julie@comicbookbin.com

 

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12