Ghost Hound - Episodes 1 - 10

Ghost Hound - An anime created by Production I.G. and Shirow Masamune, names easily recognisable by anyone with a keen interest in anime, and in particular the superb Ghost in the Shell franchise. Compared to the legendary nature of the aforementioned offering, it must be quite daunting to undertake anything new, but in some ways Ghost Hound really couldn't be much further removed from Shirow's most famous work. Gone is the crowded, cybernetic world of the future, replaced instead with a small, sleep town, and gone is the gadgetry in favour of ghosts and spirits.

Beyond those major and obvious differences however, Ghost Hound does share a few things in common with Ghost in the Shell, primarily in the way that Shirow has put plenty of emphasis on questioning the value of the human conscience and its abilities - Much as GitS focused on the Major's deep questioning of her own emotions and the like, so Ghost Hound uses the fear and dreams of its protagonist, Tarō, to explore both the conscious and subconscious mind. As always with Shirow's work, the research that has clearly gone into this series is impeccable, examining Out of Body Experiences and various psychological treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress in a highly scientific and well-referenced manner in a way that anyone who enjoys the literary references of Ghost in the Shell will lap up, while not being afraid to enter the realms of pure, unadulterated fantasy to keep the story compelling as entertainment.

Ghost Hound isn't just a lesson in psychology though, it takes great care in building up all of the major characters over the course of the series so far, slowly revealing more about them and seeing them grow and evolve both as individuals and in groups as they confront their own various fears and dark pasts. This attention to detail has made the show something of a slow-burner thus far, but a fascinating one none the less.

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect to Ghost Hound is its audio track, which delights in obscuring passages of speech (particularly in the start of episode recaps), and generally using the soundtrack as an excuse to heighten the sometimes uncomfortable feelings or thoughts that characters develop frequently throughout the show. Some may call it gimmicky, but personally I feel that the soundtrack is used to perfection here, rarely failing to elevate any tensions or oddities that are apparent in any given scene.

Overall, Ghost Hound so far is one of those series that requires a fair amount of attention to make the most of - It's the kind of show that can have you running to Wikipedia or Google to do further research on some of the topics discussed, just as Ghost in the Shell could have you diving for your copy of The Catcher in the Rye. An entertaining series that goes some way to expanding the interest and knowledge of the viewer - Personally, I really couldn't ask for much more.