Ghost Hound ep. 1
Series Information
ANN Encyclopedia | AniDB | AnimeNfo
Genres: Supernatural
OP: [Poltergeist] by Kojima Mayumi
ED: [Call My Name ~Kazenari no Oka~] by Yucca
神霊狩／GHOST HOUND
[ Focus 01: Lucid Dream ]
Ghost Hound is quite the show. While not exactly “slow-paced” it is rather “quiet” and as such it reminds me of Lain from time to time. That said, Ghost Hound introduces quite a few themes structured around spirituality and psychology. The spiritual aspect for now are Tarou’s OBEs (Outer Body Experiences) which occurred twice in this episode alone (as a result of narcolepsy). The psychological aspect, aside from the title, so far focuses on Tarou and his past which involved him and his sister being kidnapped. It seems like he still suffers from the experience memory-wise and has nightmares about it as well. I noticed that his mother seems to be in almost the same shape as he is but that remains to be confirmed as yet.
Makoto and Masayuki are the two remaining male protagonists in the show. Not much is known about them as yet but so far it is shown that Makoto doesn’t like Tarou and Masayuki is quite “overly friendly”. The official site also says that these two, like Tarou, are able to have OBEs but have different ways of achieving them. The female protagonist, Miyako, can see into the spiritual world without the help of OBEs as we saw in this episode. As the show moves along I’m sure that all of the characters will come together in some way and it’ll be a treat to see how that happens.
The OP and ED are quite good though I have yet to choose which one I like more. The animation is absolutely wonderful and crisp in HD and the character designs are very well done by none other than Oka Mariko. The music and sounds are used wonderfully and appropriately in all the scenes and, almost without knowing it, pulls you into the world of Ghost Hound. I’m really looking forward to seeing Ghost Hound progress and I expect great things from it knowing the huge names of Shirow Masamune and Nakamura Ryutaro are behind it with Production I.G. supporting their efforts.
I have to say though, this is going to be one of the few shows where I have to sort through my thoughts properly before even attempting to publish them. 
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If only they’d sub it. Atmosphere-wise, it was perfect. A good introductory episode and a promosing opening makes it seem worth watching, however Ghost Hound’s predecessors makes me think it may be wanting at times and outright boring at others. The fact that they made such a big deal about his traumatic past in the first episode leaves me worried that we’ll be haunted by it rather than a quick resolution and any meaningful plot progression onwards.
Yes, I agree, this was a very good episode. I liked the OP and ED, but the OP especially seemed to be way to upbeat for the tone of the show. Maybe my opinion of that will change as we get to know the characters a little better?
Being kidnapped and seeing your sister die isn’t the kind of thing that will resolve in a few episodes; it’s going to take the whole show, assuming he even gets better. His mom looks like she might snap at any time.
And yeah, I agree the OP doesn’t fit the mood of the show at all, it kinda weirds me out.