Ghost Hound ep. 3
[ Focus 03: Phobia Exposure ]
Though it would seem there was nothing new in this episode at first glance. We get some background info on Masayuki which shows us that he experienced a classmates suicide in the past. Since this involved the person jumping to their death from the school rooftop. I think, for now, it’s reasonable to think that Masayuki’s fear of heights stems from this event. He further indicated that he was “involved in a killing”. Now, I don’t think he meant he killed someone literally but perhaps he’s alluding to being responsible for the suicide? I’m not sure, given his reaction in the flashback, but he could have been a bully of sorts. Or he could have been a close friend to the person and felt that he didn’t do enough to help them in their time of need. I’m not sure which it could be, especially given his current “jackass” personality.
Next episode will have all three guys wandering around the hospital where Tarou and his sister were held in the past. I’m not sure what their aim or goal is aside from the supposed “phobia exposure” angle…but from the preview it looks like it’ll sure be interesting. Given that the guys seem to turn into aliens. @_@
Ghost Hound ep. 2
[ Focus 02: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing ]
Masayuki is one nosy guy. He asks so much questions and is pretty much stalking Taro and Ogami in a way. o_O I did appreciate the narration he gave though as it was quite informative.
Anyways, this was quite another interesting episode. We get some more details about the kidnapping of Taro and his sister. Firstly, the man responsible died after being chased by the police and was hit by a truck. Secondly, the place where he died and where he hid Taro and Mizuka were quite a ways from each other. The next interesting thing was that during that time a number of other kidnappings was going on in Japan and Ogami’s father committed suicide for some reason (at the same time). Was his death connected with those kidnapping incidents?
Next is Miyako. She seems to be a rather quiet girl at home but not so much at school (indicated in the OP sequence and the next episode preview). We see her and Taro interact in this episode for a bit but it’s nothing lengthy and includes her scolding Taro. Speaking of which, what the hell did Taro see in that forest? Was he really dreaming or did all of that stuff happen him? He saw some freaky image of his “sister” and the silhouette of the kidnapper before he got up and hauled ass out of that place. From the looks of things it looked like he had an OBE since he did run into his “dream face” when he came back. I’d also like to know why Taro couldn’t see his sister’s face clearly in his memories (or if it he actually couldn’t see her face clearly in the past).
I also have to mention again that I like how they use such unique sounds with certain scenes, especially the ones in the beginning of the episode. The animation is still awesome and, as always, pretty damn apparent in the HD versions.
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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