Haunted Junction

—by Charles McCarter

There is a large portion of manga and anime that are based in the occult. Some, like VAMPIRE MIYU and KARURA MAU, are serious and somber. However, others like GHOST SWEEPER MIKAMI, YUUGEN KAISHA, and even MAHOU TSUKAI TAI! are much more lighthearted and even humorous. HAUNTED JUNCTION falls into this latter category.
Haruto is the President of the Student Council. But, as he so angrily points out, he would never have accepted the position if he knew it was the "Holy" Student Council. However, despite his protests, he remains the leader of an organization that consists of himself (who is a Christian), Mutsuki, a young Shinto priestess, and Kazuo, a Buddhist monk-in-training. They have been gathered together by the school's principal for a very important mission.
Their high school sits in the middle of an area triangulated by a Christian Church, a Buddhist Temple, and a Shinto Shrine. The result is that their school is a virtual hotspot of supernatural activity. Their task is to capture and subdue the seven ghosts that are roaming their school. These ghosts range from a voluptuous woman who lives in one of the bathroom stalls to a giant pair of feet.
As Haruto and company try to round up each of the ghosts, they reveal their special abilities. Kazuo, for example, has the ability to become possessed by the spirits of dead people and especially animals. Mutsuki is able to exorcise things with her Shinto abilities, and Haruto, well, he doesn't really have any special powers. Needless to say, Haruto takes a lot of damage during the battles, but it's all for a good cause, isn't it?
Character designs are done by Nakajima Atsuko, who is perhaps most famous for her work on RANMA and TAIHO SHICHAU ZO. The animation quality is nice, and the characters are detailed. The ghosts are unique and humorous, and they all have personalities and stories of their own—even the pair of giant legs. Haruto is the "straight man" and many of the other characters often get laughs at his expense. There are a lot of "wild takes," exaggerated facial expressions, and all the other hallmarks of comedy anime. It's a little predictable, but it's usually pretty funny.
This show also has a slightly risque quality to it. The most obvious example is Mutsuki's penchant for young boys. She likes her men young, and by that I mean grade school young. And Hanako, one of the ghosts, is something of a temptress as well. None of this is especially disturbing or explicit; it simply means that HAUNTED JUNCTION isn't children's fare.
There are a few running gags in this short series that make it really funny. First, Kazuo is always getting possessed by the spirit of some dead animal (a cat or dog or whatever), which always causes problems. Second is Mutsuki's penchant for young boys. And my personal favorite? At the end of every episode, wait for Haruto to say (in English), "Oh my God!" He always does.
This series is different from many of the other titles in the AnimeVillage.com library. There are no giant robots, no cool space ships. But HAUNTED JUNCTION manages to scare up more than a few laughs. The fact that it's different from much of the other domestically available anime makes it worth watching. But beware, before long you may find yourself shouting "Oh my God!" as you reach the end of the tape and realize you have to wait for the next volume.

Released in North America by AnimeVillage.com
VHS, 60 minutes
Subtitled AV-1100 $24.95
Available now in the USA
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