Ghost Hound is a 22 episode anime series directed by Ryutaro Nakamura [Kino's Journey, Serial Experiments Lain] and written by Konaka Chiaki [Hellsing TV, Armitage III, Big O, Serial Experiments Lain] with some support from Ghost in Shell creator Masamune Shirow. Produced by Production IG. The series tells a layered story about a boy named Taro who is struggling to cope with the loss of his sister during a botched kidnapping more than a decade ago. With the help of a noted psychiatrist, Taro tried to figure out what really happened to him and his sister and uncover the mystery behind a series of strange dreams that he’s been having. As the story unfolds, it’s clear that there’s much more going on in the small, mountain town where he lives with his parents, things that threaten not just his life but the entire country.
Story
Thanks to Nakamura’s talent as a director, the series has an air of intelligence and importance that many series from the past few years sorely lack. The show often walks a fine line between surreal, bizarre, and frightening, often dealing with very strange images, particularly in the dream world that Taro finds himself in. The story unfolds slowly and builds towards and end that, unfortunately, feels a bit rushed and too simple for what came before. This is the series main fault: the finale. Everything leading up to the point was very good, although the second half couldn’t quite match the quality of the first. In particular, the final two episode feel very inconsistent in tone with much of the rest of the series. It’s definitely a series worth watching, but the finale should have been better than it was.
Animation
The soft, rounded faces and wide eyes of the characters is often at odds with the bizarre imagery and unique editing that appears in the series, but that tends more towards serving the purposes of the series rather than hurting it. It’s well animated throughout, except for the last few episodes where the budget seems to drop a bit. I’m not sure if there was meant to be more than 22 episode and it get cut short towards the end or not, but it does kind of feel that way in how the last episode has a few animation errors and an overall rushed feel to the technical quality. Overall though, it’s not an action-packed series with lots of movement, but it looks good for the most part at what it sets out to do.
Sound/Music
This is one area where the series really excels. It’s a bit hard to describe how good the sound work is for the series, but it’s done much better than a lot of other shows I’ve seen. Much of it is tailored to give a haunting and surreal feel to the action on screen, which is definitely appreciated during the first half of the series when it has a much darker tone. The voice actors all fit their parts pretty well, although Taro’s voice can be bit annoying at times. The music is equally well-done, although it often takes a back seat to the sound work, but that’s not a problem because not all series need to have music constantly pounding away.
Final Verdict
A good, sometimes great, series that’s brought down a few notches by a rushed, inconsistent ending. It’s disappointing considering the talent involved, and the quality of the first half to two-thirds of the series. Nevetheless, it’s still a worthwhile series and one for fans of dark, surreal anime series that have a bit more intelligence than most. 8/10
Specs: Ran from October 18, 2007 to April 3, 2008 in Japan. Currently available on DVD in the US from Sentai Filmworks.
What can we say about the TG-16? Well, it was originally released in Japan as the PC Engine on October 30, 1987, by NEC and Hudson Soft, almost exactly one year before the launch of the Sega Genesis. It launched in North America about two years later and was readily available in Europe through imports. It sold very well in Japan, outselling the Genesis, but was crushed in the rest of the world by both Nintendo and Sega. There was even a CD attachment, called the TurboGrafx-CD, the first for any home console.
But, in the end, it dropped to fourth place behind the Genesis, NES, and SNES in the worldwide charts, dooming it to obscurity with general public. Still, the system was not without its quality titles, which we will look back on in this series.
Here is a list of titles that I will take a closer look at:
Super Air Zonk, Gate of Thunder, Soldier Blade, Super Star Soldier, Blazing Lasers, Bonk's Adventure, Bomberman '93, Military Madness, Ninja Spirit, R-Type, Splatterhouse, Alien Crush, Devil Crush, Legendary Axe, Chew Man Fu, Parasol Stars, Ys I & II, Ys III, Lords of Thunder, Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Dead Moon, Aero Blasters, Magical Chase, Neutopia, Time Cruise, and maybe a few others.
After I play through these games, I'll probably end with a discussion on how these titles hold up to similar games on the SNES and the Genesis. Maybe a little bit of discussion on graphics and sound as well, probably just gameplay for the most part though.
So while i'm drying off, how's everyone love life doing? I dated a red head who actually likes RPG's, but she's bi and only interested in open relationships (with men and girls)... haven't decided if its a bad thing yet.
Wow, that's a nice clear, though long, explanation there. That's just plain unmitigated evil. I mean, what is wrong with these people? At some point did they just get taught that caring about the welfare of others is wrong, like actually morally wrong? That's all I can figure. Otherwise they're just sociopaths who don't care at all.
Wow... Is there really an excuse of this? Aside from lying about "previous PS3 games using the same protection" (no one's been able to back that up, including Sony), it's just insulting. Single player modes should always be accessable offline.
Apparently they are "combating PSN sharing". Considering the system has yet to be succesfully hacked (a merely potential and already defeated one notwithstanding), it seems that shouldn't be an issue. Yeah games can be copied to other systems, but they are still locked to the original PSN ID. This is the sort of compromise that's been in place for a long time. It's been settled, and this nonsense is not going to help Sony catch up to MS, a company that does NOT pull this sort of thing.
I got MAME32 last night and I've been downloading some MAME titles today. Basically, MAME is arcade, like you didn't already know that, and there are a lot of really awesome MAME titles out there because, let's face it, arcades could run circles around the consoles at a similar time period.
Unfortunately, arcade emulation isn't really an exact thing. There are a lot of games that just don't work and some that do work but that have various issues, so it can be a bit frustrating at times when there's a game you really want to play but can't get to work properly.
Well, all that aside, here are some of the games I've been playing:
Asura Blade: Sword of Dynasty
Dangun Feveron
Darius Gaiden: Silver Hawk
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
Dimahoo
DonPachi
Dragon Blaze
Dragon Gun
Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow of Mystara and Tower of Doom
Final Fight
Gaia Crusaders
Giga Wing
Gunbird 2
Gunforce 2
In the Hunt
Knights of the Round
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Metal Slug X
Shock Troopers 2
Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
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