Haruto Houjo, Kazumi Karuo, and Mutsuki Asahina make up Saito High's "Holy"
Student Council. These three work with the seven school spirits in looking after the students'
welfare and dealing with various supernatural disturbances... with mixed
results!
Haunted Junction Anime Review
Haunted Junction is mainly about a school infested with numerous spirits and a
group of special students tasked with the responsibility of keeping the peace. It's not one continuing saga because each episode is fairly self-contained and
can stand alone (although watching the first ep is crucial for the sake of
background information).
Three special students are hand-picked by the school chairman to form the Holy
Student Council -- Haruto Houjo, the son of a minister; Kazumi Ryudo, the son
of a Buddhist monk; and Mutsuki Asahina, the daughter of a Shinto priest.
Haruto is appointed as the president, for only he has the ability to summon
the seven school spirits. Kazumi's specialty is possession, and Mutsuki's power is exorcism.
The Holy Student Council takes care of settling spiritual disputes, putting
disturbed spirits to rest -- just about everything related to the supernatural
within the school grounds.
Because most of their time is consumed by their Holy Student Council duties,
the three get academic credits even without attending classes.
A lot of what happens in Haunted Junction is character-driven.
Haruto is torn between his duty as Holy Student Council president and his
dream of having a normal school life without any of the supernatural stuff;
Kazumi is girl-crazy and obssessed with one of the school spirits -- the sexy
Ms. Hanako; Mutsuki has a shouta complex, meaning she is insanely attracted to
young boys ages 12 and below (it's like the female counterpart of a Lolita
complex).
These quirks, along with the seven spirits' own quirks, result in various
situations that range from funny to bizarre.
I must warn you though that Haunted Junction has some potentially offensive
content, depending on who's watching.
Some may not be receptive to the whole idea of Mutsuki's shouta complex,
especially as it's very aggressively portrayed.
Like in one episode, Mutsuki resorts to pulling down the child spirit Nino's
shorts and then taking a picture of his private part for her satisfaction. In another episode, she orders all the gradeschool boys in a classroom to
strip.
The visuals are somewhat above average at best. Character designs are generally cute, but I find that there is an overall lack
of refinement and consistency in the way most of the scenes are rendered.
A lot of things could have been drawn and animated better, from simple
movements like walking or running around to more complex ones like special
attacks and so forth.
Comparing the anime art to the manga art you'll see in the ending sequence(s),
you'll see a great deal of difference.
The anime art just doesn't measure up to the beautifully illustrated manga
art.
All in all, Haunted Junction is a pretty entertaining and amusing series. It's not what I'd hail as fantastic but it had enough ooomph to keep me
watching till the end.
Miscellanies: Haunted Junction
The DVD release contains all twelve episodes.
Haunted Junction | |
| Genre | Comedy, Supernatural |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 12 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | Apr 2, 1997 to Jun 25, 1997 |
| Producers | - |
| Studio | Studio Deen |
| Rating | PG-13 - Teens 13 or older |
| Themes | School |
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