What "Ghost Hunt" Taught Me

So I recently re-watched an anime called Ghost Hunt, and during my second watch-through I found myself learning some interesting information.  Sure, it's a supernatural anime like any other, where things happen that obviously couldn't happen in the real world.  And granted, since it's a piece of Japanese popular culture, some things (like the portrayal of Catholicism) must be taken worth a grain of salt.

Ghost Hunt anime

However, there's quite a lot of real-world knowledge to be gained from the anime:

• Ghost Hunt can offer a starting point to learning new things about different religious and spiritual beliefs, such as Buddhism, Shintoism, and Onmyōdō, to name a few.
• Of course, these are just starting points.  The anime gets a lot of things right, but (obviously) it's all adapted into a supernatural anime, so don't assume you'll be able to ward off spirits with a few obsessively-perfected spells from the show.
• The debunking that Naru does in the anime is pretty amazing, especially for an anime focused on supernatural happenings (where often the cases are caused by supernatural occurrences).



Looks realistic, no?

• For example, how can spoon-bending be faked?
• Or why is it that the planchette seems to move when you use a Ouija board with your friends? (You mean it's not ghosts?!  Paranormal Activity, you lied to me!)
• Or if ghosts aren't causing the poltergeist activity you're experiencing, what is?
• There are a few instances of interesting historical Japanese (and Chinese, and British, and American) information being explained, which is pretty cool, especially since most of the information is pretty accurate as far as I've been able to tell.
• The anime illustrates how religion, spirituality, and science all mix into one in many countries in the Far East, especially Japan.
• For heaven's sake, the team is made up of a ghost hunter, a shrine maiden, a Buddhist monk, a Catholic priest, a medium, and an Onmyoji!  If that doesn't show the mix of religion, spirituality, and science, what does?!

Oh, yeah, and then there's that guy.

The one huge downside I see to this anime is the fact that the anime alone doesn't finish the story.  Sure, if you're watching it casually and not really paying attention, it seems to end just fine, with everyone (relatively) happy and the story at a close.  But if you go back and really pay attention, you'll notice that there are pieces of the puzzle missing:

• Why was Naru surprised when Mai initially gave him that nickname?
• Why was Naru's name missing from the nameplate outside the door of his hospital room?
• What was Lin talking about that one time he mentioned to Mai that "someone once told me the same thing" in regard to his feelings toward the Japanese?
• What's with this Madoka chick hanging all over Lin?  Is there something more to that?
• Why is Lin protecting Naru so closely?  What do Naru's parents have to do with Lin and Naru's (working) relationship?
• And why, oh why, is Naru so much different in Mai's dreams than in reality?

Seriously, do they?

Searching for the answers to these questions?  Never fear!  You can always read the manga!

The anime actually follows the manga fairly well.  However, the manga continues for another three volumes after the end of the anime, covering in those three volumes another riveting story called "The Forgotten Children," along with the answers to many of the aforementioned questions.

Most of the manga has been released in America (volumes 1-11), but the final volume (volume 12) has not.  Of course, you can always read the manga online.  (I recommend MangaFox; great website with tons of manga!)  Rather than me spoiling the chance for you to find the answers on your own, follow the above link to read the manga for yourself!

So if you're interested in learning about spirituality in Japan, or learning some fun debunking of supposedly paranormal phenomena, or just watching some awesome supernatural butt-kicking, check out the anime (and manga!) Ghost Hunt.  You'll read a pretty great story (if you're not overly critical) and you might just learn a thing or two along the way.

~MyriahKamm
a.k.a. Bambi

WANT: “Hitchhike a Tardis” Shirt

Who in their right mind would not want this totally epic shirt?  A perfect blend of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the much-loved TV Series Dr. Who.

Unfortunately, at $23.94, it’s a little out of my price range.  But, if that’s totally fine with you, you can purchase it at Redbubble.

 

[via Shirtoid]

20 Things You Didn’t Know About Harry Potter [Guest Post]

My sister was gracious enough to write this up for me.  So thanks, sis!
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Now I’m sure if some of you’re crazy and obsessive like me, you know most of these already. My hope is that I’ll enlighten you with maybe one or two little facts you didn’t know, and show all of you who aren’t nutty and whacky some interesting tidbits about Harry Potter, the world he lives in, the characters around him, and J.K. Rowling herself.
20 Things You Didn’t Know About Harry Potter
1. W.O.M.B.A.T.s (Wizards' Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude Tests) (Grades 1, 2, and 3) could be sat by Muggles, although the Wizarding Examinations Authority does not believe that any Muggle would have the inner-knowledge to achieve a pass. The tests are not simple Harry Potter trivia tests, but require extensive knowledge of canon and intuitive knowledge of the wizarding world. (c/o www.jkrowling.com and www.hp-lexicon.org)
2. Most wizarding children are home-schooled before attending a wizarding school like Hogwarts (due mostly to the fact that they can inadvertently or deliberately use magic even at a young age).
3. Albus Dumbledore invented the method of communication using Patronuses specifically for the Order of the Phoenix. Members of this group are the only witches and wizards schooled in this method.
4. Professor Filius Flitwick is human with a dash of goblin ancestry. (Yes, that’s why he’s so short.) This makes him more empathetic to half-breeds (such as Hagrid; half-giant) and more welcoming to all students (including Muggle-borns).
5. Neville Longbottom could have been Voldemort’s target rather than Harry Potter.

a. It’s interesting to note that Voldemort chose the half-blood boy to target rather than the pure-blood. After all, Voldemort is half-blood himself, even though he denies it (or rather, simply fails to acknowledge it).

6. In the wizarding world, photographs move thanks to a potion that wizards use in the developing process.
7. Wizards can make areas Unplottable as well as make themselves Untraceable.
8. Dean Thomas’s father was killed by Death Eaters after he refused to join them when Dean was very young. (Dean was then raised by his mother and step-father, both Muggles, and has always thought himself to be Muggle-born.)
9. There was a Weasley cousin, Mafalda, who was dropped from the books. She would’ve been in Slytherin and would’ve given the Trio information about the Death Eaters because she was nosy and couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Rita Skeeter was created to replace that character, as an eleven-year-old could only find out so much, while a reporter with little or no morals could get pretty much any information.
10. Rowling had tried to use chapters similar to the first one in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in “Philosopher’s Stone”, “Prisoner of Azkaban”, and “Order of the Phoenix”, but finally found a place for it in the sixth book.
11. Crookshanks, Hermione’s half-cat half-Kneazle, is based on a cat Rowling saw on her lunch breaks in London in the late 1980’s.
12. Gilderoy Lockhart was based on someone Rowling actually knew. (She insists that he’s probably telling everyone he knows that he inspired Albus Dumbledore and will never guess which character he really inspired. Or that he claims he actually wrote the books and lets Rowling take the credit because he’s nice.)
13. A never-published song sung by Nearly-Headless Nick which details his death can be found on www.jkrowling.com.
14. Rowling’s editor wanted to cut the scene in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione fight the troll in “Philosopher’s Stone”. Rowling argued hard to keep it because she felt Hermione’s previous annoying-ness required something (quite literally) huge to redeem her in the boys’ eyes.
15. Ginny Weasley is the first girl to be born into the Weasley family for several generations.
16. Fred and George Weasley were born on April 1 (April Fool’s Day).
17. A Squib is a non-magical person born to at least one magical parent. Squibs are rare, as magic is a strong and resilient gene. Some notable Squibs: Argus Filch, Arabella Figg, Merope Gaunt.
18. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all have wands that coincide with Celtic assignations of wood (based on birth date). Harry’s wand, though, was always a holly wand. Ron and Hermione were the only characters for whom Rowling specifically followed Celtic assignations.
19. Gideon and Fabian Prewett, highly skilled members of the original Order of the Phoenix, were Molly Weasley’s brothers.
20. Rowling is less than fond of most sports; so when she came up with Quidditch, she tried to come up with a sport that she would be interested in watching or even playing herself.

Well, there you have it. Just a short list of trivia for Potter-fanatics. Enjoy this weekend of Potter Mania, read one of the books, or go out and see Part I of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! It’s sure to be a great time!
Magically yours,
Bambi

So my question to you:  Do you know any other interesting Harry Potter Facts?

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