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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy |
 Stretch
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[series:358#628] | ||||||
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I'll say it again--the Japanese have a fascination with ghosts, spirits, and the like. But these otherworldly creatures are by no means considered to be neccessarily bad. Having a sort of "ghost phobia" based on our western ideas about spirits, I avoided Haunted Junction like the plague until somehow I heard it was in fact a hilarious comedy. I think I'll employ a certain review writing tactic of mine in which I quote other websites instead of pretending to give an accurate summary myself: "This series is easily one of the funniest things to come out of Japan... With an energy level that makes Dragon Half seem like a Sunday picnic with Grandma, Haunted Junction is certainly for everyone who's not easily offended (and preferably already knows about the rampant child idolization in Japan)." --Anime News Network "In all, Haunted Junction is another classically styled, off-the-wall comedy, but it's a solid one: very weird, mostly very silly, very funny if it's your thing... the weird factor is high, the wacky spirits are creative, and the jokes and parodies are rapid-fire and plentiful." --Marc Marshall, Akemi's Anime World "For slapstick humor, unconventional situations, and just plain wacky fun, Haunted Junction can't be beat. And considering what a bargain the DVD release is, any anime fan worth their salt should have this in their collection." --Pete Harcoff, The Anime Critic "Don't expect this show to be run on Cartoon Network or US television at all... The priestess, Mutsuki, has a Shouta complex... There's lots of references to this throughout the show as they show her going after the boys many times. It's hilarious! ...There's also one other sequence that ends in a fantasy vision of Kazumi and another male completely naked and embracing, expressing their feelings for each other. Anyone want to lay the odds on that making it past the censors? That whole sequence was extremely entertaining." --Chris Beveridge, Anime on DVD I admit, these are the most positive comments I could find, and not every critic would agree with them. But I do, and therefore it is imperative that I use whatever tactic is neccessary in order to convince new viewers to give Haunted Junction a try. This show is so wacky (that's a word that turns up continually in reviews)! Though by no means a big-budget production, it just manages to do so many little things (that you normally don't notice at all) right (like the timing of the jokes). Perhaps it's the sheer unpredictability that makes it so much fun. More than once, the phrase "tastefully handled toilet humor" (if that's not an oxymoron) came to mind while I was watching. I thought the serious final two episodes gave the series a sort of legitimacy--that is, they made it more than just another off-the-wall/toilet humor show. Thank God we have Japan to supply us with our entertainment! Last updated Sunday, February 17 2008. Created Wednesday, November 10 2004. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
 Sesen Kelader
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[series:358#471] |
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This series has no focal point until the last few episodes. Ya, there are sex female ghosts and handsome male ghosts, but the story is too chaos-like and loose. Most of the time it's just for laugh, but I can't really laugh sometimes. However the last episode is a very thoughful one. And the ending is refresing. It's worth a look, but leave it along if u want really serious animes. Last updated Saturday, January 04 2003. Created Saturday, January 04 2003. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
 BigPants
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[series:358#243] | |
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Screwball comedy has been given a new name and that name is Haunted Junction. I love this show. Everyone I know has loved this show except my parents. Haunted Junction revolves around a haunted high school and the Holy Student Council, which uses the school's spirits to take care of the evil of the land. Not only that, but it's bust a gut funny. Even though the show is a downright comedy, it manages to get quite serious in the end, and even I was surprised at how serious it got. Like mentioned above, pretty much each of the seven school spirits (except a couple) have an episode revolving around them. Normally, I wouldn't care for something like that, but in this case, the supporting cast is just excellent. Such as, Miss Hanako, the buxom lady who lives in toilets across the world, or Red Mantle, the man so attractive he has given women over the age of 70 a fever for three days! But let's not dismiss the main cast. Leader, Haruto Houjo, who absolutely hates being in the student council and just wants a normal school life, Mutuski Asahina, who has the biggest shouta-complex I have ever seen, and Kazumi Ryudoh, who is enamored with Miss Hanako and has the BEST Japanese voice acting performance I have ever heard (done by Shinnosuke Furumoto). The character design, done by Atsuko Nakajima or Ranma 1/2 fame, is very nice. Completely different looking characters done absolutely gorgeous. The music is very well with a very good opening and ending. Overall, Haunted Junction should be a necessity in everyone's collection. Fun for the family, good for friends. After watching it, even you will want to exclaim, "Oh my God!" 1-31-02 Last updated Wednesday, January 30 2002. Created Wednesday, January 30 2002. | ||||||||
| Buy | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
 Midnighter
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[series:358#94] | |
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Haunted Junction was an enjoyable series filled with spirit (hah!) smarts, and laugh out loud moments. I really got hooked on this series despite myself. While the art is more or less average, the animation is rather nice, with fairly consistant high quality. The music in the show is nothing special, fairly standard, but the opening and closing themes are catchy and I found my foot tapping along amiably. What makes Haunted Junction so fun is the characters. Hatoru's tragic cries of "Oh my god!" never get old, and the rest of the supporting cast is as amusing. A nice touch is that most of the supporting characters get their own episode to flesh them out a bit more. Yet Haunted Junction never takes itself so seriously that it becomes tedious, which many anime comedies seem to do. There is a small amount of character development, yes, but never at the expense of the manic humor. As the series progresses, I found myself liking the characters more and more, even ones I didn't like too well at first grew on me. I do wish there was more character development, though. Sadly, the cast, though very likeable indeed, remains fairly flat and one-note, with too few moments of genuine emotion like the final two episodes. The supernatural aspect may turn some people off, but really, Haunted Junction is so tame that I would have no problem with most kids of a sensible age watching it. There's some sexual humor but nothing graphic or particularly obscene. Think the Simpsons level. Overall, Haunted Junction is a buy. Fun characters, enjoyable stories, and some of the most laugh out loud humor I've seen in an anime make for a wonderful combination that cannot miss. I couldn't stop watching once I started, and I recommend this one highly to comedy fans. 11-29-01 Last updated Monday, November 04 2002. Created Thursday, November 29 2001. | ||||||||
| Rent | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
 Courtney
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[series:358#80] | |
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GRADE TOTAL: 72% C When I watched the first episode of HAUNTED JUNCTION I thought it was so lame I was thoroughly pissed I had spent 40 dollars to buy the complete collection of the series. It took me months to get around to watching some more episodes but I finally did and I discovered that HAUNTED JUNCTION was damn funny. All the characters (living or dead) are quirky and capable of giving you a genuine laugh throughout most of the episodes. A lot of the storytelling is simply manic, sometimes predictable, and often perverted (so if you're not into that kind of humor stay clear), but I thought that made it all the more hilarious. It made me think of RANMA a lot while watching it. The biggest strength of this anime is it never aspired to be anything more than a screwball comedy and it succeeds at that pretty well. If you can get through the somewhat formula opening then you're in for a pretty good show. Other Unconventional Comedies: PHANTOM QUEST CORPS. RANMA ½ RUPAN III Last updated Tuesday, November 27 2001. Created Tuesday, November 27 2001. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Saitou High | http://www.angelfire.com/anime/squishytoes/ |
| A very decent Haunted Junction site with links to many others. | |
