Ghost Hunt, Vol. 2
Grade 7 Up–Enthusiastic but uninformed Mai continues to assist arrogant 16-year-old entrepreneur Naru with his paranormal investigation service. Most of the volume is taken up with a story called Doll House, in which the extended members of Shibuya Psychic Research visit a house to investigate poltergeist phenomena associated with a doll belonging to an eight-year-old girl. Effectively creepy in places, the predictable story is elevated by the visuals. However, any success is undercut by the solution that allows Naru to finally dispel the malevolent spirit. As with the first volume, readers are given no advance information about his secret weapon. So while the story is visually effective, it lacks drama. Furthermore, this particular bag of tricks begins to make the supporting characters seem less valuable and, in retrospect, makes their earlier efforts at exorcism seem like a waste of readers time. The last chapter, a side story, maneuvers the characters closer to the standard manga love triangle farce that will undoubtedly feature heavily in future volumes.–Benjamin Russell, The Derryfield School, Manchester, NHCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.