Haunted Junction
More spirits live in Saito High School than in Harry Potter's Hogwarts, including the Giant Who Dances in the Gym, anatomical model Haruo and his skeleton Bones, the dashing Scarlet Mantle, sexy Miss Hanako, the Girl in the Mirror, an animated statue--and the head of the school. The members of the "Holy Student Council" are charged with keeping them in line and fending off hostile entities. Council President Haruto Hokujo says he wants to lead a normal life but finds himself in the thick of every crisis. When he's not being possessed by some wandering spirit, Kazumi Ryudo lusts after Miss Hanako. Asahina Mutsumi handles exorcisms while suffering from "Shouta Complex"--the female equivalent of the "Lolita Complex" that afflicts so many males in anime andmanga: she lusts after pubescent boys. This running gag doesn't play well in America, where suggestions of child molestation aren't considered funny. The situations in this 12-part, no-holds-barred comedy invariably degenerate into slapstick disasters. When the ghost of a lovely girl tries to take possession of Kazumi so she can spend the night with her musician-lover, he imagines a homosexual encounter; she wants to hear the song he wrote for her. A disgruntled former student steals 1,000 statues, hoping to absorb their mental powers--but is sidetracked by Kazumi's girlie magazine. Although Haruto ends each episode sighing, "Oh my God!" the characters actually enjoy their unconventional lives. Rated 13 and up for profanity, nudity, sexual humor, toilet humor, and violence. Only available in original Japanese language with English subtitles.--Charles Solomon