25 minSeason 1 • Episode 22
LatestMakoto and Masayuki help devise a plan to allow Taro to enter the shrine where Miyako is being held as the leader of the Ogami religious group. Only women and girls are allowed to enter, so the boys plan on dressing Taro up as a young female so that he may enter and rescue Miyako. Hirata and Reika also assist in carrying out the plan.
In an isolated region of Kyushu lies the town of Suiten. Though seeming small and modest, Suiten is not a picturesque place for a vacation, unless it is from the “Unseen World”. Taro, Makoto and Masayuki, three boys with traumatic pasts, learn to let their souls cross between the two parallel worlds. However, the Unseen World is no mere copy of the real Apparent World. The Unseen World is the home of ghosts, but changes are now allowing the souls of the dead to pass over into the Apparent World, with unpredictable effects. Follow the journey of Taro, Makoto and Masayuki, as they cross between the two worlds, trying to unravel a great mystery.
Direction
Nakamura's measured dread builds unease through empty space.
Sound
Masuda's score warps traditional instruments into spectral frequencies.
Writing
Trauma processing through supernatural metaphor never feels cheap.
Kensho Ono
Tarō Komori (voice)
Akiko Yajima
Miyako Komagusu (voice)
Jun Fukuyama
Masayuki Nakajima (voice)
Soichiro Hoshi
Makoto Ōgami (voice)
Yasunori Matsumoto
Takahito Komagusa (voice)
Fumihiko Tachiki
Ryōya Komori (voice)
Sakiko Tamagawa
Miki Komori (voice)
Keisuke Oda
Atsushi Hirata (voice)
Show Hayami
Masato Kaibara (voice)
Mitsuki Saiga
Kei Yakushi (voice)
Toru Okawa
Yasuhiro Nakajima (voice)
Michiko Neya
Reika Ōtori (voice)
Shintaro Asanuma
Michio Hoshino (voice)
Ikuko Tani
Himeko Ōgami (voice)
Jin Urayama
Motoi Yazaki (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Unseen World draws heavily from Shinto's Yomi and Buddhist hungry ghost mythology, filtered through rural Kyushu's actual folk practices. Nakamura researched local rituals in Miyazaki Prefecture.
Ghost Hound was Production I.G's first full cel-shaded 3D anime; the 'liminal' aesthetic came from technical limitations they leaned into. The uncanny valley was intentional.
JP
