application
Character: Taniyama Mai
Series: Ghost Hunt
Character Age: 16
Canon: Okay, say that your house is haunted by the spirit of an old man who bathes in the blood of young teenagers in order to stay young. Who you gonna call? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the Ghostbusters, because this is Japan. You can’t have four adult men saving the day! You need spunky teenagers! And a Shinto priestess! And a monk! And a young priest! (The old priest got lost on the ride over the Pacific Ocean, sorry.) In short, you need Shibuya Psychic Research. Basically, a client brings a case to the attention of S.P.R., they go and investigate the haunting, and then they get rid of whatever is causing the haunting. Lather, rinse, and repeat, and you have the basic premise to Ghost Hunt. It’s also worth noting that Ghost Hunt works with a lot of the modern theories about ghosts (such as Tezanne’s criteria for poltergeists, which describe nine specific actions- like knocking noises and objects being warm to the touch- which indicate that a haunting is caused by poltergeists), so it’s both fun and educational at the same time!
Mai, the narrator of the series, used to be a fairly normal girl who was just interested in ghost stories. After a freak accident at her school, though, she got roped into working part-time for S.P.R. While she is a very kind and cheerful girl, she is also not afraid of speaking her mind and being independent. She’s very good at spotting things that most people overlook, and she’s smart enough to see beyond good looks and polite words. She’s also very accepting of things that happen to her: after the initial ‘freak out’, she is able to move on with the cases just as easily as any of the seasoned members of S.P.R. Mai has the tendency to inner-monologue a lot, and sometimes she gets left behind because she’s too busy talking to herself in her mind. Despite her razor-sharp intelligence and love of all things supernatural, Mai is very inexperienced when it comes to ghost-related things. Only her determined attitude and latent ESP keep her from meeting an unfortunate end on more than one occasion. (No, Mai, it’s NOT a good idea to go into a building haunted by thousands of angry spirits and try to exorcise them all by yourself, especially when the trained exorcists of the group can’t even do it.)
Sample Post: My name is Taniyama Mai. I’m a second-year high-school student with a passion for the supernatural and horror stories. Who would’ve thought that my life would change into a horror story itself! In the last year and a half I’ve been working part-time for Shibuya Psychic Research, a group that researches strange phenomenon and helps take care of any problems because of them. A lot of strange things have been happening at this camp, so we’re going to be investigating it for the next few days.
…Alright, introducing myself to that group of ducklings didn’t work out so well. Blank stares aren’t that encouraging. I guess they’re not too interested in the life of a ghost hunter. Oh well, they’re still very cute. Ah, I wish I could take one home~ it would make the perfect pet, I think. If only I could convince the landlord to let me keep it. I should probably get back to work now, though. Slacking off on the job isn’t a good thing. Okay, little ducklings, go play over there while I work. I promise I’ll come feed you crackers after I finish setting things up.
I’ve got so much to do! I’ve got to move that equipment over to that cabin, so I’ll just-- ….Huh? Hello? Is someone there? I could’ve sworn that I heard something… Maybe it’s one of the ghosts that were filed in the reports. Or maybe it’s a poltergeist? There’s a lot of people here, so it’s a possibility. I’ll check the strange occurrences against Tezanne’s nine criteria for poltergeists, just to be safe. I have a copy of that list right here, too. Hmm…People have been hearing strange noises, so there’s one. There’s also been….people suddenly turning into children?! That’s not one of Tezanne’s criteria at all!
I heard something about strange animals, but that's not one of the criteria either! Hmmm... All the animals I’ve seen all look normal. Could they really be spirits? I mean, I guess it’s possible, but I hope not. They’re all very- Oh! There’s one of the ducklings I saw earlier! Hello, little guy. You aren’t over in the corner with your friends. Have you been standing here this entire time? Aww, I bet you think I’m your mommy, don’t you? That’s so cute! You know, even if you ARE a spirit who’s haunting the camp, you’re adorable. C’mon, you can follow me while I set up this equipment in the ba-
…
I really hope we have fire insurance…
Series: Ghost Hunt
Character Age: 16
Canon: Okay, say that your house is haunted by the spirit of an old man who bathes in the blood of young teenagers in order to stay young. Who you gonna call? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the Ghostbusters, because this is Japan. You can’t have four adult men saving the day! You need spunky teenagers! And a Shinto priestess! And a monk! And a young priest! (The old priest got lost on the ride over the Pacific Ocean, sorry.) In short, you need Shibuya Psychic Research. Basically, a client brings a case to the attention of S.P.R., they go and investigate the haunting, and then they get rid of whatever is causing the haunting. Lather, rinse, and repeat, and you have the basic premise to Ghost Hunt. It’s also worth noting that Ghost Hunt works with a lot of the modern theories about ghosts (such as Tezanne’s criteria for poltergeists, which describe nine specific actions- like knocking noises and objects being warm to the touch- which indicate that a haunting is caused by poltergeists), so it’s both fun and educational at the same time!
Mai, the narrator of the series, used to be a fairly normal girl who was just interested in ghost stories. After a freak accident at her school, though, she got roped into working part-time for S.P.R. While she is a very kind and cheerful girl, she is also not afraid of speaking her mind and being independent. She’s very good at spotting things that most people overlook, and she’s smart enough to see beyond good looks and polite words. She’s also very accepting of things that happen to her: after the initial ‘freak out’, she is able to move on with the cases just as easily as any of the seasoned members of S.P.R. Mai has the tendency to inner-monologue a lot, and sometimes she gets left behind because she’s too busy talking to herself in her mind. Despite her razor-sharp intelligence and love of all things supernatural, Mai is very inexperienced when it comes to ghost-related things. Only her determined attitude and latent ESP keep her from meeting an unfortunate end on more than one occasion. (No, Mai, it’s NOT a good idea to go into a building haunted by thousands of angry spirits and try to exorcise them all by yourself, especially when the trained exorcists of the group can’t even do it.)
Sample Post: My name is Taniyama Mai. I’m a second-year high-school student with a passion for the supernatural and horror stories. Who would’ve thought that my life would change into a horror story itself! In the last year and a half I’ve been working part-time for Shibuya Psychic Research, a group that researches strange phenomenon and helps take care of any problems because of them. A lot of strange things have been happening at this camp, so we’re going to be investigating it for the next few days.
…Alright, introducing myself to that group of ducklings didn’t work out so well. Blank stares aren’t that encouraging. I guess they’re not too interested in the life of a ghost hunter. Oh well, they’re still very cute. Ah, I wish I could take one home~ it would make the perfect pet, I think. If only I could convince the landlord to let me keep it. I should probably get back to work now, though. Slacking off on the job isn’t a good thing. Okay, little ducklings, go play over there while I work. I promise I’ll come feed you crackers after I finish setting things up.
I’ve got so much to do! I’ve got to move that equipment over to that cabin, so I’ll just-- ….Huh? Hello? Is someone there? I could’ve sworn that I heard something… Maybe it’s one of the ghosts that were filed in the reports. Or maybe it’s a poltergeist? There’s a lot of people here, so it’s a possibility. I’ll check the strange occurrences against Tezanne’s nine criteria for poltergeists, just to be safe. I have a copy of that list right here, too. Hmm…People have been hearing strange noises, so there’s one. There’s also been….people suddenly turning into children?! That’s not one of Tezanne’s criteria at all!
I heard something about strange animals, but that's not one of the criteria either! Hmmm... All the animals I’ve seen all look normal. Could they really be spirits? I mean, I guess it’s possible, but I hope not. They’re all very- Oh! There’s one of the ducklings I saw earlier! Hello, little guy. You aren’t over in the corner with your friends. Have you been standing here this entire time? Aww, I bet you think I’m your mommy, don’t you? That’s so cute! You know, even if you ARE a spirit who’s haunting the camp, you’re adorable. C’mon, you can follow me while I set up this equipment in the ba-
…
I really hope we have fire insurance…