Ghost Sweeper Mikami (Vol. 1)

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This 1993 TV show based on a manga serial by Takashi Shiina was extremely popular in Japan when it first aired, although it's difficult to understand why. The blond, miniskirted title character is a venal exorcist or "Ghost Sweeper" with a typically mismatched crew of assistants. In the opening episodes, Mikami is pitted against the resurrected Nosferatu, a super-vampire from the past. She initially refuses to kill him because she might damage the valuable "divine stone" on the end of the spear she received from a long-dead samurai. Director Atsutoshi Umezawa tries to achieve the over-the-top freneticism of Slayers with hysterical vocal performances and staccato editing, but he mixes in grotesque visuals that might have been lifted from Devil Man. The results are too silly to be frightening but too gory to be funny. Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, alcohol use. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

For fans of the TV series.......2002-08-05

If you have not seen at least a few episodes of the TV series it you may not enjoy this movie since it is set at the end of the series. There is no introduction to the charactors since it is expected you know them from watching the series. It's too bad that non of the TV series has been released in R1.

Note: The english track has had all of the music replaced, and music has been added where there is non in the original. The Japanese track has not been changed.

Hard to enjoy if you have never seen the previous episodes........2002-07-01

I first watched "Ghost Sweeper Mikami" back in 1994 and the first episodes of the TV series were humorous and I enjoyed it a lot.

The television series introduced a a money loving ghost-demon-vamprie hunter named Mikami and in each episode we get to know more about her and each member of her team that joins her for each case.

This is what I enjoyed about the television series is the fact that you got a chance to grow with the characters and fully enjoy the series because it is a humorous series and quite fun.

Almost a decade later, the DVD of the series is finally released in the US but not the release that I was expecting.

"Ghost Sweeper Mikami" features the final two episodes of the anime television series and what I enjoyed the series for, the ability to grow and enjoy the characters has been removed from this series.

What you see is a group of people assisting Mikami going against Nosferatu. No one knows about the other characters and why they act the way they do and thus my feeling is that people who watch this are not really going to get it.

Hopefully Manga Entertainment will plan to release the series on DVD but with the final two TV episodes combined to make like a movie, just doesn't seem right without the proper background knowledge of the characters. Without it, you can't really appreciate this anime.

As for the DVD, since this was a TV series based in the early 90's, you can't expect top notch anime compared to movies or OAV's but you get to watch a series created by cels instead of the typical comptuer animation used in anime today.

As for audio, the digital 5.1 has an awesome track but since I'm a Japanese language purists, I rather watch the series in that format via English subtitles but I did switch time from time to hear the 5.1 track which was really good.

As for special features, there's a photo gallery and character bio information and of course the typical Manga trailers they include on every DVD.

All in all "Ghost Sweeper Mikami" is a great series that was intended for people to watch the television series and enjoy the character development with each episode not by skipping to the final two episodes of the TV series and then enjoying it from there. It just doesn't seem right. The series is quite entertaining but to watch the final two episodes, I'm not sure if the viewer who hasn't watched the previous episodes can truly enjoy or appreciate this entertaining series.

Average customer rating:
Ghost Sweeper Mikami [Region 2]
Starring: Wayne Grayson , Dan Stevens (II) , Kumiko Nishihara , Sharon Becker , and Wakana Yamazaki
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001CVAQK

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