Haunted Junction DVD

Saito High School sits at the intersection of three religious properties — a Christian church, a Buddhist temple, and a Shinto shrine — which has made it, over the generations, one of the most supernaturally active schools in Japan. Spirits do not merely haunt the building; they attend it. They have lockers. The Holy Student Council is the body responsible for managing relations between the living student body and its many ghostly co-inhabitants. Haruto Houjou is the council president, the exhausted son of a Christian pastor who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the supernatural and has been appointed to it anyway. Kazumi Ryuudou is the son of a Buddhist monk who is primarily interested in the ghost of Toilet Hanako — a beautiful spirit who lives in the girls' bathroom and whom Kazumi is hopelessly devoted to, to everyone's considerable discomfort. Mutsuki Asahina is the daughter of a Shinto priest, extremely competent, intensely violent when provoked, and possessed of a very specific taste in young male spirits that the series treats as comedy. The seven school spirits — each one based on a distinct Japanese school ghost legend — assist the council in addressing supernatural disturbances, which arise every week with exhausting regularity, usually in ways that are somebody's fault and nobody wanted.

Haunted Junction is a 12-episode comedy series produced by Bandai Visual and Studio Deen, directed by Yuji Mutoh, and based on Nemu Mukudori's manga serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao!. It aired on TV Tokyo in spring 1997 and is a rapid-fire supernatural school comedy that draws on the full catalog of Japanese school ghost mythology — the Seven Mysteries, Toilet Hanako, the music room piano, the anatomy model — and deploys them as the basis for escalating situational comedy. Character designs were provided by Atsuko Nakajima, known for her work on Ranma ½. The North American DVD release is notable as a subtitle-only release — no English dub was produced — making it one of the relatively rare early Bandai Entertainment DVDs issued without a dub track.

Originally distributed by AnimeVillage.com on VHS in 1999; reissued as a DVD collector's boxset in 2000 under the Bandai Entertainment label. The series never received a DVD release in Japan, where it remained VHS and LaserDisc only. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Yuji Mutoh
Original Manga: Nemu Mukudori (serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao!, MediaWorks)
Character Design: Atsuko Nakajima (Ranma ½, Fushigi Yugi)
Studio: Studio Deen / Bandai Visual
Music: Hayato Matsuo

Japanese Cast:
• Takehito Koyasu as Haruto Houjou (Slayers, Escaflowne)
• Bin Shimada as Kazumi Ryuudou (Dragon Half, Gestalt)
• Yuri Amano as Mutsuki Asahina (El-Hazard, Burn Up W, Tenchi Universe)
• Chisa Yokoyama as Toilet Hanako (Battle Skipper, Nadesico)
• Kikuko Inoue as Red Mantle (Tenchi Universe, El-Hazard, Gate Keepers, Green Legend Ran)
• Shin'ichiro Miki as additional cast (Escaflowne, Vampire Princess Miyu, Gokudo)

DVD Features

• All 12 Episodes — Subtitle Only (No English Dub)
• Collector's Box Set
• Bandai Entertainment Previews

Spoken Languages: Japanese Audio Only, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: HAUNTEDじゃんくしょん (Hōnteddo Jankushon)
Runtime: ~300 Minutes (Complete Series, 12 Episodes)
Director: Yuji Mutoh
DVD Release Year: 2000 (U.S. Collector's Box Set, Bandai Entertainment)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): April 2 – June 25, 1997 (TV Tokyo)
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Note: Subtitle Only — No English Dub Produced. Japan release was VHS/LaserDisc only; this DVD is a North America exclusive format.
Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, School
Themes: School Ghost Mythology, Seven Mysteries, Holy Student Council, Toilet Hanako, Inter-Faith Spirit Management

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.