is a

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

produced by Madhouse and Pioneer LDC. It was originally released as a four-episode

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

(OVA) in Japan between August 25, 1994 and February 25, 1995. An English-dubbed version was released in North America by Pioneer (now

Geneon Universal Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

) shortly thereafter. The plot of ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' revolves around Ayaka Kisaragi, the proprietor of a

Shinjuku, Tokyo , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

company dedicated to helping those in need of

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

aid. The title is a play on words: ''Yūgen Kaisha'' (often written as ''You-Gen-Kai-Sya'') means "limited liability company" in Japanese; but when written with different characters, the word ''yūgen'' can also mean "the occult." The kanji 怪 means mysterious, but can also be read as Kai. Kaisha is typically written "会社". This further adds to the pun. In addition to the ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' OVA series, two

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

albums, a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

, and a single-issue English

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

also exist. ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' has been compared to the concurrent manga and anime '' Ghost Sweeper Mikami''. The animation, comedy, and action sequences in ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' has been praised by critics. However, these same reviewers felt it lacked plot depth and character development due to its short length.

Plot

Ayaka Kisaragi is a beautiful woman descended from a long line of Japanese exorcists. However, bored with their traditions, she started her own business, Phantom Quest Corp. The headquarters of the company is Ayaka's quaint little family home, nestled between the skyscrapers of

. Along with the traditional knowledge she possesses, Ayaka also uses very unconventional weapons while attacking ghosts and demons, including a lipstick case that turns into a laser sword and earrings that explode into spiritual energy. Although Ayaka is very competent with her skills, her own bad habits (overindulgence in

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

, and shopping binges) often cut into the company's meager earnings and interfere with paying the various experts whose help she usually depends upon. Also, because of her drinking, she often sleeps in bed late, which her partner and business associate Mamoru Shimesu has to find creative ways of waking her up. Along the way, and with a little help from various spiritual specialists, Ayaka can usually be found battling

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

poltergeist In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...

s, and cutthroat competitors bent on driving her out of business.

Media

Anime

''Phantom Quest Corp.'' was produced by the animation studio Madhouse and Pioneer LDC. A "

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

" of the show was completed on June 30, 1994. This "File 0" episode is little more than a promotional item for the anime. ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' was originally released as a four-episode

(OVA) in Japan between August 25, 1994 and February 25, 1995. Pioneer (now

) released an English-dubbed version of the series in VHS & LaserDisc format in North America in two volumes on April 27, 1995 and June 27, 1995. The entire series was released on DVD in Japan on December 22, 1998 and in North America on November 21, 2000. Morio Asaka, one of the anime's three directors, has stated that if Madhouse had continued with the series with more than four episodes, he would have liked to have seen an expansion on the romantic relationship between Ayaka and Lieutenant Karino.

CDs

The opening theme, , and the closing theme, , are sung by Rica Matsumoto, the Japanese voice actress for the protagonist Ayaka. English versions of the themes, titled "Blue Devil Blues" and "Dancin' with a Demon" respectively, are sung by an uncredited vocalist. A 12-song CD soundtrack for the OVA series was released in Japan by Pioneer LDC on August 25, 1994; it contains the themes, some background music, and a few drama tracks. A separate 11-track album, "Best of Phantom Quest Corp.", was released on March 25, 1997 in North America; it contains both English and Japanese vocal songs and some instrumental tracks.

Light novel and manga

A ''Phantom Quest Corp.''

written by

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Watanabe Mami and illustrated by artists Hitoshi Ueda and Asako Nishida was published in the

Fujimi Shobo , formerly , was a Japanese publisher that specialized in light novels, manga, Japanese role-playing games, role-playing games and collectible card games. Founded in 1972 and reorganized three times, it was at times an independent company and at ...

magazine ''Fantasia Battle Royal'' in September 1995. A single-issue English

of ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' was released by Pioneer in North America in March 1997. It was written by Jose Calderon and illustrated by Dave Cooper. The plot involves Ayaka and her associates travelling to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for the "International Paranormal Investigator Convention", where they take on new case involving a jaded salaryman who has stumbled upon an ancient codex and becomes a powerful sorcerer.

Voices

Reception

''Phantom Quest Corp.'' has been almost universally compared to '' Ghost Sweeper Mikami'', a franchise with a nearly identical premise that was released slightly earlier. Anime journalist John Oppliger is convinced that Madhouse based ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' on the latter series, noting stark similarities between the protagonists of the two works. Christopher Macdonald of the

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

felt the art of ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' was subpar for a Madhouse release, but was impressed by the animation, stating, "Fight scenes and other scenes involving high-speed movement are absolutely astounding in animation quality". Macdonald also enjoyed the comedy found in the series, but disliked the lack of character development and how each episode's plot stands on its own without an actual

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

. Mania.com's Chris Beveridge and Raphael See of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews agreeably noted that there are several enjoyable moments throughout the OVA despite this seemingly generic quality. They made similar positive comments regarding its visual attributes, with Beveridge calling the final battle in the fourth episode "just great both in choreography and animation". She likened the series to a mix between ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'', and '' Sledge Hammer!''.

References

External links

*
Absolute Anime's ''Phantom Quest Corp.'' profile
{{Morio Asaka 1994 anime OVAs 1994 comedy horror films 1995 Japanese novels Exorcism in anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Geneon USA Light novels Madhouse (company) NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Supernatural anime and manga