Phantom Quest Corp.

A Parent's Guide to Anime
Rated: PG
Parental Guidance Advised

Review by Michael Franz:

Phantom Quest Corp. is a series of 4 episodes on 2 tapes about a ghostbusting company in Tokyo named, oddly enough, Phantom Quest Corp. The company is run by Ayaka Kisaragi, a young woman who likes to spend money and get drunk. Assisting her are Mamoru, an 11 year old boy who handles the books; Karino, a detective with the "U" division of the Tokyo police; Madam Suimei, a fortune-teller and psychic; Rokkon, a Buddhist monk and exorcist; and Nanami, a girl with the power to shoot blasts of fire. Together, this band of ghost fighters always manages to beat the monster in the end. Now, if only they could manage to get PAID in the end...

Episode 1 -- "Kiss of Fire" PQC is hired by the Transylvanian embassy to investigate mysterious killings that occurred after Dracula's coffin was brought to Tokyo. Ayaka tracks down the vampire's next victim... and finds out there's another vampire involved! But whose side is he on?

Episode 2 -- "End of World" As Ayaka rides home in a taxi after a long night of drinking, she senses an evil energy coming from a nearby hospital which causes a massive car pileup. Thanks to her ESP, she and the driver escape with only minor injuries. When she goes to visit the driver in the hospital the next day, however, he's dead! Suspecting foul play, Ayaka investigates, only to find that the hospital administrator has made a devil of a deal.

Episode 3 -- "Love Me Tender" PQC is called in by a Tokyo department store to investigate their new exhibit of artifacts from the ancient Saharan kingdom. Rumors abound that the exhibit is haunted. Meanwhile, the store president is threatening to close the exhibit unless the woman in charge of it will sleep with him -- and the ghost doesn't like that one bit!

Episode 4 -- "Lover Come Back to Me" A group of Buddhist monks called the Hadja takes over the ghostbusting business in Tokyo. Every time a ghost appears, Ayaka and company get there only to find that the Hadja is there first. As PQC goes into bankruptcy, Karino decides to investigate and finds out there's more to these monks than meets the eye.

Parent's Guide Rating:

yellow (parental guidance advised)

There are few things parents should watch out for in this series. Episode 1 features vampires biting people in the neck, although there's no blood. Episode 2 features a fairly scary demon. Episode 3 contains a lot of sexual harassment between the store president and his female employee (which is undoubtedly tolerated more in Japan than in the US, although this story depicts it negatively.) Episode 4 has a little blood and a quick shot of Ayaka's breasts. Also, Ayaka is drunk often during the series. It's a good series, and I'd definitely recommend it, but you'll probably want to see it yourself before letting your kids watch. It's available in the US from Pioneer.