Message from Shirow Masamune

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Ghost Hound was adapted from a project I had already designed back in 1987. Initially, it was a story of three boys in senior high school who had the tendency (?) to slip out of their bodies while sleeping. By going in and out of the other world (that coexist with the "real" world, they acquire unique ways of looking at things and ways of thinking, which they employ in their everyday lives. They are different from ordinary kids of that age when they acquire an "adult's view point" and "common sense." The idea was not to go for a dramatic storyline, such as having main characters solving a crime case or acting in the shadow. I wanted to portray and play with "multi-point of views" that the characters acquire as a result of wandering between the other world and this world. It could be understood as a story of "realizing and initiating an unknown ability." At that time (and even today), I didn't have the means to appropriately illustrate the other world, so I couldnt proceed further to produce it myself.

The present animated TV series has slightly changed the original theme and focuses on the "loss of unworldly power and transformation to an alien being called adults" as it reveals a story of three junior high school students coming into contact with the adult world. Under such perspective, it could be described as a sort of Bildungsroman. As always, I am deeply indebted again to the anime staff that has given another project a chance. And, as always, I have mixed feelings about the fact that since this is TV animation and not manga, the content will be different from what I initially designed. But if this project turns out to be more entertaining and makes someone happy, then I would say that's the real goal intended.

I am looking forward to seeing how the characters develop and live the story, now that they are luckily given life at last by Production I.G's staff.

Shirow Masamune