Ghost Hunt follows the adventures of Kazuya Shibuya, the president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center (SPR) and Mai Taniyama, a first year high school student. The story begins during an exchange of ghost stories between Mai and her friends, who are interrupted twice: first by a mysterious "male student" and then by a fellow classmate, who warns them of how their ghost stories attract spirits.
While out walking, Mai sees the building that all the ghost stories surround and decides to go in. As she is about to touch a camera in the middle of the room, a man stops her and ends up injuring himself. Mai is then forced to work as a stand-in assistant for the man, an employee of the "male student," who was hired to study the "paranormal" events occurring at the school. Mai nicknames this "student" "Naru" for his narcissistic attitude. Naru owns a paranormal investigation company SPR and Mai eventually earns a part-time job at SPR after assisting with the first case. The more involved Mai becomes with Naru, the more she learns about herself and her feelings towards him.
Along with Shibuya's assistant, Lin, the SPR also finds itself assisted by various spirit mediums and exorcists.
The anime has already ended its run. Many fans have asked for a second season, but while there has been no firm confirmation, some fans believe there is a possibility of a return to be around this fall. The manga is still ongoing; hence beliefs that there could be a possibility of a second season. The author has been quoted as saying that she is currently working on a girl's horror story that she began years ago (which is assumed to be Ghost Hunt). There is also a possibility that the Ghost Hunt manga will finish after all the storylines in the novels have been finished since Fuyumi Ono stopped writing "Ghost Hunt," the novels, in 1994.
Kazuya Shibuya
A paranormal researcher and the handsome 17 year-old president of the SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research. His nickname "Naru" is short for "narcissist", given to him by Mai. Contrary to the other characters, he does not appear to possess any kind of spiritual power, and must count on his companions' abilities and his own intellect and knowledge to solve the cases they investigate. It is later revealed that Naru is an extremely powerful psychic, but using it takes a toll on his body because it is difficult to control and can only be used as raw power.
Lin Koujo
Originally from Hong Kong. He is Naru's calm and taciturn assistant who rarely speaks more than he needs to. He seems to get most of the unpleasant jobs, and works through the night. He appears to be an onmyoji and has a wide range of paranormal skills from exorcism to summoning spirit familiars. He acts as Naru's guardian to help him find his brother. It is revealed that the three are childhood friends. Lin says he dislikes Japanese people because of the past conflicts Japan has had with China. At one time, he told this to Mai and she told him that he should forget the past to move on and if he should hate her, it should be because he hates her as an individual. At this, he stated that a long time ago, someone told him the exact same words. In the novels, it is revealed that this person was Gene.
Houshou Takigawa
A 25 year old hakkaisou, a Buddhist monk who has left his position, who studied in Mt. Koya. He claims that he left Mt. Koya because they did not allow music CDs. His full-time profession is a bass musician in a popular band. He usually acts as a brotherly figure to Mai, but does ask Mai out on a date when she becomes jealous of Naru going on a date with Masako at the end of episode 11. He is one of the more powerful and effective members of the group and acts as leader in Naru's absence, as seen in the Cursed House File. The other members of SPR refer to him casually as "Bou-san" (Monk-san).
It is revealed in the novels that he actually has a driver's licence but has never used it, not even once.
Ayako Matsuzaki
A 23 year old outspoken, self-styled Shinto miko, or priestess, because she was not raised in a shrine and is actually the daughter of a wealthy doctor who owns a community hospital. She is confident and proud of her abilities, though her attempts to demonstrate them have almost always fallen short. To her credit, she did teach Mai some defensive sutras, particularly the Shinto Kuji exorcism incantation, "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen". It is later revealed that she is actually just as strong as Bou-san, but apparently only works well under certain conditions and is capable of hearing the spirits of trees. A running joke is that at the beginning of a new case, Ayako usually claims the incident is caused by an elemental earth spirit. She has also shown an interest in Naru, though he frequently rebuffs her with dry remarks concerning her age. Later in the story, she develops somewhat of an 'older sister' relationship to Mai.
John Brown
A nineteen year old caucasian Catholic priest from Australia who learned to speak Japanese with a Kansai accent, thus giving his sentences a rather odd, humorous structure. Good-natured and helpful, he helps Mai and Naru however he can. His means of exorcism is spraying holy water while reciting the first passage of John from the New Testament of the Bible.
Masako Hara
A spirit medium with a popular television show and the ability to speak to the dead, Masako is a 16 year old girl who resembles a Japanese doll because she is always wearing a kimono, even while sleeping. She has romantic feelings towards Naru and is jealous of how casual and free Naru is when dealing with Mai. This initially causes friction between Masako and Mai, as she views Mai as a rival; however, after Mai saves her in the Blood-stained Labyrinth File, they reach a shaky truce. In the novels, it is revealed that Masako knows of Naru's true identity and his psychic powers and has used that secret to extract favors out of Naru himself, despite his reticence to participate in social events.
Osamu Yasuhara
A 3rd year top-ranked high school student and president of his school's student council. Yasuhara first appears as a client of SPR as a result of unexplainable phenomena occuring at his school during "File 6". After the case is solved, he continues to help out SPR in what ever ways he can, such as impersonating Kazuya Shibuya at the request of Naru and performing background research off-site while the others are on a case. He has no psychic powers of his own, but his sharp mind and work efficiency make him a good support to the team. He has a wry sense of humor and is unafraid to poke fun at the different members of the team, often making homosexual remarks to Bou-san. He is planning to attend university and has been accepted to Tokyo University after passing his entrance exams.
