The Story: Mikami Rieko is a money hungry, stubborn, but supremely talented paranormal hunter, exorcist, or 'ghost sweeper'. With her crew of fellow exorcists- Yokoshima (the bait), Okinu (spellcaster) Father Karasu (the priest), and Peat (a good vampire), they scour Tokyo for supernatural baddies to defeat or drive away, help the citizens, and in Mikami's case, earn money, money, and more money..... The crew is visited by the spirit of exorcist samurai Akechi Mitsuhide, who informs them that the evil Nosferatu is about to be resurrected and its up to them, with the aide of a sacred spear, to stop him before he drains the life out of the cities residents and turns its citizens into zombies (he's a different kind of vamp, thus the zombification). But Nosferatu turns out to be far more powerful than they thought, and soon not only is he turning Tokyo into a wasteland of zombies but he also is abducting the cities exorcists and keeping them prisoner so he can absorb their powers. Will Mikami and her crew be able to defeat such a powerful foe? Does she have the power within her? More importantly, will she get paid?

The Anime: Pretty par for the course, average, not really very ground breaking character driven action-comedy fantasy anime series. You've got your cast of wacky characters, all filling out your usual cliched personality types. You've got your supernatural shenanigans. The obvious comparison fall to it being like Ghostbusters or an anime Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I'm not sure what episode of the series this is, obviously not the first since there is already assumed character development. Mikami is a pretty brash heroine, which is a common thing in anime, injecting your hero with some unlikalbe traits like temper tantrums and selfishness. Usually with some deft writing and humor this is a nice diversion from your usually forthright lantern jawed hero, but, as is often the case with anime, it can miss that subversive mark and just be downright annoying. In other words, I found Mikami to just be annoying. The crew surrounding such a character often provides the counter balance to the heroes abrasive personality, but in this particular episode the crew is mainly in the background, just sort of there in the proceedings, with only really one member, the henpecked, panicking Yokoshima, really coming to the forefront. And, like Mikami, I found Yokoshima to be annoying, just another bland, sex obsessed, whining, cowardly comic relief male character, spouting off all the time- like his forced confession of "It was me who peeped in on you in the bathroom and stole your panties."

The action was pretty good, but constrained by the time and format. Such a sequence was one involving a forest full of resurrected animals that the crew must fight in order to get close to Nosferatu. It is far too brief but it was, at the very least, a neat idea, the re-animated, rotting kitties, dogs, and foxes making a nice legion for the crew to unleash on. Nosferatu's henchman, the spiderlike demon swordsman Ranmaru has a very good battle with Mikami. Nosferatu himself looks fairly lame, leading me to guess there would be some big transformation sequence... and lo' and behold there was one, letting him go from muscle-bound period dressed villain, to muscle-bound gray hulking devil creature. But, in the end the action, just like the characters, lacked any real charm. Perhaps the other episodes are better, or if viewed with the others it works, but as it is, I found it to be entertaining, but underwhelmingly average.

The DVD: Manga Entertainment

Picture- Widescreen. A little rough and grainy, not the smoothest finesse or deepest animation, but average anime picture. Nothing particularly striking about the character or background designs, once again, pretty average. Color, contrast, and sharpness are all good. No noticeable artifacts or technical problems.

Sound- Original Japanese Mono, or English dub Stereo or 5.1 surround with optional yellow English subtitles. The subtitles were very good. The Japanese mono was pretty weak, especially compared to the dynamic 5.1 Surround English dub. But, purists may want to note that the English dub is Westernized, with inside jokes like an Emirl Lagasse one- Yokoshima is cooking and he says "Lets kick it up a notch!". The soundtrack doesn't have any Ray Parker Jr., but it is still okay.

Extras- 10 Chapter Selections--- "Meet Your Exorcists" Character Bios--- Photo Gallery (13 stills)--- Manga Extras: Video Previews (5:32), Manga DVD Catalogue, Merchandise and Catalog info (4:59), and website info.

Conclusion: If you are into the series, the presentation is a fine. Otherwise, since I found the show to be pretty forgettable and at a scant 60 mins with few extras, its a safer bet that anyone new to the series should probably give it a rental first.