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Phantom Quest Corp. (Yugen Kaisha/You-Gen-Kai-Sha in Japanese) is a horror/mystery OVA.
The Anime OVA consists of four episodes each with a thirty-five minute runtime. The story follows You-Gen-Kai-Sya or Phantom Quest Corp., an organization lead by one Ayaka Kisaragi. The organization specializes in tracking down and taking down the supernatural, from ghosts to vampires to undead and each and every last evil spirit all across Tokyo. The only opposition that the company runs into is the constant onset of debt.
Tropes used in Phantom Quest Corp. include:
- Accidental Pervert: Karino, in "Incident File 03: Love Me Tender", when he walks in on Mr. Nagasuki and his secretary while they're getting it on in his office!
secretary screams from off camera |
- Action Girl: Ayaka. She hunts down spooks and demons, then takes 'em out. Or she has Rokkon exorcise them.
- Asshole Victim: Mr. Nagasuki. He doesn't die, but close enough.
- A-Team Firing: gets lampshaded during "Incident File 02: End of the World" after Karino empties half a clip without hitting the evil doctor, who's less than ten feet away!
Ayaka: (incredulous) "Where the hell'd you learn to shoot?!" |
- Bald of Evil: the Hadja, a monk group who challenges Phantom Quest in the fourth episode; their leader, Mukyo, in particular.
- Barrier Monk: Rokkon, Phantom Quest's staff exorcist.
- Beware of Hitch-Hiking Ghosts: Narita
- Bottle Fairy: Ayaka. Big time. She's known for getting plastered and punching out cab drivers. Or just getting plastered period. The intro even shows Karino carrying her home while she's drunk, and the vampire she meets in case file 01 refused to take her blood due to the alcohol content!
- Broke Episode: The members of Phantom Quest end up part timing just to get by, during incident file 04, thanks to the Hadja stealing all of their clients.
- By the Power of Greyskull: "Red dragon spirit, capture Star Sword."
- Charles Atlas Superpower: Rokkon who, in the fourth incident file, leaps from the third floor of the Hadja's temple, while carrying Karino and Nanami and lands without injury.
- Children Raise You: Parodied. Ayaka's sorta responsible, but her recklessness often lands Phantom Quest deep in the red. It doesn't take long to see that it's Mamoru's management skills that keeps the company afloat. Not to mention all the times he has to chastise her for getting drunk, and over sleeping.
- Christmas Cake: Ayaka sometimes asks Madam Sumei if there's any hope for her love life only to be told her chances of finding happiness are zero. Doesn't help that she gets called an "old lady" by a cafe full of young teen/twenty-something females either.
- Covert Pervert: Karino again, in the final episode, where he gets an eyeful when Ayaka loses her top; which earns him a Megaton Punch.
- Deadly Doctor - The demonically possessed doctor from Incident File 02: End of World.
- Destructive Saviour -Ayaka, and she has the bills to show for it too.
- Damsel in Distress: Karino fills this slot during the fourth episode, "Lover Come Back to Me".
- Dogged Nice Guy: Karino tries in subtle ways to impress Ayaka and prove she can depend on him, such as incident file 03, where he attempts to tail Nagasuki, thinking Ayaka would be proud of him. Sadly, he blows a tire and gets left by the side of the road. Earlier, he attempts to surprise her with pastries, but drops the box on the way. Needless to say, Ayaka was not impressed.
- Fed to the Ghosts: The Hadja threatens to do this to Karino, after he's caught investigating their scam operation, by dangling him over a pit filled with all the apparitions they'd allegedly exorcised.
- Fiery Redhead: Ayaka's not-so-bad, most of the time, but she's known for her rash behavior and having a hair trigger temper.
- Her Heart Will Go On: Natsuki by the end of Incident file 03: Love Me Tender.
- Heroic BSOD: Nanami has one near the climax of the final case file, when she, Rokkon, and Karino find themselves surrounded and vastly outnumbered by ghosts. She becomes so frightened that her mind goes blank, complete with spiral eyes; making it a rare comedic version of the trope.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Plenty in both the original Japanese and the English dub, Rica Matsumoto is Ayaka, Kazue Ikura is Mamoru, Koichi Yamadera is Kozo Karino, Aya Hisakawa is Natsuki Ogawa, and Kotono Mitsuishi is Nanami, On the English side, Wendee Lee is Ayaka, Brianne Siddall is Mamoru and Melissa Fahn is Nanami.
- Improbable Weapon User: Ayaka's lipstick becomes a friggin' light sabre! It even makes the same sound effect when activated.
- Interspecies Romance: Makiko and her vampire stalker, turned boyfriend, by the end of the first episode.
- I See Dead People: Just about everybody in the series, though it's mainly Phantom Quest. It's all part of the job.
- I Will Protect Her: Narita for his girlfriend, Natsuki Ogawa. Not only does he keep her safe from Nagasuki's advances, and his goons, he takes it upon himself to set up the exhibit for her after Nagasuki pulls the night crew... and does it all from the afterlife!
- Kick the Dog: Mr. Nagasuki does this repeatedly to Natsuki in his efforts to get her into bed. First by coming onto her, then pulling the night crew from the exhibit when she rejects his advances. He finally threatens to cut off the exhibit's funding unless she "co-operates". Thankfully, she had Phantom Quest to protect her and Narita.
- Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Nanami invokes at the end of the final episode by ushering Rokkon away when it appears that Ayaka's getting ready to confess her feelings to Karino; complete with Held Gaze and Luminescent Blush.
- Ms. Fanservice: Ayaka's a redhead, has a stunning figure for a woman her age, routinely sleeps in the nude, and will often show up for breakfast, in her panties, with her top open. Oh, and she's got legs.
- Not a Morning Person: Ayaka Kisaragi. See the Bottle Fairy entry above.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Mamoru toward Ayaka. He's completely unfazed by her habit of sleeping nude, shows no signs of interest or embarrassment when he enters her room to wake her up each morning; nor is he bothered by how she shows up for breakfast.
- Occult Detective: U Division's Detective Karino, who commissions jobs to Phantom Quest. Ayaka and Madam Sumei count as well.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Narita. The guy can cover the nightshift, in case your workmen bail on you, and can knock 'em back like a pro when he's done.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Including an anemic one who runs a tea shop for pretty young twenty-somethings... and he's a Nice Guy!
- Perma-Stubble: Karino.
- Perpetual Poverty: While Phantom Quest always solves the case, they always end up in the red due to Ayaka's recklessness and spending habits.
- Playing with Fire: Nanami's special ability. Too bad she has trouble controlling it. Which leads to....
- Power Incontinence: Nanami, especially when she's frightened.
- Rica Matsumoto: Ayaka's Japanese seiyu
- Ship Tease: Ayaka with Karino, gets deep-sixed in the end though. Or was it...?
- So Long, Suckers!: Ayaka does this to Madam Sumei, when it comes time to pay for her services.
- Taking You with Me: Mukyo attempts this, after his defeat, by grabbing Ayaka's leg then pitching himself off the roof with his dying breath. He ends up in a tree. Ayaka, however, ends up in Karino's arms when he breaks her fall by catching her.
- Trading Card Lame - the first expansion set for Ani-Mayhem.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: between Ayaka and Detective Karino, with shades of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Wendee Lee: Ayaka's English dub voice
- Will They or Won't They?: Played with over the course of the series. It almost happens at the end of the final episode... then Karino mucks it up. See the Covert Pervert entry above.