Ghost Sweeper Mikami |Overview

Let's talk about a rather underrated anime from the nineties. Ghost Sweeper Mikami was a manga created by Takashi Shiina. The original manga was very popular and ran from 1991 to 1999, so obviously an anime adaptation had to be made. This one lasted from 1993 to 1994 with around 45 episodes and a movie. Not bad for a show but hardly in the tier of 200+ episodes shows like Dragon Ball or Naruto get. 

The series deals with Yokoshima, who works as an assistant for a ghostbuster named Mikami, the teen boy is afraid of ghosts and has little to no fighting skills, he just likes money and thinks Mikami is hot so he takes the job without thinking too much about it. Soon enough, both encounter a variety of ghosts, demons and monsters they must battle in order to get paid.  

The series incorporates all kinds of creatures and ghouls, mostly legends and myths from Japan but also modernized ghosts such as video game ghosts and space ghosts as well. 

How is it action-lady wise? Well, it's more than satisfactory in that field but I strongly believe it could have been better. You see, while the show bears her name Mikami isn't the focus of the series or even the main character. She's a secondary character with a lot of screen time but most of the plots and character moments are occupied by Yokoshima, who gets in trouble trying to see Mikami naked or by attempting to escape from danger. He shouts, he runs away and does exaggerated faces when weird or supernatural things happen to him, which is virtually all the time. These moments aren't badly executed and he has some funny scenes, but the "silly boy and competent sexy girl" trope is not really my cup of tea overall.

He really is a hormonal young man.

Some of the issues I have with the show are noticeable, such as not being about the title character herself, the ironically tame raunchy comedy (rarely any female nudity or fanservice is seen, not complaining but it's worth pointing it out) and the off-beat jokes that fall flat from time to time. However, these are minor compared to its virtues. It's a great looking series, both because of its designs and animation, the plots are fun, the tone is consistently light and there's a lot of really well done action. To add to that, there's a variety of fun female characters, Mikami herself being a really good one. She's a skilled and knowledgeable ghost hunter, strong and smart. A nice lead with a hard personality and she's tough as well. I could watch her all day. 

There's also the ghost girl that tags along with them after the first episode, Kinu, who doesn't do much but adds a lightheartedness and compassion to the main group. A sweet ghost lady but not an action star.

There's also Mikami's rival: Emi, who is a voodoo exorcist and does black magic, a nice contrast to Mikami's more orthodox and christian type of exorcism magic. Emi has the hots for Pietro de Bloodeau (a vampire boy) to the point where she's just straight up harassing him, often ripping off his clothing and gushing at his state of undress... those were other times. Other than that, she's another amusing lady on the show who often is competent enough to fight against Mikami, even if a lot of times they have to work together in order to stop a bigger menace but that quickly turns into a race to see who gets rid of the ghost first, with Emi's cheating and trickery often blowing up in her face.

Meiko Rokudou is probably the most powerful human gal of them all, which is ironic considering she's the weakest of them all. A rich and soft lady that wouldnt hurt a fly is the most dangerous person due to the 12 shikigami that live within her and spring out of her when she gets upset about something in order to protect her. These ghastly and numerous creatures are fierce beasts, she would be the greatest threat Mikami would have to face if Meiko were evil but instead she's obsessed with Mikami and considers the ghost sweeper to be her best friend, much to Mikami's dismay and annoyance, so their dynamic is actually more comical than anything.  

Meiko and her ghouls.

Let's Not forget about the duo of robotic sisters created by Dr. Chaos: Maria and Teresa. Who engage in an awesome but long fight in a two parter titled: Maria and Teresa (Episodes 39 and 40). In these, Maria finds a more human and noble side of her, clashing with the cruel and cold Teresa. Two highly recommended episodes. 

Sibling rivalry.

There's also a bunch of episodes featuring Shoryuki, a goddess dragon warrior who helps Mikami achieve her greatest power level during training. However, she can't fight for longer than 3 minutes outside of her realm, crippling her helpfulness in the real world. 

There you have it. A solid collection of anime heroines and female villains. There's also some more episodic ones and even more characters in the manga, we might get to them when we look at episode overviews and the full manga eventually. There's also a video game with a cult following of it's own.

This sums up the dynamic. Ladies are wiser and dignified here.

Rivals in handling spirits.

I definitely recommend the show to all anime lovers out there. The shonen (teenage boy) pandering isn't as bad as something out of modern anime shows but it might make the experience a bit disappointing if you are looking for a more female-centric series. This is female populated for the most part which is also appreciated. On that regard, a similar show titled Phantom Quest Corp actually fixes that issue by making the female character the lead, but that´s a blogpost for another day. Either way, Mikami is a really good show with some fantastic spiritual ladies all around.