Ever since he was little, our nameless protagonist has been terrified of ghosts of all stripes. Luckily, ghosts do not exist, and on realizing that, he became invincible! Or so he says. In fact, any rumor is enough to send him into a frenzy and cause him to do the most absurd things to avoid a supernatural encounter. But what if actual, genuine ghosts exist? Well, they do! In fact, a white-haired, red-eyed teenager in a sailor uniform promises to show them to him. The experience is a complete disappointment, though. The tiny will-o’-wisps that appear all around won’t scare even someone as, ahem, sensitive about the topic as our protagonist. In fact, the girl is far scarier, though she resents it when you point that out. As it turns out, she is the current leader of the Kaikigumi, a supernatural organization with the goal of making everyone terrified of ghosts. She is terrible at her job, though, and her collaborators are quitting one after another. The heart of the matter is that she is completely devoid of fear and cannot really understand the point of most ghost stories. It is not the fact that a 12-step staircase suddenly develops a ghostly thirteenth step that is terrifying, for example. Instead, as the Protagonist explains, it is the supposed ghost that would drag you to Hell if you step on it that does the charm. Such information is precious to the girl, whom he nicknames Mechako. Someone so scared of all kinds of ghosts would know exactly what makes every particular brand tick! In fact, she is so thrilled with their collaboration that she suddenly moves into the guy’s closet. But the duo does not get to work right away. First, there are some shenanigans to be dealt with. Our protagonist needs to confront a mysterious ghost wearing a red loincloth. Supposedly, if you touch it, your luck will improve. I guess we’re doing this now.

So, this is all nonsense on stilts, though often of the fun kind. The production values are okay. In particular, I liked the music a lot: It mixes horror motifs with cartoon comedy tunes pretty effectively. The visuals had a B-movie quality to them, and I felt they did the job. Our over-terrified and muscular protagonist delivers some good moments with his exaggerated reactions, and Mechacko was a fun straight man (or girl?). My favorite element was probably the very idea of the Kaikigumi, a sort of bureau of urban legends, which is quite absurd and hilarious by itself. I also like the dynamic of the two protagonists, and their conversations about why things are and aren’t scary. The show even managed to make me laugh out loud a few times, from seeing Mechako suddenly pop up in the protagonists’ closet to the ending theme, where we see her spend the day just chilling with various ghosts and a cursed doll in his room. Most of the time, though, I found the humor a tad juvenile, with lots of jokes about poo and pee. My wife laughed more than I did, though! So, I wouldn’t watch a second episode right now, but I might do it some other day if I’m in an absurd mood. I guess Let’s go KAIKIGUMI! is good for what it is, and I guess an episode on occasion would be fun. I don’t expect to become a regular watcher, though. If I do, the red loincloth may start haunting my nightmares…

Let’s go KAIKIGUMI! can be streamed at Crunchyroll.