Now that we have the concepts for the equipment (well, most of them) out of the way, I'd like to ask a few of the more experienced fanfic writers or others on here to help me work out some of the internal logic of how the GBJP franchise comes to be. For example, would the “central hub” send equipment in a kit to potential franchisors, or would the franchisors have to beg, borrow, and steal the parts from a checklist and blueprints?

The way I see it, the franchisor would want to start ghostbusting as soon as possible, but then again I can't be sure. I also have this idea (nicked from the David Crane game) that GBCentral would give its franchisor(s) a sufficient amount of capital to start up the business after putting the equipment together and passing a few other tests, like an online course from Egon Spengler.


Hmmm, the recent Nintendo Wii pack-build has just given me an idea: GBCentral uses a kind of hologram simulation machine in conjunction with “dummy equipment” to test their new recruits. There's a “ghost machine” that can project three-dimensional holographic ghosts with AI derived from some of their more difficult opponents; a special visor causes the wearer to see the infamous “nutrona beams”.

I think I'm going to end up going the Megaranger route and having the three recruits sign up with the mad scientist/mentor figure who's designed and built the Ghostbusting equipment. His only problem is, the equipment he built isn't very good, and it's fraught with all sorts of problems. The newbies end up helping him redesign it into the Dyson-inspired gadgets you see here.

I've been working on a redesign of the Trap, based on a Nintendo Gamecube. No pics yet, because I'm still not quite satisfied with what I have so far. I may end up doing away with that idea about the retractable cord that I'd been entertaining so far.

I was thinking about the plot the other day.

My idea is this: the benefactor of the team is a scientist who's regarded as a crackpot by his peers at the university where he does research projects. He's made enough money so far to buy a Ghostbusters franchise and build his own equipment. (The franchise was quite cheap; nobody really wanted to touch it.)

Much later on, when the business becomes successful, the Mad gets a call from Eguchi, the eccentric businessman from Sara Backer's book American Fuji. He already owns a profitable cremation business (Gone With the Wind, hurr hurr) and wants to expand his business empire into life after death. Hilarity ensues when he finds out how much damage the ghostbusting equipment causes!

Nix;166632
The franchise was quite cheap; nobody really wanted to touch it.

I think you're going to have a very difficult time explaining this one away.

A Ghostbusters franchise wouldn't be cheap. There would always be demand for it, and given how valuable the equipment designs and business property itself would be, the franchise would be expensive.

You can't just say that the franchise is cheap, without supporting the reasoning behind why it would be cheap.

Okay…explaining it. I said that with every intent on expanding my idea, but I didn't quite have my thoughts on paper. Now that I've gathered my thoughts, I can explain it.

From stories and books which take place in Japan that I've been reading, there's this philosophy of “the group comes before the individual.” I think one of the reasons why nobody would want to start a GB franchise in Japan is because of how destructive it is. Destruction is pretty much the appeal of Ghostbusting–you strap a thermonuclear accelerator onto your back and lay waste to your surroundings, thereby disrupting the everyday order.

As a matter of fact, that becomes a major plot point–our heroes redesign the equipment to make it less dangerous.

Oh, yes–there's also the fact that the Proton Pack is a miniature nuclear accelerator. I read a book about the otaku subculture called Little Boy: The Art of Japan's Exploding Subculture, which stated in no uncertain terms that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed just about everything in Japan forever. Not just the physical effects of the bombs, but the psychological and emotional effects, which might still be felt to this day.

Again, this becomes a plot point–they try to make the equipment a bit less nuclear by introducing a rechargeable “fuel cell,” as I call it. It's a nuclear battery, of course, but it's safer than what Drs. Spengler and Stantz built (i.e. less parts to worry about, less risk of contamination).

There might also be some sensitivity issues concerning the very practice of Ghostbusting as opposed to busting ghosts…a Ghostbuster essentially captures a ghost by force and shoves it into a storage facility. There is this idea–I can't quite define it–that all things, living or otherwise, have souls, and the Ghostbusters' method may be seen as a violation of that philosophy.

The solution, here, is to state that the Containment Unit is a temporary measure…the GBJP version of the ECU is a kind of solitary confinement where the more violent ghosts are kept to “cool down” enough until the Ghostbusters can deal with them in a more constructive manner. In theory, this works just fine. In practice, this may present a few problems…

There's also the idea that Japan's economy doesn't really reward entrepreneurs. That's why a “sensible” businessman would leave a GB franchise alone…it A)is an untapped niche, B)is extremely dangerous, C)doesn't readily lend itself to consistently healthy profits, and D)deals with something that can't easily be qualified.

Okay, I'll admit, I may be talking complete bollocks. But books such as American Fuji have pointed me in this direction. Besides, it serves the “going into business” narrative quite well: a wild new company, struggling to find a foothold, suddenly makes it big.

(PS: That big long rant above got me thinking: the new equipment probably won't be unveiled until halfway through. They continue to use the old-style stuff until Eguchi buys the company, at which point he guarantees them enough money to enact the redesigns they'd been planning.)