It's all rather silly, and there are far more tacky, puerile jokes than are truly necessary (especially ones poking fun at race, religion, and sexual orientation). (I can tell you right now that this is perhaps the one anime DVD I am never showing my brother-in-law.) Also, American actors (and even ADV voice actors) get namedropped on a near constant basis. Geeky occult-researcher Leo, for example, is now Jewish, while Momoko is played as an utterly offensive stereotype of a born-again Christian who constantly refers to 'sweet Jesus' and 'unbelievers'. For starters, apart from a few broad (and frankly tasteless) gags involving Satsuki's panties, there isn't too much humor in the Japanese language version, but the completely rewritten script for the English version takes extreme liberties with the material and essentially amounts to a fandub. The dub, however, is almost an entirely different show. Extra minus points for 'Sexy, Sexy', which is possibly the absolute least appropriate ending theme I have ever heard for a particular series, as it has almost nothing to do with the show (and with a cast as young as this, I hope this was just a bizarre oversight on the part of the creators!). The characters are okay, but nothing to write home about, and the animation is average Pierrot (in other words, simplistic and often substandard). I watched the opening episodes of this series several years ago as digital sources, and honestly couldn't find much to say about it - it's utterly mediocre material. The biggest difference between this and the other series is that the cast is in elementary school, and therefore younger than the average protagonists. The original is a fairly straightforward, earnest, but largely unambitious take on the already tired 'school ghost stories' cliches that have been covered in other shows like Haunted Junction and Hell Teacher Nube.

Though there is no alteration or editing of the video, the subtitled and dubbed versions of Ghost Stories are essentially two different shows.

With her friends (and the unwitting help of one of the ghosts) she reseals the spirits released by the effects of modern-day development. Satsuki Miyanoshita moves into her parents' old neighborhood, where she soon runs into the ghosts haunting the old schoolhouse.

Notes: The English dub is somewhat different from the original the changes are discussed within the review. Length: Television series, 20 episodes, 24 minutes eachĭistributor: Currently licensed by Discotek Media.Īlso Recommended: Haunted Junction, Hell Teacher Nube, Shinesman Genre: Elementary school horror mystery / (dub-only) parody AKA: 学校の怪談 (Gakkou no Kaidan), Ghost Stories in School

Ghost stories anime