Ghost Stories (anime)
Encyclopedia
, also known as Ghosts at School, is a 19-episode anime
series created in 2000 by animation
studio
Pierrot
and Aniplex
for Fuji Television
, based on a book series by Toru Tsunemitsu.
The series is licensed for the North America
n market by ADV Films whose English dub replaces the original script with a comedic one. It was also aired in Latin America
by Cartoon Network
, which had broadcast the entire series unedited on October 1, 2005. The series was also translated and dubbed into English
by the anime television network, Animax, who has broadcast the series unedited and uncensored under the title Ghosts at School within its respective networks across the world in Southeast Asia
, South Asia
, and other regions.
visit the abandoned school
building adjacent the current school complex and discover that the building is haunted
.
It is soon after revealed that Satsuki's mother was responsible for sealing several ghosts who haunted not only the school but also the town, and now they are released due to the urbanization
taking place in the surrounding area. Satsuki's mother left behind a book detailing how to exorcize
the ghosts once and for all. In her first confront, Satsuki faces a demon
called Amanojaku, but in the process Amanojaku is sealed within Satsuki's pet cat
, Kaya. Although Amanojaku does not want to help Satsuki at first, the danger soon threatens to envelop the town and it is left up to Satsuki, her friends and Amanojaku to stop the ghosts.
anime convention
, ADV Films announced an October 2005 release of Ghost Stories on DVD
for North American distribution. The controversy stems from ADV's dubbed version, which largely re-writes the original script (while still leaving the basic plot structure and storyline intact) in favor a comedic
one written by ADV screenwriter
Steven Foster, and lines that the voice actors ad-libbed. The original Japanese audio and literal subtitle translation are also included on the DVD. A few fans lashed out against the ADV dub, charging that the company made too many edits for the dub simply for the sake of potential successful sales. This in turn, was rebutted
by the favorable reviews and the news that the original Japanese licensor, Aniplex
, approved the changes. Volume one of Ghost Stories went on sale on October 22, 2005.
In the dub dialog changes from serious to tongue-in-cheek
where characters often break the fourth wall
, make pop culture
references, engage in brief exposition
, and use profanity
.
For example, in the first episode, when Hajime encounters Momoko for the first time, in the Japanese version, he says "She's beautiful"; however, in the ADV dub, he says "Giggity giggity!" (a reference to Glenn Quagmire
from the animated sitcom Family Guy
). The ADV dub also references various stores, television shows, and products - Wal-Mart
, Charmin
toilet paper, Lost
, and E! True Hollywood Story
.
In addition to dialog changes, other elements of the show were re-worked to facilitate the comedic script. The vocation of Momoko was changed from a psychic
to that of a fanatical evangelical
, Pentecostal Christian
, Satsuki's mother is portrayed as a lesbian, and the Miyanoshita name changed to "Manshita" as a pun. Although, Leo's character is a researcher in the supernatural
, in the dub he is also Jewish
and has an inferiority complex
. Several minor characters' backgrounds are expanded slightly (mostly for comedic purposes), as well.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series created in 2000 by animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
Pierrot
Studio Pierrot
is a Japanese animation/animation studio, founded in 1979 by former employees of Tatsunoko Production. Its headquarters is located in Mitaka, Tokyo.The company has a simple logo of the face of a clown...
and Aniplex
Aniplex
, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
for Fuji Television
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
, based on a book series by Toru Tsunemitsu.
The series is licensed for the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n market by ADV Films whose English dub replaces the original script with a comedic one. It was also aired in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
by Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, which had broadcast the entire series unedited on October 1, 2005. The series was also translated and dubbed into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by the anime television network, Animax, who has broadcast the series unedited and uncensored under the title Ghosts at School within its respective networks across the world in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, and other regions.
Storyline
Ghost Stories tells the tale of Satsuki Miyanoshita, who moves with her family to the hometown of her deceased mother. On her first day of school, Satsuki; her brother Keiichirou, a first-grader; their neighbor Hajime Aoyama; Momoko Koigakubo, an older schoolmate; and Leo Kakinoki, a classmate and friend of Hajime's with a penchant for the paranormalParanormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
visit the abandoned school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
building adjacent the current school complex and discover that the building is haunted
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
.
It is soon after revealed that Satsuki's mother was responsible for sealing several ghosts who haunted not only the school but also the town, and now they are released due to the urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
taking place in the surrounding area. Satsuki's mother left behind a book detailing how to exorcize
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
the ghosts once and for all. In her first confront, Satsuki faces a demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
called Amanojaku, but in the process Amanojaku is sealed within Satsuki's pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
, Kaya. Although Amanojaku does not want to help Satsuki at first, the danger soon threatens to envelop the town and it is left up to Satsuki, her friends and Amanojaku to stop the ghosts.
Characters
: Satsuki is the main character of the show. She moves with her father and her young brother Keiichirou to the hometown of her deceased mother, where she finds that her mother confronted several evil entities that haunted the town, which included Amanojaku, and wrote all her supernatural experiences in a diary, which is entitled "The Ghost Journal". Satsuki is very strong, brave and determined within, but sometimes a bit moody, mostly because of Hajime's reckless behavior. Her nickname in the Animax dub is Suki (from Satsuki).- Momoko is a 6th grader and Satsuki's best friend. She seems to fear nothing, even in very dangerous situations, and is very brave when it comes to help Satsuki and the gang confront the ghosts. She also seems to have a psychic connection with Satsuki's mother.
- Hajime is Satsuki's neighbor. He is always strong and courageous to help defeat the ghosts, but though he says that this is very brave, he is at times actually a coward. Despite this, he is one of the most reliable of Satsuki's friends and has saved her on more than one occasion. Hajime also has a naughty habit of flipping girls' skirts, and his constant victim is none other than Satsuki. This results in frequent comic moments. Throughout the anime, it seems that Hajime and Satsuki develop mutual crushes on each other (not that they'd admit it).
- Reo is Hajime's friend and has a big obsession with paranormal themes, and proclaims himself as a respected paranormal researcher. However, whenever Reo finds a clue pertaining to the existence of supernatural entities, it seems that the clue turns against him. Like Hajime, he tries to be brave but most of the times he's actually just a coward. In the English dub by ADV, he was named as "Reo".
- Keiichirou is Satsuki's young brother. He is easily frightened by many things and is seen crying sometimes, but he shows courage where it counts to help in defeating the ghosts. In the dub, when he is frightened, or stressed enough, his speech becomes so slurred only his sister is able to understand it. He creates a special friendship with the ghost Amanojaku. He is often referred to as half-retarded and is played by the half-retarded voice actor...
- Amanojaku is a powerful entity that, long ago, was sealed by Satsuki's mother in a tree in the mountains, but was finally released from his magic prison due to urbanization. However, he did not have his freedom long, as Satsuki sealed him (by accident) in the body of her pet cat, Kaya. At first, Amanojaku is hostile toward the kids and takes great pleasure in seeing them in trouble, but throughout the series he develops somewhat of a care for them, especially for Satsuki and Keiichirou.
- Sakata is the teacher of the class where Satsuki, Hajime and Reo attend. Despite he doesn't believe in ghosts, he suffered many supernatural issues, as he was possessed, cursed and kidnapped by ghosts a couple of times.
- Reiichirou is Satsuki's father. He has no clue about his daughter's supernatural duties and also doesn't believe in ghosts. His nickname is Ray in the Animax dub.
- Kayako is Satsuki's and Keiichirou's deceased mother. Through her diary it is revealed that she was an avid exorcist during her childhood. She possesses Momoko two times throughout the series to aid Satsuki against the Piano Ghost and Kutabe and once helped Satsuki and the others to escape from a powerful haunting called Anamnaneki. Her maiden name was Kamiyama. Her name in the Animax Dub was "Karen".
Staff
- Draft: "School Ghost Stories" Teru Hisashi T. (Kodansha Bunko KK)
- Planning: Osamu Takashi Shimizu (Fuji TV), Shirakawa Riyuuzou (SPE Visual Works), Yuji Nunokawa (Studio Pierrot)
- Director: Noriyuki Abe recorded
- Series Composition: Hashimoto Hiroshi
- Character Design: Oonishi Masaya
- Sub-Character Design: Mari Kitayama
- Screenwriter: Hashimoto Hiroshi, Ryota Yamaguchi, Masashi Sogo, Yamatoya Akira, Naka Hiroko
- Storyboard Director: Noriyuki Abe recorded, Kageyama, Shigeki Hatakeyama, Enomoto Akihiro, Makoto Wataru Koshiba, Ishidou Hiroyuki, Matsuura of tablets, Rin Yuki, Ueda Hidehito, Nishizawa Susumu, Rin Yuki, Iwanaga Akira
- Animation Director: Hiroshi Hazime Usami, Tatsuo Yanagino, Nakamori Yoshiharu, Akio Kawamura, Zawamanabu shark, Itirou Makoto Takagi, Motohashi Hideyuki, moral Chiba, Oonishi Masaya
- Art Director: Congratulations Takata Shigeru (Studio Wyeth)
- Color design: Hideo Kamiya
- Technical Director: Takahashi Kentarou
- Director of Photography: Hukushima Toshiyuki
- Edit: Uematsu Zyuniti (Production I.G)
- Music: Wada Kaoru
- Sound Director: Noriyuki Abe recorded
- Sound Effects: Mutou Masako (soundbox)
- Sound Production: Zack Promotions
- Producer: Nakamura Yuriko (Fuji TV), Katsumata Hideo (SPE Visual Works), Hagino Takashi (Studio Pierrot)
- Production: Fuji TV, SPE Visual Works, Studio Pierrot
Theme song
- Opening Theme "Growup"
- Music and Lyrics: burn or
- Arrangement: Sakuma Masahide, Hysteric Blue
- Song: Hysteric Blue
- Ending Theme "Sexy Sexy,"
- Lyrics: MASASHI, TAMA
- Composer: MASASHI
- Arrangement: CASCADE, Yasushi Hisashi this Ji
- Song: CASCADE
ADV dub
On the weekend of August 19, 2005, at the 2005 OtakonOtakon
Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...
anime convention
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
, ADV Films announced an October 2005 release of Ghost Stories on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
for North American distribution. The controversy stems from ADV's dubbed version, which largely re-writes the original script (while still leaving the basic plot structure and storyline intact) in favor a comedic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
one written by ADV screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Steven Foster, and lines that the voice actors ad-libbed. The original Japanese audio and literal subtitle translation are also included on the DVD. A few fans lashed out against the ADV dub, charging that the company made too many edits for the dub simply for the sake of potential successful sales. This in turn, was rebutted
Rebuttal
In law, rebuttal is a form of evidence that is presented to contradict or nullify other evidence that has been presented by an adverse party. By analogy the same term is used in politics and public affairs to refer to the informal process by which statements, designed to refute or negate specific...
by the favorable reviews and the news that the original Japanese licensor, Aniplex
Aniplex
, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
, approved the changes. Volume one of Ghost Stories went on sale on October 22, 2005.
In the dub dialog changes from serious to tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
where characters often break the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, make pop culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
references, engage in brief exposition
Exposition (literary technique)
At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...
, and use profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
.
For example, in the first episode, when Hajime encounters Momoko for the first time, in the Japanese version, he says "She's beautiful"; however, in the ADV dub, he says "Giggity giggity!" (a reference to Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
from the animated sitcom Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
). The ADV dub also references various stores, television shows, and products - Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, Charmin
Charmin
Charmin is a brand-name of toilet paper manufactured by Procter & Gamble.-History:The Charmin name was first created in 1928 by the Hoberg Paper Company in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1950, Hoberg changed its name to Charmin Paper Company and continued to produce bath tissue, paper napkins, and other...
toilet paper, Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, and E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and well-known public figures...
.
In addition to dialog changes, other elements of the show were re-worked to facilitate the comedic script. The vocation of Momoko was changed from a psychic
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
to that of a fanatical evangelical
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
, Pentecostal Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, Satsuki's mother is portrayed as a lesbian, and the Miyanoshita name changed to "Manshita" as a pun. Although, Leo's character is a researcher in the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
, in the dub he is also Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and has an inferiority complex
Inferiority complex
An inferiority complex, in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, is a feeling that one is inferior to others in some way. Such feelings can arise from an imagined or actual inferiority in the afflicted person...
. Several minor characters' backgrounds are expanded slightly (mostly for comedic purposes), as well.
Animax dub
The series was translated and dubbed into English by the anime television network, Animax, under the title Ghosts at School. The Animax dub stayed true to the original, retained all of the original Japanese plot, character and dialogue details, broadcasting the series uncensored and unedited within its respective networks across the world, including Southeast Asia and South Asia.Episodes
- Tonight the Spirits Will Be Resurrected! Amanojaku'
- A Hand Reaches out of The Toilet...Akagami Aogami (Red Paper, Blue Paper)
- Raise the Curtains! The Cursed School Arts Festival! Kutabe
- Requiem of the Dead: Fur Elise
- The Bloody Sports Festival: Datto!
- The Demon's Hand Splits the Door: A Night of Tragedy
- The Soul Stealing Mirror! Utsushimi
- The Circuit Connects to Hell: Demon of the Underworld
- The Corpse That Roams in the Night: Shirotabi
- The Tunnel With No Exit: Anamnaneki
- The Talking Mary Doll! Shadows of Death
- The Nurse Who Tells Your Death: Mother's Feelings
- The Picture That Swallows People: Da Vinci
- The Life-Taking Psychotic Photo! The Railway Crossing to Evil
- The Devil's Spell: Rites of Darkness
- The Apartment That Eats People: Nest of Evil Spirits
- Terror at Bloodstain Lake! The Snow Ghost
- Akane-San of the Broadcasting Room: Voice of the Dead
- The Headless Horseman! Curse of the Dead
- lord ohama
- Kuchisake-onnaKuchisake-onnaIn Japanese mythology, is a woman who is mutilated by a jealous husband and returns as a malicious spirit. The Kuchisake-onna legend became popular enough to cause some panic in Japan during the 1980s, and there are even reports of schools asking children to go home in groups for safety.-Older...
(3) Canceled
Discontinued episodes
- An episode based on the Kuchisake-onnaKuchisake-onnaIn Japanese mythology, is a woman who is mutilated by a jealous husband and returns as a malicious spirit. The Kuchisake-onna legend became popular enough to cause some panic in Japan during the 1980s, and there are even reports of schools asking children to go home in groups for safety.-Older...
(あたしきれい? 口裂け女) was initially scheduled to air on November 5, 2000 but wasn't broadcast. Many people complained to Fuji TV, because they thought it looked like cleft palate.