Ghost Stories / YMMV

Adaptation Displacement: Not many people outside of Japan are aware that the anime is based on a series of horror films, nor that said films are based on Gakkou no Kaidan, a series of children's horror anthology novels.
Animation Age Ghetto: Ignored completely in the ADV dub. Ironically, the original Japanese version itself was for kids.
Awesome Music:
- "Grow Up", the opening theme of the series.
- It might be unfitting for a series about elementary school students fighting ghosts, but the ending theme, "Sexy Sexy", is an undeniably awesome song.
Broken Base: Some love the ADV dub for its irreverent humor and excellent voice acting, while others despise it for its utter disregard of the original script, humor that’s vulgar and offensive rather than funny, and the misconception that led to its existence.
- Is the dub responsible for the current controversy about English dubs of anime that take too many liberties? Some people say it didn't have any effect because the circumstances behind its existence are unique and have nothing to do with what's currently happening, while others argue that it paved the way for localizers to change whatever they want on dub scripts, using the good reception of the Ghost Stories dub as an argument.
Cliché Storm: Every horror cliché gets used at some point in this series, which is naturally lampshaded in the ADV dub. Ironically, this overlaps with Once Original, Now Common, as the original Gakkou no Kaidan books the anime is based on were very influential in Japanese horror, originating a lot of common Japanese horror tropes (such as the Old School Building being haunted, the moving anatomy model, and Toilet Hanako) that are now considered clichés.
Common Knowledge: It's generally accepted in the anime community that the original run in Japan was a failure, hence why the ADV dub was allowed to do whatever it wanted script wise. Despite this being accepted, and even stated by the ADV higher-ups, the series actually performed well in Japan as it garnered an average rating that put it in the top 10 for most popular anime at the time of its original airing, which also shows that the series is remembered fondly. As such, it has had multiple reruns over the years. This article further examines and debunks the myth.
Crosses the Line Twice: The ADV dub, especially the things Momoko says.
Cult Classic: In the West, the ADV dub reached memetic status, sometimes even getting credited as "the original abridged series" or as an "official abridged series" due to its crass humor.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Mio Imai with her ridiculous plotline about wanting to fuck a rabbit.
Fountain of Memes: The entire ADV dub is one thanks to its crass humor and characterizations.
Funny Moments: Has its own page.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
- The series is a cult hit in North America thanks to the ADV dub.
- Thanks to faithful local dubs, the original version is apparently very popular in Latin America.
Growing the Beard: The ADV dub is okay early on, as it actually stays fairly close to the original script for the first two episodes. While it becomes a bit looser in Episodes 3 and 4, Episode 5 is where they really start to improvise and where the dub hits its stride.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- The scene in Episode 7 where Satsuki asks her compact mirror who's the prettiest girl around and Amanojaku answers with Lindsay Lohan. Today, this response would be considered incredibly ironic; it wasn't back in 2005.
- The joke with Reiichirou and the Merry Mary doll becomes a lot less funny when you learn that his English voice actor, Illich Guardiola, was arrested in 2014 for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student of his.^note
- Lots of jokes are made at Vic Mignogna's expense:
  - The episode where Da Vinci abducts Momoko and paints her in a noose like one of his victims can be rather uncomfortable to watch for some fans due to the allegations that Vic Mignogna, Da Vinci's English voice actor, sexually harassed Monica Rial, Momoko's English voice actress.
  - Episode 15 makes references to Vic Mignogna and becoming "Mrs. Mignogna". Again, this became even more unfortunate given his sexual harassment allegations.
- After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Momoko's joke about the president stacking the Supreme Court to ban abortion no longer seems funny.
- In episode 12, Satsuki says to Keiichirou, "Drag queens won't bother you. Worry about priests." This line became more eerie when at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, there were furors over drag queens performing in front of kids, as more and more priests, pastors, and evangelists got exposed for their sexual misconducts against children.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Episode 2 features a ghost haunting the school bathrooms and sucks people in through the very toilets they use never to be seen again. Sound familiar?
- The ADV dub turns Amanojaku into an expy of Salem when he possesses Kaya's body, who has mismatched eyes. Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch would later feature Salem having the same mismatched eyes.
- The ADV dub's Running Gag about Christian Slater's career becomes this after his Career Resurrection in Mr. Robot.
- In Episode 19 of the ADV dub, one of the lines is "Please stay tuned for probably the hottest homosexual newscaster on the planet... my friend, Anderson Cooper." This was six years before Cooper publicly came out as gay.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Among those who have seen it, the Animax dub is this; it's Truer to the Text than the ADV dub, but most fans prefer the Gag Dub over the Japanese original, and the Animax dub is unremarkable in comparison due to sticking closer to the original.
Memetic Molester: Babasare. Seriously what is the reason of her appearing only to children?
Memetic Mutation:
- "THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"^Explanation
- Hehehehe. Touch me. Touch me harder.^Explanation
- "Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black."^Explanation
- "RUN! She's a ghost and a bitch!"^Explanation
Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: Momoko in the ADV dub is a close-minded fundamentalist Christian caricature, but more than a few Christian viewers have admitted to finding her portrayal more hilarious than an insult to them due to how over-the-top she is.
Moe:
- Keiichirou thanks to him being the youngest member of the group.
- Satsuki is this in her more cheerful moments.
Narm:
- Episode 2 is about people getting sucked into the spirit world through a toilet. Obviously, the ADV dub thought it was just as unintentionally funny.
- One episode has Satsuki haunted by Für Elise. Eventually, she ends up being stalked by a piano that appears around corners like a stereotypical horror slasher. Even without the dub, it's absolutely hilarious to watch her run around town being hunted down by a baby grand piano.
- Satsuki's father at one point holds the Merry Mary doll, only for there to be a close-up of him holding it face first to his crotch. Of course, the ADV dub makes fun of it.
Paranoia Fuel: Not even the ADV dub was able to mitigate the fear of Für Elise being played no matter where you went.
One-Scene Wonder: The (jackass) construction foreman and his poor (noun)-(verb)er subordinate, for their amusing dynamic.
Presumed Flop: The story goes that the ADV dub was the result of the Japanese rights holders telling them that they could do whatever they want with the script as long as they kept the basic plot, as they were desperate for the series to be a success since it performed poorly in Japan. While it's true the dubbers were told they could go nuts with the script, the series actually performed well enough to be in the top 10 for most popular anime at the time of its original airing.
So Okay, It's Average: This is the general consensus concerning the original version of the series in the West as many feel that it's okay on its own merits.
Special Effect Failure: In Episode 7, Satsuki and Hajime are animated to run down the hall, except the hall is not moving, so they are literally running in place. Naturally, the ADV dub makes fun of it.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The Merry Mary doll, as she's called in the dub, seriously seems like she should've had a much larger role in the series as she's one of the most powerful spirits (to the point where she isn't actually beaten, and just leaves on her own) and is clearly acquainted with Amanojaku as shown by their interaction at the end of her episode, but is never seen again afterwards.
Unintentional Period Piece: The recording of the ADV dub can be pinpointed rather precisely to mid-to-late-Summer 2005 thanks to its pop culture and political references. For instance, in Episode 8, Leo sees Peter Jennings and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the queue to cross the Sanzu River – Jennings and Rehnquist died in August and September of that year, respectively.

YMMV / Ghost Stories

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