Monsters, Mental Health and ‘The

Nightmare Before Christmas’

By Michael Pementel
December 16, 2020

While it might seem like Ghost Stories was only acting on the
emerging J-Horror trend, this 2000 anime was in fact another
adaptation of Tōru Tsunemitsu’s popular series of children’s books.
After four live-action films based on the teacher-turned-author’s
books, animation was the obvious next step. The anime — technically
the second after a standalone ’96 OVA — has since gone on to
become a favorite among Western audiences, although not for
reasons the Japanese showrunners could have expected. No, this
series is best remembered for its off-the-wall English adaptation that
many fans liken to South Park.

Admittedly, Ghost Stories didn’t leave a big mark upon and after its
initial release (other than a controversy regarding the ultimately
unaired Kuchisake-onna episode). In its defense, though, many
anime back then had a hard time standing out or living up to new
expectations. As a reminder, that previous decade gave rise to a
number of innovative and heralded series, such as Neon Genesis
Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop. The anime industry had just come
off a considerable high, both in terms of creativity and success.

However, when the now-defunct, Texas-based anime distributor A.D.

Vision (better known as ADV Films) licensed the series in 2005, they
claimed Ghost Stories had done so poorly in its homeland that the
Japanese producers gave them their blessing to change the series,
so long as they could make it profitable. As it turns out, this was a
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 half-truth. Despite an enduring narrative that says otherwise, Ghost
Stories, or Gakkō no Kaidan/School Ghost Stories, did relatively well
when it aired as part of Fuji TV’s Sunday programming. This
undoubtedly comes as a shock after years of misinformation from all
around.

Perhaps something was lost in translation during ADV’s purchase of

the series. If that’s the case, then the long-established notion that
Ghost Stories was a total flop right from the start actually stems from
the show’s underwhelming performance on Animax. Launched in the
late nineties, the 24-hour, Japan-based anime channel Animax was
once made available in other parts of Asia. This entailed original (and
poorly acted) English dubs for international audiences. Ghost Stories
was indeed translated into English before ADV’s licensing, but in the
end, the series didn’t fare too well on account of its late-night
scheduling. Hence the “failure” falsehood that was only recently
disproven.
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 Leo Kakinoki doesn’t realize he’s being watched.

In Japan, Ghost Stories’ surprisingly high ratings came from a built-in

audience — the popularity of Tsunemitsu’s books is comparable to
that of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark — as well as its own
uniqueness for the time. Even today, current anime is rarely focused
on local Japanese horrors, apart from the long-running and
minisode-centric series Yamishibai. Naturally, people also
immediately think of Junji Itō whenever anime horror is mentioned,
but for the most part, Itō’s works are original rather than based on
existing Japanese lore. The source material for Ghost Stories was
inspired by the urban legends Tsunemitsu collected from his young
students.

Old and angry Japanese spirits haunting the present are considered
passé at this point, yet Tsunemitsu’s books predate the peak of the
J-Horror boom by several years. The colloquial term J-Horror, which
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 tends to be a catch-all for any Japanese horror movie, was adopted
in the West once these movies were distributed outside of Japan.
Stylistically, the craze took off following Hideo Nakata’s 1998
adaptation of The Ring. And the other most renowned examples of
this cinematic fad — Pulse, Ju-On (2002) and One Missed Call —
were released after Ghost Stories aired. This anime wasn’t original as
far as tales of creeping and vengeful ghosts go, but in some
respects, it was ahead of the curve.

Children getting themselves mixed up with ghosts isn’t a novel

concept in Japan. Years before Ghost Stories was even a pitch,
Shigeru Mizuki’s vintage manga-turned-anime GeGeGe no Kitarō
placed yōkai in a contemporary setting. Similarly, the Ghost Stories
anime throws its own modern-day protagonist, Satsuki Miyanoshita,
into the deep end of the paranormal pool once she and her younger
brother, Keiichirō, move to their late mother’s hometown. The
uncanny goings-on are generally contained to an abandoned school
building within walking distance of the newer one, but this anime
always found a way to lure the kids to the old (and very haunted)
campus.

As Satsuki and Keiichirō settle into their unsettling new surroundings,

they befriend three classmates: the arrogant Hajime Aoyama, the
nerdy know-it-all Leo Kakinoki, and the mediumistic Momoko
Koigakubo. Along with the Miyanoshitas’ pet cat, who is now the
host/prison for a powerful demon named Amanojaku, the cast solves
supernatural cases as they come up. Which, of course, is often.
Cookie-cutter setups and executions aside, Ghost Stories manages
to stir up genuine, if not fleeting entertainment in each episode.
Every spectral encounter is like its own short J-Horror movie. There
is continuity in place, however, it’s nothing so heavy or complicated
that a casual viewer would be lost if they watched a random episode.
The biggest plot thread here concerns Satsuki and Keiichirō’s
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 mother, who originally sealed all the spirits now set free by recent
construction and renovation.

From nearby, the ghost nurse watches the hospitalized Keiichirō Miyanoshita.

Anyone who has tried the Japanese version on for size before finally
sticking with ADV’s dub can confirm this series originally played
everything straight. All that changed once Steven Foster stepped in
and turned the anime into a parody. Foster, who has a history of
satirizing anime, turned the dial all the way up with Ghost Stories. In
addition to Foster and Lucan Duran’s jokey English scripts, the dub’s
voice actors improvised. There were caveats from Fuji TV to
remember when producing this English version, though; particular
elements, such as how a ghost was defeated, had to remain intact.
The core structure of episodes, more or less, stayed the same.

The obvious area where ADV’s dub takes the most creative liberty is
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 the tone. Whereas Japanese series director Noriyuki Abe preferred
a more serious take, the (second) English version is a dark comedy.
The story is unmistakably set in Japan, yet the dub makes constant
references to American pop culture. From Al Roker to J-Lo, this
script is localized to the max. Major character names had to be left
unchanged, although backgrounds were, in some cases, overhauled.
Leo was now Jewish, and Momoko was a born-again and devout
Christian. Both characters turn in their fair share of self-deprecating
humor on top of the most barbarous jabs at everyone else. And by
“everyone,” no one is off limits here. Anyone watching the dub for the
first time today might be taken aback by the edgy and unapologetic
dialogue. To say this English dub is a product of its time would be a
massive understatement.

The shock value and appeal of the Ghost Stories English dub is
undeniable, even in an age where people are largely more
enlightened. Its distinct and unsanitized flavor isn’t for everyone; a
number of jokes won’t fly today. Fans will also dismiss the original
Japanese version, going so far as to say it’s boring. Yet for those
looking for entertaining lessons on both classic and contemporary
Japanese horror mythology, it’s hard to beat this delivery system.
The infamous English dub only makes the whole package more
pleasurable, albeit in a guilty way.

Ghost Stories is currently available on Prime Video and

Crunchyroll.
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 The characters meet the ghost called da Vinci.
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