Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Raaaat
About a year ago. I twisted my ankle being stupid and came home to hop on a Discord call with a few friends, watching the Ghost Stories dub. Unbeknownst to me, this would result in my second moderate injury of the day, where I would dislocate a rib laughing too hard at the show. The following week sucked. I have no regrets. Ghost Stories is the only anime to date that has physically injured me in real life.
On the note of an actual review, I get that this style of humor isn't going to be for everyone. I understand completely if people wouldn't find it all that funny for most of the runtime. Personally, even outside of the clippable moments, almost every second of this show is funny to me. The tension between the original plot and the dub trying so hard to remove all sincerity is truly in…
Read at the sourceLecus01
Few anime localizations split audiences quite like Gakkou no Kaidan, mostly because the original Japanese broadcast and its famous English dub feel like two completely different shows.
The Japanese version is a standard turn-of-the-millennium kids' horror anime. It follows a group of elementary schoolers solving weekly urban legends with the help of a ghost journal left behind by the protagonist's late mother. The main problem is how predictable it gets. Almost every episode follows the exact same formula, with the kids denying the ghost exists for the entire first act before finally checking the journal. The pacing drags at times, and while Kaoru Wada's soundtrack does a decent job, the subtle fanservice moments will definitely turn off some modern viewers. Studio Pierrot's animation is…
Read at the sourceReddington_BL
[color=green][size=130]Apparently, I forgot to write a review after finishing. The first episode was so boring that I Googled if watching the show was even worth it. The overall consensus was, don't watch the show. Instead, watch the compilations of the show's funniest moments.. The stories/plots were all kinda meh, what really sold it was the dub version's commentary. The dub is absolutely hilarious, filled with a ton of pop references, fourth wall breaks and is just as perverted as I am! There's nothing I hated about this series, but I will say the little brother is obnoxious!
You'll appreciate this show more and its references if you're a millennial or older. It has a lot of cultural references that kids and younger people of today won't get.
In general, the dub is what keeps you ente…
Read at the sourceexerant
This is a review for watching the original Japanese raw with no translations. Gakkou no Kaidan is a solid horror show for Japanese children with a Youkai of the Week format similar to Scooby-Doo but a lot more serious. There are real stakes at play here and the horror at times is the sort of thing you would see in an actual horror movie.
Some familiarity with the subject matter can make most episodes easier to follow, as the show assumes prerequisite knowledge of youkai and Japanese urban legends that the average schoolkid would have. Many of the things shown are what actual Japanese children talk about and scare each other with, and the rest are very similar to things that are present in urban legend in different areas of Japan. Fortunately I had a decent understanding already due to con…
Read at the sourceDrainsYourMana
When you watch the subbed version you never stop wanting to beat the dub team to death. The claims that the original is some kind of unsalvagable dogshit are grossly exaggerated; it's a very cute, earnest and sweet anime at its best and just alright at its weakest episodes.
Is it a revolutionary misunderstood gem that would save weebkind as we know it if it was just given a chance? No, probably not. But being written off entirely as The Room of Anime and having an abridged series touted as the ideal way of experiencing it strikes me as profoundly silly.
The dub which everyone knows this show best for is chock full of groan worthy pop culture reference humor that everyone has suddenly decided to have always hated in the 2020s, and like, one good joke an episode. Other than that it just fe…
Read at the sourceGoldenGooseProd
People who watch the "Ghost Stories Dub Funny Moments" compilations on YouTube probably think this show is a laugh a minute.
It is not. There's a reason people are only able to quote the same five jokes. That's literally all there is to it.
Each 20 minute episode maybe has two funny jokes, TOPS.
I don't get offended easily, especially given that this was made in the early 2000s but dear lord, these jokes just don't fly at all, even by edgelord standards.
There's also the social context of Americans severely bastardizing the works of Japanese creators but that's a topic for another day. As someone who lives in Asia, I would hate it if some white millennials replaced by writing with jokes about Carrie Underwood, Jerry Maguire, and MTV references.
Read at the sourceJigglynerfed
The English dub is peak parody anime, truly.
A lot of pop culture references, dark humor jokes that are actually funny and you can just tell the voice actors are having fun.
The story isn’t great but the humor really makes up for it, even making light of the writing at times.
I would recommend watching it with the original English sub so you can see what was changed and when they stuck to the script (although it’s mostly pretty obvious), this way you can also see what the original story was trying to say which is cheesy and makes no sense. It’s a great anime to watch while completely baked on a weekend.
Read at the sourceSteeJans
If I had to rate the original Japanese sub, it’d be a 1. But the English dub? Easily a 9—maybe even a 10.
The original story revolves around about a group of kids that discover the paranormal. After this discovery, they are haunted by numerous ghouls and ghosts that make their life hell. The problem is that the original script is very dull.
However, for the English dub, the voice cast threw the script out the window and gave us one of the most unexpected comedic gems in anime. Crude, irreverent, completely off the rails—this dub doesn’t care about plot. It’s improv. It’s chaos. And it’s hilarious. If you’re a fan of so-bad-it’s-good or enjoy fourth-wall-breaking humor, it’s a must-watch.
Read at the sourceBeta_Kronykal
I am giving it an 8, but only for the dubbed version. The show itself is really mid, plenty of cliches, nothing special. However, the dubbed version changes the game entirely. It elevates the show from a mediocre ghost hunting anime to a lovable, funny as hell official parody. What's more, the dubbed version really plays well with the animations and scenes.
Got quite a few laughs out of me. The only downside I can think for dub is the plethora of references that I don't get, since they seem to be aimed at an American audience. Other than that, a memorable experience.
Read at the source051819
I watched the dub, obviously, and I am certain that most people are here for the dub as well. The background of the dubbed version should not come as a secret to anyone. I mean, a few clips of this anime can get over a million views elsewhere. Repeating the backstory of how the dubbed version came to be would be unnecessary, as it has already been repeated ad nauseam. However, most of the backstory seems to exaggerate some claims that are sourced from an at best, second-hand account. For the sake of providing a more vague explanation, the dubbed version was simply less constrained by the rules set by the original network. So, after a bit of tweaking, the localization turns the anime from a generic set of ghost stories (hence the name) targeted towards youths into a black comedy.
A generic…
Read at the sourcecharlielovestoes
this show is hilarious. worst thing ever but it makes you laugh. DO NOT go into this anime seriously, watch it when you feel like shit and want to laugh at stupid and very problematic jokes.
this show is probably not a 10/10 but personally, it made me laugh quite a few times and feels like a show i would rewatch at some point. i dont really have anything else to add so im writing words in order to fill up the word count :P PS. i know nothing about how this show was created so other reviews probably have more to say about that but i sure am glad it was made
Read at the sourceEstellious
Ghost Stories is by no means a masterpiece of an anime, It is only worth watching the DUB version as it will have you cracking up with so many jokes that would have gotten it probably banned if it was made in todays time. The dub can be considered a classic and honestly the random-ness, jokes that the voice actors created to save this story makes it all worth it and a rating of 10, I have never watched an anime that made me laugh so hard yet so interested due to the captivating no-script. I have watched so many anime's and this one is the one I cherish the most.
Read at the sourcebridishbirb
Ghost Stories is one of the most bizarre yet unforgettable anime experiences, not for its original content, but for the sheer audacity of its English dub. While the Japanese version is a fairly average supernatural series aimed at children, its English adaptation by ADV Films flipped the script entirely. Granted free creative reign due to the show's poor reception in Japan, the dub team transformed the series into an irreverent, self-aware comedy packed with absurd humour, pop culture references, and off-the-wall dialogue that often had little to do with the original story. The result is a chaotic parody that unapologetically pokes fun at itself, other anime, and Western media. While not for everyone due to its edgy humour, the Ghost Stories dub has earned its place as a cult classic, deli…
Read at the sourceRobbytheGr8
Most people 22 years ago would have claimed that shows like; Evangelion, Gundam Wing, Cowboy Bebop, Dragonball Z, or Sailor Moon were their "gateway" Anime. For me, it was the subtitled version of Ghost Stories. My school had a Japan Club that played Anime near weekly and this was the first. Only saw the first 2 episodes (and coincidentally I wouldn't see the rest of the Anime until years later) but I was completely hooked.
The dub for this show is much more famous and easier on average for a Western audience to digest. That is if you go into it keeping a politically correct mindset outside your brain. It's basically a different show than what Japan made. The subtitled version likely has very few fans besides myself. The only other ones I know of are my wife and Chris Beveridge of the lo…
Read at the sourcejoemaamah
At first, I wasn't going to review this. Almost everything has been touched on in other reviews, but I thought I might share my experience as it seems to be a little different than most.
I remember when this first came out so many years ago. There was no dub yet, just bootleg fan subs. And frankly, it sucked. Poorly done, even for a kiddie show. I thought it was probably much too scary for little kids. The art is sloppy and the animation is mostly less than average. The characters and episodes were poorly written. There's no overarching plot, just Scooby-Doo Ghost of the Week shit. The Japanese VA work seemed blah. There was nothing to keep me watching, and I dropped it after 2 or 3 episodes. I could see why it tanked in Japan. I wouldn't have graded the original better than 40/100 for a…
Read at the sourceCristina_G
Ok it gets a 5 for the original work but my review is about the standard translation. If you’re fine with it you’ll have no trouble finding the series online but if you’re after the real dialogues, after ep.4 the subs are horrible. There’s no translation that’s faithful to the original, sub or dub, except for a version I found that has both Hindi dubs and English subs at the same time 😅 (still better than nothing, but only the first 10 eps were done).
In the garbage version they simply slapped it with a dub fanfic by juveniles who thought they’re hilarious but came out sounding like bad Saturday morning kid’s TV dubbed by the “American Dad” crew. They replaced the dialogues with all sorts of sex & drugs’ quips, bad Jesus & American celeb jokes that only Americans understand and other st…
Read at the sourcekozad
This is a terrible anime. It's fkn bad. But, hear me out, watch the English dub! The US studio got permission to do whatever they'd like with it as long as they kept a few things from the Japanese version intact. The cast took a terrible anime and made it into a campy comedy firmly belonging to the 2000s. Sure, in 2024, it's not nearly as funny as it was 15 years prior. Society's norms have changed and several of the punchlines are literally dead people now (making it harder for younger folks to get the jokes), but this perfectly encapsulates the 2000s weeb culture and the era's Adult Swim demographic too in a very satirical way. It's a rare example of the dub being far superior to the sub. 😂 Honestly, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and the Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5 "Princess Robot Bubblegum" sa…
Read at the sourcegunaivi
I consider this anime, which was released in the year 2000, as highly recommended.
Even though I just watched it in 2024, it still creeped me out. Maybe it’s because I’m really scared of the horror genre, especially since I always watch it in the middle of the night, which makes the horror feel even more intense.
I’m pretty sure this was the scariest anime of the 2000s. If I had watched this as a kid, I probably would have fainted, haha.
I also really liked the character development of the cat throughout the series. I would definitely give the highest rating for that aspect.
However, the anime does have some weaknesses:
1. There’s no background story for the main character's parents, especially the mother. Why can she put so many spirits to rest? Where did she get that power? Her origi…
Read at the sourcetota-chiba
As someone who has never watched the original, the dub is one of the funniest things I have ever watched. Its as if an "abridged series" of the original show was made, but officially and with more reference humor and black comedy than ever. Regardless of how insulting it may be to some, this is a breath of fresh air to go back to when the world seems to get just a little too much and you just need to watch something offensive as a palate cleanser and crack a rib (or two) from laughing so hard.
Anyone who can take a joke should absolutely watch this dub, but god help you if you try to turn it into a drinking game, you'll die.
Read at the sourcemarkmonlux
My wife and I watched the first few episode with subtitles turned on. But one day we decide to watch the dubbed version because we were having some soup while watching the show and it’s a lot easier to eat soup and listen then eat soup and read. But the characters only had uttered two sentences before we sprayed our soup because of our laughter. Whoever the cast was that decide to do the dubbing, they went over and beyond in changing the context with absurd dialog. I have rarely laughed so hard.
This anime is unique in that it proves context and content are everything. The character personifies change completely. The group dynamic goes off kilter.
Read at the source
