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Ghost Stories (anime)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ghost Stories ( Gakk no Kaidan?, lit. "School Ghost Stories"), also

known as Ghosts at School, is a 20-episode anime series created in 2000 by
animation studio Pierrot and Aniplex for Fuji Television, based on a book series by
Tru Tsunemitsu.
The series is licensed for the North American 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.
Contents [hide]
1 Storyline
2 Characters
3 Theme song
4 Media
4.1 ADV dub
4.2 Animax dub
5 See also
6 External links

Print/export
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Ghost Stories

Cover art for the first volume of the anime series,

published by Aniplex, featuring the main characters

(Gakk no Kaidan)

Edit links

Storyline

[edit]

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 paranormal 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.

Characters

Genre

Horror, Black Comedy (dub

version only), Supernatural
Anime television series
Directed by Noriyuki Abe
Produced by Yuriko Nakamura
Music by
Kaoru Wada
Studio
Pierrot
Licensed by NA Discotek Media
Network
Fuji Television
US Anime Network
English
network
Original run October 22, 2000
March 25, 2001
Episodes
20 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga portal

[edit]

Satsuki Miyanoshita ( Miyanoshita Satsuki?)

Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)
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 Koigakubo ( Koigakubo Momoko?)
Voiced by: Kumi Sakuma (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
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 has a psychic connection with Satsuki's
mother. In the ADV's english dub, she's of Christian denomination..
Hajime Aoyama ( Aoyama Hajime?)
Voiced by: Takako Honda (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)
Hajime is Satsuki's neighbor. He is always strong and courageous to help defeat the ghosts, but though he says that he 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
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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 Kakinoki ( Kakinoki Reo?)
Voiced by: Makoto Tsumura (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)
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 is actually just a coward. In the English dub by
ADV, his name was romanized as "Leo", and in the dub, However, he's Jewish.
Keiichirou Miyanoshita ( Miyanoshita Keiichir?)
Voiced by: Kurumi Mamiya (Japanese), Christine M. Auten (English)
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.
Amanojaku (?)
Voiced by: Ryusei Nakao (Japanese), Rob Mungle (English)
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 (?)
Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese), Tommy Drake (English)
Sakata is the teacher of the class where Satsuki, Hajime and Reo attend. Despite the fact that he doesn't believe in ghosts,
he suffers as a victim from many supernatural incidents. For example, he was possessed, cursed and kidnapped by ghosts a
couple of times.
Reiichirou Miyanoshita ( Miyanoshita Reiichir?)
Voiced by: Takehiro Murozono (Japanese), Illich Guardiola (English)
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 Miyanoshita ( Miyanoshita Kayako?)
Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese), Marcy Bannor (English)
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".

Theme song

[edit]

Opening Theme "Growup"

Music and Lyrics: Takuya
Arrangement: Sakuma Masahide, Hysteric Blue
Song: Hysteric Blue
Ending Theme "Sexy Sexy,"
Lyrics: MASASHI, TAMA
Composer: MASASHI
Arrangement: CASCADE, Cozy Kubo
Song: CASCADE

Media

[edit]

Main article: List of Ghost Stories (anime) episodes

ADV dub [edit]

On the weekend of August 19, 2005, at the 2005 Otakon 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 rewrites the original script (while still leaving the basic plot structure and storyline intact) in favor of 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.[citation needed] This in turn, was rebutted by the favorable reviews and
the news that the original Japanese licensor, Aniplex, approved the changes.[citation needed] 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
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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 and Satsuki's young brother Keiichirou is depicted as
being mentally challenged. Several minor characters' backgrounds are expanded slightly (mostly for comedic purposes), as well.

Animax dub [edit]

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.

See also

[edit]

Gakk no Kaidan

External links

[edit]

Studio Pierrot's Gakkou no Kaidan website

Animax South Asia's page for Ghosts at School
Animax East Asia's page for Ghosts at School
ADV Films' Ghost Stories website
Ghost Stories (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Ghost Stories at the Internet Movie Database
Review at The Black Moon
v t e

Gakk no Kaidan by Tru Tsunemitsu

[show]

v t e

Works of Pierrot

[show]

Categories: 2000 anime television series ADV Films Animax shows Aniplex Comedy anime and manga
Comedy-drama anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Fuji Television shows Gakk no Kaidan
Horror anime and manga Parody anime and manga Pierrot (company) Supernatural anime and manga
Urban legends in fiction

This page was last modified on 9 February 2014 at 04:49.

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