Funimation was Playing with Fire with This Anime to “do whatever it took to sell the show” and Make the Most Unhinged Dub Ever
If you were brave enough to sit through even an episode of Ghost Stories, and we are talking about the dubbed version here, you would know that it is completely off its rockers and Funimation went bonkers with it. There is actually a story behind why the subs and dubs are completely different in the anime and why the dubbed anime makes little to no sense.
Ghost Stories, known as Gakkō no Kaidan in Japanese is a 20-episode anime series created in 2000 by animation studio Pierrot and Aniplex for Fuji Television, based on a book series by Tōru Tsunemitsu.
The story revolves around a group of friends: Satsuki, Momoko, Hajime, Leo, and Keiichirou, who, accompanied by a mysterious spirit inside a cat named Kaya, seek to exorcise all the ghosts that had been locked inside a tree by the deceased mother of Satsuki and Keiichirou, which were haunting the old school.
Behind The Scenes: The Dubbing History Of Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories was chosen by ADV Studios for dubbing in 2005. Actor Greg Ayres claims that they were instructed to “do whatever it took to sell the show.” Everything else was up for grabs, the only requirements being that the primary plot and the names of significant characters and ghosts must stay the same. In an act of pure bravery, Director Steven Foster did away with almost all of the original screenplay to turn the program into a pure Gag Dub.
The other members of the cast had to follow the lead actor into the scene because, when the voice actors were called in to record scenes, whoever arrived first would establish the mood and subject for the scene. This method resulted in a dub that was jam-packed with politically and culturally relevant references, absurd jokes, and random characterization.
Ghost Stories Dub Stated As The Worst Anime Ever
Ghost Stories dub is not for the beginners. There’s plenty of racism in the dub of Ghost Stories, not to mention sexual jokes, insult humor, anti-semitism, anti-Christianity, m**turbation jokes about school kids, and references to Western culture by the bucketful. Given free rein, the writers and actors let it rip. And, boy, did they let it rip!
So, it comes as no surprise here that given the chance to name the worst anime ever, a cosplayer in an Instagram reel by @dr_applesauce answered Ghost Stories Dub. Back in those days, no one cared much about the overuse of dark humor. However, the audience is much more mature now and those days are long gone, so the humor feels crass and vulgar to most people.
But we would say that no matter how snobby you are about dubs, Ghost Stories dubbed version is a must-watch. It is absolutely hilarious and you never know, the show might be right up your lane, and you might even thank us later for this recommendation.
