As a kids show, is it really that bad? (no ADV dub)

May 18, 2016 7:15 AM

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Sep 2011

1782

This show has a reputation for being infamously terrible, so much that the only redeeming value it is said to have is in that offensive for the sake of being offensive joke dub done by ADV. And yet I've never heard any legitimate criticism of the show other than people thinking the concept is impossible to take seriously. I've even looked up a bunch of reviews, but they always talk about the dub. Several on MAL and some on Youtube such as Bobsamurai and Glass Reflection.

But this is a kids show we're dealing with. I doubt anyone could take the idea of ten year olds set out into the world to collect and battle monsters in capsule balls seriously if it had been an anime first and not an rpg.

So I ask anyone who has actually seen the original, from a kids show standard, is it really that terrible? From what I've heard the basic premise is like a Scooby-Doo type show, but that show had teenagers as the main cast and the ghosts weren't real.

For someone who doesn't mind watching kids shows, is it worth it to watch the original?

May 26, 2016 5:40 AM

Konani

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Apr 2009

1200

i'm watching the original, ahnd i'd say it's really good from a kid's show standard,

comparing this to scooby doo is kinda like comparing powerpuff girls to puella magi madoka magica though; they're vastly different, but still is about little kids defeating monsters.

i, for one, enjoy watching this thing in it's original language. it's nice and creepy at times, fairly serious, so- well, feels like a pretty solid anime to me.

i'm horribly bad at figuring out what's aimed at "kids" specifically though, but i think it could be enjoyed by anyone watching it, who likes ghostly stuff .w.

-that said though, i'm one of those people who vastly prefer the Digimon anime to the Pokemon anime ^_^-

I like to comment Episodes as i Watch them.

Jul 4, 2016 11:59 AM

RLinksoul

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Sep 2011

1782

Konani said:
i
comparing this to scooby doo is kinda like comparing powerpuff girls to puella magi madoka magica though; they're vastly different, but still is about little kids defeating monsters.

Well yea, but I just mean that it's that level of "this is kind of a silly premise, but it's a kids show so it's fine."

A bunch of kids/teens investigating haunting incidents, not exactly something an edgelord would call deep and realistic.

Jul 5, 2016 4:40 AM

Konani

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Apr 2009

1200

RLinksoul said:

well, i don't think deep and realistic are thoughts to be given about anything involving fantasy; as soon as a monster pops up, it ends being realistic, doesn't it?

i would say the level of horror and drama is at least on par with XXXHolic or Ushio to Tora though, if wanting to compare it to something. I have not watched the english joke-dub, and i have come to resent/loathe it because people don't take the anime for what it is once they've seen that, or so it feels like at least.

and personally i think that adding kids into something adult characters would do really adds to the spice of something. how about Hunter x Hunter? -two of the main characters are only little kids, but they still are put through some really horrid, unpleasant stuff- they fight for their lives, they kill others, they get absolutely terrified at times and they have to deal with things that would crack the mentality of many adult characters. -but is that premise silly too?

or, well, how about Puella Magi Madoka Magica? they are magical girls, how cute? one is murdered and eaten, one has a psychotic breakdown after some time of depression, one is a sociopath brute, one is an absolutely desperate heroine fighting the status quo and the last one has the pressure of everything else on her shoulders. <--sort of, and then there's Kyuubei, and the group pressure element of everything.
the main characters are just little girls who use magic to fight monsters, nothing different there, but once you watch the anime, you know that's not all there is to it.

there's also Evangelion; 14-year olds are put into giant robotical suits to fight alien threats where the adults of the world have failed.

i take Ghost Stories just as seriously as i would any other anime out there, i have seen some really bad ones, i have seen some really good ones, as a horror, it is decent or even pretty good, as a kid's show, i'd say you need some kids who like scary stuff or an audience being at least around their younger teens since there are some pretty scary stuff happening in that anime
-they've got lots of mindgames, and had the presentation been different, perhaps with other character designs, it'd be a full-blown horror enjoyable for adults i tell you.

it's not quite a Higurashi with torture, murder, psychotic breakdowns, blood, dead bodies, bloody murder and psycopaths running around the place, but if we say Hirugashi is a 5 on the scale, Ghost Stories is at least a 3-4

I like to comment Episodes as i Watch them.

Jan 20, 2022 12:36 PM

logopolis

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Apr 2012

2846

It was a well respected show before the bastards at ADV started libelling it because they didn't want to adapt it properly. I remember at the time it was airing, websites describing what's coming out in Japan right now were just starting to come into existence, I think there were two, one by Jasconius who was the Hikari no Kiseki translator, and one other. Anyway, the other one (which I think was about Japanese culture in a slightly more general sense, but currently airing anime was part of what it was interested in) chose it as a highlight of the current season, pointing out how an American cartoon would never do something like an episode based around a piece of classical music.

Anyway, I'm rewatching it now after a couple of decades, and it's just plain well written and well put together, way ahead of most of the stuff airing right now. I'm sure there are plenty of adults whom it doesn't work for, but any adult with half a brain should be able to understand that a children's show is aimed at children, not you.

Mar 29, 2022 7:16 AM

Baby_Penewine

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Aug 2021

328

its basically scooby doo in a way, without the dub i would have dropped it but i could see kids watching this. the dub makes the experience more enjoyable but if you want to watch it in sub then its a good show

Apr 10, 2022 6:22 PM

Tsukinoouji_zak

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Mar 2009

135

Absolutely not.. this show is amazing. I don’t watch anime in english only in jp so I don’t know why it has that reputation. Apparently the dubbing version was purposely jacked up but I think it is a great show about ghosts. There is only few of them unfortunately so I adore this anime. Early 2000 brings back childhood memories.

Dec 20, 2022 1:53 AM

TarikKabir

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Mar 2021

480

Please watch episode 12 in subbed from. As for the rest of the sub it's Scooby Doo for Japanese kids and I enjoyed it.

Apr 4, 2023 9:51 AM

sickomodelarry

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Jan 2023

My only viewing of it so far has been the sub, and it's not so great, but calling it terrible is strong words I think. It's a silly show aimed *at kids*, so I don't think it should be judged against stuff that's not like it.

I'm not super familiar with Scooby-Doo but that's immediately what my mind went to. A lot of the time you'll find yourself thinking, "Wow, that was super convenient. Of course it would happen like that, the episode is supposed to be over in 3 minutes." It's got hints of spookiness but it's not scary by any stretch, it's sorta funny sometimes but it's rarely hilarious. A little weird though that they sprinkle in the occasional panty shot for good measure (could just be a cultural difference). It's pretty easy to watch though, so you could probably bear through it, but I doubt I'd do it again.

Oh and Kaya is probably the best part of the show! He's a fun little deviant to watch interact with the kids.

Apr 8, 2023 11:36 AM

#10

CrocodileDragon

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Apr 2023

First I watched when I was 11 and I really liked it. In Hungary it aired 9:15 pm and because I was many times alone at home it was scary for me, especially the piano episode. Not as great as Courage the cowardly dog, but it's a great horror for kids. I watched many horror films and games since I first watched, but it have a special place in my heart.

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