Hmm, I admit while I've been using this journal a little more often than before, I don't so much care for talking about my personal self, or life for that matter. Maybe I'll use it to foist my opinion on others about media I've been consuming of late.

I recently finished watching an anime called 'Ghost Stories', probably the first series I watched through since Bomberman Jetters several years ago. I more or less divorced myself from the scene after watching an episode of the painfully formulamatic Bobobo...bo...bobobo..bo (is that enough 'bo's?). That being said, it would've taken something unique to get me to watch a new series.

The premise of Ghost Stories was such a concept.

Ghost Stories is an anime about kids who find a book detailing how to trap various ghosts that were released durring reconstruction and urbanization in the local area. They go on multiple adventures with the only consistant 'villian' being a demon who is trapped in the body of the family cat, but acts little more than a very reluctant guide and spares no chance to tell them he waits for their death with eagerness.

By itself, the show it trite, formulamatic, and holds nothing special that hasn't been done in several anime before it. What DOES make this anime different is the dubbing done by Funimation. As the story goes when the studio picked up the series for western release they were told they had free reign to do what they wished as long as certain key story points were kept intact (how the kids defeated the ghosts, and so on).

In turn the entire show is played very much tounge-in-cheek. Most characters are aware of the fact they're in a show that rips off common Japanese-Horror films (in one episode they wonder how many times they've already ripped of 'The Ringu', and very little is sacred including...

-Several references that the main character's dead mother, while being a spiritual demon hunter, was also a lesbian
-The token 'sychic girl' character is now a pentacostal who thinks most everything that happens in the show is an act of God's will, and often reminds the others how they will be going to hell if they don't repent.
-The main character's younger brother suffers from dyslexia, is easily manipulated, and when flustered or upset (which is a good 90% of the time) his speach decends to loud babbling
-The show now takes place in America, but all the Japanese text is still left in the show, often confusing the main cast

This is just the short list of the changes made to the show, and I think a rather hilarious afront to the 'Dubs ruin the original intention of the language' crowd. For the bounderies they push though I will admit they cross the line of good-taste, perhaps a little more often than what you would see on Adult Swim. There were a few jokes I did feel uncomfortable laughing at but I still did laugh none-the-less. If nothing else it has some of the more memorable quotes I'd heard from a show in some time.

"Shirotabe, my freinds over there think you're a rabid serial-killer. And in the movies, this would be the part where I foolishly trust you not to kill me, and stick my hand in the cage."
"'Come bring me back to life' he says, 'I'll be good, I promise' he says, 'I'm not gunna turn into a big, red-eyed, flesh eating monster rabbit' HE SAYS!!"
"Stupid sentimental flash-back time is over now you bunny loving bitch, if you don't throw that thing I'm tossing YOU with it!"

And this was all from one episode.

In closing, a different kind of anime, mostly for the cynics and those who enjoy dark humor.

Meh, not a very good reveiw. I'll try better next week. As an aside, can someone tell me how to turn of Emocons? I'm getting rather irritated with random smily-faces sullying my text.