Ghost Stories Vol-1: Freshman Frights (2001)
Animation Production: Studio Pierrot
Released by: ADV Films
Running Time: 100 minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

With Halloween coming up next month I thought it be a good time to take an early look at a series being released by ADV Films’ entitled Ghost Stories. The theme seemed appropriate enough for this time of the year and I was in the mood to see something that doesn’t involve giant robots or a complicated science fiction plots. Don’t think I’ve ever seen anything on this particular series so like with so many of the newer shows we go right into this one with no prior information or opinions.

Let’s see if these ghost stories are as scary as we hope they are and learn what this anime series is all about!

Story

"When nearby construction disturbs a spiritual resting place, kids aren’t the only ones starting classes at this school. And that means it’s up to a scruffy band of young ghostbusters to expel their satanic schoolmates before everyone goes into permanent detention! So join Satsuki, her crybaby brother, the resident class stud, the school nerd and “psychical researcher”, a born-again beauty, and a resentful, demon-possessed cat in the funniest, most ghoulish grade school you’ve ever enrolled in! ."-- DVD Box

Review

Please note that this review is based on an early preview copy so certain aspects that will be in the final product are not available here such as extras, all episodes, etc.

With this early copy of Ghost Stories we got to check out the first three episodes in the series which included:

Episode 1:
Meet the Miyanoshita family. They are newcomers to this town and are looking forward to making a new home here. Satsuki and Keichiro are the two young members of this family and they are excited to be attending a new school and having the chance to make new friends, but on their first day of school things take a surprising turn when they end up at the old school house alongside 3 other kids they had just met. Here they experience first hand ghost phenomena and super natural powers that are beyond their comprehension. Terrified they try to escape, but all the exits are blocked!

Now when a small ghost grows to huge proportions and threatens to punish the children for not wanting to be his friend things quickly deteriorate and unless they can come up with some way of containing the ghost they are done for! Can our heroes escape this haunted school house with their lives and what exactly is the mysterious ghost book/encyclopedia they find that was written by Satsuki‘s mother?

Episode 2:
A horrible ghostly apparition is appearing in toilets and taking people into a netherworld that we don’t dare imagine. Can Satsuki and Keichiro together with their friends and their newfound book on ghosts and methods to defeat them put away this new threat? If they don’t succeed things will quickly deteriorate all over Japan!

Episode 3:
The school play is coming and when the lead layer is incapacitated Satsuki's friend has to step up and take up his role. What happens next leads to a lot of supernatural phenomena at the old school house and possibly threatens our protagonist! Can our heroes stop the ghost that’s haunting their school’s theater before it’s too late!?

Considering that Ghost Stories is more geared towards the younger set I was quite surprised at how entertaining the whole thing was. The stories are simple, but not dumbed down, the characters are likeable, the ghosts featured in each episode are interesting and have unique powers, backgrounds, etc, and everything just comes together quite well, including the overarching story and one-shot plots.

The narrative structure has our heroes sealing away a large variety of ghosts and spirits that have come back to haunt the living. From toilet monsters that will bring you into their world to entities that don’t have a form and everything in-between Satsuki and company will have to do everything they can to help people and put these apparitions away. Helping them in their quest is a Ghost book/diary that was written by Satsuki’s mom when she was enrolled in the school the kids are currently attending. In this old book detailed entries and illustrations on the various ghosts they run into can be found alongside tips on how to contain them or put them away. This book and its connection to our two main characters (via their deceased mom) provides the story’s overarching plot which is touched on in each chapter.

These being early episodes as with most series at this stage we get a lot of one-shot stories whose purpose aside from advancing the main story is to introduce us to the main cast and helping us understand who they are and what motivates them in their adventures and relationships. The bulk of the time here is spent with Satsuki and Keichiro as we learn about their past, the significance of their cat and their deceased mother, who is the central figure to everything that is driving the mysterious ghost forces in this series.

All in all the show was a lot of fun and had some solid character moments to it. I enjoyed the setting and how the action flows in each story as the kids try to come together to tackle each ghost. There’s nothing here that would win any awards or that will really catch you by surprise (the one big surprise in the plot is easily foreseen early on), but that’s not what Ghost Story is all about. Rather, it’s a story about growing up and confronting our biggest fears and overcoming them together with the help of our friends and family. A simple theme, but one that has great universal appeal.

On the production front this series being from the 2000 – 2001 season it benefits from some good production values. The animation is sharp looking and the frame rate while not jaw-dropping certainly flows smoothly. The color palette is adequately colorful and has a nice balance between the colorful pastels and darker grey tones used during haunted school building scenes. Some minimal use of CGI effects is also employed for certain environmental and ghostly effects.

Not too much happening in the audio front aside from the opening and closing themes which perfectly capture the spirit of the story. The background music just sorts of hang there, but doesn’t make its presence known. The voice cast used by ADV Films sounded a little old for their hand drawn counterparts, but still managed to put in a solid performance throughout.

This being an early preview copy none of the extras that will be in the final product are available here nor is the artwork for the DVD box and disc final yet. Please look for a full overview of these product areas once the final production version of this release comes out.

Final Thoughts

Ghost Stories is a fun filled anime ride for fans of all ages. This is one to definitely look for at your local anime DVD store.

Recommended!

Jeffrey Couto