History YMMV / GhostStories

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** The scene in Episode 7 where Satsuki asks her compact mirror who's the prettiest girl around and Amanojaku answers with Creator/LindsayLohan. Today, this response would be considered incredibly ironic; it wasn't back in 2005.
** The joke with Reiichirou and the Merry Mary doll becomes a lot less funny when you learn that his English voice actor, Creator/IllichGuardiola, was arrested in 2014 for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student of his.[[note]]The case is fairly messy. The arrest occurred after the two illegally crossed state lines to get married, as the age of consent differs across the United States. The girl insisted the relationship was consensual, her parents supported it, and they all refused to cooperate with the police, forcing the prosecutors to drop the charges.[[/note]]
** After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Momoko's joke about stacking the Supreme Court to ban abortion no longer seems funny.

* HarsherInHindsight: Lots of jokes are made at Creator/VicMignogna's expense, some of which are about his preference of younger girls:
** The episode where Da Vinci abducts Momoko and paints her in a noose like one of his victims can be rather uncomfortable to watch for some fans due to the allegations that Vic Mignogna, Da Vinci's English voice actor, sexually harassed Creator/MonicaRial, Momoko's English voice actress.
** Episode 15 makes references to Vic Mignogna and becoming "Mrs. Mignogna". Again, this became even more unfortunate given his sexual harassment allegations.

* PresumedFlop: The story goes that the ADV dub was the result of the Japanese rights holders telling them that they could do whatever they want with the script as long as they kept the basic plot, as they were desperate for the series to be a success since it performed poorly in Japan. While it's true the dubbers were told they could go nuts with the script, the series actually got good ratings in Japan and reran several times.

* ClicheStorm: ''Every'' horror cliché gets used at some point in this series. This is naturally lampshaded in the ADV dub.
** Overlaps with SeinfeldIsUnfunny, as the original ''Franchise/GakkouNoKaidan'' books the anime is based on were really influential in Japanese horror, [[TropeMakers originating]] a lot of common Japanese horror tropes (such as the OldSchoolBuilding being haunted, the [[EerieAnatomyModel moving anatomy model]], and [[ToiletHorror Toilet Hanako]]) that are now considered clichés.
* CommonKnowledge: The original bombed, right? While that's what higher-ups at ADV told the cast and crew, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkYediuSuw series actually performed well in Japan]] as it garnered an average rating [[https://twitter.com/MercuryFalcon/status/1406837089472331781 that put it in the top 10]] for most popular anime at the time of its original airing, also show that the show is remembered fondly. As such, the series has had multiple reruns over the years. [[https://www.slashfilm.com/703353/ This article]] also debunks and examines the myth about the show bombing.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Not many people outside of Japan are aware that the anime is based on a series of horror films, nor that said films are based on a series of children's horror anthology novels.

** Overlaps with SeinfeldIsUnfunny, as the ''Franchise/GakkouNoKaidan'' books the anime is based on were pretty influential in Japanese horror, [[TropeMakers originating]] a lot of common horror tropes (such as the OldSchoolBuilding being haunted, the [[EerieAnatomyModel moving anatomy model]], and [[ToiletHorror Toilet Hanako]]) that are now considered clichés.

* CommonKnowledge: The original bombed, right? While that's what higher-ups at ADV told the cast and crew, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkYediuSuw series actually performed well in Japan]] as it garnered an average rating [[https://twitter.com/MercuryFalcon/status/1406837089472331781 that put it in the top 10]] for most popular anime at the time of its original airing. As such, the series has had multiple reruns over the years.

** "Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're ''black''."[[labelnote:Explanation]]In the ADV dub, just before his spirit is put to rest, Mio says this to a resurrected Shirotabi when she explains why their love "could never be".[[/labelnote]]

** '''[[ScaryBlackMan "THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"]]'''[[labelnote:Explanation]] In the ADV dub, Hajime says this to Keiichirou in order to motivate him for the sports festival. When Keiichirou becomes exhausted, Hajime follows this up by saying, "Well he's not racist."[[/labelnote]]
** "RUN! She's a ghost and a bitch!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]In Episode 15 of the ADV dub, Amonojaku wonders if the person who tried to have Satsuki erase herself from existence is a ghost or a bitch. When he finds out Yamime was posing as Shinobu, he says this.[[/labelnote]]

** "Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're ''black''."[[labelnote:Explanation]]In the ADV dub, just before his spirit is put to rest, Mio says this to an resurrected Shirotabi when she explains why their love "could never be".[[/labelnote]]

%%* MemeticMutation:
%%** '''Hehehehe.''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext Touch me.]] [[AC:[[https://youtu.be/RINHjxsPOEg Touch me harder.]]]]
%%** "Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're ''black''."
%%** '''[[ScaryBlackMan "THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"]]'''
%%** "RUN! She's a ghost and a bitch!"

* MemeticMutation:
** '''Hehehehe.''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext Touch me.]] [[AC:[[https://youtu.be/RINHjxsPOEg Touch me harder.]]]]
** "Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're ''black''."
** '''[[ScaryBlackMan "THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"]]'''
** "RUN! She's a ghost and a bitch!"

** Also, Momoko's joke about stacking the Supreme Court to ban abortion has lost whatever humor it was meant to have.

* CommonKnowledge: The original bombed, right? Well, that's what higher-ups at ADV told the cast and crew, but no. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkYediuSuw series actually performed well in Japan]] as it garnered an average rating [[https://twitter.com/MercuryFalcon/status/1406837089472331781 that put it in the top 10]] for most popular anime at the time of its original airing. As such, the series has had multiple reruns over the years.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Amanojaku is the greatest character in the entire series. How could you go wrong with a DeadpanSnarker ghost cat?
** Momoko became one thanks to her ridiculous fundamentalism.
** Mio Imai with her ridiculous plotline about wanting to fuck a rabbit.

* OneSceneWonder: The (jackass) construction foreman and his poor (noun)-(verb)er subordinate.

* CommonKnowledge: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkYediuSuw series actually performed well in Japan]] as it garnered an average rating [[https://twitter.com/MercuryFalcon/status/1406837089472331781 that put it in the top 10]] for most popular anime at the time of its original airing. As such, the series has had multiple reruns over the years.

** It might be an utterly stupid choice for a series about elementary school students fighting ghosts, but the ending theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA3-eUekq5k "Sexy Sexy"]], is an undeniably awesome song.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The Merry Mary doll, as she's called in the dub, seriously seems like she should've had a much larger role in the series as she's one of the most powerful spirits (to the point where she isn't actually beaten, and just leaves on her own) and is clearly acquainted with Amanojaku as shown by their interaction at the end of her episode, but is never seen again afterwards.

* BrokenBase: Some love the ADV dub for its irreverent humor and excellent voice acting, while others despise it for its utter disregard of the original script. In fact, many think that the jokes in the dub are very offensive and unfunny in many ways.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Outside Japan, this is the general consensus concerning the original version of the series as many feel that it's okay on its own merits.

* CommonKnowledge: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkYediuSuw anime performed well in Japan]], with an average of [[https://twitter.com/hach_family/status/1319068834280534016 12.5% viewer ratings]] that [[https://twitter.com/MercuryFalcon/status/1406837089472331781 put it on the top 10]] for most popular airing anime at the time and multiple reruns over the years.

* CultClassic: Both versions of the series. In Japan, the series is liked due to its atmosphere and cute designs for the main heroines. In the West, the ADV dub reached memetic status, sometimes even getting credited as "the original [[TheAbridgedSeries abridged series]]" or as an "official abridged series" due to its crass humor.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The general consensus concerning the original Japanese version. Rumor has it that its mediocrity is what allowed ADV free reign over the writing of their dub.

* PresumedFlop: The story goes that the infamous English GagDub was the result of the Japanese rights holders telling Creator/ADVFilms that they could do whatever they want with the script as long as they kept the basic plot, as they were desperate for the series to be a success since it performed poorly in Japan. While it's true the dubbers were told they could go nuts with the script, the show actually got good ratings in Japan and was reran several times.

* SpiritualAdaptation: The English GagDub and its style of humor is probably one of the closest things we'll get to an anime version of ''Franchise/SouthPark''.