You Don't Mess With ADV Studios

Ghost Stories is a strange anime with an even stranger history.  It started its life in Japan as a fairly generic monster-of-the-week type anime meant for the younger set.  It contained more or less your typical five-man band, animal companion (sort of), and as such, was pretty bland.  So when it was given to ADV Studios, they were told one thing.  Do whatever you have to in order to make this anime sell.

And oh God, they did.  The result is one of the funniest, most offensive anime I have ever watched.  The characters were all assigned somewhat different personalities and traits (such as the psychic girl who is turned into a born-again Christian who makes it a point to tell everyone they are going to Hell), and the jokes are laden with pop-culture references and very offensive material.  It isn’t a work of cinematic genius, but it’s definitely an anime that you will pull up random episodes of from time to time when you need a laugh.

Ghost Stories begins with a new girl, Satsuki, and her mentally challenged brother, Keiichirou, moving to town.  Satsuki quickly meets her neighbor, a perverted boy named Hajime who makes a constant effort to see her panties (this is true in both the gag dub and the original, strangely enough).  They also befriend a Jewish boy named Leo who is fascinated with the supernatural and the born-again Christian Momoko (who is also psychic or something).  With their five-man-band intact in the very first episode, the group begins exploring the abandoned schoolhouse behind the school they currently attend, which eventually leads to Satsuki’s cat being possessed by a demon.

The episodes all have a definite formula to them, but if you’re watching this show for the plot, you’re doing it wrong.  The first few are not too special in terms of anime (and you might not even be sure it’s a gag dub at that point), but from then on they get more and more ridiculous.  Towards the end of the series, the jokes get way more offensive as well.  Words that were previously bleeped out are now said without apology, and tasteless jokes like those about abortion are suddenly much more common.  Unless you are easily offended, though, this doesn’t hurt the series at all.  The shock at what is being said makes a lot of it very funny, and I spent many of the episodes in constant pain because I was laughing so much.

On another strange note, Vic Mignogna played one of the monsters of the week (somewhat early in his career), but was so ashamed, he refused to let himself be credited by name.  So he was credited as Obi Frostips, which is hilarious enough on its own.  However, several episodes later, when all of the characters begin talking about how Satsuki might be pregnant with Vic Mignogna’s child, things get much, much funnier.  So much for him not having his name associated with the show.  And, as an added bonus, if you Google “Obi Frostips,” you will always find information on Vic.  It just proves that you do not mess with ADV Studios.

Animation:

The animation in Ghost Stories is rather lazy, and even in the intro, where the animators should be trying to impress the audience, it is very clear when they are using the same three frames over and over again.  However, the gag dub makes a point to lampshade when things like this happen, which somehow makes the animators’ laziness okay and just adds comedy to the situation.  Luckily, technical quality isn’t so important when the sole purpose of the dub is to make fun of its source material.

Plot:

Ghost Stories doesn’t have much in the way of plot, but again, this actually works out in the show’s favor.  It keeps decent continuity, but part of the appeal in the episodes is that you can watch them in any order you want (except the first and last) just to get a laugh, and you don’t lose anything from not watching the other episodes.  The plots of the actual episodes are hit-and-miss as well.  The ghosts are rarely scary, but that is all right considering the nature of the dub.  Some problems are resolved entirely because the ghost doesn’t feel like attacking the kids anymore, and others are solved in completely unfair deus-ex-machina twists.  However, all of these are heavily lampshaded, thus proving that you can get away with almost anything if you lampshade it first.

Characters:

Being a gag dub, Ghost Stories does quite a number on the characters it portrays.  Momoko in the original dub had psychic abilities, but in here, she is the epitome of the Christian that everyone hates.  Keiichirou was a shy kid, but in this dub they make him mentally challenged, and give him a trademark annoying wail to use at random intervals.  In addition, Satsuki’s late mother is often referenced as being a lesbian, and Satsuki’s father enjoys doing drugs.  Though the characters are obvious caricatures with their one distinguishing feature being always at the forefront, this simply makes Ghost Stories funnier.

Voice Acting:

The voice acting is very hit-and-miss, but once again, technical quality is not the point of this show.  There are characters made to sound gay just for fun and other characters given ridiculous voices.  And then there’s Keiichirou, whose voice actress seems to be making her best effort to make him as obnoxious as possible.  Since there’s not much legitimate emotion to convey, the voice acting certainly does its job.

Music:

The music in Ghost Stories, as a whole, is not very good.  The intro song, Grow Up, is rather annoying, and the ending song, Sexy Sexy, makes no sense considering the series is about grade schoolers (by the way, the intro and closing are the same in both the Japanese dub and the gag dub, so there isn’t even the excuse that the gag dub did it for fun).  The background music in the episodes isn’t terribly interesting either, and a lot of it consists of public domain music.  You get the definite vibe that the original show didn’t have much money to spend (for that matter, the gag dub probably didn’t either).

Overall:

Despite the technical problems with Ghost Stories, I have to recommend it simply because the technical quality is not the point, the humor is.  You definitely won’t walk away from this show feeling like you see the world differently thanks to its profound views, but you’ll find it hilarious if you aren’t easily offended.  One note that I have to mention, if it wasn’t clear already, is DO NOT SHOW THIS ANIME TO CHILDREN.  It seems benign enough at first, but by the end, you definitely don’t want to get into explaining those jokes to a little kid.  They are hilarious for those who don’t have a pure mind for tainting, though.

This show was just so much fun to watch with both a critical eye and to watch it for what it is.  Though it isn’t a cinematic masterpiece and it isn’t even in the same league as other shows like FullMetal Alchemist, do watch it if you aren’t easily offended and aren’t a little kid. 

               

Equivalent Exchange

As I said in my introductory post, FullMetal Alchemist (the first anime, not Brotherhood) was my first foray into “real” anime.  Many of my friends had seen it when it first came out, when we were all in middle school, and thus, it is a very nostalgic show for most of my peers.  I got into it very late, though, and although I read the manga a couple times in high school (and to be honest, I don’t remember most of it now), I did not sit down to watch the series until I was a sophomore in college. 

Even without the nostalgia factor my friends had, though, the series blew me away.  I still maintain that it is one of the most profound series I have watched, and to this day watching even the openings to the show chokes me up.

FullMetal Alchemist is about the journey of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are searching for a way to get their bodies back after they were punished for trying to bring their mother back using alchemy.  Ed lost his arm and leg in the incident, and Alphonse lost his whole body and had his soul bound to a suit of armor.  As they do what they must to gain the Philosopher’s Stone (which would allow them to do much more powerful alchemy without the drawbacks, and thus allow them to get their bodies back), Ed joins the military for their resources, and the brothers travel the world in search of clues.

Animation:

FullMetal Alchemist is a very colorful show that pays extraordinary attention to detail.  Just looking at Alphonse’s character design shows how detailed the animation is.  On the first time through the show, I found no fault with the animation whatsoever.  As I rewatch it, however, I do notice how simplistic it gets at times.  It is clear that especially in the beginning filler-type episodes, the animators were on a budget.  However, when the more major events happen, the animation really steps up, and the show is beautiful to watch.

Plot:

When a show continues to choke you up a year after you watch it, it has done something right.  This is especially impressive coming from FullMetal Alchemist, which has an interesting story to its overarching plot.

The anime originally followed the manga fairly exactly, putting in filler every once in a while to pad out until more manga came out to cover.  It eventually became clear that on the show’s schedule, there was no way that it would be able to follow the manga given the manga’s schedule, and thus the creators were forced to either pad out the show to ridiculous lengths or come up with their own story given what they had.  They chose the latter at the encouragement of the manga’s author, and thus came up with a story that had its fair share of filler and a completely different latter half.

It is hard to tell that when you watch the show, however.  Foreshadowing that occurred at the beginning of the anime when it was still following the manga becomes significant in its own way, and it is quite possible to not even realize that the beginning was foreshadowing a completely different end.  As a whole, the story is quite cohesive and quite touching.

The abundance of filler also worked out in the anime’s favor.  Events that happened in the manga became that much more heart-wrenching in the anime because the audience was given more time to grow attached to certain characters.  There are even two episodes that are almost completely pointless, blatant filler, and they manage to be two of the most-loved episodes by fans.  Their hilarity stems from the fact that they are almost completely pointless, and yet hilarious.

When the story ends, it is perfectly reasonable to feel you have been punched in the gut in the best way possible.  It manages to be very realistic while at the same time juggling a reveal that seems very strange considering the universe set forth in the show. 

Characters:

FullMetal Alchemist is remarkable in its ability to not only make well-developed characters, but also to bring back characters where you would least expect them to be.  Its main characters, Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, are great characters both in design (it is a gutsy move having a character who is missing limbs, and it certainly works) and in personality.  They are far from perfect, but they are very sympathetic characters, and you care what happens to them.  The side characters are impressive as well.  The extensive cast of military personnel make for both great comic relief (they have a couple episodes dedicated almost entirely to them) and great characters in general. 

The other remarkable thing about FullMetal Alchemist’s characters is the amount of characters who appear to be one-shot filler characters but come back to play a vital role in the story.  Though this is far from necessary in a series, it is very interesting and does a great job in showing characters as human and not just a single character archetype.

It is not perfect, though.  There are several filler episodes in which the characters fill very specific roles that place the episode clearly in cliché territory.  There is one where something mysterious is going on and Ed and Al catch the man who is responsible for it, and he proceeds to monologue about his evil plan.  He was rather artificial in doing so, and that took much of the credibility of the episode.  Fortunately, those types of shallow characters are few and far between, and when they do show up, you’ll only see them once.

FullMetal Alchemist especially excels in having three-dimensional villains.  There are only a couple villains (who again, only show up a couple times) that do not have a genuine reason for behaving how they do, and most believe that they are doing good, or at least are sympathetic in their bad decisions.

The other thing that FullMetal Alchemist does well in is creating strong female characters.  Though I felt Winry was little more than a whiny plot device that fixed Ed’s prosthetic limbs all of the time, it was hard to find fault with the rest of the female characters, who may not have always been the paragon of perfection (which was in fact a very good thing), but they were strong characters who felt human instead of shrill, annoying harpies that seem to plague some shows.

Voice Acting:

The voice acting for FullMetal Alchemist is very well-executed.  It is the reason that Vic Mignogna (Edward) is such a popular voice actor for major roles, and contains a lot of other big names.  It is a great dub in which there are several extremely hammy characters, but it all contributes very well to the overall package.

Music:

The music in this show was also astounding.  All four of the opening themes were great, very catchy and fun, while the closing themes were also routinely good.  Several were not terribly distinctive, but they were still quite good songs.  The soundtrack during the show is quite good as well, and one of the recurring songs, “Brothers,” never fails to be a tear-jerker, even though it is used quite often.

Overall:

FullMetal Alchemist is a great show all-around and has rightfully gained a reputation as one of the essential anime to be watched.   It is extremely suspenseful, funny, and tear-jerking, and I have consistently held it as the best anime series that I have ever watched.

Introduction

For the longest time, the extent of my anime viewership was Pokemon and other Saturday morning kids' anime.  Once I reached college, however, I realized just what I was missing.  I started my anime viewing with Fullmetal Alchemist, and I've only gotten more fanatical with the medium from there.

I don't like everything I see though, and a big problem I have is finding legitimately entertaining and yet still intelligent anime.  Of course, everyone has different tastes, but the general consensus of the Internet is largely positive for shows which, quite frankly, don't deserve it.

And thus, I present this blog.  Once a week, I'll post about an anime that I have watched (all the way through, so you don't have to worry about my being biased because I only watched a bad or good section of a show), and how good it is in a number of different areas to answer the vitally important question: Is this a quality anime, and is it worth watching?  

The one thing that I will warn you about now is that I watch English dubs, except when none exists.  So when I talk about voice acting and things that are only true to one dub, don't expect to hear anything about the Japanese one.  I prefer dubs to subs except when an English dub makes my ears bleed, which hasn't happened yet.

I welcome feedback, both in the form of opinions about shows that I review and in suggestions for a show to watch and review (if I am currently looking for one).  So comment away!