Ghost Stories or Ghosts at School (学校の怪談 Gakkou no Kaidan, lit. School Ghost Stories) is a twenty episode anime series created in 2000 by animation studio Pierrot and Aniplex for Fuji Television, based on a manga series by Yousuke Takahashi, which also inspired Japanese filmmaker Hideyuki Hirayama to create a movie series with 4 installments.

The series is licensed for the North American market by ADV Films whose English dub replaces the original script with a comedic one. It was also aired in Latin America by Cartoon Network, who has broadcast the entire series unedited on October 1, 2005. The series was also translated and dubbed into English by the anime television network, Animax, who has broadcast the series unedited and uncensored under the title Ghosts at School within its respective networks across the world in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and other regions.

Ghost Stories tells the tale of Satsuki Miyanoshita (宮ノ下さつき Miyanoshita Satsuki), who moves with her family to the hometown of her deceased mother. On her first day of school, Satsuki; her brother Keiichirou (敬一郎 Keiichiro), a first-grader; their neighbor Hajime Aoyama (青山ハジメ Aoyama Hajime); Momoko Koigakubo (恋ヶ窪桃子 Koigakubo Momoko), an older schoolmate; and Reo Kakinoki (柿ノ木レオ Kakinoki Reo), a classmate and friend of Hajime's with a penchant for the paranormal visit the abandoned school building adjacent the current school complex and discover that the building is haunted.

It is soon after revealed that Satsuki's grandmother was the school principal, and her mother was responsible for sealing a ghost named Amanojaku, who has been released due to the urbanization taking place in the surrounding area. Satsuki's mother left behind a book detailing how to exorcize the ghosts once and for all, but in the process, Amanojaku is sealed within Satsuki's pet cat, Kaya. Though the group does not want to get involved at first, the danger soon threatens to envelop the town and it is left up to Satsuki (with her friends) to stop the ghosts once and for all and to send Amanojaku to the next life.

ADV Dub

On the weekend of August 19, 2005, at the 2005 Otakon anime convention, ADV Films announced an October 2005 release of Ghost Stories on DVD for North American distribution. The controversy stems from ADV's dubbed version, which completely dismisses the original script in favor a comedic one written by ADV scriptwriter Steven Foster. While the original show is still be available on the DVD release via subtitles, a few fans lashed out against the ADV dub, charging that the company made too many edits for the dub simply for the sake of potential successful sales. This in turn, was rebutted by the favorable reviews that ADV's preview at Otakon has received to date, and the news that the original Japanese licensor, Aniplex, approved the changes. Volume one of Ghost Stories went on sale on October 22, 2005.

Ultimately, response to the ADV dub has been overall positive, due to the addition of humor, mainly through multiple pop culture references. For example, in the first episode, when Hajime encounters Momoko for the first time, in the Japanese version, he says "She's beautiful"; however, in the ADV dub, he says "Giggidy giggidy!" (a reference to Glenn Quagmire from the animated sitcom Family Guy). The ADV dub also makes notes of Wal-Mart and Charmin toilet paper rather than the Japanese version's "store" and "toilet paper". There are also political swipes ranging from Republicans to Democrat politician and Christian preacher Al Sharpton. They also make references to older songs and many different references to pop-culture, making it seem more American than Japanese at times. The dub also pokes fun at not only certain Japanese customs, but also certain anime archetypes or animation flaws (e.g. running without actually moving, which the characters address). For example, when Hajime did not take his shoes off in Satsuki's house (he was rushing to save her) she immediately confronted him with, "Why do you have your shoes on in my house?", referencing the Japanese custom (since the show takes place in Japan) of taking one's shoes off before entering anyone's home.

Lastly, there are some character changes, such as Momoko being changed from a psychic to that of an evangelical Christian who slanders homosexuals, Jews, and Muslims in multiple episodes, Satsuki's mother portrayed as a lesbian and Reo changed from a mere researcher in the supernatural to that of a Jewish character with an inferiority complex, making even his name change for "Leo". Several minor characters' backgrounds are expanded slightly (mostly for comedic purposes), as well.

In addition, sexual humor not in the original version become more and more overt as the series goes on, eventually changing from sub-text to overtext. The final DVD volume contains overt profanity and sexual situations.

From Wikipedia