Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Ghost Stories: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Ghost Stories (also known as School Ghost Stories) is an exciting tale of ghostly hauntings. Produced by Hideo Katsumata (Arc the Lad), Ken Hagino (Yu Yu Hakusho), and Yuriko Nakamura (GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka), Ghost Stories is based on a Japanese series of children’s novels penned by Tōru Tsunemitsu. The ghost stories were based upon Japanese classics and were adapted for a younger audience. The original novels were also adapted as a four film live-action Japanese theatrical series (which one can hope will eventually be licensed by Discotek Media or Arrow Video in the future). Ghost Stories is an entertaining series with plenty of (haunting) charm.

Satsuki Miyanoshita (Tomoko Kawakami) is the lead heroine of the ghostly tale. Accompanied by her younger brother Keiichirou Miyanoshita (Kurumi Mamiya), the siblings spend time with their friends – neighbor Hajime Aoyama (Takako Honda), older classmate Momoko Koigakubo (Kumi Sakuma), and paranormal expert Leo Kakinoki (Makoto Tsumura). The team of ghost sleuths end up visiting an old school complex which is haunted.

As it turns out, Satsuki’s mother helped to seal away a variety of ghost spirits in the town – and she even wrote a manual on how to exorcise these ghosts too. Trouble ensues when the ghosts start breaking out of their sealed state and wreaking havoc on the city. Yet one ghost inadvertently comes to their aid.

Amanojaku (Ryusei Nakao) was sealed away as a ghostly spirit but once freed the spirit accidentally takes over the local cat, Kaya. Now in the form of the black cat, Amanojaku helps aid the kids in their ghost-sealing and sleuthing mis(adventures) – providing a feedback loop and tips on how to stop the spooky ghosts threatening the team. Can these adventurous kids manage to stop the ghosts once and for all?

The production has a fun and charming cast of characters. The cast make the series more palatable with the haunting element being less scary with the fun cast. These characters form their own special and unique gang of paranormal sleuths (of sorts) and the results are charming. A good cast led by Satsuki.

One thing that is interesting to consider about Ghost Stories is the dubbing. The English dub is not as faithful to the original Japanese script and was an example of a dub that explored too many creative liberties with the original version – changing threads for additional pop culture references and jokes (sometimes at the expense of the series writing). The original Japanese version remains true to the original vision and is the preferred version for those seeking a more authentic experience with this particular title.

The animation is one of the best elements of the production. Under the art direction of Shigenori Takada (Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto), Ghost Stories is a compelling series with fantastic animation. A wonderful effort from the team of animators involved with the production, Ghost Stories looks remarkably creative and the art style is certainly distinctive. The end result is something more memorable and engaging than it would have been with less talented animators involved on the production.

The character designs by Masaya Onishi (Yu Yu Hakusho, Tantei Gakuen Q) are fantastic and highly imaginative. The designs certainly seem true to the concept and the character designs are full of creativity. These designs do seem appropriate for the genre as well as the children’s book origins.

Toshiyuki Fukushima (Yu Yu Hakusho, Wolf’s Rain) handles the direction of digital photography. The cinematography on the series showcases the more digital aesthetic of the time-period in which the series was produced. Nonetheless, the cinematography by Fukushima is excellent and works well in showcasing the sometimes-eerie elements of the storyline.

Given the “ghostly” element of this series, it makes sense that the cinematographer approached the material with some darker aesthetic elements – even though these moments are counterbalanced against some lighter cinematographic flourishes as well. A nice effort by Fukushima. The aesthetic certainly fits the production.

The score composed by Kaoru Wada (Inuyasha, Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight) is one of the highlights. The music manages to add some spooky and fun elements to the experience. The score is entertaining. There is a lot of charm to the score and it is no wonder (with such a talented and prolific composer on board the production). A solid effort from Wada.

Written by Hiroshi Hashimoto (One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho), Ghost Stories explores the supernatural and paranormal with a compelling voice. The screenwriter does a solid job with the production and this is something that is unsurprising. Hashimoto is a talented screenwriter who has worked on several big productions and it is nice to see the effort provided to this (arguably) under-the-radar series.

Directed by Noriyuki Abe (Yu Yu Hakusho, Flame of Recca), Ghost Stories is a nice showcase for the talents of its filmmaker. Abe is one of the most creative anime filmmakers (with his masterpiece Yu Yu Hakusho being one of the greatest anime series ever produced). Though Ghost Stories might not be as iconic or as essential as Yu Yu Hakusho, Ghost Stories is nonetheless a production that is full of charm and it is a wonderful testament to the talents of its filmmaker. Fans of the director will find it well worthwhile.

Ghost Stories: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Discotek Media, Ghost Stories is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The presentation is not a native high-definition presentation. The release presents a high- definition upscale from standard definition material. The result fares better than some might imagine but it is still not as crisp or invigorating looking as a native high-definition presentation would.

This aspect of the release is something that cannot be overcome as the standard-definition material is the original resolution (given the context of the time period of production, in which many anime series of the era were still transitioning to being done as digital productions and the masters were not up to speed for the high-definition visuals of modern series). Nonetheless, Ghost Stories looks good with a decent upscale effort from Discotek. Color reproduction looks worthwhile on the release. The set has solid encoding as well (with some of the edges looking crisper and less compressed compared to a standard definition DVD). Are the results night and day? No, but it offers a marginal improvement.

Ghost Stories: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of audio options: English uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo and Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless audio sounds reasonably good on this release but it not quite on par with more modern productions and the source audio might be somewhat limited (in comparison to the video). The dynamics do not sound quite as engaging as expected but the results are still reasonably engaging nonetheless.

Ghost Stories: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The first print run of the release includes a nice-looking o-card slipcover (and the sleeve art-work underneath the slipcover includes additional artwork as well).

On disc extras include:

Commentary with Dub Director Steven Foster (HD, 22:31)

Clean Opening (HD, 1:31)

Clean Ending (HD, 1:31)

Original US DVD Promos (SD, 2:51)

Ghost Stories: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ghost Stories is a charming and entertaining anime with a nice concept and a fun cast of characters. The animation is one of the key highlights – this is a nicely stylized series. Directed by Noriyuki Abe (Yu Yu Hakusho) the production will appeal to fans of the filmmaker. Ghost Stories is imaginative fun.

The Blu-ray release provides a 1080p high-definition upscale of the animation. The master by Discotek Media is worthwhile. However, the source animation will never look as crisp as more modern anime productions.

The set also provides a selection of audio options. The English dubbed presentation is less faithful to the original Japanese language version and the dubbing added an abundance of pop-culture references and jokes that were not included in the original version. This should be considered as an example as to why one might prefer to stick with the original Japanese language audio on this particular anime. Discotek Media has also provided the release with a quality o-card slipcover. The set will please series fans. Recommended.