The anime series that became famous for its wildly inappropriate English dub

Countries & Cities · Published 12 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Originally a successful Japanese supernatural series, Ghost Stories gained unexpected notoriety through its English localization. Instead of a literal translation, voice actors were encouraged to improvise, resulting in a raunchy, self-aware version filled with pop culture references and dark humor that stands in stark contrast to the original.

Aired on Fuji TV from October 2000 to March 2003, the anime is based on Tōru Tsunemitsu's book series. The plot follows Satsuki Miyanoshita, who moves to her deceased mother's hometown and discovers that urbanization is inadvertently releasing ghosts that her mother had previously sealed. Among these entities is Amanojaku, a powerful demon who ends up sealed within Satsuki's pet cat, Kaya.

While the original Japanese run was successful—ranking 9th out of 10 as a most anticipated anime of 2000 and achieving an overall audience rating of 14%—the series' Western reputation is defined by its ADV Films English dub. Fuji TV provided the dubbing team with minimal constraints, requiring them only to maintain character names, the method of slaying ghosts, and the core episode meanings.

This freedom led to a radical departure from the source material. The English dialogue was largely improvised by voice actors in the recording studio, with the first person to arrive setting the tone for the episode. This resulted in a version described by critics as 'the best and worst anime dub,' characterized by political incorrectness, fourth-wall breaking, and jokes about the show's own low animation quality.

The series has seen various releases, including a North American DVD in October 2005 and a complete set from Discotek Media in March 2014. It also appeared on the streaming platform RetroCrush in February 2021.

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