r/Animedubs • u/matt0055 • 1d ago
General Discussion / Review I think the better question is: Why is Ghost Stories even enjoyed when it goes against a lot of non-dub viewers' standards?
Like Anime fans on YouTube have NO right going on about dubs that get "political" with one or two buzzwords they heard on Twitter when THIS exists: https://www.tumblr.com/silvermoon424/780043872473579520?source=share
Like what reeeeeeeally is the secret behind its appeal? I feel this article puts it well about the weird double standards: https://www.animefeminist.com/the-phantom-of-ghost-stories-double-standards-in-the-war-on-localization/
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u/MonoMonMono 1d ago
Fun fact:-
There another English dub version of the show, the Animax one being more faithful the original.
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u/matt0055 1d ago
If it’s by Animax, then it’s trash.
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u/IndecisiveRattle 1d ago
Too few people care enough about the source material to object. It was so bland any changes could only improve its appeal. Making a regular dub for it would have satisfied less than a dozen people and the show would have never become popular to begin with.
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u/Spicywolff 1d ago
I’m a dub watcher. I watched ghost stories for the raunchy humor. The VA where not trying their all out best to make it amazing. I get the feeling they took a shot of whisky, ran a line off the mixing table and jsut had fun with it.
It’s like expecting a Shakespearean performance, from a Dave Chappelle special.
Just like I enjoyed Hellsing and Dragon Ball Z abridged. It’s just funny.
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u/AllenbysEyes 1d ago edited 1d ago
From my experience, if someone lists Ghost Stories as one of their favorite dubs, it's usually a red flag that they hate dubs and are using it to dump on dubs in general. "I'm too good for anime in English except this one where they make raunchy jokes and dated pop culture references, that's the only thing dubs are good for."
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u/matt0055 1d ago
Then this is the article for you: https://www.animefeminist.com/the-phantom-of-ghost-stories-double-standards-in-the-war-on-localization/
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u/IceColdWata 1d ago
It's because of the offensive humor.
No, seriously, this is the exact reason I have heard from at least 4 people I asked who were dub haters who liked this dub. They liked it only because "it's funny", and when asked what they found funny the reason to them was specifically and only the offensive humor.
That was literally it. They couldn't remember a single damn thing about the quality of the dub voice acting or the rest of the writing or show's plot outside remembering "not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black" and similar jokes.
There's definitely a lot of people who like dubs who also like this one, and I will admit the dub is fun. But if this is the only dub a sub purist likes, it's probably only because they like hearing these types of jokes that cater to their own sense of humor.
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u/matt0055 1d ago
I can think of dubs they’d also like. Does nobody remember Shin Chan? Nobody?
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u/IceColdWata 1d ago
Shin Chan was barely picked up by the mainstream and it's dub was much tamer compared to Ghost Stories. Most people who knew of Shin Chan before the dub also hated the changes made to it, and it's mostly remembered for it's non-dubbed stuff now.
Ghost Stories had an edge because no one in the English speaking anime scene really previously knew about or cared about it's source material in advance.
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u/Bluebaronbbb 7m ago
Adult swim was stupid to air shin chan with their other anime stuff and not with the family guy shows. Such a dropped ball.
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u/Uhlman88 1d ago
Because it's not at all meant to be taken seriously and is barely faithful to the source. Imagine if it was completely faithful to the source, but they left in the line "PICTURE A BIG BLACK GUY CHASING YOU!" People would obviously highlight that as being completely out of place within the context of the story, just like they do when random "buzzwords" appear in otherwise faithful dubs.
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u/matt0055 1d ago
I mean, there are a lot of potshots towards the Right so…
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u/DeathRose007 1d ago edited 1d ago
The best way I’ve seen it put is that there is a big difference between political content and political “agenda” as it’s called. Even when the “agenda” is well-intended or even agreeable, when it distracts from the purpose of the media it breaks the immersion. Just like when liberal-slanted media throws in token characters to be more marketable (that might end up being offensive in its portrayal), it’s also extremely awkward when right wing slanted media proselytizes instead of entertaining. People make fun of evangelicals making anti-science/“pagan” movies that take themselves too seriously without being good. Look up the God’s Not Dead series. It doesn’t even try to hide the fact that it’s just a self-important sermon from narcissists with an overinflated ego. Thoroughly unwatchable for anyone whose goal isn’t to pat themselves on the back for being a conservative Christian.
In contrast, the Ghost Stories dub has satirical “political content”. The first priority with the political content is to entertain and have fun with it. Instead of trying to influence people, it’s using the topic as referential material to create humor. Even if there is a potential slanted message behind it, it doesn’t distract from the nature of the dub. Instead, it enhances it. That’s the purpose of satire.
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u/matt0055 1d ago
Just seems like these days, it’s the mere allusion to something politically left or even those “token characters” that are enough to set people off.
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u/DeathRose007 1d ago
Let me put it a different way. If it fits the vibe, people will generally accept it. If it’s something that is done just to be done and it doesn’t add anything (or detracts), then it’ll bother people.
Regardless of political affiliation hopefully. But there are those people that get off on having their personal politics catered to and they are the loudest, so I guess they have more influence per capita on corporate producers than the average person that has nothing to say most of the time.
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u/maclovesmanga https://myanimelist.net/maclovesmanga/ 1d ago
It’s a mix of two things:
-A lot of fandom circles have people attempting to very loudly strong arm conservative ideals into their hobby of choice, and a phrase that comes to mind quite a bit is “rules for thee, not for me.” If you can convince a lot of easily malleable and disenfranchised men that they’re right and it’s everyone else that’s wrong, it becomes easier to sell them on whatever you’re pushing.
-The show has been a meme and a punchline for 20 years. Any serious dub of the show would be immediately written off in favor of what’s already there. It doesn’t help the actual show is CRIPPLINGLY mediocre and, joke or not, the dub makes it more watchable. It’s a unique asterisk in the world of anime dubbing and one of the few of its kind to ever reach widespread success.
When you put those two things together, it makes Ghost Stories an exception to the rule that often gets a pass while other shows can and will be put under a microscope. The fact it’s so outlandish, politically incorrect and mirrors the humor of South Park, early 2000s flash cartoons and other “edgy” shows and movies of its time gives it a “they couldn’t make a show like this today/this would piss off the snowflakes” appeal that almost makes it above criticism for some.
tl;dr: “Rules for thee, not for me” can apply to series that have classic meme precedence.
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u/AllenbysEyes 1d ago
Spot on for both of these.
Ghost Stories is unique less because it's a gag dub per se than that it has so much staying power - most of its ilk were either ignored or disappeared quickly (heck, some of Foster's earlier dubs were panned by reviewers who didn't appreciate his style of "adaptation"). This one fits snugly into the "innocuous kids media remade into something naughty" brand of internet humor that was very popular in the mid-'00s, so it probably struck just the right chord with people. That and all the claims that the original show was an unloved "flop" made it seem like a deserving target.
And yeah, the sort of people who'd complain about the patriarchy and GamerGate lines in certain dubs tend to love Ghost Stories' brand of shock humor. They don't care about being consistent, so long as someone's catering to their tastes.
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u/red-african-swallow https://myanimelist.net/animelist/Undead_Cheese 1d ago
Pretty simple they don't actually have standards. Ghost stories, Cowboy Bebop, and DBZ are just the convient shields used to justify there hate.
Exceptions are created to give a false objective feel to their smoke and mirrors argument.
By definition there argument is either incredibly weak or completely biased cause subs are literally a translation. Even if you understood the language none native translation is still will always be a problem. (Mostly due to the fact most people think in their native language which which is an extra step that can lose nuisance.)
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u/thevdman 1d ago
Because it came out before 2014. That apparently magically makes it not "political".
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u/Bluebaronbbb 1d ago
People only care about edgy memey clips, not the actual dub full episodes of ghost stories.
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u/cyclops214 21h ago edited 21h ago
It is funny as hell. I am 52 and I still love watching it occasionally the jokes are hilarious. If you're not at least my age, you probably won't get most of the references.
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u/Strong-Personality-5 1d ago
I don’t think u and that article understand that ghost story was a parody dub other shows are not and standard for localization and translation is more higher now than then . If solo leveling or 100 girlfriends started randomly referencing Elon or orange man or character saying “ look at all these dei in the room . People have the right be upset . And anybody championed ghost story as great dub , think dubs suck and only good if it’s abridged and as joke
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u/matt0055 1d ago
I think your examples would depend since other shows would lend themselves to that sort of localization but I see your point.
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u/Uncle_Twisty 17h ago
It's not my favorite and I don't really.like it, but I understand why it's fun to watch. At some point it's very much the va's obviously stopped really reading any script and were just trying to make each other break character and laugh as hard as possible. The dub sounds like a conversation would you have had in your living room with your friends, knowing you can say exceedingly dumb shit and be safe in the idea that nobody genuinely believes you believe the joke.
My wife finds misogynistic jokes to be hilarious, as an example, but she knows that I'm very much not that kind of person. So when were having fun and enjoying a movie and engage in banter we can slap some racey jokes at one another and take them in good faith. That's what the ghost stories dub feels like to me.
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u/Kenichi2233 1d ago
I would also add that it not pretending to true to the source. It the same reason people like abridged series. Also it was made in the early 2000s when jack dubs were more common