Review of Ghost Stories

Quick take: I wanted to love this show. I really did. I liked the concept, I liked the characters right away, but as the show went on, the lack of development in almost every area became a sticking point. Yes, a cult classic due to it's English dub. My original plan was to watch the English dub, have a few laughs and then once I had finished a few other series and forgotten the storyline, loop back around and watch the subbed version. However, I can see, even with the English dub, why this was not very popular. As a matter of fact, the show wasso forgettable that I could've probably watched the sub right away and would have felt like I was watching a new show.

Even through the English dub, you get the sense that the story stalls time and time again and that plots and characters aren't properly fleshed out. Let's talk specifics. This is based on the English dub, but I believe they will carry over to the sub as well.

Let's talk about poor character development. We have a main character, whose story is a pivotal point in the series, appear so little, that we're treated to an ending completely devoid of emotion because of it. I believe that we're supposed to feel bad for him, even sad, but the lack of proper bond portrayed throughout the series between him and the other characters just makes it feel like we're watching a background character with a little too much detail. It's frustrating because at the beginning of the series, the character showed so much potential and over the first few episodes, seemed to be on the proper path to fully develop.

Yet, this sort of goes with the whole quality of the show. In the beginning I felt like there was serious effort. The concept was good, all of the characters seemed well on their way to development. After the first few episodes, I thought, " I don't see why this was unpopular." However as the show progressed, it seemed to become clear that the studio stopped caring. Plot holes are so quickly tied up that you're a little bit confused as to how they arrived at the conclusions. The show's episodes feel disjointed and they seem to ignore the overarching storyline much of the time.

You see, one of my biggest pet peeves is unrealized potential. I feel like Ghost Stories had the ability to be good, but never realized that. It was frustrating and upsetting because at the end of the day, I wanted to love this show, but just can't. The missed potential is just too much to overlook. Would recommend just to see what the English dub hype is about. The storyline is mediocre at best.