Press Release

ADV LAUNCHES GHOST STORIES OCTOBER 25

The Most Talked-About Anime Series of the Season

Fans Laughed, Critics Raved, So What’s All the Fuss About?

Judge for Yourself!

HOUSTON, October 12, 2005 —ADV Films, the number one producer-distributor of anime in North America, is proud to present Ghost Stories, a new anime series that has sparked fierce debate on the Internet – and lots of laughs among those lucky enough to have seen it! It’s been a long, bruising controversy, but finally on October 25 fans can finally see for themselves what all the fuss is about.

With Ghost Stories, ADR director Steven Foster took a perfectly nice kids’ show about modern children who take on supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore and brought in the best voice talent in anime to create a hip, funny action-comedy. “Thank god for ADV films … the English dub for this show is a howl” (Anime News Network).

Fans howled during Ghost Stories’ surprise preview at Otakon last month, and the new dub earned raves from reviewers at Anime News Network, Ain’t It Cool News, and Anime on DVD, among others. “I’ll readily admit that I did not like this show in its raw Japanese form. The English version however, is actually quite funny, and it’s really made me excited about Ghost Stories” (Anime Frontier).

In online fan forums, however, Foster’s improvisational adaptation has come in for some heat from dub purists, who worry that the American pop culture references and comedic asides take Ghost Stories too far from its Japanese roots.

Just to be clear, ADV’s English dub of Ghost Stories follows the plot of the original exactly. But in place of a written script, Foster simply blocked out scenes and let the actors go. It’s the anime equivalent of Curb Your Enthusiasm, in that the actors have freedom to riff of one another instead of simply following a prewritten script. The result is a fresh, lively, funny dub with a spontaneous energy that stands apart. “Ghost Stories is a great example of experimental dubbing” (Way Jeng, Anime on DVD).

Of course, it’s the performers that make the series sing. The voice credits read like an anime dream team! “Ghost Stories is definitely something English dub voice actor fans will eat up. … In other words if you're a fan of the ADV regulars (Chris Patton, Christine Auten, Greg Ayres, Hilary Haag, Illich Guardiola, Monica Rial and Rob Mungle), it becomes a run out and buy purchase” (Ain’t It Cool News).

Synopsis: When nearby construction disturbs a spiritual resting place, kids aren’t the only ones starting classes at this school. And that means it’s up to a scruffy band of young ghostbusters to expel their satanic schoolmates before everyone goes into permanent detention! So join Satsuki, her crybaby brother, the resident class stud, the school nerd and “psychical researcher”, a born-again beauty, and a resentful, demon-possessed cat in the funniest, most ghoulish grade school you’ve ever enrolled in!

Ghost Stories: Freshman Frights (SRP $29.98 DVD) is a DVD-only release including episodes one through four, presented in both English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles. Video extras include “Ghost Profiles” with background on the traditional Japanese folktales that inform the series, plus clean opening animation, clean closing animation, and previews of upcoming ADV Films releases.

About ADV Films:

In the 13 years since its inception, ADV Films has become the #1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation (“anime”) for the North American market and has also developed a leadership position in the UK. With best-selling titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, RahXephon, Robotech, Full Metal Panic, Hello Kitty and Azumanga Daioh, ADV Films' extensive catalog is fueling the popularity of anime around the globe. Always on the forefront, ADV is introducing North America to bold new anime franchises such as Gantz, Elfen Lied, Chrono Crusade, Peacemaker and DNAngel. ADV Films' library also includes popular live-action science fiction programs such as The Jim Henson Company's Farscape, the nationally syndicated Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda and the Saturn Award-nominated Mutant X. In 2005 ADV Films was voted “Best Anime Company” in the SPJA awards, presented at Anime Expo, North America’s largest anime convention.

Parent company, A.D. Vision, Inc., encompasses a multitude of complementary media divisions, spanning publishing, television, licensing and merchandising and continues to expand into new areas. Its Anime Network™ is America's first and only television network dedicated to bringing anime and anime-related programming to consumers nationwide via digital cable 24 hours a day. The company has two publishing arms: Newtype USA, the premier anime and manga monthly magazine, and ADV Manga™, dedicated to publishing graphic novels. Headquartered in Houston, the company has offices in Europe and Japan. For more information, visit www.advfilms.com.