GREGORY HORROR SHOW: THE LAST TRAIN

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TV SHORT ComedyGregory Horror Show: The Second Guest

REVIEWS

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  TheRealKyuubey

  60/100
  We're going off the rails on a crazy train

  It’s a cold, dark and lonely night when you take the last train at the station, heading home to your unappreciative wife and the empty nest that your college-bound children have long since vacated. As you sit by the window, enjoying the silence as you read the paper, not really absorbing any of the news printed upon it, an old rat sits across from you. He inquires as to your destination, and feeling wistful, you tell him the short version of your story. Before he can offer his in exchange, the train arrives at your destination. With a fond farewell to your new rodent acquaintance, you depart, and take the final few steps to... Your grave, in the middle of the cemetery, where your spirit has been riding the train every night for longer than you can remember.

  This story isn’t about you, friend. This story is about the rat. At least he was polite enough to let you believe that you were a significant part of it.

  It’s October again, and just like every other pretentious blowhard critic out there, I’m using this obvious gimmick of a month as an excuse to write a bunch of horror related reviews! I’ve been doing this since my blogging days, but it was in my modern reviewing tenure that I decided to start reviewing the Gregory Horror Show series, which is an old, bizarre anime from around the late nineties. It was created by Naomi Iwata, the man behind several blocky-looking 3D anime throughout the nineties, including some of Pingu, and as far as I can tell, Gregory Horror is the one title he’s worked on that was explicitly not meant for children, as it not only contains adult content like smoking, drinking, blood and cartoony gore, but because it deals with very adult subject matter, especially in relation to Japanese culture.

  I originally came across Gregory Horror Show in the massive FYE store that used to exist near me, which had a huge used DVD section where you could find the strangest novelty DVDs if you looked hard enough. Much like Red Vs. Blue, Key the Metal Idol and several others, it was hard NOT to find Gregory Horror Show DVDs littering the shelves at that indoor landfill. I saw the first two seasons over a decade ago, then I rewatched them for the sake of reviewing them last year and the year before, and now that I’m on the third year of my revitalized career, I figured it was finally time to dig season three up... Even though I already know this review isn’t going to do well. Yeah, unless you’re reviewing something current that’s insanely popular, the attention your reviews of a single series get is going to diminish by season. I know that from my Strike Witches reviews.

  That’s okay, though, I don’t need this particular review to be a success, I just have this itch to add it to the list, so here we go!

  The first thing you’ll notice about season three of the Gregory Horror Show is that it no longer takes place at Gregory House. This new season takes place aboard a spooky ghost train, and the main character this time around isn’t some nameless Japanese protagonist, it’s Gregory himself. This means two things, and they’re both very interesting; First, it means there really isn’t any social commentary to speak of in this season. Where the first season was about Japanese workaholic culture, and the second season dealt(quite poorly, and on a the more questionable side of the debate) with Japanese women’s rights, this one leaves all references to Japanese social culture behind.

  Second, because the protagonist isn’t a POV character anymore, and we’re watching Gregory deal with all of the weird creeps surrounding him instead of someone more vulnerable, there really isn’t anything remotely scary going on. Now, that’s not to say there was anything particularly scary in the first two seasons, at least not from my perspective, but I could totally see where someone more sensitive COULD be scared, or at least somewhat spooked. Here, it never feels like Gregory’s in any danger, so there’s no reason to route for him. With one or two exceptions, just about every spook he comes across is someone who previously showed up in seasons 1 and/or 2, so he already knows them, even when the writing suggests that he doesn’t.

  Rather than horror, which has been rendered all but ineffective, this season seems to just be leaning into the comedy, which I’m guessing could be the saving grace for a lot of people. Gregory Horror has always had a really dark, twisted sense of humor, so if you enjoyed that part of the first two seasons, this one’s probably going to be your favorite. As for me, though, I feel like I appreciate the humor more than I actually enjoy it. I don’t know if this is because something was lost in translation between the Japanese and English language versions or what, but to me, it feels like the timing is off on a lot of these jokes. I get them, I appreciate them, I want to laugh at them, but the delivery is just not connecting enough for me.

  One area where I can say this season has improved over the previous two is the visuals. Now to be clear, the animation is the same quality as the previous two seasons, at least in terms of budget and style. It still looks like a Nick Jr. cartoon on a bad acid trip. What’s improved is the direction. The framing is a lot more cinematic, which I guess was kind of inevitable giving the switch from POV to a more traditional perspective, but that change also removes any motion sickness effect the series previously had, and it no longer feels as oppressive. On top of this, Gregory’s movements feel a lot less erratic and a lot more focused, which makes it easier to follow him as a main character.

  As for my personal enjoyment of this season... Look, I’m willing to admit this is entirely my fault, but I don’t think I’ve ever been able to make it through one of these without drifting off. I’m starting to think you’re supposed to watch these episode by episode, instead of bingeing them all at once, but even if that is the case, it says something when a one hour long anime series won’t stop putting me to sleep. I don’t know how I feel about Gregory Horror. I don’t love it, but I also don’t hate it. I don’t like it or dislike it. I’m starting to think the reason I keep coming back to these, and why I keep recommending them to people, isn’t because they’re good or bad, but because they’re such bizarre little curiosities.

  So at some point during this spooky season, check out The Gregory Horror Show. Check into Gregory House, and experience your POV avatar’s fight for survival, and when you’ve seen both sides of that, take a trip aboard Gragory’s ghost train as he attempts to get some shut-eye without being interrupted by all manner of strange encounters. I can’t guarantee you’ll love or hate it, but it is certainly one interesting Halloween experience.

  I give Gregory Horror Show 3 a 6/10

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