Gregory Horror Show
Gregory Horror Show is a Japanese CGI anime television series created by Naomi Iwata and televised by the Asahi National Broadcasting Company.
Story
The first series, "The Nightmare Begins", is a set of 25 stories about a businessman arriving at the hotel after taking a train home from work. He encounters the mysterious owner of the hotel, an old mouse known as Gregory, who suggests that he stay awhile in Room 205. Gregory gradually erodes away his individuality, denouncing the first guest as nothing more than a small part of himself. The man soon becomes drawn into a bizarre series of events taking place within Gregory House as he tries desperately to escape from this purgatory. Though he escapes back to his wife and son, he finds reality too boring, and returns voluntarily. It is heavily implied that he becomes an empty shell, Haniwa Salaryman.The second series, "The Second Guest", is similarly set with 25 stories, except this time the main victim is a woman who has just taken a taxi home from her best friend's wedding ceremony. She has had to endure many failed relationships and careers. It is also implied that her old flame was once the first guest, but their relationship went disastrously wrong. Due to her insanity from the degrading events, she starts a fire, burning down the house - however, the Gregory family survive, and welcome her into their family.
The third series, "The Last Train", is set with 26 stories during a bizarre train ride that Gregory embarks upon. It differs from the previous two series in that there is no guest, nor is the hotel the central setting. Instead, Gregory himself is the protagonist, and the series takes place on the previously mentioned train as Gregory tries to escape from his own house and his role as the innkeeper. However, like the previous two protagonists, he fails, and the train only takes him back to Gregory House.
The fourth series, "The Bloody Karte", is a set of 12 stories about Catherine working in a mysterious hospital.
An unbroadcasted exclusive Special series, "The Gregory Gallery Tour", only contains 3 stories featuring Gregory himself as a guide, giving his commentary and thoughts on each of the guests in the hotel, also displaying paintings based around the said guests. The setting is different depending on each of the 3 episodes.
Characters
;Gregory;James
;Neko Zombie
;Catherine
;Judgment Boy
;Judgment Boy Gold
;Hell's Chef
;Lost Doll
;Mummy Papa
;Mummy Dog
;Cactus Gunman
;Cactus Girl
;Roulette Boy
;Death
;TV Fish
;Clock Master
;My Son
;Dead Body
;Angel Dog / Devil Dog
Video game
The anime was adapted into a PS2 game by Capcom in 2003. The general premise of the game involves the player trying to escape from Gregory House, a deranged hotel run by the old mouse Gregory. The game involves having to steal bottled souls from twelve guests, and returning them to Death before going to sleep in Room 101.In the game, Neko Zombie helps explain the gameplay and introduces the player to mental health. Mental health acts like a health gauge of the player's mental fortitude. The player must maintain a good level of mental health by sleeping, reading books, or using special "herb" items reminiscent of the Resident Evil game series. If the player's mental health completely runs out, then the character goes insane, and becomes a permanent guest at Gregory House.
While the bizarre cube-esque graphics give the game an unusual look for a survival horror game, there is still an element of tension and unease because the player must creep around the hotel, avoiding detection by the various guests. If the player gets caught by one of them, then the guest will attack them by forcing them to watch some 'Horror Shows', a bizarre vision of violence set in a traditional Japanese theatre in which the guest will inflict severe harm upon you.
The game features a goldmine of easter eggs and backstory which either reference or expand upon certain events of the series. For example, in the 'Bloody Karte' arc, Catherine develops an attraction for Hell's Chef; in the game, the player can find a signed trading card of him in the psychotic nurse's treatment room. Also, if a player takes the time to follow the guests around the building at various points in the game, they will often divulge interesting tidbits about the hotel and each other. For example, if the player follows Gregory around early in the game, a huge amount of how Neko Zombie came to be the way he is can be learned.
Mobile game
Milky cartoons and Unframe Inc launched a mobile game based on the show in October 2018 for the android and iPhone, entitled: Gregory Horror Show: Lost Qualia. So far, the game is regionally only available in the Japan app store an English version has yet to appear in the United States and Europe.Gregory Horror Show: Lost Qualia is a gacha-based Rpg mobile game that combines the elements of dungeon crawling with a Gacha card system and uses the original 3d cube-esque graphics and style that the series is known for.
The main storyline tells of the player showing up at Gregory House, where Gregory the manager himself meets the player and tells him about a previous guest known only as "that man" who's delusional beliefs has gotten far too powerful that he is able to take over the hotel, turning it into a dungeon, and distort the surreal world around it. Gregory wants the player to help him and the other guests on a quest to take back Gregory House and defeat the man who is mad with delusional power. The main quest also takes the player and company outside the hotel to the cactus sibling's homeland seen in volume 3 Cactus Land and Roulettes boy's casino.
Like the ps2 videogame, The player has a hotel room that serves as the central hub when they finish the tutorial or start up the game. They are able to customize their room with items they get either in a quest or in the Gacha cards from the fortune teller, level up their characters, and manage their Gacha cards and deck to us in a quest. Occasionally and randomly, Gregory, Neko Zombie, Catherine, Hell's Chef, and other playable characters will drop by to visit the player in their room talking to them and offer their support in a quest where the player is able to optionally choose them and play as them in any level. If the player has a playable character unlocked from either in a quest or found in Gacha card pack they can engage in conversation with the other visiting characters in the player's room, usually giving their commentary on the player, the current situation, and chat among themselves based on relationships they have with the other characters, or different topics.
The in-game has the player, Gregory, or other playable characters going through a labyrinth, where they battle through hostile mages and souls that lurk in the dungeons and can appear from anywhere. Using melee attacks, throwable or ranged items, or using Gacha cards to regain health, buff their attacks or speed, special abilities, and using "horror show" Gacha cards to even the odds with one or many hostile souls surrounding them. The objective is for the player to survive and reach the goal to complete the level, sometimes having to climb stairs to the next floor to get there. Optionally, the player can set the game in autoplay where the AI takes over for the player on certain parts of the game or just taping the move button on-screen has the playable character temporarily moving through a corridor and resuming control back to the Player when they are in an area with more room. While reaching the goal is important, it also vital for the player to look for Kinko safes around the dungeon for items such as skull gems, soul energy, or gacha cards for the possibility of getting new customize hotel room items or unlocking a character to keep permanently and play as in a quest.
In addition to the main story quest, there are 2 types of quest offered in the game, Event quests that can sometimes be holiday-based events or special events that are added in the game during updates and have their own storylines. for example, the "Gregory Quest" events tell about the player, Gregory, Neko zombie, and the other guests getting sucked up by TV fish and entering into a world based on fantasy RPG videogames and became RPG characters based on character classes, each with their own quest in each Gregory quest event. Depending on certain quest events and levels, both will automatically have the player play as specific characters as they have specific quests in the event storyline. or Ranked quests which are competitive survival quests where the player have to fight through hostile souls to reach the highest position of the leaderboard, depending on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd position when a ranking quest ends, the winning player earns a trophy to display in their hotel room.
Manga
A manga adaptation called Gregory Horror Show: Another World by Suzuki Sanami started in the November 1, 2007 issue of Weekly Morning magazine; it was then published as a graphic novel and released in Japan, on September 22, 2008.It follows Tooru Takenozuka, a 22-year-old freeter who comes to the city to follow his dreams. Thanks to his status he is unable to find an apartment to live in until a seedy real estate agent introduces him to Gregory House. He ends up in Room 404 and endures the nightmarish surroundings and residents. Over the course of chapters, it is revealed that Takenozuka's very form and spirit, is in a state of constant flux. He is, in reality, a lot older, though part of him could never accept the fact that he grew beyond his twenties without accomplishing anything extraordinary or wonderful with his life. All of his dreams and ambitions went unfulfilled.
As Gregory is a collector of the rare and unusual, he takes an instant liking to Takenozuka. The man battles between choosing his dreams and the reality that he has responsibilities as a father. Though he manages to escape Gregory, like all the protagonists, he eventually wanders back, becoming a permanent guest who refuses to abandon his dreams.