Replying to a distress call, Kirk and crew find themselves on a stunningly colorful planet. They encounter humanoids that can immobilize them for some classic 60’s “stand still” action. Kudos to the cast for really sticking with it and not moving a muscle. I don’t think I could have done that. (What I want to know is: what was McCoy saying to Spock? Kirk has just been told that the Rojan is going to take over the Enterprise and Kirk says he has a strange sense of humor. McCoy turns to Spock with his finger pointing. What was it to be? See the value of a sense of humor, Spock?) Continue reading
I was just starting to wonder if I’d fallen out of love with the Doctor Who audios when I’d started this. I mean, I loved when McCoy became the Doctor. Everything about him was wonderful. He was comical, but dark and mysterious too. He rolled his r’s and had a Scottish accent – who doesn’t love a Scottish accent? But when I started Unregenerate, his confused ramblings just annoyed me. He rolls those r’s where there’s simply no need. And Mel… goodness, I was not a fan of her originally and was glad when she left. But as this story went on, I was becoming increasingly intrigued and Mel carries the bulk of the story. I’d go so far as to say she makes the story! That’s a tough thing for me to admit, but there it is. 
You might have reached this point by watching the first series of the anime, or you might have watched the two compilation films that proceed it. Either way, this feature film is the continuation of the Made in Abyss story, and picks up right where the first season left off. There is no attempt to make this accessible for new viewers, so if you haven’t yet watched either the series or the compilation films you will be completely lost. The action takes place in the fifth layer of the Abyss, and this is an ideal leg of the journey for the big budget treatment, because it marks a significant moment: the sixth level is extraordinarily difficult to get into, and nobody ever comes back from there. This is the point of no return. 
“The Spider in the Web”
Some poor quality stock footage signals that this episode takes place in Jamaica, at least to start with, and from there becomes a bit of a globe-trotter for Steed and Cathy, with Steed posing as a courier delivering important dispatches from Britain, after the original courier has been murdered. They face some fairly incompetent enemies this week, who are out to kill them right from the start. At the airport, they bizarrely wait patiently while Steed finishes his phone call to Cathy, although he’s clearly playing for time, allowing her to rescue him. 
I had a premonition that The Premonition was going to be a lame duck episode and was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually very good. While it’s again about an experiment that goes wrong, a common theme in the series, it doesn’t play like a negative look at science. Instead, it creates a situation where a husband and wife seem to fall out of sync with time for one purpose: to save their daughter. That’s refreshing. I was just recently talking about Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone and what a bleak place that seems to be. The Outer Limits, at least this once, offers us a really pleasant experience for a family, even if it was a bit scary for them. In the end, they take the entire ordeal as nothing more than a premonition, and I can live with the poetic nature of that outlook. 
We should have had more faith. When Chris Chibnall wrote UNIT out of Doctor Who in 
Doctor Who is a wonderful show and Big Finish does a great job keeping it alive. It even adds some lore in the form of new companions that can smoothly fit in between stories and last for many episodes between the televised adventures. But sometimes, where it might do a great job in the audio format, it actually can take away something from the televised version. I’ll qualify that statement. First off, we know the televised character is never in any real jeopardy because that character has to live to see the television episodes that a given story fits between. But more than that, taking this episode as an example, there’s a moment when the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) is talking to Peri about the benefits of having three companions. He mentions Nyssa, Adric and Tegan. I love the fact that show remembers its history; it’s a complaint I have frequently when it gets ignored. But the thing is, Erimem is never mentioned in the televised episodes and while we fully understand why that is, I almost feel its a shame.
What better way to conclude a successful anime series than with a movie, and this feels very much like the last word on the story of the original line-up. Unlike a series where the storylines can be divided evenly between the main characters, a movie has to have a tighter focus, and this is very much Honoka’s story, although the other girls all get their moments to shine, particularly in the song performances. 
These are the days where writing doesn’t come easy. Why? Because the episode I have to write about is just too good, and there’s nothing particularly interesting about pointing out how good something is. You’re probably not interested in my problems as a reviewer, but they don’t end there, because Village of the Angels is an episode that is very, very good indeed, but only in one specific way that doesn’t invite much comment: it’s pure, unadulterated entertainment. There’s no deeper meaning, no themes to discuss, nothing to get the brain working in particular, and normally that would be a criticism. Typically an episode that doesn’t make us think in some way is a soulless exercise, but it just doesn’t matter with an hour of highly effective horror movie tropes, deftly adapted for a family audience. 
Originally titled Manaria Friends, but retitled Mysteria Friends by Sentai Filmworks for the international market, this short anime series combines slice-of-life with fantasy. It is inspired by a chapter from a computer game that also spawned its own anime, but apparently no knowledge of the game or the other anime is required or even helpful prior to watching Mysteria Friends. In fact, I didn’t even find out about that until after I had watched it all. 
“Where shall the ‘nighted Snowman go?“Lead Writers
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Recent Posts
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