Occult Academy Forum

Suppose they photographed this cel with a REAL wide lens.

Much thanks to darlin' Marlan Moore for bringing this show to my attention.

See, here’s a pilot that pulls off what a lot of other shows’ have tried to do. It strikes a far better balance between ghoulish black humor, serious occultism and the elusive kick ass super move than CORPSE PRINCESS did. It also demonstrates a much more legitimate understanding of the esotery it’s playing with, which BLUE EXORCIST didn’t really even bother to. More than that, in brings us in to this surely-complex world with a simple, but exciting teaser (the tragically-botched escape in the woods,) establishes the rules of its fantasy on the go through focused scenes (the resurrection/possession/infection of the principal and his followers) and then introduces us to the cast in an organic way by giving them something to do instead of just rattling off their life stories.

I’ll direct anybody who disagreed with my takes on those other shows to this thing, right here. What do I expect out of show when I go into it? I expect it to be as good as this. Hell, it even ended on a clear and simple cliffhanger (that naked dude dropping out of the sky with his cell phone) that’s enticed me to keep watching in a much realer way than any pile of expositional “world building” would. This is definitely in the “interested” pile of my sampling.

Man, it was just so much fun. The notion of these grieving students listening to this doofus summon some malignant entity from a tape at his own funeral made for some wicked black humor even while it was seizing my interest with some genuine tension. It almost played like a Cronenberg thriller scene played with some tongue in cheek. And, again, the humor was paced in such a way as to never gum up the mood, and the levity actually made me take all the serious stuff more, well, seriously than if this had been all dour about it.

This was a great pilot, in case you hadn't surmised.

Watch this episode, "MAYA’s Prophesy" below and decide for yourself.

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk

Maya Kumashiro is among my most favorite female characters in anime. What I find so appealing about her is her facial expressions. Literally every emotion she has is reflected on her face. She'd be a great one to have at a poker table. You'd win a bunch.

I find it humorous that this is one of the few first-episode shows that you've liked recently considering how the series as a whole morphs into some completely other genre show in its third act. As I said in a previous blog,

Some shows start good and end in disappointment, while others begin poorly but improve over time. Occult Academy is damned good until the last few shows, though and I enjoyed every second of Maya making faces throughout.

Really Tom? I, and many others, found this first episode to be mix of good ideas like the story and some odd choices of pacing and designs. Now I'm really worried about what you see as good.

@sickVisionz: If done right the explanations for the sci-fi stuff and the philosophy they bring up can be the best part....if it does turn into what the spoiler above says it is though then this will not be good....

Isn't this show a little fan servicy though...i mean that outfit she is wearing in the wide angle picture...I mean come on...

@sickVisionz: Maybe the people I hang out with are to tame but I teach high school down here in NC anything close to that would be very much against our dress code.