English Dub Review: The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi “Karabasan”; “The Star Collector”

 

 

Overview:

“Karabasan”

It would seem as if the terrible soul-sucking demon, Karabasan has chosen the wrong dreams to infiltrate. After returning from his 666-year absence, the demon has selected Professor Zarbi as his victim. Unfortunately for him, he has entered the dreams of the one man with the skills and knowledge to defeat him for good. Hopefully, it is all just a bad dream.

“The Star Collector”

Big-name celebrities have been vanishing in front of fans right on the red carpet. And when Justin Beaver is the latest star to disappear, Zarbi and Benjamin snap on the case. When they disguise Benjamin as the next biggest recording act, they get the whole picture. Though it may be more difficult to get out of frame than they expect.

 

Our Take:

There once was a time when television was loaded with anthology story collections.  The Outer Limits, Tales from the Crypt, and Goosebumps all had their time in the limelight. Though it feels like this type of content is a dying breed. Movies and television just keep pushing for bigger and more epic storylines.  

The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi takes the anthology format in new directions. Mostly, by utilizing the same star characters in unique stories, instead of introducing all-new casts each installment.  

Additionally, it is the nature of this strange show from Quebec to take any topic and give it an occult spin. The two plots delivered in this episode give new directions to different themes.

The first story gives a deep dive into the dream world by re-imagining Karabasan. The demon is from a Turkish folktale about sleep paralysis. In this interpretation, he is a devil-like creature that reemerges every 666 years to feast on the souls of the sleeping. Although there is a significant twist at the end of this segment that would separate it from the myth or more modern retelling such as The Nightmare on Elm Street.

This was a weird episode, even for Professor Zarbi. Besides the convoluted inclusion of Zarbi and Benjamin sharing dreams. And apart from the recap of a kingdom once terrorized by the same beastly demon. There is also a parody of traditional anime mixed in when our heroes suit up for a battle against their enemy.

The second story in this episode features the more real-world monster of the paparazzi. Thankfully, not in a distasteful way. Although, the show’s characterizations of the celebrities could have been handled with more tact.

This plot involves parodies of Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Snoop Dogg being kidnapped by a deranged photographer who has a magical polaroid camera that captures its targets in a picture. Again, this is based on the folklore of cameras being able to steal one’s souls. But the modern spin of the crazed collector makes this an original take.

The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi may not be ground-breaking television, but it does take a classic format and give it new life. It brings back that gamble for viewers of whether you are going to catch an exhilarating episode or a boring one. This particular edition lands somewhere in the middle of what we have seen out of the series thus far. Thankfully, it continues to hold up when it comes to originality and humour.