English Dub Review: The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi “Spell on Ice”; “Caren”

 

 

Overview:

“Spell on Ice”

The local hockey team, the Midland Moles, have fallen into a spell of bad luck. Thankfully, their two newest players, Zarbi and Benjamin, plan on getting to the bottom of the losing streak. Unfortunately, things get out of control when they discover what the team’s personal trainer has been doing behind closed doors.

 

“Caren”

School just got a little bit better for Benjamin when the prettiest girl in school, Caren, asks him to the prom. Unfortunately, the two boys that were hoping to court the young woman have some dark secrets and Benjamin is their new target. Thankfully, Professor Zarbi has his pupil’s back. And when things backfire on the other boys, Caren has a surprise of her own.

 

Our Take:

The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi never fails to impress when it comes to building elaborate settings and character designs with each episode. This pair of fifteen-minute plots include a voodoo cursed hockey game and a hodgepodge of high school drama. Both going above and beyond with visuals in unique ways.

“Spell on Ice” throws us right in the mix of a professional hockey game – a nice call-out to the shows Canadian roots. And just as the show transformed for other themes like wrestling, the setting is strikingly accurate. Including Zarbi and Benjamin who get geared up for the big game.

The accompanying story holds its ground for originality. You would be hard-pressed to find any other plot that entwines hockey and voodooism. However, the series does continue to suffer from the short run-times. The plot is so compacted there is not much room to build mystery or suspense. The predictability damages the allure of the themes at times.

The second short, “Caren”, takes on the growing genre of supernatural high school dramas. The references come out with an obvious bang. The two boys competing for the pretty girl’s attention bare near-identical characteristics to their counterparts in the Twilight franchise. But the series continues to mix things up by adding Benjamin to the lady’s list of gentleman callers.

The whole thing gets capped off with a blatant Carrie reference. Once again, the artwork of this series takes it over the top. Actually, with the freedom of animation, and the show’s attention to detail, this version of Carrie looked better than the original.  

The best part about this episode is the adorable way that Zarbi looks out for his apprentice, Benjamin. 

The Professor has time-and-again put the young ward in harm’s way. Often, Benjamin is the one to risk his life while Zarbi sits back. However, when little Benjamin shares about his big date, Zarbi was as supportive as can be. Not just dressing the kid up and chaperoning the affair, but also defending him from his supernatural attackers, and cheering him on as he is crowned Prom King. Zarbi may be a dick to his sidekick, but he does have a soft spot for him.

The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi delivers another pair of unique stories of the occult. With the English dub of season one wrapping up in the next couple of episodes, it is fun to look back at the collection. Each week, the show has offered something fun, unexpected, and poignant. This pair of editions just add to the growing pile.