English Dub Review: The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi “Wrestler from Hell”; “Confusion in the Afterlife”

 

 

Overview:

“Wrestler from Hell”

A new wrestler has entered the professional circuit and he is on a rampage.  No one is safe from Coco, not even the ref, commentators, or even the fans.  Thankfully, Professor Zarbi and Benjamin enter the ring.  But they are up against the ropes when it comes to dealing with this demonic foe.

“Confusion in the Afterlife”

A near-widower is relieved when the hospital manages to save her husband’s life.  Unfortunately, the spirit in his body is not her husband, but the soul of pop icon Michael Jackson.  But even Professor Zarbi and Benjamin will not be able to save this man from reincarnating as a musical legend.  Yet the afterlife is no match for a woman scorn.

 

Our Take:

The basis of a comedy themed around the paranormal is nothing new.  From Ghostbusters to Scooby-Doo, there are many examples.  However, The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi does things a little differently than the others.

Besides the adult themes, Zarbi and his beloved sidekick Benjamin manage to blunder their mysteries solved while maintaining a high level of competency and luck.  Though, Benjamin may be much luckier than his mentor.

It is a strange relationship, Zarbi and Benjamin.  The child companion of the professor has not been explicitly stated as his relative. Nor have we learned much about Benjamin’s family.  Somebody needs to find this kid’s parents because he is in constant mortal danger.

Not only is Benjamin consistently getting involved with murderous beasts, ghouls and creatures, but his own mentor also poses him the most risk.  More often than not, the professor blatantly puts his disciple in the position of the labourer.  Which in the occult theme means taking on life-risking situations.

In the first segment of the episode, Benjamin was put into the ring with a demonic wrestler who had already murdered or paralyzed dozens of people.  Only for us to find out that Zarbi himself is quite an adept wrestler, and able to handle the powerful beast single-handedly.

That would be all well and fine, had it not been followed by what happens in the next segment.

In hopes of making contact with a soul in the afterlife, Zarbi makes the ultimate sacrifice of volunteering to kill his assistant.  There is no way around it, Zarbi murders Benjamin in this episode.  If that is not a just cause for calling Child Protective Services, I don’t know what is.  Thankfully, Benjamin eventually returns, but he should be seriously contemplating his role as Zarbi’s sidekick.

Yeah, I would say this is an episode worth watching.  It is the one where Zarbi murders his assistant.  The awful celebrity impersonations are easy to look past when you keep that fact in mind.  Additionally, the wrestling segment shows some ambitious animation from an already fantastic looking show.  There may be other shows blending comedy and paranormal, but you don’t get to see anything else quite like The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi.