Occult Academy

Alternate Titles: Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (世紀末オカルト学院)

Original Japanese Release Date: 2010

Episode Length/Run-time: 13

Summary:

Maya is the only daughter of Junichiro Kumashiro who was the founder of The Waldstein Academy, a school dedicated to the study of paranormal activities (gaining the nickname in the area of the Occult Academy).  With this background one would think that she would have a deep interest in the occult.  However, as she returns to the academy for her father’s funeral and back to her old home her deep hatred for all things occult becomes apparent.  Despite this she gets roped in with Fumiaki Uchida, a time agent from the future sent back to discover the “Nostradamus Key” the thing in the prophecies which will bring about the end of the world in the future.  She helps him look for the key as well as unraveling the mysteries of her father’s school which she’s inherited.

Review:

This series starts off interesting enough.  Right off the bat from the first episode you know there’s something more going on here than the eye can see.  You wonder if there’s more to the school than it looks, or if it’s just a load of crock.  You wonder where people stand and what secrets they hold.  You wonder why Maya hates her father so much.  And, of course, what the Nostradamus key really is.

Unfortunately though for episodes 3-9 about things simply become episodic taking on an “occult monster of the week” style.   Even though it feels like filler it’s at least interesting filler because it’s not the normal filler B.S. which you end up finding in shows.  There’s no pool episode.  It’s also much more bearable because it’s not stupid panty shots and big tits filler.  True, the characters do develop a bit, and they do progress the plot, but it just happens so slowly through what really is filler that you end up wondering “could this be done in a better way?”

The last four or so episodes though are a whirlwind of “WTF? Wait hold up! I said wait, you’re still going!”  They start spitting out answers to previous questions that make more questions and then try to answer those questions in such a rushed whirlwind that you may end up watching the same scene twice to really understand it.

Despite the level of cracked-out-ness it’s still an interesting show, and slightly different than your run-of-the-mill show which you see today.  A strong recommendation for someone into paranormal, occult, or folklore, a lot of that which you may find interesting.

[starrater]