The Weird Supernatural: Occult no Mori e Yokoso (J-Drama) Review

Review of Episode 1

Occult no Mori e Yokoso focuses on the unexpected phenomenon that stands somewhere between the paranormal and the weird and creepy ‘stranger things.’ The series is about the weird supernatural. We do not know what exactly is happening but we travel with the narration which is done through a documentary team headed by a director, Kuroishi Koji, that records these kinds of things.

Everything is shot in a documentary format. Like how it would look like if we are witnessing these things through a camera or through the eyes of Kuroishi Koji. We only get a glimpse of him in the first episode. We get to see only two characters throughout the first episode; assistant director Ichikawa and a crazy, beautiful woman named Mariya Miyoshi who claims to have experienced some unexpected events.

Mariya Miyoshi is an unreliable, hot tempered narrator and most of the time she does not make any sense. But along with the crew we also witness some weird things. Now, there is no jump scares and, whatever things we see, they are not even scary. The visual effects are below average and these ‘stranger things’ look nothing less than inflated black balloons. They do not invoke fear in the audience but is very mysterious. It is shot very realistically. The camera moves all the time, it’s jerky and captures all the surrounding noise.

Cast and Creditshttps://mydramalist.com/721815-okaruto-no-mori-e-yokoso/cast

But there is something about the content which is interesting and we need to uncover more, to understand more. Still, this series won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Some might find this absolutely ridiculous and absurd. But it might even be too soon to judge in the first episode given the interesting premise. And I would definitely like to know where this goes.

Arya

Arya is a curious soul and nerd who loves books and cinema. You can read her articles on Medium. You can also follow her on Instagram where she talks about her favourite books and movies.