Night Of The Loving Dead: Introduction (My Mini-Zombie Movie Marathon)

(Hi there! It's the start of another new and exciting project wherein I talk about a Japanese cartoon that made me cry for several thousands of words. Business as usual over here on the blog, I know. Before that, though, I'm going to talk about a mini zombie movie marathon I did for research into the project, and for other reasons we'll delve into in the post. This is just our introduction, though. Hopefully we'll have Part 1 of Night Of The Loving Dead all ready for you sometime in February. Until then, have 3000 words of whatever the hell this became as your appetizer and introduction to my internal landscape going into this longform criticism. Enjoy!)

Here we are again, you and I. The metaphorical coffee shop, warm atmosphere and a hot drink each, ready to hear another story. When last we met here, in May of 2021 at the end of the grand Symphogear project, I framed the end of that story in terms of a regeneration, a moving on to something new and beautiful and resonant. Such things are rarely instant, and so here and now in January 2022 it's very much in progress. Then again, perhaps that's apt. Being in transition, crossing a boundary between one thing and other, somewhere between life and death... It's all tied into why we're back here again. If you'd care to stay and share a hot drink with me, I'd love to tell you all about it.

Sandwiched between the grand Symphogear project was another experience entirely. I first laid eyes on it in October 2019 on vacation in scenic Grand Bank, Newfoundland, a spooky-themed dalliance to stave off boredom whilst off the grid. A month later I began watching Symphogear, a show which quite literally changed me and my life, but we've told that story before. In April 2021, as I was working on the closing statements of what Symphogear meant to me, a second season of that experience from October 2019 began. This experience was another Japanese cartoon, a show named Zombie Land Saga. In the wilds of its second season, I got angry. I did not get angry because of the poor quality of the show; quite the opposite. I got angry because it was dealing in themes and moods and songs that spoke to me, that spoke to the project I just finished. Zombie Land Saga reached a cold blue hand from the peat of the grave, grabbed me by the collar, and hissed in the crooning clotted voice of eternal undeath a demand that I write about it with the lavish love and attention I gave Symphogear.

Doctor Who First Impressions: New Year's Day 2022 Special (Eve Of The Daleks)

2022! We have made it to the new frontier! A brave new year and brave new world of infinite possibility, untold promise, and some incredible things on the horizon for me and the blog. Pity, then, that we have to deal with Chris Chibnall today instead of any of that. This, at least, is the beginning of the end for Chibnall's Who. The raw scar tissue of Flux has yet to heal, and I remain pretty well checked out of Chibnall's nonsense. At the very least, this episode's fine. I say fine, even though I have issues with it, but it clears certain low bars for me that the man tripped right over during the latter half of Flux. There is a certain sense of... adequacy here. A little depressing that not majorly fucking up is the best bar Chibnall can clear (and, again, believe you and me he fucked up one or two things here as I'll get to) but let's discuss the Perfectly Fine-Ish Romp of Eve Of The Daleks.

Well, that premise is an interesting one, isn't it? We haven't really done a proper Time Loop story like this before in Doctor Who, as far as I can recall. Sure, we have Heaven Sent, but that is its own beast and even I'm not going to be so unfair to Chibnall as to compare his holiday fluff to fucking Heaven Sent. I'll be nice for a moment. The idea is a good one. A desperate escape attempt against the Daleks which keeps ending in failure, extermination, and a near-reset with all memories retained of your previous loops. The clock advancing by a minute with each near-reset also makes things finite and adds extra stakes. We can't fuck up too many times, or else we'll skip ahead too far and some or all of us will be Dead For Good. In many ways, the concept was spoiled by me knowing about it. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for an unspoiled viewer who doesn't know the premise of the episode. Getting 9 minutes in and then the Doctor and pals get exterminated, then we get the title card drop. Holy hot goddamn. If they had extra time it might have been funnier to keep dropping the title card, but that trolling would get a bit old. Maybe if the story had less resets, but that's wishful thinking at this point. Either way, what I'm saying is that on paper it is a very good idea with a lot of potential. Where does Chibnall place that potential? Hoo boy. This is where it gets messy.