WitchCraft (1996)

WitchCraft (1996)

Author: James Robinson | Illustrators: Peter Snejbjerg / Michael Zulli / Steve Yeowell | Page Count: 135

"The fires of madness burn at a gentle heat, stoked by grandiose delusion."

The Hecate, also known as Maid, Mother, and Crone are three aspects of the same ancient Greek deity. Likewise, the three individual issues collected in the book represent three different eras, each one more aged than the last, structurally mimicking a part of the content.

The individual chapters tell their own story while also being a part of the same larger story. Each has its own prologue wherein we’re privy to the Hecate's thoughts and hopes for what eventually follows.

It begins with a brutal act of violence against a young priestess whom the Hecate show favour to. Her aspect and that of her tormentor are reincarnated over and over throughout the ages so that she can meet him again and again, until she’s able to sate the Hecate's need for bloody revenge. The witches aren't going anywhere; their longevity means that they can play the waiting game for as long as it takes.

Godzilla Singular Point (2021—)

Godzilla Singular Point: Series One (2021)

Dir. Atsushi Takahashi / Episodes: 13

A thirteen episode anime TV series co-produced by studios Bones Inc. and Orange.

Chronologically it was released after Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018) in the Reiwa Era, but it's not connected to any of the feature films.

It begins with talk of a haunted mansion and a possible ghost or vampire, but moves away from that into crazy science - and I do mean crazy. It introduces and explains its concepts well, so it's simple enough to keep up, but it'll require some major acceptance on the part of the viewer. That's if you can actually read what the hell it is that's being presented or said.

Subtitles are sometimes onscreen for a mere fraction of a second and quite often they're white text on a white background, making it almost impossible to read anything without having to pause the episode. That particular issue was solved in the days of silent cinema!

The Legend of Zelda Manga: Legendary Ed. Vol. 03 (2017)

Majora's Mask (2001) / A Link to the Past (2005)

Author and Illustrator: Akira Himekawa | Page Count: 402

"As long as I see that in the sky, I can't rest."

Majora's Mask continues the story told in Ocarina of Time (2000). Link enters a mysterious forest searching for his missing fairy, Navi, but trouble ensues and the 'Hero of Time' ends up in a situation wherein he has just three days to stop a major disaster or everyone caught in the impact will die.

The way the Nintendo 64 game is structured doesn't make any kind of linear adaptation easy, so Akira Himekawa took the only sensible route open, which was to focus on the acquisition of those masks that directly alter Link and ignore all but the most pertinent side-quest, i.e. the one that offers the most opportunity to pluck at the heartstrings. If you've played MM, you can likely guess which one that is.

Consequently, a lot more changes have been made to the story than was made to Ocarina of Time, but in most cases they were arguably unavoidable and, as before, they're very respectful.

Ring: The Final Chapter (1999)

Ring: The Final Chapter (1999)

Dirs. Yoshihito Fukumoto (6) / Hiroshi Nishitani (4) / Hidetomo Matsuda (2)

12 episodes, approx 46 mins each (except Ep 12, which is approx 70 mins).

Given that Ring: TFC was Japan's third adaptation of Koji's Suzuki's Ring (1991) novel, it's no surprise that it deviates from the text even more than the previous two did.

Furthermore, it was made for television, not film, so one shouldn't expect a cinematic level with regards production, lighting, acting, etc. But I sure didn't expect drama on par with a third-rate Aussie daytime soap opera from the mid-90s, with similar banal predicaments and incompetent attempts at being emotive.

On the few occasions that it manages to haul its lumbering corpse out of that shameful pit, it has hints of an old BBC Children's drama, which is an infinitely better medium to aspire to, but it never stays that way for very long.