This is a collection of the first six episodes of the Occultic; Nine anime, representing half the series in total. The plot centres on a group of high schoolers who run a blog that discusses the supernatural. While seeking content for their blog they find themselves embroiled in mystery and conspiracy in equal measure. The series combines the tropes of an anime about a high school club with occult mystery.

This combination of elements is at the heart of Occultic; Nine‘s different tones. When the focus of a scene is on the blog itself, the show is light-hearted and comedic. It should be recognisable to anyone who is familiar with other anime taking place within the context of an after-school club.

When it focuses on the paranormal elements of its plot, such as ghosts and mysticism the tone becomes much darker, and the atmosphere becomes tense. The show can go from three people arguing about assignments to the main character stumbling across a body in the space of one scene. It manages these two contradictory natures by slowly building from one to the other.

Sadly, this control over the feeling of the anime isn’t always shared by its grasp on its own plot. The point of view jumps around a bit, moving not only from character to character but back in time as well. For the most part, the show is able to pull this off but it can come across as jarring. This problem is exacerbated by the many little subplots that each draw attention from the main story.

The six episodes present across the collection’s two discs do a good job at building up the plot. These first episodes present the mystery of the series and provide one or two answers and the last episode included here ends at a point which feels like a fitting rather than arbitrary.

This sort of release is not typically great when it comes to special features, but even by this standard Occultic; Nine Volume 1 is lacking. A commonly included special feature is a small selection of trailers. It instead offers the viewer a single trailer to promote the series they have already decided to watch. Its inclusion is basically pointless, and it fails to add anything to the collection.

This is the bare minimum in terms of such a release. The first volume doesn’t add anything to the series that it serves to collect. As for the series itself; it is a well-executed blending of the innocence of high school fiction with the chills and thrills of horror. It can come across as a bit jumbled from time to time, but it is mostly entertaining.

Extras: Trailer

OCCULTIC; NINE VOLUME 1 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTORS & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: ERIK SCOTT KIMERER, ROBBIE DAYMOMD, ERICA LINDBECK, CRISTINA VEE / RELEASE DATE: APRIL 2ND