Perfect for: People who loved Welcome to Nightvale, The Twilight Zone, Stephen King, and frequent watchers of Night Mind
Where to watch: Netflix
Age rating: None. Though be warned, it contains imagery that can give children nightmares.
(Warning: This review contains spoilers!)
When I first came across The Kirlian Frequency, or La Frecuencia Kirlian in its native tongue, I have to admit that it was highly comparable to Welcome to Nightvale. I saw people within that community degrade the show to a lowly ripoff but I was too intrigued to care. And oh boy, it did not disappoint. From the first thirty seconds alone, I can already tell that this show is definitely up my alley.
The Good
I’m curious as to how the original audio would’ve sounded, as the show was from Argentina. My version of Netflix only had the English audio. Still, the voice acting for the English dub was pretty good and captures the same vibe that WTNV had. Its utilization of the midnight radio trope is both familiar and unique, and despite this controversial comparison, LFK holds its own ground as there is more to the series than its sound. The art style is minimalistic yet very distinct and when paired with the amazing scoring, perfectly paints the sinister aura of the town. The animation style is also pretty clever as it works with any dub: due to the lack of facial details on the characters, the audio can be substituted with any language and not ruin the sync.
One of the things I loved was how LFK focused more on the people and the issues of the town. It thrived on stories submitted by listeners who have had interesting experiences inside Kirlian. As the host takes in calls from random audience members, we learn more about an unfolding conspiracy and the evil that continues to envelop Kirlian. Another would be the role that The Host has adopted: he isn’t just the audience’s connection to the town, but his interactions with the other characters drive the story forward. Unlike WTNV, the population of Kirlian is aware, terrified, and baffled by the strange events that occur in their town.
The Kirlian Frequency openly takes inspiration from cosmic horror, which is popularized by the likes of Stephen King and HP Lovecraft. Not all the monsters and forces controlling Kirlian can be confronted, nor can we ever fully comprehend its extent.
The Bad
There’s hardly anything left to criticize with LFK, except that it has taken on a huge challenge that may not be sustainable in the long run. As seen with WTNV, this trope can get exhausted real quick, which might explain why the series is very limited with its length and number of episodes. As much as I loved the first season, I would rather have the creators give it a proper conclusion soon than bend over backward to please the fans and overstay its welcome. The Kirlian Frequency being short and sweet is something we all have to make peace with.
I really hope that one day someone makes a video essay about La Frecuencia Kirlian. A wonderful animated horror series. A girl can dream. Hopefully, that person won't have to be me.
hey friend, maybe a weird question but you're my only spanish-speaking mutual and I was wondering if you happen to follow any blogs that post in spanish? I wanna expose myself to a bit more spanish in my day-to-day but langblr blogs and stuff are just too teach-y and I just wanna see more regular people blogging about whatever, but in spanish. sending this as an ask so you can either respond privately or share the recs on your blog. if you don't really follow anyone or sth no worries, feel free to ignore this ☺️
oh man, sorry I don't really follow much blogs in Spanish apart from @wearelatinamericanrockers
But I could recomed you some media
there's this one show The Kirlian Frequency, it's about a radio broadcast about a strange little town, where strange things happen.
Frankelda's Book of Spooks, it's one of my favorite shows ever!, should be on hbo Max (not sure if world wide yet, but there's always a way *wink wink*) , it's about a (literal) ghost gritter, telling the viewer her stories, one of those horror for children things, like tales form the crypt (some episodes might hit a little close to home tho, the first one is about a kid that doesn't want to do his homework, the second one is about a girl that wants to fit in, thirds about a boy too insecure about his body image to go swimming with his friends, fourth is about a girl loosing passion for her hobbies, and the last one about a girl who wants to be a writer but her family doesn't approve). It's pretty fun!, they've got songs and all.
And of course 31 minutos. A puppet show parodying news channels (most of its humor is kinda dark, just as a heads up)
Sorry, I know it's not what you asked for, but I hope it helps!
I’m a teacher assistant for spanish grammar and the professor was explaining epícenos (single gendered words that encompass masculine and feminine beings) and he was using iguana as an example and he said: “there is only one gender… iguana” and i had to mute my microphone