Why the Light Fury is Infuriating (and Other Problems with How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World)

When the How to Train Your Dragon film crew finally emerged from their studios and The Hidden World was no longer just a title, nostalgic Berkians rushed to the cinemas to experience what would be the last official movie of the decade-long franchise. Like its predecessors, the third HTTYD film was wonderfully crafted, inspiring, exciting,Continue

Review: Refreshing and Affecting Fantasy in Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf and Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Brightness Long Ago

This review contains mild spoilers.   If anyone ever tells you that fantasy literature is a stale genre with tired tropes, direct them to two 2019 releases: Booker Prize winner Marlon James’ epic fantasy debut Black Leopard, Red Wolf and the latest novel from Canadian mythweaver (and U of T Law alum) Guy Gavriel Kay,Continue

Frankenstein vs. Prometheus: A Consideration

The fact that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was given the alternate title of “The Modern Prometheus” has always puzzled me. So being as mildly obsessed with mythology as I am, I started to consider just why Victor Frankenstein was casually likened to an ancient Greek titan Prometheus. When I previously thought about Frankenstein, I saw oppositionsContinue

The Heart of Hunter x Hunter

In a genre known for tough guys eager to duke it out for the sake of it, drawn-out tactical fights that can last episodes, power-levels, and edge-lords, the acts of love and understanding which denote Hunter x Hunter’s (2011) narrative climaxes seem somewhat out of place. As a shonen anime, Hunter x Hunter has aContinue

Ava’s Pick: Top 7 Female-Centered Fantasy Books

With the rise of TV shows like Game of Thrones and American Gods, the fantasy genre has has gained widespread popularity in recent years, reaching people who wouldn’t have even paid attention to fantasy stories before. The likes of Brandon Sanderson, J. R. Tolkien, Neil Gaiman and George R. Martin have become household names. TheContinue

“One Piece”: A Review

One Piece – Why is it special? One Piece’s reputation precedes it. Setting a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author, it’s been in near-constant serialization for over 15 years and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. One Piece is a JapaneseContinue

“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”: A Review

Remaking old classics with a darker twist has been a common trend in film and television lately, and Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the latest example of this. Sabrina The Teenage Witch was a comic book series published by Archie Comics starring a spirited girl who lived with her aunts and had toContinue

The Golem and The Jinni

In her debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni, Helen Wecker crafts a tale of two magical creatures who find themselves amongst the large mass of immigrants in 19th century New York City. Chava is a golem crafted from clay, recently created because golems are naturally bound to servitude and her master wanted an obedientContinue

Submissions are OPEN for Winter 2018!

Are you interested in submitting to The Spectatorial? Well, you’re in the right place. We are accepting submissions until FEBRUARY 17, 2017 for Volume VIII Part two. Please read our Journal Submissions page to ensure that your piece meets our requirements. Sign up on our Facebook Event page to get our alerts and notifications! We’re lookingContinue

Kimi no Na wa

Have you ever felt like you’ve lost something and won’t ever be able to find it? That’s the feeling I had when I watched Kimi no Na wa, or Your Name, directed by Makoto Shinkai. Your Name opens with a classic body swap between Mitsuha Miyamizu and Taki Tachibana, two Japanese teenagers who wake upContinue