‘Aníkúlápó: Rise of the Spectre’ Netflix Series Review - Off-Track Journey

Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre starts with the villagers seen hustling in the market. Suddenly a black bird with fierce red eyes arrives, and all the villagers get scared and run off. Akala has been angry lately due to its power being used forcefully to resurrect people.

Saro, a villager abused its power to resurrect twenty people. Hence, when the bird comes, he can be seen lying on the floor and his soul is taken to the gates of heaven. The man’s entry is denied as he sins and to pass the gates he needs to take back the lives he returned. This means he’s got to kill twenty people. After many arguments and negotiations, Saro realizes that he does need to complete the mission to go back to his life.

The man is turned into a wandering soul and begins to acquire the lives. It was only until the fourth one that he stopped. Something strange happened with Saro as the blind woman he came to acquire could see him. Thus begins his twisted journey of fortune and love. The series further tells us the story of Queen Arolake and the discussions surrounding the recent happenings going on in the royal court.

Anikulapo: Rise of the Spectre is about a man who messed with the powers of a mystical bird and now has to face the consequences. The main plot of the series was ruined by the unnecessary politics shown in the royal court of the geographical area. If the main plot of Saro had been maintained, the series would have been much better.

Why writers try to add unnecessary things just to lengthen the duration of the project is something far beyond my understanding and also isn’t liked by the audience. Through this not only do they dilute the interest established, but also make the show complex and a little bit hard to digest.

In my opinion, the makers did a great job with the first episode of the series, and for the remaining five episodes, the overburden of making this a success is established. So, you can watch the first episode and the rest can be easily skipped. There are a total of six episodes with a duration of more than an hour. This excessive time frame was not required.

The actors have done a brilliant job and there are some mistakes in the show that can be ignored, like the scene in which Saro is shown be a wandering soul. In one scene, he enters a hut to take a life which he resurrected with the mystical bird's power, but when he enters the shed, the roof moves because his head bumps into it. Such mistakes though the makers ignore them, it is noticed by the audience.

Final Score – [5/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times