The Outer Zone

I find myself astounded that a series as good as this one only has 158 follows.  I'm just grateful to Habanero Scans for bringing it to us regardless of the lack of taste/discernment of the general reader.

Who knew animated dolls would be good partners? Sort of the like an Anti-Chucky.

"Where is Here?" might be inspired by "The After Hours" episode of The Twilight Zone.

Thoughts on Where is Here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiLk9tlE-h8

Isn't it common misconception that Death card in Tarot means death? As far as i know it, Death represents changes, The Tower is much worse card for that matter.

Yes, though it's obviously context related, the tower, the moon, the devil, partly hanged man and also the V-cards, especially V swords and V Cups are the boring ones to get, death is usually about transformation and and letting go, the tower is when life is forcing you to let go.

Isn't it common misconception that Death card in Tarot means death? As far as i know it, Death represents changes, The Tower is much worse card for that matter.

Whaaat the heck? OK I don't remember her straight up

Misery is, without doubt, a royal badass as well as a babe!

You're right, chapter 7 definitely had more of a Rod Serling feel to its ending.  I think that I'll stick around for more of this series.

 

Also, I finally remembered that there was an episode of Twilight Zone starring William Shatner as a man who became obsessed with a fortune telling machine, sort of like the one in chapter 3.  An interesting parallel, even though chapter 3 did have a much happier ending than the episode with Captain Kirk.

Wiliam Shatner's character did have a happy ending, he and his wife decided to ignore the fortune telling machine and live their own lives. At the end, another couple came in who had remained in the town for years under its sway.

As for the happy endings, there were a couple of horror ones like the classic "It's a Good Life", but poetic justice was most often the theme. Murderers and other evil-doers were invariably punished, unlike in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Some people even came out better ("Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room", "The Fear").

I think that the scariest thing of this series are questions asked by Misery...

WAIT STALKER CAME FROM A MOVIE?

There is a Russian movie "Stalker" but it's based on the story "Roadside Picnic" by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky written in 1972. The description of the story is mostly correct but I'd call it more of a Sci-Fi mystery/tragedy than horror. It's something of a cult classic.

WAIT STALKER CAME FROM A MOVIE?

This chapter reminded me of The X Files episode when Moulder tried to create "ideal" wish for Genie.

Thanks, Habanero Scans, for another great chapter of this manga.  It definitely made a lousy day much better!

Thanks for another great chapter, Habanero Scans.  I'm really enjoying this series.  I often find Japanese stories about AI better than a lot of stuff written in English.  I also enjoyed the Misery fan service!

Thanks, Habanero Scans, for another great chapter of this manga.  I especially enjoyed the picture of Misery (Taarna?) at the end.  Now I'll have to watch Heavy Metal.

This is early 90s as hell, I'm diggin' it.

Yay!  Another chapter and another sexy pic of Misery.  Who could ask for more?

I like it.  I loved Twilight Zone (especially the episode with Danny Kaye) and also Night Gallery.  I find it a great pity that present television shows have to be so entirely devoid of real imagination.  It's definitely a "follow" for me.  (I also love how Misery's pictures become more and more risque as the chapters progress.)

Regarding the spoiler, I don't want to give away anything from the later chapters, but things definitely start to change in the second volume. I think the author might have noticed the same thing you did.

You're right, chapter 7 definitely had more of a Rod Serling feel to its ending.  I think that I'll stick around for more of this series.

Also, I finally remembered that there was an episode of Twilight Zone starring William Shatner as a man who became obsessed with a fortune telling machine, sort of like the one in chapter 3.  An interesting parallel, even though chapter 3 did have a much happier ending than the episode with Captain Kirk.

it might be that the author felt it's safer to start out with happy endings when writing for a shounen magazine. there should be some happy ends too, so why not present some of them before starting with the more horrible ones.

spoiler]From the afterword of chapter 1, I got the idea that when Rod Serling's show, The Twilight Zone, was shown in Japan, the title was mistakenly translated as "The Mystery Zone."  Oh, well...  It just goes to show that translating from English to Japanese can be just as weird as translating from Japanese to English.

 

Although I suppose that the author's use of the title, The Outer Zone in the story line could be a reference to both The Twilight Zone and Joseph Stefano's more scifi-oriented TV show from the mid 1960s, The Outer Limits.

 

Spoiler

About this series...  I've read the first three chapters and all three had a "Happy Ending" for the good characters and a "Bad Ending" for the evil characters like the boy's mother in the first story.

 

If this is supposed to be an homage to Rod Serling's TV series, then the author should have known that happy endings were not very common in his stories.  So to have the first three chapters end with the protagonists safe, unharmed, and with improved lives runs counter to Mr. Serling's creation, which was, at its basic premise, a horror anthology and was made at a time in American TV and film history when the entertainment industry was just starting to make shows and films with unhappy endings.  (The late 1950s and early 1960s)  Prior to this period, there was pretty much of an unwritten rule that all movies and TV shows had to have a happy ending and any unhappy endings had to have a lesson in morality for the viewers.  TV shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits were among the first to show tragic or unhappy endings for good and/or innocent characters and helped lead the industry into producing much more "realistic" story lines.

[/spoiler]

Regarding the spoiler, I don't want to give away anything from the later chapters, but things definitely start to change in the second volume. I think the author might have noticed the same thing you did.

From the afterword of chapter 1, I got the idea that when Rod Serling's show, The Twilight Zone, was shown in Japan, the title was mistakenly translated as "The Mystery Zone."  Oh, well...  It just goes to show that translating from English to Japanese can be just as weird as translating from Japanese to English.

Although I suppose that the author's use of the title, The Outer Zone in the story line could be a reference to both The Twilight Zone and Joseph Stefano's more scifi-oriented TV show from the mid 1960s, The Outer Limits.