Residents of Proserpina Park is an edutainment audio drama podcast created by Angela Yih. It begins with a girl name Mirai, who has recently discovered a series of audio recordings from a young woman named Alina. Alina was investigating rumors of a mysterious park as part of a journalism class. She got more than she bargained for. The mysterious park turns out to be a nature reserve for creatures from across World Mythology and Folklore. Alina quickly befriends a guy name Sam, who is something of a resident of the park himself. Sam introduces Alina to the many strange and wonderful creatures who call the park home. Alina soon begins to explore the park on her own, often with friends in tow. However, not all of the creatures are so friendly. There are many dangerous and deadly creatures who also call the park their home. There are also many mysteries to be solved within the park, and Alina and company are going to need all the help they can find. Alina and the gang are about to embark on a modern day adventure of mythological proportions. The official series website can be found at this link
.
Residents of Proserpina Park contains examples of:
- All Myths Are True: If a creature appeared anywhere in mythology, chances are it can be found within Proserpina Park.
- Asian Fox Spirit: Mirai encounters a kitsune, whom she names Fox Ears, while ridding on a bus in Japan. Fox Ears, true to her name, takes the form of a woman with fox ears and a tail. She is haughty and high-strung, but also provides helpful information to Mirai.
- Batter Up!: Drew brings a baseball bat for protection during their first trip to the park with Alina.
- Berserk Button: It is generally not a very good idea to mention Bigfoot and Mothman around JD.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Bigfoot has been known to visit the park, but mostly chooses to live in the human world. JD, The Jersey Devil, is unhappy that Bigfoot is better known than they are.
- The Blank: Slenderman, true to the source material. He claims to blush when the characters recount his terrible deeds. Jun, however, notes that Slenderman can’t be blushing, given his lack of a face.
- Chinese Vampire: One episode has Terry challenge Alina and her friends to stay in the park overnight. Terry provides them with some jiangshi for protection against the more dangerous residents of the park.
- Continuity Creep: Season one is mostly episodic, with a few minor plot treads here and there. Come season two, however, and the show has become full-on serialized. One episode often directly leads into the other, and there are season-wide arcs and plot threads.
- Crossover Cosmology: Since the creatures from multiple mythologies call Proserpina Park their home, this is a given. To give just one example, the finale of season two has Terry, a child of the Greek god Hades, leading the heroes on a quest to find a vetala, a ghoul-like creature from Hindu Mythology, and the heroes also have their faithful lion dogs, creatures from Chinese Mythology, at their beck and call.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Subverted. Dog is actually an alien who takes the appearance of a dog as a form of glamour.
- Edutainment: One of the goals of Residents of Proserpina Park is to teach listeners about creatures from World Mythology and Folklore in a fun and entertaining way.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Slenderman admits to being as stunned as everyone when two girls tried to kill their friend in his name. He still loved it though.
- Fantastic Nature Reserve: Proserpina Park acts as a nature reserve for creatures from cross World Mythology and Folklore. The end of season two introduces Kukunochi Park in Japan.
- Fantastically Indifferent: Alina takes the revelation that mythological creatures are real in considerable stride. In particularly, she’s rather blasé about Cerberus, a three-headed dog, the first time she comes to the park.
- The Jersey Devil: JD, The Jersey Devil themself, works as a park ranger at Proserpina Park. They aren’t happy that Bigfoot and Mothman are better known than they are.
- Kappa: Alina and Drew encounter a kappa during one of their first trips to the park. The kappa is a bit snippy, but not overly aggressive.
- Little Bit Beastly: Fox Ears, a kitsune, takes the form of a human woman with fox ears and a tail.
- Masquerade: All residents of the park are capable of casting glamour for the purposes of entering the human world. However, not all choose to do so. Hence, why cryptids are so widely known among humans.
- Monster of the Week: The series largely takes a creature of the week format. The primary plot of each episode involves the cast encountering, or learning about, a new creature from mythology or folklore.
- Mr. Exposition: Sam and/or Dog will usually provide exposition about the various creatures within the park, and relay their stories.
- Non-Human Non-Binary: JD, the Jersey Devil themself, uses they/them pronouns. Terry, being a demigod, arguably counts as well.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The season one finale has Alina and company encounter a Taniwha, a dragon-like creature from Māori Mythology.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: The titular park gets its name from Proserpina, the Roman version of the Greek Goddess Persephone.
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Dog actually says the word “bark” when she first meets Alina and Drew. They’re less than convinced, especially since they can see what she actually looks like.
- Semi-Divine: Sam’s cousin Terry is a demigod child of the Greek god Hades.
- Shout-Out: Alina mentions that, when they were in middle school, Drew often dreamed about being Spirited Away
- Urban Fantasy: Proserpina Park is a nature reserve for mythical creatures located in modern day New Jersey.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sam calls out Alina for going behind his back and brining friends to the park without his permission. Later, Jun calls out Alina for her cavalier attitude towards the safety of her friends.
- Yōkai: Several yokai have appeared, or been mentioned. Fox Ears is a kitsune, Alina and Drew encounter a kappa in one episode, and another episode recounts the story of the nue.
