Samurai Equine

Hello there, my crowd! Welcome to my Weekly Musings: Red Edition. 

[I ❤ JAPAN] -- [I ❤ THE COLOR RED] -- [I ❤ CELESTIA]

   Feel free to leave a song request. Your song will eventually be featured in a future Weekly Musings entry!   

Time to get things squared away... It's the dawn of a new age; my crowd! It's the age of things getting down to business.  Let's leap right into it~!

 [ 1 / 2 ] I said to myself that I wouldn't keep reporting on this; but I must. There have been some new developments in the Tokusatsu Fansubbing community. The fansub groups are not out of this battle just yet. TV-Nihon, the biggest target in all of this, started off by deciding to only release subtitle script files, no actual videos attached or anything. But then predictably, they decided to stop touching TOEI properties all together. Because of course they would. They say it's for job security, but really they are just protecting their weeb-friendly translations, like always.  Worst of all, they want to promote the works of other sub groups. While I appreciate the sentiment, I'd prefer if other groups didn't have a target placed on their backs right now. Part of me is wondering if these legal issues might be affecting anime fansub groups as well right now. But this is not the real issue I wanted to talk about...

 [ 2 / 2 ] Well, I guess I was basically right? I was afraid all of this was happening because of TOEI's international YouTube channel. They might not have entire series or every movie, they often have low-res videos and questionable translation choices, but they exist. I was afraid that the channel was only made to bring fansub groups down legally, and that seems to be the case. The owners of the YouTube channel only have an Indirect License to these shows, which explains the lack or quality or consistency. (I honestly didn't know Indirect Licenses was a thing!) The owners of the channel are operating from a TOEI sister location rather than TOEI HQ, so to call this YouTube channel official is only about 90% true. Still, Production Director Shinichiro Shirakura of TOEI studios was informed about what their sister location was doing and sees no problem with the C&D order right now since Japan is tightening up its copyright laws. Sad to see them being on the same page like this; but at least there is hope! Over-Time is still releasing translated Zenkaiger episodes, they are just doing it secretly with no announcements on their website, and FlameSubs is still releasing episodes of Saber. The question is; just how many groups does TOEI actually know about? 

 Well, once again, I didn't see any movies this week. BUT I HAVE A GOOD REASON! My mother will be canceling her Netflix subscription real soon. So while she still has it, I decided to watch the final two seasons of Netflix's Carmen Sandiego. Gotta say; what a perfectly wonderful cartoon. I can't even remember if the 90's cartoon had an ending or not, but this one did. A happy ending with an origin story for Carmen herself. This cartoon gave the fans everything we could ever ask for while still being true to the spirit of the franchise. It might not play out like a traditional Carmen Sandiego game, but in the eyes of characters like the ACME agents, it's pretty much the same old story. Top it all off with a visual style you'll grow to love and nods to all the Carmen theme songs and many other wonderful pieces of fan pandering, and you've got a recipe for success. I've heard these days that the success of a Netflix original can be either hit or miss. This one was a hit, and I hope it steals your hearts. I saw this because I had all ready started watching the show when it was new, and I didn't want to leave it unfinished. But who knows? While there is still time, I might squeeze in some other shows. 

 I've been slowly but surely installing additional programs onto my computer. The first major thing I have installed so far is PHOTOSHOP! I am dedicated to using it; which means I won't be returning to my old PhotoImpact ever again unless absolutely necessary. Now I just need to get comfortable using it. I'll have to use it often and teach myself how to vector with it. Maybe I should get 1 other program as a companion just in case? Maybe Gimp or PaintTool Sai? Some things about Photoshop are actually intuitive; the rest will come later. I should have done this a long time ago... Really, I should have stuck with Photoshop since college, since one of my classes taught us how to use it and made us complete assignments with it. When I was a kid in middle school (I think), PhotoImpact was the first thing I was introduced to (probably because my HTML teacher was a bit of a rebellious hipster), and that's what I became good at. I got use to using it that other programs just felt weird, even after PhotoImpact stopped being updated and supported a long time ago. But the truth is, other programs are not only just as good, but they're better. It's time I shake off these insecurities and dedicate myself to Photoshop. The past is in the past. This is my future now.  

 Up next, I'll install Windows Office Suite. Hope it gives my computer some additional fonts. And I need to find a good video editing program... Not sure where to begin with that.  ... Does anyone know what I should install? ... I want something that can edit and save MKV files, as well as softsubs as what not. I wonder what programs fansub groups typically use.

 While I'm waiting for the last vaccine injection, I'll be calling my trusted dentist to see what they have to say about my sensitive tooth. I genuinely think the filling has worn away over the years. The tooth feels smaller than it did before. Not sure if it's a good idea to go ahead and schedule something since I am in the middle of getting vaccinated, wouldn't want any pain killers they inject me with to mess with the vaccine. I'm not even sure if it works like that. For now, I just want to get some options and see what they have to say. Better to get things going than to wait. 

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and upgrade.

Once again, I find myself in another chapter of "I didn't know I needed this until I learned it exists". Well, this definitely exists, and it's pretty epic. This is "One Winged Angel (in the style of Doom Eternal)" by GeoffPlaysGuitar.