Samurai Equine

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

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

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Sometimes, you just wish you could turn back the hands of time, my crowd...  Let's talk about it. 

 I can't exactly sidestep or sugar coat this... The biggest thing that happened this week was my aunt Holly passing away. Before anyone says anything, I'm fine. I barely knew my aunt in life, so I'm not as broken up about it. Really, it's my family that is more heart broken. My aunt was closest to my mother, uncles, and my grandfrather-in-law.  I think my uncles are recovering, but my mother is still holding in a lot of pain. For her, the realization doesn't fully kick in until later. Not sure what's going to happen in New Zealand where my aunt lived, but there's nothing that we can do about it other than get updated by her next-of-kin.

 But it's not all bad news. Speaking of my mother, I at least managed to finish shopping for her Christmas presents. I got to try some new things, see some new (to me) Christmas movies, and make time for some fun after all. I'll go into those further. Perhaps the biggest news are the two new trailers that dropped for Sonic Frontiers and Sonic the Movie 2! They dropped shortly after the bad news I just mentioned, but I am still SUPER hyped regardless!

 I can't remember if I tried this before, but just in case this is the first time, I finally tried the “Bang” brand of energy drinks. Two of them, actually! They had a two-for-one special. The first one I tried was simply called “Star Blast”, which I guess is their Original or Standard flavor. It's not too bad! It's a little sweet, but not too sweet. It's an understated but still-there flavor, and the liquid is transparent. The other flavor is “Rainbow Unicorn”, and I have no idea what it's suppose to be. To me, it kind of tastes like cotton candy, but again it's a subdued kind of sweetness. The ingredients list doesn't help either; all chemicals. Likewise, the liquid is transparent. The can says it's made for those who don't want a super hard crash nor a spike in blood sugar. Makes me wonder if you can really call it an energy drink, or if it's just a sweet drink. Either way, it's not bad if partial sweetness is your thing. 

 And now... Christmas Movie Time!  I managed to stream three movies, two of which are different takes on "A Christmas Carol". First I saw "An American Christmas Carol (1979)". Long review short, it's a very stream-lined version. What it does right is make good on the Mandela Effect that the classic story, this time having Scrooge fire this movie's version of Bob Cratchit in the first half. However, it is brought down by the fact that the characters know about Dickens' story. If they know, shouldn't Scrooge be a little harder to redeem? Next, I saw "A Christmas Carol (2000)". This one is actually British, going back to the story's homeland. It just feels right this way, and no fourth-wall breaking to bring the story down. It's modern and a little brutal, but they make it work. What they do right is having this version of Scrooge win Bella's (Belle) heart honestly so that everyone truly gets a happy ending. Last of all, I saw "Santa and the Three Bears". It's not bad, but I can see why there's been a lack of effort to restore this movie. It even has an unnecessary live-action intro. Honestly, you're better off watching one of those Yogi Bear Christmas specials.

 Zenkaiger 38: I'll Be Dead For The Holidays!  Now that is just the kind of episode I've been looking for. Admittedly the MOTW was rather lame, especially when he's making an army of senior citizens rather than ancestors that passed at a young age. However, the true heart of the story is what happens mostly in the later half. Stacey is reunited with his dead mother, and seeing her turn evil suddenly makes him wonder if doing the same thing to Kaito/Zenkaizer is right or not. Furthermore, they are setting up for an even greater next episode! At least I hope so. It sure took a while to get to this point, but I'm glad we're here.

 Revice 05: ReVice VS Japan?!  Wow. This episode hits way too close to home, for me at least. It tackles big issues that are present in Japan as we speak, but not in the best of way (I almost sided with the 'villain'). It even takes a less-than-wonderful swing at YouTubers, which is ironic considering some drama that's been happening on YouTube recently. I could go into a big ol' deep dive about these issues and my grievances, but I think it's better to move on. The episode treats it as a connecting bridge to other plot points, so I will treat it the same. I mean, it ends with a Kuuga stamp and the reveal of a new Rider! It also confirms my suspicions, that “Kuuga” is perhaps another way of saying “Cougar” in Japanese. And even though I have some very personal feelings about this episode, it still proves just how deep and profound ReVice really is.

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and save some cake for me.

I am just beside myself this week, my crowd. I had a funny meme video to post based on Sonic the Movie 2, but that was before the actual trailer dropped. I want to post BOTH Sonic trailers! But I only have room for one video... Thankfully, Agrol has got me covered with this new animation video called "Snow Castle [Animation]". I would have preferred to see Twilight be part of this honestly, but I get the feeling we still have more to see from Agrol. What a nice way to celebrate the holidays this year~.