Samurai Equine

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

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

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

Easy come, easy go? Let's talk about, my crowd. 

 I suppose the biggest thing was that my cousin came back into town for a while!  It was both a happy moment, and a sad moment. His visit was only 3 days long. We really tried to convince him to stay, and he did really consider it, but it seems it wasn't enough. Hopefully we'll see him again for either Thanksgiving or Christmas.

 By some miracle, I got to experience Sonic Frontiers! THIS GAME IS SO AWESOME!! But the story... Ian's a mad genius. It almost makes me sad to see what the Japanese version of the story will be. And yes, I can confirm, the script was changed for the Japanese audience. I am just waiting on a full translation right now. In sad news, Kevin Conroy died. He lost his battle to cancer. There goes the best Batman actor ever.  I hope the example his version of Batman has set will be an eternal remind to other writers what Batman is at his best.

 NO DONBROS OR GEATS THIS WEEK!   The weekly tokusatsu went on hiatus because sports, but it will return next week.

 Transformers Earthspark 01: A Surprising Spark!  I've heard the complaints. The Nth rehashing of G1 material, changing it to fit this generation, etc. However, I watched  it, and I liked it! The robot designs are growing on me. I like the new characters, for the most part. I like that the war is over and Megatron is working for the good guys now. I even like the voice actor they got for Optimus; he's no Peter Cullen, but he's definitely gunning for best replacement voice actor. About the only character I might not enjoy is the father of the two human kids. Something about his voice and personality isn't clicking for me. I REALLY hope he doesn't end up being the annoying, forced-comic-relief character. Still, I might consider seeing more of this.

 Black Sun 01: Wild Timeline?  I am so confused on how much time has passed. The episode starts with an incident that happened in the past; in 1972. However, Young Kotaro and Nobuhiko seem to be teens/young adults at this time? I suppose it could be the late 80's, but everyone is dressed like they are from the 70's. Wikipedia says the present-day part of this story takes place in 2022, so that means our heroes are over 50 years old. Possibly over 60 or 70. The actor they chose for older Kotaro does indeed look older, but not that old. Not unless he's somehow aging very gracefully. They really need to clear this up. If you're going to specify the year for one segment, do it for the rest. Interesting fact, the original Kamen Rider TV show aired from 1971-1973. The show pretty much confirms this is an alternate universe where none of the other Showa Riders exist, at least not that we know of. Don't think I missed the clever use of a black character in a story addressing racism against kaijins. Seeing the origins of Gorgom here does explain how their possible origins in the original TV show, but Black Sun will always do something to remind you just how different this is. There's drama, build up, and some interesting history bits; but the story doesn't really develop enough to talk about right now.

 MLP TYT 35: Holidays for Holi-Days!  The cycle is complete. We had Hearts & Hooves Day, Hearth's Warming, Winter Wrap Up, Nightmare Night, and now... Harvest and Hugs Day! Is there no holiday we can't ponify? Eagle-eyed viewers saw the Queen's family in a photo, so extended royal family confirmed? And I guess I should mention Sparky... Yeah, he pretty much caused all the cartoon problems here. I know the fandom hates him, but I never expected the entire mane cast to be troubled by him. I can feel all the Spike haters changing their tunes.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and enjoy your health and happiness.

I like capes, for dress and for show. Still, this video bring up some good points. This is "Why Did Men Stop Wearing Capes?" by Real Men Real Style.

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

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

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

Watch your step, my crowd. Take it easy.  Sometimes birds are cute, right?

 So the biggest thing to happen me this week is the HUGE amount of Sonic the Hedgehog news! A new game is getting teased, but no name has been dropped yet. Sonic Colors is getting an HD port with lots of new content, as well as an animated special. Sonic Prime is under production. Roger Craig Smith is back in the game for now! So much that I can't even begin to count it all; and this is just the beginning. We've been told that there will be more news coming soon. Set your watches for that, Sonic fans. 

 Even though I regret not doing so sooner, I have scheduled my dental appointment. My tooth has been getting worse, so it has me worried. It's going to be happening on the same day that I get my final vaccination shot, unless the people doing it tell me otherwise. I am fine with delaying the vaccination, but I'd really like to get this tooth business out of the way as soon as possible. So hopefully, when I go to get my check up, they'll tell me "we can fix it now if you want". I'm prepared for anything. 

 I'm still so flattered that my tweet about Netflix's Carmen Sandiego got retweeted by the official Carmen Sandiego Twitter account. 

 I really hope my aunt makes a recovery.  I still remember her last bout with cancer in a different part of her body. There were moments where everyone is saying it's hopeless and that she only had her final days to look forward to, but they somehow managed to turn it around and bring her into remission after all. But now the cancer has become active again, and it has migrated to her lungs. Everyone in my family is saying once it moves up that far, it's pretty much over and done, no way to fight against that. However, I am going to wait and see what happens. Maybe the doctors can find a way to help her after all. I'm not going to leap to conclusions, but I would appreciate it you could all keep her in your prayers, my crowd.

 Recently, I saw an interesting Jojo's Bizarre Adventures spin-off, "Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan". And it was... Okay, I guess?  It's just 4 episodes of Rohan telling scary stories about things that may or may not have happened to him. I can see why he'd get a spin off, he is a real character that chews the scenery anytime he's on screen. However, this spin-off doesn't at all connect to the main storyline in anyway, so you can easily skip it. No harm, no foul. The only thing I kind of liked about this spin-off OVA is that it hints that maybe there are forces out there greater than the power of Stands. An idea worth exploring, if Jojo can get away from its Stand obsession.

 Saber 37: Convince Me Otherwise.  HA! That's what I said last time! One random transmission is not going to enough to make humans instantly go to war, and the show agreed with me. For the most part, this episode was just more build up. However, at least there is hope for Kenzan to join the heroes again. And what could this little fairy thing be that's following Caliber around?

 Zenkaiger 13: It's No Reuse.  Seems a little soon to be going into recycling territory at this point, but at least they have a good reason for it. Going into it, I knew the Zenkaigers would be dressed like Brazilian dancers for some reason, so I expected it to be a silly episode. However, there's really not much to say here. Zenkaizer once again beat Twokaizer at his own game unintentionally. They didn't focus on that very much, but he did, and I bet they'll mention it next time. I think next episode will have more to talk about.

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and treat fragile things gently.

It occurs to me that I haven't posted ANY pony videos in a long time! So let's rectify that, shall we? I'm sure we've seen the basic SFM models by now, but those always left something to be desired. Other people have tried their hands at making 3D models or improving the SFM models, but none really seem to capture the spirit of the cartoon. Suddenly one fan-animation comes out with a render SO well done, I dare say it's even better than the models from official Pinkie Pie Presents shorts. This is "Missing Out: trailer" by Minty Root. And you better believe I eagerly look forward to it!

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

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

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

Geez, where did the time go, my crowd?  Sorry for the huge delay with this one. It's like I just can't seem to find the time!

 I guess the biggest thing that happened to me last week was... I went shopping!  I ordered a new desk chair online, I got another flashdrive, and I am happy to report that the new Bluetooth adaptor I bought allows me to use my new cordless headphones just fine. Now it's just a waiting game until I get that chair.

 So... Bob Saget died.  That's a sad thing that happened. I noticed last year that I didn't touch too much on celebrity deaths. I feel like I missed a lot of big ones. Should I try and do that as well? I'm sad they're gone, but they don't have any affect on my life, and I'd hate to bring the mood down too much.

 I am doing my best to catch up to things I am behind on, but it's not been easy. I am working on some other art projects behind the scenes, so... Stay tuned for that, if you wish. 

 Zenkaiger 42: Don The Blanket!  So this is... interesting. We get a Zyuran focused episode, which is nice. He's been needing it. And then we get the early cameo of the next Sentai, specifically the red ranger. I love how they called him a samurai. I'm sold. Gotta say, I was not expecting them to use the PatRanger, BFJ, DaiRanger, nor the GekiRanger gears. If it was just a matter of getting so over heated that you're uncomfortable, wouldn't it have been easier to use ANY of the fire elemental Sentai powers? There's TONS to choose from!

 ReVice 09: Re(In)Vest.  This episode is getting things back on track, I feel like. I do hate that it took Daiji's inner demon to make all this happen. I can see that it is really causing inharmonious waves in the family. However, it is causing Ikki to listen to Vice for once, even if he hates to listen to whatever Vice has to say. Of course this one time, Vice is actually wrong. I think Ikki's brother is just waiting in one place like he did as a child, as his mother explained. As a side note, I am loving the Gaim powers in this episode. Giving him a bow and arrow in that form was a great choice. And the Remix form... Eh, not perfect, but at least no one is sticking their butt in someone else's face. Also, I think I might be seeing more Scrubbed episodes soon!

 [ 1 / 2 ] MOVIE TIME!  First up... Ghostbusters Afterlife. This is it, chief. This right here is the true 3rd Ghostbusters movie; I don't care what anyone else says. The 2016, all-female Ghostbusters was a spin-off set in a different reality. This picks up where the first two movies left off, albeit with a time skip. Speaking of the 2016 movie, I originally said that movie was just Meh to Okay at best. They tried to replicate the original movies like it was a formula. They had comedians for actors, cameos from the original cast, and some things were kind of nice. However, it failed to capture the true essence of Ghostbusters. The characters were over-the-top and in your face, but failed to be likable. Here? Lovable characters. Genuine pacing. The whole thing felt truly cinematic, and it wraps up with a love letter to the late Harold Ramis (the actor who played Ghostbuster Egon Spengler) and the first two (mostly the first) Ghostbusters movies. In a way, it almost sets up a new generation of Ghostbusters. Will we ever see them again? Doubt it, though I would welcome it with open arms. Still, I love that the legacy was finally given a loving send off with this final chapter. This may be the last time we'll ever see the original cast together like this. They even had the original Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker Jr. I am trying my best not to spoil anything; just go see it! This is worth supporting.

 [ 2 / 2 ] Next up in this double feature... Matrix Resurrections. I just saw and reviewed a movie from a franchise that desperately needed a revival/proper send off. This franchise, however, I am not so sure. Maybe I am just speaking for myself, but since the Matrix all ready had a solid trilogy and a definitive ending, I don't think anyone was asking for another Matrix movie. This comes off more as Hollywood going “Yeah, let's just make another one since that's a popular thing to do now, and the actors are still willing”. The movie definitely went above and beyond any of the trailers I saw. It answered a question that the trailers set up, “Was the Matrix real or just a dream?”. It also answers why some characters were recast for this movie. However, the rest of the movie... It's just Meh. I didn't walk away wanted more Matrix, but I didn't walk away hating it either. The twist ending didn't help either. I guess the simple answer is, an okay movie is better than a bad movie, right? Still, they really should have tried to blow audiences' minds, and there just wasn't a spectacle big enough to do that this time. Props to the returning actors who were willing to keep doing this, however, it's now up to audiences and history to decide if we still want more Matrix or not. Next time... Unless I see a pair of movies that catches my attention, I think I'll go back to tokusatsu movies.

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and bear witness.

Have I mentioned I have a new addiction? Wood turning. Why can't I stop watching these? This is "Woodturning - Organized Chaos !!" by Andy Phillip.

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

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

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

Ever had a Celestial rap battle?  Me neither, but how cool would that be? Let's talk about the week that past. Sorry for the late update. Time got away from me on Sunday for reasons you will soon read...

 Nothing major happed during the week, but I did come across something silly. Really shows how much trauma can effect you, even if you think it's invulnerable. My mother has sewing equipment and supplies; which is part of a trade she learned from her mother. When my grandmother died over a year ago, she got my grandmother's sewing supplies; easily doubling her collection. I didn't even bother asking my mother what she had. If I did, I would have learned that she has spare jean buttons thanks to what she inherited.  For those who are lost, the week before last I went through a lot of unnecessary trouble just to get some jean buttons. If I had just raided my mother's sewing supplies, I could have found some without spending a penny. Life just can't let me have a win without sticking it to me.

 My grandfather's health has gotten so bad that taking care of the pet cat is more of a threat to his health than a reward. With permission, one of my uncles sold off the cat to a loving couple that wanted one. At least my mother and I got to say goodbye to the cat. He was such a sweet heart of a cat. A regular lap cat. Loved affection and attention. Would never scratch, even with claws. Never would leave the house, even with the door opened. Very responsive to commands. Saying goodbye was a little hard because it wasn't just my grandfather's cat; it was my grandmother's cat too. The last pet she ever owned before passing away. For my mother and uncle, it was almost like saying goodbye to their mother a second time... But at least he'll go on to a loving home, and my grandfather will have a much easier time in his final years. 

 Someone from the city will be coming over on Tuesday to install some extra insulation for free.  Apparently the city wants all houses to have insulation that is a certain amount of thickness, and mine is a little short. The bad news is they'll be coming by at 8 in the morning, and who knows for how long. I hate waking up super early for stuff. But the good news I'll have Tuesday off! I called it in and got the time off for this; and I'll need it since I have no idea how long this will take. Not to mention any cleanup I'll need to do after they leave. And that's why I missed posting this on Sunday night; I've been spending the time cleaning and clearing a path to the attic where they'll be spray-foaming in the insulation.

 MOVIE TIME!  I just saw Space Jam 2: A New Legacy. I don't care what any of the doubters say, THIS is how you make a sequel and spiritual successor to the original movie! It has just enough familiar material to welcome you back, changes certain things to make a movie with a slightly better and tighter narrative, and is definitely worthy of the Space Jam title. The happy ending was a little ham-fisted, but still within the spirit of the original, so I give it a pass. I just wish this movie had a remix of the song “Space Jam” by the Quad City DJ's. ...Unless they had they definitely did have it in there somewhere, and I just missed it. I remember hearing it in a commercial, but I just didn't hear it in the movie itself. Next time... If possible, I'm going to try and see Netflix's He-Man Revelations.

 Saber Special: We Interrupt This Program To Give You Pirates!  Well, I am not sure what to say about this... I guess this is one way to pad out the episode count? It won't get us to 50, but if you call this episode 44, then the next episode will be 45. Apparently this is a set up for the movie. Clearly the movie and this special should have been taking place in an earlier part of the show, because right now, it just stands out like a sore thumb. Wasn't sure if these knightly Riders would get along with a pirate, but I guess I was wrong. I especially liked how they asked if dancing was necessary. Such a Zenkaiger-style joke! Odd seeing just Twokaizer helping out the knight Riders, the extended half of the Zenkaiger crew; wish there had been more. But this is only the first half of the special... Oh, and isn't the MOTW based on half a fairy tale? Wonder where the other half is...

 Zenkaiger 20: From One Extra To Another!  And there it is, the MOTW in this episode is the other half of the fairy tale. And what a HUGE episode/second half of a crossover it was! Following the tradition of the first episode, we see the extended Rider members helping the Zenkaiger crew. We never did see much of Durendal and Sabela in the original series, so it's good to give them some extra spotlight at least. Not the same as an origin story, but it's something! LOVE how Sabela is secretly a sweetheart, she just doesn't know how express it~ Oh and I hope you're paying attention world, because THIS is how you do empowerment with female super heroes. Gotta say though, I am surprised that they chose this special to debut Twokaizer's super form. They were all ready debuting the Rider Gears, which will most likely be a movie exclusive thing, but I guess the show runners wanted to go above and beyond. Speaking of, glad they also had an ominous set up for the movie's villain. He looks way more menacing than these two monsters we got. Hope this special actually does tie in to the movie in a meaningful way.

That's it for now, my crowd.  Take care, and remember that leaving on TV, radio, or anything similar will discourage burglers from breaking into your house while you're gone.

All I can say is Nintendo should take a lesson from modders and customizers like this, because this is the only way to experience failure consoles rather than risk your eye-sight or any other part of your health. This is "I Made a Handheld Virtual Boy (The Real Boy)" by Shank Mods. The more videos like this that I watch, the more I want to make custom console builds and such...

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!   

Vroom, vroom, my crowd.  I'm dying to tell you all about the week I had!

 [ 1 / 2 ] So I guess the biggest thing that happened this week was my attempts to get a lawn mower started. It's not even a year old, and I just couldn't get it to start. I did everything right. I topped of the oil just enough. I put fresh gasoline in it. I made sure the spark plug was good. Could not for the life of me get this young lawn mower to start. However, I did manage to get the weed-eater working.  And for a while, it was great! ... Until I tried to cut an entire lawn with it. A weed eater might be good for some things, but when you are dealing with extra tall grass, it's not made for that. I think I got some grass in the weed eater's motor. It started smoking, and it did not smell like normal smoke either. Thankfully, it has calmed down. It's not smoking anymore, and it's not hot either. I'll have to be very careful next time I try it. (Also made my arms sore from carrying it all morning.)

 [ 2 / 2 ] I was just about to scrap the mower until a neighbor managed to revive it! Turns out that there is a reason why my mower doesn't have a choke button/valve on the front. The reason is because the bail/motor-shut-off bar is also the choke. I was suppose to pump that bar 4 times before starting the mower! Oh wow, it makes so much more sense now! I feel like such an idiot for not figuring that out sooner!  But I am just happy that I won't have to make any immediate lawn mower purchases. And with one less thing to worry about, I can now make time for the MYM series premiere!

 I wasn't expecting this, but I got some more things from my late grandparents. Clearing out the stuff they owned really helped before the sell of the house, it seems.  From my grandfather (in-law), I got a chainsaw, a leaf blower, an almost complete ratchet and socket set, and a hacksaw and some replacement blades. Most of this was new (barely used) stuff, so it was still good. I'm counting that as part of my Christmas/Birthday. From my grandmother, I got  a decorative crystal with a 3D imagine inside of it, and a light up silver galaxy globe (she gave me a blue one for Christmas, so now I have the matching set). I have a weakness for cool decorations. And I'm not sure who owned these last two items, but I also got a foot rest and a metal folding chair. I've wanted a few of those chairs, so now I have one to get me started.

 MOVIE TIME!  This time, I saw DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. (Seriously, why couldn't they just call it Doctor Strange 2?) I loved this movie. It was such fun from beginning to end. I really did feel like the good doctor actually earned his namesake here. They went BIG! Seeing the parallel Avengers, or the Illuminati, was so perfect! I love the call backs to the 90's X-Men cartoon. I really hope we get a MCU Fantastic Four in the future. I don't know if this story happened in the comics, or if America Chavez is portrayed differently in the comics, etc. All I know is, for this version of the Marvel Universe, it was a great story. And I can't wait for the next major story involving Doctor Strange! There were moments that could have ended differently and moments that could have gone in a different direction, but knowing the ending they wanted to give this story, I'm fine with what we got. And cherry on top, this movie shows us all the strengths of telling a multiverse story. It shows how things can be either similar or strikingly different than what we know. It shows how different people can become if you change certain circumstances. It can show us how people can still be the same at the core, even if they've changed a great deal on the outside. It celebrates the differences, but lets us appreciate the normal. Multiverse stories are the cornerstone of both creativity and variation on known themes/elements. I dare say, this movie did a better multiverse story than Spider-Man! Next time... Thor: Love And Thunder.

 DonBrothers 29: Caged Power.  This is the episode I have been waiting a LONG time for! And what great story drop. We learn that the feral side of Jiro, Don Torabolt, was actually the one that was born first and the kindhearted Jiro, Don Dragoku, was born second. We learn more about Don Murasame and what happens if anyone should hold his sword. (Not sure why it restored Don Momotaro's powers, but it was still pretty cool!) And while I do get tired of seeing characters revived from death, it's rare when we see a dark ritual being used to make it happen, so I'll allow it this time. Sonoi is back. The MOTW is based on AbaRanger, and while there may have been a character or Bakuryu from AbaRanger that didn't like waiting around, the connection to the show is once again weak at best.

 Geats 03: If You Could Have One Thing... Not much to say since this is the first of a two-parter. We learn more about the extra Riders and their motivations in this episode. What I like about the format is that these characters are not in a hurry to destroy each other since the game will eliminate the losers one by one, even if there are some corrupt Riders among the group. There's more story opportunity here than there was in Ryuki. It's also pretty cool to see that Riders can take the main powers/armor of other Riders and use it for themselves. I don't care for the evil angsty teen that hates the world. As for the streamer girl, I don't fully understand or care about her motivations right now, but at least there's a better reason for other characters to tell her to stop being a streamer.

 MLP TYT 28: Generosity That's Not So Rare.  I like this episode! Seriously, I have absolutely no qualms or critiques I can think of, and best of all, it's good. It's a feel-good episode that shows Pipp at her absolute best. Rarity would be honored. More importantly, I think I have finally gotten a glimpse into what makes Pipp tick. Was just a mystery before, but I think Pipp is a character that just follows whatever random impulses she feels. And it turns out, most of those impulses are super positive ones that either help build others up, or help challenge herself to be a better pony or take a chance on things she doesn't understand yet. I really hope this is her canon personality.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and use the right tool for the job.

Need more proof that rock music is making a come back? Here it is. Unless the members have done other things under different names, this is a relatively new rock band called The Lazys. They are pretty hard rock, but their music is ever so fun. Pure talent that feels like a mix of AC/DC and Jet. This their song "Nothing But Trouble".

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!   

All right. So what's the excuse for being a day late this time? ... I don't know. Busy weekend? Things didn't happen the way I wanted them to? Here's Diamond Tiara to show how I felt about it...  Let's get into it, my crowd.

 My weekend was a mix of good and bad. I got to do a lot of things; like watch a movie, decorate my house, and get SOME Christmas shopping done. However, I didn't do as much as I wanted to do. Part of it was because I was helping my mother with some of her shopping, and that ate up my time. My uncles visited me, individually. Combine all that together, and I nearly lost a whole day of activity. By the time I wanted to make and post this, it was just getting far too late. Not a bad week over all, but not the best either.

 Still, there were some good things that happened. SO many trailers dropped! I am convinced that not only will the Super Mario Bros. movie drop tons of story and things from the games, but I am also convinced Mario will go on a quest that starts with him having a deep voice, but gains his high pitched voice by the end of it. I liked the Bumblebee movie, so expectations are high for the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts movie. I may or may not see The Mean One. The new Indiana Jones movie does look promising, but I really hope they have learned their lesson from the last one.

 It's official. My mother is losing her renters. They won't be leaving until the tail end of December. So I'll need to help her find new renters when the time comes. 

 Black Sun 04: Moving in the Dark.  Seems I got some of the answers I was looking for. Humans are procreating with Kaijins, but the downside is that even in modern times, there are humans being modified into Kaijins. Worst of all, intense mind control is now a thing too. Seeing what Aoi had to go through was gut-wrenching. It's only when the superhero tokusatsu genre lets go of the breaks can have tragic moments like this. While Nobuhiko seems to be obsessed with strength, it appears he has a history of failure to contend with. I hope the next episode explains more, cause the more this goes on, the more questions I seem to get. Like why does Kotaro suddenly want to protect Aoi? Why does he think it's better if she keeps the Kingstone? So much to unpack, but it may be a while before we get there.

 Black Sun 05: Bilgenia's Revenge!  The events in this episode should have been told in the opposite order. The scenes from the past were just not strong enough to top the scenes from the present. Either way, we now see opposing viewpoints. If I understand correctly, Bilgenia only wants to keep the legacy of the Creation King going, and possibly wants to use kaijin as military weapons. Yukari believes that the best option for peace is to kill the Creation King and try to make the world better for everyone. Black Sun and Shadow Moon are moved by her cause, even if they have their own way of doing things. Somehow in the past, Shadow Moon was not able to protect Yukari, but now in the present, Black Sun was unable to keep his promise and protect Aoi. Bilgenia shows just how corrupt he is by turning Aoi into a kaijin with a Kingstone, and by killing Aoi's mother right in front of her. Kotaro's anger caused him to evolve from Kaijin to Rider, but he still failed. Now Kotaro and Nobuhiko are united by equal failure and a desire to strike back. How things quickly change.

 Black Sun 06: How To Survive.  Remember what I said about what happens when a superhero story is allowed to let go of the reins? This is what we get. Brutal, hopeless, cruel deaths with no help from a superhero. We get a moment at the beginning that makes you think we might get that, only for it to be taken away. Not because the Riders aren't doing their job, they are just preoccupied by boss-level threats on both sides. I love the moments from the past intertwining with the current events. I love how Shadow Moon proves he doesn't want to kill all humans, he just hates the ones killing innocent kaijins. More importantly, we see Kotaro was living with a bigger failure hanging over his head this whole time. He failed to kill the Creation King before, and now history is repeating itself, he is once again taking his chance. How will things play out this time?

 DonBrothers 38: Don Over Eat.  Kiji Brother has snapped, but Natsumi's Beastial counterpart has returned to him! I am annoyed that the Don Bros still have no idea who Inu Brother is. I love that a small town girl from the middle of nowhere has unintentionally made a dish so good, even Don Momotaro would given it 100 points. Don Murasame's appearance didn't really amount to much, so maybe it is foreshadowing his role in upcoming episodes. But again, there's not many left, so it's time they start making them count. MOTW is based on Denziman.

 Geats 12: Worth the Gamble!  In hind sight, I should have known the old man would trade places so that we could get Tycoon back, and the golden Feverslot is actually pretty cool. Didn't think it could surprise me, but it did. But now the true identity of Pumpkin Jack is out, and everyone knows it. This is definitely going to spell disaster in the coming episode. And say what you will about Ace/Geats being full of himself, but when he sticks it to the DGP, it's always awesome.

 MOVIE TIME!  Recently, I watched BLACK ADAM. This movie has one big strength that it excels in, and that's giving us the dark Superman story we need. Other stories just try to make their version of Superman straight up evil, corrupt, or horrific; and that's just taking it to the easiest or most uninspired extreme. Black Adam is dark, but not completely evil. He kills the villains, but he has a good heart and potential underneath it all. He might not be perfect, but he is the champion that a certain part of the world needs, and he comes in handy to defeat evil gods. Basically, an anti-hero, which is just the right balance. And I guess I should mention that he does have his own version of kryptonite, but they just tease the audience over it; something to think about in future films. There is even some narrative misdirection that makes for some great surprises/reveals, great call backs, etc. However, this movie suffers from the same problem as the Justice League movie; introducing a bunch of new characters rather than giving them some solo time and letting audiences get to know them better. Their inclusion is a little frustrating, and it could have been charming if done right, but it was an extra layer of clunk that wasn't completely necessary. These movies are mostly made for the all-ready established fanbase. Still, this film and Dwayne managed to give us something that we thought we'd never see again. I just hope this is where the DCU starts to rebuild itself. Over all, good movie. Not perfect, but good.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and check your local weather.

I swear, I'm not even the biggest ABBA fan at all. But somehow, YouTube keeps suggesting these awesome covers that makes me convinced ABBA should have been a rock band instead of a disco band. This is a cover of "Lay All Your Love On Me" by Tobias Sammet.

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!   

Oops! Late again. Sorry, my crowd. 

 There wasn't anything super big that happened last week. I just got so preoccupied with projects over the weekend that I ran out of time to post this. Sorry.  If anything, I lost a chance to mow the lawn. I'll try again this week.

 Last year, I got a set of fancy Teas with Flavor Infusions. Ever since then, I've been trying these various flavors little by little. But now I've tried all of them. I've had every combination and I've recorded my thoughts. So here they are.

My initial thoughts after trying one combination:

The various combinations & my thoughts on each one:

My final thoughts after trying every combination:

 NO KING-OHGER THIS WEEK!  I am going to wait until there is at least two episodes subbed. My preferred fansub group seems to be doing it, but I want to wait and see how things pan out.

 Geats 24: Reality Too Real.  Thankfully, this episode was not a complete clip show, and I kind of needed it since I took a week off. I miss the part where Geats learned his mother use to work for the GDP, or I forgot; hope this isn't a sudden story beat dropped in the worst way. Still, we at least got to see the faces of the all the sponsors backing our Riders, one of which we've all ready seen in a previous episode. But the biggest drop in this episode was the reveal of the Jamato Grand Prix, the proof of how far they've evolved. Also, I like the new backdrop setting for the Jamato sponsors. Looks like the game has been changed, so now the audience has more to get excited about.

 Geats 25: Can't Jam To This.  There was some of plot-related window dressing, and a lot of filler. It seems Kamen Rider Na-Go was actually a child created by a previous Desire God, and the father got called out for being a terrible parent! Oh the sweet drama~ Meanwhile, Buffa's long lost friend has been revived as a power Jamato, but will Buffa go for it or stay distant? It seems like this Jamato is just an imitation, not the real deal; but the rate of evolution is making it hard to tell what's real. Furthermore, Buffa doesn't seem super happy to see this version of his friend. Wish I could say I was hyped about this episode, but I'm more hyped about the next one.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and don't fear the lizard.

WOOHOO! Got a song request! For @Astral Soul, this is "Celestia's Ballad" from the MLP:FiM episode "Magical Mystery Cure".

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!   

Bonsoir, my crowd!  Yeah, I am a day late. That's because I needed more time. I had a LOT of Tokusatsu to watch, and it ate the last of my free time last night. Let's talk about it...

 There is no BIG event that happened over the week we just finished. I tried to catch up to my recorded Toonami shows, mostly because I was excited to watch some One Piece now that it's back on TV. The problem is, they skipped a HUGE chunk of episodes. And I understand why they are doing this; One Piece is super far ahead in Japan, so Toonami and Funimation really want to start promoting the newer story arcs instead. However, people like me don't like missing episodes in between.  I don't mind watching those skipped episodes on my own time, but I all ready have so much on my plate. I'm afraid of falling behind yet again. I'm almost done with Gridman, and I am really interested to see how it's American adaptation stacks up since it's also a short series.

 Been keeping an eye on other things too. The hype for the next Sonic movie is growing. Hype for other movies is growing. Did you know that Fairly Odd Parents is getting a mostly live-action sequel series? Probably not what people wanted to see, but I guess Nickelodeon is free to experiment if Butch Hartman isn't in the picture anymore. There's international troubles, and I pray for a quick and peaceful resolution. But other then that, it's been pretty slow on my end. 

 GRIDMAN!  Episode 25; I hate that this episode is a clip show, but at least they are keeping the plot moving. And what a plot too! The world is changing because of all the evil attacks, the heroes are having an existential crisis about it, and the villains have gone back to targeting Gridman in their attacks as well! So far, so good. Episode 26; a perfect way to end the two-parter. We've got shipping fuel, the world knows about Gridman now, and we got the debut of King Gridman. Episode 27; a wild ride at first, topped off with a complete BS happy ending. Those kidnappers did not deserve it. Episode 28; Takeshi goes from goofball villain to full fledged creep and perv, and accidentally planting his hand in dog doodie is not enough to make him pay for it. Episode 29, holy Dio, they killed a dog!! Episode 30, a much better episode, and karma finally catches up to Takeshi with a WAY more fitting punishment.

 Zenkaiger 48: Divine Menacing!  Yep, I knew we'd have a strong finale, and we're not even done yet! It was so good to see a classic finale stance trope again. It was both epic and silly to see the two birds fighting each other; I was almost thinking it wasn't going to happen. However, I really must say that I fully do not understand how these Gears work anymore. Did I miss something? Are the Sentai Gears replicas, and the ones used by Bokkuwasu the real Sentai Worlds? That doesn't make complete sense to me. Either way, we've come a long way. The Zenkaigers are victorious and the Tojitendo Empire is defeated! But we're still not done... We've got one last hoorah to go through, and I have my thoughts on this God character, but I want to see how the finale plays out for now.

 Zenkaiger 49: Full Power Final-Stop!  Since it's the finale, I decided to go ahead and see the last episode as well. To put it best, this finale was interesting. For the most part, I am glad to see Cuttaner and Ricky back to normal. They deserved it after all this time. Stacey gets a happy ending too. I am sad that the return of Kaito/Zenkaiger's parents was kind of rushed in these last two episodes, but at least it happened. The addition of this God character is kind of lame, but not completely out of place. I assume he's the character we are going to see in Don Brothers, so I hope he gets fleshed out in future. Still, after a long journey, it's nice to see them end it not only on a happy note, but with a spin on a classic formula. I totally expected to have all the heroes going their separate directions yet again, but instead the main 5 decided to stick together as Kaito leaves the nest; and I guess Secchan is with them too.

 [ 1 / 3 ] And now, my final thoughts on the Zenkaiger TV series...  Zenkaiger is an understated Super Sentai anniversary series, and I say that for better and for worse. We all knew that it was going to be hard to top the last big one, Gokaiger. That show had TONS of Super Sentai cameos from previous generations, and it really felt like a nice reward for all the long time Sentai fans. However, we all knew that super big anniversary events like that wouldn't last forever. As time marches on decade after decade, it takes a toll. Older actors die of old age or failing health, some disappear from the public eye or just don't want to be actors anymore, etc.; and COVID was especially hard on the Tokusatsu alumni. Super Sentai has the advantage of being a team of heroes, so there's more people who could come back, but options can still become limited with older and older generations. Eventually, the franchise would HAVE to do something different. Enter Zenkaiger. Yep, this was different. Maybe not good, but not bad either, just basic.

 [ 2 / 3 ] When the show was starting, there was hype going around for it. The fandom was hyped knowing that most of the Rangers weren't even going to be humans this time. We were hyped over how the leader isn't Red and his helmet is designed after AkaRanger from the GoRangers. Hyped over so many awesome things! And as the first few episodes aired, it really matched the energy we all expected. It was fresh, it was entertaining, it was different--! But sadly, that energy didn't last long. Eventually, the show fell into status quo territory, and things just got slow and dull. I predicted the ending would be great at least, and I was right, but I am sad this show was mostly a by-the-numbers MOTW show. What little over-arching story or mystery it had didn't stay compelling, waiting to resolve everything until the end. I can forgive not doing much with the Super Sentai alumni nor the arsenal designed after them, but I at least wanted more story. They had PLENTY of room to deliver an above average or compelling story if they weren't relying on fan pandering, and that just didn't happen... Not that any of that is bad, they just had a chance to make an example for future anniversary TV shows to follow, and they wasted that shot.

 [ 3 / 3 ] Near the end of the show, we got a God character. He was not at all what I was expecting (I thought it was Gege mind-swapping with others for some reason), and his inclusion was lame. It's not out of place per se; when you mess with a multiverse, it's always possible to run into a god of creation. Still, his inclusion was VERY last minute. As we await for what's next, I do look forward to seeing how the finale of Zenkaiger affects Don Brothers. I don't expect much; in fact I fully expect God Zenkaiger (the God character of this show) to bow out after the first episode or two, but I would love to be pleasantly surprised. He had very little time to be set up in this show, so I would love to see him fleshed out as a full character in Don Brothers, perhaps as a mentor character. Either way, we're making history just by having one show be a sequel to the previous one, even if it's a loose sequel. And while it would have been nice for Zenkaiger to have another big team up moment with all the Super Sentai of the past, it's never too late. We're expecting a Zenkaiger VS Kiramager movie, but we could still have a Zenkaiger V-Cinema movie or something. You never know what might happen. For now, Zenkaiger left me feeling mild, so I hope Don Brothers can really blow me away!  I don't even know if anyone will sub it in this current Tokusatsu climate, but if yes, then I'll be first in line.

 ReVice 17: Evolving in Sin!  This is a great way to stir up tension and drama. The cliffhanger from the last episode was left dangling, to be explored some other time. It's cool to see that they are giving Julio some backstory instead of just making him the blindly loyal servant type. But of course, the biggest thing here is Ikki/Revi's story. I feel for his desire to save lives rather than kill them. However, seeing his new super form fail to save a life is so much worse than having the power burn you alive like George warned. I guess his sync with Vice was not perfect after all. I actually feel bad for Ikki; he must be suffering right now...

 ReVice 18: Julio's Requiem!  I didn't have to watch two episodes in a row, I just felt like it to catch up faster. ...And holy cow, forget what I said, I guess Ikki got burned after all! If you didn't feel anything for Julio before, you should feel double for him now. He lost his powers just as he evolved it to the next stage, he temporarily lost some of his memories, but more then that, he lost his friend from his school days. This was a story of tragedy. At least he has Lady Aguilera, and Ikki/Revi's story ends better. He finally synced up with Vice and was able to draw out the full power of his new form. It feels weird that we are getting another story arc of Ikki learning to trust Vice again, but hopefully this won't happen too many more times going forward.

 And now, it's... TOKUSATSU MOVIE SPECIAL TIME!  We're back at it with ReVice Mystery 3. I knew I recognized the actor, but that was not the role I was expecting him to reprise! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back the Snake Orphnoch from Faiz! Over all, this episode was more plot driven, and I enjoyed it way more. And also, did I call it or what? I knew Hiromi/Demons was not gonna die that easily.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and dare to dream. 

I love discovering Japanese music, especially in context. By that, I mean learning what songs are popular on Japanese radio and streaming platforms. In America and western countries, we have no idea. We just find out about music blindly, either through anime or through random circumstance. We have little to no idea if the songs or artists gaining traction are popular or indie/underground. But after watching some Japanese people discuss it, I have discovered a popular oldie that is still remembered even now. This song is called "Love Is Over" by Ouyang Fei Fei. ...Yes, she is of Chinese decent, but she had some crossover success in Japan for a while too.

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!   

My crowd, I do not look like this. --> 

 Nothing major happened this week, it was mostly just an off week where I needed a break from all the major things going on in my life.  I did discover some new music, though! Might post some soon, just not this week.

 There has been some sad news in the world of Tokusatsu, though. Generation Kikaida is going out of business, so they won't be offering all their tokusatsu titles for much longer.  I am worried what this means. They offered a lot of titles. Kamen Rider V3 might not be a big loss. If they aren't holding onto the international rights, then it gives Shout Factory a chance to not only pick up but give us a better translation and a better video master from Toei. Not sure what will happen with things like the live action Kikaida, Kikaida 01, and Inazuman. There is a chance piracy might happen. I know the DVDs will definitely increase in value. The store closes in June, but I don't think I'll be able to buy anything from them in time. I guess I just thought they'd always be around... Also, the actor who played Ultraman Jack has passed away from lung cancer. RIP.

 Geats 27: Sorry, No Oranges Here... Not much I can say except this episode was mostly build up and filler. The new buckle is taking a toll on Ace; he may have the power but he can't handle it. It seems that it's possible Ace is a reincarnation of many ancestors. We all know Geats isn't going to be killed off that easily. Furthermore, this episode seems to be full of idiots. The Game Master went after his driver unarmed and only succeeding in giving the Jamato lady what she wanted, and Ziin should have just taken Ace and run rather that fight that Jamato lady on her home turf. Full control over the belt of not, there was no reason to risk it.

 King-Oh 03: No Mellow For Yellow!  First of all, that opening theme! My crowd, we have finally made a new page in history. This is the first Sentai opening theme that does not say the name of the show in any way. We came close with KyuRanger, but now this theme is all in. Could Sentai finally be following in the steps in Kamen Rider's theme songs? We haven't seen an ending theme so far, but that could change in the future. Second, we now get a closer look at Yellow's kingdom. I am guessing this one is based on European countries; such England and Ireland and whatnot. Third, sadly I feel like we didn't learn any more than what the teaser told us last time. Yellow is a spoiled brat of a queen, but she deals in medicine, and she genuinely cares about all of her citizens. However, the spoiler for the next episode seems to be doing a better job of keeping the audience guessing. Last of all, I think I finally understand the meaning of the name of the show. According to the theme song, these characters are trying to find the king of kings. (And on a minor note, three episodes have introduced to three Rangers; in order of the typical Red, Blue, and Yellow like we see in other trio-focused Sentai.)

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

Let's go! Another request from @Astral Soul! This time, it's the ever iconic "Lullaby for a Princess" by Ponyphonic. You really should see the fan animation that was made for this song. It's sad, touching, and really puts more into Celestia's personal story than the show revealed.

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!   

Sorry this is a day late, my friends. I waited too long to post this yesterday.  Shall we go over everything that happened last week?

 Can't say anything major happened to me. My family and I are just getting ready for the big holiday around the corner.  Just some minor things that happened to me. I got a new universal tool/pocket knife for super cheap. I found a mini Mega Construx Charmander, which means I'll have to play another Pokemon game sometime soon. My electric kettle broke, so I replaced that with a new one. Mostly mundane stuff around here, but other then that, it's all been good! [And yes, I am aware that the new MLP G5 holiday special dropped. I will watch it after Thanksgiving. NO SPOILERS, PLEASE!!!]

 However, there have been some sad things in the news...  Jason David Frank, the original Green Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, passed away. What was it my mother always said; celebrities die in three's? First Kevin Conroy, now this. Who is next? Well, it's not a death, but Yuji Naka, a man who helped create Sonic, was arrested for insider trading. Not a death, but still illegal. Don't break the law, kids. Be there for those you care about. And if you're dealing with any personal demons, please reach out. You don't have to do it all alone. Value your life because your life does have meaning.

 Black Sun 03: Making A Sharp Stand.  I could be wrong, things could very well change dramatically the next episode, but it looks like we are settling into a formula. We've got backstory flashbacks and Nobuhiko's connection to them on one side, and we've got Kotaro facing the next monster threat on his end. I like that the monsters Kotaro faces are people from his past. I was not expecting an origin story for Shadow Moon's sword. One of the flashbacks seem to hint that Kotaro and Nobuhiko's surgery happened when they were teens/young adults instead of kids? Unless the one on the operating table is someone else and I'm getting my characters mixed up. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that Kaijins, especially those with Kingstones, may have indeed been made for the purpose being weapons of war. It makes me wonder once more where Kaijins originated from. Were the first Kaijin man-made? How did we get generations of Kaijins? Are modern ones born from the first man-made Kaijins, or are all Kaijins man-made somehow? Guess I'll need to keep watching to find out.

 DonBrothers 36: To Weave A Burning Basket~  This episode was ALL OVER the place! Kiji Brother is going crazy obsessive and wants Inu Brother back in prison, but that doesn't go anywhere. Oni Sister befriends the fake Miho/Natsumi, but that doesn't go anywhere. The fake Inu Brother goes on a cooking rampage, but that doesn't go anywhere. Don Dragoku/Torabolt is back, but at least that had more development than how the real Inu Brother came back. No explanation, he's just back for some reason! But at least we now have solid answers on Natsumi's beastial counterpart. She does have Natsumi's memories, but also her dreams. She made Miho from Natsumi's imagination and ran with it. She's been living a double life this whole time! ...Also, MOTW is based GoGo V.

 Geats 10: We Interrupt This Tournament--!  This episode is equally just as busy as DonBrothers. We learned what Ace/Geats' wish was before the Desire Grand Prix started up again. We barely got to see anyone in this new round before they started getting disqualified in droves. Na-Go returned, but Tycoon is still MIA. Will he come back too? Does the contestant count even matter if they can keep bringing back old contestants? Geats really pulled a power move on Neon, admitting part of his motives when even she can't tell if he's being truthful or not. But what really interests me is that Buffa made a comment about Geats making a useless wish again. ...Again? Since when does he know Geats that well? Maybe I am reading too much into that dialogue.

 MLP TYT 36: Trivial Team-up?  Yeah, it might be a technical foul, but I am calling it. This is a bad episode, and it had such promise too. I like the idea of Izzy and Zipp working together, especially when Zipp was being so patient and actually wanting to see this through to the end. At times, it felt like they made Izzy a little dumber, but I think recycled inventions are just what she excels at. And seeing something that ties in to the upcoming holiday special is pretty nice too! ...But all of that goes out the window when the magic lamp gives the flying machine a complete makeover. No, seriously! It did more than smooth out Izzy's rough repairs and patch jobs, the lantern literally transformed the flying machine into a completely new vehicle! Almost feels like the ponies in this episode were unnecessary. The lamp saved the day with McGuffin powers. Kind of hard to defend the episode after that.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and get ready for the harvest.

There once was a strange cartoon about the very first Thanksgiving here in America. The historical accuracy is questionable, but the theme song really does capture the spirit of Thanksgiving. No one could find the song by itself on YouTube, so I uploaded myself. Enjoy it while it lasts, everyone! This is "The First Thanksgiving Day" from the cartoon The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't.

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!   

Do you know what an onomatopoeia is?!  Regardless, we just finished another week. Let's review, my crowd. (And get ready. It's a long one...)

 The biggest thing this week: I FINALLY solved the mystery!!  For those who forgot or are just tuning in today, I found a mysterious video in my favorites. I asked my only music afficionado that I know, my uncle, but he doesn't recognize it. So either he has forgotten (he's getting old) or it must be something that was shared to me by a fellow college classmate. However, I haven't heard from any of my college classmates in forever. They most likely forgot about me, and I'd doubt they'd miss me on YouTube since I'm not even subscribed. So, I have decided to remove the video from my favorites.

 Movies are hitting the theaters. I know Spider-Man is still in theaters near me, and it wasn't long ago The Batman just came out (kind of an odd time to come out, but why not). In the meantime, trailers are dropping left and right. Transformers BotBots looks like cringe and has a terrible name, but it looks like it might actually have a story. Star Wars is giving us an Obi-Wan focused series; and that looks cool. And I know I'm late to react to this because I stopped being a Pokémon fan a long time ago, but... With a title like "Pokémon Scarlet" (red is my favorite color) and with a fictional land based on Spain (IRL, I'm half Mexican, but close enough); it's hard for me not to pay just a little more attention than usual.  I just don't like the models they chose for the trainer characters. If this is the Pokémon version of Spain, then why do the main characters look like Japanese elementary students?

 Pipp Petals has an offical ASMR video.  Not what I was expecting while we wait for the next gen to drop, but okay~!

 And now the finale of... GRIDMAN!  Episode 35; compared to the brain damage I received from the last episode, this one seems more run of the mill. Episode 36, an emergency baby delivery episode that is also surprisingly good! Episode 37; had a good start, but they dropped the ball with mind control. Episode 38; I guess I should have predicted this. I knew Gridman and Kahn Digifer were going to have their final showdown. I didn't realize it would be through Takeshi's own frustration and incompetence, but considering the tone of this show and how they've been breaking him down as less-than the genius he thinks he is, this first part finale totally makes sense. Episode 39; and it's over. I won't say how, but at the very least, I can finally see why a show like this might give rise to SSSS Gridman.

 [ 1 / 3 ] And now, my final thoughts on Lightning Superhuman/Hyper Agent Gridman (1993)...  What can I say about this show? It came at the right time. It had potential to be so much more. It didn't last as long, but maybe that's for the best. Let's start at the beginning... Right away, this show makes an impression just on visuals alone, and anyone who saw the western adaption (Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad) can tell you the same. This show as made by Tsuburaya, the same company responsible for Ultraman. With it's remodeled miniature cities made to resemble circuit boards and technology, what we basically got was a digital world version of Ultraman. It was something new. Something experimental. It was the Tsuburaya crew letting themselves have a little bit of fun by breaking from the norm. Perhaps too much fun. The kind of fun that trumps good story telling, which is something to be very cautious of. I was not expecting the show to be so heavy on comedy. While I am use to seeing some hints of comedy here and there in any tokusatsu, it's jarring when it focuses this heavily on it. At the time the show came out, home computers with internet weren't common place, but the world was becoming increasingly aware of it and everyone was super curious about what it could do. So much so that people were all ready hearing reports, rumors and superstitions about it. The writers were banking on these misunderstandings; most of which didn't age very well. Often times, good stories and good story opportunities are squandered because the comedy became the priority. Even after watching the whole thing, there are story threads that deserved more focus than what we got. Considering this, maybe it's for the best that the show only had 39 episodes.

 [ 2 / 3 ] It's possible that the crew behind the show were out of their element if they've never written comedies before. A show like this couldn't be made today since the internet is now common place, but even back then they REALLY made huge leaps in logic to make some of these episodes. For a while, I was beginning to wonder if I had even found the right show. I am sure for little kids, a show like this could be a hit, but how in the world could this possibly inspire the much better 2018 anime SSSS Gridman? Thankfully the last two episodes answered that question for me, and maybe some of the better episodes helped as well. It's amazing how a new production could actually harness the true potential of a show many decades old, let alone the fact that people still remembered this one-shot series many years later. Still, I am sad knowing that I can whittle this show down to just the best episodes and leave the dumber ones behind. But even more then that, I am astonished at Mill Creek Entertainment. On the one hand, I owe them a big thank you for making so many Tsuburaya titles legally available for a western audience, including this. However, I cannot forgive them for taking subs from TokuHD, making little to no significant changes, and leaving us with subtitles that are RIDDLED with mistranslations. Had this been anything other than a comedy/slice-of-life show, we the audience would be sunk. Can you imagine the poor western fans who fell in love with the Gridman anime, got curious about the original live action show, and found this translation monstrosity instead? There is no excuse for this.

 [ 3 / 3 ] As it is, I cannot recommend 1993's Gridman to many. First, you'd have to have a basic understanding of Japanese to spot all the mistranslations and not be too badly affected by them. Second, I can only recommend this to hardcore fans of either Gridman, Ultraman, or tokusatsu in general. Think of it this way: When a tokusatsu title gets an official release, the fandom is suppose to embrace it knowing they don't need a different translation from anyone else. And yet, despite the official release, I honestly wish a fansub group would make sub files with a better translation, just so the audience at large has an easier time following along. Yikes! You should NEVER have to ask the fans to clean up after an official release. When the show is good, it's really good. When it's bad, it's brain-numbingly bad. As I move ahead, for once I hope the western adaption is better. I am glad Gridman's legacy will live on in better productions that I can more easily recommend. But I know as long as I live, I'll always remember those theme songs. Baby dan dan indeed!

 [ 1 / 2 ] And now... SUPERHUMAN SAMURAI SYBER SQUAD!  Sorry folks, I just couldn't help myself. While Gridman is still fresh on my mind, I wanted to get the ball rolling and start comparing.  I only watched the first episode, and as I suspected, there is a LOT to cover. Hopefully the reviews and the comparisons will go by MUCH faster next week once I get all this stuff out of the way. The main cast, let's call them Team Samurai, consists of 4 members instead of 3. From the beginning, it is established that Team Samurai are high school kids forming a rock band; where as in Gridman, the only connection to music was Naoto's father being a former rock musician in his heyday. The “junk” computer they use looks way more like your typical home computer of that era; wouldn't be surprised if there was some cross-promotion going on with a computer or electronics company. In the original show, Yuka secretly has feeling for Naoto. Their counterparts, Sam and Syd, don't seem to have any fondness for each other (right now). Instead, Tanker and Syd seem to have some unspoken feelings for each other while Sam has his eyes set on some random popular girl who is not part of Team Samurai. I doubt Amp will be developing any of the arsenal like Ippei did. Malcom is the Takeshi of this show, but instead of being distant from the main team, they all know each other quite well. Malcom is angsty and confrontational instead of shy and awkward, and he doesn't like jocks like Tanker. He isn't calling himself a genius, but he does seem rather full of himself. Haven't seen too much of the supporting characters. There's a lunch lady instead of a neighborhood officer, and we hear the voice of Sam's sister, but that's it for now.

 [ 2 / 2 ] In this first episode, Sam and Malcom are both interested in the same popular girl. In the original show, Takeshi was crushing on Yuka and it would take a while before Naoto would start crushing on her as well. Also, Malcom targets a phone line to keep Sam from calling the popular girl, scrambling the conversations into silence; very different from Takeshi attacking a hospital. Takeshi didn't attack the phone lines until episode 3, and his attack altered the conversations into angry disagreements, making the populace at large angry with each other. To match, Episode 1 of Superhuman Samurai is using stock footage from Gridman Episode 3. So far, I like the adaption's creative choices better. Sam enters the "syber" world by mistake, and Servo later abducts and merges with Sam without warning or consent! Servo seems to be mute right now. In Gridman Episode 1, the teens at least meet him formally and Gridman explains the dire situation going on, gaining Naoto's trust and letting him accept this super hero mission. Also, Gridman starts off small but grows gigantic. Here, it seems Servo just automatically starts off gigantic. Kilo Kahn seems very similar to Kahn Digifer, but Malcom is not being mind controlled or manipulated into serving him, and Malcom is not above talking back to Kilo either. The original show names the MOTW and explains their abilities before sending them out. In this episode, they didn't do that, so the abilities of this Mega Virus monster seem completely random. The first episode throws a lot of random in your face all at once, but I am marginally more invested, oddly enough. By comparison, Gridman Episode 1 is a better premiere, but it tricks you into thinking it'll be a super serious show, and Episode 3 is just the show's typical brand of comedy. Superhuman Samurai Episode 1 might be more neutral in tone, but at least I don't feel tricked and the comedy isn't (currently) trying to beat my brains in with a stick. Hate to say it, but Superhuman Samurai is winning so far!!

 NO REVICE THIS WEEK!   Considering what I'm about to watch, that's enough Kamen Rider for one week. I practically need an aspirin and comfy bed if I'm ever going be tackling more Den-O...

 And now, it's... TOKUSATSU MOVIE SPECIAL TIME!  We're back at it with ReVice Mystery 5. Who knew this fun little side story would be a 5 parter? I still wonder if it could have been wrapped up sooner... The ending was mostly kind of dull for me. The bitter girlfriend with a dead boyfriend trope has been done, so not much new here.  We didn't get to see the Riders from Gaim return for the final fight. I am confused where this series sits since I thought all Reiwa-era Riders were in their own universe divorced from the connected universe of the Heisei Riders. So either ReVice takes place in the prime Rider reality or this was just a crossover for fun with no rhyme or reason. The only thing super interesting was the after-credits scene. Maybe we'll see the Oblivian Stamp again? Doubtful, but it would be a cool little call back.

 DonBrothers meets Den-O: Arrive Elsewhere...  Well, if ever there was a reason for MOTW health insurance, it's this. I was halfway expecting this crossover when I learned that the new Red Ranger was based on the fictional Momotarou, and it happened. I was not expecting it to be 7 minutes of non-canon pointlessness, though. I was hyped for DonBrothers! Now I'm afraid we're bringing back the scream-heavy Red trope. Guess we're about to see...

 DonBrothers 01: Arriving with a DON!  Just going to say this now; nothing wrong with the Zenkaiger theme song, but this one is better. It's a little catchier, it isn't trying to emulate vintage theme songs, and it doesn't have characters randomly talking over it either. Furthermore, this show crushed all my fears and doubts right off the bat! We focus the majority of the episode on this show's Yellow Ranger (Oni Sister) as a mystery with misdirection unravels around her. I love it! Even the heavier use of CGI and green screen sets doesn't seem to bother me since the story has me so invested; it makes me feel like I am watching a jdrama more than a hero show. And if that wasn't wild enough, HOLY PROGRESSIVE POWER MOVES! They did it!! The mad lads actually did it! For the first time ever, we have a male as the Pink Ranger! JAPAN DID IT FIRST!! (Oddly enough, he is mostly CGI as a Ranger; the only CGI that isn't pleasant to look at. I have no idea why they did this when they actually do have a costume for him.) The monster from the "Meets Den-O" special makes his official appearance here; which makes sense. I don't like that the Red Ranger (Don Momotaro) can change into Zenkaiser. I know they are borrowing the gears, but I could have done without it. Thankfully, he isn't that annoying. He just gets loud/excited when he's a ranger. Other then that, he's fine. The show has real steaks with the possibility of actual death for the civilian victims. Didn't learn much about the Black Zenkaiser. We only saw the first 3 rangers so far. And I love how the gigantic fight looks like it was ripped straight out of Gridman. (How topical for me!) It's official: Once again, I am hyped! My expectations have been blown out of the water!

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and dare to dream. 

Here's another deep dive into Japanese music. It's an old classic, and I love it. A little jazzy, a little city pop-ish, and a little noire. This is "Wine Red no Kokoro" by Anzen Chitai. And if you like it, look around! You might find an official (or somewhat official) English cover of the song. I don't think it's as good as the original, personally.

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!   

Wow! What a week, my crowd~ What a week.  I can have many non-eventful weeks before I have a big one, and this was a big one. Let's get into it! 

 Let's talk about others first... My uncle had a birthday this week, and let's not forget about Mothers Day! Unfortunately, my uncle's birthday fell in the middle of the week, and the only time he'd be able to break free was on Sunday. That meant I had to celebrate Mothers Day with my mother on Saturday. It wasn't long ago that my mother celebrated her own birthday, so this was a lot of gift-giving celebrations all at once. I couldn't get my mother a restored pair of old scissors that she wanted, but we did go to Olive Garden together, and we tried a new tea shop. The shop in question was okay; nothing to write home about. As for my uncle? He had a better celebration. Home made food and cake. My mother's cake was way better than my meatloaf.  I knew I should have made it fresh instead of the night before. Oh well. My uncle loved it, and that's what matters most.

The computer I ordered came in, and WOW there is so much to learn and get use to!  In fact, I'm a little overwhelmed. I am glad I can use the HDMI port to broadcast onto my television. I can see my computer keeps thing synced for me, so I don't have to worry about being logged out of anything even when I turn my computer off. Skype and Spotify were automatically installed when I got it. Is that just standard for Windows now? ... I am looking for a good art program. I don't even know if people still use Photoshop or not. Might even be looking for a better alternative than VLC since I am having troubles playing Blurays. I have so many different things in mind to do... I've all ready downloaded Chrome, Discord, and some Antivirus software; and yet I've barely even started!

 Because of all that was going on, I am sad to announce... NO MOVIES OR TOKUSATSU REVIEW THIS TIME! I am still getting use to everything, and with the celebrations all happening at once, I just ran out of time. It was too much too soon.  Next time, I'll do a double feature to make up for it.

Speaking of computers, those USB extension cords I ordered finally arrived. Sort of.  They're stuck in the post office right now, but I'll get them soon. Not sure why it was so important for them to do it this way.

 By the way, I got to babysit a kitty cat for the weekend. She was dropped off on Friday, and returned on Sunday. Her name was Bunny (probably because she likes to hap around and explore every place she can get into), but I would have called her Scamp, because she scampers around so much. Plus, less confusing that way. Naming a cat "Bunny" is like naming a human "Animal". Bunny was cute but also a test of patience, and a distraction since I could hardly balance taking care of her and using my new computer at the same time. Not the pet's fault; but rambunctious pets like that are just not my speed. I prefer low-energy pets, honestly.  Also, this may be the last time I pet-sit for that family. I've done it twice now, and they've made it clear they like high-energy pets.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and try to keep up.

The following was a song request from @TomDaBombMLP. And what a song request it is!
I had no idea how much Freddie Mercury got around! I knew that he and David Bowie collabed to make "Under Pressure", a personal favorite of mine from Queen's library, but this might earn a special place too. This is the master of operatic rock Freddie Mercury and the king of pop Michael Jackson singing "There Must Be More To Life Than This".

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!   

Once again, I failed to post this on Sunday night because I genuinely ran out of time. I'll explain shortly.  Let's review the week we left behind, shall we?

 I guess the biggest thing about last week was... THE PREMIERE OF MLP: TELL YOUR TALE!  Like the majority of the fandom, when I first heard this series was going to be comedy-focused, I was also afraid we were getting another Pony Life or something similar to Teen Titans Go. The animation style didn't help either. However, what I found instead was something surprisingly good! There were story driven moments, and moments that picked up where the movie left off. There were some genuine character moments that kept the integrity of the movie; these characters still felt like the characters we met the first time. Yes there was comedy, but it wasn't forced and it wasn't trying to be wall-to-wall jokes. In fact, these shorts felt like slightly condensed episodes that could have EASILY fit in with Friendship is Magic. Times are different, characters are different, but the déjà vu was real (I think we even have a new Derpy-esque character!). Top it all off, we even got a song that was fairly decent. Throughout the whole thing, I only found two major cons. Izzy's voice is still the hardest one for me to get use to, but at least her character is in tact. There were moments where Hitch was almost downgraded to the show's idiot, but I really hope they don't go all the way there and remember his good qualities (I'd rather have comedic stuff happening to him rather than him be the joke). But if those are the only cons I can think of, then we're in good hands. Maybe this animation might not be for everyone, but I think it serves a bigger purpose. It's here to help us get use to the new voice actors, it's showing us that we'll be in good hands as far as writing, and that hopefully the best is yet to come.

 I've also been working hard on my own house which felt like it was falling apart.  I had to reattach a door and a piece of the door frame. It was attached with nails instead of locking screws. Had to get my uncle to help me with that. Next, I had to do some plumbing work in my bathroom. The cold water handle for the shower was leaking, so I had to fix that. Got some new handles too, though I am not sure they fit correctly? Still, it works better than it did before. There may be other things to fix, but one victory at a time.

 At least I got that sponge I ordered. It came in SUPER fast!  And I also got to try Coca Cola Starlight. ... Nah, I won't be going back to that. The flavors I got from it were Coke, cinnamon, mud, a moment of flavorlessness, and I swear a hint of natural mint. These flavors never achieved any kind of balance or harmony. I've tasted way better drinks that were space or galaxy flavored.

 SUPERHUMAN SAMURAI SYBER SQUAD!  My thoughts:

• Episode 12, where the amorous writing hits critical mass to the point of being self-aware. Actually, this plot is highly original, and it shows Malcom's artistic side might be more connected to his character than Takeshi's artistic side, but this is still a very dumb episode. There have been plenty of other Gridman episodes where people are swept out of their normal world and implanted somewhere else, but this is the first time where it's been done via pom-poms. The monster footage comes from Gridman episode 4. Yay, healing scene. Gotta say, this is one minor strength the adaption has from shuffling episodes; they've re-contextualized things. Instead of an early episode where Gridman doesn't have an arsenal yet, Servo has been shut off from his friends/arsenal, thus forcing him to work solo. Also, there's the fact that we aren't getting any G-Calls to warn us about danger. Still, by comparison, Gridman 4 is better than this simply because, in that episode, Digifer was slowly making himself known to the world. It was an episode that would be relevant to the overall series plot later on, and this episode of SSSS probably won't be.
• Episode 13, cold opening footage comes from Gridman 33. Plotwise, it's similar to Gridman 28; however, instead of Takeshi capturing his love interest Yuka to admire forever, Malcom has captured Sam to teach him a lesson about loneliness. I can only imagine how shippers might interpret this episode if this show was made recently. Also, SWEET SYBER SPACE! Sam did the “Access Flash” pose to become Servo! And, uhh... Half a healing scene? Last of all, the ending gag shouldn't even be possible. These two episodes are piratically tied. I almost don't want to pick a winner. However, since Digifer and Takeshi get greedy and decide to capture more than one hostage, it basically raises the steaks. Reluctantly, I'll say Gridman 28 wins, but just barely.
• Episode 14, once again, the plot is original. Like Yuta, Sam is having a moment where his grades are slipping, he can't quite balance all the things in his life, and he is at odds with his role as a superhero. However, it's only in this show where Kilo is brainwashed into being nice. Interestingly, they recycled footage from the virtual reality game in Gridman 15, basically calling it a Servo simulator. And another awesome use of mixed stock footage to make it look like Sam/Servo explored an empty/peaceful digital world! Seeing Malcom make a halfhearted attempt to blend in with Team Samurai is next level; really makes you wonder how Takeshi would have reacted in the same scenario. Once more, the monster footage comes from Gridman 5. Now it finally is beginning to make sense why this show has more episodes than its Japanese counterpart. It's kind of hard to judge this since we all ready had an episode that was similar to its Japanese counterpart. Any points of contrast I could mention hardly seem worth it. I let Gridman win last time, so I'll let this episode of SSSS win this time and hope that the events in this episode have a lasting impact.
• Episode 15, cold opening comes from Gridman 14. ...”Demeganize”? Call it what you want, as long as we have a healing scene. The main plot and monster footage are based on Gridman 21. However, they can't show public execution in an American kids show in the 90's, so they just went ham with a dozen different nightmare scenarios for Sam. ...They choose NOW to end episodes on a PSA?! Besides ending on a note that messes with people's minds, I think the answer is clear. Even if I throw out the dream comparisons, altering a smart machine that promotes better dreams makes more sense that altering an alarm clock to give someone perpetual nightmares. Gridman 21 is the winner.
• Episode 16, cold opening comes from Gridman 24. The main monster footage and the plot are lifted mostly from Gridman 14 (again). In both episodes, Takeshi and Malcom have shallow reasons for messing with time, but at least Malcom is trying punish Team Samurai, even if he narratively shouldn't know they are in change of Servo's actions. Yay healing scene. Wow, no PSA ending? Talk about inconsistent. The episode does end with Kilo making an ominous declaration, but taking a peek ahead, it doesn't seem to go anywhere right away. This time, it's a tie, hands down. Both win. SSSS 16 wins because Malcom having a stronger sense of priorities, and Gridman 14 wins because it shows Ippei as more than just a pointless romantic rival for Naoto. If ending of this episode was actually alluding to something big, then that would have made the adaption the winner for sure.

 ReVice 28: For One's Self!  With a new stamp, Ikki and Vice did it. They are back, stronger than ever. Revice Thunder Gale premieres, and while striking the original Kamen Rider's fighting pose! I was also not expecting George to transform! He wasn't very good in combat, but I'd rather have Demons be a good guy than a bad guy any day! But now that the Igarashi father has his memories back, he has made a drastic retreat. How many want to bet that this was easily the wrong/dumbest move to make? And just like that, I am caught up with the TV show!!

 Vail 01: A Painful Past.  The story of Vail starts off with a lot of tragedy, but some of it seems familiar, so you have a pretty good idea of where it's going to go. Heck, if you've watched ReVice up to this point, you all ready know where some of this is leading. However, I must say, I am getting huge Showa Era vibes. The Noah organization is reminding me a lot of Shocker, just a little more militaristic in style. Perhaps if Shocker didn't have some kind of mind-altering control over their monsters and minions, they might be doing the same as Noah, treating their soldiers like caged animals, only letting them loose to fight their battles for them.

 DonBrothers 05: Pet the Doggo!  In this episode, we learn more about Inu Brother, but in doing so, it unknowingly draws the team closer together. You really feel for the guy when he starts to cry; he's clearly forgotten what it's like to have people that care about you, but he's always been a good guy deep down inside. There's also something meta about seeing the five of them together yet clearly not realizing they are all Don Brothers. The others I can understand, but there's almost no excuse for not seeing that Momoi Tarou is Don Momotaro. Still, as I said before, I love how this show is taking its time to build everything up. And it's interesting that they don't all have the same Sentai changing gears. This week's gear is the PatRanger gear, which makes sense considering the monster's host was a detective with an obsession over serving justice and getting promoted.

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

I can't remember if I shared this yet or not, but I doubt any of my followers remember anyways. I can't even remember how I found this song. Still, if you like grungy punk rock, you might enjoy this too. This is "Million Years" by Nico Vega.

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!   

*Yawn* Should have posted this much sooner, my crowd. But last minute developments kept me up longer than I should have been.  Shall I get into it?

 First of all, please send all your prayers and good wishes to @Stone Cold Steve Jobs. He really needs a friend right now. I'll let him explain why, if he feels like it. Just know, he's going through the roughest, saddest time right now.

 As for me, it's been a mostly slow, uneventful week.  The biggest thing that happened was Halloween. Ate too much candy, despite trying to take it easy. Tried Swedish Fish for the first time. It's okay. Not spectacular, but not bad either. Tried to mow the lawn, but it rained again. At least it's getting cooler here and there. We're on the eve of Sonic Frontiers, and so we got an AWESOME animated short for it! Hope we get more of those. Also, it seems there's going to be a sequel to Avatar (the blue aliens movie) after all. Let's hope this doesn't go down as well as Duke Nukem Forever. If this franchise wants any hope for survival, they better nail it with a great story, because they don't have 3D or any other gimmicks to hide behind anymore.

 DonBrothers 35: Those We Couldn't Save...  Wow. Does anyone even care about the main story when the side story is this good? Does anyone even care that the MOTW is loosely based on Liveman? The real show-stealer is the triangle between Kiji Brother, Inu Brother, and Natsumi. Turns out, she is a Beastial after all, and it seems that these Beastials share at least SOME memories of the people they are copying. Surprisingly in this episode, Kiji isn't in it as much he should be, just enough to show he is turning into a complete wreck without his wife. He should see all these plot developments. This episode just left me wanting more in the worst kind of way.

 Geats 09: The First Ending?  So the first “season” of Geats ends here, and what do we have to show for it? Not much. Ace's predictions came true, he won after all. We don't know what he wished for, nor did we get to see it. We never saw the truth of what Buffa witnessed that faithful night. We don't know if Na-Go's personal life changed in any way. We have a hint about Ace's desire, something about his mother perhaps. We have foreshadowing. If Punk Jack is still around, then has the game truly concluded? Everyone is talking like this is not the first time Ace has won the Grand Prix, and I assumed as much earlier. I'm REALLY hoping Ace himself is not the one wishing for the Grand Prix to keep starting over. Moreover, I hope we see the original Na-Go, Buffa, and Tycoon return.

 Black Sun 01: Creating an Eclipse!  This episode is so polarizing compared to the original Showa Era series it is based on, yet the similarities are there. And with each episode being an hour long, there is so much more to take in! Kotaro and Nobuhiko were genetically altered at a young age instead of as young adults. The show is really leaning on how Mutant is a possible translation for Kaijin (they even acknowledge this in one of the translated trailers). The battle to become the next Creation King is still a thing here. And in his first transformation, Kamen Rider Black has a more primitive form before he achieves a more refined form. However, so many differences too! We see the leaders and the general of Gorgom before they become full Kaijin. We get to see the original Creation King himself! We actually get an explanation for why Nobuhiko looks so young in this show. We see what might have become of Kotaro if he had never grown up around a family that loves him. It's a darker reimagining, but it's so good in so many ways. And for better or worse, there was a moment when the humans who rejected Kaijins looked a lot like real Japanese people that don't like Gaijins. Thankfully just as it was beginning to hit close to home, the first fight scene happened, and the metaphor vanished. I think we're in for a treat!

 MLP TYT 34: Sunset Wants Her Job Back. Hello recycled animation!  What I want to know is if Zephyr Heights has the right to exercise legal control over Maretime Bay like that. There has to be some kind of international law being broken here. Not even the previous princesses pulled something like this. Did Maretime Bay surrender government control to the royal family when we weren't looking? Am I making a big deal over a dumb comedy episode? Maybe! But I honestly don't have much else to talk about. Honestly, this whole episode was just average outside of that one legally questionable scene.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and make time for those you care about.

Some of my friends here have been sharing some awesome brony songs that I never would have noticed otherwise! Like this an original, funk-rock, vocal, awesome song about Twilight Sparkle. Good music is good music no matter where you go. This is "Funkship Express - Twilight Funkle [Funk] [Music Video]" by Ponies at Dawn.

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!   

Hey there, my crowd. Can anyone dance?  Just thought I'd ask.

 The biggest thing that happened was how I received the chair I ordered MUCH faster than I expected!  Still over the moon about it! I was using a chair from the dining room in the meantime. It wasn't meant to be sat in for long periods of time, so I hope I didn't make the seat cushion go completely flat.

 But the dumb thing about it was that the gas cylinder was faulty. I cannot make the chair extend to maximum height. I shot Wayfair a message about it on Friday. I am hoping they will send a replacement part, but they didn't send me a confirmation e-mail about it or anything. So now I'm just... Waiting in the dark. I'll wait 'til the end of the week, and if nothing happens, I'll try and reach out again.  I hate when companies just leave you wondering.

 Let's see... Random things that happened? I guess I should also mention Betty White dying since I said I'd do a better job of mentioning stuff like that. I saw a trailer for Bob's Burgers. Also, the weekend's been cold! On Saturday, it was almost freezing. On Sunday? Not as much, in fact it almost got mild. However, I heard about things like Snow Storm Izzy? I don't think it's going to hit my state, but I do hope we get SOME cold out of it. I don't want snow, but it would be nice to dress up warmly for a while. (...Stay safe, everyone.)

 [ 1 / 2 ] You know what time it is... TOKUSATSU MOVE TIME!  First up, we have Ten Gokaiger. Usually when any Super Sentai celebrates a 10 year anniversary, it's just average. It ranges from okay to forgettable. However, I honestly felt something more with this. For the first time, I feel like this 10 year movie really justified its own existence, in part because of the story but also because we're currently experiencing a changing of the guard with Zenkaiger. (They even reference Zenkaiger in the ED theme; and props to them for acknowledging the new show without relying on a Zenkaiger cameo in the story). Soon, we won't be asking for Ranger Keys anymore, we'll have Zenkaigers (and maybe Don Brothers) collecting Gears. The only weak part of this movie was a scene where a human character suddenly loses faith and wonders if the Earth (the human race) is worth defending. The scene itself is not bad, but if they had waited 'til after a different part of the movie, the scene would have fit in so much better. Even so, this was a wonderful return of the fan-favorite Gokaigers. In fact, the story is so good, you might even be able to forgive Gokai Red's new over-the-top super form. (And maybe this blasphemous, but I think the Gokai Galleon went down in a far more bada$$ way than Going Merry from One Piece.)

 [ 2 / 2 ] Next up, we have Super Hero Senki (Chronicles)! For better or worse, truly nothing is better than to create and to inspire others to create. I remember when I saw the Zi-O x Build movie; they tried to go meta by having our heroes travel to the “real” world only to find out they are fictional. The meta part of that story fell a little flat. Here? It was a perfect send off to the works of the great Shotaro Ishinomori himself. Granted, the beginning of this movie sets things up with a dumb question about what it means to be an author, but at least they stuck the landing with the way it ended. I don't know if Zenkaiger is going to have a Sentai-focused team up movie, but it doesn't matter anymore. They were living (and practically created) for this moment, and it happened. In a way, Kamen Rider Vice was living for this moment too, and it happened before the TV show even began! I don't usually recommend anniversary series as a starting point for anyone at all, but I might recommend this movie. Next time... Movies are on hiatus. I'll be digitally diving head-first into GRIDMAN.

 Zenkaiger 43: Smiling Stacey?!  Seems a little late in the game to be introducing a possible impostor story, and yet now they've got me curious. Could Stacey's head strong personality be a result of siding with Tojitendo, and thus it changes now that he's liberated? Is this really an impostor that can somehow transform and fight like the real deal? Was he brainwashed before making his big escape? So many possibilities!

 ReVice 10: Sibling Survivalry!  I liked this. This was a genuinely good episode, and it was great having the show take its time to get to this part. I like that Ikki/Revi had a genuine moment of self-reflection, and it's all because Vice laid down some truth. I love that Ikki/Revi was able to take responsibility and say what needed to be said to help Daiji break through. Based on a line of dialogue, I get the feeling we're not going to see the end of Kagero/Kamen Rider Evil, but Kamen Rider Live is way better. Better suit design too; white perfectly represents a redeemed hero. I hope we get to see these two brothers fighting evil side-by-side. And it all ends with a little bit of set-up for the next episode, which takes the drama in yet another direction. Over all, this episode was perfect.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and remember, you're gonna get through this. 

At best, I am just a casual ABBA fan. Even their reunion and return to the spotlight didn't wow me that much. But stuff like this? THIS is how all ABBA music should be from now on. I'd be eternally hooked if it was. This is "Lay All Your Love On Me (ABBA Cover) (Official Lyric Video) | Napalm Records" by AMBERIAN DAWN.

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!   

Here we are again, my crowd. Care for a cookie or a piece of fruit?  Being healthy and occasionally treating yourself are both equally valid.

 The biggest thing that happened for me was the release of a new episode of Elements of Justice!  So good, but at the same time, really made me want more. It was like a prologue to the real story. But I have hope that if they released this much, the next part won't be long behind.

 My uncle gave me a nearly impossible mission.  He wants me to hunt down to full version of the original Twilight Zone theme song, and then he wants me to splice in the opening narration. There are SO many factors working against me on this that I'm not sure I'll be able to deliver. However, my secret art project is coming along smoothly. It should have been done much faster, but that's a different story for another time. Also, I guess I should mention Gilbert Gottfried passing away? I'm a little late to this.

 Speaking of watching things... I saw the trailer for the new Thor movie. Adult Swim has been posting a lot of new Aqua Teen Hunger Force shorts lately, and they are wonderful. Apparently, The Batman is all ready out on Digital.  ...I may need to see that next week. Maybe do a double feature somehow?

 It was delayed for some reason, but I saw the newest episode of MLPTYT, The Unboxing of Izzy.  Admittedly, this might be the weakest of all the episodes so far. Sunny forgot how the unicorn trap boxes work, Hitch forgot the emergency release until the end of the episode, and Izzy... Can she teleport? It would be so easy to go get out if she could. I know that most fans have agreed that teleportation is a more advanced level of magic, but Izzy just levitated an entire metal box for the better half of a day. I think she might be powerful enough for a teleportation spell, if she knows it. Still, despite all this, I did laugh at the comedy. There was something incredibly silly about a box blindly destroying the town while on a tour that Izzy is only pretending to see. And hey, as long as the series doesn't get any lower than this, I think we're good!

 SUPERHUMAN SAMURAI SYBER SQUAD!  My thoughts:

• Episode 17, hello free money! The plot and monster footage are lifted from Gridman 11. Surprisingly, they went more serious than they have in a while. Sam's off-screen sister got hit by a car, and Malcom forced him to throw a pie at his girlfriend's face. Not even Naoto nor his brother got it that bad. Yay healing scene. No PSA either. By comparison, Takeshi raised the stakes by purposefully attacking his local economy for the sake of causing chaos. Malcom only wanted to make Sam's life miserable and give his own ego a boost. Tough call to make. They really could have done more with the plot of this episode. I'll say Gridman 11 wins, but just barely.

• Episode 18, contaminating the water supply. Monster and plot are lifted from Gridman 10. Yay healing scene. No PSA, thankfully. Hard to judge this one. For once, the episode matched the stakes of the Japanese show, but Malcom still had pettier reasons for this monster attack. The Japanese episode didn't push for any PSA directly, but they did make it about the importance of environmentalism, which can be just as annoying. I'll be nice and say it's a tie. Both win.

• Episode 19, a ruined date night. Monster footage comes from Gridman 16, but the plot is very original. I can understand why, threatening a high schooler with a wanted serial murderer is kind of extreme for a kids show in the 90's. The only saving grace is that they lightly hint at the fact that the monster is an upgraded version of a previous monster, but they chose a terrible time to have monster continuity. Yay healing scene. No PSA. I ALMOST gave this show props for bringing Jennifer on board Team Samurai, but instead they gaslight her with a weak excuse of hallucinations via stomach poisoning. The Japanese episode is WAY more hard hitting. Gridman 16 wins.

• Episode 20, a part two?! What a weird episode to follow up on. Props to Kilo for going full nuclear terrorist, but how did no one in the cafeteria notice Sam going into the computer? They yelled the catchphrase and everything! Ouch, my brain... Monster footage comes from Gridman 24, plot is fully original. Yay healing scene. No PSA. Surprisingly, Malcom actually tried to stop Kilo from doing this, and I can't tell if Takeshi would have allowed this or not. Still, dumb moments aside, this story raised the steaks impossibly higher than just about all of Gridman's episodes. SSSS 20 wins.

• Episode 21, there goes the power! It's all over the place but once again, the monster footage comes from Gridman 24. However, the plot is VERY loosely based on Gridman 23. At this point, Kilo is acting as a free agent. He's not even waiting for Malcom to hook him up; he's just digging into his database of monsters and acting on his own. His half of the story is more interesting than the rest of the episode, and his actions are more menacing than the events of both Gridman episodes. SSSS 21 wins.

 ReVice 30: Word We Couldn't Remember.  All right. So this episode wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There was still some pampering of Vice's voice actor, who I still cannot morally support, but at least this episode had some story and a mystery. I am invested after all.

 Dear Gaga 01: Left Me Speechless.  Vail is on hiatus right now, so I'm watching Dear Gaga instead. It seems to be loosely connected to the TV show, but still kinda fits in with the timeline so far. Well, on top of finding out Hiromi isn't dead, we learn he's faking amnesia too. I want to hate it, but I can tell they are trying to justify this with story. They are trying ever so hard. I will say, when it comes to the scene of Ikki saying that he believes Hiromi is still alive, I wish we had gotten that much sooner in the series. It would make all of this so much easier to accept. It's kind of awesome knowing Hiromi is actually a country boy. But now I am just hopping that this isn't the last we see of Gaga.

 Genms Smart Brain 01: Any Excuse.  Let's be clear, if you're watching this, you honestly don't care anymore about plot or how this ties into any of the previous Kamen Rider series. You're watching this because it's hilarious to see the two big President characters together again. Also, Smart Brain has been teased. What have they been up to after all these years? Who knows! We won't learn 'til next episode. But this was a pretty fun, random start. And props to Dan's actor. He totally absorbed becoming a Humagear version of himself.

 DonBrothers 07: Talk More, Learn Nothing!  Despite the appearance of multiple teachers in this episode, I genuinely feel like we've learned nothing. Saru Brother may have some kind of super natural power of imagination that can be taught to others, but this episode didn't really do anything with it. Who knows if we'll even see it again. At least we got an answer for why Don Momotaro attacks his friends. The MOTW's host was a principal and the GOTW (Gear of the Week) was Fiveman. Makes sense; the members of Fiveman were teachers after all. I will honestly consider it a miracle if we keep DonZekai-Oh for 10 episodes or longer. I still want the other four to have their own giant robots and eventually move away from Zenkai Zyuran. I hope Super Sentai isn't cutting financial corners in the super robot department, but all that CGI and the surreal battle ground look really expensive.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and pull the right cord.

I  like Sonic the Hedgehog. I like the song "Fist Bump". ...Don't have the most positive of feelings for Sonic Forces, but I do like the music at least! So here's a fanmade Japanese cover of "Fist Bump" by Isaac | 星東, with an accurate yet interesting take on the lyrics. And all of it just makes me wonder... When can we get Japanese covers of the other vocal Sonic songs?

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!   

2023, you better be good. I've got my eyes on you.  Shall we go over the week just passed, my crowd?

 So the biggest thing that happened this week was... NEW YEARS!!  It's 2023. On New Years Eve, I had a nice glass of ginger beer and some grapes. Didn't make my custom drink like I usually do, just didn't feel like it this year. Maybe next time. On New Years Day, I got together with my family and had a wonderful meal. Tons of left-over food~ Keep reading, I'll get into my resolution down below.

 In other good news, I managed to replace those clothes I got for Christmas.  I got a very trendy jacket instead of a shirt, and some awesome brown pants! I have accepted that I may never find a pair of red pants ever again... I was going to buy a tokusatsu DVD or BluRay boxset, but I had to pay a little extra to cover the jacket, so I decided to hold off for now. SOON! Just not right now.

 NO TOKUSATSU THIS WEEK!   Hope you all enjoyed the holidays this year.

 One last holiday movie before December and 2022 ended... It's MOVE TIME!  I started it at the beginning of December, finished it at the end. I saw Mister Scrooge To See You. This movie was so unbelievably CRINGE, that I could barely keep myself from watching it one sitting. I had to walk away and come back so many times. Now I am all for a story that tells us what happens to Scrooge after the iconic Christmas Carol movie; but that's not what we got here. I am all for telling the story in a modern way, but they didn't fully achieve that. In fact, this movie was so split in its focus, it couldn't achieve hardly ANYTHING correctly! There's no reason for people in the modern era to haphazardly switch between lines from the classic story and modern dialogue. The movie can't decide if modern businesses do or do not run similarly to Victorian era businesses. It wants to pretend that the Christmas Carol is historical, yet it can't even get its continuity correct. The production quality is bad. Characters preach lessons that the modern Scrooge character should learn. The biggest problem in the movie could have been EASILY avoided! There is a twist ending that WOULD be good if they had actually set it up properly! The only thing that they did correctly is make Scrooge look like a person who was believably robbed from one timeline and placed into our modern timeline

But I could forgive all of it if the movie could please just explain WHY they needed to make Scrooge a time traveler to see his modern day, greedy descendant. Why not wait til he's also a spirit? Or better yet, why not use the 3 Christmas spirits since they are apparently real and referenced quite a lot by Scrooge himself? Well, they finally do start to use the Christmas spirits, and the movie completely drops the ball all together. Seriously, the Scrooge descendant look at a spirit for TWO WHOLE seconds, and suddenly he wants to change at the drop of a hat! REALLY?! That's all it took?! Two whole seconds? Not even a single introspective look at the life you've been living? Still, I was confused. People were calling this movie great, and I had no idea why... Until the end. After the descendant swore to change, he and Scrooge find themselves in a Church, talking to a pastor. ...IT'S A CHRISTIAN MOVIE!  This was made for the religious crowd that wanted stronger Christian overtones in their Christmas story. Sorry, but I prefer undertones, thank you very much. In a funny note, there is a vocal song used half-way through the movie that is completely removed for the YouTube release, replaced with awkward silence. I guess I'm just sad because the elements for a great story were here. With the right focus and direction, this could have been great. At this point, just watch Scrooged (1988). You won't lose as many brain cells.

AND NOW, MY THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS ON 2022.

 I won't divide this into negative and positive points. I'm going to keep this personal rather than try to cover everything, cause I know I'll miss some things...

• In some ways, this was the hardest year. My grandfather-in-law died, not to mention there were some other relevant deaths close to my family. My grandmother and aunt may have died years before, but when my grandfather-in-law passed, his house was cleared out and his possessions cleared away. With his house on sale, its like all these deaths were made more official than ever. Our family has loss looming over us and we never stopped feeling that loss.
• This was the year I (mostly) stopped watching MLP G5. I may come back if something major happens, but I saw enough material to know that it just doesn't have the same charm as the previous generation...
• I fell off Toonami and YouTube SUPER hard. I was almost up-to-date with all the content I follow on YouTube. However, things happened that made me fall behind on both things. I will EVENTUALLY get caught up on YouTube, but I am thinking of abandoning Toonami at this point. There's been rumors of WB wanting to drop Cartoon Network anyway, and that doesn't make things any better...
• I had to get a new storm door. Installing it was a pain and a learning experience.
• I got a new desk chair. Not completely happy with it. The back doesn't have a lot of padding. If I can adjust that, I'll be fine.
• This was the year that I had to get a new SSD hard drive for my computer. Along the way, I lost the save files for two games I had been playing; Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Pearl. However, I made a promise, and now I am playing Pokémon Sun. Let's hope I don't lose this one.
• I switched Internet providers. There's been up and downs with that. Can't say I'm fully happy, but it's give and take.
• Still, there have been good things. I've seen some amazing, crazy trailers for movies and things, and I've seen some great movies this year too. Looking forward to a lot of things!
• it's funny I mentioned Pokémon, because I was gifted some games I haven't even had a chance to play yet! But at least I was able to give some friends of mine some nice gifts.
• It's been a huge year for Tokusatsu again! Zenkaiger ended, and DonBrothers began. ReVice ended, and Geats began. I saw Kamen Rider Black Sun, which may or may not be available on Amazon Prime internationally. (Not sure how it works.)
• But more then that, the GREATEST news is that Shout Factory is back to releasing Super Sentai DVD boxsets! Still not enough! We've got other companies giving us things like Kamen Rider Black and Space Sheriff Gavan!
• This year was also a good year for tokusatsu anime. Fuuto PI was released, and more anime titles based on Tokusatsu have been announced. So much to look forward to!
• I know everyone is hyped about Super Mario's movie for better and worse; but this was the year where Sonic the Hedgehog was on top of the world again! Sonic the Movie 2 was a huge success, and we may be getting a TV series spin-off. Sonic Prime was released to much fan praise. And the biggest success, Sonic Frontier has people cheering for Sonic's successful transition into open-world gameplay.
• I had snow TWICE this year! The first was at the beginning of the year, the other was before Christmas. The first one was not so fun, and the other barely stuck around at all. Still, it's enough for me to call it a white Christmas, which is just what I wanted.

GOING FORWARD INTO 2023...

 Last year, my goal was to watch either Kamen Rider Kuuga or the original Gridman. Not only did I succeed in watching Gridman, I took the time to watch and compare it to that 90's American adaptation, Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad. I still want to see Kuuga, but that's something for the backburner. This year? I want to do something a bit more ambitious but doable. There are three Netflix shows I want to watch. I want to watch Sonic Prime, Wednesday Addams, and that CGI He-Man cartoon. There are other things I am keeping in mind, but for now, that's all I really want to do. Anything else is bonus. For the most part, I just want 2023 to be good. I want to rebuild. I want the next few years to be so good that I can say that this was NOT the worst decade of all time; just the first half.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and let's open the door to the future together!

I like a good mashup, and I like a good remix. This is both. This is "Running in the 90's (& Knuckles)" by ElfeVGM.

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!   

Feels like good things are on the horizon, my crowd. Good things.  Shall we talk about it?

 The biggest thing that happened was the celebration of the 4th of July; Independence Day! And I celebrated it just the way I wanted.  Got to have food with my family. Chili dogs, sides, and all kinds of desserts. And perhaps way more soda than I needed to drink~  Still, it was fun. Wouldn't have traded it for anything at all! Best of all, I get an extra day off!

 Still, feels like so much is happening behind the scenes. Space Jam released a rap battle teaser trailer that I'm not sure how to feel about, there was a MLP G5 cast reveal trailer, and the latest trailer for He-Man Revelations has me even more hyped than before!  I wonder if there's anything else I should be hyped for.

 Of course, the week had it's challenges. I mowed the grass in the mud, and I hate doing that, but at least I mowed before the rain came around. There was a mishap with me getting groceries online, but I settled it. Long story short: PAY ATTENTION TO THE PICK-UP TIME! Better make sure if it's an AM or PM pick-up time.  And I may need to settle an issue when it comes to weed eaters...

 Saber 41: The Calm Before The Deep Cut.  This episode was mostly padding for the final act, but it still had some good moments. Didn't expect Desast to turn into Phoenix like that! I was unaware Megid could turn into Riders. And the best part was having Tassel explain the story of the Wonder World and how it all began, and how it connects to Touma/Saber, just in case people like me were getting lost in the confusing lore. The next episodes from here on will close things out properly.

 Zenkaiger 17: What You Can't See...!  This was kind of a wholesome episode. Magine was really sweet for wanting to help out the outcast kids with no friends. However, the moment that REALLY stole the show was when they made half of Zenkai-Oh invisible! That was the coolest thing, seeing the exposed cockpit like that. Sure, they had to switch the Zenkai-Oh suit out with the DX toy, but I think that's the point. Toei is pulling out a lot of their old/abandoned practical effects tricks for a dash of retro spice. I've seen it in previous episodes, and it looks like the next one will be no exception.

 TOKUSATSU MOVIE(?) TIME!  Specter X Blades. I knew we'd get a follow-up to the Ghost X Saber crossover special. This one is far better. Even though it suffers from one-time Rider syndrome, seeing Kanon turn into a new Rider made this more worth it than the last entry. I just cannot stand that ending... Can the sister obsession in Japanese fiction please stop now? Please? Also, this episode wrapped things up, but they still had a teaser scene at the end. So maybe there will be a third part after all?

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and be on the look out.

The following song is a request made by @Treeglow Flicker . I'm all for lost gems from a previous era. There is something magical about 80's music, and not just the mainstream stuff remembered even today, but the stuff that has been slept on. This is a good example. I have no idea who this band is, but after hearing this song, all I know is I want to know more. Did they have bigger success with other songs? Are they an under appreciated gem of the era? Either way, this is "We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It!!" or simply Fuzzbox, and their song "Pink Sunshine".

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!   

Get ready to rock, my crowd!  Good things are coming, promise! 

 I guess the biggest thing that happened over the week was plumbing issues. I had a clog in the kitchen sink and had to call the plumbers. They didn't appear on the day they said they'd arrive, instead appearing the day after. I had to eat out 3 days in a row because of it, but at least the problem is fixed.  Here comes the bill.

 At least there was some fun stuff this week! Mostly trailers. Lots of trailers.  I saw this one trailer for an interactive cartoon game on Netflix. How does that look WAY closer to the vintage cartoon style than the official Cuphead cartoon? Can these two animation teams talk? There was a commercial for a new Ryan Reynolds movie, from the makers of Free Guy. Could be promising. There was a Doctor Strange trailer that promises MORE multiverse awesomeness, directed by Sam Rami too! Video game trailers. And so many Sonic movie trailers! EGG ROBO CONFIRMED!!! 

 NO GRIDMAN THIS WEEK!  The plumbing issue really threw me for loop. I couldn't squeeze in the free time to watch the show. Besides, I needed time to catch up on Toonami episodes, so I did that. In the middle of it all, I saw the finale of Fena: Pirate Princess. All I can say is... That was a thing. The show was basically your typical western adventure story, set in the Victorian era. Missing treasures, clues leading to it, sailing the world, etc. The only twist is that it had ninjas sprinkled into it for some reason, but other then that, it's a western adventure story told via anime. When I began watching, I wondered what to make of it. After seeing the finale, I STILL wonder what to make of it.  The majority of the show was set in a grounded quest, but at the last minute, the end the show on a supernatural message that came out of nowhere. If they did somehow tease this supernatural angle earlier, I completely missed it.

 ReVice 15: False End!  After many episodes of drama, we gotta have your standard super hero episode. But even though everything was leading to this, we're only 15 episodes in, so we know this is far from over. Lord Giff will eventually make a grand return. Demons didn't have a fake out heart-attack for nothing. I never did find out if the Giff Stamp was real or not, but George put a tracker on it, which I totally expected him to do! ...Also, he cursed! Did you see that?! Oh Japan, I love when you sneak ENGLISH curse words in your JAPANESE show. Never change.

 Zenkaiger 46: What If God Was Stacey?  Seems this episode is mostly filler? It's really setting up for the next episode, so they are padding out the episode count. We all know it's not really some God inhabiting Stacey; the truth is they are about to run into a trap. We saw the return of the pirates this week, but no one knows if they'll save the Zenkaigers in time or not. Guess time will tell. ...Also, is it really impossible to do prep work ahead of time, even if you don't know what the MOTW is going to be?

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and dare to dream. 

Those who know me well will tell you that I have prided myself on collecting all pieces of Sonic the Hedgehog music. Official releases, rare releases, super rare releases, some unreleased stuff, and even some related (but not directly tied) music. This is the latter. It was made in honor of Sonic the Hedgehog, but it wasn't used in any of the games. The makes of the Green Hill Zone melody finally put words to it! This is Dream Come True's latest song "Tsugino Seno! De - ON THE GREEN HILL -".

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!   

Toss and turn as the days draw closer...  Sorry this is a day late! The forum crashed before I could submit this. Shall we review the week gone by, my crowd?

 If I have to get personal, I'd say the biggest thing that happened this week was the estate sale. That's right, the final belongings left over from my grandparents house are being sold away to anyone who wants it. Honestly, this estate sale was not as bad as I expected. I had heard some bad things, but this was like an over-the-top garage sale. The only difference was, instead of putting some things out front and selling it, they had opened up the house and the garages and were selling pretty much everything in sight. That house, which is over 100 years old by now, has seen more people in it than ever before. I remember when I had big family Thanksgiving parties in that house, and it was nothing compared to this.  They also brought in some fancy items from previous estate sales. Caught me off guard since I didn't remember my grandparents ever having anything that fancy. But it's good to let go. It's good to see things leave. If any of us get too sentimental, we'll end up hanging on to way too many things.

 Outside of that, I think the biggest thing that happened was movie trailers!  The early teaser trailer drop for the new Super Mario Bros. movie was crazy! With the exception of Pratt's Mario voice, everything was perfect! This news was so big, it pretty much eclipsed everything else. We got a Wakanda Forever trailer, which seems to  confirm that Black Panther is now going to be one of the females. WB is making their race-bent Velma cartoon after all, and I am not sure how much the self-aware humor is actually going to help. There were more trailers for stuff I all ready knew was coming out, like Wednesday Addams and Kamen Rider Black Sun. Heck, I bet no one even knows that they're making a new Blues Clues movie. Not interested in that last one. Looks dumber than the series. Maybe if the movie was a bit more dry or mean spirited, or at least like Enchanted, I might see it.

 DonBrothers 30: It's Beast If We Don't.  I picked a bad time to take a break, because we just got more lore dropping! It seems the Beastials as the most dangerous thing among all the dangerous forces, but even they have a hierarchy, a leader that is trying to reign them in. Moreover, each Beastial is a copy of and is tied to a human. Kill one, and you kill the matching human. This most likely explains why Kiji Brother's wife Miho looks just like Inu Brother's girlfriend Natsumi. Speaking of, Inu Brother saw them getting close. Some heavy stuff is about to go down... The MOTW is based on Flashman; and of course any connection it has to that show is strenuous at best.

 DonBrothers 31: Wingless Condor. I really wanted more out of this. I wanted this to be the episode where the DonBrothers learn who Inu Brother really is. I was expecting him and Kiji Brother to have a big disagreement about Miho/Natsumi. I was NOT expecting Black Condor references when the MOTW is based on Goseiger. During the episode, I began to wonder if the real Inu Brother might actually let his replacement take over. And when said replacement was playing music on his own, I wished the real Inu Brother could have shown some support for the struggling musician. Guess it's back to waiting... And I'm STILL convinced that the Donbura shop owner all ready knew Inu Brother's true identity from the start. Why is no one asking him?!

 Geats 04: Rider Girl Boss!  This episode was very satisfying. The scummiest Rider was eliminated, but most of all, I was NOT expecting Neon/Na-Go to have a bada** moment! Thank goodness she was more than just a disposable character. Maybe this is the moment where female Riders actually have a stronger presence in the Kamen Rider franchise? And Ace/Geats is slowly growing on me. He starts off acting selfish and self-absorbed, but in the end he can't help himself, and does something kind. I live for those moments when he is truly kind.

 Geats 05: Buffalone! So now we know why Buffa is the rival character. He once had a friend who was a Kamen Rider, and it appears he was killed by other Kamen Riders, so he refuses to trust any of them. Ace/Geats is snooping, but I hope that he is doing so because he cares about Buffa and actually wants to help him. If he blames Geats, I hope it's a misunderstanding.

 TOKUSATSU MOVIE TIME!  This time, I saw ZENKAIGER VS KIRAMAGER VS SENPAIGER! This movie wastes no time and throws right into the action as fast as possible. Hope you catch the story in the few short minutes where they drop it. This movie seems to take place after the Zenkaiger series. And while leaping right into the action sounds fun, with Zenkaiger's brand of random silliness, it stops being fun super fast. No joke, I paused in the middle of the movie because other things were fun. The Senpaiger part was really an afterthought. They could have done this movie without that procession of recent red rangers, and it would be exactly the same. The only ones we got out of suit were Gokai Red and Lupin Red; and it's just not the same without their full teams, especially since I'm still mad at Lupin Red. But if you're young and you liked Zenkaiger, you're sure to love this.

 MLP TYT 30: Making The Night Sing!  I liked this episode. I was NOT expecting them to keep Nightmare Night after all this time, nor was I expecting Sunny to dress up as Nightmare Moon. The princess of the night would be so proud, mostly (assuming she's not annoyed that her dark past keeps getting brought up). Guess there is no mistaking it now, G5 really is going all in with being connected to G4, no matter which series you focus on! And that song? Yes! Pipp hits it out of the park yet again. Really happy they released the song by itself shortly after the episode came out. I may just listen to that song on Halloween.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and get ready to party.

I will always be awestruck when an official artist/musician lends their talents to a fan project. It really makes me hope they aren't burning any bridges by doing so. Moreover, this style is something I never expected from Bentley, but it's great to see how flexible he is in terms of music genres. Made for the Sonic fan game Sonic Omens, this is "The Weight of the World" by John R1se and Bentley Jones.

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!   

Yep. Day late again. I was enjoying my time so much that I ran out of time to do this last night.  Let's just move on and get right into it, shall we?

 Memorial Day! ...Was actually kind of slow and boring for me.  Nothing really big happened that day. Maybe no news is good news? At least I got the day off of work.

 The washing machine is fixed. There was a part that burned out, and because of bad electrical wiring, a part within the washing machine took the hit. Could have been worse; there could have been a fire. The part has been replaced, and I just recently bought and installed a surge protector. Which means that if there is another power surge due to rain and lightning, the surge protector will take the hit instead of the washing machine. I bought one for my very first computer, have not regretted it since. Still use it to this day!

 Speaking of buying things, I recently went shopping!  But it wasn't all good news. Went to my favorite clothing store first, found a TON of clothes that I was super interested in, only to find out... They have closed their dressing rooms due to COVID.  Trying clothes on is half the point! You can never fully tell just by holding them up to you. Thankfully, the green shirt I had my eyes on was also available in two sizes bigger. I bought that, and after washing and drying, it managed to fit just right. Those who know how clothes shrink in the dryer will understand. Also, I got a wired Nintendo Switch (Pro?) Controller. It was cheap, has all the buttons I could ask for, and I managed to make it work with my PC after a little bit of toying around. And now, I am getting the hang of using it on my PC games. Just recently installed Rocket League too~!

 Went to the dentist to see what was wrong with my tooth. I thought for sure the filling material was wearing away, but the dentist assured me that my tooth was just fine. He suggested I switch to a different brand of toothpaste, one that has potassium nitrate as it's active ingredient. I'm a little skeptical so far, but I need to use it for a month before I notice any changes. If nothing happens, then I'll go back and have them investigate even further. I hate that I spent $120 on an examination just for advice like that, but the upside is that I could have been charged way more for an actual operation. And I wouldn't have thought of this solution on my own anyways, so there. If I could have, I wouldn't have booked that appointment in the first place.

 MOVIE TIME!  Netflix Godzilla Trilogy. Heavy is the beast that wears the crown... Yep, despite being completely CGI, this is an anime movie trilogy about Goji. It's set in an alternate, what-if storyline where humans ran to space to get away from Godzilla, got tired of being stranded in the stars, and went back to see if they could take their planet back. Ultimately, I thought it was good! The ending was heavier and way more philosophical than I expected. It ends by giving you a lot to think about, and maybe wondering how the events could have gone if certain things were done differently. If you're the kind of person who might ask "Why did they run in the first place?", this is not the trilogy for you. If all you wanted was to see humanity reclaim their glory, this is not for you. If all you care about is the destruction and some monster fights, then your enjoyment might be arguable. But if you want a Godzilla story with an actual story that makes you think and reflect, then this is right up your alley. Maybe someday I'll also get to see the Godzilla series Singularity Point. Next time, hopefully I can watch some Tokusatsu movies.

 Zenkaiger 14: Thank You For Watching!  Ladies and gentlemen, in case you didn't feel like you got enough in Gokaiger, this is the moment you've all been waiting for. It's the moment when the heroes rapid-fire different Sentai powers one after another for a grand show! They probably could have done this forever and a day, but I think you get the idea with this much. Zenkaizer and Twokaizer would just keep countering each other forever. From here, I feel like we're sinking into a sense of status quo. I do hope the show has more surprises in store. This episode's big story reveal was kind of paper thin and the episode preview doesn't make me think we're going to get a major story-based episode next time. Still, the battle was pretty good.

 Saber 38: The Sword that Writes!  The turn-around moment for Kento, I felt, was less than perfect. In some ways, it was good. In other ways, that scene could have been written better. I think what a lot of fans will probably miss is that his father (probably) actually is dead, and therefore the ghost of his father is lying about being alive right now to prove that the Sword of Darkness is lying to Kento about its future visions (which it is). Still, this was an epic debut for Xross Saber! I do wish we could have seen the return of Espada since they teased it, but maybe next episode it'll happen. For now, all hail the supreme sword.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and lead the charge.

Someone of this forum (Was it you, @PawelS?) shared this song a short while back, and I love it! It may be a pony/brony song, but it totally stands on its own. It's a jazzy, noire piece made in honor of detective Rarity, and I love that kind of music just as much as Japanese music. This is "Shadow Spade" by Night Symphony.

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!   

For those of you wondering why this is late, it's because on Sunday, I spend the entire day making back-ups of all my computer files so that I'll be able to clear this computer out and make room for a new one.  More on that soon; but for now, let's roll into it my crowd!

 The good thing about being a day late is I can give you a bigger update. The biggest thing to report in the week that we finished was that my mother basically got a new car. She had to clear some insurance and documentation for it, but it's hers now! My mother is now the proud owner of a silver 2014 Toyota Camry!  By Monday, she was going to go pick it up after jury duty. Well, the jury was dismissed early, and she was able to get the car in no time! Best part is, she gets to keep the old car, doesn't have to give it away to anyone. In 20 days, the insurance on the old car will be gone. I am wondering if she might let me have it. Anyways, I got to ride around in her new car, and it is so smooth and flawless. The car is high tech, the engine quite, the interior perfect. Other than a foggy right headlight, it's amazing.

 MOVIE TIME!  MORTAL KOMBAT 2021. All right, I’m just going to say it out right. I had fun with this movie! I am not a long time fan of Mortal Kombat. I know nothing about the long running lore. However, even if this movie takes liberties and makes a new character we never had before; it’s not a bad story. It sets things up, gives us satisfying conclusions to the subplots, and sets up plenty of material for the sequel. On its own, it really was a solid story. And you know what? If the goal is to get people interested in the Mortal Kombat games, I’d say this did it. At long last, Mortal Kombat has the brutal movie it always should have had. Jax has his robot arms, and they are NOT cosplay items over real arms. Sub-Zero and Scorpion are not pallet swapped clones. There’s all the blood and death you could ask for. Even if it’s not perfect, it’s a step in the right direction. Next time… Tokusatsu Movies; double feature.

 Speaking of, I wanted to make the last week a double feature. There is a Code Geass movie that takes place after the series. However, before I could watch it, some research told me that is actually based on a set of movies that retell the anime series with some slight differences. So now I have to go back and see what that's all about. That's four movies; two nights of double features in a row.  My list of movies to see is getting longer and longer.

 But the good news is, now I can focus on myself for a while! I wanted to save my money and help my mother out with buying a car, in case she needed the extra money. But she didn't, so now I've got all the money I could need to put into a computer. Which is going to be a little harder to do than I thought...  I had a computer specialist I use to see that was incredible at this. However, he doesn't seem to be doing business in Abilene anymore. Nearly all his old phone numbers don't seem to work, and the address he has in the phone book is a dead end. There are other business where I live that offer similar services, but I am not sure who to trust. Still, even if I have to do this all alone, I will. It might be harder, but not impossible. So whatever happens in the next few days, wish me luck everyone.

 Zenkaiger 08: Should I Stacey or Should I Go?  As the episode started, I totally predicted that summoning all those giant robots would require too much energy to maintain. I did like that they recycled old footage for the Dai Denzin and Bio Robo. And knowing one of the evil generals had nearly 900 wives, including a human, was NOT something I wanted to know. Would it really have been so hard to just make Stacey a cyborg? And a few minutes later during a comedy scene, we see a random human in a love triangle with a human and Kikainoid. I am so glad this will probably fly over most kids’ heads. However, I did enjoy see Gekitouja and Gosei Great being summoned via their DX toy boxes. And finally Twokaiser… What a hilariously epic introduction! A song and dance, destroying some of Stacey’s gears because they’re the wrong kind, and his complete cluelessness are all priceless. If it wasn’t for the fact that his costume looks too much like a recycled Gokaiger outfit, it would be perfect.

 Saber 32: The Northern Beast!  So Blades got his wild beast upgrade. I love it. The realistic hair/mane that turns into wings or fins depending on the situation? Absolutely yes. Feels like I haven’t seen something like this since Lion Maru. Wonder how that will translate into toy form… To be honest though, I just like the idea of combining a lion with water/ice. Was this motif random or was there a reason? Also, not sure which episode is the better affirmation of his fighting spirit, this or the previous one. I also wonder why the enemy pulled out. Did Master Logos realize Saber was learning to see through Durendal’s attacks?

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

I don't have any new songs to share, so this will have to do for now. I don't know why stuff like this is becoming a meme, but I think it's hilarious. Here's "Batman 60s Intro but they only say "man"" by GrayWalf.

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.

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!   

I'm not Batman! ...I'm me.  Let's talk about the week we just finished, my crowd.

 The biggest thing that happened to me this week? Hmm... Oddly enough lawn mower problems. I need to get some fresh gasoline, maybe some new more oil, and maybe a new spark plug. Also, I tried to switch over to Vexus, but they rescheduled when the agent is suppose to come out. Hopefully Monday this time. 

 Man, is it normal for Disney to release a bunch of trailers back to back, or is this just a new thing? I'm surprised they are still making National Treasure titles. If Tim is returning for the The Santa Clauses, let it be known there is no franchise he won't return to. Werewolf By Night, a Marvel movie without Marvel superheroes, and it legit looks like an old time black and white movie? I might just see that! I'm torn with Secret Invasion... I might actually have to catch up to these Marvel side stories, I wish it were a movie so we could get the Avengers in on it, but at least Nick Fury is getting some solo-focus! 2nd season of Mandalorian is kind of making me want to see this now. Still not stocked for Andor, but I might see it anyways. Tales Of The Jedi? YES! I would love to see Duku's origin story, might even be my jumping-on point to give Clone Wars a chance. Can't believe they are going ahead with their race-bent live action version of Little Mermaid, but she can sing, so I guess that explains things. I'd need to see the original before I see Hocus Pocus 2, and I'm still on the fence about that. However, I did see Enchanted, so I might check out Disenchanted. 

 Oh hey, the forum if fixed! No more Status Update glitch!  Now to go back to my weekly game thing... Uhh... Now what? 

 This was also a good week for music drops! Mostly new Sonic music. Some have all ready been released in full, others not so much. Still hyped, though~! 

 I am currently trying to reprogram a lot of the programs/apps on my computer. They've been posting temp and appdata files on my C drive, and I need to teach them to save that stuff on my F drive....  Moving Chrome and nearly all its files to the F drive gave me nearly a GB of free space~!

 DonBrothers 27: Red VS Blue?  Sonoi and Momoi/Don Momotaro finally have a duel. Or at least they try, before the wildest battle royale breaks out! I guess if you were wondering if old monster hosts can get possessed again, the answer seems to be yet. The ninja guy has now become all about magic, and thus the MOTW is based on MagiRanger, but that's the only connection they share. Momoi and Sonoi have a break to drop some lore, but it doesn't explain why the Cerebrans are okay with killing humans, and leaves me wanting to know more about the Don clan. And even though Sonoi lost the duel, it doesn't look like this will be the last we see of him.

 Geats 01: Flip A Coin & Press Start.  So here we are, the start of a new show. After what I watched, I almost wonder if Geats will be the next one to appear in Fortnite. Seems the normal world and its citizens have no idea that they are locked in a game with monsters, and when the game is finished, everything resets back to normal. Or does it? Could it be that there are permanent casualties that the world is unaware of? Is Geats truly the hero, or is this really the rise of Keiwa's story? So many questions. All I can say is, I currently have no instant attachment to these characters. Geats is too full of himself, even if his Rider gear and attacks are the coolest. I don't want to get attached to Keiwa just yet since I don't know how much of this show will be his story. If you just want action and characters that act too cool for school, this is for you. However, since I link interest stories and characters, this first episode does not grab me right away. Maybe the next episodes will be better.

 So right now, there is a fansub war to see who will be the frequent subber of Kamen Rider Geats. To my surprise, out of all the unknowns that I'm not super familiar with, EXCITE! and Genmcorp have thrown their hats into the ring. However, I have no high hopes for Genmcorp anymore, so I will be using EXCITE! for the time being. It's good to see them back in the game, and I hope it stays that way 'til the end. 

 MLP TYT 25: In Memory of a Pink Pony.  Interesting episode. It's good, just doesn't go anywhere. The ponies try to throw different parties for Sunny and come to the obvious conclusion; one big combined party. While there is nothing outwardly wrong about the episode, it just didn't impress me. The new song was dull. Hooftag is better than Hashtag, I guess? Seems a little forced. And I'm sorry Izzy, but your Glitter Cannon needs work before it can compete with Pinkie's Party Cannon. Still, Pinkie would be proud. Also, this episode pretty much confirmed that the MLP Official channel is screwing up the episode order. I can forgive mislabeling the first 3, but now, who knows what the correct order is.

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and step into the battlefield.

Here's an old 90's classic. Either you will like this or you will be annoyed by it. It's a little repetitive. This is "Gypsy Woman" by Crystal Waters. La da dee la da dau~

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!   

Hi there, my crowd. Who likes chips and dip?  I like cheese dip.

 Sorry this update is late. I was busy over the weekend trying to get caught up on a bunch of things.  Turns out, I never did get fully caught up.

 Also, nothing big happened over the week. At least nothing big in a happy way. There's been a lot of Sonic news updates, but nothing super definitive to cover right now. I wasted a good chunk of my weekend accomplishing nothing. Learned some sad news about my closest cousin. The only truly optimistic thing that happened was I got a haircut. ... Oh, that, and I got an awesome new t-shirt! 

 DonBrothers 46: Taming the Beasts!  No tribute to past Sentai this time around. It's just pure story. Having submitted himself to the Beastial forest, Don Momotaro was able to lay down the law with the Besastials and free the imprissoned humans. Sonoi was able to spin the Wheel of Forgiveness and free the imprisoned humans from Beastial space. It is sad to see Don Dragoku learn all his friends were illusions this whole time, created to help make his upbringing easier, but it does explain why Rumi was not super excited about his romantic intentions. It was never going to work out. But now, there is a new set of Cerebran generals. Sadly, it ends with the loss of the old guardian of the forest, and perhaps the loss of Natsumi's Beastial. What happens now?

 DonBrothers 47: Not a Donmocracy?  I expected more out of this episode, but it was all focused on settling the hierarchy of the Cerebran generals. It was nice to see Don Momotaro's father out of prison, and to see the show address the motif of the show. However, it was just a slow grind to the end. They pretty much took a whole episode to show both teams have trouble working together, something other shows set up and then resolve much faster. By the end of this episode, nothing was truly resolved. And while I have been sympathetic to Kiji Brother before, he's just the absolute most annoying here. I hate it! I want things to work out for him because he doesn't deserve the tragedy he's in, but right now, I just can't stand him. Also we've got two MOTW, based on Changeman and Battle Fever.

 Geats 20: Your Forgot To Lock Your Seed.  What can I say? This episode has more of the same. We meet the Jamato sponsor, but there's nothing extremely special here. Right now, I am just wondering if Jamato Buffa will rip his Zombie Buckle from Lopo or not.

 Geats 21: Sly Whiskers!  Ask and you shall receive! I wanted to see Buffa kick Lopo's butt and get his buckle back, and it did. He's quickly turning into an unstable villain before our eyes. However, the real star of the show was that epic ending! They took our expectations and pulled a complete 180. Could it be that Na-Go, the sweet cat of the Riders, is quickly learning to be just as foxy as Geats? How unexpected!

That's all for now, my crowd.  Take care, and friend don't let friends waste their lives.

Napalm Records does it again! This rock song might not be the heaviest or hardest you've ever heard, but this loving and very clear tribute to He-Man is just pure fun. I absolutely love it! This is "Master Of The Universe" by ANGUS McSIX.