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mahoutoons · 2 years ago

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magic witch school franchises to support instead of h*rry p*tter

so with the hbo h*rry p*tter reboot being announced, here's some magic school/witch shows to give your attention to instead of giving the queen terf your time and money

little witch academia

atsuko "akko" kagari attended a show by the witch shiny chariot when she was a child and being enamoured with her magic, decides she wants to be a witch herself. she enrolls at the magic school, luna nova. things are hard for her at first being the only student from a non magic lineage while everyone else are witches. and she does badly at school. however she grows throughout the show, both in her magic and in character.

the first half is mostly lighthearted and focuses on akko and her friends' shenanigans. the second half introduces an antagonist and is where the story starts picking up. there are some really emotional beats it hits. but of course akko triumphs through it all and picks herself back up - with some help from her friends of course.

mahoutsukai precure

the thirteenth entry in the ongoing precure franchise. it follows a young girl named mirai asahina who spots a girl flying on a broom. on following the broom, she meets riko, a witch who's from the magic world and has come to her world (called the non magic world) in search of the linkle stone emerald. but when they're attacked by a minion of the big bad, they're able to transform into legendary witches known as precure.

this is more of a magical girl show and it doesn't completely focus on the magic school..there's also episodes that take place in the non magic world. but if there's one thing that's worth watching the show for, its the tight friendship between the main charcaters. they really feel like a found family. also the ending is one of the most emotional endings in the entire franchise.

this show is part of the ongoing magical girl franchise, precure. however you don't need to have watched the previous seasons to understand this season as all the precure seasons (excluding futari wa precure max heart and yes precure 5 gogo which ars sequels to previous seasons) are standalone stories

also a sequel for mahoutsukai is coming out in 2024 which will focus on the main characters as adults

witch hat atelier

coco has loved magic ever since the day a mysterious witch at a festival sold her a picture book about its wonders. however, witches are born with magic, not taught, so coco is forced to give up that dream. one day, she sees a witch named qifrey work his magic by drawing glyphs. coco decides to try it out and discovers she can do magic by just drawing glyphs. however, when she accidentally turns her mother into stone. so qifrey takes her up as his apprentice so that she could learn magic, and hopefully reverse the spell on her mother.

coco is swept up into a world of magic snd everything she knows before is called into question. she also meets three other witches, tetia, richeh, and agott, who are also qifrey's apprentices.

one thing i adore about this series is its art. it is beautiful and gives off the magical fairy tale feel. all the characters are also really fleshed out. richeh's arc especially stuck with me as someone who has major beef with the education system in my country. it also addresses topics like ableism and systemic violence. there's also poc rep and lgbt rep (both canon and implied slow burn)

i will say if you're planning to go into this manga, trigger warning for chapter 49 because it discusses sexual assault (in a respectful way of course). if you're triggered by it you can skip that chapter and you won't really miss out on the plot.

also an anime adaptation has been announced and is currently in production.

ojamajo doremi

this is technically not a magic school franchise but it is a witch franchise so i'm gonna go ahead and recommend it anyways.

doremi harukaze, the self proclaimed "unluckiest pretty girl in the world", dreams of becoming a witch. one day, she stumbles across a mysterious shop run by a strange old woman. taking a cue from what she's read in her stories, doremi recognizes the old woman as a witch. this turns her into a witch frog, as witches who are recognized by humans become witch frogs. with this doremi has to become a witch apprentice and learn magic in order to reverse the spell. she's later joined by some of her friends.

this is a kids show but its very fun to watch. it addresses some heavy topics in a way that's understandable for kids while still mantaining its lighthearted atmosphere. it also gets really emotional at times, especially towards the end of each season.

i will say that episode 12 of ojamajo doremi naisho has a character die of cancer (its never outright called cancer but its heavily implied). so if that stuff upsets you, you can skip that episode and you won't really miss anything in the grand scheme of things.

so these are some of my favourites. feel free to add more.

#little witch academia #precure #mahoutsukai precure #witch hat atelier #ojamajo doremi #anti harry potter #anti jkr #rebecca talks

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funarisjournal · 1 month ago

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It has arrived!! PART 2!!

Oh would you look at that...it's absolutely gorgeous. And it's mine~...er, ahem! So! Yes, you are looking at the cover to the Season 2 DVD set of "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat." I actually got it a day early, alongside other pre-orderers...which is amazing because I'm in the Northeast US and most everyone else who has pre-ordered this is probably only in Japan. That's some amazing shipping power, hot dang!

Anyway, below you will find more photos and me gushing about this firsthand~ [for my S1 post, check here]

The power of fandom knows no bounds, sometimes....The only reason this DVD came to be was thanks to the vocal Japanese fanbase begging all the NHK channels to release it on home media after the show ended back in February. They filled out surveys, they would answer the little engagement posts on Twitter and the like. And bam. Suddenly, in August, this just kinda gets announced out of nowhere! That was when I looked into proxy shipping with CDJapan (I definitely recommend them if they can ship to your country!). I have had this pre-ordered since SEPTEMBER. It has been a long, eager wait.

This one has 3 discs (I love the 2nd disc's photo lmao). After all, S2 was 20 episodes long. Needs more room! But this also has a few more extras than last time, video-wise. The booklet is simpler in comparison, but I did appreciate an actual relationship chart with the whole season's cast featured on it (and I mean whole cast. It even has Fujita's coworkers and the folks that Nomoto and Sayama were working with). That one I will attempt to translate for you all, just like I did with that Yuri Yamada foreword in the S1 set.

The other noteworthy thing from the booklet is just the art that's featured in it. I mean the actual photos and art pieces, not just screencaps. The cover alone? A pretty mash-up on that two-photo set from the promo poster shoot. The first page features some art from Yuzaki-sensei. It's some regular illustrations as well as the announcement illustration made that a S2 was happening. Gotta love the pancake motif~

And then I was floored by the end of the booklet. The same photo is used on the back of the DVD, yes, but let me tell you, it looks REALLY AMAZING as a standalone. I mean, look that that. It's so warm, almost ethereal, the two women looking forward into a brighter future, together!

I should totally also scan that when I scan the relationship chart as well. You all deserve this.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish a Good Couples Day illustration and then proceed to enjoy the three different extras featured in this set (a 5-min PR vid, the one 10-min special with Higa, Nishino, and Fujiyoshi, and I guess some social media ads? Something like that, anyway~)

#funari's photos #tsukuritai onna to tabetai onna #she loves to cook and she loves to eat #tsukutabe #yuri #gl series #jdrama #my tsukutabe shelf is getting cramped...no regrets though #i preordered vol 5 btw so i'm gonna have to make some room lmao

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being-of-rain · 25 days ago

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Now that the whole series has been released, I binge relistened to all of Once and Future. And wrote down all my thoughts, of course.

Definitely the series' main problem is something that affects a lot of Big Finish; it wants to have a story arc, but clearly the writers barely planned with each other or put any effort into that aspect. There's no flow or natural build-up to the finale, unlike what the premise and first episode might lead you to expect. Without much of a compelling arc, the only thing the series has to mark it as a special occasion is its many cameos and crossovers ...but in order to have more of those than the average Big Finish series, they had to pack so many in that most episodes struggle to handle it (in one way or another).

As a series, it unfortunately adds up to less than the sum of its parts.

With all that said, it's a series that I enjoyed a lot more during my relisten, since I could adjust my expectations. I forgot my desire for a grand or satisfying larger story, and just took each standalone episode on its own merits. There's a varying level of quality, but overall its not as disappointing as I remembered.

I decided to rank the episodes from my least to most favourite, and write a paragraph on each one.

8. Time Lord Immemorial I was told this was added to the series at the last minute, and I believe it; it features the imminent destruction of every universe thanks to the use of the degeneration gun, and this little fact is not mentioned at any point before or afterwards. The plot is about a dull and generic all-powerful Time Lord fairytale with an incredibly convenient rhyme to tell everyone what to do. Not that anyone actually does much of anything in this episode. It's mostly descriptions of some impressive visuals and the trading of some half-hearted banter. The only thing of any substance at all in the story is the slightly interesting (though not as interesting as it could've been) relationship between the Lumiat and the Doctor, which is okay if you like that, and unfortunate if you wanted Liv and the Unbound Doctor to have any focus at all.

7. Two's Company This episode is the poster child of being assigned a long and truly random laundry list of characters by the producers. All elements of the episode feel like they're thrown together haphazardly, from the total disregard of the previous episodes' plot hook onwards. But the friendship of Jackie and Lady Christina, two of the least likely characters to be teamed up with the sixth Doctor, is perhaps the highlight of the episode (even though Jackie is written rather stereotypically). On the other hand, Harry Sullivan doesn't really add anything, and the bizarre introduction of The Two borders on the insulting. Back when The Eleven was first introduced, the audio took pains to note that his mental illness was not the cause of his villainy. Later authors seemed to have missed this memo, and none fly in the face of it as much as Two's Company. On top of it all, I think Lisa McMullin is just an author I do not vibe with. She's the only one who wrote two episodes of this series, and they're my two least favourite.

6. The Union I'm not a big fan of finales written by Matt Fitton, which is bad news for me because he's been Big Finish's Go-To Finale Guy for over a decade now. He always makes the plot a bit too busy and never quite lands the emotional moments for me. Once and Future's climactic episode gets a lot of fanservicey moments (some that I can enjoy and some that feel like an obligation), but the story arc that the series had been stumbling and crawling towards concludes with the Doctor winning a nonsensical moral argument about how he's fine with being and meeting himself, something that isn't demonstrated in this anniversary special and is contradicted in most others. The villain/s are a bizarre choice and rather unthreatening- but at least River and Susan are fun to listen to.

5. A Genius For War It's slightly baffling that in the middle of a series that flaunts its random character line-ups is a fairly standard Time War episode, with characters you'd expect to see in it (except for the Seventh Doctor I guess, but he doesn't feel that out of place in a Davros story like this.) I refrained from calling it a "bog-standard" Time War episode, because it does actually put some effort into being relevant to this series specifically, and is a fun little action movie to while away an hour (and celebrate the Doctor's longest-running alien foes in all their mediocre glory). Still, the fact that this ep is just before halfway through my ranking means that I enjoy this series more often than not.

4. Past Lives This is a charming episode, largely due to its fun cast of characters. It takes its time with its story, being literally halfway done by the time all the characters have been brought into the plot together, but I'm not saying it's badly paced. I'm certainly fine with it just giving us the Doctor and the Monk for the first 15 minutes. But the moment of this episode that always sticks in my head the most is the Doctor and Sarah reacting to all the pictures of the Doctors in Osgood's house, having a little bit of an existential crisis about it. It's amazing how taking even just a small break from the action for some genuine emotion can add to a story. See number 1 on this list for more. Oh I do wish it did more with the King Arthur/Once and Future theme though, especially seeing as it was what gave the series its name.

3. The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 Michelle Gomez and David Tennant are so good together. I don't have an awful lot more to say about this one, it's just solid entertainment. It's got great characterisation and a lot of funny lines. The episode really understood the Master when it said "Only one Time Lord would ever do something so mind-bogglingly, time-consumingly ridiculous."

2. Coda—The Final Act The final episode is second only to Two's Company in how random and long its list of returning characters is, but it handles them with much more grace and a satisfying story. I mean I do wish that Vienna Salvatori had a bigger role, but that's just because I'm a fan of her series, she works fine narratively (and there was a Jexie reference to appease me). Really my biggest complaint about this one is that it doesn't quite commit to the Doctor vs Doctor premise as much as I wish it would, with it all being a contrived trick, but it doesn't do that badly, it's fine. Wait, maybe my biggest complaint is the title: why give it two? Why not just call it Coda? Anyway, Bernice was a great choice for this episode, she's always been great at speaking her mind to the Doctor. And it was easy for me to forget this this is Jo Martin's first audio because she sounded so at home. Great stuff.

1. The Artist at the End of Time This might not be the episode I go back to listen to the most, but I think it is the best made, with the most time to breathe and the most coherent themes. (And it also happens to be the episode with the least amount of returning characters heaped upon it. What a coincidence.) The degeneration giving the Doctor something of an existential crisis, compounded by the end of the universe and the presence of the Curator, gives the series some much needed time to reflect on a key aspect of the franchise for its anniversary; the Doctor themself. It certainly works a lot better than whatever The Union tried to do in its last 15 minutes. Aside from all that, Five and Jenny and the Curator are just a rather sweet team to listen to, with an interesting problem to investigate and a lot of witty dialogue.

#I do bang on a bit #maybe one day I need to set up a proper blog to write my paragraphs of Dr Who thoughts on. who knows.#my posts #big finish #long post

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castiellesbian · 7 months ago

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some jumbled thoughts about the writers. I actually like Dabb's writing for young Sam at least, it's part of what makes Dark Side of the Moon great, and it makes The Girl Next Door and After School Special salvageable. Sera Gamble is a great writer, one of the best in the show, but unfortunately she wasn't a very good showrunner (though i do think some of it was more because of external forces and/or misogyny...). same with carver: very good standalone episodes, not terribly great at overarching plots. it's a common misconception that kripke had everything planned out and that's what makes 1-5 good, BUT i do think he was good at recognizing story beats over a longer period of time and seeing when something wasn't working and knowing how to scrap it without it feeling too obvious. dabb era... has it's issues. but i did appreciate how he tried to do something different than the seasons before by bringing back mary, introducing jack (cas really did need his own storyline), and leaning more into the ensemble cast (<-that's something that really hurt gamble since she just killed them off lol). buckleming admittedly are not the worst at characterization, they just are bad at writing in almost every other respect so it's hard to enjoy it lol. like yeah dean telling chuck being a killer is "not who i am" is great, but i also had to hear mark pellegrino yell "cuck" three times. so. also i genuinely think fans forget about meredith glynn more than she deserves, she was a solid later seasons writer!! not perfect but when she hits, she hits.

#there's no point to this just random thoughts

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 1 year ago

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IOTA Reviews: Action

So, this is a interesting one to talk about. Not only is this the first episode in all five seasons to not be written or directed by Thomas Astruc in any capacity (though the other three writers on his team, Melanie Duval, Fred Lenoir, and Sebastien Thibaudeau still wrote this one), not only is it not connected to the ongoing plotlines of Season 5 in any way, but this episode was made with the help of the Breteau Foundation.

For those who don't know, the Breteau Foundation is an organization that works together with schools by giving children access to technology for their lessons, helping them with their psychological needs, and teaching them about ways to protect our environment. This episode was even made available on the Breteau Foundation's website for free in addition to educational materials meant to teach kids about recycling.

Yeah, when we were kids, we got excited whenever the teacher played an old episode of The Magic School Bus or Bill Nye the Science Guy in class, but nowadays, TV shows are producing episodes of their shows specifically so they can be shown in class. And I'm not talking about those half-assed science lab worksheets with pictures of SpongeBob on them either.

The point I'm trying to make is that there was clearly a lot put into this episode, and it's all for a good cause to help teach children about how to protect the environment in order to ensure a better future... and of course, I'm still going to make jokes about it, because I'm just some schmuck on the internet who isn't backed by a major educational foundation.

Let's get into the 27th episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Action

We start off with Marinette and Adrien heading over to the Liberty so they could be told about the pollution in the Seine River by their class' resident environmental activist, Myl—Nino, I mean, Nino. No joke, Nino gets more lines in this episode than Mylene does, even though ever since Season 2, Mylene has been established as the one to protest polluting the environment. I get that she already had a lot of screentime in an earlier environmental episode (Mega Leech), but why would you have Nino be the one to help spearhead this protest instead of Mylene? Hell, the plot of another episode started from him trying to get him and his friends out of helping Mylene plant trees for the environment (Party Crasher), so this makes even less sense.

I should also get this out of the way by pointing out a few continuity errors in the episode. For one thing, Marinette is stuttering around Adrien when she had mostly gotten over that issue after “Derision”, Kagami is now one of the avatars for the Alliance rings, something that had been established in “Revelation”, and the episode mentions that the Alliance rings are made of plastic when the season finale shows that they're actually made of metal. I don't want to harp on this too much, as this episode obviously wasn't meant to really tie into the main plotline so it would be easier for kids who aren't familiar with the show watching this episode, seeing how this was meant to be viewed as a standalone story. Besides, compared to other plotholes in the show like the ones I'll cover next time, these are fairly minor.

Nino tells Marinette and Adrien, and by extension, the audience, that the Seine River is full of pollution, and the Liberty has recently been converted into a makeshift water treatment plant. The problem is that with a recent increase of plastic in the Seine, it's becoming harder for the Liberty to filter out all of it. Hey, here's an idea: Maybe don't set up your homemade water treatment plant in the longest river in Paris.

The reason for all the new plastic comes from a recent ad campaign promoting some vending machines that sell these paper fans that were designed by Gabriel and are sold by a man named Bertrand King, who looks like a cross between Willy Wonka and Colonel Sanders, down to having a southern accent in the English dub.

Nino suggests that Adrien talk to Gabriel himself, but as usual, Adrien doesn't think he'll listen, so the kids decide to go to Bertrand King's company while picking up an order for plastic containers for the Dupain-Chang bakery... even though I'm pretty sure most bakeries store pastries in paper instead of just plastic.

Nino has the others dress up in disguises, but like most of his plans this season, it fails miserably, so Marinette comes up with a little story about Adrien meeting up with Bertrand. The kids make an impassioned presentation to Bertrand, asking him to help change the way he operated his business like making his fans out of more biodegradable materials. Surprisingly, the man whose entire livelihood revolves around selling plastic doesn't want to listen to the people saying everything his company is doing is wrong.

Bertrand: This is all intentional. It's the wonderful cycle of throwing away and buying again that makes my fortune. If people didn't throw away and buy new items again then I, Bertrand King, would no longer be the King of Plastic! So, there is no way any of this is changing.

Wow, a rich person in Miraculous Ladybug turning out to be a total jerk? What an unexpected turn of events.

Bertrand points out how much plastic is used in everyday society, using pens and the Alliance rings as an example, and seeing how we cut to the next scene afterwards, we can assume he had them thrown out. Oh, come on, you couldn't even parody The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air like you did during “Migration”? The kids then try to go to Andre and Gabriel for help protesting the fans, but because one's a corrupt politician and another helped make them, they won't do a thing. Marinette tries to ask Nadja, the local news anchor, but because the ad revenue from Bertrand's company funds the channel she works for, she can't do a thing or else she'll be out of a job.

This leads to the kids deciding to do the sane thing and HACK THE NEWS BROADCAST SO THEY CAN MAKE A SPEECH ABOUT POLLUTION.

Because it's not like Marinette and the others could have just gone to another news network with this story or uploaded it to the internet instead, right? And sure, scowl at the camera while you're giving this presentation too. That won't make you look like a bunch of eco-terrorists at all. The kids give a presentation about how dangerous plastic is, and how people can use fans made of more biodegradable materials like bamboo instead. Also, we get cameos from Jess, Aeon, and Fei, but they're pretty much there just to remind viewers that the New York and Shanghai specials happened.

Of course, the episode's following RWBY Volume 8 logic, so rather than view them as a bunch of lunatics who hijacked a news broadcast, the public immediately turns on Bertrand's company, arguably faster than what happened with Andre in “Mega Leech”. Speaking of, Andre and Gabriel change their opinions to make themselves look like they were always against Bertrand, and seeing how this episode aired after Season 5 ended, didn't really sit too well with viewers.

Bertrand calls out Gabriel for lying, but Gabriel doesn't care, secretly using this as an opportunity to akumatize Bertrand into King of Plastic through his pen.

King of Plastic has a pretty underwhelming design. It's clear that the intent was to make him look like plastic, and there is a noticeable reflection on his body, but other than that, it doesn't really fit the anti-plastic moral. I think maybe if they did more to make his movements seem more stiff like a living doll, or at least make him look less like he's made of candy, it could work more. The Miraculous power this time is the Bee Miraculous' Venom, which he can use through one side of his lance to stun any victims so he can use the other side to turn them into plastic statues. It's sort of like the dollmaker episode of Arrow, only we don't get to hear the sound of anyone's esophagus hardening.

King of Plastic makes short work of Andre and the local police squad, and Adrien is forced to put teaching Marinette Mandarin on hold so he can transform into Cat Noir, while Marinette transforms into Ladybug as soon as she's alone. After he transforms Adrien's bodyguard into a plastic statue, King of Plastic fights Ladybug and Cat Noir, eventually transforming Cat Noir's staff into plastic too. Even though he was originally akumatized to get revenge on Gabriel, King of Plastic leaves the Agreste Manor and heads to the Liberty to get revenge on Marinette and Adrien's friends instead... for some reason. Even the episode points out how weird this is.

Cat Noir: Didn't you want to take revenge on Gabriel Agreste?

Ladybug: He probably has more than one enemy.

After following King of Plastic there with Cat Noir, Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, getting a plastic bag. Because it's already made of plastic, it can't be transformed, which gives Ladybug an idea. She tells Alya to activate the Liberty's water treatment function, intentionally overloading it before Cat Noir Cataclysms the engine. This jettisons the collected plastic and overfills the deck of the Liberty, trapping King of Plastic so Ladybug can break his lance. So in an episode meant to teach kids about how dangerous plastic is, the day was ultimately saved by plastic. I'm sure that won't confuse any kids watching this in class.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, tells Bertrand about how dangerous plastic is, and he immediately vows to change his company's ways before Ladybug gives him a Magical Charm as useless as a plastic toy before she uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage.

The episode ends with Bertrand funding the repair of the Liberty before vowing to change the way his company operates, as do Tom and Sabine, who now sell their products in eco-friendly containers. Unfortunately, with all the renovations being made to his company that come with moving away from plastic, Bertrand had to stop funding this groundbreaking cancer research institution in America in order to prevent his company from going bankrupt.

Anyway, this episode was pretty good. I honestly didn't have a lot of problems here. The plot was pretty straightforward, the themes of how easy it is to perpetuate companies that damage the environment were handled pretty well, and the main characters were pretty active.

Even the greedy corporate asshole meant to be a stand-in for real life executives was handled pretty well, having some quirks that make him stand out while showing how ignorant he is to the situation without making him completely insufferable. This episode could have easily gone the Captain Planet route with Bertrand, but they showed he wasn't intentionally endangering the environment because he felt like it, but rather, because he cared more about his company making money, even showing him ultimately realizing the error of his ways.

If there's one problem I had, it's with the way the Akuma fight was resolved. I get that any other Lucky Charm wouldn't have been immune to King of Plastic's plastic powers, but I feel like weaponizing the plastic the heroes spent most of the episode fighting against in order to stop the Akuma sort of muddles the message the episode is going for. It's not the worst way to resolve an Akuma fight, but it just bugs me personally.

While I still think “Mega Leech” did a better job with the environmental message, overall, this episode did a pretty good job teaching the moral it set out to teach.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... ANDRE (THE OTHER ONE)

Shockingly, nobody really acted that stupid this episode. Yeah, the kids were pretty naive thinking they could make Bertrand change his company's way of production, but still took action when that didn't work. Andre, on the other hand...

While Gabriel and Nadja had their own reasons to support Bertrand (Gabriel for Monarch reasons and Nadja for financial reasons), the only reason Andre went along with the fans polluting the environment was because they happened to have his image as one of the designs, and when the public started to turn on Bertrand, Andre acted like he always opposed him, and when confronted with an akumatized Bertrand, begged for his life like a coward and said he would reinstall the fan vending machines. While I guess it's better than having Chloe be the primary supporter of Bertrand's company, I need to reiterate that this aired after the last few episodes of Season 5 tried to place Andre in a more sympathetic light.

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dayenurose · 6 months ago

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I know this is a bit late in coming, but it is here (at last!). For @roguegambitweek Day 3 - MojoWorld.

I decided to do something a bit different this year for my annual Romy fic rec list. Instead of simply making a list, I decided to write a fanfic fic rec fic. This layers within layers effort was certainly a stretch of creativity, but I think it turned out rather well. I hope you enjoy!

TGIRomy by DayenuRose

Summary:

Rogue and Gambit receive a mysterious invitation to a movie night. Will the accept the invitation, or is it a trap? Will Rogue, Remy, Jubilee, Kitty and Logan agree on what to watch? And, why is no one paying attention to the commercials? Find out all this and so much more when you tune in for TGIR!—Thank God It’s Romy! Fridays at 8/7 Central.

(Read on [ao3])

And now for the main feature…

T.G.I.Romy - A MojoVerse Fic Rec List

The premise of this rec list is relatively simple–fics which could be a show on Mojo-verse TV. Most of these are some variety of AU or crossover, although a few are a bit more ‘canon compliant’. I’ve broken the list into two. The first half are the ones which appear in my fic rec fanfic. The second are those fics which fit the topic, but I wasn’t able to include in the fic. I hope you enjoy these fics.

Reality TV

Beauty and the Geek, X-Men Style by Chellerbelle @chellerbelles [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Evo | Words: 73,969 | Status: Complete

Summary: AU: The cast of X-Men Evolution does the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Can ten beautiful women and men, and ten intelligent men and women learn to become a whole lot more?

Notes: Chelle created a fun opening credits of the show. There’s a link in the first chapter “Notes.”

Sitcom/Holiday Special

Everyone Loves ROMY! - HOLIDAY SPECIAL Episode by NicoPony @nicopony79 [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Universe: Comics | Words: 12,610 | Status: Complete

Summary: It’s Christmas Eve on Krakoa with Mr. & Mrs. X. What holiday surprises are in store for our favorite couple and their family? It’s up to one merry Elf to make the season bright! Guest appearance by the Man in the Red Suit!

Notes: Written in script format.

Hallmark Movie

Chapter 5 - Day 4: So Close to Reaching That Famous Hallmark End of Fourteen Ways to Fall for You by lettersfromnowhere @lettersfromn0where [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Universe: X-Men | Words: 2,549 (Chapter 5) | Status: Complete

Summary: Day 4: this is why you should never give aliens access to TV movies - you’ll probably end up with a simulation somewhat like this over-the-top royal-and-commoner AU straight out of a Hallmark movie.

Notes: Each chapter is a different ‘genre.’ Chapter 5 focuses on our Hallmark Movie theme, though the whole story is a fun read. While the chapter begins (and ends) with a framing device which is part of the greater story plot, the chapter does work as a standalone.

Western

Gambler’s Bounty by Sandmans_Raven @sandmansraven [ao3]

Rating: T | Universe: X-Men | Words: 31,150 | Status: WIP

Summary: Shady things are afoot in Colorado. Who is Dr. Millbury and what does his miracle elixir actually do?

Notes: All of Sandmans’ fics are a great read. I highly recommend all of them.

Heist

Lebeau’s Eleven by IlargiKat @ilargikat [ao3]

Rating: G | Universe: Comics | Words: 14,182 | Status: WIP

Summary: Planning a heist is not easy, especially when you need special skills to pull it off. The luck of being an X-Men is that the skills are within reach, maybe not people willing to commit a heist.

Notes: While the G Rating is fine for the majority of the story, Chapter 5 is really more of a M rating.

Sci-Fi - X-Files

Strange Encounter by Valerie J [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 16,662 | Status: Complete

Summary: When a strange woman falls out of the sky without being harmed, Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate. X Men X Files crossover.

Faith and Dreams by Valerie J [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 64,232

Summary: Sequel to Strange Encounter. Dana Scully never really expected to see the mutants again. But when tragedy strikes, Dana finds herself embroiled in an alien conspiracy that threatens not only her world. But the Xmen’s as well. X Men X Files crossover.

Notes: Here’s two episodes for the price of one.

Special Features

Heist - Round 2

Counting Drinks by Sandmans_Raven @sandmansraven [ao3]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 2,092 | Status: Complete

Summary: It’s a hot one at Gus’s Saloon.

Notes: If I could choose the way Rogue and Gambit the live action universe, it would be in a Leverage-esque series where Rogue and Gambit pull off heists and cons in order to help those who get taken advantage of by the rich and powerful. From time to time, they are joined by the Thieves Guild and their closest friends—Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine (Laura and Logan). When I read this fic, I felt like it would be a perfect episode of this show.

Bonus Heist Non-Fic

Playing for Keeps by NickBateman [YouTube]

FanFilm: (no summary on site) - Gambit is invited to an exclusive poker game featuring the worst of the worst. When the stakes are this high, did anybody actually expect this to play out differently?

Note: Who said all fan creations must be fanfics? Enjoy a fanfilm. This heist/con would also fit for an episode of my imagined series.

Sci-Fi - Matrix

Chapter 4 - Real Love of Threads by Ludi_Ling @ludi-ling [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: M | Universe: X-Men | Words: 11,176 (Chapter 4) | Status: Complete

Summary: Whilst on a mission Rogue and Gambit become stranded in a world where the very reality of their love is tested. Movie-crossover.

Notes: Like “Fourteen Ways to Fall for You,” each chapter is a different universe. This was also another fic I read early in my Romy journey. It introduced me to many different worlds where we might find Romy (some worlds are comics adjacent while others are created out of whole cloth for this fic).

Quick content warning for the Matrix chapter - there’s some Rogneto and cheating. The OTP is definitely Romy, but Rogue is ‘technically’ in a relationship with Magneto, so your mileage may vary.

Sci-Fi - Pacific Rim

Compatible by DayenuRose @dayenurose [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 2,891 | Status: WIP

Summary: Rogue is a former Jaeger pilot who has no interest in finding a new drift-compatible partner. Gambit is a potential Jaeger pilot who is unable to find a drift-compatible partner. Sparks fly–both figurative and literal–when these two meet. She wants nothing to do with him. He wants to understand her. WIll Rogue and Gambit be able to help each other gain control of their powers and reach their full potential in time to help save the world?

Sci-Fi - Star Wars (Clone Wars)

A Long, Long Time Ago: X by Seagull18 (crossoverqueen9703 on ff.net) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Universe: Evo | Words: 22,928 | Status: WIP

Summary: “Routine missions” are a joke to anyone remotely connected to a Skywalker, but if really shouldn’t include Anakin and Ahsoka getting caught by pirates and escaping with the master bounty hunter that caught them in the first place.

Or: Remy Lebeau, better known as Gambit, had never been one for subtlety; when he wants something, he rarely lets petty things like laws and common sense get in his way. If common sense said kidnapping Jedi and selling them out to pirates after siad pirates tried to kill him for cheating at gambling was a bad idea, he had no intention of listening to it.

Or: The only people with worse luck than the Skywalker lineage are X-Men. Rogue planned on spending her week freeing prisoners, test subjects, and slaves from a bunch of lame space pirates. The plan did not work.

Or: Post X-Men: Evolution Gambit and Rogue in Clone Wars.

Notes: This fic appears to end at Chapter 17, but the fic is marked as a WIP. Take that as you will.

War Film/Period Piece

Uncanny X-Men 1943 by stellarose [ao3]

Rating: M | Universe: X-Men | Words: 44,114 | Status: Complete

Summary: X-Men AU. Emma Frost runs Division X, a classified squad within the secretive Special Operations Executive based in London. It isn’t their job to win the war, only to save those they can. Emma’s squad of Psylocke, Angel, Logan, and Fantomex set out [to] rescue three mutants trapped in occupied and increasingly hostile France. But when the mission takes a turn for the worse, Emma and the team must decide if they cut their losses, or fight twice as hard to bring everyone home.

Notes: Romy is a secondary couple in this fic, but I do enjoy and highly recommend it. I read this early on in my Romy journey and this fic has always stuck with me.

#rogue/gambitweek2024 #rogue/remyweek2024 #rogue #gambit #romy #fic recs #rec list #long post #fanfic #mojoworld #anna marie lebeau #remy lebeau #otp: home and harbor #otp: mon coeur

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augustmonsooning · 6 months ago

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The Bear in 5 Acts : We're really in the Act III weeds, pals

One of the first thing's they'll teach you about good story telling is about the 5 act structure - it's tried and tested, from Shakespeare to films like I don't know, Past Lives, they all follow the same beats.

I think's it's significant that the title card at the this season and maybe season 2 (I'm gonna have to go back to check) says "The Bear Part III"; these seasons are components of a cohesive whole, it's not being made up as they go along. This is part of the reason why the writing and filming is so quick: the bare bones of the story arc is already there, they are just embellishing and perfecting.

Season 3 thoughts under the cut!

Now, I know Season 3 has the crowd split. My initial reaction was that I loved the cinema of it: the first episode I think was one of the best, most innovative bits of TV I've seen in a minute. I really enjoyed how they played with memory and anxiety. The show had a lot of interesting things to say about grief and regret and shame this season, and the ways we cope with it all.

It also cemented for me that The Bear is following v classical 5 act storytelling.

Act 1/ Season 1: Almost pure exposition, and probably why it stands out as a very strong standalone season. You could get away with not watching any episodes after Braciole and still feel like you've watched a great show. The money in the tinned tomatoes, and Carmy's proposal (of a restaurant) to Sydney is the inciting event. You could also think of Sydney coming back as the inciting event - this is probably the first time in Carmy's life where someone outside of his family (maybe even including his family) has seen the worst of Carmy and decided to come back

Act 2/ Season 2: Rising tension. Will The Bear make it? Will Carmy escape his traumas? Will Sydney and Carmy actually find their way back to each other?

Act 3/ Season 3: This is where we are now. To mix metaphors. The traumas and bad copies strategies are coming home to roost. This is Carmy at his very worst, because somehow he thinks this is him at his best. This is how Backstage, a theatre newspaper describes Act III : "Oftentimes, the end of your third act leads into a “dark night of the soul,” where the main character is at their lowest moment as a result of the climax. They believe that they cannot achieve that new, overpowering goal established at the end of Act 1. " I think that pretty much sums up Carmy and Syd this season, on the surface their goals have been achieved: The Bear is a functioning kitchen, it's packed out every night. There's modern Danish design, there's two tops, a tasting menu at the bar, and a window on the side for the sandwiches (the family style has been scraped, but we'll get to that later). So why does it feel so off? Can it be that neither of them wanted any of that shit in the first place? Can it be that they were at their happiest eating gluey spaghetti with their friends they loved in a place that had regulars who knew them, a place they could innovate with the odds and ends they had lying around and still make wonderful food. Could it be that a place where bricklayers and teachers and postmen were eating was the goal all along?

Act 4/Season 4: Where next? I think both Syd and Carmy are gonna reckon with what is actually important to them. And we alreayd know what that is, it's that scene under the table last season: they love to take care of people, they love to cook (not be "chefs"), they love to be there for each other - be someone the other can rely on. Everything they absolutely were not doing in Season 3.

Act 5/ Season 5: The real coming back. I remember watching Braciole for the first time thinking fuck, is this just an extremely silly show? It feels so real, so earned all the way up until the cash falls out of those tomatoes and Syd comes back. Because nothing has actually been resolved or addressed. Carmy has learnt absolutely nothing. Syd is as impatient and green as ever, jumping into a new business with a guy who has absolutely shown himself to be volatile and unreliable. But we forgive them, because as the viewer we've come to love Carmy and understand that the angry, doughnut slamming Carmy is not the real him, and we understand Syd because sure, of course it feels intoxicating that when the person who made the best thing you've ever eaten, the person who can seemingly finish all your sentences, the pinnacle of your professional ambitions looks at you with his freakishly blue eyes, and ask you open a restaurant with him, you're gonna say yes. The series from Season 2 onwards feels to me like a redux of the last few episodes of Season 1 in slow-mo but this time with real learning, real consequences, and real, abiding love. Like a "find out what you love, and do it on purpose" type of thing. When they get back together the last episode it's going to feel even more magical than in Season 1.

Listen. I feel like that dude trying to get Tina et al to invest thousands of dollars to get a job in Napkins. It feels like a scam to tell you all to invest more time and hope. But, imma do it, because it's gonna pay off.

It also doesn't escape me that Strange Currencies, the song they use on the show to signpost Carmy's romantic life, has the lyrics "I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance"

Carmy had a chance in season 1, he fucked it up by going absolutely bananas in 'Review', he had another one in season 2; and he ran away and then thought he could fix it with a fancy chef jacket and promises under a table, he's had another chance in season 3 and safe to say, he's fucked it again. He's gonna get another, but he better stick the landing.

#the bear fx #the bear meta #sydcarmy #the bear hulu #this is a love story

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thegoldheartlocketandkey-blog · 1 year ago

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I’ve decided to rewatch season 2-6 again of 911. I’ve rewatched season 1 earlier in the year and really don’t want to relive again. I mean it’s a great standalone season, but I’m happy we don’t have to put up with Abby.

I will say Season 2 Episode 1 starts off strong with Bathena reveal and introducing us to Eddie, in like the first 5 minutes. Now if season 7 wants to recreate Bathena’s secret relationship trope with Buck and Eddie, I won’t be upset over it 🤪

#buddie #911 abc #911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buck buckely #buck x eddie #911 spoilers #bobby nash #athena #911 show #911 season 2

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sapphosewrites · 8 months ago

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top 10 ds9 fan fics you've written, ranked?

Oooh, tough question, friend! I don't even know what the criteria for this would be, because the most AO3 popular ones are not always my favorites... Okay, you know what, here we go. I'm just going to go for it and make some decisions. I'm giving myself a rule, though, that I can only chose one from a series, so I'm not just listing everything in the Terok Nor AU. I'll also try to hit different kinds of fics I've written.

10.) After the End of the World: A Survey of Seminal Works of Cardassian Post-Apocalyptic Literature from cross-posted to tumblr. 533 words, "An examination of the Cardassian post-apocalyptic literary genre before and after the Dominion War." This isn't my most popular or my best written but it's one of my favorites; I like in-world diegetic texts and worldbuilding and I'm obsessed with the idea of post-canon Cardassia as post-apocalypse.

9.) Never Have I Ever from The Game Is Afoot, 1,294 words, T, "Julian introduces Garak to the human game never have I ever." This was fun to write and is fun to reread every time! I often spend a lot of fic space on angst and identity and all the reasons why it's a bad idea for Julian and Garak to get together, but in this one we just get to spend time seeing them be clever and enjoy each other's company.

8.) Tribbles, Togetherness, and the Great River, 1,742 words, G, "In their shared quarters, Nog and Jake discuss tribbles, pets, and telling their families about their relationship." This is my only full standalone Jake/Nog fic, and it's another that was a pleasure to write and still makes me smile. It's fun to spend a sweet moment with two young people figuring out how they fit together.

7.) Del Floria's Tailor Shop, 336 words, also known as the space tumblr one. I think this is possibly the funniest thing I've ever written.

6.) Push Me Til I Break, 4,653 words, M, also known as the one where Garak interrogates Julian, and the role play goes wrong. Maybe the most tense thing I've ever written, and really leans into the ways in which two deeply hurting people can choose to hurt or hold.

5.) Growth, 45,843 words, T, "Julian and Garak grapple with their pasts and their feelings for each other at the end of the series." My super long post-canon Cardassia fic, back when I had no idea how to string a multi-chapter idea together. There's a lot I would change if I wrote this now (I've grown as a writer in many ways, including my ability to have scene transitions), but some of the conversations and moments in here are still absolute favorites of mine, particularly around ideas of self-forgiveness, the clash between values and actions, and the importance of choice.

4.) Predetermination, 22,200 words, T, Mirror Bashir arrives at the station and suddenly the nature/nurture debate has never had higher stakes. This is one of the places I think I've been most successful in using sci fi to ask big questions that hopefully resonate in the modern day, about who we are and how we become. Also, the ending takes inspiration from one of my favorite TNG episodes, and that was cool too.

3.) Especially the Lies, 13,019 words, T, "Something is going on with Garak, and no one knows what, except for possibly Julian Bashir." This is my only archive-warning-applied fic and it was really important to me to tell a story about care, for a character who I think doesn't believe he's allowed to have any, in a real world circumstance that too often people have to go through alone.

2.) Necessary Storms, 15,149 words, T, Julian and Starfleet Spouse Garak get entangled in Trill politics. I feel like this is one of the things I've written that most feels like it could be an episode of Star Trek, and is also a fairly unsubtle (though initially unintentional) way to explore populism, demagoguery, resource distribution, and revolt at a very particular moment in national politics with the aesthetic distance that sci fi offers.

1.) Old Friends: An Enigma Tale from Terok Nor AU. I'm exceedingly proud of this whole series, which started as just "what can I do with the idea of dabo boy Julian" and has turned into a sweeping journey covering how Terok Nor becomes Deep Space 9. This most recent installment is perhaps not indicative of the series as a whole, but it was a lot of fun to write and is also a dip into my other favorite genre aside from sci fi (murder mystery).

#my writing #confess nothing is statistically my most popular fic but i don't think it's my most interesting #almost made the list are made to measure and son of tain #also none of my fairy tale things are on here but i think i have lots of interesting ideas in those as well #if you have a fic that is your personal top of what i've written i'd love to hear about it!

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fuckyeahaudiodrama · 7 months ago

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✨APRIL/MAY LISTENS✨

hi i’m back, i’ve just finished my degree and do not have enough of a brain to write an in-depth of anything. but! here’s some of what i’ve been shoving in my earholes for the past month, in no particular order.

The Magnus Protocol — (season 1 ongoing) continues to blow my fucking mind. the sound design/music combo for this series is of particular note, it really just… mwah. elevates the text so much for me. i also continue to be impressed by how well this works as both a standalone series and as a delicious trail of candy for those of us who loved Archives. we’re halfway through s1 now and all i can think about is alice dyer.

Beef and Dairy Network — (ongoing @ 109 eps) a partially improvised absurdist comedy pod set in a world that is bizarrely obsessed with beef. my qpp listened to one episode and called it “distilled british humor” which feels… correct. i’ll be real, i’m actually mad at myself for not getting into this one sooner, but on the other hand having a long binge of it has been divine. i would kill to go to one of their live shows.

The White Vault — (5 seasons, 10 eps apiece) not including goshawk because i’ve barely started on that. but the main series… woah! god, i totally didn’t think this was going to be my thing but i could not put it down? the first season is definitely slower than i usually prefer but the characters kept me hooked and by season 3 the narrative completely took over my brain. i also love how well they sold the found audio format, it WORKS. gold fucking star, highly recommend.

Jackie the Ripper — (3 seasons, 5 eps apiece) put this one aside for a rainy day and binged it all at once. deeply wish there was more of it. it’s a raunchy crime drama with a downtrodden detective at the helm who i SWORE i wouldn’t root for but ended up doing so anyway. do recommend! if it sweetens the pot, the protag has the same VA as watson in the currently popular Sherlock & Co.

The Mistholme Museum — (6 seasons, soon to be complete) people have been recommending this to me for years and i just never got around to it, but on the bright side — it was an incredible binge. anthologies aren’t my strong suit but i found the framing device really strong and, crucially, it develops a meta plot that balances really well. biggest strength for me was the narrator, but i can’t explain why without spoiling some key plot developments. just trust me.

Wake of Corrosion — (4 seasons, final ongoing) very cool apocalyptic suspense/horror. i initially loved this show for the dynamic between the two leads, who are brothers trying to reconnect on a solitary camping trip when the world decides to go wonky. i ended up loving the worldbuilding as well. final episode drops very soon.

Neon Inkwell: The Pit Below Paradise — (miniseries, ongoing) this one has a bit of a western vibe and heavy religious/culty overtones, which isn’t my favorite genre. but i think each of the main characters has been developed really well thus far. + many fun cameos from members of the production team, those are really fun to try and spot :)

Twits: A Steampunk Distraction — (2 seasons, 5 eps apiece) very silly comedy of errors from the pov of a bumbling aristocrat. can’t say too much without giving the end of s1 twist away. i highly recommend it if you’re looking for some lighthearted listening. the ending credits are also very cute.

Planet Arcana — (ongoing @ 71 eps) i’m so bad at TTRPGs but this one has such a unique setting, i’m just captivated. tarot-flavored sci-fi adventure for anyone interested. i’ve made it through the first arc and the party has already experienced a crazy amount of development; stoked to see what happens next.

Selene — (ongoing) anthology about a spooky little town with a vintage vibe. single narrator, quite talented. i’m not always easily invested in anthologies but the narrator here really sells it for me, and (!) i think he writes children — both their thought processes and dialogue — very realistically. which is my grandest compliment.

Camp Here & There — (s1 complete @ 33 eps, hiatus?) i put off listening to this for a rainy day because i’d heard nothing but rave reviews and they weren’t lying. this is quite literally the ONLY pod i’ve come across that completely captures the same magic that WTNV did for me on first listen. the creator is kinda going thru it so idk if s2 is going to happen but i really hope so. even if not, s1 is very worth listening to. it’s wacky and sinister and i just love the narrator, it’s hard not to.

We’re Alive: Scout’s Honor — (8 ep miniseries, complete) imagine WA from the perspective of some awkward tweenagers. what’s not to love? the gore is really heightened by each characters’ stage of emotional development. i especially loved the conclusion but i won’t spoil it here ;)

Among the Stars and Bones — (2nd season ongoing) sci-fi drama with a solid first season, really nice narrative tie-up, but the second season was SUCH a glow-up nonetheless! + the most memorable karim kronfli performance of all time IMHO.

#audio drama #podrecs #i thought that this would be a cute lazy sort of graphic to make and the layering was actually a nightmare #so i kind of gave up but i hope it looks. okay #anyway these are all great shows and i’m happy to talk more about them in future #i’ll have a brain again soon. i think

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cryssyboo · 5 months ago

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I love Tokusatsu (And it's time to make it your problem.)

Ok, This is something I finished writing like a month ago. It's basically a whole essay on what Toku is and some of it's elements. It's a long read, but if anyone ends up reading this I hope you enjoy it!

I am really, REALLY interested in Tokusatsu. (I’m not very subtle about it.) What is Toku? Toku is a genre of media that essentially translates to “special effects”. There are 5 major shows/franchises that fall into this category: Godzilla, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Power Rangers. Now, personally, I’m not really a fan of Godzilla or Ultraman, but I am VERY into the other 3. There are also some other series that I’ll talk about. Now, someone reading this might be asking themselves: “Crystal, what the hell is a Kamen Rider or a Super Sentai? It all just looks like Power Rangers to me.”. That’s what I’m gonna answer here.

Kamen Rider began airing its very first show over 50 years ago, in 1971. The basic premise of any rider series is 1 or multiple people transforming into heroes know as ‘Kamen Riders’ using either a belt, a gun, a wrist mounted changer or a sword, along with various gimmick items (such as the Lockseeds from 2013’s Kamen Rider Gaim, or the Progrise Keys from 2019’s Kamen Rider Zero One) to fight an overarching villain. A typical Rider show lasts around 50 episodes, and ends in around August to September, with a new one almost immediately following it. The 2022-2023 series, ‘Kamen Rider Geats’, came to a close on August 27th, 2023, with the 2023-2024 series, ‘Kamen Rider Gotchard’, beginning on September 3rd, 2023. The 2024-2025 series, ‘Kamen Rider Gavv’, has been trademarked as of writing this. A rider typically has power ups that they get throughout the season, things like Kamen Rider Zero One’s Metal Cluster Hopper, Ex-Aid’s Hyper Muteki Gamer, Geats’ Boost Mark IX, or Gotchard’s Rainbow Gotchard form. Secondary Riders also get upgrade forms, like Tycoon’s Bujin Sword Raise Buckle, or Buffa’s Plosion Rage Raise Buckle. They also get a movie each summer, which typically has a cameo with the upcoming Rider show in it. There’s also sometimes side series’ and specials throughout the year, like Kamen Rider Outsiders, Tycoon meet Shinobi, and the Kamen Rider Legend special.

Super Sentai is a yearly team hero series about 3-5 people transforming into heroes to save the world, sometimes with gimmicks (like Zenkaiger’s Sentai Gears, Donbrother’s Avataro Gears, or most notably, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger’s Ranger Keys), sometimes without (like KingOhger’s OhgerCalibur or Kiramager’s KirameiChanger). The team also can gain more heroes throughout the show. For base teams of 5, the number of extra heroes typically ranges from 1-2, although we rarely get 7th rangers anymore. For base teams of 3, the number of extra heroes is typically capped at 1-2, upping the team to 5 members. The only exceptions I can think of are Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, and Engine Sentai Go-Onger. Now, what makes this different from Rider? Well, for one, the suit designs are all standardized, and fit in with each other. But the bigger thing is, well, the giant ass robots each team pilot. The mecha, which I will be calling a Megazord from here on out (because it’s more recognizable), gets other auxiliary mecha (Zords from here on out) throughout the season the main team can use to increase the Megazord’s power. The 6th ranger (or any other extra ranger) typically gets their own separate Zord when they’re introduced. This Zord can also transform into a standalone Megazord, and can later on combine with the core team’s Megazord to create a more powerful Megazord. Towards the end of the season, the 2 or more Megazords combine with the auxiliary Zords to create one final combination, which I’ll be calling an Ultrazord for simplicity. Sometimes the Ultrazords are simpler, other times they’re what the community likes to call Clusterfucks. Some examples of this would be Samurai Ha-Oh, or God KingOhger. An example of the simpler ones would be something like ToraDora Onitaijin Kiwami. The main Red/White ranger (the color can vary, or sometimes even the whole team can use the power up.), and sometimes the 6th ranger also gets a power up midway/toward the end of the season (and even sometimes long after the show has ended, in the case of Gokai Red’s Gokai Galleon Armor). Some examples of this are Gokai Silver’s Gold Mode, The ToQger’s Hyper Resha, Super Zenkaiser and Super Twokaiser, or the Donbrother’s Omikoshi Phoenix. The previous sentai that was on air was OhSama Sentai Kingohger, and currently airing sentai is Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger. In recent years, sentai has deviated a bit from the norm, with Avataro Sentai Donbrothers being pretty much nothing but filler, with not much story tied into it, and 2023’s OhSama Sentai KingOhger not having many filler episodes, and being almost entirely story focused. However, Boonboomger seems to be a bit of a return to form for sentai.

Now, moving onto Power Rangers. This is the one most people reading this should know about. Power Rangers is a yearly team hero series about 3-5 people transforming into heroes to save the world, sometimes with gimmicks, sometimes without. The team also can gain more heroes throughout the show. Sound familiar? That’s because, with some notable exceptions, Power Rangers pulls all of its suits and most of its action and Zord footage from Super Sentai! The show pulls suits and stock footage from a Sentai season of the team’s choice, and adapts it for an American audience. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) aired its first episode on August 28th, 1993. However, the idea existed long before that. Power Rangers was an idea dreamt up by a man named Haim Saban during a trip to Japan in the 80s. He wanted to bring Super Sentai to the states, and put his own spin on it. The first series he tried to bring over was the 1984 series Choudenshi Bioman. It wouldn’t have been called Power Rangers, though. Saban was just going to call the show Bioman. He put together a pilot for the show (which sadly is still lost to this day), but no children’s network programs would pick up the show. He kept trying to pitch Bioman for a while, before eventually he went back to the drawing board. He tried again a few more times, with another series, 1991’s Choujin Sentai Jetman, before settling on 1992’s Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger. He also made a pilot for this show (which was officially called MMPR by this point), and to his surprise, Fox Kids picked the show up. The show began airing in 1993 and blew up almost instantly. Nearly every kid who grew up in the 90s watched at least some form of Power Rangers. MMPR Ran for 3 seasons, all pulling different Zord and monster footage from either Zyuranger, Gosei Sentai Dairanger, or even some brand new Zyuranger footage Saban commissioned Toei to film for him. MMPR was followed by a miniseries called Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, which was adapted from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. In 1996, a new season of Power Rangers started: Power Rangers Zeo. The show dropped the Mighty Morphin, switched suits and power sets yearly, and up through In Space it kept a consistent cast, with the occasional switch out. After In Space, however, it swapped cast every year, with new characters each year. That’s how it's been ever since. However, the PR franchise itself has switched hands a number of times. Saban had the franchise from 1993 to 2001, when Disney acquired it as part of a larger buyout. Disney made, frankly, some of the best seasons of the franchise, despite the fact that they hated the brand and did not want it. Seasons like Dino Thunder, RPM, Jungle Fury. Disney continued to make new seasons up until Power Rangers RPM in 2009. In 2011, Saban bought the franchise back, and in 2011 Power Rangers Samurai went on air as the first show in what the fans call the Neo-Saban era (fun fact about samurai, the writers had to scramble to get a new season out after the buy back, so samurai is pretty much just a bad remake of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger). This era housed some of the worst shows in the franchise’s 30 year history. Shows like Super Megaforce and Ninja Steel. In 2018, Hasbro ended up buying the franchise from Saban, with Power Ranger Beast Morphers going on air in 2019 as the 26th season of Power Rangers. In 2021, Power Rangers Dino Fury began, and its cast will be the first since MMPR to stick around 3 whole seasons, as they returned as the main cast of the 30th season, Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, on September 29th, 2023. Cosmic Fury is also the first since MMPR to use just Zord footage from a sentai show (the show will be adapting Megazords from Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger), as the show uses completely original suits. Unfortunately, rumors suggest that Cosmic Fury is the last traditional season of the show, as it seems Hasbro has plans for a reboot of the franchise sometime soon. (post cosmic fury amendment: the franchise is dead. very dead.)

Power Rangers wasn’t the only show Saban made, though. He made a number of other shows using the PR formula. Those shows were Big Bad Beetleborgs (Alongside Beetleborgs Metallix), VR Troopers, and Masked Rider. Beetleborgs and VR Troopers were made using a mix of footage from different shows in the now dormant Metal Heroes franchise, with a mix of American footage, same as PR. Masked Rider followed that same formula, but instead was an adaptation of 1987’s Kamen Rider Black RX. While Masked Rider was a failure, Beetleborgs and VR Troopers actually did really well. The only reason they ended when they did was because the straight up ran out of footage to use. Older fans of Power Rangers probably remember at least Beetleborgs and VR Troopers.

When it comes to other shows in the genre, I’m not the most knowledgeable on them. There’s Godzilla (which most people probably know, it has a big presence outside of Japan, unlike most things talked about here), Ultraman, the aforementioned Metal Heroes, and Spiderman. No, that wasn’t a typo. Spiderman is genuinely a part of this rabbit hole. In the late 70s, a partnership was made between Marvel and Toei that allowed the 2 to use each other's properties. Spiderman (スパイダマン) was a result of this. Aside from some powers and his outfit, the show didn’t resemble our Spiderman at all. His suit was stored in a brace on his wrist, he shot literal fucking guns, and the biggest difference of all was that he had a giant robot. It’s name was Leopardon, and it’s the entire reason that Super Sentai has mecha in the first place. The first 2 shows, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger (not Goranger oh my lord) and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai didn’t have mecha. It was the success of Leopardon that gave Toei the idea to bring one to the 3rd Sentai, Battle Fever J (fun fact, Battle Fever was also a part of the Marvel x Toei deal! It evolved from a japanese version of Captain America), and they’ve been a major part of the franchise ever since.

There are also some sudo-toku shows out there. Toku itself is limited to live action, but that hasn’t stopped various anime and cartoons from imitating the genre. Some of the ones I can name off the top of my head are Yo-Kai Watch Jam: Y School Heros, which is a clear toku parody, and Fuuto PI, which is an animated sequel to 2009’s ‘Kamen Rider Double’.

But we’re not done yet. It’s time to move into one of the biggest parts of this genre.. The Toylines! Yeah, if you haven’t figured out, these shows, while super cool, double as big toy commercials. Nearly every gadget they use gets a toy in the real world. From the base transformation device, to the gimmick, to the Megazords, it almost always gets a toy. The toy version of the changers and weapons are almost always smaller than the on-screen prop, but they get the job done. Megazords can vary in quality. Up until Donbrothers, Megazords have always been bricks, pretty much, Barely any articulation, and can barely move in the first place. However, starting with Donbrothers, Sentai Megazords have had decent articulation. (Boonboom amendment: Boonboomger Robo took away the articulation. Damn you Bandai.) The gimmick lines are typically released in multiple ways: Candy Toy, Deluxe, and Gashapon. The candy toy release is self explanatory. It comes with a little piece of candy. The deluxe format is the best version of the toy (although sometimes all formats are basically identical), and the Gashapon format can vary. Sometimes it’s really good, other times it’s the gashapon release of Gokaiger’s Ranger Keys. Speaking of Ranger Keys: Ranger Keys! This is probably the best part of any toyline these franchises have made over the decades. It began in 2011 with the release of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, and, as the name suggests, were tiny little figures of the previous 34 sentai teams that could turn into keys to be used in the Gokaiger’s changer. These little toys were wildly successful, more than Toei or Bandai could have ever predicted. Now, over 10 years later, minus a few breaks here and there, the line is still going strong. We’re still getting Ranger Key sets through Premium Bandai pretty much every year now. Now, what exactly is Premium Bandai? It’s the bane of every Toku fan’s existence, that’s what it is. Many things go up there, like certain Kamen Rider Drivers, certain Sentai Changers, extra gimmick sets, action figures, unnecessary rereleases (cough PREMIUM DELUXE I AM LOOKING AT YOU.). Sometimes things are reasonably priced, but often the stuff that goes on to Premium Bandai is pretty expensive. Recent drivers like the Vision and Zillion Driver’s, some Villain Changers from Sentai like the Ninjark Sword or OhgerCalibur ZERO have been pretty expensive (for toys that is). Even some main series gimmick items like the Fantasy and Bujin Sword Raise Buckles have been PB items (Personally I think they should’ve just been retail items). There’s also the Memorial line, which is bigger and more show accurate versions of Sentai Changers. They’re expensive, but most of the time I think they’re worth it. If you’re a hardcore collector, it’s not worth buying the Deluxe Changers anymore, since they’re pretty much guaranteed to get a Memorial Edition when the show ends. Also, replica clothes sometimes go up there. Most of the Gokaigers outfits got replicas, so did Zenkaiser’s main jacket, along with the DGP jacket from Geats.

Now, this next part is still toyline related, but I wanted to separate it from the Japanese toylines, because the Power Rangers toyline is a fucking mess. The toys are almost always lower quality. There was a time where Bandai America, the original holder of the toy license, would import the original toy’s from Japan or just use the same molds, but those times are long gone. The toys were pretty decent up until the late Disney and Neo-Saban eras. Over time, Bandai’s Power Rangers toys got worse in both quality and detail. The toys were tiny, they were missing detail, and sometimes they were just pure dogshit, like with the Ninja Stars from Power Rangers Ninja Steel. While Bandai did get some good toy lines under their belt in the Neo Saban era, like the Dino Charge toyline and bits of the Samurai and Megaforce toy lines, Ninja Steel was the last toyline they made before Hasbro bought up the toy license, and then bought the entire brand from Saban. Hasbro had a decently strong start with Beast Morphers, the show still had a lot of the stupid Neo Saban regulations, but it’s not that bad. That's about all I can say for the toyline too, it wasn’t that bad. They came up with an original gimmick, which was cool, but they also made Beans Morphers Gold’s morpher a NERF Gun and never even released some things. For Dino Fury, the show was actually really good in my opinion, and the toy line was a lot better than Beast Morphers’ if you ask me. And Cosmic Fury? As a show, it wasn’t too bad. Not as good as its last 2 seasons, but it also had a crunched episode limit so it gets a pass. However, the toy line does not. We got 3 toys released in this line. A repainted roleplay set, the Cosmic Fury Morpher, and the Cosmic Fury Megazord. That’s it. But toywise, where Hasbro really shined was the Power Ranger’s Lightning Collection. It was a standardized 6 inch figure line that began in 2019, and lasted until 2023. Well, technically it’s on pause until… well, we don’t know. But still. Figures came with Head Sculpts, well chosen (for the most part) accessories, good paint, and absolutely NO QC ISSUES!! ….oh yeah, did i mention it had heavy QC issues during the later years of the line? Yeah, they were awful. It ranged from paint mishaps to literal missing accessories or wrong head sculpts. Sometimes the figures were just built bad, like Time Force Blue, and the packaging shift didn’t help with this at all. In fact, the removal of the plastic window made the QC issues more prevalent because no one could actively see the figure to get around them. Eventually it toned back down, but even then there were still heavy issues, with mold changes and all that. The drop down hips were almost always loose and the pinless figures were always fragile. As of now, the lightning collection is on pause. Why, you may ask? Well, because the entire franchise is on pause. There's no new content outside of the comics releasing. The reboot has moved from Netflix to looking for a new home, Hasbro signed a toy deal with Playmates, there’s the occasional merch drop or acknowledgement of the brand by Hasbro, and that’s really about it. They bought it because the CEO at the time really did care for the brand, but now that he’s no longer the CEO, Hasbro doesn’t really know what to do with Power Rangers. They’re trying to do things, and they have people on the team that care, but the higher ups don’t really care about the brand. And until either the reboot comes to fruition, or the production rights are sold off to someone who actually cares and wants the best for the brand, I think that’s how Power Rangers is gonna stay. It’s in a constant state of limbo, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. So, yeah. A bit of a sad conclusion to such a long running franchise, but it is what it is. In its current state, Power Rangers is essentially dead until someone who cares gets their hands on it. I hope you at least semi-enjoyed reading this stupid essay of mine, and maybe you learned a thing or two from it!

#toku #tokusatsu #ultraman #kamen rider #kamenrider #supersentai #super sentai #power rangers #hasbro #bandai #toei #austism #saban #disney

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