Gosei Sentai Dairanger Ep 1: L-e-e-et's Tenshin!!! (Transform) - Summary/Review

 

It's the missing Power Rangers. Gosei Sentai Dairanger, roughly translating to Five-Star Squadron Great Ranger. The 17th Super Sentai and the source of the Thunderzords from season 2 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This season is an ancient Chinese themed one against an evil empire from 8000 years ago. How does it hold up? Click "read more" for my thoughts.

Green Phoenix - Batman Begins Review

 

I absolutely adore Batman. Despite not being particularly excited by most of the DC lineup (I'm an unrepentant Marvel fan), the Dark Knight of Gotham has always had a special place in my heart in terms of superheroes. I just love the fact that he is a normal human being with no superpowers beyond stupid amounts of money. In a world of Gods and Monsters, Batman really does stick out of the crowd in a thematically fantastic way.

And this love of Batman is shared with a lot of other people because Batman has been adapted into film and television...a lot. Like its actually kind of ridiculous. There is obviously the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher-era Batman films, the Adam West Batman TV show, and the atrocities that were the DC Extended Universe. Out of all the adaptations however, one really stands above the rest as peak Batman.

 

Batman: The Animated Series. Absolutely no fucking contest in any way shape or form.

 

But if I had to pick a close second, it would have to fall to the obvious choice of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. Released in the late 2000s as a realistic take on the Batman mythos, this trilogy has achieved an almost legendary status among superhero films, even if that legacy might now be hurting the DC live-action films

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I plan to discuss all the films in the franchise eventually, as well as all other adaptations of Batman down the line. Today however, we will start off with the film that brought Batman back into popular consciousness after the utter silliness of Batman and Robin. While it may be forgotten when standing beside its more famous and successful sequel, 2005's Batman Begins propelled Batman back onto the big screens and may be responsible for kick-starting the entire superhero film craze that we are still going through.

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Mighty Morphin Power Ranger - 5 Cases of Unused Stock Footage

 

Here is a list for the sake of fun trivia. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers used stock footage from 3 different Super Sentai incarnations, Zyuranger, Dairanger, and Kakuranger. But, not all of it. Rather than giving a long boring list of everything that was changed or unused, allow me to point out 5 cases of unused footage that I found interesting. Just for fun.

Green Phoenix - I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years... Review

 

It's been a couple of weeks since my last anime review and I think I want to cover some light faire this week. A fantasy isekai slice-of-life that was released earlier this year called I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Levels.

In many ways this anime is tremendously blase in terms of the frankly over-saturated isekai anime market and I think it fell through the radar for many people because of that. However, I'm a sucker for isekai anime in general, especially those that focus on more domestic or nontraditional fantasy elements in the overall story.

It's why I adore anime like That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt a Kingdom (which I will definitely be reviewing down the line). Thankfully I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years... (as I will shorthand from here on out for my own sanity, thank you very much) fits into this nontraditional slice-of-life focus, for the most part.

The anime we look at today will prove that sometimes all a production company has to do is make a decently well-adapted show. Nothing extraordinary or ground-breaking, just well done.

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Temple of Snek (Steam) - Beta Review

 

Temple of Snek, developed by Aetheric Games and published by Pixeljam. Thank you for this early access review code. We've got a snake game that promises puzzle aspects involving rhythm and snake-length. What can we except? Click "read more" for my review.

Green Phoenix - Microsoft Dangerous Creatures Retrospective

  

 

 

With the advent of Wikipedia and the mass accessibility of encyclopedic information through the internet, I think that most individuals my age and younger can't really appreciate just how lucky we are to live in an era of such easily available information.

 

When Wikipedia was launched in 2001, most encyclopedias were locked behind paywalls (like Encyclopedia Britannica) or were available on CD-ROM and large physical hardbacks. I remember very specifically growing up reading my dad's 1985 World Book Encyclopedia Collection.

Yes, I was the kind of kid who read encyclopedia's growing up. We are just going to move on from that factoid to the point at hand.

Of all the encyclopedia's that I had access to in the 1990s, Microsoft's Multimedia Collection was definitely one of the biggest surprises. In particular were two applications within the collection, Microsoft Dinosaurs, which I will absolutely talk about at another date; and the subject of today's retrospective, Microsoft Dangerous Creatures.

Released in 1994 and first available for Windows 3.1 (Yes, that old), Microsoft Dangerous Creatures was a multimedia encyclopedia on various aspects and members of the animal kingdom, with a sub-textual focus on environmentalism and conservationism.

Today will not be a review, but another retrospective detailing my memories and experiences with a "computer game" from my childhood that had a truly transformative impact on my life.

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Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger: - Quest 01: The Lion Roars!!

 

The 25th anniversary season for Super Sentai and the footage source for Power Rangers Wild Force which aired in Japan from 2001-2002. Shout out to Shout Factory for the free legal english sub. Hyakujuu Senai Gaoranger, roughly translating to Hundred-beasts Squadron Roar Ranger. This theme is about animals with some environmentalism thrown in and the source of my personal favorite Zords or Mecha. How will this season hold the test of time? Click "read more" and let's take a look.