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Really SRS Business: A Solbrain Review

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Sequels are a tricky thing. You're often faced with some lofty expectations and new challenges at following up a previous story with something that's both new and refreshing while also not alienating everyone who you brought on board for that first work. If you play it too safe, you'll bore everyone, but if you go too wild then you risk completely isolating your audience. It's a tough tightrope to walk on, and Toei was faced with that challenge in 1991 when following up on the success of Special Rescue Police Winspector .  The result was a show that tried to amp up the budget and details and special effects thrills of the previous show while injecting a heavier dose of procedural drama and emotional conflicts into its storytelling. A show that was focused on heroes don't just save lives, but save souls as well. That show is Super Rescue Solbrain , and it's a prime example of just how tricky that sequel dilemma can be.
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Always Someone Stronger: Reflections on Akira Toriyama

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The stillness of the quiet Friday morning hit me hard on March 9. My head was a fog of unmedicated ADHD and shock from processing the past 12 hours of news pumped in by the endless social media feeds. And I was, and still am, in a state of disbelief. Akira Toriyama, legendary manga author and illustrator: dead. I always knew I’d see that news eventually, but not this soon. Not at the height of what felt like another wave in his work’s popularity and relevance. A new Dragon Ball anime set for autumn, his old one-shot Sand Land is suddenly getting not just an animated adaptation, but a new story arc for that anime with designs and plot points contributed by him. Dragon Quest XII is still in the works with his iconic monsters and heroes no doubt already in the mix. And yet he was gone. And this hurt so, so much. I never met the man, a legendary recluse who barely showed his face to the media, but his work shaped who I am and was with me for almost 30 years of my life.  Growing up as a
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Robots and Rescues: A Winspector Review

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Sometimes, you just get an odd hankering to pop in a Japanese superhero show from 1990 and gun it. You just want a show full of shiny costumes, excessive pyrotechnics, a surprising bit of heart and drama, and a sprinkle of vintage fashion. It’s the reason I love the tokusatsu medium, and specifically the henshin hero subgenre of transforming superhero action from Japan. Needless to say, I went into Special Rescue Police Winspector with all that on my mind. I’d been meaning to watch this installment in the defunct Metal Hero series of tokusatsu hero programs for a while now, and I ended up popping it in on a whim back in December. I took my time with it: Sometimes watching in chunks, other times just putting on an episode after work, but always finding myself going “wow, that was a wild time” by the end credits. Now that I’m all done with it, I can say that this 34-year-old show has plenty in it worth looking at today. Set in the far-flung year of 1999, Winspector presents an image of
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Looking back at Magfest 2024

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January 17 through 21, 2024. On this frigid weekend at the National Harbor in Maryland, and I was right there in the middle of MAGfest 2024 to spend time with friends and enjoy 84 hours of non-stop music, video games and panels with folks from around the world. After a fairly rough time in December, I considered the chance to spend several days at one of my favorite conventions a godsend, and I’m happy to report that it was one of the best ones I’ve been to do date.  So Much to Do, So Little Time If you’ve never been to MAGfest, short for “Music And Games” Fest, it can be an overwhelming experience for newcomers. Each floor of the Gaylord Hotel is loaded with things to do, and you can easily find yourself spending your entire weekend on one segment of the hotel. This year, however, I gave it my best effort to split my time between the Music and the Games and, just as importantly, the time with friends old and new. First off came the games, with one of MAGfest’s biggest selling points:
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