CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Five

Periodically I get a logjam of topics that need to be covered, but aren't substantial or interesting enough to warrant their own posts. That's where CCLemon99 Magazine steps in! This is the fifth edition of my little magazine thingy and I kinda like relaxing to some music and just going over some lightweight topics.

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Two Months Later...

It's been almost two months since I released my 10-Year Anniversary video on Youtube. After spending hours and hours chopping it together and watching it over and over again, I was understandably sick of the video by the time I uploaded it. After a month and change away from it I decided to go back and give it another watch. I have to say, I'm happy with how it turned out. There were some things I kinda wish were a little smoother, though.

What have I been doing with my time? Getting burned very badly for one. I'm happy to say I healed in time to make my Super Sentai Artisan Dragon Buckler at least. I've been spending a lot of time working, catching up on Podcasts (and cutting a bunch from my subscriptions) and watching Twitch. Seriously...fuck Youtube. I don't even like gaming that much, but there is some quality content on Twitch even if gaming isn't necessarily your jam.

I will say this, though... When I was finally able to make my Dragon Buckler video, it felt good. I reconfigured my space a little bit and really got into it when I was taking the photos. The break was very much needed, but making videos is something that will never get out of my system. I have been having these moments of "How the fuck did I do this weekly??" ever since the anniversary.

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Life Is A BReeZe PART 2...

So you guys were finally able to see the car that I ordered late last year. It's been a little over six months since I took delivery and I'm about 1/3 paid off. Wooooo. I've put about 4400 miles on it in that time and it has been running like a champ.

I tend to own unusual cars, and this one has been no exception. As this is my first foray into the Subaru lifestyle (and I've never owned a Porsche), I am new to Boxer engines. I ended up doing the first oil change during the time I was covered in burns. Welllll the engine oil in this car is zero-weight (basically the consistency of water) which was a problem when I undid the drain plug and it basically sprayed everything with HOT oil except the damn oil catch pan. It did wonders for those burns...lesson learned. Other than that, it was a very quick and super smooth oil change. Heh. The filter is possibly the most accessible of any car I've ever worked on. Open the hood and it's basically the first thing you see... In my Lexus, the filter requires a lot of snaking and straining. Seriously, what a pain in the ass...

The BRZ/FR-S/86 has a common problem known as "the crickets". Basically the fuel pump has a hard time handling the ethanol-blend gasoline that is common in the 'States. The 2017 model year is the first using a revised fuel pump and I have to say... I've only heard crickets once in the duration I've owned the car. I really think I got a bad batch of fuel that one time since they went away after the next fill-up. I've only been filling it with 93 octane (US rating, I think our 93 is considered 95-99 in a lot of other countries) which has kept it running quiet. What do I know, though. I'm no fuel scientist.

I will say one thing about the car that I found a little bit peculiar in the time that I've owned my BRZ. I run into tons of other BRZ and FR-S owners (mostly FR-S to be honest...). I have YET to see another facelifted 2017 model BRZ or Toyota 86 on the road. The only other 2017 I've ever run into was the one from the dealership debacle from when I took delivery. Weird...

I think my wife is finally coming around on the car as well. Hehe... She never hated it, but she kinda digs it now.

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Kyuranger

Zero fucking interest. Zero. Just the concept of having that many characters from the start makes my skin crawl. Is the show watchable? Every time I feel like I should check in, it just feels like it's borderline a cartoon of a series. When IS Super Sentai just going to bite the bullet and make the transition to anime? It feels like it's been there for some time now.

This has rubbed off on me when it comes to the toys as well. I have a lot of them and no desire to review any of them. I will probably get the Changers done just to appease the Sentai lords, but I would rather do them on my own terms. The mecha? I don't think I'll get around to reviewing them. Maybe next year. Maybe 2020. Who knows. Who cares. More on this later...

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Gingaman

I believe I already talked about the Megaranger announcement during my series of Carranger posts, but yeah...Gingaman on DVD has been announced at the San Diego Comicon. It at least softened the blow of Megaranger getting delayed until October a little bit.

Honestly, I have only ever seen Megaranger and Gingaman to completion once and this was closer to their airing dates than it was to present day. It'll be nice to revisit those series since I have a vague familiarity with them at best. It might make for some interesting posts. I might even sell a few copies for Shout!Factory in the process. At least, that's what some B'Stard tells me.

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Cancelled...

Yeah, I think my overwhelming fatigue with all things Gavan and Dekaranger has finally come to a head. I managed to back out of my order the Super Sentai Artisan SP License and Fire Squad License. Seriously, I'm at a point where I really shouldn't be buying stuff for no reason. I have absolutely no reason to get these toys other than the fact that they exist. Considering the FS License was probably made in response to my popular video on a custom version...why not go whole hog and do the Deka Bright Brace Throttle. You know, like the one that Kingranger lovingly made for me.

Fucking do something new. I love Kenji Ohba, but either shit or get off the pot with the Metal Hero franchise, Toei. Bringing in a Sentai series I hated really doesn't make it more interesting.

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...Ordered!

I did order the set of Denji Rings, though. Why they're releasing them as charms instead of replicas is beyond me...but at least we're getting all five for a very decent price. It's better than nothing I suppose.

Maybe another thing that bugs me about Super Sentai Artisan is that it should be all about either reprinting things that go for crazy money while still keeping the originals collectible as well as crafting new items for things that never had toys. I would LOVE Super Sentai Artisan Denji Rings. I would also love some Vulcan Braces too...those would actually be pretty simple to make, no? More than that I would kill for full blown disco-rific Goggle Brace.

...but no. Crappy reprints of the crappy Legacy Morpher and crappy SP Licenses...

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Mecha Videos

OK, so let me level with you. I am probably not going to buy the annual Super Sentai DX Mecha anymore. I ended up getting a ton of the Kyuranger ones for their gimmick. The genre of toys has been on fumes for almost an entire decade at this point, though. I liked Engine-oh and I liked Go-Buster Oh. The rest have been shit. If something cool comes along, sure. It's been a real grind trying to motivate myself to even check out the ones I have on hand already.

On the flip side of that, I am going to make good on my promise of finishing up making videos of the remaining 1990s mecha. You know, all four of them that I haven't covered yet. I have them...and you'll be seeing them pretty soon.

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Music Releases?

Things have been pretty quiet on the music release front. Columbia really doesn't have anything going on outside of the usual Kyuranger, Ultraman Orb and Kamen Rider Amazons stuff. There was the Space Squad CDs, but that's it. This is all stuff I covered in the last issue, though.

I'm fairly certain that my next post will cover the two recent 1980s/1990s Ultraman releases. Stay tuned for that...

Oh yeah, I am still accepting submissions for non-soundtrack sounds that you either have ID'd or not. I've been getting some good entries and am keeping a running list of songs/CDs to cover. Expect the third entry before the year is out.

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I suppose I'll end it here. Be sure to check out back issues of the magazine for more. If you have any questions or anything either hit me up in the comments or on Twitter. I have open DMs in case you don't want to ask publicly.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be back in two weeks with a new post and a new video.

-CC

CCLemon99 Magazine Issue One
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Two
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Three
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Four

The CD Collection--Kamen Rider Kuuga! 8cm CD Singles

Welcome back to CCLemon99.com! Last month I took a break from both making videos and talking Tokusatsu on the site. That doesn't mean I wasn't busy, though. I wrote a two part post about a 28-CD box set covering the singles of Akina Nakamori between 1982 and 1991. In Part One I talk about 1982-1985. Part Two covers 1986-1991. It was a bit of a passion project, but I really like how it turned out.

I need to make a return after being dormant for awhile. Granted, my return to writing about Tokusatsu only comes a month after taking a break, but there has to be something fitting that I can talk about. Something that heralded the return of a beloved franchise after it laid dormant for awhile. Something that put the franchise back on the map...
.........

Unfortunately I couldn't think of anything, so here is a post about some CD Singles from Kamen Rider Kuuga.

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Kamen Rider Kuuga! c/w Aozora ni naru
CODC-1833
2000.02.19

Without seeing a single episode of this show I managed to get this CD Single back in 2000. I was kinda out of Tokusatsu at the time, but was wildly intrigued by the return of Kamen Rider after being virtually absent for the entirety of the 1990s. I had to listen to this song a few times since I couldn't quite make heads or tails of it. The Timeranger opening theme song is a departure from the norm, but the Kuuga theme song is other-worldly. At the same time I thought "Well, if Kamen Rider exists in the year 2000 he would have this theme song.".

Hats off to Masayuki Tanaka for the awesome vocals (who you know from Ultraman Gaia's theme song as well as .......THIS). I'm kinda surprised Toei went with him rather than trying to coax Masato Shimon out of retirement once again... I mean, it would have made sense, no? Regardless, Tanaka was an excellent choice. The only questionable thing about it is the obvious nods to Pink Floyd's Welcome To The Machine. Stoner garbage band aside...I actually like the song.

The series ending song is the much more straight-forward Aozora ni naru. Ahhh yes, I love this song. Between this one and the late 90s Sentai ending theme songs, you're on your way to a sweet playlist for your next Summer BBQ. Singing this one is Jin Hashimoto who is someone that never really did too much on his own, but makes his bones as a vocal trainer. He definitely has some chops. We'll be hearing more from him in this post, but beyond that he did sing a handful of songs in Kamen Rider Agito as well as a lone song for Kamen Rider Hibiki.

I might as well point this out now. All of the singles on this page except for the final two include Karaoke versions of both vocal songs.

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TRY & CHASE c/w power of soul
CODC-1851
2000.04.21

Now that the theme songs are out of the way, let's get into the image songs. The first single from Kuuga features songs from... Masayuki Tanaka and Jin Hashimoto. Really?! Well...

TRY & CHASE is the theme song for Kuuga's first bike, the Try Chaser 2000. This one is a little generic, but I actually dig it. Inoffensive songs like this are kinda a dime-a-dozen on song collections, but this one is a little smoother than comparable songs.

The second track, power of soul is where it's at on this one. Jin Hashimoto has some pretty good range, but that also kinda works against him on this one. His vocals are TOO LOUD. It really sounds like he's in the room singing over the Karaoke version of the song. It's like he's singing in 3D if such a thing were possible. I can't knock him for that, though. Maybe I dig it because it sounds like a leftover 90s song. Listening to the Karaoke version is a bit of an experience as well...

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Red Desire c/w Blue Higher
CODC-1875
2000.06.21

Alright let's get into this single by...Masayuki Tanaka and Jin Hashimoto. They're trolling us, right?

Red Desire is the rockin' image song I've been waiting for! To be perfectly honest, if you told me this was intended to be the theme song, I wouldn't be shocked. It reminds me of a toned down Crescent Moon from Mikazuki. I love this song!

Blue Higher is also pretty damn rad. It's nice that this single was able to follow a musical theme between the two songs. It's hard to say which is the better of the two, but I will say this... Jin Hashimoto almost sounds like he's doing an impression of Masayuki Tanaka on this one. It sounds like a completely different singer than the guy who did power of soul, but it's definitely him. It's a great single with some great shredding.

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Believe in Miracle c/w Edge of Green
CODC-1894
2000.08.19

Let me guess...Masayuki Tanaka and Jin Hashimoto? Close! This time around it's Kazumi Murata and Jin Hashimoto.

Believe in Miracle is the image song for Sakurako Sawatani and sung by her actress Kazumi Murata. It's a slow song, with a pretty self-explanatory message when you look at the title. Murata isn't the best singer, but it's not too bad of a song. Maybe it shouldn't have been the lead song on the single because...

...Edge of Green is awesome! If there was ever a song to nail an intro, it's this one. I didn't end up getting this single until a year after it came out. I think this is the CD that may have gotten me into my costly love affair with Amazon Japan. What really got me into it is Hashimoto's performance of it in Masked Rider Live 2000 (the only live show worth your time...I mean it...and the crowd for this show was having none of it...what the hell...). It's a rad song that tries to trick you into thinking it's slow.

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Bara no Okite c/w Purple Pride
CODC-1895
2000.08.19

This one is something new, that's for sure. The first track is Bara no Okite, the character song for the Rose-Tattoo Woman by Mie Nanamori. Honestly, this song is pretty good for what it is. Luckily the version used on the single is the song version, the version from the Song Collection is a spoken-word version that...I don't recommend. This one is pretty solid, though.

Purple Pride is the return of a familiar Rider voice. This one is sung by Norio Sakai, who you might remember from the Gridman themes as well as several Kamen Rider BLACK songs. Yep, Long, Long Ago 20th Century is one of them. Honestly, though, this one is kinda weak. It has a little bit of an industrial drudginess that sneaks in and out, but other than that is a flat-ish rock song. Sakai sings the hell out of, though. You gotta love that.

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It comes rain c/w Beatchaser 2000
CODC-1901
2000.09.21

Perplexing title aside, this song is a neat song. I can't really say too much about Shingo Katsurayama's singing of his character, Kaoru Ichijo's, song. That's why Karaoke versions exist, though, right? Slow and moody songs are great.

Dude. How could they have a song called It comes rain and follow it up with Beatchaser 2000 on the same CD? I just noticed that. I've had this CD for over fifteen years and I juuust noticed that.........

Anyway, Beatchaser 2000. This is the image song for Kuuga's second bike...Beatchaser 2000. I'm not sure which of Kuuga's bikes I like better, but goddamn does this one win when it comes to songs. Jin Hashimoto sings this one and does so in a less soulful, but more rockish way to match up with the up-tempo beat. Great song! It gives TRY & CHASE a spankin'...I mean, a total lickin'. Straight up finished it off...stroked from existence...flicked from the face of the earth...

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Rising your power to gold c/w Sokouki Gouram
CODC-1902
2000.09.21

Right! So Norio Sakai is back once again and this time they gave him a way better song. Rising your power to gold, which...is a bad title until you realize it isn't, is an uptempo rock song that is much more suitable to Sakai's booming voice than Purple Pride was. Also...once again, big shout out to the Kuuga song collection for being so great. Timeranger was off being weird with it's songs while Kuuga kinda kept the momentum going. Outside of the opening theme song, Kuuga really does have a Rider song collection at heart. It's all very tight and controlled. Toshihiko Sahashi did a great job composing the series and it's songs.

However, songs like Sokouki Gouram need to exist as well. This one is interesting. Remember when I ripped apart the endlessly annoying Mickey in my "English Version" post? Well, she sings this one and it's, uh, a very different animal. Mickey-T's singing is full-on operatic for Gouram's image song. It makes for a pretty cool song, I'll give it that.

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Tanpopo no ohana c/w Say Alright!
CODC-1911
2000.11.01

Feh. OK, so Tanpopo no ohana is a waste of time being on a single, let alone the title track. There are two songs from the Kuuga song collection that didn't end up on a single: Kyuukyoku no yami and Love Is My Life. Neither one is great, but either would have been a better choice to be on a single. Tanpopo no ohana is the nursery song sung by Aoi Wakana for her character Minori Godai. She isn't a bad singer at least...but this song isn't exactly heavy lifting. Meh. Series like Fiveman even had the decency to hold off on the nursery song and included it on it's post-series Song Collection.

As the farewell song to the regular singles, Say Alright! is great. Sure, it has a passing resemblance to the GoGo Five ending theme song, but I love the hell out of it. To make matters better, this one is sung by Jin Hashimoto in probably his most natural performance of probably all of the Kuuga songs. This one might be hidden toward the end of the series, but I think it's a great song. Say Alright! indeed!

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Joe Odagiri "t" c/w Sora e tobu toki
CODC-1924
2000.11.18

These next two singles might seem a little...off but I assure you, they are officially part of the Kuuga song collection. Can I just say...what even is this CD cover?

"t" Yes, it's just "t"...quotations and all, is hipster nonsense from Yuusuke Godai himself, Joe Odagiri. Honestly, I like the chorus, but the rest of the song is just...first draft mehness. It isn't even worth analyzing any further.

The second track is Sora e tobu toki, which features...singing! You know what, this wouldn't be a bad song if it weren't in English. The lyrics in the liner are in Japanese. So...what exactly happened? This disc is really baffling so far...

Track three is a remix of Sora e tobu toki. A bad one.

The fourth and final track is called "t" (Plugged). Oh boy, more "t". Actually, you know what...I like this one. Is it enough to redeem the rest of the CD? Nah, but this one is actually worth listening to. Maybe this whole CD was a slow con. "t" was the demo song, Sora e tobu toki was the second song since "t" wasn't getting any traction. It was remixed, of course. Finally, "t" (Plugged) was the result of putting his nose to the grindstone and finishing the damn thing. "t" (Plugged), you're alright. I may or may not have used this song in a video on my channel. Good luck finding it.....

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Bricks Carry On c/w Yuuki wo kureta hito e
CODC-1925
2000.11.18

Another non-series, but series related, single. Bricks is made up of keyboardist Masakazu Itakura and Shingo Katsurayama...who you might remember as Kaoru Ichijo from the series and singer of *sigh* It comes rain. I promise, no more dicking around...

The title track from the single is called Carry On. You know what, this one isn't a bad song at all. It's a nice little rock jam that also happens to be a bit on the light side. It's pretty good. Katsurayama does a much better job singing this than he does It comes rain. Carry On is a much more polished song. I can't say it tugs on any emotions, but it didn't make me want to give it the finger...so take that whichever way you want to.

The second track is Yuuki wo kureta hito e. A decent enough song, but a total slow jam. Katsurayama's singing just isn't that good on the slower stuff.

The third and final track is the Karaoke version of Carry On.

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Recommended Pick: Red Desire/Blue Higher all the way. There are tons of great songs featured in this post, but this one is easily the best combination. I mean, you could go the safe route with the Shudaika (OP/ED), but why not treat yourself to the good stuff?

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It feels good to get this one off my chest since it doesn't leave a whole lot of 8cm Singles left for me to review. Actually, that's kind of a lie. I have tons left. All of Metal Hero, all of the Fushigi Comedy shows, and tons of random stuff...plus some Ultraman and Rider stuff... OK, so I'm nowhere near done with 8cm CD Singles. At least I'm ten CDs closer now. Heh.

I hope you enjoyed the post. There are plenty more on my CD Collection page. I will be back soon with...something. I'm not sure what. I have a few really weird ideas that I've been kicking around. Maybe one of them will make it to the site later in the month. Stay tuned.

Thank you!

-CC