What else can be said about this year?
I know that everyone everywhere is scraping together what little happened during the course of the year, so let me get the content bit out of the way before I talk about some shit.
January
Song Collection: Jukou B-Fighter
Song Collection: Choriki Sentai Ohranger
February
Song Collection: Jikuu Senshi Spielban
Kakuranger Ball!!! (UPDATE: I own two now...the newer one is super minty)
March
Song Collection: Uchuu Keiji Shaider
Song Collection: Kosoku Sentai Turboranger
April
The CD Collection--Mashin Sentai Kiramager Shudaika Limited Edition [Amazon Japan]
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Seven
May
It's Been a Year, 'Bro (Hasbro 1-year Anniversary)
The CD Collection--Gattai Tamashii ~Super Sentai Robot Song Perfect Collection~
June
Song Collection: Chojin Sentai JetmanSong Collection: Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop
July
CCLemon99 Magazine Issue Eight
The CD Collection--Cho Robot Seimeitai Transformer Theme Song Collection
August
The CD Collection--Ultraman 80 / Andromelos Music Collection [2020]
K2 - That Time Hiroshi Fujioka Was In a Mountain Climbing Movie
September
Ghost Warrior - That Time Hiroshi Fujioka Was In a Fish-Out-Of-Water Samurai Action Thing
REVISED--Song Collection: Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop
October
Song Collection: Kamen Rider Black
Song Collection: Hikari Sentai Maskman
November
Song Collection: Chojinki Metalder
Song Collection: Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya
December
Song Collection: Kamen Rider Black RX
--You Are Here--
I enjoyed digging into unfamiliar waters with the Transformers theme song collection and being able to review two odd movies that featured Hiroshi Fujioka. The only real decent CD release of the year was the Ultraman 80/Andromelos Box Set. Song Collections are my bread and butter and I'm happy to have continued to build up the library.
Beyond that, deleting my instagram account because 'fuck you, Facebook', and a few tweets that people seemed to like...that's my entire year as CCLemon99.
I can't say that I've even gotten too much swag in the past year. SHFiguarts Toei Spider-man definitely gets the nod as figure of the year based on the fact that the only other figure I got this year was that funky Metalder Hero Action Figure. Yeah...it's alright, but it didn't really inspire me to pick up up the Gridman figure from the same company. I'll still with the ULTRA ACT...
Kiramager had some weird Henshin Items. I covered that in both issues of my stupid magazine. Again, I didn't think there was too much cool stuff in 2020. I picked up a few items from the past...so more Henshin Items from the 90s, etc.
My plans for 2021?
Get back into full series reviews. I have a bunch of them on the site, but really haven't been able to do many more recently. They're a lot of fun, but also a TON of work. Even with series that I'm very familiar with (Jetman-GoGo Five) it took a rapid rewatch (whole series in three-four days) to refresh my memory and take screencaps. I've struggled with Timeranger since...well, I'm not the most familiar with that one. I kinda dread going beyond that with Gaoranger and...well...the other one they put out on DVD.
They'll be back. I've had a lot of false starts. I'm really tired of watching the first 3-5 episodes of Timeranger before some real-world thing pops up and I'm forced to bail.
I've been pulling tons of books out from storage. If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I've been posting some fun and unusual images as I skim through. Yeah...you thought I was just about toys, CDs, and DVDs. I have books too. Lord help me.
I have a banger of a post coming up very soon that spawned from something I noticed in one of my books. It's a decade-old Sentai prop that could and still can be had for a few dollars on ebay. Are you curious? It's available *right now* and you'll just have to wait to see what it is. Unless I buy them all up first. I now have many, but the guy just keeps getting more... I'll stop now. You're gonna dig the post.
I also have a VHS mystery (oh yeah, I have a bunch of those too) that I'd like to move on. I've had this tape for decades and it involves (IIRC) an American band playing in a bar with a TV showing an episode of Fiveman. Does this sound familiar to you at all? Once I get the tech situation fixed I'd love to post the whole thing to Youtube if my memories of it are as bizarre as reality. My obsession with the commercial breaks of Tokusatsu really keep my VHS collection safe. There are tons of CMs on Youtube, but there are much, much more that aren't archived.
Beyond all that, I'm looking forward to getting that Hakaider Bluray and the Goranger manga early in 2021. Getting more Rider on Youtube is also on the agenda! Check out this press release from Toei. It may not seem like much, and it probably won't cover what we already have from Shout, but after a lifetime of "Piss off" from Toei, it's delightful to hear that they're going to be dipping their toes in the water a little more with a couple episodes from each series. If we watch it, we'll get more.
Yep, I was Toei's third subscriber to their Youtube Channel
I was working in Pennsylvania the day that State shut down and had my last restaurant meal to date at IKEA on the way home. The neighboring State that I live in shut down not long after. Time has been kinda fuzzy ever since. My life is work, home, and secluded hikes. Minus the traveling that I'm accustomed to...this is kinda what I've been doing this whole time. My wife has adapted to her whole thing as well.
I know it all sucks, but when you stop with the selfish bullshit and adapt...life isn't so bad. I don't want to wear a mask either, but I understand that it's the price I have to pay to live in this time. It's investing into a future that will happen sooner if everyone stops being fucking children. You can think this thing is a hoax and that it is *only* killing people who were old anyway (alarming sentiment...but OK), but the hospital admissions don't lie.
It's up to you to carve out a little bit of normalcy without bringing everyone else down with you. In spite of the other things that happened to me that I'm not even mentioning here, I've managed. You can do it too.
So let's make an effort for making 2021 a better place to be.
tl;dr I had every problem *except* COVID this year...but I also may have had COVID...
Anyway...that's all for this year.
Fuck you, 2020!
-CC
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHard to believe it's been decade since you started the blog.
I mentioned in previous blog post, that I didn't post much last year (ONLY ONCE!), due to personal life (regardless of pandemics) that gotten my way and overall a VERY busy year (at least I didn't lose my job; it's REALLY hard to get job these day).
I will try to post much as possible this year (if time allows... and healty!), since it's anniversary year for Tokusatsu (Ultraman (55), Rider (50), and Sentai (45)). Even though, Sentai has been rumored cancellation/last leg, I really hope Sentai would go 50, since it would shame if it's the ONLY major tokusatsu franchise not to reach that number.
Speaking of Tokusatsu, it's kind of interesting that Rider and Ultraman has gotten so much attention worldwide, due to digital distribution/streaming and Blu-ray (Ultraman), where we already got 13~15 series! It's crazy that Ultraman has been mostly unknown/obscure in West, but now we have more home media release (Mill Creek) than Sentai, which is crazy.
Sentai and Power Rangers has been lackluster in that area, especially what's going to happen for streaming (Netflix) for Power Rangers, where they are removing most seasons. Coincidence?
Regardless, I hope 2021 is going to be better year.
BTW, I don't think 2020 is the WORST year I experienced despite pandemics, since believe it or not, I faced worse... much WORSE before.
Take care.
I have to say that it's definitely fortunate to still have employment. My job is incredibly unusual in how it functions and what I do, but I do have to sometimes answer to a diminishing number of corporate overlords who have been cutting jobs around me and shoveling on more responsibilities. Literally the movie Office Space minus the accounting fraud and misbehaving printer. Though...they are cutting a lot of absolute dead weight, so I kinda don't blame them.
DeleteRegarding Super Sentai and it's future...I don't think it will ever die. Rider took a break when it was necessary...so did Ultraman. The only thing that kept Super Sentai floating along was Power Rangers. With a legitimate creative force like Hasbro free to do whatever they want with PR...maybe Toei can take that much needed nap. It's consistency will never be matched by Ultraman and Rider. That's pretty admirable.