Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

Before James Earl Jones voiced Darth Vader (and that was before JEJ became Movie Thulsa in Conan the Barbarian ) - we have the late David Prowse. Prowse was the suit actor and JEJ was the voice actor. Prowse' voice sounds like DARK HELMET - a villain acted by Rick Moranis. Sure, a lot of these people are already old but they gave their best in their younger years.  Meanwhile, we have Dark Helmet whose helmet does the EXACT opposite of Darth Vader's. There was no reason for Dark Helmet to wear that helmet. I guess Rick was chosen was to play Dark Helmet because of a similar voice.  Sadly, Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger decided to rip off Return of the Jedi instead of Spaceballs . I mean, it'd be funny if a Dark Helmet proxy frequently lived in fear of Don Armage's terrible temper. After all, the main character is named Lucky - an obvious parody of the hero Lucky Starr by Paul Asimov. Spaceballs would create Lone Starr. 

Back in 2015 - we had that DUMPSTER FIRE of a show known as Shuriken Sentai Ninninger . I even laughed while I watched Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger vs. Shuriken Sentai Ninninger when a child said, "The history of Super Sentai, is over!" It's because Super Sentai started to have lower ratings. Sure, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and Ressha Sentai ToQGer got vindicated. Ninninger ? It's probably not because it's only SLIGHTLY BETTER than Power Rangers Ninja Steel . I still think Ninninger deserves to be bashed. My eyes even popped out when it introduced Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya into the series. That series is just so plain 1980s!  Watching the show reminds me of how mature Metal Hero can get. Chojinki Metalder was so mature that was forcibly rushed to just 39 episodes . After watching Tokkei Winspector - I dare state that it's better written than Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive . I don't think  Super Sentai ever achieved that level of maturity - not even the overly serious  Mir...

1993 wasn't just the year when Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers entered. Haim Saban had a contract with Marvel with X-Men: The Animated Series . The late Stan Lee was an executive producer of this show via Marvel Productions. Unlike most Marvel cartoons (which are toned-down versions), the animation came first before the comics. This was another show I remember watching and enjoying the crazy antics. Behind the crazy antics were some injuries that hit the heroes. Throttle has bionic eye. Vinnie's face was mutilated. Modo lost an arm. Okay, those happened OFF-SCREEN but you do know it's not a laughing matter. It's got some comedy involved but not to the point of being slapstick. I confess to having a crush on Charlene Davidson (aka Charley). It's hinted she and Vinnie are an item. I must admit she was a lame reason to watch the show. If there was Kimberly Hart for Mighty Morphin' then there was Charlene for this show. Need I mention I also crushed on Jean Grey f...

  The original Beast King Golion came out in 1981 and got localized for Americans in 1984. Speak about three-year gap between the source material AND the adaptation. It's unlike that Haim Saban and Toei did when Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers came out in 1993 while the source material was in 1992. It's safe to assume that Toei wanted to recover some of their losses and allowed World Events Productions to edit things out. One of the biggest changes was Lion Voltron's story was the background. Lion Voltron's titular hero was this magnificent defender of the Universe. As Keith's narration went, Voltron was terrific and put those robots out of business. However, King Zarkon had an ace on his sleeve with Hagar. Hagar disguised herself as a beautiful goddess. Lion Voltron went near and Hagar cursed the robot. Lion Voltron was fragmented into five robot lions.  Then there was the Omega Comet plot. I was wondering why there was a goddess who was empowering Lion Voltron. ...

What I didn't bother to write about (at first) was Discotek's release of other Toei-created media. I got too focused on Shout! Factory releases such as when Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger had its licensed release. Now, Shout! Factory Super Sentai DVD releases are currently with Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger . Kidou Keiji Jiban is getting its June 2024 release and turned 35 this year.  Sure, I didn't find myself a huge fan of this series. I may enjoy the theme song but I'm not a big fan of it. It can be attributed to my incredible favoritism for Tokosou Robo Janperson . Toei doesn't shy away from American pop culture references despite cultural differences. 1978 became the year when Toei dared to create its own Spider-Man with a Marvel license. However, Toei may have decided they were better off creating Japanese superheroes inspired by American superheroes than adapting them. IMHO, I still think Saban Entertainment adapted Spider-Man better than the strange concoction Toei cam...

Batman had several love interests such as Talia (whom he had a child with in many variations), Batgirl, but it seems none is more iconic and bandwagoned as CATWOMAN. I watched the 1966 Batman live-action TV series. The late Adam West portrayed Batman and Julie Newmar played Catwoman. The two are enemies while Catwoman has an on/off crush on Batman. Catwoman's often depicted as someone with a Villainous Crush on Batman. Unlike the other villains, Catwoman gradually walked into the path of being an anti-villain to even becoming an anti-hero. Batman: The Animated Series presented sexual tensions between Batman and Catwoman. What disappointed me was that there was no love triangle between Catwoman and Poison Ivy for Batman . Poison Ivy kissed Batman the first time they met. Catwoman also kissed Batman. The show decided to go for Batman and Catwoman instead. People by now should realize that I prefer to ship Batman and Poison Ivy. I even think that Poison Ivy may make a good stepmother ...

Conan the Adventurer came out in 1992 - 10 years after Conan the Barbarian (1982) . The revelation isn't startling IF one realizes that Conan was NEVER meant to be for children. Hasbro needed to find ways to tone things down. 1992 was also the year when Haim Saban decided to go for an X-Men adaptation with a lot of necessary censorship . Conan the Adventurer was no different. I think Wrath-Amon (and even the series' true antagonist Set the Serpent God) were both toned down for that reason. Wrath-Amon is Set's high priest. Wrath-Amon is tasked with gathering the Star Metal, build seven great pyramids, and that would allow Set the Serpent God to wreak havoc on Earth. Wrath-Amon is clearly a Serpentor Expy. Serpentor was an artificially created COBRA Emperor made by Destro and Dr. Mindbender. Wrath-Amon had some reptilian features and more of them would show up IF he was exposed near Star Metal. The Star Metal was an effective weapon to send the Serpent Men to another dimensio...

Toei's bizarre experimentations with Western ideas give birth to weird villains. Professor Monster from Supaida-Man was practically inspired by Doctor Doom. Toei also took ideas from Knight Rider creating Tokkei Winspector and Kamen Rider Drive . Robocop was given two shows that gave tribute to him namely Kidou Keiji Jiban (which is getting a licensed sub release) and inspired the look for the otherwise fully mechanical titular hero of Tokosou Robo Janperson . I never bothered to write this "insignificant detail" from Kamen Rider BLACK RX .  Anybody familiar with G.I. Joe may notice that General Jark may resemble Destro. Destro later wore a gold mask and a cape and it's his Iron Grenadier uniform. I guess Toei really liked Destro's alternate outfit and created General Jark. Unlike Destro, General Jark wasn't the type to answer back to his superior Grand Lord Crisis and hated the way General Dasmader (who's actually Grand Lord Crisis' host body) treated...

  There's always that desire for escapism. School can be boring but if facing danger involved learning newer stuff than just getting stuck in the classroom then why not? Part of my childhood was watching ThunderCats (1985) and I didn't watch that reboot. This show featured humanoid cats who escaped to the Third Earth. My favorite was Lion-O maybe because he was the leader or he endured the most hardship. I can't be sure why Lion-O was my favorite. There are times I preferred some sideline character like how Vegeta is my all-time favorite character in Dragon Ball Z or how Zero is my favorite in the Megaman X series.  The orignal season had Tygra (who can become invisible and master of mind tricks), Panthro (whose design may have inspired Kintaro in Mortal Kombat II ), Cheetara who was a female version of Flash, and the twins Wily Kit and Wily Kat. Lion-O started off as a child but due to some malfunction in the capsules - he became a man-child. It gets interesting how Lion-O...

  I may no longer like Marvel because of how New Disney screwed it up. However, I'd like to share some moments of Cable and Stryfe. Cable is the son of Cyclops and the Jean Grey clone, Madelyne Pryor. Unlike Saban's X-Men: The Animated Series , the comics don't shy away from brutal violence. Apocalypse was awakened when Cyclops' and Madelyne's son, Nathan Christopher Charles Pryor Summers, was born. Nathan's powers manifested since infancy.  Apocalypse would have the right to be amazed and fear the child. Apocalypse kidnaps the infant Nathan and infects him with the Techno-Organic Virus (TOV). Did Apocalypse do it so he could kill Nathan? Nonsense! Instead, it was looking for a new body that would give Apocalypse the longevity to do so.  The decision was painful. Cyclops makes a tough love decision to leave Cable to the mysterious Mother Askani. Mother Askani is actually Rachel Summers - an alternate-reality daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey. Okay, I'm still...