John the Magician!

Name: John Browning

Blog Nick Name: The Black-Winged Magician

About the Nick Name: In all reality, I just though it would sound cool. When Augmented Reality decided to take me in, I saw Akia and Ruben (AKA SonicMan) and I thought they had dope nicknames and I thought it'd be cool if I made one of my own. At the time, I was just getting back into anime and the main object of my attraction was Yu-Gi-Oh!. I was surrounded by cards and one of the first rare cards I had managed to get at that time was Black-Winged Dragon. I also ADORE the Dark Magician so I mixed 'em both together and BAM!

Role: Director, founder of ShaDa Productions and Tokusatsu expert.

Specialties: Major Toku otaku. Let's just say I'm a white scarf and a few years away from being Akagi.

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Hello my milleniums! If you have no idea why I call y'all that, then you really have no idea who I am! Allow me to edumacate you. I'm John Browning, an up and coming director here. I'm pretty much a newbie still, but I'm learning about the scene. I started directing back in early 2011 with Kamen Rider DX, a fan-made Kamen Rider series. Lot of blood sweat and tears were put in but to no avail. I came up with the Blood of Razel concept around Jan., hit up Robo Gato for a little help and six months later here we are! At first, my basic game plan was to just reach out to Anime conventions, but since the wrap up of my first film, my plans are getting bigger and bigger by the minute! Along with Mike Cervantes, Ruben Rascon and MAS I have started a small production group called ShaDa Productions, otherwise known as Shadow Days Productions. Our mission is to make crazy and whacky films! If you're interested, hit us up at shadaproductions@yahoo.com! Or contact our Facebook.

Other than workin' on films, I'm also the local Toku expert here at Augmented Reality. I write articles called Supah Hero Time! I review tokusatsu shows and if you don't know what those are you can (sustained bleep) because even they are ashamed of you!... Just kidding ^.^ just check out my first Supah Hero Time here for a brief description! 

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Super Sentai: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and JyuKen Sentai Gekiranger

Kamen Rider: W(Double) and Fourze

Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist (both the original and Brotherhood)

Manga: Rosario+Vampire

Other Show: Awkard

Movies: Watchmen and SuckerPunch

Book: Chance Fortune and the Outlaws

Food: Fried Rice and good ol' Chinese buffet noodles.

Game System: PS2 and Xbox 360

Games: Bayonetta, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Dead Space

Supah Hero Time! Bring out the Otaku Rangers!

What's up my milleniums! Blackwinged Magician is back from a short hiatus! I just premiered Yu-Gi-Oh! The Blood of Razel yesterday. I would like to extend my thanks a hundred times over to everyone here at Augmented Reality who've made these past six months a blast! I'd also like to thank SummerCon and anyone who came to the panel!

Ok now that that's out of the way, welcome to another segment of-

From now on this will be a weekly segment and I'll be reviewing tokusatsu shows (namely Kamen Rider and Super Sentai) every week! Kinda like Akia-chan's Manga of the Week, Anime of the Week, etc. And today I'm gonna take a look at Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger!

Ok So I gave you guys a brief look at Akibaranger a while back, so today, I'm gonna go more in depth with the show.

Now the show unfortunately lasted 13 episodes (the 13^th being more of a clip show) but DAMN what 13 episodes those were! This series had as much character development, as much twists, and definitely as much story as a normal Sentai which runs for about 50 episodes! And you'd think you'd feel overwhelmed with a lot of stuff going on, but the beauty of Akibaranger is that you don't feel overwhelmed. The series flows nice and easy. It's prefect from start to finish and every episode had something to offer. As a matter of fact, none of the episodes just felt like fillers to me.

Now I'll go a little more in depth of the story. The first episode introduces the town of Akibahara (a true town in Japan) which is considered “otaku central”.

We meet Akagi, a 29 year old man obsessed with Sentai, Aoi-tan(an anime within the show itself) and a woman named Sayaka which he occasionally delivers packages to.

He constantly finds himself having delusions and this catches the attention of Hakase who has just enlisted Aoyagi, a martial arts student who is a closet otaku. She enlists Akagi to be an Akibaranger, while Akagi thinks he is merely being enlisted for an actual Sentai show.

Next they enlist Yumeria and the team is formed!

They are then taken to the Super Sentai Cafe, which serves as their base and all around awesome hang out spot!

Hakase and her assistant Kozkoz give the team their changers, the MMZ-01, or the Moe Moe Z-cunes and the team transforms for the first time!

The episode ends with the team meeting Malshina, having their first battle with a pretty lame anti-climax, and the team being told that the entire battle was just a delusion of theirs.

The rest of the show is just a hilarious, action-packed, perv-fest, with twists that could make your head spin. The show is beyond well and cleverly written. They say there MIGHT be a chance for a second season, and I think I speak for the countless fans when I say... TOEI IF YOU DON'T MAKE A SECOND SEASON I WILL TAKE YOUR (bleep) AND RUN IT THROUGH A WOOD CHIPPER!

Supah Hero Time! Adorable&Nostalgic War!

What's up my Milleniums! Welcome to another segment of-!

Today is special. You see, there's a tradition with Super Sentai and Kamen Rider which are the VS and Rider War movies! Every year the current sentai has a team-up movie with the previous sentai and the same goes for the current Kamen Rider. And recently, the subs for The Kamen RiderXKamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max was released! So now I can review it! (the thing about toku movies is that it takes longer to view them as they are released theatrically first, then after a few months, sold on DVD which is then subbed a few weeks later) So without making you wait any longer: let's begin!

The Rider War movies are usually split into three main segments: the first segment picks up where ther previous Kamen Rider series ended and serves as a continuation. The second segment is about the current Rider, and sometimes has no effect of the main plot of the show. The final segment is the team-up segment, where both Riders come together to defeat the main villain.

The OOO segment opens with the 7 Legendary Riders kicking Waste Yummies, Masquerade Dopants, and Dustards' behinds. Apparently, Foundation X (Kamen Rider Double) has been funding a project that involves both Medals(OOO) and Switches (Fourze).

Then we see a new Rider(Poseidon) that hails from the future kill several officers of the Kougami Foundation.

For some reason Ankh has returned, which Hina gets the impression that Eiji has fixed the core. They then discover that when Mako imploded, all the cores flew into the future and were absorbed accidentally by Miharu, turning him evil.

He was meant to be a Rider, but due to his fear of water, he wasn't able to be Kamen Rider Ocean, which the future Kougami then gave him the power to be Poseidon, before succumbing to the Medals. They defeat Poseidon and Miharu returns to the future, which shortly after Ankh disappears. Eiji reveals he never fixed the Core and Ankh probably came from the future, giving them hope that he will return. Suddenly Foundation members arrive and take Poseidon's Medals.

This segment is simply delightful. I was a huge fan of OOO though the ending of the series left me with an empty feeling. I felt that the story didn't resolve in a truly satisfying way, which mostly applied to Ankh's death and Eiji's loss of using OOO, which this segment fixed immediately. The action was amazing, namely the first fight with Date and Gotou vs Poseidon. The only thing I can complain on is the Power Ranger-esque explosions that appear behind Eiji in one scene, though the attack was a slash that was straightforward.

Also the fight in the Cous Coussiere was extrordinary, showing that Shu(Eiji) and Ryosuke(Ankh) are more than capable fighters! Also Sotonaka manages to bust some moves.

My waifu!

We then cut to Fuuto where Shoutaro intercepts some Foundation X members transporting something called SOLU.

It's so good to see Shoutaro in action again! Meanwhile, the space goop (SOLU) goes down a drain and excapes.

Cut to Amanogawa High School and the Kamen Rider Club is participating in a festival(NOTE: This takes place after Fourze has just received Switch #20: Fire)

And people say I'M a dork? Anyway, a girl falls from the sky and Gentarou catches her.

Ok, forget Satonaka, THIS IS MY WAIFU! A fight then ensues where Nadeshiko(girl that fell from sky) transforms into a female version of Fourze!

Even her henshin is ADORABLE! >.<

AND she attacks with a bear hug?! *throws on Monster Suit*

Um...

Gen-chan, you perv!

They wrap up the fight and Gentarou then goes out with Nadeshiko

My KAWAII meter is off the charts!!! Ok it doesn't take you long to realize that Nadeshiko is actually the SOLU that took the form of the actual Nadeshiko. I won't give much else away cause, well just watch it :,(

This segment is just GREAT. The romance between Nadeshiko and Gentarou is ADORABLE to say the least. I've always enjoyed the fight scenes in Fourze too so there's nothing to complain about.. Well... there is ONE thing … :,(

The next segment involves Fourze, OOO, Double, and the 7 Legendary Riders kicking villain booty. 

This final segment is action packed and does NOT dissapoint. All in all the ENTIRE film is GREAT. It gives me a much more satisfied ending to OOO, it's nostalgic to see Double fight again, and Fourze has been nothing but a great series. The fight scenes are STUPENDOUSLY choreographed and there wasn't a single moment where I felt uninterested. This is a MUST watch for fans of Double, OOO, and Fourze. Oh before I forget, the movie ends with a sneak peek at Kamen Rider Meteor, Fourze's secondary Rider.

I LOVE this Rider War movie and will definitely be looking forward to the Super Hero Taisen Movie which will pit Sentai against Riders!

Aw.... :,)