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12-27-2020, 01:08 AM | #11 |
Suprise Gamma Future
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,852
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Favorite New Show of 2020
Ultraman Z - it fired on all cylinders and got so much right, not the least of which was streaming to bigger audiences on Youtube. Favorite New-to-You Show of 2020 Dogengers - just full of charm. Fans who are nostalgic for "old toku" (read: not Showa toku) owe it to themselves to give this show a go. The show is not beholden to selling any toys or merch so its just a nice straightforward premise. Favorite Rewatch of 2020 Kamen Rider Decade - something about 2020 being the end of a decade made me feel like I should rewatch the series. I think it holds up rather well, though I can see how at the time it premiered, there was a lot to be dissatisfied about. Favorite Movie of 2020 Geiz Majesty - I've always secretly liked Geiz even if his character-archtype is a little played out in Kamen Rider. The soft reset of the movie gives it a fun high school drama vibe, plus I'm always partial to movies featuring secondary riders. Favorite Male Lead Character Aruto Hiden - It's great that he's a comedian. And his funny antics translate well even while in suit. I think he'll be fun and dynamic when appearing in any crossovers. Favorite Female Lead Character Yoko Nakashima - She has quite the journey in Z. I loved that she was a no-nonsense badass that just got things done. Favorite Male Supporting Character So far it must be Rintaro Shindo, Kamen Rider Blades. Though I don't like his name, his character is the right amount of predictable and complimentary as a secondary rider. Favorite Female Supporting Character Lot's of good ones to pick for this but I will have to go with Yuka Ohta. Her enthusiasm is perfect, and she is actually responsible for being the comedic anchor throughout most of Ultraman Z. Favorite Villain Thouser - You love to hate the guy. Favorite Returning Past Character Juggus Juggler - boy did I really feel like not only was he the toku-veteran of the Ultraman Z cast, his status as a top tier actor gave natural credence to him being the leader of STORAGE. He just reeks of confidence and affability. Favorite Actor I have to give this one to Atomu Mizuishi/Kiramei blue. Portraying an actor portraying a super hero portraying an actor is amazing. He does a lot of small details that I think really... shine in the Sentai format. Favorite Actress Rima Matsuda - She displayed a wide range of emotions throughout Ultraman Z, and they all felt grounded even in a sometimes larger than life character. Matsuda has done some serious dramatic acting in prior roles and it really shows when you see how different she is among her parts. Noa Tsurushima - It remains to be seen if she did too good of a job as Izu. I hope it doesn't typecast her into that kind of role. Favorite Suit Design Zero One Zero One Zero One - The return of the grasshopper motif. The ultraviolent color. It's so beautiful and fits the universe it belongs in so well. I cannot say enough about this suit design and the general aesthetic of Zero One in general. Fantastic! Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha Mashin Zabyun would've been a given due to my affection for train-themes, but then out of nowhere we get Sevenger with his rocket propelled fist and optional driller hand. He drills right into my heart. Favorite Fight Scene This is probably the hardest question for me to answer. Some of the top fight scenes would be: Zero-One vs Ichi-gata in Reiwa The First Generation The ground and robot combo fight scene in Ep. 33 Kiramager Ultraman Z Ep 22 #1 is probably debut of Rampage Vulcan Favorite Dramatic Scene Final episode of Ultraman Z - it has just about everything I look for in toku. Favorite Comedic Scene The first Kiramei Blue feature episode where he learns that he doesn't always need to pretend to be cool. The whole episode is a funny buildup to the ending where the other Kiramagers tease him for doing a Youtube live-blogging style reveal of the lesson he learned. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment I know Sentai has a history of ridiculous robot action but there's one robot fight where, if I recall correctly, one robot attaches to the back of the other and they just do a spin attack. Its so ridiculous even the characters in the show say "How does this even work?" Favorite Song This one https://open.spotify.com/track/76De3...ToqtYuJLeOlrGg It was used so well in the "Aruto explains something profound to others" moments. Favorite Piece of Merchandise I just love that the Zero-One merchandise got away with using text-to-speech for the Henshins and it just works. I put it right up there with the absolutely classic Henshin sounds of the Faiz gear. Hmmm maybe these tech-based riders are on to something... Biggest Surprise of 2020 Ark One reveal. Biggest Disappointment of 2020: Zero-One Covid filler episodes. Zero-One will always be remembered as the Toku show that Covid hit the hardest. We're left wondering what it could've been and endless speculation spurred on by tidbits from production crew. Also Yua's development On a more positive note: I will say the music from 2020 Tokusatsu has been really great. It's rare for me to enjoy the majority of songs from all the tentpole franchise. Ultraman's OP and Connect the Truth are phenomenal. Kiramager's OP fits really well with the show and I for one am happy to see another good end credits theme and dance. We had the Geiz Majesty song, many many excellent tracks from Zero-One and I might be alone here but I adore the adore the Saber songs. Some of the Saber songs feel out of place, but I think when all is said and done, they will be remembered fondly.
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Last edited by ShiShiLeo; 12-27-2020 at 01:12 AM.. |
12-27-2020, 01:33 AM | #12 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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Aight lemme just make mind a bit simple.
Favorite New Show of 2020 ZERO-ONE! For all of its flaws in the writing and how some of its characters being handled, I've never been this positive and already missing the cast since Drive! With Build being close. The return to the bug motif and the amazing suits, it was perfection. This is also one of the few shows that got me to want to keep in touch on to what the cast's next performances be, with Fumiya Takahashi being a psycopath in some school drama. Favorite New-to-You Show of 2020 Ultraman Z! I've had my tabs on Ultraman for a while but could never get into it since I wasn't a fan of "big weird alien hero", until now! I haven't watched Ultraman since Zero and this was a blast to watch. It was also very comfy of it being like the regular saturday morning good vs evil cartoon show. Favorite Rewatch of 2020: Carnival Phantasm and SSSS Gridman Didn't do much rewatching this year aside from the my tradition of watching Carnival Phantasm on Christmas and also rewatching SSSS Gridman cuz of Dreamsword's thread. Favorite Movie of 2020 It could have been Fate/Stay Night Heaven's feel III, but it got delayed cuz of the 'rona. So, it's Reiwa The First Generation! I love me some ZI-O, I love Zero-One and so this was a perfect casual watching, BUT, I was surprised that there was some actual emotionally-grabbing scenes in this movie and RealxTime also alludes to a possibility of more toku films just having more emotional bits rather than "ye action and crossovers! Woohoo!". Really enjoyed this movie. Favorite Male Lead Character: Hiden Aruto/Fumiya Takahashi Love this guy! I wasn't sold on him at first cuz of his weird voice during Q1, but Fumiya's performance improved DRASTICALLY over the year! I've heard that he was absolutely stunning in RealxTime so I am SO excited for that one! Favorite Female Lead Character: Yoko Nakashima I'm a mecha fan, as simple as that. Bit annoyed that Yoko only a got a few wins in Z, but in the simple merit that she's a mecha pilot is enough for me. Rima Matsuda's performance as Cerebro was awesome, though! Favorite Male Supporting Character: AMATSU GAI! KAMEN RIDER THOUSER! This was 1000%, super obvious! How I became to love him was a very funny story. I came back from reading Nagatoro and a thought came up on my mind. "Man, I kinda want me a smug and rude Kamen Rider." AND THEN BOOM! The Golden Soldier is born! I didn't care that anyone said that Amatsu Gai is this, that, whatever! I fucking love him AND his actor who was the perfect candidate: Nachi Sakuragi! Favorite Female Supporting Character: Yaiba Yua Pretty simple. I love me some female riders and it was always exciting to see Yua transform and do those crazy stunts. Favorite Villain: Horobi or Amatsu Gai It's tied to between them. Pretty satisfied with how Horobi was handled in the show, apart from being stuck in a chair for most of Q2 and was glad he survived the end of the show. He has the best Forceriser suit too! I already stated Amatsu Gai. Favorite Returning Past Character/s: ZI-O cast (especially Sougo) in Geiz Majesty and Reiwa TFG. I love ZI-O and it's always fun to see Sougo and friends just doing stuff. Favorite Actor: Nachi Sakuragi and Keisuke Watanabe I don't wanna let this be overtaken by Gai again, so I'm putting Keisuke Watanabe! Amazing actor as two versions of Woz. His IWAEs never get old, and I'm glad his acting career took off after ZI-O! Favorite Actress: Angela Mei and Noa Tsurushima In that order. What a surprise! Barely in Saber for now, but I'm sure she'll show up more often in this quarter. The moment I saw her on-screen making those evil smiles, I KNOW she was gonna be an instant favorite. She'll be a Thouser 2.0 for me if she transforms! Noa also belongs in here since she did well as both Izu and Azu(especially). She did great and it was so heartwarming to see that pic of Fumiya and Noa hugging while Fumiya was crying. I think it was also in Ura-Rider where Noa admits to Fumiya that he was the one she was most grateful for in all of 2020. Cute. Favorite Writer: Kota Fukihara Sad that he had to go. But the episodes he directed were very good! Favorite Director: Sakamoto Koichi[/B] He directed the best episodes in Saber IMO and I wish he would do more episodes more often. Favorite Suit Design: Rampage Vulcan It would've been 02 and Shining Hopper, but let my man Fuwa in on here! Rampage Vulcan is a gorgeous suit that's just popping with color. A shame it was technically a kitbash suit, I wish the right side was more new, but it was still amazing to watch. And a refresher for the secondary to get the "all powers" upgrade. Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha: Thousand Jacker, AIMs Van, and Sevenger! Pretty obvious for Thousand Jacker, with it being also a very good "all powers" sword. AIMs Van is here cuz I love me some military-esque vehicles, and Sevenger since that is just the most adorable anti-monster super weapon! Favorite Fight Scene: Ark-One vs Ark Horobi It had this weird and similar "Kuuga vs Daguva Zeba" vibe for me. Not sure if everyone felt the same. I love the UBW-esque fight they had and the two just brutally going at it each other with every ounce of emotion clashing! Favorite Dramatic Scene: 001 vs Type-1 Already stated why, it was a surprise for me that the fight had some level of emotional heart in it! Couple it with two great suits and an amazing soundtrack, it was quite the scene to watch! I still listen to the OST sometimes. Favorite Comedic Scene: Any "ARUTO JAAA NAITO!" moment Just the sheer amount of faces Fumiya can make gets a snicker for me everytime it happens. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment: Saber's Dragon-Hedgehog-Peter finisher or Kingexcalibur's Saber Saber Buff Tinker Bell and a Saber Saber? It was quite interesting to watch/ Favorite Song: Kamen Rider Saber ED and Thousand Destruction I love the jazz in Saber's ED and Thousand Destruction just sounds so powerful! Favorite Piece of Merchandise: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero-One He's, uh, in an unfortunate situation right now, but he stayed in my desktop since February! This would've been taken for sure by SHF Thouser, but he hasn't arrived yet. Biggest Surprise of 2020: finding myself buying P-Bandai SHFs Aside from the 'rona, 2020 was the first year for me buying up some premium bandai stuff. I never thought I'd do that, but when you want something, you gotta have it. Biggest Disappointment of 2020: S.H. Figuarts Zero-One's broken horn Nothing disappointed me too hard. But when my Zero-One fell and the horns snapped off, I felt my heart sank. It happened at the tail end of 2020, too! What miserable turnoff. I bought the entry grade and waiting for it arrive, so I can replace the mask, maybe. Last edited by TheRaizin; 12-27-2020 at 01:38 AM.. |
12-27-2020, 05:31 AM | #13 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 462
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I was just glad that Yua at least didn't die!
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12-27-2020, 02:14 PM | #14 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,577
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Favorite New Show of 2020:
Ultraman Z, hands down. It was just a fun ride the whole way through, and it was refreshing to watch Ultraman weekly again after skipping Ultra due to R/B and Taiga not getting simulsub releases. The action was incredible, it had a really great cast, and it was just fun all around. Plus it fulfilled one of the things I had hoped for with Ultra, which is giant robots fighting alongside the Ultra. It lead to some unique scenes and just in general it had some of my favorite reintroduction's to prior Kaiju, Bullton being one of them. Hands down my favorite show this year. Favorite New-to-You Show of 2020: So this is a bit hard since I barely watched "new to me" shows but I can give a definitive answer or rather two, Garo: Vanishing Line & Ultraman Ginga(Just Ginga, have yet to start Ginga S). Now one is an anime yes but it's also based on the Live Action series so it technically counts! Vanishing Line is a real nice look at a more modern/high tech version of Garo that we don't get to really see. Since while most Garo takes place in the modern world, the technology doesn't heavily mix with the Makai Order. At least until we got stuff like Versus Road. So it makes things a lot more interesting, plus I just love Sword and Luke probably has one of my favorite character arcs in Garo as well. So I now ask, WHEN IS MY VANISHING LINE MOVIE?! Ginga meanwhile was a show I was really absolutely curious about because I had to wonder what it even was given it's reputation. Now I had actually watched it back when it aired and Overtime I think subbed it via a streamer who was watching episodes weekly with an audience. That was the most experience I had with it and I remember not gelling with it. But with multiple Ultra's under my belt I chose to tackle it again and it is easily in my Top 4 New Gen shows alongside Z, Geed and X. What it lacks in budget it manages to make up in heart. Also both the Opening and Ending theme on the Blu-Ray release are just great to listen to. I make that distinction since Ginga no Uta is technically a second OP used for later broadcasts and releases. The original OP is also cool though. Favorite Movie of 2020: Garo Moonbow Traveler, so one of the many themes of this list is going to be catharsis. And oh man, having watched the entirety of Garo last year (Minus Crimson Moon and Vanishing Line) was an amazing experience. And it turned out to work in my favor since Moonbow Traveler was just around the corner. Of course we'd have to wait for a Blu-Ray and then people to sub-wait what do you mean the movie has actual English Subs? WHAT?! The minute I found that out I torrented it and watched it as I was in for a magical ride. The first half is very much a whimsical Garo experience in regards to the setting it takes place in, and it manages to capture that nice feel alongside a building mystery. Then suddenly for our second act we're thrown fully into the main portion and final confrontation of the movie. I'll get more to my thoughts on Kouga, hint, hint, but seeing a Grandfather, Father and Son reunion against an old foe was honestly great. And it just knew, freaking knew how to tug at the heartstrings. It definitely felt like a big send-off to the Saejima Universe and also, I appreciate how the ending has basically given Fanfiction Writers the ability to do wacky dimension crossover stuff given what Raiga and Mayuri come across at the end. A concept I want to eventually possibly dable in. Favorite Male Lead Character: I have to give this to my boy Haruki Natsukawa, he's a very loud and energetic character. He gives off very big shonen/mecha protagonist vibes and was just a good fit as the host to Ultraman Z. When I was worried he wouldn't go anywhere meaningful I was quickly shut up by a good chunk of the early middle of the show once we got into his past more alongside his dilemma with the kaiju. Just seeing him grow and try his hardest and now seeing where he ended up, it just makes me happy to have been with him on this journey. Favorite Female Lead Character: I've got to give this to Izu, and I know blasphemous, I have Haruki instead of Aruto? When Aruto and Izu should be a pair? Not to say that I don't like Aruto, but Haruki edged him out just by a bit. Izu though, an absolute joy to witness alongside her later development. Her banter with Aruto and just the back and forth she had was really what sold me on her. Favorite Male Supporting Character: Captain Hebikura aka Jugglus Juggler, while he was a great returning character, he honestly shined when he wasn't really being the sneaky Juggler we know, but as Captain Hebikura. While the dude has some old habits, which admittedly, are just him trying to lie to himself, he's really grown since his time in Orb. So seeing him take a commanding role in the series, and show genuine concern for his subordinates was honestly great. The real highlight was him and Haruki having their chat in the final episode, both their secrets are known to each other and they're just having a casual conversation as they get ready for the final battle. Favorite Female Supporting Character: This is going to surprise some people since I'm sure not a lot of people are keen on her from what I see. Yua Yaiba from Zero-One. While admittedly she got heavily shafted once we started the Job Competition, I honestly enjoyed what we got from her arc and what was given to her. Her arc is very straightforward, bare and simple, but it honestly works and I love her shift. Could it have been done better and in a more smooth way? Yeah, but I'm still sticking with this choice. Favorite Villain: So this is going to be another bit of a shocker, and a return to Garo, and no it's not from Moonbow Traveler. It's the duo of Shosetsu Hagiri and Azami Kado from Versus Road. There's just something so incredibly tragic about a twisted Makai Order forcing Knights into a death game and then being killed due to the surviving Knights distaste for what had happened. With vengeance fueled by someone who is just pure darkness like Azami, they make a pretty good duo that do some pretty messed up things to a hundred humans, possibly even more. But what's satisfying is that in both of their cases, they end up losing. Despite Hagiri's yelling about how Veil is true power, he ends up losing, not by sword but by fist. And Azami is completely lost on Kuon's final speech, not understanding where he's coming from and being frustrated that she can't understand him. Favorite Returning Past Character: Continuing with Garo, absolutely, without a question. Kouga Saejima's return in Moonbow Traveler, there's just something great about seeing him again in this movie. Especially once he makes his true appearance in the flesh. One thing noted is that Kouga does show up in Makai Retsudan but the theme he has is Theme of Makai Senki, the second series' first OP. But once we see him make his full appearance here, we get Theme of Garo from the first series. Just hearing it start up gave me chills and seeing him truly in action again was honestly great. Favorite Actor: I gotta give this to my boy Ryutaro Okada who played Isamu Fuwa in Zero-One. He's a real good actor and honestly what made me love him wasn't just his performance as Fuwa, but his Youtube channel where he just jokes around, does funny things with the other actors, and wears a gorilla mask when handling roleplay toys. Honestly a fun dude all around. Favorite Actress: Noa Tsurushima is on here because of her just spectacular performance as Izu in particular. I loved Azu, and seeing her get to emote. But just seeing Noa as Izu who has to constantly be shown as mostly stoic, keeping a straight face, and genuinely robotic, is honestly impressive. It makes the moment in Episode 40 when she breaks down even better because of her performance up until that point. Favorite Suit Design: Kamen Rider Zero-Two! It's never over. There's just something very nice and aesthetically pleasing of Zero-Two, it's a natural evolution of Rising Hopper, and it's sleek and minimalist look with the added silver and red honestly make it amazing. Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha: It would be blasphemous to not put Sevenger on here, because if you told me I would be in love with this adorable gigantic mecha a year ago I would have just said "Who's Sevenger?" and be blissfully ignorant. I love Sevenger so much to the point I want that Sevenger headband that they had in that one episode, SELL ME THAT MERCH TSUPRO! Favorite Fight Scene: This is a hard one, so I'm picking four: Ultraman Z, Geed, and Zero vs. Celebro: It's a really nice energetic fight set to Ultra Spiral which is an absolute banger of a theme, and we get to see Z and Zero cycle through their various forms, combining forces and it's just great. The Saejima Family vs. Ouga: There is no fancy Final Hour Power Up, no big new form, it's just Son, Father, and Grandfather sharing armor and kicking ass via their own fighting styles to defeat what is possibly one of the strongest Makai Armor's in the franchise. It's an absolute blast to see them all working together, tagging each other in, and the final slash scene. The first of my Zero-One picks, Rampage Vulcan's Debut: So there's been a lot of catharsis going on in this list of things I just loved to see in regards to returning characters and etc. But Rampage Vulcan is honestly one of the strongest Secondary Rider final form debuts I've seen in a while. It has energy, it has Vulcan using multiple of the new gimmicks functions, and just seeing all the combined powers before getting a really cool final attack at the end was a treat. Also it was the start of the "Gai gets his shit wrecked" set of episodes too. My second Zero-One Pick, Ark-One vs. Horobi and Magia Army: Speaking of very, very overpowered forms. Ark-One is a monster of a form and the episode surrounding Ark-One's hunt of Horobi is absolutely great. Just seeing Ark-One littered with explosions, still moving forward, despite being grabbed he just keeps on trucking. Nothing is stopping this behemoth, and he's just disabling every single Magai with just his hands. And just seeing Horobi, who up to this point has managed to hold his own quite well because, robot/AI, just get absolutely wrecked by Ark-One is scary and amazing to see. Also props to the scene where Ark-One is just walking towards Horobi slowly and charging up Conclusion End while Horobi tried to counter with his own kick only to get it shut down. Favorite Dramatic Scene: I have to give it up for Aruto vs Horobi in their final battle, the emotions in that scene, both people who are in pain because of the losses each other caused. Both of them coming to the realization that this can't be kept up, and that they need to end this cycle of violence in a different way, it was honestly just great. Favorite Comedic Scene: Can I just pick the entirety of Ultraman Z Episode 13? Yeah I'm going to pick the entirety of Ultraman Z Episode 13. It's a good bit of levity with some serious moments, but the real fun and funny parts come from Haruki trying to hide Kanegon from both Hebikura and Yuka, one of which is screwing with Haruki and the other Haruki fears is going to dissect his new alien buddy. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment: Saber's first big Wonder Combo finish via Dragon, Hedgehog, Peter Fan, I mean honestly if you know what I'm talking about, I shouldn't really have to go into detail. That was something I did not see coming and just kept yelling at the screen while cheering loudly because holy hell that was amazing but confusing! Favorite Song: Listen I have to give it up to Chant My Name Z, Masaki Endoh killed it this year with the song and it's nice to see that he got to sing for Ultraman. As for my second favorite song... something that only got revealed about a week ago actually, the ending theme for Saber's Winter Special that double billed with Zero-One RealxTime, Taju Rokou: It's got a nice mix of funk and jazz that I really appreciate alongside the energy it brings. Really fun song. Favorite Piece of Merchandise: I'm going to say Zero-One Driver with the Zero-Two Unit, I had managed to snag that two pack and eventually got it. Honestly the Zero-One Driver is fun and I just love the way they were like "Behold, we have turned it into a new Driver via a Faceplate swap" they did with the Zero-Two Unit, and subsequently have done for everything else too. Biggest Surprise of 2020: Ultraman Z's Youtube run being a Simulcast Sub release only 30 minutes after it airs in Japan. That honestly made my night and I was just yelling with joy as I shilled people to watch Ultraman Z weekly. |
12-27-2020, 03:02 PM | #15 |
Suprise Gamma Future
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,852
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I was just reminded of the "Time-out" Saber scene and maybe that is my top WTF moment of 2020.
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01-03-2021, 04:23 AM | #16 |
Most-hated user. Kill him
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Imaginationland
Posts: 1,813
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Biggest Surprise of 2020
I got cancer. Biggest Disappointment of 2020 I'm slowly dying of cancer. At least some people will be happy.
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01-03-2021, 05:33 AM | #17 |
TokuKnight89
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Central Louisiana (Cenla)
Posts: 2,554
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01-03-2021, 08:09 AM | #18 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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Quote:
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01-03-2021, 06:19 PM | #19 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,717
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I'm not a judging man, but those people who'd be 'happy' seem like complete jerks. I pray that you recover.
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