In a roundabout way, it feels like we're finally getting successors to the audio dramas.

Now

*Make them kiss*

Particularly if there's something very important going on onscreen. Had that happen a few times during some very big Plot Moments somewhat recently...

That being said VLC does have a tendency to hang for a few seconds from time to time and anything with very quick, frequent cuts seems to cause problems, especially when transitioning from one file to the next. It's nothing stream-ruining but it can be a major headache-

VLC does the job 99.99999% of the time for me barring the occasional flub or network issue, and in that case there's not much to be done other than wait for it to sort itself out. I know my partner has a couple of things as backup but I keep forgetting what and I've never *needed* them so far.

That's how I do it every week! Though depending on your player of choice and Discord itself, expect some hiccups from time to time.

It's shown by the time of Message that without the armors they can't even stand to be around each other, the pain is so great. It'll be interesting to see how things have developed from there in the last 37 years.

The OVAs and audio dramas do of course address this to varying extents and degrees, but it never does feel like we truly get much insight into everyone and their internal lives.

It always feels like there's just that little bit missing.

I blame that more on a very, very lean production than anything, and it wasn't exactly unique in how focused its cast was, particularly for its budget and demographic. It worked well for the Tokyo segments in the first half of the series, not so much when they went cross-country and so on.

I don't need Shin Den Samurai Troopers to be Show of the Decade, Year, or even week. I just want it to be good enough to pull off what it's aiming for, balancing what works now and then while addressing where its predecessor fell short.

Again none of this is groundbreaking or unique, but for something that's been dormant for nearly 40 years to decide to shake everything up like this, in a world of so many legacy franchises that've been far more active in that time to now be playing it increasingly safe- it's *impressive*.

They aren't just resting on their laurels. They could so easily make thus just About the original cast. But they've *learned*. They're expanding, building in the Troopers' legacy both in and out of series, fixing what they left out the first time around.

These are all basic gags but the lack of humor, lack of actual interpersonal conflict and building the team despite their friction, was something that really held back the original series and wasn't really touched on outside the audio dramas, which were produced late to after the show's run.

Is this excitement? Am I actually excited about a piece of media in Year of our Lady 2025? There's something out there that actually got my cold iron heart pumping again?

Because I like what I'm seeing here!