Laser Knees – TrialOfHeroes

So Your Humble Hosts have had a bit more time with the newest member of the Kiramager crew and uh we’re still having some trouble with the guy. But we soldier on regardless because if nothing else, there’s some intensely clever Super Sentai stuff going on even if Silver’s kind of frustrating. So, in this … Continue reading Laser Knees 117 – (That’s a Bit Too) Quick, Silver

It’s our last episode of Laser Knees before the Covid-induced hiatus hits and, unsurprisingly, your favorite (we’re just going to assume, don’t bother correcting us) hosts have some observations to make. In this episode, Sono appreciates some playful tweaking of the rules, Aleph takes issue with some common “wisdom” about kids who are jerks, and … Continue reading Laser Knees 115 – Burning Bridges

It’s time to brave the dark depths and horror of these quarantimes to fight the terror!  And to do that, an old friend’s popped back up to take the reins from ToH all-star Narahisu Arakawa to… mixed emotions.  So join your incandescent interlocutors for another wild ride toward the heart of the fun with Mashin … Continue reading Laser Knees 114 – That New Machine

We’re back with another episode of Laser Knees, taking a look at the newest Super Sentai series, Kiramager!  Our crazy diamonds have been shining up a storm with new toys and unfortunate implications and your incandescent interlocutors are here to see what, if anything, can be polished! In this episode of Laser Knees, Aleph is uncomfortable … Continue reading Laser Knees 113 – The Gunner’s Shovel’s Dream

Well, things are going strange for our heroes and also for the actual real world.  This episode was recorded around the time where Rio Komiya had been in (then thankfully out) of the hospital with Covid19, so once more:  We’re happy he’s okay and also happy that Toei shut down filming while he was recovering. … Continue reading Laser Knees 112 (not 242, oops!) – The Happiest Days of Their Lives

It’s that time again, and just in time, too! Dark clouds hover on the horizon, threatening to drown out all of our joy! And into that looming horror comes: Kiramager! In this episode of Laser Knees, your tolerably-humble hosts enthuse passionately about the first three(!) episodes of the newest Super Sentai series, one which brings … Continue reading Laser Knees 111 – Shine On, You Crazy Diamonds!

In which we sadly bid a fond, fond farewell to those long-lived heroes of the RyuSoul tribes. Not to get too ahead of ourselves, in this episode of Laser Knees we get to talk about the way this Sentai series ends and welcome Super Sentai back into apparent viability.  Aleph has praise for the craft … Continue reading Laser Knees 110 – Vaya con dinos

Yes, your favorite(?) tokusatsu nerds are back! Fighting the virus to put out some long-overdue thinks about the last stretch of RyuSoulGer! In this episode, Kureon steps on someone’s dramatic moment, Aleph ponders directoral competition, and Sono wants to know why we aren’t talking about Master Black doing some serial killer mess. |Right-click “Save As” … Continue reading Laser Knees 109 – Return of the Grongi Magician!

Sometimes, you get scared.  And these episodes of Ryusoulger show us that the key to getting past that fear is MARK DACASCOS (who, incidentally, was almost the first Red Ranger in the original pitch for Power Rangers)!  More info in the as-mentioned below! And if YOU need help being distracted from whatever you’re afraid of (the … Continue reading Laser Knees 108 – OTO SMASH!

Besides the big plot stuff, these episodes of Ryusoulger also feature Rikako Sakata, aka Miu from your hosts’ much-beloved Kamen Rider Fourze! Uchu kitaa! Which is a heck of a way to start some episode discussions that are gonna turn into kind of a bummer, if we’re being honest. On this episode of Laser Knees: Our Heroes … Continue reading Laser Knees 107 – Curtains.

It was Christmastime when we found out two things about Bamba; one we knew and one we didn’t.  The first is that Bamba gets down (no surprise, really), but the most important is that Bamba also REALLY loves Christmas.  And that’s awesome. So in this episode of Laser Knees, Your Humble(ish) Hosts have a laugh about … Continue reading Laser Knees 106 – Bamba (Still) Gets Down

It’s time to return to some more of those awesome dinosaur soul’d soldiers on this episode of Laser Knees! In this episode: Sono enjoys seeing Kureon get to cut loose, Aleph wonders if a director is losing their touch, and our beautiful boy Tyramigo is slandered! |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:14:28| DinoKnight Sentai … Continue reading Laser Knees 105 – Vile and Vicious Slander

In this episode of Laser Knees, Our Heroes enter a short path of trials! And while they begin their journey to self-discovery and improvement, Your “Humble” Hosts make a podcast about it!  In this episode of Laser Knees, Sono appreciates the core drama of an episode, Aleph admits a sad lack of understanding of the … Continue reading Laser Knees 104 – Time, Trials, and Towa, Too!

Aw.  Well.  Crap. Pardon the language, y’all, but Your Humble Hosts are a suffering from a punch in the gut this time ’round and hope it’ll make for some interesting listening. In this episode of Laser Knees, Aleph thinks the eponymous space dragon is actually really adorable, Sono has some suppositions to offer on the … Continue reading LaserKnees 103 – How INCREDIBLY Dare.

In this episode of Laser Knees, Your Humble Hosts get a little emotional.  And why?  Because a LOT happens in these episodes of Ryusoulger.  Among those things are an attack by a creepy-cute pumpkin monster, Aleph takes a moment to examine some possible angles of unexamined sexism, and Sono appreciates Bamba and Nada. |Right-click “Save As” … Continue reading Laser Knees 102 – Beyond the Black Rainbow

In this episode of Laser Knees, we’re covering a couple episodes of Ryusoulger and these are some fun ones!  In this episode, we get some returning Toei tokusatsu actors, Aleph continues to wish Koichi Sakamoto could be trusted not to be horny on main, and Sono 100% called it (see episode 100). |Right-click “Save As” to … Continue reading Laser Knees 101 – #CalledIt

Holy wow!  It’s been 100 episodes of TOH! Network Super Sentai breakdowns!  From Sono and Ammit branching out from the UnKamenCast with Aleph in tow to the present day!  From Zyuohger to Kyuranger to LuPat and here into the mid-section of Ryusoulger, what a wild ride it’s been.  One full of ups, downs, and long … Continue reading Laser Knees 100 – Just Plain Mean

The Sentai remain super and the knees still have lasers on, so your humble hosts are back to do some catchup on one of the best Super Sentai in quite some time, RyuSoulGer! In this episode, we meet the seventh dinoknight, Sono respects Kureon’s artistic integrity, and Aleph takes issue with Sebastian the Crab. |Right-click … Continue reading Laser Knees 99 – Familiar Sartorial Choices and Heartbreak

In this episode of Laser Knees, your favorite a podcast that you definitely probably listen to, the Ryusoulgers do some soul-searching and your Humble Hosts do a little, too! This time ’round, Sono decries mean-spirited writing, Aleph admires the best adult at the YuGiOh tournament, and we all agree they can’t all be winners. |Right-click … Continue reading Laser Knees 98 – The Collectible Soul-Trading Game?!

Dino KITAAAAAAA! It’s time again for another episode of Laser Knees where the moon powers are made up and the points are physical matter!  In this episode, Sono appreciates Wyzul not being the absolute worst, everyone’s terribly emotional about the return of the dead, and Aleph reminds us about the most powerful force in the … Continue reading Laser Knees 97 – Extended Fourze Reference

It’s time for another look at our favorite (or, well, at least our currently-airing) dinosaur-based Super Sentai with your favorite* hosts! In this episode of Laser Knees, Sono adores magic paper, Aleph is proud of his son, and we all learn that following rules just because they’re rules is not as good as knowing what … Continue reading Laser Knees 96 – Robot Dinosaur Baseball Bat

NOTE:  Due to some audio difficulties, the audio for episode 94 was lost.  A copy of our notes for the episode may be found here: [GDOCS] Your Humble-ish Hosts are back with a new episode of Laser Knees’ excellent adequate decent existing commentary on DinoKnight Sentai RyuSoulGer!  In this episode, Aleph hates on a robot … Continue reading Laser Knees 95 – A Rainbow Connection

In an unexpected continuation of our recognitions of various things rising, it’s time for Laser Knees to gives some love to the proletariat!  In this episode, Sono ponders a life beneath the waves, Aleph gets grossed right the heck out, and Kureon embodies the proletariat’s need to organize in the face of capital which exploits … Continue reading Laser Knees 93 – Rise Up, Comrade Kureon!

In this episode of Laser Knees, your beloved hosts are utterly charmed by the giant burning dimetrodon.  Looking at the episode, the audience-identification character has some interesting sartorial choices, DimeVolcano is a chill fella, Sono is tired of Melto being mistreated, and Aleph’s cold heart warms to his adult human son, Tyramigo. |Right-click “Save As” … Continue reading Laser Knees 92 – Rise of the Dad Joke Robo!

In this episode of Laser Knees, it’s time for the RyuSoulgers to get weird for a hot second!  Aleph appreciates some poetic storytelling, Sono enjoys noticing different cultural concepts around who can be a Minusaur, and PINK STRONG. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:25:41| DinoKnight Sentai Ryusoulger Episode 9 – The Suspicious Treasure Chest … Continue reading Laser Knees 91 – Return of the Body Horror Turducken

It’s time again for some Ryusoulger commentary and your favorite (we assume) hosts are here to have some thinks at a couple episodes of the latest Super Sentai series. In this episode, Our Heroes meet a couple alien princesses, Sono appreciates that someone at Toei is keeping director Sakamoto from being so… him, and Aleph … Continue reading Laser Knees 90 – Bad Karaoke Allergies

In this episode of Laser Knees, Aleph and Sono continue to be very fond of Ryusoulger, unlike Towa and Banba, who seem a bit more circumspect.  Ui’s having a rough time, Aleph’s catching up on some weird subtle possible symbolism, and Sono’s noticing a much-better dad in the show. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:35:38| … Continue reading Laser Knees 88 – Pedal to the Floor

Que bom! It’s time for a new Super Sentai series and after a bit of a scare during our much-beloved LuPat, your hosts feel reasonably sure that Super Sentai is gonna be in good hands. In this episode of Laser Knees, your favorite(?) Super Sentai commentary show, your hosts take a look at the first couple … Continue reading Laser Knees 87 – They Got Soul!

In this episode of Laser Knees, your “humble” hosts are disappointed by the lack of payoff to the Zyuranger theming, Kagura really is the strongest, and we decide that this was a better crossover than Avengers: Infinity War. Also, Sono’s upset that Luka’s retained her, uh, “charm”, Aleph expounds on the utility of jail in … Continue reading Laser Knees 86 – Some More Questionable Hat Choices

In this episode, the regular Super Sentai series take a break for a bit of battle royale action while your hosts take time out to admire what happens when some Sentai all-stars come together to film some fanfiction.  Aleph misidentifies people who aren’t there, Sono gets excited to see the Boukengers, and Kagura of the … Continue reading Laser Knees 85 – The Secret Contest of Sentai Champions Ryuki War

In this episode, your humble hosts bid farewell to those daring phantom thieves and the dedicated police officers who chase them.  Sono appreciates a dedication to justice over the letter of the law, Aleph resents that he loves one (1) cop, and we’re both in love with Aya. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:35:29| … Continue reading Laser Knees 84 – Adieu

In this episode, Sono highlights that Noel shouldn’t work (but really does), Aleph gets hit hard by some toys flying away, and the Lupinrangers make themselves known. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:16:20| Thief Sentai Lupinranger VS Police Sentai Patranger Episode 47 – What I Can Do Right Now Episode 48 – The Face … Continue reading Laser Knees 83 – Sacrifices

In this episode, Aleph has a lesson about the role of corporate power in tradition, Sono has thoughts about asking permission, and everyone on the show surprises themselves by enjoying yet another clip show. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:15:04| Thief Sentai Lupinranger VS Police Sentai Patranger Episode 45 – Looking Forward to Christmas … Continue reading Laser Knees 82 – Chicken and Leftovers

On this episode of Laser Knees, your Humble Hosts express some anxiety about the future of Super Sentai, the Patrangers do some detective work, and everyone is suddenly curious to watch some DVD special episodes. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:20:01| Thief Sentai Lupinranger VS Police Sentai Patranger Episode 43 – He’s Come Back … Continue reading Laser Knees 81 – Oh, Right! Detectives!

In which your hosts have some theories about Touma and say adieu to one of the great right-hand baddies. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 0:54:44| Thief Sentai Lupinranger VS Police Sentai Patranger Episode 41 – The Door To Another World Episode Writer: Komura Junko Episode Director: Sugihara Teruaki Episode 42 – Time for the Final … Continue reading Laser Knees 80 – Explosivo!

This time ’round, your Humble* Hosts start to come around on Sakuya (it surprised us, too!) and have some uncomfortable laughs at how intense a weapon anxiety can be. |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:03:02| Thief Sentai Lupinranger VS Police Sentai Patranger Episode 39 – I’ll Bet On This Episode Writer: Komura Junko Episode … Continue reading Laser Knees 79 – Sentai Anxiety

In this episode, final upgrades start getting passed around and their distribution couldn’t be less optimal for your favorite hosts and some of the assumptions put down throughout don’t get followed up as much as we like, but all the same, we enjoyed the explorations of home and the almost-certain fact that this iteration of … Continue reading Laser Knees 78 – The Answer is “Space”

Don’t be blinded by Oma Zi-O’s flash and Geiz’ broody demeanor! There’s more here going on than meets the eye!  Wake UP, sheeple! Starting here, starting now, we blow the lid off the conspiracy which we know as TEN AND TWO! |Right-click “Save As” to download|Episode Length 1:26:11| Kamen Rider Zi-O Episode 7 – Magic Showtime … Continue reading UnKamen RX 210 – TEN AND TWO

Our favorite cops and robbers haven’t even slowed down and while your favorite putter-up-of-episodes certainly have (I am very sorry), we nonetheless have some thoughts to share with you, Dear Listener. In this episode, we dig into a fun couple episodes wherein we get a bit more perspective on just how strange people are in … Continue reading Laser Knees 77 – Armed and Dangerous

Your Humble Hosts return once more to have some thinks about the current Super Sentai!  This episode is filled with turnabouts and misapplied semiotics, so join us as we discuss: A favorite voice actor makes an appearance! Lupin is super-judgey for no good reason. Red-only upgrades Still more complicated feelings vis á vis the cops. … Continue reading Laser Knees 76 – If You Meet Lupin, Kill Lupin.

Sometimes the line between right and wrong can be blurry.  Circumstance, context, and framing can make even the most heinous crimes seem reasonable; which is why your humble(?) hosts are here to set everything down in simple binary terms because simple binaries are totally things we’re about, right? Look, we have to find our laughs where we … Continue reading Laser Knees 75 – All The Sinners Saints

Who would have thought that a clip show and an extended fart joke would make for such entertaining viewing?  We certainly didn’t, and yet here we are with a pair of episodes of LuPat that got us thinking about: How they really oughta just let the whole thing about Touma in spandex go. As if … Continue reading Laser Knees 74 – Turning Up the Gas

Well, after that last episode of the UnKamenCast, it’s quite a relief to be talking about something so much more mellow and sweet, like these episodes of Lupinranger VS Patranger! In this episode, your humble(ish) hosts touch upon: Touma can really rock aerobicwear A little touch of Uncomfortably Real-ness The Lupins being jerks in ways … Continue reading Laser Knees 73 – Robotic Aerobics

As your favorite hosts begin another wild blitz of content for your ears, our new favorite Sentai teams try to figure out if there’s any way at all to make team-ups work in this wild, crazy, mixed-up world of cops, robbers, and amazing boys who are too good for the lot of us. This week … Continue reading Laser Knees 72 – Here Comes a Good Cool Boy

We’re getting around the halfway point of our (somehow) much-beloved LuPat and meeting a mid-series gang of medium bads while we start digging deeper into the lives of our heroes, for better and worse as well as introducing an unlikely alliance across our warring factions! And besides that, your humble(?) hosts also touch on: The … Continue reading Laser Knees 71 – When Life Gives You Lymon…

We’ve finally got our extra hero/sixth (or rather seventh) ranger and here’s where we start to get to know him and your humble hosts–once we got over the explosion of excitement that is that Noel’s robot has lasers on its knees–set in to have some thoughts about him at one another and at you. This … Continue reading Laser Knees 70 – Laser Knees 2: Laser Knees Harder

We did our best not to make as many of these jokes as we wanted to. [Hi, Aleph here!  Iiiiiii forgot to properly enter the scheduled date for this episode to go up; sorry it’s late!] Dear Listeners, this is gonna be a weird one. Not only is there some discussion of a mildly insulting … Continue reading Laser Knees 69 – The Nice Guys

Ah, Sentai.  The time when your hosts’ fancies turn to feels and a young officer’s fancy turns to   JUSTICE!!!!!!!!   Even though that’s less than ideal. In this episode of Laser Knees, your hosts go beyond all time and space to have some thoughts about: Naruhisa Arakawa: all-time tokusatsu MVP. The power of a complicated … Continue reading Laser Knees 68 – That Melan-cop-ly Feeling.

In this episode, our heroes struggle to find themselves after it turns out that, surprise of surprises, the putative leader of fully one half of the series’ sentai teams does not, in fact, die and then Touma has an identity crisis of an entirely different flavor. Meanwhile, your hosts continue to brace for a possible … Continue reading Laser Knees 67 – Finding the ‘Me’ in ‘Team’

Boy, Toei really has been doing a lot of stuff with poisoning lately, haven’t they? But while Keiichiro recovers, you can sit back and listen to your humble(?) hosts talk about a couple episodes of your favorite extended piece of Super Sentai infighting! Subjects touched on include: Ponderings on a taxonomy of reds (and attendant Patreon … Continue reading Laser Knees 66 – The Shadow of Death

Up-front, we’re going to apologize, Dear Listener because in this episode, hosting duties were taken over by our alter-egos, Mad & Disappointed. As we assume you’ve seen the episodes under discussion this week, we have to believe you’ll at least have some idea what’s got us in this state. As a more personal matter I, … Continue reading Laser Knees 65 – Mad and Disappointed