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This is MJ, I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work

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at MJMunoz.com. Welcome to Red Panda Report. This is episode 11, I'm talking

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about episode 11 of Red Panda Adventures called Duality. It originally aired May 26,

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2006, and here is the copy for it. Simon Radford released this morning,

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apparently cured, thought you should know. So reads the terse note from the Red

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Panda's agent. But can a maniac like Radford, who once terrorized the city as

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the villainous electric eel, ever truly be reformed? And if so, who is behind the

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reign of terror that sweeps across the city? Can our heroes crack this case

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while struggling with their own duality? So this episode is very interesting. Let

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me see if there's anything negative I can point out about it first. I'm gonna

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say no. I can't think of anything bad or negative in this episode that I objected

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to or had a problem with. I mean, maybe a slightly, you know, socialist perspective,

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but I can excuse that. Mostly because the heroism and altruism of Red Panda

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kind of counteracts any of that, you know, capitalist guilt stuff. And also, let's

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not get distracted with that. Let's go ahead and keep talking about the actual

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content of the episode. So really there was nothing else for me to dislike. I

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absolutely adored the use of the title, the name, the phrase, Queen Street

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Sanitarium for the criminally deranged. That's a gem. A real, real gem. It has a

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certain music to it, doesn't it? That's enough time trying to drudge up bad

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stuff about this episode, because you know, that's not necessary. I want to talk

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about all the good stuff. I got very emotional during this episode, both in

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hearing Red Panda talk about what a wastrel he was and the guilt that he has

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over his family, because while I feel it's a little silly and I won't, you know,

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elaborate on that, I love and appreciate the drama that it makes for him. And it's

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really great that he, you know, the line is specifically this. Basically, it's

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basically this. My family was so wealthy that I had no choice or there was

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nothing left for me to do but to make myself into somebody else. That is a

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condemnation of his family. It's a condemnation of his father and his

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grandfather. And anyway, I don't believe in condemning people for where they come

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from. And I think that that ethic or concept is shown quite beautifully with

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Red Panda here, because he comes from, let's just admit, or let's just, you know,

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accept what he's saying. Let's say he comes from a terrible family and his father,

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his fathers were not innocent businessmen. They were corrupt. They were

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criminal. They were whatever in order to get all that money that he could just

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fritter away, as he said. Okay, and what? What have you chosen to do with it, Red

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Panda? You have chosen to become somebody else. You've chosen to become something

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else. You've chosen to take on the plight of the downtrodden and stop the smaller,

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arguably more honorable or more honest criminals who plague the streets, who, you

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know, work at such a smaller level. But it's a... yes, who work at such a smaller

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level. And not only those criminals, but also these super criminals like the

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electric eel you use and you take and I think you redeem and make it worthwhile

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everything, every sin that your family committed. And of course, that's not me

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condoning doing bad stuff and saying, it'll work out for the good someday. Just

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do bad. I'm saying what he's done with it is he's taken all of that negativity

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and he's fixed it and corrected it by doing all the good that he's done. And

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yes, could that have been done a different way? Yes, sure. But that's not

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the story that Taylor wrote. And what Red Panda has chosen to do with that is good.

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The fact that he feels guilty about his family's legacy, I believe, is a credit to

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him. The fact that Kit feels sympathetic towards him and helps him to see the

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other side of it is a credit to her. And it's a beautiful dynamic. If they weren't,

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you know, potentially romantically involved, then it would just be proof of an

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amazingly strong friendship that is very touching. With how things might go later,

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you know, might add another dimension to it. Especially because she's a scrappy,

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you know, less well-off young woman and she could end up marrying into the family

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of one of the, you know, into one of the city's wealthiest families if they were

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ever to go down that path. But anyway, I just think that's really interesting.

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There's a duality for you to tie into the actual title of the episode. But yeah, I

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think that's really interesting. And then honestly, the next time I got really

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emotional was when Red Panda was going to draw Radford or Electric Eels' fire for

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Kit so that she could take care of things. And that's what they ended up

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doing. But her performance showed so much emotion that it felt like this image of

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unrequited love or of fear of love lost. Because Red Panda was basically willing

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to sacrifice himself in order to stop Radford. But to, you know, he sent himself

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out to do that for Kit to stop Radford so that, you know, she would live even if he

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died. And he was willing to make that sacrifice for the city, yes, but also for

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her. I think something that makes it a little more profound is they were

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actually not in their home city. I don't know how the whole Niagara Falls, you

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know, northern or like, you know, American versus Canadian side of it works. But

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there was something there. There's a difference. There's a border there. And,

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you know, they weren't in Toronto, I think. Again, I'm not very strong with

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geography and I didn't check. But they were out of the main city. They were in a

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different area protecting it. And, you know, to me it sounds like there's a

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little town of Toronto there. Or sorry, a little town of Niagara Falls there, not

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the full-on, you know, it's not a big city or it's not necessarily a part of

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the big city Toronto. So really, in a way, having the understanding that it's a

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different place, then he really is putting his life on the line for Kit. And

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just the emotional response she had to the idea of him, you know, drawing Radford's

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fire to protect her and to give her the one chance to kill them. And even though

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he said, if we don't take this chance now, we're dead either way, that's good.

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There's a common writer show that's very popular. It was one of the most popular ones.

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There's very good designs, but morally it's a little all over the place for me.

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In that show, towards the end game, or towards the, you know, towards the

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beginning of the series, which is 50 episodes long or so, there are partners.

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They're detective superheroes basically, kind of like Kit and Red Panda, except...

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kind of like them. So anyway, one of them is at risk of dying and they fight

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together as a unit and they depend upon each other 100% to fight. Anyway, in

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Comminator Double, the fate of the world is at stake, and if these guys

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don't transform together into the fighter, they might, or they will doom the

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rest of the world. And one guy is so attached to his buddy, his partner, that

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he can't transform. The guy ends up dying anyway. Spoilers for this show that you'll

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probably never watch. Whatever. And then, you know, things resolve in the end.

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But I was furious that nobody else who would watch the show at the same time

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seemed to have an issue with the fact that this guy was so weak when he was

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wanting... he idolized hard-boiled detectives. He was so weak that he

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couldn't make the sacrifice to let his friend die, who ended up dying anyway, in

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order to save the rest of the world. That is such a moral failing. Like, it's a very

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understandable thing. But like, I don't know, I'm still mad at Anakin for what he

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did, even if I can kind of understand the motivation of wanting to save his wife.

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And yeah, there's like, I don't know, no consequence, no payoff, or no come-upence

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or anything like that. And you know, that's very frustrating, especially

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because, you know, all these people had no issue with it whatsoever. Versus here

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in Red Panda, they're willing to really commit to this whole superhero thing and

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put their lives on the line just so they can save strangers, even if it also helps

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them to save each other. But I just really love that. I mean, it's noble and

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it's beautiful and it's really good. And it was actually very touching, even

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though there's only... we're only 11 episodes into the show. This is the 11th

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episode. And I think I felt similarly... I think I felt the intensity in a similar

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way the first time I watched it. It's not just nostalgia that's making me feel

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strongly, because I've disliked a couple episodes and I've had no problem saying

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that. So I think these are genuinely held convictions or genuine beliefs that I'm

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presenting to you about my feeling so emotional this episode because of what

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was presented. The family guilt and moving beyond that and having a friend

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help you do that... that's really special to me. It hits me right where I live, as

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they say. So I thought that was all good. Electric Heel having electric power is

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tying himself into the dam so that he can gain way more power. Super cool idea.

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Super fun. The fact that he's basically vaporized or whatever. Anyway, that's

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that's great superhero stuff. That's great super villain stuff. That's a lot

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of fun. I mean, seeing that visualized would be great, but in the theater of my

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mind it was plenty good. So that was exciting and it, you know, really raised

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the stakes. And I like this idea of him using this jewel to amplify his powers.

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Like that's... like okay, I talked a lot about these social issues or whatever or

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like the character dynamics and the emotional aspect of it, but also there's

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like really cool superhero type stuff going on here. Especially with the

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concept of like the dual personalities being a real thing and that being

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brought about. And that's what separates the electric eel from Radford. And

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that's just a really neat idea. I think it's a really strong idea. And I like how

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it parallels Red Panda and Flying Squirrel and their adventure and their

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you know journey and their you know characters basically. And how you know

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there's something deeper going on with them potentially as far as them and

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their secret identities as well. The virtue of balance that's extolled. The

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you know the seriousness of being able to be content with both sides of you.

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Accepting the darkness within you as well as the light and learning how to

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live with the two so that you can, I don't know, I guess kind of get the

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darkness to serve the light as opposed to trying to squash and completely subsume

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one into the other. That was really cool. And like you know they didn't get that

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deep with it but it was good. And then they ended up making a joke about Red

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Panda's alter ego going out with more dumb rich women. And that was a lot of fun.

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That was a good gag to end the episode on. So anyway there was no new

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lore stuff. They talked about you know they've talked about their boomerangs

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before which I don't think I've ever specifically called it that they have boomerangs

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that they throw like a Batman would. Let me see what else. By the way Bill

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Finger and Bob Kane took a bunch of stuff from one of the Shadow stories for

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the first Batman comic book. The Ace Chemicals or Acme Chemicals theft or

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whatever. I'm trying to think if the batarangs or the boomerangs came from

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the Shadow. I don't think they do but I could be wrong about that because I

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don't know the books as well. I mean there's like 300 books I don't know them

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all very well. Anyway yeah there wasn't really anything new as far as their tech

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or gadgets are concerned. It's just using what they have. You know it's a great

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effect. So you know that was good. There's nothing wrong with that. And yeah

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Radford's an interesting villain. I like this electric eel. I like the idea of him.

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I like Electro from Marvel Comics. You know from Spider-Man. He's a really cool

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villain and I like this idea of this electric eel. Yeah these cool electric

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powers are a lot of fun and oh yeah like I was saying too about like focusing

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through them through the gems and stuff like that's all super cool like great

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you know ridiculous sci-fi comic book logic and I love that kind of stuff.

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All the gadgets and gizmos and like ways that people can amplify themselves, their

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powers, their abilities. Those are all super fun and I really dig it. Good stuff.

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So this was a great episode and I'm gonna do another one next week so stick

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around for that. You know always check these things out at

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dakotoringtheatre.com. Of course I suggest you listen to them in full

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before you come over and hear my thoughts and commentary on them because I

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think it's more fun and then we can have a bit of a conversation if you take

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exception to something I say or if you like or want to add to something I've

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said. So anyway with that folks I don't have much else to say except for check

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out all my stuff. I'm doing lots of different reviews, lots of analysis and

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I'm working harder and harder to get to writing superhero stuff as opposed to

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the kids books I've been writing recently which have their own adventure

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and mystery and super well heroics at least if not super heroics although some

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of the kids do transform and turn into these fighters to fight the darkness so

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you might like that if you enjoy Red Panda and maybe I'll even include a link

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here in the show notes for you to find one of my kids stories. So anyway with

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that folks I hope that you are well and that you be well this is MJ signing out.

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I hope you enjoyed that. Go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions comments

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or other feedback you might have. There you can find all of my analysis art and

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fiction. I cover books, tokusatsu, comic books, anime and more. Look around you're

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sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well. This has been a story over

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Everything Production.