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11-23-2021, 02:40 PM | #9001 |
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11-23-2021, 05:01 PM | #9002 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
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(In all seriousness, this is very flattering; thank you!)
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11-26-2021, 06:53 PM | #9003 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~
Mission36 – Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters (Red Buster is inside that sweet giant robot, so rest assured this picture isn't actually missing anybody.) This is the cruelest one of these I'm making myself write. These posts have gotten as bloated in length as they have, and it still won't be anywhere near long enough to convey anything close to the full amount of affection I feel for this series. If you've been reading all of these, you've seen how passionately I've talked about so many of these shows, and I want you to keep that in mind as I say that none of those were my favorite tokusatsu series ever, and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters is. It's almost laughable to consider this a mere stop on a tour when I know in my heart that it is literally always time for Buster. This won't be an overview, or a review, and the whole first episode thing is even more of a pretense than usual; this post is a love letter, because from the bottom of my very soul, I am in love with Go-Busters. It wasn't love at first sight though, even if you won't believe that by the end of this. (Or, heck, if you even believe it after that intro.) See, my first Sentai was Gokaiger, and as that was wrapping up, I distinctly recall feeling ~just~ unenthralled enough by it, despite having a good time, that I sort of felt like hey, maybe Super Sentai just isn't my bag the same way Kamen Rider is. So, even though Go-Busters seemed cool to me, I didn't end up checking out more than the first couple episodes as they aired, and for a while, I was totally content to leave it at that, at least for the time being. And it really did seem cool, is the thing! After Gokaiger functioned almost as a sort of climax to the entire franchise by gloriously smashing everything to that point together, Go-Busters very consciously flipped the script, simultaneously taking things back to the absolute roots of cool organizations with a slick spy motif in the spirit of Goranger, while also going out of its way to eschew tradition all over the place in an effort to blaze trails forward where its immediate predecessor was looking back. Considering I just said I wasn't totally sold on Super Sentai at the time, it shouldn't be too surprising that last thing held appeal to me. So I didn't watch the entire show right away despite liking what I saw, sure, but eventually, right as the series was about to finish airing, I finally got that push to catch up, and when I starting really digging into Go-Busters, I liked it. Yes, I liked it, for a while, and then partway through, I realized I *really* liked it. By the end, I *definitely* really really really liked it, and then later on, when I realized I was still constantly thinking about the show even though I finished watching it a while ago, it became apparent that, well, like I said – I'm in love with Go-Busters. Now, very close to a full decade later, I love Go-Busters so much, even, that I'd struggle to sum up anything about the show or why I like it succinctly. So I guess I just have to start somewhere then. Well, I do know someone who *is* really good at summing up tokusatsu shows succinctly! Really, I don't even know what the point of this tour would be if I didn't find time somewhere in here to gush about Shouko Fujibayashi, the lyricist/prophet responsible for putting words to a staggering amount of songs for both Sentai and Rider, be they openings, endings, insert themes, character themes... you name it, she can do it, and do it extremely well at that. Part of getting way into tokusatsu for me was getting way into tokusatsu music, something I think played a massive role in getting me interested in learning Japanese, and to that end, I honestly consider Fujibayashi an honorary teacher. Her lyrics have a direct clarity that makes them easy to understand (important for a kids' show!), a beauty in their phrasing that always fits the vibe of the song, and – most importantly to me as someone who loves stories – they have an uncanny ability to capture the deepest essence of whatever series they're attached to, even when she's writing them before the show has started airing. (Hence the "prophet" joke, which isn't even something I came up with.) I don't deign to imagine any translation I can provide will do it justice, but here's merely a small portion from the second verse of Go-Busters' ED: All the things that make us happy, and all that makes us sad too We'll share each and every moment together Even the tears we shed are precious lessons Helping us find the strength in our hearts So just in those couple of lines, despite how simple they are, you've got quite a bit to unpack, and it really fits the show better and better the more you think about it. Exactly the kind of eloquence that makes Fujibayashi's work so endlessly fascinating to me. I'm bringing this all up because I truly do think those lines get to the core of what I most want to get at about Go-Busters. Or should I say the heart? That's what this is all about, at the end of the day. It's not even close to the only thing that makes me enjoy the show, but Go-Busters' sentimentality is absolutely what ensured it would stick with me the way it has. Go-Busters is the next Sentai written by Yasuko Kobayashi, and while I always praise the humanity of her characters, this show is something special in my eyes. Conceptually, the backstory of the Go-Busters is deeply rooted in tragedy. The premise of the plot hinges around an event thirteen years prior to the show's present, in which a laboratory researching how to transport things through hyperspace had its systems suddenly infected by a sentient and extremely malicious computer virus bent on world domination. With little time to contain the situation, the researchers make the fateful decision to transport the entire facility itself into hyperspace, themselves included, in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading any further. When all is said and done, all that's left behind are three children – two of whom lost their parents that day – and their robot guardians, imbued with the special powers of a "vaccine program" in the hopes that they might one day be the key to standing against this menace when it finds its way back to our world. So with a description like that, the series has to be one that's a lot more grim than the usual Sentai fare, right? But it really isn't. Not at all. A huge aspect of what makes Go-Busters so endearing to me is the specific way it treats the weight of its heroes and their mission. These are characters who have been dealing with profound loss from a young age, but part of what makes them heroes is their refusal to be crushed by that. For as much sorrow as they feel, the backstory binding the main trio together is also an endless source of strength. A drive that pushes them forward, and the root of a bond deeper than any other. The actual tone of the show is very warm, as a result. I would argue in a heartbeat that the Go-Busters and their allies feel more like a family than Sentai teams that are literally related by blood, and that's a testament to how strong Kobayashi's characterization here is. The dynamics between everyone are so much more fleshed out than I have to time to get into right now, but the relationship everyone shares is palpable, with an underlying unconditional love that comes across even in how they can all bicker with one another so often. There's a mundanity to it all, and that's central to what the show is about thematically. These are imperfect people living imperfect lives, but that's exactly the beauty the team would give anything to defend. The Go-Busters aren't just heroes who protect the world; they're protecting normality, because they know firsthand what it's like to lose that. It's escapist fiction that praises the value of the ordinary. A Sentai that doesn't merely extol the power of teamwork, but celebrates the very concept of human connection. I think Go-Busters is often considered to be a relatively darker, more serious Sentai show, and while that isn't necessarily untrue, boiling it down that way neglects that it's also more gentle. I'm making this sound extremely pretentious because I can't help myself, but my point here is simply that I find this cast of characters very lovable. Hiromu, Ryuuji, Youko... Nick, Gorisaki, Usada... Jin and J, once they show up... Kuroki, Nakamura and Morishita too... even (especially?) Enter and Escape, who are the villains. It's seriously everybody. Getting to spend time with them all makes watching Go-Busters so, so delightful. The whole vibe of the show is just really pleasant, and it makes all those more serious emotional moments hit that much harder. That was one thing I like about Go-Busters. Or it was supposed to be just one, anyway. You can maybe see why this is tricky for me to get into. Like, am I even done talking about the characters? I guess not, because I should probably at least explain what exactly I like about some of them. Sticking to the Go-Busters themselves, I suppose: You've got Hiromu, one of my favorite Reds out there, who is basically everything I want in a protagonist all at once. I mean, he's got sweet super speed powers; he rides a motorcycle; he has a robot sidekick who transforms into his motorcycle; and he's even got the highly skilled and intelligent yet socially inept personality of your average Gundam lead, to the point Hiromu is outright noted in-universe to be the best giant robot pilot in the series. (He's a literal Ace pilot!) He's cool, he's an abrasive jerk without even realizing it, he's kind in spite of that, and he learns to work on his flaws over the course of the series with the help of the people he cares about, and I love him for that, along with everything else. Then you've got Ryuuji, one of my favorite Blues out there, the de facto dad of the trio, even though he's occasionally a little self-conscious about being the oldest. But he certainly acts the part, being by far the most mature and even-tempered, making him a reliable peacekeeper who everyone gets along with. If anything, his big flaw is that he's a little *too* comfortable being a supporting character in everyone else's lives, at the expense of his own dreams. Sure enough, though, this is something he learns to work on, and I love him for that, along with everything else. Then you've got Youko, one of my favorite Yellows out there, the youngest of the team, and as such the exact opposite of mature and even-tempered. She can be rather abrasive in her own right, but in her case it's more about feeling that insecure need to avoid being seen as a child... when it isn't just about her plain not having the patience to deal with something, anyway. Granted, a lot of people have trouble focusing on schoolwork when they don't also have to worry about fighting evil on top of that, so make no mistake, she's already way stronger than anyone her age should have to be. Plus, of course, she grows up quite a bit by the end, and I love her for that, along with everything else. Ah man even that barely feels like I'm scratching the surface. I seriously have to just forcibly pry myself away from the topic of the characters for a bit, or I'll never stop. The action in this show is amazing too! Aesthetically, I adore all the designs, from all the mechanical monsters, to every last extremely slick bit of gear the heroes use. Those unique leather suits are downright iconic, if you ask me. And while Sentai by this point had settled into a groove of generally picking vehicles or animals as a concept for the mecha, Go-Busters perfectly splits the difference, with a small set of complex machines that all transform into both, on top of combining with one another. The designs only seem even cooler the way they're portrayed on-screen, too. Having Hirofumi Fukuzawa as the new action director meshed really well with the show's overall desire to keep things fresh, and especially early on, Go-Busters is full of very slick fight scenes that have a distinct feel from your average Sentai. The robot fights this year also were also given an absurdly high amount of consideration. From a scripting level, the conscious decision was made to tie them more strongly into the overall drama of every episode than usual, completely freeing Go-Busters' plot structure up to have them happening simultaneously with the normal-sized monster action if that's more exciting for a particular story. This definitely succeeds in keeping things interesting, and the fights themselves tend to be cooler than usual too. I'm the type that loves Sentai for the giant robots to begin with, so for Go-Busters to have that be exceptionally good on top of everything else... well, it's no wonder I won't shut up about this show, is it? I was supposed to talk about the first episode somewhere in here. I'm honestly not sure what I could even say that you can't guess by now. I love it to bits, because I love Go-Busters to bits. It demonstrates right away the cool action, right down to splitting the team between normal and giant villains. It makes a point of that whole grounded nature to the style with a lot of effort put into the world-building. It also really smartly puts a huge emphasis on Hiromu's decision to join the team being treated like him going off to war or something, having to leave behind the comfort of his everyday life with his sister to ensure that world is still around to come back to. (Also, I'll just note here that I could easily go on a whole rave about Rika too.) Again, there's a weight to the emotions of the characters. The responsibility and resolve of the heroes is always at the forefront. Though there's only so much the premiere can cover, with how much there is to unpack. The actual backstory of the show is saved for the following episode, for example, and if I might give the illusion of objectivity for a moment, the way Nakamura is used here as a target for exposition is more than a little blatant... but like I've said before, that kind of thing is understandable. At the very least, writing this post gives me a ton of empathy for any pains Kobayashi went through trying to figure out how to communicate the appeal of the show in a limited amount of space. It ain't easy! But you know, it's not like any quirks it has stop Go-Busters from having a solid debut all the same. You get some good moments from a lot of the characters, for sure. Enter is already there being the suave French-speaking schemer only he can be, for one thing, so the priorities are in order here. There's some pathos out of the gate like I mentioned, and the special effects bringing the show's world to life are all great. The music is fantastic too, which is yet another thing I wish I was devoting an entire paragraph to right now. So yeah, Go-Busters might not have a premiere that's absolutely perfect, but then, what's so wrong about that? Really, even though my bias here would seemingly make me more inclined to dismiss any faults the first episode has, I think it might also be having the opposite effect? Of course I'm going to think it's those episodes that come after where things get really interesting, because the episodes after the start of Go-Busters are the rest of Go-Busters. I'm probably just upset I don't have an easy excuse to talk about all the other great stuff that immediately follows those first 24 minutes. ...Forgive me for making another one of these nothing more than self-indulgence on my part? I just, man, do I ever love Go-Busters. I don't know if I needed to spend this long making that one point, but I'm not kidding when I say it's my favorite tokusatsu show out there. In all the time since I first watched it, other shows I've loved a ton have come along too, but no matter how close they get, not one of them has managed to top this. I love love love so much about Go-Busters, and the sentimental value it holds for me is enormous. It feels like an understatement to call myself a fan – Go-Busters is just like, a part of me, at this point. I feel guilty throwing this massive wall of text at people and expecting them to read it, but I feel so happy to be writing it that I can't help myself. I've known this week would end up being a huge mess before I even starting writing about Goranger, and I've been looking forward to it anyway for just as long. The Zenkai Tour might be moving on, just like always, but deep down, just like always, I'll never be too far away from Go-Busters.
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 11-28-2021 at 06:07 AM.. |
11-26-2021, 07:55 PM | #9004 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,558
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My first impression of Go-busters: Oh, they must be one of those survival enthusiasts, look at all that hiking gear.
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11-27-2021, 04:34 AM | #9005 |
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Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,553
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Yeah, I’m. Someone who’s upfront about how Go-Busters spent a few weeks as a show I didn’t like at all. None of the characters appealed to me, the action scenes felt really forgettable, the opening was too melodramatic and the plot was way too complex. So I ended up preferring the second half of the show, because it improved on these aspects. The word of the characters got killed off or demoted t extra, the actions improved dramatically, they got a new theme song and they abandoned the plot in favour of a much more intriguing one. But like my opinions of Hibiki, the second half ended up dropping the ball in the last few episodes, mostly by indulging in some unnecessary resurrection plots and the show fully becoming the ‘Hiromu and his Amazing Friends’ show (though as someone elsewhere pointed out, it was always veering close to that, by giving him focus in plots, even when another character would be a better fit for that plot)
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11-27-2021, 06:06 AM | #9006 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,558
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Two things I liked was Hiroya Matsumoto as Jin/Beet Buster and Yuichi Nakamura voicing my favorite drunk ranger Beet J Stag/Stag Buster. Off topic I wonder if any Lovelive fans saw this show be it out of curiosity or as the one show their favorite character was part of, since Arisa Komiya who became super popular ever since she was part of the Lovelive cast was Yoko/Yellow Buster in this show.
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11-27-2021, 09:15 AM | #9007 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,428
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The only things I know about Go-Busters are
1. Everyone calling it a Power Rangers season in disguise when it was first airing. and 2. Japan apparently really loves Beast Morphers. Some claim they like it more than Go-Busters, but I have zero idea how true that is. But, looking at the massive amount of fanart the show has on Japanese fanart sites, and I can believe it.
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11-27-2021, 10:28 AM | #9008 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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It's posts from you like this that really motivate me to rewatch Go-Busters some day.
I mean, it was my second Toku after all! I decided to rewatch OOO and Ghost the past year because it had been so long since I'd watched them that surely my opinions would have changed (they did), and Go-Busters was way before them. After I watched Gokaiger as my first Toku and completely fell in love I made the kind of insane, probably ill-advised, definitely fun as hell choice to watch literally every episode of Sentai after that point? And so in order I marathoned Go-Busters up to the most recent episode of Sentai (one of the last Kyuranger episodes) in a matter of months. Which is all to say that if not individually, Go-Busters along with Kyoryuger and ToQger and Ninninger and Zyuohger AND Kyuranger are pretty formative to my whole experience with the genre! And... hm, how do I put this. I definitely liked it, and with the hindsight of general Power Rangers knowledge I was in love with everything different it was doing and especially right after the big celebration of Gokaiger; but I really think that back then I was just not as appreciative of the characters as I could have been? The action was intense and amazing and I'll always go back to it as by far the smartest way Sentai robo action has ever been done; the designs and whole super slick spy vibe was really doing a lot for me; J was the funniest guy in the world and Enter was one of the best villains ever and I dug the whole connection-with-the-robots thing. But the further away I get from it the more I realise I don't think I was giving it the best chance I could have because I don't have much of an opinion on the characters, and I really really wanna revisit it someday because I get the feeling I'd have a much stronger reaction to them now. It's always the Sentai I've liked a lot but also don't have much of a reason to, so I'd love to revisit it one day
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11-27-2021, 10:58 AM | #9009 |
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Quote:
Two things I liked was Hiroya Matsumoto as Jin/Beet Buster and Yuichi Nakamura voicing my favorite drunk ranger Beet J Stag/Stag Buster. Off topic I wonder if any Lovelive fans saw this show be it out of curiosity or as the one show their favorite character was part of, since Arisa Komiya who became super popular ever since she was part of the Lovelive cast was Yoko/Yellow Buster in this show.
Last edited by GuardianAngel87; 11-27-2021 at 04:44 PM.. |
11-27-2021, 03:57 PM | #9010 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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That's a week earlier than I was expecting to start seeing someone criticizing a Sentai from the 2010's for putting too much focus on Red! ...But now that's it's begun, I don't expect it to stop for the next couple months.
Quote:
But yeah, for what it's worth, the characterization in Go-Busters does seem to be a sticking point for a lot of people? Fans of the show like me will swear up and down that it's got an exceptionally developed and likable cast, but I've always seen, even from people who don't outright despise the series, that the main trio especially are bland and/or devoid of charisma. Those gaudy space pirates set the bar pretty high in a lot of people's eyes, too, so if you're telling me you watched Gokaiger, loved it, and then went straight into the next show in line, none of this is too surprising. The story of this whole decade of Sentai is the story of people saying "I liked Gokaiger way more than this", after all.
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