Only in Super Sentai. :rock:

So at the finale, I have two last traditions to reveal.

1) because the suit actors have already moved on to working on the next show, the main 4 actors are performing in suit for this episode. It’s a tradition dating back to the 80s, which has since morphed (starting in 2007 with Boukenger) into the cast doing the final roll call either untransformed or helmetless. Go-Busters does the former because the show’s had so many helmetless scenes that having them do the roll call in that state wouldn’t have much of an impact (but then again, Go-Onger had just as many helmetless moments and they had the whole final battle done helmetless, so I don’t know what informs these decisions).

2) the hand-off. Since 2004, the final “sponsor” ident has had the red meet his successor in a brief scene in which the latter gets to demonstrate some aspect of the show. In this case, Kyoryuger’s philosophy of “getting wild” and dance-fighting.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ef6KKZzA...2FTN7SuS1kbkct

It is a very cool aspect of the teamwork inherent in the concept!

Neat! Thanks for the info!

First off, good job reviewing this show.:rock:

Go-Busters was a nice show to have after the monumental milestone masterpiece of a loveletter to fans of the series that was Gokaiger. The show's greatest achievement I think was that it tried to do a lot of new things aesthetically and challenge the norm in that sense. The secret agent concept, the techwear aesthetic and the choice of faux leather instead of the usual tights, the real-time giant robot battles, a drunk robot who reminds me of Homer and Barney from The Simpsons, and so on. The nods to Power Rangers were fun, and the overall relatively grounded approach helped make it stand out while giving fans a glimpse of what could be post-Gokaiger. And Jin and J were great to have as tsuika senshis being the unlikely dynamic duo consisting of an eccentric intellect and his drunk robot. :lolol

This was a breath of fresh air at the time for an old sentai fan such as myself, and while this is not my first pick for an entry show (I think 2016's Zyuohger and the current Boonboomger are far more befitting for that role) I suppose it could work if it draws in new fans to dig deeper into the Super Sentai rabbit hole and also check out other shows. Regardless, Go-Busters is a must-watch and a great example of how you follow up a milestone show such as Gokaiger.

Like, I can't really speak to which would be a better starter show, but one of the appeals for me with Go-Busters was how... not Sentai it looked? I've had years of watching Kamen Rider where I could've been won over by the aesthetics and tropes of Sentai, but none of it ever really caught my eye. (Well, DonBros; Inoue Forever.) Before I even watched it, Go-Busters felt like it was speaking to me in a language I already sort of recognized -- a smaller cast, an organization supporting them, a cause and effect to everything that felt more sketched-in. Another show might've been a purer version of Sentai, but a purer version of Sentai would've maybe bounced me right off of it.

That said (and I'll maybe talk more about this over the next week) I did enjoy the things that felt different from Rider, and I doubt this'll be my last-ever Sentai show. (Again: DonBros!) It's not replacing Rider for me, but I like being able to sample some unique flavors of toku.

And that's good news. :lolol
But after this and DonBros I hope you give other shows a watch too. There's also King-Ohger and Boonboomger is definitely something to check out. :rock:

Well, being messy isn't as perfect as being cleanly, for sure, but for Go-Busters, maybe that just fits all the better.

I find it difficult to put into words how much this finale means to me.

I might try and elaborate on this in general when you do your usual series wrap-up or something, but Go-Busters... my connection to it is so personal and deeply felt that it becomes tricky to actually bring that stuff to the surface? I'm not sure I've ever actually talked about this show anywhere in a way that would truly give the impression it means more to me than so many other shows that also mean a lot to me, which is probably why even at the start of this thread, I'm still relying on the crutch of describing it as my "favorite", which probably isn't an adequate description at the end of the day.

With like, Kuuga, for example (the show I'm always looking for excuses to mention in this thread, apparently), if I want to tell someone how deeply affected I was by watching the final fight between Kuuga and Daguva at the end of the series, I think I can articulate that decently enough? I think I did articulate it decently enough, even. Enough to get at least a bit more specific than "it affected me deeply", if nothing else.

If I want to tell someone how much it meant to me seeing Ryuuji and Yoko put their hands on Hiromu's shoulders in one of the most simple and beautiful shots in the entire series, though...

I don't know. Maybe the day will come where I do get all this stuff committed to writing, and feel okay about what I said, but right now, it still feels beyond me. Suffice it to say for now, then, that this has always been a conclusion I've loved as raw entertainment (Jin absolutely nails his big Oscar scene, for one thing), and more than that, a conclusion that--

...

Man, even for a sentence that simple, I just can't find the words. But uh... the episode did affect me deeply? Like, even just the title of this one is something I still think about all the time, as straightforward as it is. Between that, the couple of things I've already mentioned, the satisfying bookend nature of the final scene and the premiere... if I were trying to pick apart everything I liked in it just *as* a piece of entertainment, it'd already be quite the task; trying to unpack the emotional resonance all that stuff has for me on top of that would likely leave me freezing up like I'm Hiromu seeing a chicken.

The bottom line is that I love this final episode the same way I love the whole show. I'm real bad at telling people why, so you'll just have to take my word for it that praise from me doesn't come much higher than that.

The most hilarious possible outcome for me would be that my hamfisted and cursory examination of Go-Busters brought forth a definitive Fish Sandwich treatise on the series. I'd love it!

With the theme of this show about the power of bonds, promises and shared wishes that go beyond time, I like to think that even after Jin's heroic death and the destruction of his real body, there's still hope, kind of like another deceased character from another Takebe-Kobayashi show that aired earlier. Sixth Rangers are weird about that, since some of them have high longevity while others die young. But some of those who die manage to come back through various reasons. There's a disproportionate amount of luck that comes with being a Sixth.

I guess I have to give some respect to Enter for going down like a sportsman when he finally realized that he was screwed. Even though he failed to become a human, he did get to experience the Infinite Potential of humanity. You can't really get the full human experience without having friends or family to share it with, loved ones who'll support and fight alongside you, which was the critical factor that Enter was lacking in the end. Hiromu's life and Jin's death made the Gobusters even more motivated to win and there was no calculation or scheme that Enter could make to counter that.

Be sure to check out Inoue's first Sentai Jetman as well! I recall you've already watched a few episodes?

Yeah, there's no way Gobusters can be your last Sentai, since it was your first instead. Rider and Sentai (and other Tokusatsu) both have their own qualities, so it's totally cool to enjoy both.

Personally, I prefer helmetless, since that has a novelty feeling whereas we see them unmorphed pretty much every episode. I think there can be exceptions though, like how Timeranger and Shinkenger have their pre-morph uniforms. Seeing the actors do the roll calls can be pretty fun regardless, like that time when Komiya Rio did the impressive Juru flip! Kind of weird for Gobusters though, since like you said, we frequently see helmetless scenes for Hiromu, Ryuji and Yoko, but not so much for Jin and J. Missed opportunity here.

I love King-Ohger as much as the next guy, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer. It's a little too unique for that. Boonboomger might be okay, except Lap 1 is kind of a pain to get through.

Yeah, Enter's defeat was both completely in-character -- he always seemed to miss the forest for the trees in his quest for perfection -- and a nice encapsulation of the series's themes. Enter was convinced that he could defeat humanity by copying everything but their flaws, except their flaws are what allowed them to defeat him. Pretty good series-long villain!

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS - SERIES WRAP-UP

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...rs/seriesa.png

Let’s talk about Kamen Rider Gavv.

I’ve been keeping up with Gavv the last few weeks, usually watching it on Wednesdays when I’ve got a day off from Go-Busters. (“Day off”, like it’s some second job… you guys know what I mean.) I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit, especially compared to Gotchard, which I found to be mostly pleasant, but rarely something I thought about between episodes. I’ve liked how Gavv wants to talk about things like imposter syndrome, emotional abuse, and the ways that sacrificing for others can look like selflessness and heroism, but can also act as a cover for a lack of self-worth. There’s a density to it, both in a thematic way (the Valen introduction episode!) and a dramatic way – like, it’s a show that is juggling multiple parallel plots, but in ways that allows them to start to thread together in fascinating ways. Every episode can feel stuffed with different locations, characters, and plot points.

Go-Busters is not that kind of show.

It’s not a worse show, though. Go-Busters was a remarkably entertaining series of action, drama, humor, and characters that only became their best selves when they learned to rely on one another. But it was never a dense show, across either an individual episode or the season as a whole. Where a show like Gavv might cut away from one character to catch us up on another, or mix a comedic subplot with a darker one, Go-Busters was A Go-Busters Episode every single time. It knew what kind of show it wanted to make – the Go-Busters organization defends the Earth from the threat of the Vagras – and pretty much did that to the best of its abilities every single time. Some stories might tilt heavier into humor or tension, but the Superheroes Fight Monsters stuff was sort of the breadth and width of this thing.

I realize you could easily say that about every single other Rider or Sentai show, and you’re not necessarily wrong. The difference between Go-Busters and Gavv is less about the genre they’re operating in, and more how they choose to tell their stories. Go-Busters felt like a show that could be operating in real-time, for better or worse. To its strengths, it came across as a theme park ride, locking you into a breathless battle against monsters with only a small team of soldiers to save the day. To its weaknesses, it felt like the aperture was too small, too boxed-in; stories were occasionally about the non-combat versions of these characters as theoretical constructs, rather than other avenues for storytelling that could add contrast to the military action. It’s intentional (several stories are directly about how little the Go-Busters think about their lives beyond fighting the Vagras), but it still felt like the storytelling options were hampered by the design.

To put it yet another way, something like Gavv (or Geats, or Ryuki, or Fourze) is like a multi-dish meal – Thanksgiving, for those in Canada or the U.S. You’ve got your main dish (turkey, vegetable loaf), and then you’ve got your mashed potatoes, your mac & cheese, your cranberry sauce, your green bean casserole, your stuffing. Through the meal, you have bites of each, where the flavor profile encourages different combinations as the meal goes on. With Go-Busters, it’s like a nice hearty stew. There are tons of individual ingredients – meat, vegetables, starches, broth, spices – but they’re all in there at once, and each bowl has more or less the same stuff in it. It’s filling, and even delicious, but each bowl is roughly like the bowl before it, or the one after it.

That was pretty much me and Go-Busters. Episodes felt less like reactions to the stories around them or the evolution of the characters, and more like a fresh bowl of Go-Busters stew. Problems or dilemmas would start and stop within the same episode: Nakamura has problem, and now it’s solved; Yoko’s mad at Ryuji, and now she isn’t; Hiromu is a bad teammate, and then he isn’t. There weren’t discrete arcs or shocking evolutions of the characters, just little problems to solve in a story. I liked those stories, even if I’d’ve liked them better with a little more variety in the meal I was being served.

This was a show that I liked from the jump, but never really loved in the way I’ve loved some Rider shows. The cast was uniformly fun and committed to the material. The costume designs were strong and memorable. The action was reliably well-executed. The episodic storytelling featured fun obstacles for our cast, and a few solid guest-cast character interactions when appropriate. The overall mission against Enter and the Vagras explored interesting ideas about how best to work on our shortcomings without feeling like those shortcomings make us less able to meet the challenges of the world. It’s a solid show for talking about how to work in a group, rather than worry about our own successes or failures. I liked it all the way through.

But I miss the scope and scale of other shows, that feature more than a gray metal base and a group of coworkers. I miss simmering multi-episode subplots about dissension in the ranks, I miss shocking reveals about the ancestry of our heroes, I miss day jobs… god, I miss cafes. The focus of this show on the essentials of military-inflected superhero storytelling made for thrilling adventures against the Vagraas in defense of the world, but not nearly enough other things for my liking. Go-Busters killed for me at telling stories about the Go-Busters, less so telling stories about Yoko, Ryuji, and Hiromu.

I’m very glad I watched it, in case of any of this sounds like I regretted it. Even the most forgettable episode of Go-Busters was a precision delivery mechanism for toku action. (Best one was the wrestling episode.) There’s a warmth to this cast of supersoldiers that grounded almost every adventure in a relatable emotion or clear metaphor. The people making this show knew how to tell solid 20-odd minutes of clever superhero stories. It’s a show I’d easily recommend to others.

I just… I don’t know, it felt like it was too limited in its goals or choices to me. I don’t know if that’s something inherent to Sentai, rather than Rider; I don’t know if it’s specific to this show. But it left me feeling like I’d watched half a series – the superhero action, but none of the domestic drama or real-world conflicts that add context or contrast to the superheroics. Absolutely solid action/adventure, but not enough besides that for me to get wrapped up in.

Fun show, though. I’m glad I finally watched it.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...rs/seriesb.png

Oh man, I love Power Rangers Beast Morphers!

It's just like the the Beast Morphers always say: "It's Sentai Time!"

Well I shared my basic thoughts about Go-Busters back near the start, and when I reviewed the VS movie. So I’ll just say it’s a very atypical series. Like Timeranger before it, the series tried to be same major reinvention, but it turned off a lot of the target audience and part of the older audience, to the point the next show (Gaoranger for Timeranger, Kyoryuger here) was conceived as a more back-to-basics crowd pleasing show and proved successful enough to leave their marks (Kyoryuger in particular is halfway to becoming Sentai’s Den-O).

And your point about there not being many long term arcs here is intriguing, since when I talked about my feelings on Kyoryuger for their VS movie with this show, I specifically highlighted the fact it had more developed arcs compared to its two predecessors and immediate successor as a highlight. Though my definition of “filler” is episodes that don’t advance the plot or give a new toy/toy feature, which probably colours my perception in that regard.

Yeah, I don't... I probably wouldn't use "filler" to describe an episode of anything, because it's a little too dismissive for me. By the definition of "actively furthering the series plot or introducing a new element to the show", yeah, lots of iller episodes in this show -- but that discounts the joy in the smaller episodes, the personal moments, and that's the stuff I honestly didn't think there was enough of in this series.

Like, I probably would've liked a more drawn-out and nuanced reconciliation between Hiromu and Yoko in the beginning, rather than it being more or less wrapped up in an episode, but that's probably not what eery viewer wants from a show.

I have been! Every week! In part because this thread gave the me the push to start posting around here again, no less! Rest assured your hamfisted and cursory examination of Go-Busters has at least brought that much forth already. Speaking of which!

This statement makes it a lot to easier to get at some more of the difference between my connection to Go-Busters and my love of so many other shows.

When I decided to make that Kuuga thread, a significant part of the motivation was the idea of how other people felt about the series. The thought of a world where newer fans of Rider might go back to older shows and end up perceiving Kuuga as only being interesting because of its immense historical importance made me want to do my part to make sure the record on that stays straight. To whatever extent I could, I wanted to make it clear that Kamen Rider Kuuga only has historical importance because it's so immensely interesting.

My personal feelings on Kuuga matter to that desire, of course. If I didn't love the show a lot, I'd never care about how it's perceived. I often have similar feelings regarding shows I see merit in that were already disregarded and undervalued in their own time. I probably couldn't have written about Kuuga if I hadn't written about Ninninger and Ghost first.

But then, on the other hand, I love Go-Busters so much, it's basically irrelevant to me what other people think about it.

It's hard to say for sure, since it's never occupied either extreme of fandom gospel, but I think my feelings about this show sort of leap over all that stuff. I see tons of merit in the way it's crafted, of course. But like, I have rewatched this show in full already, after I made a habit out of writing about stuff on here, and I chose not to try writing about it. More recently, I rewatched Kamen Rider Fourze, and chose not to try writing about it. When I got done with the latter, one of the few things I did have to say was a sentiment that applies just as much to Go-Busters:

When I think back fondly on Go-Busters (or Fourze!), I often find myself starting to think less about the more detached objective quality of how well an episode came together, how cool an action scene was, or how much I liked a certain character, and instead thinking more and more about stuff like where I was in my life when I first watched it, and how much, looking back, things the show got me thinking about have influenced where I am in my life now.

Like, when you guys see me not sweating the binary good/bad of a toku show on here, or when I'm actively defending some creative choice everyone else agrees is misguided at best -- a move I know Die is quite fond of! -- *that's* where you're seeing how much I love Go-Busters, far more clearly than you're likely to see it in what I can manage to say about the show directly. This is a series that taught me to see beauty in flaws, and to find value in the reality in front of me, and probably other things I still don't consciously realize even after a decade.

As best as my current self can get at it, that's the difference. It's personal to a level I don't want to share, and yet I also share it constantly without even trying.

All that being said, I mean, obviously I *would* totally love to write some big epic novel about how cool all those episodes and action scenes and characters are, at some point. Naturally, Go-Busters got quite a few words out of me when I got to it on the Zenkai Tour, when I was watching and writing about every Sentai premiere in celebration of Zenkaiger's anniversary antics. I'm as proud of those posts as anything I've ever written. Even once they started getting long, I was a lot more careful than usual about keeping the information as concise and dense as I could get it, so I think most of that stuff turned out pretty okay. That Go-Busters one, though, has always been the one I'm least satisfied with. Felt like I said a bunch of words without saying anything at all -- kinda like how I feel about this post at the moment. Reading it back, I think I'm maybe just hard on myself because it never feels like I'm doing a good enough job talking about Go-Busters. Which is maybe the real reason I've never seriously considered making some big thread about it.

Of course, you never know. He liked the show well enough, but if Die finds an excuse somewhere in the couple of movies he has left to throw shade at Jack Kirby or something, I might suddenly start feeling more motivated. :p

Of course, definitely Boonboomger first at the least. And Kiramager.

For what it's worth, I've very much appreciated what you had to say on this thread about everyone's favorite Go-Busters: Bike Guy, Nakamura, Kamen Rider Quiz, MagiYellow, and all the rest. I always like getting to hear what these shows mean to other fans, and it's especially nice to hear from folks that feel it deeper than words. Every day we don't get a Go-Busters appreciation thread from you just means it's a day you're out there appreciating Go-Busters, and that's enough for me.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA:lolol
I'm sorry I just find this genuinely funny. :lolol

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS - FINAL LIVE 2013

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...ters/livea.png

I feel like Go-Busters was especially well-suited for the stage show format? Unlike the Rider shows that eventually get stage shows, Go-Busters sort of didn’t have the non-superhero elements as prominently featured in its DNA (as noted yesterday!), so a stage show that’s all action in a mission to save the world from the Vagras… that’s just an episode of Go-Busters? More or less?

Obviously, this one also pulls on the two main levers of the live format to create an experience that provides a different energy than watching an episode of the show: crowd work, and Surprise Returns.

The crowd work is always my favorite part of these things, and the coinciding Surprise Return of Enter allowed for him to do some pretty charming villain stuff with audience, alongside some slightly-OOC riffing on Osaka. The same sequence allowed the Go-Buster actors to goof around in the crowd as local children, and it was delightful. The stunt show aspects are always neat, but the little moments when the cast leverages the live format to create something unique and original, that’s the best part.

I thought this one was in the upper tier of live shows, mostly for how little it needed to alter the formula of a standard Go-Busters adventure to fit the limitations of a stage show. The villain scheme was in line with the show’s reality, the action scenes were enjoyable, and the character work was warm and joyous. (Jin came back! Kuroki had a cameo! Enter and Escape both showed up because they are the best villains on the show!) It’s a great Go-Busters installment, with no qualifiers.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...ters/liveb.png

IT’S TIME FOR Human-Sized Megazords!

The thing I was most curious about for the stage show was how they’d deal with things like the Buster Machines and Megazords. Would they do a filmed segment? Or maybe a tiny cityscape on stage for the Zord and Buster Machine suits to stomp around in? Instead, they just… had the Go-Busters fight the Megazord suits as human-sized Metaroids. Nice to see the Megazord suits again, but kind of funny that they never really address the inaccuracy.

Honestly, I’m surprised as you are at the human sized Megazords. Most of these Final Live Tour shows tend to not feature the mechs, or find some way to incorporate them if it would look odd if they didn’t (Luckily, Go-Onger had a solution baked in, since the Mecha of that show consisted of the main bodies and some sound cards, the latter of which served as the show’s collectible).

Another thing these earlier Sentai live shows tend to have are a) the first monster from the next season playing a role in the form of a cheap costume (Dozerloid appeared for half a minute in Gokaiger’s show). And they do it here in the form of Debo Hyogakki (a play on “Hyōgaki”, Japanese for “Ice Age”) teaming with the hypochondriac invisible man. And b) the next Sentai getting two cameos. The former got phased out at the latest after this show, and the latter is still around as of the last show I watched (Zenkaiger’s)

As for thoughts… I liked the dude who kickstarts this plot and his habit of spraying everything.

It is fitting for a guy who's a germophobe to think the virus-powered superheroes are his natural enemies!

Man, Die really out here just casually exploring corners of Buster lore I've yet to chart myself.

Actually, chalk that up as one more reason I'm bad at talking about Go-Busters: I really need to study up on this stuff more thoroughly. There's random tidbits like this and behind-the-scenes DVD extras and stuff out there and I've just been putting it all off for years for some reason? It's like, do I even have the right to make jokes about it always being Time For Buster at that point???

It's basically impossible for me to offer any meaningful insight on this, never having seen it, so I'll instead just take the opportunity to mention how happy it makes me seeing the push in recent years to start getting the more high-profile stage show stuff for Rider and Sentai subbed? Granted, maybe I just never looked in the right places, but I definitely don't remember it being nearly as easy to find these sorts of things back in the day, which I'm going to use as a handy excuse for why I got in the habit of not thinking about them.

Ha ha, I also need to watch the DVD game show featuring the cast! Randomly discovered I had it in a big file of Go-Busters stuff, but I don't think I'm going to write it up. It seems cute, the actors drawing stuff from the show in a way that mixes their characters with themselves, but I don't think writing about that stuff has ever felt especially crucial for me. Like, there's no narrative? It's just backup features? But, yeah, I'll still watch it.

Originally presented in “Kamen Rider Die rewatches Legend Rider projects (and more!)” on December 25th, 2021:

KAMEN RIDER X SUPER SENTAI X SPACE SHERIFF: SUPER HERO TAISEN Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBLbqHThbrc

This isn’t one of my favorite types of Kamen Rider films. It’s not really trying to be about anything. There are multiple lead characters, but their stories barely overlap. It’s the kind of movie where the theme is conveyed by people repeating multiple variations on the same phrase over a 90-minute span of time. Most of the plot is just dozens of people appearing and disappearing from the narrative; quantity over quality. It’s all empty calories.

But, hell, it’s Christmas. I don’t really feel like complaining about this thing for hundreds of words on Christmas. So, in the spirit of the waning hours of the season, let me just try and engage with this thing on its own Let’s Throw A Whole Bunch Of Superheroes On Screen level.

KAMEN RIDER WIZARD

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/legend/taisenz1.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/legend/taisenz2.png

This isn’t really a Haruto story, despite his large amount of screentime. He’s there to convey the theme, as seen above, and that’s about it. He’s accused of Space Terrorism by Gavan, and while the story could ostensibly be about clearing his name, that’s all over and done with by their second meeting. Haruto’s there to bring Gavan hope, which is both the lowest-hanging fruit for a Wizard story, and also maybe perfect for a crossover film. It’s all capital letters, you know. Undiluted Haruto.

The main problem with Haruto’s contribution to the story is that he’s already hopeful, so it’s not like he’s challenged or changed by the plot. He’s already sure they’ll find a way to save the universe, and they eventually do. That’s it. That’s his story for this movie, and it’s not really the sort of thing I can dig into.

SPACE SHERIFF GAVAN

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/legend/taisenz3.png

He’s okay! It’s predominantly his story, this movie. He’s the one who changes and grows, moving from a glowering executioner to a hopeful Freelance Peacekeeping Agent. I like a story where someone learns to be a hero thanks to a Kamen Rider, and that’s what this ends up being. Geki’s change is all down to one guy being like Don’t Give Up Hope, and so he doesn’t? Eventually? It’s blunt, but it manages to be the only real dramatic arc for this movie.

It took me a while to warm up to Geki. He’s just some by-the-book space cop for the first few scenes, and then he’s a grumpily chastened ex-space cop for the next few scenes. It’s only after he starts teaming with Gai that he develops a little bit of lightness, a little bit of humor. (I laughed out loud at when he tried to bypass Space Ironmen Kyodain by pointing out that he was also from space. Pretty good gag!) By the end, when he and Sharivan were punching each other in the face to prove their dedication to their principles, I was sort of won over by Geki. Not a dude I’m looking to see more of, but he anchored this film dramatically, and I appreciate it.

YELLOW BUSTER

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This is what I’m talking about when I say that these stories don’t really overlap. Youko’s whole thing about feeling lonely and forming a friendship with Psykoron, it’s not really about keeping hope alive? It’s just about friendship, which feels more in line with a Fourze crossover film than a Wizard one. I liked it, it’s very cute, but every scene felt like it was edited in from a completely separate film. (It does not help that Youko, like the other two, would just randomly disappear for chunks of the story.)

Youko’s real fun. I wish she’d felt more central to the story. I don’t know that I thought she needed to be in this movie, but the performance was fun. I bought her motivation. She’s charismatic in a way that, frankly, the two male leads weren’t. (I don’t really care for Haruto that much, in general.) Her scenes were probably my favorite, because she brought an energy that no one else did.

GOKAI SILVER

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Well, almost no one else.

Gai’s in this one, basically in the Shunpei role. He’s a sort of random inclusion. You’d think he’d be teamed up with Geki for a whole criminal/cop thing, playing off of Gai’s frequently-stated profession as a space pirate… but, no, the space cop never once brings it up. (I feel like a space cop should be mildly interested in space piracy? Maybe that’s not technically against the space law. I’m no space lawyer!) Instead, Gai’s just here to be the occasionally-angry conscience, for some reason. Feels like it should’ve maybe been handled by Haruto or Youko, but we have Gai doing it.

Gai showing up was basically when I gave up on this movie having anything to say. He shows up out of nowhere, in the middle of a different out-of-nowhere Sentai appearance, and he doesn’t seem to have a big reason to take part in the story. The actor does a good job in his scenes, but his inclusion reeks of This Was All We Could Get.

KYORYUGER

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/legend/taisenz6.png

Ha ha, oh god, why bother? Why bother talking about them?

They randomly appear at Kamen Rider Stadium to shout some catchphrases and have a quick stakes-free hero fight, and then show back up at the end with their Zords or whatever. They don’t further the plot or the themes in any way. It’s just more characters to eat up the runtime, the end.

ALL THE REST

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Same thing!

A million Riders and Sentai show up to pose and say their names, and I was just checking the counter on VLC to see how close I was to being done with this movie. It’s fine, in that Look At All The Heroes way, but it isn’t clever or anything. It never has a scene approaching the Marvelous/Decade fight from Taisen, where the Sentai and Rider aspects complimented each other. It’s just a hodge-podge of suits. Cool to see them, but I don’t like getting it in lieu of a narrative.

The villains were the same thing. I did laugh at Shocker immediately rebranding themselves as Space Shocker; just putting Space in front of all their names, them being so proud of it. But they’re just there to be suits to fight, nothing interesting. Shadow Moon finally gets some dialogue, but he could’ve been literally any Showa villain. The main guy, Raider, has a needlessly convoluted plan that culminates in a giant monster rising up from Kamen Rider Quarry, so who cares.

It’s a weird movie, you guys. It keeps shoveling in new characters for, like, a scene (hello, Rinko, Shunpei, and Shinken Yellow!), and then it never brings them back. The finale is a bunch of random new power-ups with zero establishment in the plot. The main Kamen Rider for the story is gone for about twenty minutes and it’s never explained where he went or why. Lazy writing, front to back.

But does anyone care? I mean, I do, I didn’t like watching this movie, but that’s only because I care about stories. This wasn’t really even trying to tell a story. Chastising it for lazy writing is like chastising an Oronamin C commercial for breaking continuity. Those aren’t the goals it set for itself, so it’s maybe unfair for me to judge them by it.

I don’t have to like it, though. I hold these things to a high standard (for a Designed To Sell Toys To Japanese Children-level of “high”) because I know what they’re capable of. To see something this uninspired and slap-dash is… look, it’s Christmas. This was bright and colorful and some of it was entertaining. I don’t want to complain today. They get a pass for the holiday.

Merry Christmas, TokuNation.

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All of that, plus Shelly and Yoko don’t have a single scene together, minus a million points.

I can’t say my opinion of this movie changed substantially, even as I was more invested in the Yoko stuff now. I mean, I already liked the Yoko stuff the best, so a deeper appreciation for the random cameos (J! Nakamura! Morishita! Kuroki with new, cooler hair!) wasn’t going to turn night to day or anything. This is still a deeply uninteresting movie that has so little connective tissue on its various plots as to be three barely overlapping adventures of various importance to its characters. (Wizard’s gone for, like, 40 minutes, and it just feels like he did not give a single shit about what was going on for a lone-wolf Space Sheriff and a lonely teen superhero.) The bond that Yoko has with Psyclone is a storyline that only impacts Yoko, and it means that whenever Yoko isn’t around, that plot just vanishes. You’ll just randomly be in a scene where Fourze fights a Shocker guy, and none of it feels like it’s moving the story forward in an emotional way for any of the ostensible main characters. Geki has a thing he’s doing, Yoko has a thing she’s doing, Haruto is fulfilling his contractual obligations, and it all just feels like it’s coincidentally happening on the same sets. Fun to see Yoko again (and Ryuji and Hiromu, very very briefly), but I’d’ve liked this a lot better if it were just a 15 minute Yellow Buster TTFC special.

Had to rewatch this to gather my thoughts on it beyond what I remember and see what impression I have now that I’ve actually watched all 16 Metal Heroes series (that are subbed and were considered as such at the time of release).

The answer I can give is… I like the film overall, and it has a lot more respect for the Ishinomori characters the Fourze villains were based on, given all of them get a more sympathetic/traditional portrayal with their limited screen time. (Though I still wonder how Inazuma got there, considering he’s 4 years out from his origin story, but someone suggested the Madou portals were bridging time as well as space, so I’ve adopted that as my theory). And for once, Gai Gokai Changes into one of the Go-On Wings instead of the weird hybrid he normally uses (which looks alright, aside from the helmet, which is the main draw of these suits).

And despite Gavan being the POV for the Metal Heroes side, this is more of a Sharivan homage. It was his 30th at the time, the bad guys are his villain group and even the final boss is an updated version of the show’s big bad. All that’s missing is a trip to the Genm World (No relation to Kuroto. It’s Sharivan’s version of the Makuu Space).

If I have to criticise something, it’s that they remade the Redder, Blue Beet, B-Fighter Kabuto, Jiraiya, Janperson and Jiban suits… and didn’t give them a fight scene. It’s basically a promo for a bunch of Ranger Keys (with there being 3 years between them and a set with the other 10 protagonists).

And now, to revive the feature I’m doing for all your Rider threads through Wizard.

Sentai-lert! (note, all characters from Rider that don’t debut here will be covered when their debuts pop up in later threads)

First and most obvious, the guy playing the old Gavan (who is now the chief of the Galactic Federal Police after the actor who played the old chief died between the Gaven movie and this one), Kenji Ohba got his start in the first Sentai as a suit actor for Akarenger, before getting the more prominent roles of Battle Kenya and DenziBlue in the first SUPER Sentai, Battle Fever and Denziman respectively. Gavan was partially created based on how popular the actor was (also partially because Kamen Rider was dependent on Ishinomori having an idea and the Sentai character designer’s fun side project getting seen by a producer).

In addition to reprising Shelley, Suzuka Morita also returns to her role as Shinken Yellow, Hanaori Kotoha, for the purposes of a brief gag that helps save the day.

The voice of Sharivan is Riki Miura, who is perhaps better known as Gou Fukami/GekiViolet from, erm, Gekiranger

Psycolon, the cute owl robot is voiced by popular voice actress and singer (how popular? She was invited to sing before the Emperor of Japan) Nana Mizuki, who is currently voicing female villain Itasha in Boonboomger.

Rider-lert

While Reidar is a villain from Sharivan, this movie out of necessity (the old actor having died two years prior) recasts the role with Hirotaro Honda, who was previously Kagami’s dad in Kabuto.

Special Guest Alert

Reprising the role of Demon King Psycho is Shozo Izuka, who was a prominent VA in Toku throughout the 70s and 80s, with most of his roles after being one-off monsters or villains in anniversary or reunion shows (within Heisei Rider, he was one of Smart Brain’s wirepullers in the Faiz movie and the Alexander Ganma in Kamen Rider 1 and the last episode of the Legend Rider Souls mini).

And finally, the voice of Shaider is Hiroaki Iwanaga, who started out as Tomica Hero Rescue Force’s mentor, but he’s got a bigger role in the next show in “Kamen Rider Rewatches”.

Inazuman specifically calls Fourze his teacher, which Gentaro doesn't understand, so I'm also assuming there's some time dilation happening in that scene.

I don't any factual information to back this up, but based on vague things I've heard over the years, and the film that got made, I think this might be the Taisen film that most clearly demonstrates the probable reason so many of these movies aren't *about* things?

Like, it's really all down to how tight the filming schedule is, isn't it?

This one in particular, with the way Haruto just ejects himself from most of the runtime? How the Kyoryugers got even more minor of a presence than the Go-Busters did in the first Taisen film? How the characters with the most consistent presence are one from a show that just ended, and a guy who never had his own show to begin with? A lot of "storytelling choices" in this movie definitely reek of literally not having the actors available even more than they usually do.

And you know, if that was the kind of environment they had to somehow scrape a feature film together in, I guess that means it was even more pleasant of a surprise than I already thought back in the day that I actually really enjoyed this movie? I believe I rewatched it back when you did that Legend Rider thread and felt nothing had changed, even. It's not cohesive at all, and there's obviously no great moral lesson I took away from its complex themes or anything of that sort, but on a moment-to-moment level, I'm usually vibing with what it's doing, and really enjoying myself. Definitely doesn't hurt how many of those characters walking in-and-out of the plot are characters I really like, either.

I certainly prefer the Three Overlapping But Inconsequential Stories approach that this Taisen movie took over whatever the Outsiders episodes are trying to do. At least this one had a few character get through the entire film?

I guess my gripe with this approach is that, if getting the currently-airing series actors to participate is such a(n understandable!) chore, maybe don't make them the focus of the marketing and artwork? This movie would've been about 90% more coherent and enjoyable for me if it had just been a Yoko/Gavan/Gai film, with a million suits at the quarry and a tiny cameo by Wizard and the Samba Dinosaurs.

(Like, it still completely cracks me up that Haruto is like I've Got My Own Mission but completely vanishes, we don't check in with him at all until the climax, no idea what he was doing, might as well have just been eating donuts. They don't even bother to concoct a reason he's not around, he just goes the other direction. Amazing! A+ writing!)

The one thing I can give this movie is that it resulted in my all time favorite Net Movies. Love all of 'em.

DOUBUTSU SENTAI GO-BUSTERS - SERIES WRAP-UP

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Hard to believe we’re at the end of another Watch thread, you know? Feels like I just started watching Doubutsu Sentai Go-Busters, and it’s already over.

I enjoyed it quite a bit, even if it lacked the verisimilitude and gravitas of other shows. There’s a goofy charm to the Go-Busters that would probably be lessened by a stricter premise, or less magical-realism storytelling. This was a cast that could really only flourish with the ability to go super broad with their acting, and that boundless energy is irreplaceable. I literally can’t imagine these characters any other way, and that’s a testament to these actors.

The main arc of the season, the battle against the Mechalius… seriously, such smart longform narrative in such a delightfully childish package. Telling a story of mechanical monsters warring against a world of humanity, it’s the natural adversary to a group of animal heroes; nothing else would feel right for Tran Sister and her robot army. There’s so much to dig into with the way this show pitted organic life against inorganic life, in a way I’ve never seen before, and I’m glad I got the chance to talk about it alongside all of you.

The individual beats of this season were refreshing in their scope and captivating in their details, letting us go on a journey with not just the five main Go-Busters, but also heartbreaking stories with Atsushi (still too soon) and rousing returns to greatness with Kuroki (I’m a Rider fan, you knew I was going to click with a Sentai who rocks a scarf). Any given episode could find a random pairing and make it sing, which is really only possible when you’ve got such a goofy palette to paint with. You try doing stories of heroism and teamwork and overcoming your flaws without the funny animal sounds and wacky poses, and I just don’t think it’d work.

Super glad I finally sat down to watch one of these Sentai shows, and I’m happy I made it a Shimoyama one to start with. Not sure which one I’ll do next – maybe a Kobayashi one?

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I'll toss out a recommendation for looking at an Arakawa season. He's my personal favorite and the seasons I've seen from him have a good mix of drama and humor, as well as action and character work. I'm mostly suggesting my beloved Dekaranger here, since I haven't seen Abaranger and it sounds like you're not particularly enthusiastic about Gokaiger. Kiramager didn't click with me personally, but it seems to be a show with a pretty dedicated fanbase, though (there is at least one lapsed member of the board who will still show up if you say the name Yodonna three times). Akibaranger is also a hell of a ride if you're up for something really weird.

If any of these are half as solid as the full season of Doubutsu Sentai Go-Busters, sign me up!

Pick your poison. :lolol


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj14UctIfxU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ihF3d7DrQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn65Ehsw-xc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_lE7UKEan8

Those look fun, but I'm not sure they'll live up to the season of Doubutsu Sentai Go-Busters I just watched.

*Thinks about it* Well, there is this. Penned by Gavv's writer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj-CF4trKL8

THE REAL DOBUTSU SENTAI. :lolol

It's good, but I'm not sure it's Green Hippopotamus good.

I'm not a huge Sentai fan, but I can honestly say that I see the appeal of almost every series, even if I didn't like it personally.

Except for Kyoryuger. I don't know how anyone with a functional sense of hearing can tolerate Kyoryuger.

I am... not looking forward to tomorrow's viewing of Samba Dinosaurs Vs Go-Busters, I gotta say. But hopefully it'll be fun question mark!

They do the samba as they transform, they have a blue ranger who does dad jokes and has a kickass fro, They have 10 rangers, Sepiroth is their commander, dinosaurs, did gangbusters in toy sales, and so on and so forth. :lolol
And Pilaf from Dragon Ball WAS their violet ranger (until he cracked every bone in his body).

Then either Zyuranger or Hurricanger. :lolol