This is a thing I can maybe see myself getting tired of eventually, but what I like about this show so far is how the routine of it all helps reinforce that this is a special operations rescue force, not a team of superheroes. They're like first responders, and those people are generally doing the same thing again and again; the differences come in the details, not the broad strokes. This Mission is different from the last one not by dint of a wildly unique scheme by Enter, but by how the team's dynamic this time makes it easier to get all of them working in unison to save civilians while also defeating the Megazord.

(Also, Enter's ran this plan last time and it nearly worked! Why not run it again?)

It just looks cool, right? My favorite touch on the costumes is how subtle the animal motif is in the helmets. It's not some bold emblem, it's this little woven-in thing to the lines of the helmet. So cool.

Yeah, I think I talked about this in a previous response, but I'm a fan of how the organizational aspect becomes another scale for the action to expand to -- how instead of just Busters > Zord, there's the ticking clock and the simultaneous action to build in Busters > Zord > Go-Busters organization. The field team is one aspect of the storytelling, not the end result of it. It makes it all feel like it's one concept, rather than the normal division of Heroes and Cafe Owners or whatever. (It is honestly messing with my head that none of them currently also work at a cafe or restaurant or even bookstore. Isn't there a juice bar they can clock in at?!)

If you're digging that here, you'll probably have a good time when you get around to Ultraman in a year or two. That is very much the set up for most of those shows, too: investigate, evacuate, kaiju battle.

I sort of figured! I've seen one or two episodes of recent shows, plus Shin Ultraman, so I assumed that Go-Busters setup is closer to Ultraman than a normal Sentai show.

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 3 - “GT-02 ANIMAL, MOVE OUT!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters03a.png

I just like this dynamic, man.

It’s not even the actors, really – I still think Hiromu’s actor is just adequate, and Yoko’s actor is clearly doing her best at a young age with a fairly stock attitude – but the core dynamic of the three Busters is such a compelling vehicle for drama that everything else in this episode just feels like window dressing to me. Yes, I am using the second paragraph of this write-up to tell you that this is going to be one where I sort of don’t touch on the villains, the action, or even most of the plot of the episode. All I really want to talk about are Ryuji, Hiromu, and Yoko.

It’s the way they each take their sibling role in the group and mix in things like new teammate difficulties, chain of command, abandonment, personal growth, and idiosyncratic personalities that makes it all such a terrific viewing experience for me. We’re in a story where Hiromu and Yoko are getting on each other’s nerves to the detriment of their effectiveness to the mission, so Ryuji concocts a reason for them to have to depend on each other or else. It’s a little bit Older Brother, and a little bit Pragmatic Workplace Intervention, and that specific energy is as powerful to me as any amount of Enetron.

I love how the story always balances the Mission with the Family, you know? Hiromu and Yoko’s story is as much about Hiromu forgetting that he’s on a team and trying to do it all himself (probably out of a sense of guilt?), as it is Hiromu forgetting that he went away and his little sister doesn’t need his protection anymore. The bickering siblings stuff from last time gets enhanced with a layer of special ops teambuilding, and it just makes every scene between these two pop for me.

The Vagras plot in this one is cute for what it is (I thought the Needleroid extracting Enetron from GT-02 by sticking a needle in its butt was as delightful and entertaining as GT-02 firing missiles that are bananas) but it’s seriously just a framework to explore some refreshing and immediately complex characters. Yoko and Hiromu’s arc is juicy in this one, running the gamut from funny insults to bitter confessions to heartwarming tough love. It’s an exceptionally solid episode of Go-Busters, and probably my favorite episode so far.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters03b.png

IT’S TIME FOR Enter!

I couldn’t quite figure out why I’ve found Enter to be such a charismatic and captivating villain so far. I mean, he’s just a theatrical and flamboyant mouthpiece for an all-powerful monarch, who smirks constantly, swans around, wears a gray scarf, and barely seems to exist on the same level as the…

Oh, right. He’s Woz.

(Even his laptop is just Woz’z book turned sideways!)

Since no-one’s mentioned it yet, I’ll mention that the guy playing Enter was recently in the Gazer spin-off as Nemeru/Gazer Zero.

And for my own talk-up of Enter, he’s pretty much the only character so far that I jived with. In a cast of characters I found bland or bad (those technics are basically what Shibuya and Naria were in Ghost, if you ask me) he’s the sole character that stuck the landing. And by actual coincidence, he’s one of two characters from this show I’ve written fanfiction for. The coincidence part is because 98% of the cast were suggested by members on this forum, and he was no exception.

Ha ha, JEEZ. I don't think they're nearly that bad. They're helpful in ways that go beyond just showing up, shouting something like "HIROMU! METAROID!", and then exiting the scene. They're a bit more of a Greek chorus, here to help us understand what's motivating our heroes. I like them! Maybe I'll even learn/remember one of their names one day, even!

Proto Woz. :lolol

Woz was the Sentai homage in Zi-O, like Shinkenger in Decade.

You mean Decade was the rider homage in Shinkenger. :lolol

Sounds like you made it to Episode 18. Yeah, that was a rough one. Even getting Deai Masayuki as Kyoryu Grey wasn't enough to save it.

I love the part where Hiromu mentions that they have a promise to keep and Yoko is happy to hear that he remembered and can finally accept him as their equal. For a Sentai, the team morph (equivalent of henshin) is usually a big moment where the Rangers unite around a shared goal and I think the promise is a satisfying and dramatic way to bring the Gobusters together, since it's about something more personal than saving the world. Previously, Bluebuster and Yellowbuster took care of the Metaloid while Redbuster fought the Megazord, but this time they fight both enemies in sequence as a team and we can see how much more effective they are when they can draw power from each other and their Buddyroids.

Next year is the 13th anniversary, which is pretty appropriate.

Whoa, it's you! Haven't seen you here in like a year.

The mecha fight scenes are pretty essential to Gobusters anyway, since the Metaloid and Megazord always come as a package, instead of being a single enemy with means of enlargement, like we're accustomed to. I recall seeing a similar method used before in Goggle V and Dekaranger, but those mecha still required the MOTW to pilot them before they could be finished for good. Gobusters raises the stakes in a unique way by adding a time limit, whereupon the Megazord will spawn and fight independently even if the MOTW is still standing. That's a lot for a starting team of 3 (Sanbusters) to have to deal with every week.