Yeah, I'll be honest, I didn't really feel like the show was different in any perceivable way as far as basic storytelling or whatever goes. As much as it didn't feel like a great episode of Go-Busters, it at least felt like an episode of Go-Busters. There weren't any huge changes to the cast or mission, you know? It's not like they had Enter fighting alongside the Busters all of a sudden or anything.

Wait...

Neat! I'll accept this explanation! Thanks!

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 29 - “BREAK INTO HYPERSPACE!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters29a.png

Oh, this is a fun one.

It’s an incredibly action-heavy episode, concerning itself with the liminal space before our Biggest of Bads takes the stage at last as our heroes ready themselves for a pivotal confrontation in service of achieving their ultimate goals, which this show excels at. While I sort of crabbed about last episode being a superhero problem instead of a human problem, this episode worked overtime to not have me care about that distinction – or, more appropriately, it evolved a superhero problem into a human problem.

Like, this one’s great for immediately laying out not just the stakes of the episode – a three-hour window to, uh, break into hyperspace and rescue the people who’ve been trapped there for 13 years – but also the immediate obstacle to those stakes: a full-frontal assault on Go-Busters HQ by Enter, Escape, and a platoon of Bugglars. (Enter shrugs off the lack of a Metaroid by giving his en Francais version of This Time It’s Personal, but it feels more like a smart narrative decision to not lessen the tension with some goofy new Metaroid with a catchphrase. Enter read the room! He knows which episode this is!) This is a war that’s about to move to a new beachhead, and the soldiers are about to square off. There’s no convoluted plot or scheme, for better or worse; there is immediate cause and effect.

I liked it for that? There’s not a ton to dissect – you could argue that the Vagras scheme here is more fitting of Escape’s blunt force and less of Enter’s traditionally surgical approach, and I’d maybe point out how much Enter seems to bristle under a situation that is rapidly slipping through his fingers as a way of causing his decision-making to be less detached and cautious – but the simplicity of the plot makes sure that we never lose track of what’s at stake. The Busters have to delay the Vagras and escape to hyperspace, anything less dooms the survivors enslaved by Messiah. Straightforward and thrilling, which is exactly what you want for a turning point episode.

And the biggest turning point of them all, the debut of Actual Suit Messiah… I like that, too. While on the one hand it sort of works against what I like about the traditional Go-Busters aesthetic of two warring organizations with different levels of management, you are allowed to debut Actual Suit Messiah in an episode about how everyone needs to fight sometimes to save the world. If you put Commander, Nakamura, Morishita, and a half-dozen overalls into action as the last line of defense to ensure that Great Go-Buster makes it to hyperspace, you have earned Messiah not being a screaming CGI head from now on. It’s cool with me.

I thought this one was a bell-to-bell winner, with action that felt like the penultimate episode of the series. (That Enter/Red Buster fight! I can’t believe they did that with 20 episodes left in the tank!) Coherent stakes, a strong grip on tone, and a rousing finale that makes the heroes seem like they just landed in the deepest shit of their lives? Hell of a way to take this show into its next phase.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters29b.png

IT’S TIME FOR Escape not having time for this!

Escape could not have been more jazzed to get into her tactical long-sleeve undershirt and waltz up to Go-Busters HQ for a pitched battle with five superheroes, and I’m overjoyed that the show decided to surprise her with a final confrontation against desk jockeys and mechanics instead. Her little annoyed block of laser blasts by dismissively waving around Gock and Magock was priceless. She’s so disappointed to have to battle the background cast! It was delicious, and I enjoyed it as much as she loathed it.

So this episode feels a lot like it was written as a finale to the show, that they had to bring up to the midway point, with a few hints rushed through. Most notably, the whole “you no longer need the paintball gear” thing. Even Messiah’s new look is the sort of thing normally reserved for a character’s endgame. As does the big Great Go-Buster vs an army of Megazords fight.

I guess? It just feels to me like the next phase of the show, not some grand finale, despite (or because of) Enter's theatrical certainty. I think 60% of the way through is a good point to give the main villain a physical presence?

Of all the big all-hands-on-deck moments that help sell the scale and importance of this episode, I think my favorite has always been that Nick gets to come in for the epic action hero save just when Enter seems to have Hiromu right where he wants him. It's a great moment for everyone's favorite Bike Guy that feels more right for that scene than any other character coming to Red Buster's aid could've been.

Yeah, a worse version of this episode has Jin coming out to save him like a swaggering swashbuckler, but the episode's through-line is that this is what everyone's been working together for over the last 13 years: Nick's the only one that's been with Hiromu all that time! Yoko (for example) could get saved by Hiromu or Ryuji or Usada or a couple other characters, but Hiromu can really only get rescued in this one by Nick.

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 30 - “MESSIAH: SHUTDOWN”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters30a.png

On the one hand, Hiromu was never going to choose the digital ghosts of his parents over the safety of the world, and neither would Yoko. (Ryuji… I mean, his need to protect the feelings of Yoko and Hiromu, to save them from having to make that choice? I think that’s powerful enough that he would’ve fallen back like he suggested.) The Go-Busters aren’t just superheroes, they’re a military organization. This is a war they’re in, and they’ve each had to make sacrifices for the greater good; the defining moment of Hiromu and Yoko’s childhood is when their parents made the tough call, so this stuff is basically in their DNA. While it’s a heartbreaking choice, there was no version of this story where Hiromu would second-guess himself and cause the world to fall to ruin. It’s sort of hilarious that Enter really thought he had the advantage by trying to present Hiromu with a moral dilemma like this.

On the other hand, this episode really isn’t about The Greater Good Vs Your Loved Ones, or whatever story Enter thinks he’s in. This episode is about learning to let go of the past.

The scientists who vanished to hyperspace 13 years ago have been dead all this time. The chance of them all being alive and well has been steadily chipped away at over the last 29 episodes, leaving the eventual reveal that they’re all digital ghosts that are enslaved to Messiah as more of a Yeah That Tracks than anything Earth-shattering or terrifying. It’s the last nail in the coffin, and Hiromu knows it. Pretending that this situation can be fought out of or planned around is just delusional. They’re adults, and their parents are treating them like adults by leveling with them about what needs to be done. All that’s left is to honor their last wishes and put them to rest.

It’s a strong episode for just letting Yoko and Hiromu come to terms with their parents’ deaths, finally. Their parents are gone, but they’ve always been gone, and yet they’ve never been gone. Yoko can feel her mother’s presence as she pilots her Buster Machine, and Hiromu’s survival is a testament to his father’s dedication to saving lives, no matter the personal cost. The change now is only the end of the illusion of possibility, not the static outcome, and that’s something they’ll need to deal with moving forward. And now they can move forward, at long last. It’s a bittersweet moment, but it points to a brighter future.

IT’S TIME FOR Clues!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters30b.png

The idea that Escape and Enter are gestalt entities made up of all the scientists… it’s fine, but it’s not like this show did a ton of work setting up that concept to have any narrative weight, beyond the previous reveal of Hiromu’s mom’s dog statues. This was a reveal that I don’t remember anyone asking about before, and it only really serves to foreshadow the reveal about everyone being consumed by Messiah 13 years ago, and that scene is the next one. It’s very Hey We Never Got Around To This But Here’s The Deal With Enter And Escape, and I don’t know that I found the new information particularly illuminating. Maybe you did, though!

So here we are, at the end of the show’s first chapter. And some scattershot thoughts on aspects of this episode.

Messiah: In all honesty, he’s probably among the worst Sentai main villains I’ve seen. Pretty much the only reason he doesn’t take the top spot is that there are others who have quirks, acting issues or story elements that make them annoying. Messiah doenst have any of that. He just felt really pointless as an element of the story. He didn’t trap the parents in Hyperspace (the scientists did that themselves), he didn’t come up with any plans or create any Metaloids (that was all Enter) and the most he did was creating Enter and Escape. We don’t even know where he came from, or what his ultimate goal was. The fact his final fate is to be rendered unable to do anything while the Busters shoot him to death is very fitting. I doubt many people will disagree with this rant, since pretty much every talk about the series never mentions him, which underlines my point in a way. I don’t even think he’s been mentioned in the double digits in this thread.

The parents being dead all along? The episode frames the fact the heroes learn this as an idealistic moment of closure, but given the whole point Hiromu and Yoko became Go-Busters was to save their parents, it essentially renders their life’s purpose all for nothing and feels like one of the most cynical conclusions to a plot-line I’ve ever seen. If they’d still been alive, but only so long as Messiah existed, I might’ve been a bit more forgiving, but it feels like they got us invested purely for the purpose of pulling the rug.

The return of Epsilon? Not that surprising. While Rider barely acknowledges the Summer movies after they happen (Den-O, W, Gaim, Ghost, Zi-O and Gotchard being the exceptions), Sentai is the opposite, with call backs to the summer movie either in-show or in the V-Cinemas being very common (Gaoranger, Gekiranger to an extent, Gokaiger surprisingly enough, Kyuranger and Zenkaiger are the exceptions), mostly in the form of the exclusive mecha returning. What’s surprising is that they’re doing it now. Pretty much every other instance happens when the movie is out on DVD/Blu-ray, rather than the month after the movie came out (which adds a bit of fuel to my “this was intended as the finale” theory, but that’s neither here not there).

So anyway, for bookends, I’ll mention this is the end of the first chapter. The next will take us through the last 18 episodes, and no, that’s not a typo. As for my thoughts on said first chapter? Put simply, if I recommend Go-Busters, it’s because of the second chapter, since the first was really lacking.

The beat in this episode that's always killed me the most, right back to the first time I watched it, is when Hiromu specifically turns to Yoko and apologizes for deciding to break that promise. I love that Hiromu, in the middle of thinking about all the heavy emotions of their parents, processing his own feelings, and making that whole speech, still doesn't forget for a second about how hard this has to be for her too, and I love that the show was written with the level of care to remember to get that in there.

I've always been extremely fond of this as the big conclusion to the first half-ish of the series. A lot of the reason I'm so attached to episode 20, that I can finally mention in here now, is specifically to do with how much it feels like that episode was laying out the broad strokes of what happens in this one? It seems like more than a coincidence to me that the debut of Great Go-Buster -- the combination specifically for going into hyperspace -- also had the episode's plot be about Hiromu having to reject an illusion of his parents to protect what he already has.

Again, a large part of this show thematically is about flaws and imperfections and all that, so it's difficult to imagine a more appropriate way for this plot to play out than having the Busters accept that they can't have the ideal victory they've been dreaming of for 13 years, and still find the worth in continuing to fight on anyway.

I never really minded Messiah being less of a presence and/or not being fully fleshed out, because this was a show about organizations at war, and how the troops dealt with their orders -- complaining about Messiah's thinness as a villain feels like complaining that Kuroki isn't more of a three-dimensional hero. Enter and Escape are great, as are the Busters. That's the level this show needed to work at for me.

Boy, hard disagree? While rescuing their parents was an individual motivation, their years of training were about making sure their parents' sacrifice wasn't in vain. (I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Nick tells Rika in her spotlight episode?) The conclusion to this story is the Busters living up to their parents' example, and I think that's a way better conclusion than everyone somehow being alive for the last 13 years despite everything we were told about hyperspace.

The bit that wrecked me was Yoko and her mom at the end. This was a two-parter that was INCREDIBLY dedicated to Hiromu's heroism and sacrifice (the first scene on Mission 29 is Hiromu's prophetic guilt dream!), so I'm glad that there was room to explore Yoko's connection to her mom amidst every Hiromu-centric thing.

That's probably still a very close #2 for me as well! It's a very emotional episode!

I still remember being incredibly confused when the end of Lupinranger involved the red version of the center mech showed up out of nowhere without having ever been seen or mentioned on the show itself. Not that it wouldn't have been a complete ass-pull even if I had seen the movie.

But that's the cool thing about lyrics, they can have different meanings depending on the perspective!

I don't mind it as an insert, but even then, it has to compare with the excellent Perfect Mission. It seems like a loss no matter which category I use to judge it, but at least, I like it enough on its own merit.

Yeah, the main difference that I notice between this and Rider's infamous staff changes is that the producer and writer haven't changed at all. I recall it was similar for Ohranger as well. We were still watching Takebe's and Kobayashi's story and other than the OP, it feels exactly the same to me.

Well, it does explain why Enter and Escape are such weirdos. Jin is an Avatar composed of one person's data, so he looks and acts like the real Jin from 13 years ago (maybe a bad example since that guy also happens to be a weirdo but it's the only comparison I have), while our monochromatic villains are composites of a whole bunch of people. It's a dark twist that the scientists who saved the world are now being used against their will to endanger it, including their own kids.

That's why I think this works best as something of a mid-season finale. The first 30 episodes were grounded in the past and we saw the oppressive toll that had taken on the Gobusters' personal lives. Even though the ending of that arc was bittersweet, or even cynical at worst, it leaves the last 20 (this show has 50 episodes after all) for them to seriously think about their future and dreams after the remnants of Vaglass are finished. I'd call that hope. The fact that you consider the second chapter as an improvement suggests to me that you can see that as well, even if you disagree with the execution.

For sure, I love that emotional moment before their climactic final battle with Messiah's humanoid form, reminding of how Hiromu has always honored the promise and how it pains him to now have to abandon it. But it's okay, since they're all choosing to break it mutually, knowing that there's something more important that they need to protect. It's a cool leader moment for Hiromu, encouraging Ryuji and Yoko to confront their despair and bring justice to everybody who sacrificed themselves in the past.

Ouch, just referring to the show as Lupinranger, huh. I guess I can't blame you for that.

Yeah, I mean... I don't think they're especially weird in the context of a tokusatsu show? They're certainly not significantly weirder than the technician who's afraid of speaking up or the teen girl who collapses if she isn't constantly eating candy or the well-meaning older brother who becomes a psychopath if he overheats or the tactless robot pilot who freezes up if he sees a chicken or all of the comedically strange companion robots or...

Anyway, I don't know that I spent a single second wondering if there was a root cause to Enter or Escape's personality/pathology, so if this was meant to be an explanation, it's both unnecessary and maybe insufficient.

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 31 - “SPACE SHERIFF GAVAN APPEARS!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters31a.png

I don’t care about Gavan! I only care about Yoko and Shelly having a goofy friendship adventure in a dimension that runs on Showa rules!

Just an exceptionally fun episode, mostly because of the fantastic chemistry between Shelly and Yoko. I like the troublesome earnestness of Shelly, and how that plays off of the polite but exhausted Yoko. That duo is just my favorite thing on maybe the series to date, and I wish I could explain better why that was. I just… I love how wacky they are together. The scene of the two of them eating a bunch of desserts and then Shelly trying to pay with a massive diamond? I wish that was an entire show. Give me 50 episodes of these two toku ladies being good friends and occasionally being menaced by Space Criminals, and I will be happy.

The rest of the episode, it’s honestly all as solid as that, which was surprising. I groaned pretty loud when I saw that we were in a Gavan story (I did not like that guy’s part in the Sentai/Rider crossover movie!), but this thing worked all the way across for me. Thought I’d just have tiny morsels of RabbitBird to enjoy, but instead I got a rapidly escalating monster adventure that also included a new Metaroid! And a Megazord! Despite Messiah being defeated last episode! Developments!

A little strange to jump out of last episode’s massive conclusion into an extended Legacy Hero crossover event, but I guess I’m game if it keeps being super fun to watch. Yoko and Shelly! That’s all I need!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters31b.png

IT’S TIME FOR Space Sheriff Gavan!

Boy, is it ever. I think half of the dialogue was folks saying “Space Sheriff Gavan–?!” I liked him in this, thankfully, because he’s in too much of the show for me to just ignore him. I like how Geki is a real modern hero – smug, hot-headed, smirking in the face of death – but Gavan is all shot-for-shot Showa stuff. The little break to show us the Electroplating!!! Bonkers. The second Gavan shows up in costume, the logic of this show tilts into completely insane Showa nonsense – the Metaroid gets a dirt bike from Somewhere, the Makuu Space makes evil three times stronger in a quantifiable way – and it’s awesome to watch the Busters try to retain their sanity in the face of such absurdity. Gavan’s a toku fever dream compared to the coherence of your normal Go-Busters cause-and-effect, and the collision of those two sensibilities made for a fairly rousing climax. I will give this Gavan guy one more shot!

Even by tokusatsu standards, the Space Sheriff shows were completely bananas. The plots barely made sense, the villains were extremely bizarre, and the climax of each episode took place in a fever dream surrealist landscape.

That being said, Gavan has what is easily one of the greatest toku theme songs of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK-2xoCxYBk

Geki's partner Shelly is played by Suzuka Morita, most known for her role as Kotoha Hanaori aka Shinken Yellow in 2009's Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, written by Kobayashi. The show also has familiar faces such as that one person from the Kamen Rider Eternal movie and that one villain from Kamen Rider Saber as rangers, and Kaido from Faiz as a dude. :lolol

So you probably don’t remember, but this was in one of those watch parties we used to do I mentioned back in the Saber thread. It was watched with Zyuohger 29 with the theme being “Sentai version of last week’s event”, which consisted of OOO 28 and Gaim 30 with the theme being “weird team-ups”.

Which is my way of saying that, like the Gaim episode, this is here to promote an upcoming movie. Though unlike the Kikaider movie, Gavan’s is a sequel to the tv show rather than a reboot (which leads to some uncertainty wih who the movie is targeting, since it doesn’t explain much to those unfamiliar with the series, but focuses on new characters the old guard won’t be invested in). But people can’t say this one is disrupting the plot, because, there isn’t a plot to disrupt (at least until the mid-episode reveal that seemingly everything Vaglass survived the previous episode).

And being written by Kento Shimoyama, who’s probably the Toku equivalent of Al Ewing with Marvel, has a lot of homages to the tv show.

Rhino Doubler is homage to Sai Doubler, the first Doubler Monster from Gavan (though not the first monster. That would be BEM Kaiju Mantis Shrimp Monster).

Like in that show, Gavan (and Hiromu, Shelly, and Yoko) fight untransformed for a while before his transformation. The original Space Sheriff shows were primarily an excuse for actors who were also stuntmen to show off (with Shaider being the exception, where they cast a pretty boy as the lead to boost ratings and had his female assistant do the action scenes).

As Gavan’s Deposition process begins, the OST shifts to that of Space Sheriff Gavan (it honestly fits Go-Busters better than its own OST, strangely enough). The subsequent replay stock footage is a faithful recreation of the original scene with Geki replacing his predecessor Retsu and Go-Busters’ narrator (who’s been mostly redundant for a few episodes, having nothing to do but read the title cards) filling in for Gavan’s narrator Issei Masamune (also known for The Transformers and Kamen Rider Black RX), as is DolGiran, Cyberian and the Gavan Dynamic scene.

The footage superimposed when Rhino Doubler sends people into the Makuu Zone (the Earth spinning backwards, a black hole and tides crashing) evokes the imagery of the “into the Makuu Zone” stock footage from the show, albeit without the accompanying dialogue…

Don Horror: Damn you, Gavan. Send him into the Makuu Zone. Axis Shift System, activate!

Narrator: Don Horror can reverse the Earth’s axis and create a Makuu Zone similar to a black hole. Inside this zone, (insert type of opponent) becomes three times more powerful.

The IRL reason for the Makuu Zone is because in traditional Japanese action stories, the enemy attains a more powerful form in time for the final battle, that’s 3 times as powerful. Sentai does the same thing with the giant battles, while Rider does it by having the monster primarily operate in human form prior to said final battle (or of they’re in monster form constantly, transform into a more powerful monster).

As for my noughts on the episode… more next time. This tie-in isn’t over yet.

Ryuji looked like he wanted to quit the Go-Busters and become an engineer that day as Shelly and Geki tried to explain to him that evil is three times more powerful in Makuu Space.

Thank you both so much for the trivia!

The convenient thing about this new generation Uchuu Keiji content is that it can be enjoyed without any knowledge of the original trilogy. I haven't watched any of that trilogy yet, but I became a fan of Uchuu Keiji (and by extension Metal Heroes) starting with the adventures of Geki and Shelly. In general, the ridiculous Super Hero War movies are probably a terrible introduction to any unfamiliar characters due to Yonemura often writing them OOC, so I'm glad to see that this Gobusters x Gavan crossover is giving you more to enjoy. Hoping you'll give Metal Heroes a chance, even if it's just those new generation Uchuu Keiji movies!

Probably not? I dug this last episode mostly for seeing how the Metal Heroes vibe intersects with the relatively more grounded Go-Busters vibe. Absent that contrast, I can't say I'm super curious? But maybe someday!

This one got me real scared back in the day. Completely irrationally, mind you, but still, it's hard to talk about my personal experience with this episode without bringing that part up. Like I said, when I got around to watching it, I had heard just enough vague talk of some controversial(???) "retooling" Go-Busters had underwent that, between the new opening and the Plot seemingly being over, for all I knew, this one's vibe just was the show now? I mean, I could be pretty sure Gavan wasn't here to stay or anything, but also, like... could I? It was like the wilderness period of this show for me, where I knew nothing about what was coming up, and that uncertainty made it difficult for me to just take this as its own thing and enjoy it on the level it wants to be enjoyed on.

Because, I mean, with the benefit of hindsight, it's a perfectly cute example of a crossover story like this, as long as you can get over that basic of hurdle of "why is this show shilling a Metal Hero movie?" Naturally, I have a lot more fun with it on a revisit than I originally did. Heck, who knows, maybe some day, I'll come back again having watched the original Gavan and realize this was actually some masterpiece homage the whole time or something.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I also think it compares unfavorably to Perfect Mission for pretty similar reasons.

Another issue I have with it as the new theme song is that the timing seems off by a few weeks, with the opening changing *before* the obvious turning point in the narrative of the series? Not that I wanna just sit here ragging on a song I like just fine nowadays but I mean, did anybody tune into Super Hero Time for Wizard's premiere and actually think "man, thanks to that spiffy new theme tune, suddenly I care about these Go-Busters guys!"? There's just a lot about the decision to make the change I still don't understand, even though I completely accept it at this point.

I don't know if it's completely irrational? Like, we've all hit patches with shows where we can feel the strain of Production Changes warping what once was reliable into something different and uncertain. I think you'd be okay to have some trepidation on this one... at least until Shelly and Yoko go on their date, and then I can't imagine anyone feeling like this show was in trouble.

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 32 - “TAG-TEAM WITH GAVAN!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters32a.png

While I appreciate that the show decided to use the second half of a Gavan two-parter to put the spotlight on Morishita of all characters, there’s really no way to get around the fact that the end result is a dumber version of Mission 26, the Nakamura spotlight episode.

Like, the impetus for this story is that a) Morishita 100% phones it on on his report about Makuu Space, to the level of a kid whose book report is just the synopsis on the back of the book, read verbatim; and b) the Buddyroids are at their most ridiculous and overlappingly cartoonish for an entire scene, which Gavan can’t deal with. It’s two things that should set up a fun story about how the Go-Busters are more than just the three Busters in the field – which is weird to do with a space cop like Gavan who presumably has not just Shelly, but an entire space police force to answer to, but whatever – except the episode sort of doesn’t know what to do with them.

Let’s handle the B section first, because it’s fastest: Gavan pretty much forgets about this, and the show never lets the Buddyroids shine anyway. Gavan’s like They’re Clowns, and then the show doesn’t pull them back in until the finale, they get beat, and then Gavan helps Hiromu succeed. This is not making the anxious/insulting/befuddled/drunk Buddyroids seem like an integral piece of the Go-Busters machinery! For a story that kicks off with the Buddyroids at their absolute most unprofessional, the show never takes a minute to refute that, beyond some bland But We Love Them Anyways stuff at the end. Gavan weirdly had a point, and that’s all that came of this part of the opening scene?

The other part, the Morishita part, gets a lot more work done with it, but I still never felt like it came from anywhere. Morishita is moping because Gavan’s cool and awesome and shiny and did you hear he’s got a movie coming out, which just… what? Morishita sort of shrugs off his own work in the beginning, which feels random and undermotivated. (You can’t do any science or math on Makuu Space? Your whole goddamn show is about transporting things across different dimensions! You should be okay with the theory!) The idea that he’d overhear Gavan rightfully criticizing some shockingly poor work by the support staff and just go FINE, HAVE YOUR NEW FRIEND, HIROMU… where is any of this coming from? I get why Nakamura’s immediately pissed! This is a guy who never shirked from a task before, suddenly taking minor criticism from a stranger as a reason that he doesn’t ever need to do his job again. It’s weird! It’s a weird overreaction, and it makes Morishita seem like a needy friend instead of a coworker. Gavan’s point is that the support staff is unprofessional, just like the Buddyroids, and everyone’s proving him right this episode!

This whole episode feels like it’s got its heart in the right place, but no idea how to make it work as an episode of Go-Busters. Spending time highlighting the value of the support staff is smart, but not when it’s trying to prove something to a guy who arguably knows how to work in a similar command structure and has basic expectations of decorum and professionalism. Letting Morishita get a win is great, but maybe don’t make him weirdly underperforming as a way in. Highlighting the unique bond between the Busters and Buddyroids is never a bad idea, but try to remember to show their actual value to fighting monsters. All of these things… they aren’t small things! They’re big story problems, and I can’t believe how many there were in this episode. I wanted to like this one, but it’s sloppy.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters32b.png

IT’S TIME FOR Losing Both Looks Like Carelessness!

Speaking of sloppy! Another group of scientists studying an alternate dimension get trapped inside of it by a monster? Come on! JAPAN! Start nailing your dimensional scientists to the floor or something!

Even when he’s the main character of the episode, I barely remember Morishita’s name. I recently went back through my VS movie reviews and there’s a bit in the Go-Busters vs Gokaiger review that states I had to scroll up to remember his name when he did something.

As for the episode itself, we’re in a fairly classic Metal Heroes plot, where the villains’ scheme is really out there. Kidnapping everyone of any use to society is up there with…

Making mothers abandon their children and become apathetic.

Creating a hit band hated by adults.

Having a scientist whose secrets they’re after suffer from voodoo performed by his daughter.

Opening a department store and selling clothes that turn people who wear them evil.

Giving out computers that allow people to talk to friends and buy things without leaving the house (Jury’s out over whether this one is all that bad)

And that’s (with the exception of the first one) all from one show.

And we get the Go-Busters doing their own version of Gavan’s transformation, complete with narration. Sadly, we don’t get to see a stock footage esque “let’s see the transformation one more time” due to the director trying to avoid any use of “mirror effect” (the Japanese term for stock footage”.

And now, for some stuff I didn’t mention last time.

Keeping with the theme established by Tubaloid, Soujikiloid, Parabolaloid and Filmloid, Rhino Doubler is voiced by one of the guys singing the ED, in this case Kohsuke Toriumi.

And also, while it was written for the movie, these episodes, by virtue of coming out a month early, debut a new version of Gavan’s opening theme with modernised instrumentals.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HGQ4CcOefRQ

You're a man, aren't you?
Then you shouldn't hesitate.
The engine of your heart,
Start it at full burn.

I'm on the scene, always one step ahead of you,
Moving at the speed of light towards tomorrow, now dash!

(Beam! Beam!)

Youth, youth, what is it?
It's never turning your back.
What is love?
It’s letting nothing stop you.

Gavan! Wipe away the tears.
Gavan! Welcome your courage.
Uchuu Keiji Gavan!

The villains might look like angels
But they’re sharpening their claws in their hearts
We will be men who would never trample on nameless flowers

(Beam!)

Youth, youth, what is it?
It is never giving up
What is love?
It is having no regrets

Gavan! Say goodbye to yesterday!
Gavan! Welcome the future!
Uchuu Keiji Gavan!

Youth, youth, what is it?
It's never turning your back.
What is love?
It’s letting nothing stop you.

Gavan! Wipe away the tears.
Gavan! Welcome your courage.
Uchuu Keiji Gavan!

Next time, chapter 2 formally begins, after some set up here.

It definitely takes a left turn from Stealing Enetron and Trying To Murder Superheroes, that's for sure. Glad to know that Makuu Space crime is also three times more ludicrous than normal crime!

Geki's complaint also sounds a little hypocritical coming from a passionate fireball like him, which makes him a good partner for Hiromu who also has a history of complaining about his teammates' mistakes. Considering how this is supposed to be advertising for Gavan's big upcoming movie, I guess it's expected that it would mostly highlight his good points. However, Redbuster isn't going to lose to him in coolness either. The scene with them riding their bikes together in Kamen Rider Quarry was an enjoyable climax to this rare crossover.

Morishita had been asked to be a decoy for both Redbuster and Bluebuster in different episodes, so maybe he feels like he can only pretend to be a hero and wants to do more to support his friends like Shelly does for Geki. Out of the 3 computer guys at the base, he's the one who doesn't stand out at all compared to Nakamura and Kurorin. So I guess Morishita is experiencing what Nick did when he wanted to be more than just the Bike Guy. The important part that Nakamura reminds him is that the Gobusters can rely on Morishita when they need him the most.

It's 5 years too early for that! :p

One thing I remember about this one is appreciating the attempt to give Morishita his day in the sun, while also being quite underwhelmed by how that day turned out.

The other thing I'll always remember about this one, that's extra fun for looking back on in retrospect, is that during the warmhearted goodbye between Hiromu and Geki at the end, they made sure to put up some ad-copy on the screen just to be as transparent as possible.

https://i.imgur.com/ezXQNye.jpg

I assume this kind of thing is lost in an age where everyone can watch Go-Busters with Blu-ray rips and the like now, so I just want to take a second to appreciate this.

It's a pretty straightforward bit of text. I'm not much of a translator, but it basically goes:

"Space Sheriff Gavan The Movie in theaters October 20th!
You can see Gavan again on the big screen!"

So you know, just letting all the viewers at home know that if they're sad about seeing our fun new guest stars leave for their next adventure, they can go see them in their own story and everything. Pretty harmless I guess, but again, very transparent, as well.

I suspect something about that rubbed someone at Over-Time the wrong way, though, because their subs from back in the day decided to go ahead and translate the message, and they did so uh... a little more according to the spirit of the words than the words themselves.

https://i.imgur.com/u2E68Mz.jpg

The funny part is, as much as I didn't vibe with these episodes at all, I did go watch their movie once it got subbed, and actually liked it a fair bit. I gained a decent-sized soft spot for Geki, and pretty eagerly followed the films he was in after that, all of which I had a lot of fun with. So you know, some good things came out of these episodes for me, even if they'll probably never be my favorite episodes of Go-Busters.

Geki: Watch our movie.
Hiromu: (Goddammit)

:lolol

You forgot the best Metal Heroes plot of all: brainwashing children into becoming goblins at a pagan ceremony in front of an upside-down crucified Santa Claus.

Doesn't work as well for me. There's a kind of rawness to the original that just makes it go harder.

I was surprised by how much I liked those movies. It was a fun little pocket of Toei's toku output while it lasted.

But, like, the Nick episode is him complaining that he's more than just the Bike Guy; the Morishita episode isn't about how he's more than just the Computer Guy, it's about how he's not even a good Computer Guy.

Translation Cop came out of retirement to say goodbye to a Space Sheriff! I love it! This was the real team-up I was waiting for!

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 33 - “MORPHIN’! POWERED CUSTOM!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters33a.png

Pretty much the best possible way for this show to move into a new phase, at least for my money. Super Modes are cool and all, but I really liked how the show decided to incorporate the Buddyroids more into the action going forward.

There’s a neat parity to this episode, how Enter’s usage of humans to upgrade Messiah is met by the Go-Busters merging with their Buddyroids to even the odds. It’s not just MORE POWER or whatever, and it’s not just the same routine as before with a new lieutenant. This is the Vagras – an amalgamation of human data – getting beat by humans because they couldn’t understand Hiromu’s motivations, so they decide to win by gathering more human data. It’s an answer to their previous defeat, rather than a completely new threat, and that makes it more fun to see how the Go-Busters rise to meet that threat.

Including the Buddyroids is such a smart way to evolve the heroes’ side of the story. We’ve had some spotlight episodes where Gorisaki or Usada prove their value as guardians, but the show pretty much says that the Buddyroids aren’t combat units. The most they ever do is help evacuate civilians before a Metaroid murders anyone, and that’s not the same as charging into battle. Having their assistance evolve into additional power for the Busters is the best possible solution for getting them more involved in the Metaroid fights, mostly because I don’t think anyone wants to see the Usada puppet getting flung around every single week against Bugglars. (Once or twice, yeah, totally, but not every week.) Having the Buddyroids buddy up with their Busters is such a neat counterpoint to Messiah kidnapping humans, because it’s the idea that Messiah will always lose because it doesn’t understand teamwork; Messiah gives orders, it doesn’t inspire anyone.

I was really curious how this show would change up post-Messiah, and how it would address the actions of the team in that previous story. After this episode, I am fully onboard with wherever this show wants to go. Excellent choices, all up and down the story.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/sen...busters33b.png

IT’S TIME FOR Powered Morphin’!

I like the new suits! It’s cool to see how there’s a uniformity to the Powered suits, but you can see a little individuality for each of the Buddyroids: each of the shoulder pads are pulled from the Buddyroid designs, and Hiromu’s got that… I don’t know what it is, on second look. I thought it was part of Nick’s head or breastplate or bike mode, but I guess it’s just a Special Boy piece so that Hiromu’s Super Mode is just that little bit more Super than his teammates. Well, whatever, I still like these suits. They’re just a little bit extra, so they don’t lose the cleanliness and flexibility of the base suit, and they still look more powerful. It’s a fine line, but these suits walk it.

So here we come to another reason why I honk there was so,e shaking up behind the scenes. Or rather, two reasons.

1. The introduction of a stronger monster type, with the Messianic Metaloids. While somehing of a tradition in Toku shows, it’s not one Kobayashi is prone to playing straight. She’ll introduce something that seems like it’ll be a stronger threat (the Hells Gate prisoners in Timeranger, the double-animal motif Yummies in OOO, even the Deltas in this series), only for them to start going down no harder than the regular monsters by their second appearance.

2. Our new upgrade item. Not only is it not directly compatible with the Morphin’ Brace (it requires a whole gauntlet that the Brace is clipped into), but it has a notably different voice to the older equipment, performed by the late music legend Ichiro Mizuki. (While shows having multiple VAs for different toys within the same series is common, it tends to be by hero rather than a sudden change to the main VA)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4_X35O_c...jJ7YXr5KzfF4Gd

As for the episode? I liked it, especially with the fact we’re moving past abandoned Transformers stock plots in favour of doing the unique move of Enter wanting to analyse the human factor to create the ultimate AI. And they cut out the middle man and made him the big bad, which he basically was already in all but name. But I’m not keen on the new power up, due to my bias against team power ups. Not only do they tend to debut in my least favourite kind of power up stories (which I went into detail about back in, appropriately enough, the Den-O thread), but also rather than having unique designs that emphasise everyone’s strengths, they tend towards a rather bland uniform look.

While they aren't necessarily as cool as a singular Kamen Rider power-up, I like that they straddle the line of uniformity (They should! They're on a team!) while still having little touches that speak to their strengths. And the fight sequence definitely played up how they're all more powerful in unique ways, which goes a long way towards giving them some differentiation.

Personally, I love a team power up. Might be the Dekaranger fan in me, but I appreciate it when the whole team gets upgraded instead of just the Red. Really drives home that it’s a squad, not one dude with assistants.

Yeah, I am also more partial to team power-ups myself especially considering that Sentai is supposed to about a team of heroes, not a specific one or two that most people would expect out of Kamen Rider or Ultraman.

Props to Fiveman for starting that.

Like quite a few episodes of this show, I have a single particular sort of primal memory of it that sticks in my head, which, for whatever reasons, is seeing Nick sinking into that sand pit.

If I had to guess at those reasons, I think it basically just shows that this a really good starting point for a new chapter of the show. I was probably a little too frazzled from WATCH OUR MOVIE to consciously appreciate that the first time around, but looking back? It's a story that's even more about Saving People than usual, taking great care to emphasize again that the Go-Busters' greatest Mission is in protecting everyone's future now that we've firmly shut the door on them ever reclaiming their past. And, like Die pointed out, both the villains and the heroes get a very clearly delineated new angle to their usual routine. The show's midpoint felt like The End a lot more than I think those sort of "season finale" type episodes in toku shows usually do, so it's no small feat to make this convincing an argument this quickly that this team still has plenty of story left in them.

Similarly, even though I'm honestly not particularly a fan of the visual of the Powered Custom suits... I also struggle to imagine any kind of powerup for the Go-Buster suits I would like more, which is maybe a crucial distinction to draw? I mean, in large part, my apathy is based simply on how perfect I felt the suits were to begin with, so even though my gut reaction is to say anything on top of that is unnecessary... you can tell in the designs they came up with that whoever drew up that idea probably understood exactly that. Like Die said again, they're just a little bit extra. I think it's especially telling they basically don't change the existing color balance at all. The suits get the concept of a powerup across as clearly as possible while also going out of their way to call as little attention to themselves as possible, a contradictory set of goals that shouldn't be possible to pull off at the same time, yet they're pulling it off anyway.

Wait, I think I was trying to say I didn't like the suits, right? I guess one more important thing to consider is that I'm saying I don't like them by the standards of my usual level of affection for Go-Busters. Which I guess means I still like them quite a bit. :p

All that is just strictly about the visual designs though. In terms of what they bring to the show, all of that, I've always loved. Even with my established apprehension towards basically anything new in this series, the narrative concept of bringing the Buddyroids in more actively was great to see, and I love the upgrades to everyone's existing powerset. I mean, dude, Red Buster's super speed becomes just straight up anime teleporting. How I am *not* gonna love that?

It's a thing I sort of never liked from the periphery of the fandom, seeing just the Red get some awesome new power-up while the rest of the team grinds it out with Day 1 movesets and power levels. I think I'd feel viscerally mad if Hiromu got to have a Messianic Metaroid-demolishing upgrade, while Ryuji and Yoko are demoted to mopping up Bugglars. (I mean, uh... that's actually what ends up happening in this episode, but in a good way?) The only way this power-up works for me is giving Hiromu the debut version, and then giving it to Ryuji and Yoko a beat later.

It's all great! Hiromu transforms into a burning metal cheetah for Volcanick Attack! Yoko floats around with Geats IX's mid-air portals! Ryuji becomes a digital alchemist! It's a very very cool fight scene!