Why has Go-Busters failed?
 

So far, Go-Busters has been a disappointment to Toei in terms of sales and ratings.

The recent press conference about next years' show added this comment-

And I strongly disagree; Go-Busters is no darker in tone than a few other successful shows. But could there be an aspect of truth in Toei's words?

Whatever the reason, we won't have Toei try anything new with Super Sentai for a LONG time as a result of Go-Busters failing.

I think Go-Buster failed because it tried to be the Japanese Version of the American Adaptaion of the Super Sentai. Instead of finding it's own voice, it's own vision, it tried copying what we did to their original vision. It was muddled. Then look at some of the toys. Red Bust Figuart was molded from atleast seven different shades of red. Then you get to the Mechs, which are the real high sellers for a Sentai series, and parts of it were really muddled. Part of Bandai's "Extra Parts?! Nuuuuuuuuuuu" campaign. The best one has been Lion-Oh and that didn't come out untill a few weeks ago. Toei needs to stick to what they do best. Original stories that stand on their own. Not copying our copy of their originality.

Or as another theory.

Maybe after the huge hit Gokaiger was anything was doomed to failure. I think more after the awesome of Gokaiger they came and laid a log, but that's me.

Which is a shame, because despite Go-Busters failings I think its still been a decent show and I'd rather see the status quo mixed up once in a while.

Also, using the terms "Morphin" and "Megazord" don't really make it an American copy. In terms of story its about as far from Power Rangers as you can get.

Mix up the quo of status! But don't do it by doing what amounts to a copy of a copy, do it by being original.

But it isn't. All it did was use some words that the American series use.

They tried making an american ranger series. It's been said on this board many times. And they failed, horribly.

That doesn't make it correct. I've been watching Go-Busters since it started and I see very little that qualifies is as an "American ranger" series other than the use of a few terms that originated from Power Rangers.

The tone was most likely the biggest factor. It was Sentai by way of Kamen Rider. It just didn't connect to the kids. I like that it had a different feel, but what can you do.

Doesn't make it wrong either.

Tell me how its an "American" copy outside of the phrases "Its Morphin Time" and "Megazord" and using glasses as a transformation device then.

Too much freaking broken english. That's all I could think of :lol

I blame the lack of a story. For almost thirty episodes it was just an unending but really slow tower defense game. No advancing subplots, no real character development, just variations on the same story over and over again.

I thought Go-busters showed great promise at first. The realism made it really cool, as for once the show makes giant mecha plausible. However it started using this realism as a crutch, becoming far too grounded in reality. Because everything had to "make sense" the show seemed afraid to go over the top, and I simply think this doesn't work well for Super Sentai. For example, I eventually found the fights boring after a while due to a lack of crazy flashiness.

Still, it was a radical idea that I hope Toei could experiment more with next time. They just need to find a balance between realism and fun. Super Sentai should not be superheroes the way Batman is in the Nolan films, but more like how the Avengers are.

That too. :D

The new approaches were cool at first, but after a few months and Akibaranger in the way it felt like it lost its chance to shine. Also because Gokaiger went Post-Decade in terms of merchandising, Go-busters just did not seem to have a lot to offer.

Because it could never really decide what it wanted to be.

Is it a hot-blooded espionage-y sort of show with cool robots and people at computers shouting excitedly and trying to inject a bit of Real Robot into the mech battles? Is it a wacky show just for the kiddies with cute robot being goofy and zany plots that help together (more or less) for an episode, then could be immediately forgotten as soon as the credits rolled?

I never knew, and I'm not sure the people making it did, either.

There was never any forward momentum in this show. Rescuing your parents? Eh, we'll get to it. It never seemed to bother them much before or after. Defeating Messiah? Nope, that seemed like one of those things they'd get around to someday? Rescuing Jin? Rolled out in one episode, ignored the very next so we could have Pink Buster doing high kicks for maximum upskirt shots.

Kinda hard to invest in anything when the people making the show don't seem terribly invested in it either.

The main reason I think its because the show had way too many filler episodes, now one can argue that each one of these filler episodes reveals a little about each member, but this far into the series? Also, the team is constantly broken up with the separation of MOTW and its Megazord counterpart, so it feels like they never really quite bonded.

Toy sells standpoint: Because the mechas combined into an ugly mess of a Megazords no one wanted toys of. Role Play, as much as I hate to admit it, probably because kids are stupid and want more cell phone morphers.

TV ratings standpoint: Because Fourze's ratings were very low, it's only natural for Sentai's ratings to be lower. Remember, Sentai is the lead in show for Kamen Rider these days. When Kamen Rider is doing badly in ratings, Sentai is usually doing worse.

Story standpoint: Because Bandai/Toei put their noses in the writers' business and screwed up the show half way through. They could have gotten their audience when Wizard started, but those are the worst episodes of Gobusters. Also, the two best characters in the show, J and Jin, keep getting less and less screentime.


Personal reason: See story standpoint. The other two wouldn't have any effect on me because I don't collect Megazord or Role Play toys and like everyone else outside of Japan, I can't watch it on TV.

Will go-busters be recognized in a few years as the Hibiki of Sentai? A mess that has its fans but little resemblance to the franchise it derives from?

Some already say it is. I'd probably agree if I had seen Hibiki.

I wouldn't say so. From what I heard, the first half of Hibiki was actually good :p

I doubt it. Hibiki's core was the development of its central characters and the amazing outdoor locations. Go-Busters doesn't have anything that really sets it apart aside from costume fabric - the characters and plots are all pretty stock Sentai.

For me, Gobusters failed because Toei made the mistake of making Gekiranger, a Sentai so good it's made the others look bad.

There's a shrine in your closet to GekiRed isn't there, Matrix.

No.
...GekiViolet

It's alright. There's one in mine to Gosei Knight. And maybe Alata. Not admitting anything.

I actually do have a shrine of Kamen Rider Fourze in my closet. All the mini posters I've accumulated from a guy I buy from all ended up there for some reason.

Everyone should have a shrine to Fourze :lol

People seem to be focusing on their own reasons why they dislike the show. While it's not my favorite Sentai, it's far from bad.

I think what really did it for the kids was that the series WANTED to be darker, but was afraid to really go for it, so it got stuck in a bit of a darkness purgatory. It was darker than some kids would have liked, but it didn't embrace it, so it felt kind of wimpy, not compelling, that sort of thing.

I can get behind this. I like it, but you can't be dark and have Buddyroids at the same time. If the feel of the show was more Go-onger with Buddyroids it might have worked more.

Yeah, the sounds about right to me. Nicely put Edag88.

For what I heard from one of the stunt actors kids say they found it boring which is bull which almost every episode has been great.

It failed becuase the zords were just so....strange. The comobs just kept getting worse. I liked the first 13 eps i watched. it looked like it was getting realy good with the whole hyperspace thing going on in the backround and the mystery of the people in that event near the begining. (trying to be vage for those who have not watched it yet)

Go-Busters "failed" because children wouldn't know a cool show with cool designs if it popped in front of their face and sang an awesome first opening.

That's what spoiler tags are for. ;)

Pretty much what I wanted to say beside adding in that I couldn't get behind the main cast. I just found them boring and maybe the kids did too. I also found the mecha battles boring. Yeah they were better choreographed but, fighting against a dull machine gets old.

i love rabbit buddy roid
he said roger rabbit

I'd say it was the lack of overarching plot that stopped the show from being really interesting to most audiences. I personally loved it for that reason; I'm the kind of person who watches episodes with large intervals in between, so something that's really disjointed is great for me, but for something that kids are expected to tune into weekly, it had little pull. The wavering sense of identity was certainly a factor as well. The show didn't seem to know what it was trying to do with how dark it was, or how it was carrying itself. I'd imagine that's what lent to the mid-season overhaul of sorts, and even then, the show was already so far that it didn't have the time to heavily develop anything.

Apart from the constant shifts in mood, it doesn't help that the main characters are off, even by Sentai standards

Red is a unfeeling tool who placed the mission over what little family he has left, Blue is too unpassionate for someone who had been though a event like he had gone though, Yellow is the worst spy I have ever seen, Gold would have never gotten as far as he has in any organization with his fondness for quirks and his monster sized ego, and J is sorta a jerk.

J is a jerk - it's all the character he has. It's what makes him J

beetle j is funny
he hold bandanas

I agree with those saying that the dangling plots killed it. Ones that stick out to me are:

Who is Yoko's dad?
What about everyone in Hyperspace?
What's happening to Jin?

They introduced these and made them large plot points for one episode, then nothing.

I like the overall tone (although inconsistent) of the show and the characters. I like that Red is pragmatic and thinks of the mission rather than people, but I know that doesn't sell to kids.