[Kamen Rider Die]

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



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.



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!)