[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 25 - “UNRAVEL THE AVATARS’ SECRETS!”



I’ve never been crazy about Asking Questions stories, and this show’s decision to tell one that could be easily solved by one of the cast members doesn’t make it any better for me.

It’s a long way to go in this one to land on Maybe Something Happened To The People In Hyperspace, mostly/entirely due to Jin deflecting every single time the question gets close to being raised anywhere in his vicinity. While there’s some dramatic potential in how strongly he doesn’t want to divulge details – specifically when put up against the inquisitive and empathetic nature of his student Ryuji – it mostly just means that we are circling theories without ever resolving them. There was a frustration to this episode, for me, that a quick and effective superhero story couldn’t really counteract.

The threat of hyperspace is a good and spooky one, appropriately for this episode – the disappeared people are like ghosts, haunting the characters, and a source of constant pain in their lives for their absence. A lack of details plays into the fear and tension of that concept, so I was previously okay with the show eliding any explanations for the time being. But to then base an episode on those questions, without really bothering to confirm what’s going when Jin ABSOLUTELY could at least give the team a heads-up… not fun! Not a fun idea for a story!

Even the Ryuji story didn’t quite work for me. The crux of his moral is that asking questions may not be the most effective way to fight, but it’s his way to fight, and it’s worth doing. The problem, for me, is that the thing Ryuji’s pushing against in his heroic declaration is Jin refusing to tell him what’s going on. Ryuji isn’t hopelessly distracted by an inquisitive mind; Jin is just avoiding telling him the truth. It’s a weird false equivalency that show kind of doesn’t do anything with, and it’s yet another thing that could’ve easily been avoided by coming at this concept in a different way, or not at all.

Beyond that, I thought the action was strong (that Blue Buster/Escape fight!!!) and the little bits of spookiness were fine. I was probably never going to like an episode where Jin flippantly stonewalls the plot for Reasons, and I guess some solid superhero action couldn’t overcome that personal resistance. Sorry!



IT’S TIME FOR Ghost Stories!

If you have to kick off a story that’s all about Jin distracting people from getting at the truth, why not do it with him terrifying Yoko, Nakamura, and three Buddyroids with a ghost story? It’s cute!