[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 16 - “THE MAN FROM HYPERSPACE”



Jin’s got a point, which is a fun way to tell his story. He’s theatrically abrasive and prone to bouts of grandiose nonsense, which rightfully rankles the dedicated and hard-working Go-Busters. But he’s also a guy who got kidnapped to hyperspace for 13 years due to someone else’s sacrifice, and his only prayer of extracting himself from that prison for good is a group of weird kids (and one weird adult) that treat him like he just morphed into Exposition Buster. It’s not great! It’s not a super great scenario for Jin!

But he’s a hero, because he’s still going to play the terrible hand the universe dealt him. (Imagine extricating yourself from hyperspace and having to pin your hopes to Hiromu. Dude does not make a great first impression! Or a rousing second impression! Third through six impressions are nothing to write home about, either!) He’s very much Not Here To Make Friends as an archetype, but he recognizes that only all five Busters together can put an end to the Vagras, so that’s what he’ll do.

Beyond the continuing delightful insanity of J and Jin (just… the whole J interrogation scene!!!) (!!!!!!!!!!), the heart of this episode is the ambivalence of the main Busters to finding out what Jin knows about the fate of their parents. While they’re hoping for good news, they’re terrified to possibly learn that there’s nothing left to rescue. After an episode of dodging the question, we get an answer in the end, and that answer is… maybe? Jin wasn’t with the main group, and he never saw anyone in the past 13 years… but maybe they’re still alive? It’s an answer that’d feel like a cop-out on nearly any other show, but for some reason it just worked for me here. It’s them all believing in the best outcome, and continuing to work as though it’s confirmed. It’s choosing optimism over pessimism, as an organizing principle for large-scale heroics. The Go-Busters keep working, as long as there’s a chance. Hard to be unhappy with a solution as charming as that, you know?

BOOST UP FOR J!



THIS GUY! Everything about him in this episode is like a cartoon character, but in the best way possible. Jin apparently just leaves him to wander the city hungry? J doesn’t know anything outside of facts about himself, because he’s a proud egotist? He pops out of a metal cabinet like he teleported there? He’s a consistently hilarious presence that somehow renders Jin’s flamboyant aggravation into something passing for normal human behavior; J’s single-minded idiocy makes Jin’s outrageous demeanor feel grounded by comparison. It’s a stellar episode for the Super Buddyroid!