[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS THE MOVIE: PROTECT TOKYO ENETOWER!



I don’t really know what I was expecting for a Sentai movie. Rider movies are pretty standard by this point – the Winter Crossover film, that pays homage to the last series while teasing future developments for the current one; and the Summer Spotlight film, that hits the highlights of the year, while adding wrinkles or an alternate ending to the overall plot via a slightly-AU take on things. I knew the crossover movie for Go-Busters wouldn’t be until the next series for some reason, so I sort of figured this one would be more of an exploration of the backstory of the characters, something that filled in some of the blanks of the main plot while seeding ideas for upcoming stories.

Ha ha, nope! Just a great big Go-Busters episode. But in a good way!

There’re a few new things here, but really nothing I’d even call a “concept”: Frog, a new Buster Machine that’s useful in an action sequence and a new Go-Buster Oh configuration; Enetan, the Buddyroid pilot of Frog; and a new Epsilon-type Megazord that Enter can pilot. That’s it, beyond the requisite new Metaroid. (Who is great!) And the Frog/Enetan combo… there’s really not much there? They’re introduced as a prototype Buster Machine from way back, later confirmed to be designed by Jin, and that’s really all we get. They might has well have dropped out of hyperspace, for all the relevance they might have to expanding the narrative of the main series. Enetan’s a sharp-tongued Buddyroid, but she’s just here for a couple scenes. She’s not really a character, in terms of progressing the story?

But, y’know, who really cares? This isn’t story about about expanding the world of the Go-Busters – it’s a story about explaining the world of the Go-Busters. This is an open house, built to take skeptical viewers and give them the most high-octane, cinematic version of the Go-Busters experience. This movie is like a checklist of everything you know and love about Go-Busters, presented with a precision and energy that never makes it feel rote or generic. It’s as concise and thrilling a version of the Go-Busters episodic template as you could ever want. We get not only the highs of constant action (An army of Bugglars! FIVE Megazords!), but we get the lows of everyone’s weak points going off at once. We get a multi-stage plan that goes off the rails immediately. We get the Buddyroids choking down the danger to be there for their partners when they’re needed. We get to see the Go-Busters as an organization square off against the Vagras as an organization, which is maybe as crucial to me as a fan than all of the previous stuff. We get everything you’d want from the Go-Busters, plussed up to Motion Picture levels.

It’s not a story I think was especially heartfelt or moving, but again – not what this one was trying to do! This was a movie that’s precision-tooled to get you to do the YES! jump-out-of-your-seat move that Commander does at the end, and it’s a roaring success at that. Terrific film, and a great example of a full steam ahead (sorry) superhero special.



IT’S TIME FOR Foam Buster!

The Hiromu foam dummy makes a reappearance here, which is such an important thing to include if you want to convert casual viewers into deep fans. Yoko’s weak point always feels a little random, and Ryuji’s weak point is a little terrifying, but Hiromu getting stunned rigid and turned into a weapon for Yoko by an inconvenient movie poster for a rooster-themed superhero is exactly the kind of absurdity that helps make Go-Busters so memorable and adorable.