[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 26 - “TINY BUT DEADLY! THE COMMAND CENTER’S S.O.S.!”



Perfect episode!

This one’s a riot from start to finish, with a terrific focus on how Hiromu is an absolutely terrible coworker – maybe my favorite recurring Go-Busters subplot. (As seen in the exceptionally good Mission 7!) Getting to see the terminally-shy Nakamura have to assert herself in the workplace against the perpetually-testy Hiromu… that’s going to be a winner, just on a conceptual level.

The thing that makes this episode truly great, though, is that it never treats this conflict as more than just Workplace Hijinks. Hiromu doesn’t have a mid-battle pep talk where he apologizes for his actions, and Nakamura doesn’t have a crisis of confidence that causes her to let down the team; the story is just Sometimes You Need To Yell At Jerks, and that’s the scope of it. The whole thing gets to be fun, because it always understands how low the stakes really are.

I love it for that? I love that we get this sweet little story of Nakamura being intimated by Hiromu’s… by Hiromu, and then get to go on this little journey with her where she not only yells at him for being a jerk, but she’s the crucial component of the Go-Busters victory over the Vagras. Adorable, and completely minor.

Which is not to say this thing is a slouch in the superhero department, because it’s actually one of the best, most complex problems the Go-Busters have ever needed to solve. Understand that I generally merely tolerate the Buster Machine action on this show, and I thought that its Buster Machine-Scale Only fight scenes were some of the most tense and thrilling sequences to date. The inability to form Go-Buster Oh forces the team to strategize differently, leading to a more rousing Buster Machine sequence than we’ve had in a while. And a whole new configuration, too!

I really thought this one was a front-to-back winner. Every member of the support staff gets a little moment to shine – not just Nakamura, although she shines the brightest – and the Go-Busters have to work as a complete unit in order to overcome not just a cunning Metaroid and a colossal Megazord, but Hiromu’s abrasive personality and intimidating demeanor. Take a guess which of those was the hardest to defeat!



IT’S TIME FOR Eraseroid!

This little guy was, ironically, a big part of this episode’s success. I liked how his basic story paralleled Nakamura’s – a need for respect in the workplace – while also being completely unhinged and consistently hysterical. He just wants Enter to love him! And he defeats Commander and Morishita single-handedly! Terrific concept, perfectly executed.