[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 32 - “TAG-TEAM WITH GAVAN!”



While I appreciate that the show decided to use the second half of a Gavan two-parter to put the spotlight on Morishita of all characters, there’s really no way to get around the fact that the end result is a dumber version of Mission 26, the Nakamura spotlight episode.

Like, the impetus for this story is that a) Morishita 100% phones it on on his report about Makuu Space, to the level of a kid whose book report is just the synopsis on the back of the book, read verbatim; and b) the Buddyroids are at their most ridiculous and overlappingly cartoonish for an entire scene, which Gavan can’t deal with. It’s two things that should set up a fun story about how the Go-Busters are more than just the three Busters in the field – which is weird to do with a space cop like Gavan who presumably has not just Shelly, but an entire space police force to answer to, but whatever – except the episode sort of doesn’t know what to do with them.

Let’s handle the B section first, because it’s fastest: Gavan pretty much forgets about this, and the show never lets the Buddyroids shine anyway. Gavan’s like They’re Clowns, and then the show doesn’t pull them back in until the finale, they get beat, and then Gavan helps Hiromu succeed. This is not making the anxious/insulting/befuddled/drunk Buddyroids seem like an integral piece of the Go-Busters machinery! For a story that kicks off with the Buddyroids at their absolute most unprofessional, the show never takes a minute to refute that, beyond some bland But We Love Them Anyways stuff at the end. Gavan weirdly had a point, and that’s all that came of this part of the opening scene?

The other part, the Morishita part, gets a lot more work done with it, but I still never felt like it came from anywhere. Morishita is moping because Gavan’s cool and awesome and shiny and did you hear he’s got a movie coming out, which just… what? Morishita sort of shrugs off his own work in the beginning, which feels random and undermotivated. (You can’t do any science or math on Makuu Space? Your whole goddamn show is about transporting things across different dimensions! You should be okay with the theory!) The idea that he’d overhear Gavan rightfully criticizing some shockingly poor work by the support staff and just go FINE, HAVE YOUR NEW FRIEND, HIROMU… where is any of this coming from? I get why Nakamura’s immediately pissed! This is a guy who never shirked from a task before, suddenly taking minor criticism from a stranger as a reason that he doesn’t ever need to do his job again. It’s weird! It’s a weird overreaction, and it makes Morishita seem like a needy friend instead of a coworker. Gavan’s point is that the support staff is unprofessional, just like the Buddyroids, and everyone’s proving him right this episode!

This whole episode feels like it’s got its heart in the right place, but no idea how to make it work as an episode of Go-Busters. Spending time highlighting the value of the support staff is smart, but not when it’s trying to prove something to a guy who arguably knows how to work in a similar command structure and has basic expectations of decorum and professionalism. Letting Morishita get a win is great, but maybe don’t make him weirdly underperforming as a way in. Highlighting the unique bond between the Busters and Buddyroids is never a bad idea, but try to remember to show their actual value to fighting monsters. All of these things… they aren’t small things! They’re big story problems, and I can’t believe how many there were in this episode. I wanted to like this one, but it’s sloppy.



IT’S TIME FOR Losing Both Looks Like Carelessness!

Speaking of sloppy! Another group of scientists studying an alternate dimension get trapped inside of it by a monster? Come on! JAPAN! Start nailing your dimensional scientists to the floor or something!