[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 33 - “MORPHIN’! POWERED CUSTOM!”



Pretty much the best possible way for this show to move into a new phase, at least for my money. Super Modes are cool and all, but I really liked how the show decided to incorporate the Buddyroids more into the action going forward.

There’s a neat parity to this episode, how Enter’s usage of humans to upgrade Messiah is met by the Go-Busters merging with their Buddyroids to even the odds. It’s not just MORE POWER or whatever, and it’s not just the same routine as before with a new lieutenant. This is the Vagras – an amalgamation of human data – getting beat by humans because they couldn’t understand Hiromu’s motivations, so they decide to win by gathering more human data. It’s an answer to their previous defeat, rather than a completely new threat, and that makes it more fun to see how the Go-Busters rise to meet that threat.

Including the Buddyroids is such a smart way to evolve the heroes’ side of the story. We’ve had some spotlight episodes where Gorisaki or Usada prove their value as guardians, but the show pretty much says that the Buddyroids aren’t combat units. The most they ever do is help evacuate civilians before a Metaroid murders anyone, and that’s not the same as charging into battle. Having their assistance evolve into additional power for the Busters is the best possible solution for getting them more involved in the Metaroid fights, mostly because I don’t think anyone wants to see the Usada puppet getting flung around every single week against Bugglars. (Once or twice, yeah, totally, but not every week.) Having the Buddyroids buddy up with their Busters is such a neat counterpoint to Messiah kidnapping humans, because it’s the idea that Messiah will always lose because it doesn’t understand teamwork; Messiah gives orders, it doesn’t inspire anyone.

I was really curious how this show would change up post-Messiah, and how it would address the actions of the team in that previous story. After this episode, I am fully onboard with wherever this show wants to go. Excellent choices, all up and down the story.



IT’S TIME FOR Powered Morphin’!

I like the new suits! It’s cool to see how there’s a uniformity to the Powered suits, but you can see a little individuality for each of the Buddyroids: each of the shoulder pads are pulled from the Buddyroid designs, and Hiromu’s got that… I don’t know what it is, on second look. I thought it was part of Nick’s head or breastplate or bike mode, but I guess it’s just a Special Boy piece so that Hiromu’s Super Mode is just that little bit more Super than his teammates. Well, whatever, I still like these suits. They’re just a little bit extra, so they don’t lose the cleanliness and flexibility of the base suit, and they still look more powerful. It’s a fine line, but these suits walk it.