[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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

Like quite a few episodes of this show, I have a single particular sort of primal memory of it that sticks in my head, which, for whatever reasons, is seeing Nick sinking into that sand pit.

If I had to guess at those reasons, I think it basically just shows that this a really good starting point for a new chapter of the show. I was probably a little too frazzled from WATCH OUR MOVIE to consciously appreciate that the first time around, but looking back? It's a story that's even more about Saving People than usual, taking great care to emphasize again that the Go-Busters' greatest Mission is in protecting everyone's future now that we've firmly shut the door on them ever reclaiming their past. And, like Die pointed out, both the villains and the heroes get a very clearly delineated new angle to their usual routine. The show's midpoint felt like The End a lot more than I think those sort of "season finale" type episodes in toku shows usually do, so it's no small feat to make this convincing an argument this quickly that this team still has plenty of story left in them.

Similarly, even though I'm honestly not particularly a fan of the visual of the Powered Custom suits... I also struggle to imagine any kind of powerup for the Go-Buster suits I would like more, which is maybe a crucial distinction to draw? I mean, in large part, my apathy is based simply on how perfect I felt the suits were to begin with, so even though my gut reaction is to say anything on top of that is unnecessary... you can tell in the designs they came up with that whoever drew up that idea probably understood exactly that. Like Die said again, they're just a little bit extra. I think it's especially telling they basically don't change the existing color balance at all. The suits get the concept of a powerup across as clearly as possible while also going out of their way to call as little attention to themselves as possible, a contradictory set of goals that shouldn't be possible to pull off at the same time, yet they're pulling it off anyway.

Wait, I think I was trying to say I didn't like the suits, right? I guess one more important thing to consider is that I'm saying I don't like them by the standards of my usual level of affection for Go-Busters. Which I guess means I still like them quite a bit.

All that is just strictly about the visual designs though. In terms of what they bring to the show, all of that, I've always loved. Even with my established apprehension towards basically anything new in this series, the narrative concept of bringing the Buddyroids in more actively was great to see, and I love the upgrades to everyone's existing powerset. I mean, dude, Red Buster's super speed becomes just straight up anime teleporting. How I am *not* gonna love that?