[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 35 - “LET MANE LI-OH ROAR!”



Weird episode, mostly for how that late line from Mika kind of perfectly articulated what about this episode was its fatal flaw.

On one level, this is a super straightforward episode about showing off a new toy that manages to craft a thematic framework that serves its characters well. Hiromu has to prove himself to Li-Oh in order to win his help, and the Go-Busters have to prove themselves to Mika in order to earn her forgiveness and respect. The actors make it all work, and the action throughout is solid. (I didn’t love all the CG Zord stuff, but that’s a Me problem, not a show problem.) It leverages established character relationships both dramatic – Jin and Ryuji – and hilarious – Yellow Buster and Stag Buster – to notch a good episode of superhero action with a little bit of heart to it.

But all of the Professor Hazuki stuff makes virtually no sense. The whole point of Mika’s story is that she was told by some random researcher that her dad quit because of a fight with the higher-ups at the EMC (why?), and so she resented the EMC forever because of it. But then we find out at the end that he quit the EMC because he wanted to follow his principles (according to Jin) and that he never really hated the EMC, as evidenced by the fact that he designed a toy add-on for Ace. I just… why? Why any of this? Why was he forced out, when he’s just building the same giant robot that the EMC was already producing? What principles was he adhering to, when nothing he’s doing is beyond the boundaries of the EMC’s mission and policies? (It’s not like Li-Oh was some affront to God and Man or anything.) The reveal in this episode was that a wacky guy quit his office job to work at home, and his daughter carried a grudge about it for no apparent reason. This is all weird and dumb!

Other than that, though, I thought this one worked pretty well. (Again, aside from the ridiculous motivation that hamstrung the emotional climax of the episode.) Hiromu having to tame a robot lion in order to win its power in battle is some big time hero junk, and it works on basic tokusatsu level. It’s a plot you can’t screw up, which is why it’s sort of amazing that the other plot was such a failure – it’s a secondary plot! You didn’t have to do anything to explain why Hiromu battles a lion robot, and the explanation ended up being irritating!



IT’S TIME FOR Yellow Buster!

Really great episode for Yoko: She’s a fun foil to an aggressively dismissive Mika; she gets completely ratted out by Usada after she pretends that she understood Hiromu’s strategy; she’s the only Buster to go Super Mode this time out; and she gets to team up with J for yet another ridiculous sequence of her brattiness bouncing off of his obliviousness. She’s the most fun Buster in this episode, even though it’s nowhere near what I’d consider a Yoko spotlight. She’s just that fun!