[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 38 - “ACE DEATH MATCH LIVE!”



I feel like this is going to end up being my favorite Go-Busters episode when it’s all said and done. It isn’t the deepest episode, or the most intricate, or features some character aspect that’s brand new, or anything like that. It doesn’t leverage metaphor or symbolism to any great degree. But it’s the episode that changes the language of Megazord/Buster Machine combat into 20-odd minutes of pro-wrestling action, and that’s going to make this one unbeatable in my mind.

This one harkened back to the sweet spot of the first dozen episodes, where we were confronted with a Vagras plot that the Go-Busters need to neutralize, and that’s about it. There was a precision to some of those stories that I really loved, and this one had that energy to it. There’s a mysterious Metaroid, Hiromu’s been separated from the group inside a stadium, go. Everything after that is just Hiromu trying to stay alive while the outside team works to puzzle out his capture, and I kind of love how straightforward it all is. (Very much like the movie, which also eschewed a lot of plot development or introspection for wall-to-wall action.) I don’t have a problem with an episode that wants to dig into a character in a new way, but it’s nice to be reminded how solid this show is at the basics.

Even the Hiromu moral… it’s just him saying that an hour of getting pummeled is nothing compared to thirteen years of training for hyperspace, so why in the world would Enter think that he'd lose trust in the team now? It’s a great big heroic declaration of trust and resourcefulness, and it’s perfect for this episode. It’s a Big Emotion about resolve, about gaining strength from the support of others… just like in pro-wrestling! The other Go-Busters are the crowd cheering Hiromu on, and that’s enough for him to mount the comeback that fends off Enter’s plans. Perfect. It’s perfect!



IT’S TIME FOR BAH GAWD HE BROKE HIM IN HALF!!!

I have to confess that at least half of my love for this episode is that whoever subbed it had the Metaroid call the match just like Good Ol’ JR, Jim Ross. There are so many specific JR quotes in this one from the Metaroid, and every one had me grinning like an idiot. (“Business is about to pick up”, though… chef’s kiss.) And then there’s even random stuff like Yoko calling the Bugglars “jobbers”, and… man! Such a great job subbing this episode, whoever at Over-Time did this one!