[Androzani84]

Yeah, Sentai has a bit more of a set formula to it’s episodes than Rider: Begin plot, introduce monster, fight, continue/conclude plot, second fight, giant battle, conclude plot if it wasn’t before, otherwise epilogue. Kobayashi has stated that she prefers writing for Sentai for the reason she has guidelines to the script.

And I mentioned two episodes ago that Drilloid was one of two Metaloids to get an action figure when the series was brought over to the US. Well this episode features the second one, named only in the credits as “Danganloid” (dangan = machine gun). In his case, it’s because all the one-shot monster costumes were deteriorating after 6 years (the regular monster suits are the ones they make to last), so the production team needed Toei to remake the costumes for them to use, but Toei would only do so if they were definitely going to make new footage with the suits. So they promoted Danganloid into a recurring villain named Vargoyle (which is easier than you think, for reasons I am not at liberty to give out) and expanded his powers from super speed to having the same powers as the main 3.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Yeah, Sentai has a bit more of a set formula to it?s episodes than Rider: Begin plot, introduce monster, fight, continue/conclude plot, second fight, giant battle, conclude plot if it wasn?t before, otherwise epilogue. Kobayashi has stated that she prefers writing for Sentai for the reason she has guidelines to the script.

And I think that's totally fair! I don't think this show is weaker for having a stricter cadence to its storytelling at the episode level, but it does make some attempts at leveraging backstory a little less effective, in my mind.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 10 - “A REASON TO FIGHT”

In a fun bit of trivia, Rika's picture here was drawn by Mitsuru Karahashi, who Sentai fans will probably most know for being a particularly cool antagonist in Shinkenger, and who Die definitely most knows for playing Kaidou in Kamen Rider Faiz. (Like, he probably still hears that name the way Yuuji says it every time he reads it) When he's not in front of the camera, though, it turns out he's actually a pretty dang talented illustrator with a particular kind of delicate style that Toei occasionally makes use of for situations like this.

As for the episode at hand, it's probably not too surprising that it's a favorite of mine, in part because I'm a sucker for Red Buster, but also because it made Rika into a character I've always found really interesting. There's a sort of realism to her fears, the way she just wants to completely shut out anything that brings to mind the tragedy 13 years ago, and how she dislikes Nick mostly because of that association and all that... it's the kind of story where, especially depending on the kind of viewer you are, there's that risk of it coming off like some buzzkill showing up to tell the hero to stop doing cool hero things, but Go-Busters being Go-Busters, the writing has the necessary nuance to avoid that trap. Really, I think the episode gets more interesting the more you think about it from her perspective.

In the sense that I believe she has a lot to add to the series' narrative, I agree with Die that it'd be even better if Rika had more of a consistent presence prior to this episode, but on the other hand, I love how complete this one is just on its own merits, while also touching on so much of what makes Go-Busters the show it is.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

In a fun bit of trivia, Rika's picture here was drawn by Mitsuru Karahashi, who Sentai fans will probably most know for being a particularly cool antagonist in Shinkenger, and who Die definitely most knows for playing Kaidou in Kamen Rider Faiz. (Like, he probably still hears that name the way Yuuji says it every time he reads it) When he's not in front of the camera, though, it turns out he's actually a pretty dang talented illustrator with a particular kind of delicate style that Toei occasionally makes use of for situations like this.

Adding to this, I think Karahashi was behind the drawings in the Kabuto opening clip. He also worked under a pseudonym, which he also uses for doing artwork for a Bandai subsidary, for a children's book called Namidaroid (ナミダロイド).

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

There's a sort of realism to her fears, the way she just wants to completely shut out anything that brings to mind the tragedy 13 years ago, and how she dislikes Nick mostly because of that association and all that... it's the kind of story where, especially depending on the kind of viewer you are, there's that risk of it coming off like some buzzkill showing up to tell the hero to stop doing cool hero things, but Go-Busters being Go-Busters, the writing has the necessary nuance to avoid that trap. Really, I think the episode gets more interesting the more you think about it from her perspective.

Yeah, of the complaints I might've had about Mission 10, Rika's argument isn't one of them. I genuinely appreciated that her concerns were based less in the constant danger of being a Go-Buster -- since she's basically shut herself out from knowing any of that stuff, for her own mental health -- and more that the Go-Busters organization which already vanished her parents to another dimension has now also spent 13 years trying to indoctrinate her brother into a government military squad. She sees them as taking advantage of an emotionally-damaged young man, not a heroic group of agents that are trying to make sure no one else suffers the way she did. It's a good story for her!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

In a fun bit of trivia, Rika's picture here was drawn by Mitsuru Karahashi, who Sentai fans will probably most know for being a particularly cool antagonist in Shinkenger, and who Die definitely most knows for playing Kaidou in Kamen Rider Faiz. (Like, he probably still hears that name the way Yuuji says it every time he reads it) When he's not in front of the camera, though, it turns out he's actually a pretty dang talented illustrator with a particular kind of delicate style that Toei occasionally makes use of for situations like this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Adding to this, I think Karahashi was behind the drawings in the Kabuto opening clip. He also worked under a pseudonym, which he also uses for doing artwork for a Bandai subsidary, for a children's book called Namidaroid (ナミダロイド).

KAIDO

(Also! Sorry to say, but I won't be able to post anything about Mission 11 tonight. Work was insane today; not only was I working non-stop on twice as much stuff as usual, but I also ended up needing to stay an hour and a half late to finish everything up. I'm beat! But I'll make sure to watch and post Mission 11 tomorrow, so we don't end up falling behind. Thanks for understanding!)

[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 11 - “TARGETING THE WEAK POINT”



It is incredibly this show for Gorisaki to look at the relationship that Nick and Usada have with their Busters and wonder if his own relationship with Ryuji is too mature and emotionally responsible.

It’s a funny jumping off point for a very sweet episode that sort of also feels a little random in its placement in the series order and general instigating motivation. Enter’s scheme to leverage Ryuji’s weak point in order to bump him off doesn’t feel tethered at all to the slow burn construction of a new Buster Machine in hyperspace; it’s sort of just a random supervillain plan to kill a superhero? I don’t hate the episode that came from it (far from it!), but Enter’s usually the guy counseling Messiah to think bigger than just executing the Go-Busters, in favor of executing a plan that could free their faction from hyperspace. To have Enter just solo-run a plan to kill one-third of the Go-Busters and that’s sort of the scope of it… I don’t know, it felt a little out of character, despite the panache and ingenuity with which he approached it?

Setting that aside, though, it was a fun episode that hinged on a pleasingly goofy character dynamic – namely, that Ryuji and Gorisaki get along so well that Gorisaki feels like Ryuji doesn’t believe their bond could survive a little friction. What seems to most observers as the clear advantage the Blue team has over Red’s catastrophic people skills and Yellow’s non-stop bickering, Gorisaki instead sees as a way that Ryuji keeps a polite distant between them due to a lack of affection and/or trust. The people we love are sometimes the ones we get the most aggravated by, and Ryuji’s continuous breezy dismissal of Gorisaki’s clinginess just tells Gorisaki that Ryuji doesn’t care enough.

So of course Gorisaki risks his life to give Ryuji the chance to defeat the Fanroid, causing a worried Ryuji to lose his cool (Non-Homicidal Version) and berate Gorisaki for almost getting killed, the air has been cleared, go defeat the Megazord, finish with a joke. It’s not a story with a lot of moves on it, but the relationship between Gorisaki and Ryuji is so sweetly unique and fun that I kind of didn’t care that you can see the beats coming on this one a mile away. The actors sell every moment in this thing, from the sheepish embarrassment of Gorisaki in the beginning, to Ryuji’s heated anger at the end, and everything in-between. It’s a terrific episode for exploring the seemingly perfect partnership and finding its hidden weak point. Just like in the title!



IT’S TIME FOR Yellow Buster!

I just love the constant mutual antagonism of Usada and Yoko, and this episode lets it act as the hilariously toxic flipside of Gorisaki and Ryuji. (Nick and Hiromu… it’s a little more just Nick being the perennial apologist for the horrible thing that Hiromu said and walked away from. Different premise!) Yoko’s ability to go full blast on her helicopter dad at a moment’s notice really helped sell the insanity of Gorisaki wishing that Ryuji could open up like that to him. I don’t know that any parent should want a relationship with their kid that was like Yoko and Usada’s! And I think Yoko is the best!

[Androzani84]

So I mentioned we had another writer with his own style of doing episodes, and here he is, the only one on the staff with any prior Sentai experience*, Kento Shimoyama. Basically, his episodes of Go-Busters have a habit of absolutely refusing to focus on the Busters themselves, which starts here with the episode focusing on Gorisaki being the embarrassing mother from hell.

He also has a knack for totally avoiding the LRR (lather, rinse, repeat) plot of stealing energy, with Fanloid’s goal being the more unique one of pissing Ryuuji off via overheating him, which is totally the type of a plot a hyper-competent henchman like Enter would get up to in a more traditional Sentai show (that is, prioritising destroying the Rangers as much as/above the main goal).

*Kobayashi has admitted she remembers nothing about working on any of the shows she’s penned, which kind of makes it hard to have any experience.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

*Kobayashi has admitted she remembers nothing about working on any of the shows she?s penned, which kind of makes it hard to have any experience.

I completely respect and understand her position!

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And I mentioned two episodes ago that Drilloid was one of two Metaloids to get an action figure when the series was brought over to the US. Well this episode features the second one, named only in the credits as ?Danganloid? (dangan = machine gun).

As promised, I'll point out that Dangan Zord was the specific Gamma type I was referring to before. I mean, it's just Megazord Gamma with a gun, but that's a simple way to make a cool design even cooler, like Onjuuken Suzune.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

He also worked under a pseudonym, which he also uses for doing artwork for a Bandai subsidary, for a children's book called Namidaroid (ナミダロイド).

Don't forget about the sequel: Namida Zord

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 11 - ?TARGETING THE WEAK POINT?

Setting that aside, though, it was a fun episode that hinged on a pleasingly goofy character dynamic ? namely, that Ryuji and Gorisaki get along so well that Gorisaki feels like Ryuji doesn?t believe their bond could survive a little friction. What seems to most observers as the clear advantage the Blue team has over Red?s catastrophic people skills and Yellow?s non-stop bickering, Gorisaki instead sees as a way that Ryuji keeps a polite distant between them due to a lack of affection and/or trust. The people we love are sometimes the ones we get the most aggravated by, and Ryuji?s continuous breezy dismissal of Gorisaki?s clinginess just tells Gorisaki that Ryuji doesn?t care enough.

So of course Gorisaki risks his life to give Ryuji the chance to defeat the Fanroid, causing a worried Ryuji to lose his cool (Non-Homicidal Version) and berate Gorisaki for almost getting killed, the air has been cleared, go defeat the Megazord, finish with a joke. It?s not a story with a lot of moves on it, but the relationship between Gorisaki and Ryuji is so sweetly unique and fun that I kind of didn?t care that you can see the beats coming on this one a mile away. The actors sell every moment in this thing, from the sheepish embarrassment of Gorisaki in the beginning, to Ryuji?s heated anger at the end, and everything in-between. It?s a terrific episode for exploring the seemingly perfect partnership and finding its hidden weak point. Just like in the title!

Gorisaki could've felt like Ryuji doesn't need him emotionally, since Ryuji's situation is different to the personal trauma of Hiromu and Yoko who lost their families and he was old enough 13 years ago to function independently with little need for parental influence, already pursuing a career in engineering. Gorisaki is a skilled mechanic, so he knows a spare part when he sees one and I can see why he would take Ryuji's polite tolerance of his frequent mistakes as a refusal to treat him as more than a colleague. I think it's intriguing how Hiromu and Ryuji both attempt to carry their burdens alone, but in opposite ways. While Hiromu vents his frustration externally with blunt honesty, Ryuji internalizes it to keep everybody happy, which is much worse for him. Anger is a necessary release and it's important to be honest about it to the people you care about. I like how Ryuji's and Gorisaki's relationship develops here with Ryuji finally getting angry at Gorisaki's recklessness, showing that Ryuji really does care about his partner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

IT?S TIME FOR Yellow Buster!

After Snacks, Usada and even Gobuster Oh, it's good to see you finally gave Yoko the highlight!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

*Kobayashi has admitted she remembers nothing about working on any of the shows she?s penned, which kind of makes it hard to have any experience.

Kobayashi has been abusing those Zeronos cards for real!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

While Hiromu vents his frustration externally with blunt honesty, Ryuji internalizes it to keep everybody happy, which is much worse for him. Anger is a necessary release and it's important to be honest about it to the people you care about. I like how Ryuji's and Gorisaki's relationship develops here with Ryuji finally getting angry at Gorisaki's recklessness, showing that Ryuji really does care about his partner.

This episode does a good job of not making either Gorisaki or Ryuji wrong: Gorisaki feels like Ryuji isn't willing to hurt his feelings by being honest, and Ryuji thinks he's being a good friend by not making Gorisaki feel bad. Each of them is doing their best to be there for the other person, but without the ability to open up, there's only so much they can help. It's a neat moral!