[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I
Oh, I'm sure she doesn't have an encyclopedic memory of these things with how much she's done and how long she's been at it; it's just amusing to me to imagine her trolling people asking about her work by feigning complete and total ignorance of even the most basic facts.

Kobayashi: What? I wrote a good number of episodes for an anime about robots running on huge AA batteries fighting aliens? No way, really? And one of the weapons was a sentient robot boar that doubled as a minigun?

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I don't have a lot to say about this one off the top of my head beyond "yes yes, that that" to how fun the entire premise is, so I'll just take this opportunity to mention that I always want to pepper my speech with classy French when talking about Go-Busters in tribute to Enter, but have always been held back by the fact that I know close to nothing about French.

My three years of junior high/high school French are finally paying off! In that I sort of can figure out what Enter's saying via context clues and my not-completely-scoured memory! C'est bon!

[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 14 - “CA VA? RESCUE OPERATION”



After last episode’s quirky exploration of the individual relationships between the Busters and their Buddyroids, this one… mostly isn’t that. We pivot pretty quickly from a comedic goof-off into a tense and dramatic thriller, one that’s more about the brotherly protectiveness Ryuji and Hiromu feel towards Yoko, as well as Yoko’s strengths as a little sister.

Like, a ton of what made this one work for me was the rescue operation (like in the title!) that has Hiromu and Ryuji stealthily taking out the Bugglars, vaulting onto ledges, hiding out on doorframes, and eventually using a bit of Enter-adjacent subterfuge to fake out the Tubaroid enough to power-up Yoko. (Also, uh… first episode with no actual Enter appearances? I think?) It’s nominally about how the mission of rescuing a teammate overlaps with the need to protect a little sister, but the pure action of it all is so goddamn fun that I sort of don’t care a lot about what it’s trying to tell me about the characters. And I like what it’s telling me about the characters! I like that Ryuji gets very wistful about Yoko becoming her own woman! I like that Hiromu has grown enough as a person to at least recognize that he shit all over Yoko’s hard work, and now regrets it! But the rescue portion of the episode includes the Busters flinging a chocolate wafer directly into Yoko’s mouth, at which point she springs up like a Popeye cartoon to dropkick the Tubaroid, and you can’t create an emotional context that is cooler than that!

It all ends up being not just a rousing conclusion to last episode’s battle and this episode’s capture, but a very sweet look at Yoko’s unique sentimentality within the Buster trio. Fittingly, for the Buster who not only remembered Hiromu’s promise but also silently resented him for 13 years because of it, Yoko is the one Buster who cares enough about the Buddyroids to make them feel as human as the rest of the team. She gives them a birthday of their own, and then works hard to make the celebration matter. (As we all expected, Hiromu’s suggestion of Nick’s perfect day is both hilariously half-assed, and also maybe technically perfect? Unclear!) She’s the emotional component that helps make the six of them feel less like accidental co-workers and more like a family, which is a nice thing for this two-parter to eventually be about.



IT’S TIME FOR Beet Buster!

Buuuuuuut I imagine the thing most people took away from this episode is the debut of Beet Buster, yet another Sentai guy I vaguely remember from a random Taisen film. (The Ex-Aid one? For a scene?) He’s a beetle-themed Buster, and he and his Buddyroid partner definitely seem to have escaped from hyperspace. I imagine we’ll be learning a lot more about the two of them shortly, but on first glance I’m looking forward to their integration into the cast. Beet has a slightly flippant demeanor, which is unique for the team (Ryuji, but way less), and I like the wacky friction between him and his Buddyroid. I don’t love the helmet, if only because Beet Buster looks like about 15 different Kamen Riders, and that ain’t what I’m here for!

[Androzani84]

So yeah, I watched these two episodes on the same day the first time around, which is an unusual experience for me (I’m a “one episode a day” guy, with at least two exceptions a day). In all honestly, I can recall the two Tubaloids, but not how they dealt with the second one.

And we meet our Sixth Hero*, the term Toei uses for a new character in Sentai who a) is a new character to the cast introduced solely to be a new member, b) has their own transformation device and robot and c) has some kind of variation on the gimmick of the main team. And the one here is voiced by Hiroya Matsumoto, who I may have mentioned is Sentai’s answer to Kaido a couple of times (though in terms of appearances, he’s more proactive).

Next time… I’ve only ever watched these two episodes as an extra long director’s cut, so I’ll be sharing my thoughts once you get to 16.

*disclaimer: not necessarily the sixth character on the team. As the fact this one is the fourth indicates.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

In all honestly, I can recall the two Tubaloids, but not how they dealt with the second one.

Tubaroid Ver 2 is defeated by Hiromu figuring out that its attacks were only effective because the previous Tubaroid's hits primed them. With replaced Morphin Braces (and Yoko, who was never affected), Tubaroid Ver 2's attacks were as weak as the first one's. After that, It's Time For Special Buster pretty much finishes him off.

The 2nd Megazord is defeated by CB-02 creating a counter-frequency to the Tuba attack, and then Go-BusterOh finishes it off.

It's a really good monster plot!

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 14 - “CA VA? RESCUE OPERATION”

...

I like that Hiromu has grown enough as a person to at least recognize that he shit all over Yoko’s hard work, and now regrets it!

This particular bit of character development is probably my favorite thing in the episode, of course. But beyond that, this is just a well-placed two-part story all around, marking the clear end of a chapter with that extended length and a plot that makes room to emphasize just how much the dynamic of the heroes has been built up throughout that first quarter... just in time for two new guys to show up, naturally.

My second favorite thing in this episode is probably just that those new beetle-themed heroes make their debut up on a tree, which is brilliant. It's like if Ryuuji's first scene in the show was him eating a banana or something, gotta love it.

...Just like you gotta love the sweet beetle crest on Beet Buster's helmet. Even in Super Sentai, there's no such thing as too much beetle crest!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

...Just like you gotta love the sweet beetle crest on Beet Buster's helmet. Even in Super Sentai, there's no such thing as too much beetle crest!

Please don't tell anyone I said this, but one of the things I don't like about it is that the beetle crest is maybe too subtle. I think the glasses sort of overpower it, and that feels wrong to me.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

IT?S TIME FOR Beet Buster!

Buuuuuuut I imagine the thing most people took away from this episode is the debut of Beet Buster, yet another Sentai guy I vaguely remember from a random Taisen film. (The Ex-Aid one? For a scene?) He?s a beetle-themed Buster, and he and his Buddyroid partner definitely seem to have escaped from hyperspace. I imagine we?ll be learning a lot more about the two of them shortly, but on first glance I?m looking forward to their integration into the cast. Beet has a slightly flippant demeanor, which is unique for the team (Ryuji, but way less), and I like the wacky friction between him and his Buddyroid. I don?t love the helmet, if only because Beet Buster looks like about 15 different Kamen Riders, and that ain?t what I?m here for!

I cannot stress how excited I am for your next write up.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I cannot stress how excited I am for your next write up.

Now I sort of hope Beet Buster doesn't show up again until Mission 28 or whatever. No one but Commander saw them, so no one's going to ask why they aren't around...

[Sunred]

Hiroya Matsumoto appearing as Jin was quite the surprise back in 2012. It wasn't anything new since the first official tsuika senshi of the series, Burai aka Dragonranger (The Tommy/MMPR Green Ranger counterpart of Zyuranger), did it first by having Shiro Izumi who played Yuma/Change Pegasus in the 1985 show Changeman play him, but nonetheless a pleasant surprise.

Hiroya Matsumoto formerly played Tsubasa Ozu/Magi Yellow in the 2005 show Magiranger, the fourth child of the Ozu family and aspiring boxer who wields the power of lightning (the Magirangers were the third team to be a whole team of siblings, the previous teams being 1990's Fiveman and 1999's GogoV).