[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Isolating the youngest member of the team like that and having her try to take charge of cheering up those people and making them feel safe and all that...

Well, the youngest member would be J.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 43 - ?CHRISTMAS RESOLUTIONS?

It?s fun to base an episode around the fallacy of Enter?s Gathering Data game/scheme, because it shows how little he?s changed in the past year compared to the Go-Busters. Enter continues to learn about humanity, but he himself doesn?t really get any more insightful because of it. Once again, his scheme fails because he has fundamentally misread the motivations and weaknesses of the Go-Busters. He can get them angry one time by dropping buildings on orphans and making fun of the Busters? dead parents, but that?s just taking them by surprise; the Go-Busters don?t carry their rage around like Enter presumes they do. Enter just assumes that the Busters will give in to anger, and will use that anger to be more powerful, so he can rob them of their power. But that?s not the primary source of their power, it?s a reaction to cheap shots they aren?t expecting. Once they see it coming, they can choose to focus on the other motivations in their lives: altruism, generosity, love, hope, etc. Defeating Enter isn?t about ignoring anger, it?s about choosing something better.

Understanding the Infinite Potential of emotions is more effective from a first person perspective, so there's a limit to how much Enter can learn just by watching others. Anger can be a useful emotion when expressed healthily, but Enter has only ever been angry at others, rather than for others. That's just hatred and the Gobusters are much too heroic to rely on that. Even Escape fights for love and loyalty to revive Messiah. But then, this failure is also valuable data for Enter, as he won't repeat the same mistake.

Already mentioned above, but I also love the music box's significance here! While it used to represent Hiromu's hope of bringing back his parents, Nick plays it now to remind him that it still carries his parents' hope of Hiromu's happiness. It's such an awesome "screw you!" to Enter, who thought he could exploit their trauma from 14 years ago, to see the Gobusters fighting for everybody's Merry Christmas with the classic cheerful version of Jingle Bells motivating them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

IT?S TIME FOR Papazord!

Not sure if it was your intention, but it's kind of humorous how you took a Greek letter and replaced it with a NATO letter instead.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Not sure if it was your intention, but it's kind of humorous how you took a Greek letter and replaced it with a NATO letter instead.

Everything I do is intentional! How dare you suggest that these posts are anything other than the result of rigorous and precise effort! (No, it's a happy accident. I just think Escape should canonically be piloting a Papazord!)

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 43 - “CHRISTMAS RESOLUTIONS”

So, I believe I've neglected to bring this up in this thread yet, but I've always loved Christmas, and a lot of that comes from my love of storytelling, and how much I feel that specific holiday can offer to a story.

Of the many reasons I'm so fond of Go-Busters, one of the bigger ones is how much I love that decision to have the tragedy that forms the backbone of the narrative happen on Christmas, and everything the show gets out of that. This episode, in a lot of ways, is the ultimate payoff for that.

Christmas as a storytelling tool can be a symbol used to emphasize cold and lonely feelings just as often as warmth and togetherness, and the former is where Go-Busters starts out. That music box especially, when it's introduced, it represents a melancholic longing to be reunited with lost family, and of course, in the end, that dream didn't end up coming true for the Busters.

...Which is what makes it all the more satisfying that, due to the nature of Sentai starting early in the year and airing *for* a whole year, taking place vaguely in real-time the same way Kamen Rider does, we actually come up to Christmas towards the end of the show, and the fairly usual routine of a holiday-themed episode becomes a huge opportunity to definitively show how much these characters have changed in the year they've been fighting the Vagras, swinging the use of Christmas all the way towards the other end of that symbolic spectrum.

It's for sure the use of that music box that's really the cherry on top. Easily one of the scenes from this show I'll always remember most vividly. It's handled in a supremely beautiful manner throughout, to the point that even Nick's goofy singing, which might seem like undercutting the drama of the moment, actually just perfectly cements the whole point of the drama, especially with that shot of Hiromu inside his helmet smiling. The whole reason a music box playing Jingle Bells makes for such a strong representation of sadness is because music boxes inherently have kind of an empty sound to them, so for that to suddenly burst into this joyous rendition of the song courtesy of one of the most important people in Hiromu's life, right as he's explaining how much Enter is failing to grasp? It's brilliant, plain and simple. The show set itself up perfectly to knock an episode like this out of the park, and they didn't waste that opportunity when it finally came around.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

It's for sure the use of that music box that's really the cherry on top. Easily one of the scenes from this show I'll always remember most vividly. It's handled in a supremely beautiful manner throughout, to the point that even Nick's goofy singing, which might seem like undercutting the drama of the moment, actually just perfectly cements the whole point of the drama, especially with that shot of Hiromu inside his helmet smiling. The whole reason a music box playing Jingle Bells makes for such a strong representation of sadness is because music boxes inherently have kind of an empty sound to them, so for that to suddenly burst into this joyous rendition of the song courtesy of one of the most important people in Hiromu's life, right as he's explaining how much Enter is failing to grasp? It's brilliant, plain and simple. The show set itself up perfectly to knock an episode like this out of the park, and they didn't waste that opportunity when it finally came around.

Yeah, it ends up being a nice bridge out from Hiromu's heroic stand against the Swordandshieldroid (love it, always) into a larger showcase of how the entire team is literally fighting for Christmas. The former is this individual showcase of resilience and gratitude, and then Nick leads us into a boisterous All Hands recognition of the Go-Busters saving Christmas for all the orphans of the world. It's very sweet!

[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 44 - “SILENT NIGHT - IT’S TIME FOR BUSTER”



Of the series finales we’ve had so far, this is maybe the best one, but I want to hold my final judgment until the third and final series finale next week.

Even if this isn't the best of several series finales, it’s still an exceptionally good episode of Go-Busters. I love how it clarifies the gift the Go-Busters were given thirteen years ago – not a vendetta or a mission, but the chance to live and be the best versions of themselves. It was never about creating soldiers that could eventually save the world (although that’s definitely a good thing, as a citizen of the world), it was about these three kids just getting the chance to grow up.

It’s a nice message, that your ability to change the world for the better exists as a consequence of your life, not as the direct result of sacrifice or training or having a giant transforming lion motorcycle. Hiromu wasn’t saved so he could throw his life away, he was saved so that he could decide to help his friends save the world. The Go-Busters stop Messiah’s rampage, but they also helped a little girl love Christmas thirteen years ago, and she’s been paying it forward ever since. The Go-Busters are heroes through their belief in humanity and their desire for people to be safe and happy, not just because they have cool costumes and a giant fire-breathing robot lion.

It makes the team less a collection of Very Special Boys And Girls, like a lot of superhero teams, and more a collection of motivated individuals who want the best for everyone. There’s a sweetness to that message that’s perfect for a holiday episode. It’s celebrating community and kindness, rather than just heroic declarations of awesomeness and steering wheels that turn into laser cannons. (Seriously, Li-Oh is a pretty crucial member of the team!)

I don’t want to make this all sound like it didn’t work on a Toku Finale level for action, because the show absolutely didn’t skimp on that end of things. (Every single Megazord type! Except Enter’s!) But the core message of your life being the gift you give -- not through sacrifice, but through showing up and being there for people? I love that. Best message for one of this show’s multiple series finales to have.



IT’S TIME FOR Enetan?!?!

Much like Yoko, I lost my shit when Enetan ended up being Jin’s secret weapon. Enetan didn’t really end up doing a lot as a character (I genuinely would not be surprised to learn that all her dialogue was recycled from the movie), but there’s something special about even one-off movie characters rallying with the cast to deny Messiah his kingdom. I missed that weird frog!

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

IT?S TIME FOR Enetan?!?!

I believe this episode aired around the time the DVD and Blu-Rays for the summer movie were out or were being promoted iirc.

[Androzani84]

Androzani84 also watched Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters ep 44

The tl:dr of the review above is that while I wasn’t sold in bringing Messiah back after his previous end (I felt it was perfectly serviceable), I liked how they went about executing it. I also thought the orphanage Lady was about as necessary to the plot as the Siskel and Ebert take that in Emmerich’s Godzilla. At least have Messiah almost step on her.

Speaking of villain endings, I also like how despite Escape thinking that she was superior to Enter and more valuable to Messiah, not only did he delete her without batting an eyelid, but as I pointed out last time, Enter didn’t really die that anticlimactically. His reappearance isn’t even played for any kind of drama.

And also speaking of the orphanage lady, the actress playing her, Mizuho Hata, has made a few appearances across different Sentai shows in a variety of different roles. She was in Boukenger as a cat-turned-human, Shinkenger as a food critic, Dekaranger 10th as half of the henchmen duo (the other half being Asumu from Hibiki), the child character’s dead mother in Kyuranger and a recurring unlucky victim in Boonboomger.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

I believe this episode aired around the time the DVD and Blu-Rays for the summer movie were out or were being promoted iirc.

That makes sense! Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

I also thought the orphanage Ladywell as about as necessary to the plot as the Siskel and Ebert take that in Emmerich?s Godzilla. At least have Messiah almost step on her.

Oh, man, I'd completely disagree? The absolute best part of this episode to me was the Busters realization that they saved that lady's life over the last thirteen years by just showing up at Christmas to cheer her up, and how that's paid dividends down the line. It's the episode taking pains to say that the Busters' heroism is more than just giving their lives to defeat Messiah, which is a pretty huge point of the episode to me.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 44 - “SILENT NIGHT - IT’S TIME FOR BUSTER”

...

IT’S TIME FOR Enetan?!?!

I often forget Enetan was in this one, which I think is because I devote that part of my brain to remembering that it's the other time Stag Custom shows up instead.

It's not even that hard to remember, as Sentai making the final episode before the New Year's break a big mecha action showcase that often also features the movie-exclusive one for the dual purpose of calling attention to the movie coming out on home video is a fairly regular tradition. On one hand, it's obviously to make the kids out there want every possible toy, but viewed more generously, I kind of like to think of it like, no matter what random Sentai toy they get for Christmas, they probably just got to see it do something cool on TV, even if it isn't the absolute newest thing.

Also, you know, the end of the year, the last stretch of the show... it's inherently a good time for big climactic episodes and/or episodes that are like big parties before the dramatic last stretch, and for Go-Busters, thanks to that extra Christmas significance, gets to be both at once. My broad opinion of it pretty much echoes Die's -- it's another strong "finale" that does a great job celebrating the heroes as just like, fully-formed people, before they're anything else. When you've invested in these characters for nearly a whole year already, it's hard not to be satisfied seeing everyone do such a great job fighting back the bad guys that they still have plenty of time left to spend chilling at a party at the end.

And the thing that aired right after this was Kamen Rider Wizard's Christmas episode, to boot! December 23, 2012 was a real good day for Christmas-themed toku episodes!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

And the thing that aired right after this was Kamen Rider Wizard's Christmas episode, to boot! December 23, 2012 was a real good day for Christmas-themed toku episodes!