[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS - SERIES WRAP-UP



Let’s talk about Kamen Rider Gavv.

I’ve been keeping up with Gavv the last few weeks, usually watching it on Wednesdays when I’ve got a day off from Go-Busters. (“Day off”, like it’s some second job… you guys know what I mean.) I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit, especially compared to Gotchard, which I found to be mostly pleasant, but rarely something I thought about between episodes. I’ve liked how Gavv wants to talk about things like imposter syndrome, emotional abuse, and the ways that sacrificing for others can look like selflessness and heroism, but can also act as a cover for a lack of self-worth. There’s a density to it, both in a thematic way (the Valen introduction episode!) and a dramatic way – like, it’s a show that is juggling multiple parallel plots, but in ways that allows them to start to thread together in fascinating ways. Every episode can feel stuffed with different locations, characters, and plot points.

Go-Busters is not that kind of show.

It’s not a worse show, though. Go-Busters was a remarkably entertaining series of action, drama, humor, and characters that only became their best selves when they learned to rely on one another. But it was never a dense show, across either an individual episode or the season as a whole. Where a show like Gavv might cut away from one character to catch us up on another, or mix a comedic subplot with a darker one, Go-Busters was A Go-Busters Episode every single time. It knew what kind of show it wanted to make – the Go-Busters organization defends the Earth from the threat of the Vagras – and pretty much did that to the best of its abilities every single time. Some stories might tilt heavier into humor or tension, but the Superheroes Fight Monsters stuff was sort of the breadth and width of this thing.

I realize you could easily say that about every single other Rider or Sentai show, and you’re not necessarily wrong. The difference between Go-Busters and Gavv is less about the genre they’re operating in, and more how they choose to tell their stories. Go-Busters felt like a show that could be operating in real-time, for better or worse. To its strengths, it came across as a theme park ride, locking you into a breathless battle against monsters with only a small team of soldiers to save the day. To its weaknesses, it felt like the aperture was too small, too boxed-in; stories were occasionally about the non-combat versions of these characters as theoretical constructs, rather than other avenues for storytelling that could add contrast to the military action. It’s intentional (several stories are directly about how little the Go-Busters think about their lives beyond fighting the Vagras), but it still felt like the storytelling options were hampered by the design.

To put it yet another way, something like Gavv (or Geats, or Ryuki, or Fourze) is like a multi-dish meal – Thanksgiving, for those in Canada or the U.S. You’ve got your main dish (turkey, vegetable loaf), and then you’ve got your mashed potatoes, your mac & cheese, your cranberry sauce, your green bean casserole, your stuffing. Through the meal, you have bites of each, where the flavor profile encourages different combinations as the meal goes on. With Go-Busters, it’s like a nice hearty stew. There are tons of individual ingredients – meat, vegetables, starches, broth, spices – but they’re all in there at once, and each bowl has more or less the same stuff in it. It’s filling, and even delicious, but each bowl is roughly like the bowl before it, or the one after it.

That was pretty much me and Go-Busters. Episodes felt less like reactions to the stories around them or the evolution of the characters, and more like a fresh bowl of Go-Busters stew. Problems or dilemmas would start and stop within the same episode: Nakamura has problem, and now it’s solved; Yoko’s mad at Ryuji, and now she isn’t; Hiromu is a bad teammate, and then he isn’t. There weren’t discrete arcs or shocking evolutions of the characters, just little problems to solve in a story. I liked those stories, even if I’d’ve liked them better with a little more variety in the meal I was being served.

This was a show that I liked from the jump, but never really loved in the way I’ve loved some Rider shows. The cast was uniformly fun and committed to the material. The costume designs were strong and memorable. The action was reliably well-executed. The episodic storytelling featured fun obstacles for our cast, and a few solid guest-cast character interactions when appropriate. The overall mission against Enter and the Vagras explored interesting ideas about how best to work on our shortcomings without feeling like those shortcomings make us less able to meet the challenges of the world. It’s a solid show for talking about how to work in a group, rather than worry about our own successes or failures. I liked it all the way through.

But I miss the scope and scale of other shows, that feature more than a gray metal base and a group of coworkers. I miss simmering multi-episode subplots about dissension in the ranks, I miss shocking reveals about the ancestry of our heroes, I miss day jobs… god, I miss cafes. The focus of this show on the essentials of military-inflected superhero storytelling made for thrilling adventures against the Vagraas in defense of the world, but not nearly enough other things for my liking. Go-Busters killed for me at telling stories about the Go-Busters, less so telling stories about Yoko, Ryuji, and Hiromu.

I’m very glad I watched it, in case of any of this sounds like I regretted it. Even the most forgettable episode of Go-Busters was a precision delivery mechanism for toku action. (Best one was the wrestling episode.) There’s a warmth to this cast of supersoldiers that grounded almost every adventure in a relatable emotion or clear metaphor. The people making this show knew how to tell solid 20-odd minutes of clever superhero stories. It’s a show I’d easily recommend to others.

I just… I don’t know, it felt like it was too limited in its goals or choices to me. I don’t know if that’s something inherent to Sentai, rather than Rider; I don’t know if it’s specific to this show. But it left me feeling like I’d watched half a series – the superhero action, but none of the domestic drama or real-world conflicts that add context or contrast to the superheroics. Absolutely solid action/adventure, but not enough besides that for me to get wrapped up in.

Fun show, though. I’m glad I finally watched it.

[DreamSword]

Oh man, I love Power Rangers Beast Morphers!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Oh man, I love Power Rangers Beast Morphers!

It's just like the the Beast Morphers always say: "It's Sentai Time!"

[Androzani84]

Well I shared my basic thoughts about Go-Busters back near the start, and when I reviewed the VS movie. So I’ll just say it’s a very atypical series. Like Timeranger before it, the series tried to be same major reinvention, but it turned off a lot of the target audience and part of the older audience, to the point the next show (Gaoranger for Timeranger, Kyoryuger here) was conceived as a more back-to-basics crowd pleasing show and proved successful enough to leave their marks (Kyoryuger in particular is halfway to becoming Sentai’s Den-O).

And your point about there not being many long term arcs here is intriguing, since when I talked about my feelings on Kyoryuger for their VS movie with this show, I specifically highlighted the fact it had more developed arcs compared to its two predecessors and immediate successor as a highlight. Though my definition of “filler” is episodes that don’t advance the plot or give a new toy/toy feature, which probably colours my perception in that regard.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And your point about there not being many long term arcs here is intriguing, since when I talked about my feelings on Kyoryuger for their VS movie with this show, I specifically highlighted the fact it had more developed arcs compared to its two predecessors and immediate successor as a highlight. Though my definition of ?filler? is episodes that don?t advance the plot or give a new toy/toy feature, which probably colours my perception in that regard.

Yeah, I don't... I probably wouldn't use "filler" to describe an episode of anything, because it's a little too dismissive for me. By the definition of "actively furthering the series plot or introducing a new element to the show", yeah, lots of iller episodes in this show -- but that discounts the joy in the smaller episodes, the personal moments, and that's the stuff I honestly didn't think there was enough of in this series.

Like, I probably would've liked a more drawn-out and nuanced reconciliation between Hiromu and Yoko in the beginning, rather than it being more or less wrapped up in an episode, but that's probably not what eery viewer wants from a show.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS - SERIES WRAP-UP

...

Let’s talk about Kamen Rider Gavv.

I have been! Every week! In part because this thread gave the me the push to start posting around here again, no less! Rest assured your hamfisted and cursory examination of Go-Busters has at least brought that much forth already. Speaking of which!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The most hilarious possible outcome for me would be that my hamfisted and cursory examination of Go-Busters brought forth a definitive Fish Sandwich treatise on the series. I'd love it!

This statement makes it a lot to easier to get at some more of the difference between my connection to Go-Busters and my love of so many other shows.

When I decided to make that Kuuga thread, a significant part of the motivation was the idea of how other people felt about the series. The thought of a world where newer fans of Rider might go back to older shows and end up perceiving Kuuga as only being interesting because of its immense historical importance made me want to do my part to make sure the record on that stays straight. To whatever extent I could, I wanted to make it clear that Kamen Rider Kuuga only has historical importance because it's so immensely interesting.

My personal feelings on Kuuga matter to that desire, of course. If I didn't love the show a lot, I'd never care about how it's perceived. I often have similar feelings regarding shows I see merit in that were already disregarded and undervalued in their own time. I probably couldn't have written about Kuuga if I hadn't written about Ninninger and Ghost first.

But then, on the other hand, I love Go-Busters so much, it's basically irrelevant to me what other people think about it.

It's hard to say for sure, since it's never occupied either extreme of fandom gospel, but I think my feelings about this show sort of leap over all that stuff. I see tons of merit in the way it's crafted, of course. But like, I have rewatched this show in full already, after I made a habit out of writing about stuff on here, and I chose not to try writing about it. More recently, I rewatched Kamen Rider Fourze, and chose not to try writing about it. When I got done with the latter, one of the few things I did have to say was a sentiment that applies just as much to Go-Busters:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

This isn't just a show I like a lot; it's something etched into my very soul

When I think back fondly on Go-Busters (or Fourze!), I often find myself starting to think less about the more detached objective quality of how well an episode came together, how cool an action scene was, or how much I liked a certain character, and instead thinking more and more about stuff like where I was in my life when I first watched it, and how much, looking back, things the show got me thinking about have influenced where I am in my life now.

Like, when you guys see me not sweating the binary good/bad of a toku show on here, or when I'm actively defending some creative choice everyone else agrees is misguided at best -- a move I know Die is quite fond of! -- *that's* where you're seeing how much I love Go-Busters, far more clearly than you're likely to see it in what I can manage to say about the show directly. This is a series that taught me to see beauty in flaws, and to find value in the reality in front of me, and probably other things I still don't consciously realize even after a decade.

As best as my current self can get at it, that's the difference. It's personal to a level I don't want to share, and yet I also share it constantly without even trying.

All that being said, I mean, obviously I *would* totally love to write some big epic novel about how cool all those episodes and action scenes and characters are, at some point. Naturally, Go-Busters got quite a few words out of me when I got to it on the Zenkai Tour, when I was watching and writing about every Sentai premiere in celebration of Zenkaiger's anniversary antics. I'm as proud of those posts as anything I've ever written. Even once they started getting long, I was a lot more careful than usual about keeping the information as concise and dense as I could get it, so I think most of that stuff turned out pretty okay. That Go-Busters one, though, has always been the one I'm least satisfied with. Felt like I said a bunch of words without saying anything at all -- kinda like how I feel about this post at the moment. Reading it back, I think I'm maybe just hard on myself because it never feels like I'm doing a good enough job talking about Go-Busters. Which is maybe the real reason I've never seriously considered making some big thread about it.

Of course, you never know. He liked the show well enough, but if Die finds an excuse somewhere in the couple of movies he has left to throw shade at Jack Kirby or something, I might suddenly start feeling more motivated.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I love King-Ohger as much as the next guy, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer. It's a little too unique for that. Boonboomger might be okay, except Lap 1 is kind of a pain to get through.

Of course, definitely Boonboomger first at the least. And Kiramager.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Reading it back, I think I'm maybe just hard on myself because it never feels like I'm doing a good enough job talking about Go-Busters. Which is maybe the real reason I've never seriously considered making some big thread about it.

For what it's worth, I've very much appreciated what you had to say on this thread about everyone's favorite Go-Busters: Bike Guy, Nakamura, Kamen Rider Quiz, MagiYellow, and all the rest. I always like getting to hear what these shows mean to other fans, and it's especially nice to hear from folks that feel it deeper than words. Every day we don't get a Go-Busters appreciation thread from you just means it's a day you're out there appreciating Go-Busters, and that's enough for me.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

everyone's favorite Go-Busters: Bike Guy, Nakamura, Kamen Rider Quiz, MagiYellow, and all the rest.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I'm sorry I just find this genuinely funny.

[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS - FINAL LIVE 2013



I feel like Go-Busters was especially well-suited for the stage show format? Unlike the Rider shows that eventually get stage shows, Go-Busters sort of didn’t have the non-superhero elements as prominently featured in its DNA (as noted yesterday!), so a stage show that’s all action in a mission to save the world from the Vagras… that’s just an episode of Go-Busters? More or less?

Obviously, this one also pulls on the two main levers of the live format to create an experience that provides a different energy than watching an episode of the show: crowd work, and Surprise Returns.

The crowd work is always my favorite part of these things, and the coinciding Surprise Return of Enter allowed for him to do some pretty charming villain stuff with audience, alongside some slightly-OOC riffing on Osaka. The same sequence allowed the Go-Buster actors to goof around in the crowd as local children, and it was delightful. The stunt show aspects are always neat, but the little moments when the cast leverages the live format to create something unique and original, that’s the best part.

I thought this one was in the upper tier of live shows, mostly for how little it needed to alter the formula of a standard Go-Busters adventure to fit the limitations of a stage show. The villain scheme was in line with the show’s reality, the action scenes were enjoyable, and the character work was warm and joyous. (Jin came back! Kuroki had a cameo! Enter and Escape both showed up because they are the best villains on the show!) It’s a great Go-Busters installment, with no qualifiers.



IT’S TIME FOR Human-Sized Megazords!

The thing I was most curious about for the stage show was how they’d deal with things like the Buster Machines and Megazords. Would they do a filmed segment? Or maybe a tiny cityscape on stage for the Zord and Buster Machine suits to stomp around in? Instead, they just… had the Go-Busters fight the Megazord suits as human-sized Metaroids. Nice to see the Megazord suits again, but kind of funny that they never really address the inaccuracy.