[Kamen Rider Die]

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 9 - “USADA RESCUE OPERATION!”



Ha ha, just after spending a day talking about the Buddyroids and how Usada is a hilariously literal and figurative helicopter parent to Yoko, here’s this story that kicks off with Usada feuding with Yoko over her inability to excel at schoolwork. The Go-Busters production team is reading this thread, you guys!

I thought this was a super charming episode, if maybe not as deep as a different Buster/Buddyroid pairing might be. Yoko and Usada have a comedically toxic relationship where they are pretty consistently getting on each others’ nerves, but the core metaphor is such a basic Helicopter Parent thing that it doesn’t feel like we’re seeing an additional layer to their relationship. Yoko obviously cares about Usada while being frustrated by his overprotectiveness and harsh expectations, while Usada obviously cares about Yoko while being frustrated by her snottiness and lazy attitude about schoolwork. They clearly care about one another, and they’re just in the middle of a stupid fight, so there’s not a ton they can reveal that we hadn’t already seen or intuited. It’s a cute story, but not a complex one.

Luckily, the execution is layered and ridiculous, and that makes up for thinness of the emotional conflict. Hinging this story on No Metaroids means we get a more tense story where Enter is fully featured, and there isn’t a goofy robot suit to muddy the stakes. It’s just the Go-Busters trying to outwit a kidnapper, and that turns out to be plenty. (I could not have cared less about the destruction of the two random Alpha Megazords at the end, and I think the show felt the same.) Yoko gets to prove her chops by helping devise a multi-staged ploy to trick Enter, which is exactly the sort of intricate plotting that makes me care about these fast-paced superhero narratives. Bonus points – it includes Morishita and Glasses Lady as duplicate Busters and solo work for Nick and Gorisaki, which is such a crucial part of this Every Go-Buster Matters Even The Annoying Rabbit Dad story, and I love it. This whole thing is half a complete goof, and half a sweet story of the bond between an overbearing parent and a bratty teen. It’s great. It’s dumb, and it’s great.



IT’S TIME FOR Usada!

He’s such a little shit in this one, and that makes him the perfect foil for Yoko, who is crowing with delight when she learns that he got kidnapped. They are both insufferable, and they are also they only people who can stand each other. I love their toxic parent/child bond, and I agree with Glasses Lady that the two of them screaming at each other back at base just feels normal.

[Androzani84]

Now this I remember. Mostly for the lack of a real monster, since unlike Rider doing it once the budget for new monster suits runs out, in Sentai normally those episodes either have slightly higher stakes, or it’s the last arc of the show. But this is just… If someone asked which episodes weren’t all that relevant to the plot so they could skip them, I’d put this one there.

As for why there’s still a giant robot battle… they’re mandated to feature at least one scene dedicated to the Mech per episode (though sometimes, they’ll use the loophole of padding out one fight, or making the scene just a short shot)

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Hiromu at the time was also something I felt the creative staff were trying to be different so to speak. Aside from Captain Marvelous from Gokaiger, Takeru from Shinkenger, and Satoru from Boukenger, a good majority of the 2000s red rangers were upbeat or loud in the name of hotbloodedness or nekketsu, the Japanese term, for a lack of better words. While I have no qualms about red rangers who fall under that category, it was refreshing to see a red ranger like Hiromu for a change. Off topic, this talk of Hiromu has me craving fried chicken.

I think it's more of a Kobayashi thing. Tatsuya, Takeru and Hiromu are a little more cool-tempered than your average "Screaming Red" type. Feels like her Riders Shinji, Momotaros and Eiji are more like typical Red Rangers than her actual Red Rangers. Even among the examples you mentioned, Marvelous switches to nekketsu whenever he's hungry and Akashi often gets fired up about the thrill of the adventure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

TOKUMEI SENTAI GO-BUSTERS MISSION 9 - ?USADA RESCUE OPERATION!?

Luckily, the execution is layered and ridiculous, and that makes up for thinness of the emotional conflict. Hinging this story on No Metaroids means we get a more tense story where Enter is fully featured, and there isn?t a goofy robot suit to muddy the stakes. It?s just the Go-Busters trying to outwit a kidnapper, and that turns out to be plenty. (I could not have cared less about the destruction of the two random Alpha Megazords at the end, and I think the show felt the same.) Yoko gets to prove her chops by helping devise a multi-staged ploy to trick Enter, which is exactly the sort of intricate plotting that makes me care about these fast-paced superhero narratives. Bonus points ? it includes Morishita and Glasses Lady as duplicate Busters and solo work for Nick and Gorisaki, which is such a crucial part of this Every Go-Buster Matters Even The Annoying Rabbit Dad story, and I love it. This whole thing is half a complete goof, and half a sweet story of the bond between an overbearing parent and a bratty teen. It?s great. It?s dumb, and it?s great.

The Usada Heist seems too dumb to work at first but then it actually becomes impressive how it depends on Enter being perceptive enough to see through all the obvious stunt doubles and chain of amateur errors until eventually he's left watching with the viewer in disbelief at their incompetence, while the actual trick is happening right under his nose. Shows that overestimating your enemy can be just as dangerous as underestimating them. It's the kind of ridiculous heist that only someone as dense as Yoko can pull off.

As someone who hated homework and would procrastinate doing it until the last moment, I can relate to the conflict between Yoko and Usada. Their relationship is the most turbulent one but I have to disagree about it being less complex than the others. I think it's necessary to show that even though child and parent can fight sometimes, they still care about each other. Rather, if they didn't care, they wouldn't fight at all, which is why it feels right to Nakamura (glasses lady) at the end. This plot just wouldn't work the same with Hiromu and Nick or Ryuji and Gorisaki, as they're either too chill or too introverted to fight as hard as Yoko and Usada do.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I think it's more of a Kobayashi thing. Tatsuya, Takeru and Hiromu are a little more cool-tempered than your average "Screaming Red" type. Feels like her Riders Shinji, Momotaros and Eiji are more like typical Red Rangers than her actual Red Rangers. Even among the examples you mentioned, Marvelous switches to nekketsu whenever he's hungry and Akashi often gets fired up about the thrill of the adventure.

Tatsuya felt more like a mild-mannered red ranger who played it cool than being the actual cool guy, which was Ayase's role in that team. Takeru, while aloof, was not too cool for school and felt more reserved and distanced given his status (and real intentions which are revealed later in the show) in his team I think compared to Hiromu. I think Hiromu's initial portrayal as a more aloof and self-centered red ranger than his predecessors was what was also part of the series trying something new. As for being a Kobayashi thing, let's not forget Ginga Red and ToQ 1, also Kobayashi's babies. Hell, Ryoma's the oldest.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

But this is just? If someone asked which episodes weren?t all that relevant to the plot so they could skip them, I?d put this one there.

Sure, it's maybe not relevant to the plot of the show (although Enter completely losing his cool in this one feels like a shift in his adversarial relationship with the Go-Busters), but it's a super fun episode that helps to explain the Usada/Yoko relationship a little better, so I don't know that I'd consider it missable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Their relationship is the most turbulent one but I have to disagree about it being less complex than the others. I think it's necessary to show that even though child and parent can fight sometimes, they still care about each other. Rather, if they didn't care, they wouldn't fight at all, which is why it feels right to Nakamura (glasses lady) at the end. This plot just wouldn't work the same with Hiromu and Nick or Ryuji and Gorisaki, as they're either too chill or too introverted to fight as hard as Yoko and Usada do.

I guess? The Usada/Yoko relationship to me still feels less dramatically interesting than Gorisaki/Ryuji and Nick/Hiromu, in that this one is a lot more surface level and boisterous. The other two groups seem to have more going on under the surface, but I get that that appraisal is a little subjective.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER X SUPER SENTAI: SUPER HERO TAISEN



So, I know this is on the schedule for tonight, but I’m calling an audible. For one thing, I already wrote up this movie a couple years ago, and you can read it here. For another, I really disliked that movie. (A lot!) Finally, and maybe most importantly – the Go-Busters part is incredibly minor. I tried rewatching it to see if the Go-Busters part somehow had more significance or intrigue than I remembered, but it absolutely doesn’t. Their appearance is immediately upstaged by Decade and bunch of monster suits, and their reappearance late in the film basically becomes a Fourze promotional segment. They aren’t really a part of this movie in any way that matters.

But!

When I was digging through folders to find Super Hero Taisen, I noticed a folder that I’d never looked in before, containing a toku project I never watched before – even better, it’s a project that features significantly more Go-Busters content, with as much impact on their TV series as whatever minimal screentime they got in Super Hero Taisen. So let’s talk about that instead!

—

KAMEN RIDER X SUPER SENTAI: SUPER HERO TAIHEN - “WHO’S THE CULPRIT?!”



I only ended up watching the parts of this Net Movies series that included any of the Go-Busters: “Super Sentai Murder Mystery! You’re The Great Detective!”, and “Tokumei Sentai Buddy Go!” They’re each Net Movies, which means they are both absolutely non-canonical, and incredibly funny.

Of the two, I think I liked the Murder Mystery two-parter better. The solution is completely deranged – the Net Movie’s director, played by Maki from OOO! – and the clues are utterly irrelevant and misleading, but the absolute certainty that Hiromu has at every incorrect guess is completely in keeping with his appearances so far in Go-Busters. Similarly, Ryuji’s continual intimation of love gone wrong as a possible motivation is exactly the sort of mature insight I’d expect from the oldest Buster. It’s all very dumb, but somehow still in the range of Go-Buster characterization.

The other three shorts are fun, but rely a little too heavily on wordplay that never quite translates well for foreign audiences. I love seeing the Principal from Fourze reveal in an utterly non-canonical way that his character is an amnesiac Garren from Blade (before getting detonated alongside Yellow Buster and Usada by the Kamen Rider Club to avoid embarrassment), but the mysteries themselves were a little too region-specific for me to find much entertainment. Favorite Go-Busters touch, though, was seeing Yoko instantly not care about solving a Rider mystery because she’s Sentai. I love the inherent rivalry between the two brands in Fourze Net Movies, and it’s the best gag throughout these dumb movies.

Dumb movies that are still somehow worth more to Go-Buster fans than Super Hero Taisen, though!

[GuardianAngel87]

Yeah, the net movies that served as sort of a promotion for the Super Hero Taisen are far more enjoyable than the actual movie. That plus they also featured a far better dynamic between the characters of both Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

So, I know this is on the schedule for tonight, but I?m calling an audible. For one thing, I already wrote up this movie a couple years ago, and you can read it here. For another, I really disliked that movie. (A lot!)

Oh, thank goodness. I felt so bad for you when I saw this on the schedule.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuardianAngel87

That plus they also featured a far better dynamic between the characters of both Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Oh, thank goodness. I felt so bad for you when I saw this on the schedule.

Taihen was such a happy accident, because the alternative as me lying about watching Taisen again. That movie is... I mean, I like fan service and everything, but that movie's premise is nearly criminal. I wish the Taihen specials had arrested Yonemura instead of the Net Movie director!

[Sunred]

Net movies, informative yet insane at the same time. Those were the days.
They helped clarify that Decade ain't pink but MAGENTA and that both Faiz and Kiva's helmets also incorporate motifs from sharks and jack-o'-lanterns respectively. Then we get that one track and field race where Kamen Rider Black just walks like a boss recreating his own ending theme scene.