Go-Busters Review

Go-Busters

A Super Sentai series following the 35^th anniversary series Gokaiger. Go-busters is a lot more grounded and less fantastical than any other super sentai series, and this change is actually one of its strongest suites. It would have been hard to follow the Space-Pirate series where they use every sentai power ever to defeat billions of ships and soldiers of the evil space empire. Bringing it in is actually the best thing they could have done, despite the low ratings Go-Busters ended up with.

Go-Busters also takes a lot of queues from its younger Power Rangers cousin, with such phrases as ‘It’s Morphin’ Time!’ and ‘Megazords’; a nice little nod to them, since Power Rangers is on the eve of its own 20th anniversary. I have to say that the production values have been stepped up slightly, even though the CG is still a bit hit and miss; it looks fantastic in the Morphin’ sequences, but the giant robots transforming could do with some improvement. This doesn't take anything away from the experience as the actual giant robot fights are still guys in rubber suits. Perfect. Anyway,

In the series, a sentient alien computer virus infects the computers of the main Enetron Research Center (Enetron is a new, powerful energy source). Unfortunately, the virus, who dubs itself ‘Messiah’ decides to go all evil and tries to take over the world. The researchers teleport the entire complex (sacrificing themselves in the process) into a sort of digital hyperspace to put an end to the threat. Only three kids survived, saved by an anti-virus put into them at the last second (The anti-virus gives them enhanced strength and endurance, but also crippling, computer-themed, weaknesses such as locking-up, overheating and running out of energy. Something they all have to deal with in their own ways).

These kids grow up to become the Go-Busters, a special ops team working for the Enetron Management Centre, their mission is to stop Messiah from making a come-back (Yes, of course Messiah finds a way of transporting Digital Avatars and giant robots from hyperspace back to earth, his mission is to steal as much enetron as possible so he can become indestructible and get back to earth to take it over/destroy it.)

This series is about friendship, impossible odds, sacrifice and kick-ass martial arts and giant robots fighting; so the usual for a sentai series, except Go-Busters really brings it in with its characters, making it much more personal. The fact that the team is backed up by the command team and we get to see dozens of engineers working on the Buster-Machines is a real nice touch: They are not alone.

The villains are all throwaway, except for ‘Enter’ and 'Escape', digital avatars sent to earth by Messiah. Enter is the accumulation of absorbed data and embellishes French phrases into his language (Ca va, Go Busters!). Enter (And later on, Escape joins him too) is the one responsible for making androids, stealing enetron and gathering data. And boy, does he do that well. Enter’s evolution throughout the series is one of the high-points, as he looks down on humanity, then looks up to it, then strives to be it, then strives for perfection. He is funny, theatrical, but airs a dangerous presence and is really quite deadly with his wits.

A recurring theme throughout is the humanity of artificial intelligence. From Messiah and his lackeys, to the ‘Buddyroid’ robot companions of the go-busters, they are just as real as people. The series plays this card often, but it isn't until the third act of the series that it really hits home. What are we, after all, but the accumulation of our bonds with other people and our own achievements. We’re not so different: Just data in the wind.

And they really like to show pain in Go-Busters, shattered visors, battle-damaged suits (The new biker-esque suits look fantastic, by the way) and they aren't afraid to cake their heroes in their own blood and sweat.

I had a hard time clicking with this series at first, especially after Gokaiger, but, as I had heard, sticking with it really really pays off: Giving a fantastic over-arching story, wonderful characters (Especially the Fifth Ranger, Beet J Stag, a hilarious robot that can also transform. Imagine Bender from Futurama mixed with Tron from… Tron.) and a really nice aesthetic. I loved the bold direction it went in, it's just a shame this series wasn't that well received; it is however understandable, as I feel it only became a 'Must-Watch' half way through the series, a time where most people would have already given up on it.

Having never reviewed a series here before, I’ll start here, on a scale of 1-5, 1 being ‘This show killed my family’ and 5 being ‘Euphorically incredible’.

JJJJ

FOUR SMILEY FACES.