Review: Tokumei Sentai Go-busters – Not Your Typical Sentai (And That’s a Good Thing!)

TYPE OF REVIEW : FIRST IMPRESSION REVIEW
Basic set-up spoilers.

But this year’s Super Sentai series, Tokumei Sentai Go-busters is looking to make an easy go of it.

Go-busters centers on the three members of the Special-Ops Unit of the Energy Management Center, the organization tasked with protecting the world’s supply of Enetron, a newly discovered energy, from the evil being Messiah created from a virus infecting the organization’s computers 13 years ago. To prevent Messiah from wreaking havoc any further, the organization sent it to a subspace or subdimension (along with many of the workers in the org’s facility). Three children were caught in the crossfire and, saved by the parents, were installed with an anti-metavirus program that gave each of them special powers (but unfortunately, also one weakness) to help fight Messiah in the event that it returned in the future.

Well, the future is now, and Hiromu, Ryuji, and Yoko are luckily old enough and ready to fight Messiah and its followers, the Vaglass, head on.

Go-busters, so far, has a completely different feel from Gokaiger and maybe different from a lot of Sentai. It feels a lot more like a Kamen Rider series (from what little I’ve seen of the franchise) and even more so, it feels more like a Power Rangers season.

Aside from the use of “megazords” and “It’s Morphin Time” on the show, the story itself could easily be a sequel to Power Rangers RPM. And me being a huge superfan of the RPM season, Go-busters definitely scores extra points right from the start. Its production and visual style is also more reminiscent of Kamen Rider than Super Sentai with a wider scope than its predecessors.

Go-busters has a very solid premise and the first few episodes have shown a willingness to break the Sentai episode formula of monster showing up-Super Sentai fight it-monster grows-mecha battle to finish it off.

It is definitely a very interesting and fresh take from the three Sentai series I’ve watched so far and even from Power Rangers. It’s got a heaviness to it, certainly heavier than Gokaiger, but with ample lighter moments that soften the darker mood. The episodes so far have upped the epic feel of the action, putting the city in imminent danger and leaving trails of destruction all over, every week.

The traditional spandex suits are also gone in favor of maybe more contemporary (and realistic) leather jackets and pants.

This is definitely a nice template for what can be a new take on Power Rangers when it gets adapted in 2019 (at this rate, right?)

You are able to take an immediate liking to the core three Go-busters. Even their robotic sidekicks, the Buddyroids are fun as well as incredibly helpful in battle. (I am especially amused by the Blue Buddyroid’s spinning face when he’s in distress.)

Takumei Sentai Go-busters is off to a very strong start and that itself is an accomplishment after Gokaiger. But with what seems to be an attempt to freshen up the Sentai franchise and maybe reinvent some long-held traditions, it looks like we’re in for a very fun and interesting year.

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