Go-Busters/Power Rangers RPM Similarities

Here's another post that I decided to update. Yes, it was written some time ago but as said, some posts can be revised. It's no secret that I tend to compare Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters to Power Rangers RPM. I did lie that I preferred Engine Sentai Go-onger (which I hated after watching Gekisou Sentai Carranger which ran over two Turbos as well). I'd admit that I ended up rewatching Go-Busters after I finished Beast Morphers. I still think Beast Morphers has likable heroes while the problem it had was heavily relying on throwbacks. 

Back in 2012, I remembered how I had mixed opinions on Go-Busters. Thanks to Dryed Mangoez - I came out of the closet about it that I think Go-Busters is a good series. I'm not surprised that Lester of Dryed Mangoez expressed negative opinions on Beast Morphers later. Though, I did once call Go-Busters as the pseudo-sequel of Power Rangers RPM. Sounds crazy, right? Not if you realize I also called Kamen Rider Decade the pseudo-sequel of Saban's Mashed Rider! I guess my dislike for Decade is just as blatant as my dislike for any show or franchise. Speaking of which, I did give RPM a shot and I really found the 32 episodes format to be rather hanging. That's why I felt Go-Busters had better execution even if it lacked the plot I wanted. I wanted 2012 A.D. to be the time when the Earth is under Vaglass' control and Tokyo City is the last safe haven on Earth. Sheesh, Toei Ltd. why didn't you do that and had to wait until 2017 to do that idea with Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger? 

When you've got the Venjix Virus somewhat returning in another reality

The whole revelation that Evox was Venjix all along was something too predictable. While watching Go-Busters - the plot from RPM was somewhat watered down. I guess Real Life Writes Plot, right? I guess nobody wanted to panic that the world could end in 2012. I guess that's why the Messiah Virus' nature as a Venjix-type foe (and this plot was even re-used in Kamen Rider Zero-One as the Ark was potentially a Venjix) didn't have him dominate the world. I really wanted it where the Energy Management Center has its aim to restore life on Earth. 

The Messiah Virus, like the Venjix Virus, also combated the rangers in two other forms. The Messiah Virus occupied two robotic bodies before it was destroyed on Christmas Eve - the time when it came to be. Sadly, we never knew who created him unlike how RPM had Venjix as Dr. K's wayward creation or how Gai in Kamen Rider Zero-One introduced malice into the Ark's artificial intelligence. These certainly made it a potential Venjix-type foe. 

I guess it was only expected that Enter would eventually take over from there. Enter started out as a generic servant but showed himself potentially more dangerous than the Messiah Virus. Enter would've probably outsmarted Venjix, overthrew Venjix, or maybe made Dillon as a casualty if he were in RPM. The whole death of Masato can be very hard to watch when he destroyed any chance he'd return to save Hiromu. Hiromu needed to die so Enter can be destroyed for good. 

I even wanted to make this impossible stretch. It was almost like Toei Ltd. got its royalties from Disney last 2009 and the Venjix Virus was in it. I imagined the Venjix Virus infected Toei Ltd.'s databases last 2012 and the Messiah Virus was born. Okay, that's a far stretch, right? Then we can imagine that the Venjix Virus later decided to take revenge as Ark-One in Zero-One. 

Messiah's created daughter Escape had named her two guns after the two deceased pets of Hiromu's parents, Gock and Magock. People were turned into databases and they were eventually killed during the first attempt to get rid of the Messiah Virus. I think Tenaya was created by the Messiah Virus to serve in more or less the same purpose as Tenaya-7. Tenaya-7 was a human that was brainwashed and crazy. Meanwhile, Escape (as well as Enter) were created partly based on people that are trapped in Hyperspace.

Meanwhile, it's a relief (actually) that the Messiah Virus isn't, "For I am Yogoscrimaten!" because Go-onger is still looked down upon except by a few. I think Go-Busters can get vindicated more than Go-onger ever will. Still, it's almost like the Messiah Virus was really Venjix all along!

The heroes' allies somehow still made references to RPM in some way as well...

Given the show's lack of a Doomsday Plot - it almost felt like Energy Management Center was founded just in case Venjix would return. If a Doomsday Plot was written into Go-Busters - it would feel less of a pseudo-sequel to RPM. 

Commander Takeshi Kuroki, while referencing other commanders in much older series, can be compared to Colonel Mason Truman. Colonel Truman heads the whole RPM operation in a fight against a sentient virus. Kuroki almost felt like somebody who'd make great friends with Truman. The only difference was that Kuroki isn't related to any of the heroes at all. Still, somebody might imagine that Kuroki was probably a junior to Mason. Mason later hands over the baton to Kuroki after the Venjix Crisis. 

Meanwhile, Miho Nakamura was potentially the show's version of Dr. K. Both Dr. K and Miho are the ones who create the gear for the heroes. This made me wish that Miho was the one working on the Messiah program. Maybe, have Miho overlook a glitch it caused the incident 13 years ago. Maybe, have the incident 13 years ago result in the Messiah virus winning before the show began. 

Updated: November 15, 2022