My Random Rambling On Go-Busters And Beast Morphers

Well, it's time for a bit of #ThrowbackThursdays. While I did end up getting disappointed or not even finishing several Power Rangers (Disney era) because it wasn't my cup of tea, I ended up not liking Power Rangers RPM seeing the hype to be just... a hype, I remembered how I nearly ditched Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters and other series after it because of some peer pressure rather than check it out myself, and I decided to check Power Rangers Beast Morphers to see how Hasbro would handle it. Why Saban's name was still credited alongside Toei Ltd. in the opening credits boggles me. So, it turns out that Hasbro was able to save Power Rangers with Beast Morphers. However, can they save Power Rangers with the upcoming Power Rangers Dino Fury? Well, take note that I actually ended up asking the question later on if Toei Ltd. could save Super Sentai with Kishinryu Sentai Ryusoulger - a series I finished BUT I don't plan on rewatching. 

So, it's pretty much another Yasuko Kobayashi vs. Judd Lynn thing. I remembered Shogo B'Stard joking about how Kobayashi must've subconsciously copied Katie's super strength from Power Rangers Time Force into Hina for Kamen Rider OOO. I still think Kobayashi's Magnum Opus had to be Mirai Sentai Timeranger one way or another. For some, Time Force was Lynn's Magnum Opus. I feel Kobayashi and Lynn may be the reason why it takes time to adjust to Hirohisa Soda's era of Super Sentai or that Soda himself got overshadowed for a time.

 Lynn who badly ran out of ideas in Power Rangers Ninja Steel (hence making the still lackluster, at least for me, Shuriken Sentai Ninninger look like a masterpiece FOR A WHILE) still managed to pull this off. Meanwhile, Kobayashi herself was going on fine from most of her series after Seijuu Sentai Gingaman as Samurai Sentai Shinkenger is probably still treated as her Magnum Opus by most fans. Though I felt Kobayashi started to lose charge during this show like Toshiki Inoue started to do the same in Kamen Rider Faiz and for Lynn, maybe in Power Rangers Dino Charge. 

Funny enough, Kobayashi probably wanted Go-Busters to be her darkest Super Sentai but maybe the whole 2012 doomsday hype prevented her. I mean, Go-Busters should've been a doomsday Super Sentai! Was Kobayashi denied that desire? Lynn was just an emergency replacement for RPM though and didn't start off as the head writer. Though, Lynn himself was fascinated with Go-Busters.

The issue with humor from both shows

I think one of Go-Busters weak points is Hiromu's fear of chickens. Yes, it's been explained as to why it happened but has it ever been REALLY resolved? I felt the whole chicken phobia thing is one of the weaker moments of the show. I was thinking that at least the weak points of Yoko and Ryuji made more sense. Yoko needing to replenish with sweets makes a little more sense due to her use of super speed. Ryuji needing cooldown moments is because heavy machinery needs to cool down after doing heavy work. But Hiromu? Really, I felt it's Kobayashi running out of ideas and decided to try to be funny. It also missed the chance to give us a Chicken Metaroid episode.

Meanwhile, I thought Ben and Betty from Beast Morphers can be too random. Sure, their mishaps can end up saving the day, they're not really wannabe heroes and they're NOWHERE near as annoying as Cassidy and Devin were in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Spike was in Samurai, or Victor and Monty from Ninja Steel. Both Victor and Monty make Takaharu from Ninja Steel - look intelligent. Ben and Betty could've been used as comedic laboratory assistants who came up with actual working devices. Sure, they helped the rangers but I felt putting them into way too many unnecessary risks is no longer funny. For me, it's probably THAT CRUEL as Hiromu's running gag with chickens. I felt that these two could've been made as comedic versions of Toru and Miho from Go-Busters. Make them eccentric scientists, make their gadgets work, and still make them funny. For me, Ben and Betty seem to be just there to be blown up like Hiromu tends to be just played for laughs at times. 

The villains from both sides

It's a good thing that Beast Morphers did avoid some copy/paste job with not just the heroes but also the villains. So, the near doomsday incident that could've happened in Go-Busters (it's hinted midseason that Go-Busters could've been a doomsday Super Sentai) was omitted from Beast Morphers. Since Heckyl from Dino Charge was a tribute to Enter - they decided to create two new villains namely non-footage-based Evil Roxy and Evil Blaze. I felt that adding Scrozzle was either a waste of space or not. Though, Scrozzle serves nearly the same function as Priprican in Zyuranger and Finster in Mighty Morphin'.

So, I was thinking about the limitations and the whole Power Rangers backlog mess. Skipping Go-Busters for Kyoryuger did somehow contribute to Heckyl's existence in Dino Charge. Then, Go-Busters got localized by Hasbro Studios which gave us the evil avatars. So, I was thinking that Enter is probably a villain that was close to classic Super Sentai though ends up as an attention whore. I felt that Go-Busters' villains aren't that interesting. At first, you just have the Messiah Virus giving orders to Enter. Later, the Messiah Virus sends Escape. I still think Go-Busters' villains aren't that interesting. Though I also felt that the villains in Beast Morphers don't do much either. 

The continuity issues enter again. I was thinking about the whole Evox is actually Venjix from RPM plot. It does sound cool on paper but I think it wouldn't be so cool if Yogoscrimaten was actually reborn as the Messiah Virus for Go-Busters. Dr. K talking to Nate seems cool on paper but I don't want Bomper from Go-Onger suddenly communicating with Energy Management Center's Commander Kuroki. It does sound cool on paper but as said - Super Sentai tends to do better when the series takes place in another dimension (or continuity) than trying to cram all of the previous seasons together except during anniversaries. Though, this blurry line seems to be ignored these days. I also thought about one reason why I don't like most of the Showa era Kamen Riders was because the Great Leader became a redundant running gag. Maybe, just maybe, at least Kamen Rider BLACK RX defeated him, the 11-year hiatus after BLACK RX finally made the Great Leader phase away, and Kamen Rider Kuuga up to the present hasn't used the plot ever since. 

Tackling continuity issues and crossovers

Go-Busters was probably trying to be self-contained yet again. One reason why I tend to prefer Super Sentai over Power Rangers is that most series are usually self-contained. That is, there's actually more creative room for writing such as how dinosaur extinction may vary from Super Sentai to Super Sentai making all events from the dinosaur Sentai unable to happen all at once. I'd also dare say Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger is most likely an alternate world where all 34 previous Super Sentai seasons existed. However, do check out the VS. Movies and find out that there are plenty of elements that just can't be canon to both shows. A good example is how Ohranger vs. Kakuranger has plenty of events that don't sum up both shows. Meanwhile, Beast Morphers didn't shy away from telling audiences that they were connected to all shows since Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers while other rangers came from other dimensions. Dino Charge and RPM take place in other dimensions as verified in the Dimensions in Danger TV special and Beast Morphers.

Apparently, the same thing was done in Super Sentai Strongest Battle as a four-part mini-series. I felt Go-Busters does deserve more points (in some way) for actually trying to be self-contained. I just feel the idea of a Sentai Morphin' Grid can be cool on paper but can end up destroying creativity in the long run.

I was thinking about how Go-Busters Mission 31 and 32 might be more of a blunder. Sure, I'm not going to shy away from criticizing Captain Chaku to be rather random - I feel the same for this one too. I felt Go-Busters should've been its own continuity though it seems to be rather fixed by Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger's 17th episode. Kyuranger's 17th episode managed to put in a blackhole that separated the Kyuranger Universe from the Dekaranger vs. Gavan universe. TBH, I don't even want to count Dekaranger Ten Years After as canon either since it leads to the events of the Space Squad movies. Dekaranger in itself showed no hints of being connected to the Space Sheriff series like how Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive showed no hints it was connected to Tokkei Winspector, Shirei Solbrain, and Tokosu Exceedraft. 

However, Dekaranger and GoGoFive did pay tribute to Metal Hero franchise in one way or another. So, I wonder what happened that caused Gavan to suddenly get mixed into the supposedly self-contained Go-Busters? Strangely, Gavan's continuity had a crossover with Gokaiger. Gokaiger had a crossover with Go-Busters. Full circle? Dunno, but I felt that having the new Gavan show off his skills in a Go-Busters crossover episode didn't like a good idea. I can still dislike both the Chaku arc and the Gavan crossover with Go-Busters. I feel it's still a weakness for Go-Busters too. 

 

Meanwhile, I felt that both Go-Busters and Beast Morphers ended up passing with that over-glorified mess. I still think that Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters is a huge mess. Bringing back both Zyuranger and Abaranger is a waste of space for me. Why not just focus on the Kyoryugers and the Go-Busters for the crossover? The return of Jason is just as messy as the return of Geki during their respective crossovers. One thing I learned is that it sounds good to have lots and lots of characters until you realize screw-ups tend to be that common. The Super Hero Taisen series is really a glorified mess and I end up NOT rewatching any of them. I still hate the film franchise not only because I'm reminded of my Old Shames. It's also because I expect better from Toei with all their producers and directors over me. I still feel both crossovers are VERY hard to watch IMHO. Hmmmm... I even imagined myself being a script writer at Toei Ltd., getting my messy scripts approved, AND Toei Ltd. ran out of budget as a result!

Well... just some silly stuff for the sake of it...

Meanwhile, I'm not really going to dare deny that some Power Rangers girls are more attractive than the Super Sentai counterparts IMHO. Zoey herself seems to appear more lively than the rather stiff-faced Yoko from Go-Busters. I even find Zoey to be prettier than most Super Sentai and Power Rangers girls maybe except Kimberly. Granted, I still think that Kimberly is hotter than any Super Sentai or Power Rangers girl while I'd still watch Zyuranger over Mighty Morphin'. Last year, I felt Zoey is a worthy replacement for Kimberly in the looks department. However, I feel that Beast Morphers ends up as another show that I'm probably never going to pick up again like how I treat a Super Sentai season I deem to be not my cup of tea. 

Though, I've been guilty of liking certain Super Sentai seasons for the eye candy and not for the plot. Though, I still ended up calling Ninninger and Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger as beautifully pointless seasons. Both Ninninger and Zyuohger have lots of eye candy but I felt like that screw both shows eventually after seeing the next two seasons. I still feel Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger and Kaito Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger gave me that hype that these two seasons can be hard to overshadow. Even right now, I feel that the currently ongoing Mashin Sentai Kiramager will have to work out more imagination on how to get out of the shadow cast by Kyuranger and Lupato. Though, I'm now having a rather weird stance that Kishinryu Sentai Ryusoulger is already among the lowest points in Super Sentai history too. 

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Maybe, I could say at least I decided to see how Hasbro would handle Power Rangers for a side trip. I'm never going to ignore whatever flaws I think Go-Busters had. I'm still going to keep in mind Super Sentai has its own flaws too no matter how I dislike Power Rangers. Though, for me, Power Rangers ends up like any flavor of food that I dislike. Now, to close this rather random ramble which is nothing more than me sharing my opinions on both sides. So, feel free to disagree but be civil, okay?