Why I Ended Up Rewatching Go-Busters After Beast Morphers

 

I remembered writing about how I'd still pick Zyuranger over Mighty Morphin'. I remembered wanting to give Hasbro a chance to see how it'd do Beast Morphers over Saban Entertainment. So, we've got the rather fascinating history of the connection that Toei, Saban, and Hasbro had. Toei provided the animation during the Sunbow seasons of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero and a good portion of the 1980s The Transformers cartoon. I guess that's why it was so easy to create the Takara Trilogy as a non-canon, Japan-only spinoff. Toei and Saban Entertainment both had a license from Marvel Comics. The late Stan Lee had met both sides of the coin. Who can remember the one-time Japanese Spiderman (which I think was rather weird instead of creating a Spiderman-based hero of their own Spiderman)? Later,  Haim Saban acquired the rights to produce X-Men: The Animated Series during the 1990s before getting the license from Toei Ltd. I even wonder if Lee and Saban went to Japan together at some point? 

Let's start with the characters of Grid Battleforce

Henshin Grid

It's no secret that I find Zoey to be currently the hottest henshin babe. I also felt the same thing about Kimberly of Mighty Morphib' even after I've had my on-off liking of Power Rangers. Hotter doesn't always better. I'll confess that some of my favorite Super Sentai seasons lack that attractive female. Megaforce had two but both Gia and Emma are FORGETTABLE. I still think Zoey is theoretically a more likable character than Go-Busters!Yoko. Heck, I even compare Zoey to Donbrothers!Haruka way too much! Though, Donbrothers!Haruka ended up filling in what Zoey could've filled. Zoey is the problem solver. Donbrothers!Haruka goes as far as to become the frequent narrator. I still feel Zoey and Donbrothers!Haruka will get along really well (and may become close friends too)  if ever they worked at Cafe Donbura. 

The cast members are fine. However, I still felt there has been some "excessive luggage" in regards to Grid Battleforce. Yeah, I'll admit I learned the hard way more than once that lots and lots of characters usually end up with a BAD STORY. That's why I deleted several old shames of mine one way or another. 

We have Blaze and Roxy who were the original candidates for the Beast Morphers program. However, some freak accidents created duplicates of them namely Evil Blaze and Evil Roxy. The first half got focused on trying to wake the original copies up. It was interesting to see Ravi have a girlfriend in Roxy. Though, I felt that Blaze and Roxy may end up as easily missed characters. Though, one can also raise that Hiromu's sister Rika, was also a come-and-go character. Pretty much, Blaze and Roxy had some potential. The moment Blaze and Roxy woke up - they simply are come-and-go characters. Meanwhile, their evil counterparts overshadow them way too much. I guess TV-Y7-FV settings prevented Blaze and Roxy from ever being KILLED like in Liveman's beginning. 

Maybe, it took a long time for me to admit it but why are we having Ben and Betty? I guess it's a cultural thing such as how Bulk and Skull were around during Mighty Morphin'. Heck, Samurai went as far as to give Skull a son named Spike. Bulk was brought back because fanservice. We also had Cassidy and Devin in Dino Thunder - two good reasons why I'm glad I dropped it early on aside from Tommy returning again. Is it me or is it just a cultural thing for American shows to have comic relief like Ben and Betty? I felt that it'd be good IF they weren't only comic relief but also creating effective stuff. Just think if they were both funny AND useful. I felt these guys were just wasted. The only thing good I can say is at least they're nowhere near the levels of Cassidy, Devin, or even Spike (who I love to torture in my bad stories). Still, they're wasted potential. 

A comparison of continuities based on the earlier episodes of the two shows

It's often established that most Super Sentai seasons are pretty much their own continuity. One could view Gokaiger as a huge what-if continuity that takes place in an alternate timeline. This is where I'd like to throw in the comparison between Go-Busters and Beast Morphers - the issue of having continuities. Unlike RPM and Go-Busters - Beast Morphers is heavily relying on throwbacks like most of the Power Rangers seasons. 

A good start would be the first episode of Beast Morphers. I should've not raised my expectations right? We have that new energy called Morph-X. Morph-X as its name tells you - it's energy from the Morphin' Grid. Super Sentai doesn't seem to even embrace that concept one bit. The visit by Mayor Daniels actually tells you one thing. Mayor Daniels mentions that villains like Rita Repulsa (way back in 1993) up to Galvanax all wanted that energy. This will tell you why a Ranger History lesson keeps popping out of random in some episodes. 

I couldn't imagine what if Go-Busters made a huge history lesson. Just imagine if in episode one - we have Enetron. We have the mayor of Akihabara City show up and say, "Have you not learned? This energy was sought out by the Black Cross Fuehrer (1975) up to Emperor Ackdos Gil. You're making such dangerous energy too readily available for the next threat!" Oh boy, we just had a history lesson when Gokaiger was already a huge Ranger History lesson in itself. We can have Ranger History lessons on ANNIVERSARIES. However, a regular basis would be totally boring. I felt that's why some of the Showa-era Kamen Rider series having too many Rider History lessons. It can be worth questioning why Kamen Rider Black RX tried to refit everything back when Kamen Rider Black was supposedly a reboot. Again, it seemed Toei Ltd. was trying to end the Kamen Rider franchise to focus on the now-defunct Metal Hero franchise only to let its concepts live on in Kamen Rider in 2000. 

So, what's where Go-Busters was - it was really a franchise reboot of sorts. That's why I still feel the Gavan arc was nothing more than random product placement. I guess the only way to explain it away was that a black hole caused the continuity distortion. We later had that in Kyuranger when a black hole was used to explain the crossover. Apparently, black holes and portals have become convenient tools in series crossovers such as the Jimmy/Timmy Power Hour. Otherwise, Jimmy Neutron and Fairly Oddparents both operate within their own continuities. A lot of elements in Go-Busters couldn't into most continuities. A good example is that 2012 minus 13 and you get that the incident happened in 1999. That means it should've happened during GoGoFive. Take note that Winspector and Ohranger both take place in 1999 even if the actual air dates were earlier.  

Handling the messy crossover with dinosaurs

I like Go-Busters but I've never had the heart for Kyoryuger. I'll always say that just because something is new doesn't mean it's automatically good. Sometimes, the best shows are older and sometimes the best shows are newer. I still hate the crossover between Kyoryuger and Go-Busters. It's a good thing that the crossover with ToQGer was pretty much focused. Fortunately, most Super Sentai VS. Movies usually are just cool what-if scenarios. The most obvious has to be how Ohranger vs. Kakuranger was filled with elements that made more of a what-if scenario. That's why it's best to treat them like the Dragon Ball Z movies.

I felt that Jason's return was just fanservice. I could say the same thing when Geki and Ryoga returned. I even wonder if Austin St. John would've had a bad comment. Deep within, I feel both Austin and Yuuta Mochizuki probably didn't like the messy crossovers after they appeared. In Austin's case, he still made another guest appearance which I think derailed Beast Morphers. I feel that the advantage that Go-Busters has over Beast Morphers is that the messy crossover wasn't within the former's actual continuity. Just figure out that events in Zyuranger, Abaranger, and Kyoryuger all tell dinosaurs went extinct in three totally different ways. It's because these continuities are mostly self-contained!

I think the biggest weakness of Beast Morphers doing the crossover is this - TOO MANY RANGER HISTORY LESSONS. That's why I also hated the Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters crossover. Do we even need to keep mentioning Ranger History Lessons when it's NOT an anniversary season? Sure, Mighty Morphin' turned 20 in 2013. I still feel it's just stupid. Just looking across various tools used from other seasons can be cool for some. In actuality, it can be more annoying IMHO. I think the Legendary Weapons and the bad guy relics can be confusing. I couldn't imagine of an icon owned by the Black Cross Fuehrer was brought up in an episode in Go-Busters. That would totally cause a boggle. I must admit watching Goranger has become a REAL CHORE. 

So, another advantage is that Go-Busters' messy crossover with Kyoryuger was just a what-if. I just wish that Hasbro totally disregarded it. Beast Morphers doesn't need to have those history lessons. I even felt that Captain Chaku should've not existed. It's the same that I feel that the Gavan Arc should've not been done. Oh yeah, I think I can also say Ninninger tried to do Ranger History Lessons because the show was declining or it was the 40th anniversary of Goranger. I think the whole two-parter based on Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters wasn't even necessary. Heck, I hate that film so much that I wish Hasbro totally just ditched using it. 

How I felt Go-Busters handled the villains better 

There have been some instances where some Super Sentai and Kamen Rider villains become "What happened to the Mouse?". Nobody knew what happened to Lila in Timeranger. If one totally treats Timernager vs. GoGoFive as a what-if movie - Pierre also can qualify in some way after Grandienne was defeated. Kamen Rider Faiz had the Orphnoch King in a coma. The concept was somewhat used in ToQGer after Emperor Z was defeated. Zyuranger ended up simply resealing the recurring villains in an urn instead of having them defeated one by one. In RPM, we had Venjix hinting that he could return after his final form was defeated. Yeah, yeah, whatever!

Then again, I could still add how the villains felt dumber. Sure, Enter as the lone field commander was boring at first. However, Enter showed more and more interesting traits such as how he sought to be the perfect human. I felt that Evil Blaze and Evil Roxy ended up as generic villains - almost as generic as early on Super Sentai villains such as the field commanders in Goranger or the rather underdeveloped minions of Satan Egos of Battle Fever J or the Deathdark in Goggle V. Yeah, those early days when Super Sentai hardly knew how to develop the writers.

But it's 2012 and later it's 2019. I felt that Enter may have started out as a generic scout but he's an interesting troll. Escape came later and she proves to be a serious threat. Both of them are both created from human data by the Messiah Virus. I'm glad that Escape didn't have to be Hiromu's long-lost sister. Though it seems Escape had gotten some memory as she named two guns after the two deceased pet dogs of Hiromu's parents. It was truly interesting to see them develop. Enter later showed he could've been a dangerous person for Venjix to work with to. Move Enter to the RPM universe and I think the show would need more episodes before the RPM Rangers inevitably defeat him. I felt Enter even went as far as to use the 13th Messiah Card on Hiromu. Hmmm... isn't that supposedly an idea taken from the rejected draft for RPM? Pretty much, Masato was given the task of actually becoming the show's Dillon when he sacrificed himself so Enter can be defeated for good. 

What totally wasn't too surprising is, "I AM VENJIX!" when Evox revealed the truth. One must think that it's 10 years since RPM and we know how the show barely lasted a year. I think it's totally random to make Venjix as Evox. This always reminds me of how I ended up calling the Great Leader in Kamen Rider the Not-So-Great Leader. I decided to watch the finale of The First Kamen Rider and found the finale WTF. Kamen Rider V3 had the Destron Leader still as the GREAT LEADER. Later, Kamen Rider Black RX seemed to hint that Not-Grand Lord Crisis may or may not be the Great Leader. The Great Leader is theoretically a cool villain. However, the Great Leader running gag got so old he became the Not-So-Great Leader. I think the whole plot that Evox is VENJIX ALL ALONG is just too predictable and pure fanservice. It could've been better if Evox was just Evox and not some other villain.

Just imagine what if Go-Busters did this. Just think of what if the Messiah Virus were actually the Black Cross Fuehrer all along. Just imagine if the Black Cross Fuerher's plot from Hero 199 Movie was carried over AND we had him return as the Messiah Virus. That would totally even contradict the 13 years ago plot in some way. It would even be more confusing than the Crisis Empire plotline whether it's humanity's fault OR the fault of Not-Grand Lord Crisis (who may be the Not-So-Great Leader as intended) that their homeland was perishing. I think it was a good thing to keep the Messiah Virus as a VENJIX TYPE FOE than make him a villain from the past. Heck, I'm glad that the Messiah Virus isn't Yogoschrimaten either. Otherwise, the Go-Busters would have the share the spotlight with Go-Onger - a show that I once enjoyed but I feel I hate it now after watching Carranger. 

The reference was even continued when Scrozzle was arrested in the RPM dimension. I still felt that was it even necessary for Colonel Truman to show up? It'd be as randomly weird if Go-Busters suddenly had a visit from Chief Miura of Ohranger show up at the finale. It's a good thing that Hiroshi Miyauchi never keeps playing a singular character like Jason David Frank (as Tommy) did. Instead, Hiroshi became several different characters throughout his career. It's a good thing Chief Miura wasn't secretly Banba from the short-lived JAKQ. Instead, Chief Miura was pretty much his own character.

How I felt Nickelodeon's DUMB SCHEDULING truly ruined Power Rangers and any season under it

It didn't matter much if Saban finally sold the contract to Hasbro and Toei approved. Why? As long as there's this idiotic split. My issue with the Disney era was all about how everything was so fast. 32 episodes? Seriously? That's why I felt Go-Busters did better than RPM by giving development space. I'm afraid that RPM got so underdeveloped. It feels like how JAKQ and Metalder with the 30+ episode were all but rushed pacing. Now, I feel that Nickelodeon had given another alternative that's not even good. It's the fact that Power Rangers since 2011 has been SPLITTING THE SHOW IN HALF. Yes, we're talking about that IDIOTIC SUMMER BREAK. I still feel that it's really an UNNECESSARY frustration factor like every badly designed level in Super Mario Bros.2: The Lost Levels. 

Beast Morphers had some interesting build then STOP. What's the STOP? Yes, the summer break. Evox made an interesting move by possessing Mayor Daniels' body. Mayor Daniels has been trying to struggle with the possession. It was getting thrilling thinking about what Evox could do. Just imagine it if Go-Busters had defeated the Messiah Virus then STOP - a summer break happened. We would want to know how Enter would deal with the Messiah Cards arc. The only season pause that hit Super Sentai was all about the Legacy Virus hiatus. Rio Komiya did get infected with COVID-19 but was fortunate to have not been severe. Yeah, the summer got hit so Kiramager missed the chance (and rightly so) to let Sayo, Sena, and Yodonna have a bikini battle like Dynaman had with Rei and Chimera. 

The summer hiatus really was totally again, unnecessary. I think it's even worse than what I deem as unnecessary Ranger History lessons. I still feel that the lack of a summer break was also another reason why Ninninger may have been vindicated by history overall. It was a good thing that Toei still went on last 2012 while Samurai lingered on instead of seeking to finish everything in a year. Pretty much, I feel the dumb scheduling further adds to why Go-Busters ends up doing things better. Beast Morphers got unfortunately cut short. 

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Right now, I feel that maybe I do care for a franchise I ended up disliking cause reasons. I still think there are ways for Power Rangers to creatively navigate the writing. Beast Morphers had managed to use more original footage. Though, I feel like the Ranger History lessons, the summer break, and the like ruined it. Yeah, I watched both Go-Busters and Beast Morphers. Now, I decided to do a finished rant. Both have their merits. Just that I'll feel Beast Morphers failed to reach what it'd could've reached. If only Power Rangers will focus more on the new generation than making too many throwbacks and the like!