Tokumei Sentai Gobusters

[areaseven]

Tokumei Sentai Gobusters (特命戦隊ゴーバスターズ) is the 36th Super Sentai series, premiering on February 26 on TV Asahi once Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger ends its run. The team will start as a trio: Red Buster, Blue Buster and Yellow Buster - each having a robot partner.

And you can't have a Super Sentai show without mecha and loads of toys, so here's what Gobusters has to offer. There will be three main Gobuster Machines. CB-01 Gobuster Ace transforms from sports car to mechanical cheetah to robot. GT-02 Gorilla changes into a truck, while RH-03 Rabbit transforms into a helicopter. All three can combine into the giant robot Gobuster-oh.

In addition, Gobusters brings back the traditional henshin bracelet format (after several seasons of cell phone changers and other devices) with the Morphin' Brace.

The motif of this show is yet to be known, but earlier rumors have it tagged as either spy or bounty hunter themed. Look for the Gobusters to make a surprise appearance in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Uchuu Keiji Gavan: The Movie this January.

Tokumei Sentai Gobusters Revealed

[areaseven]

The first promo commercial is out.

Edited February 27, 2012 by areaseven

[Aladdin Sane]

Still not entirely sure how I feel about the actual suits, but the robo looks pretty ace and the team's jackets are cool.

[Graham]

"Who ya gonna call?"

"Go Busters!"

LOL

Graham

[Dangard Ace]

It's going to have a hard time following Gokaigers. Hope it's interesting.

[areaseven]

It's going to have a hard time following Gokaigers. Hope it's interesting.

Tell me about it. I'm having too much fun with Gokaiger. Hope this series doesn't suffer from the Goseiger curse, wherein it fails to live up to the expectations of the previous show (like Tensou Sentai Goseiger did after Samurai Sentai Shinkenger). As a matter of fact, rumor has it that Saban will not adapt Goseiger at all and skip to Gokaiger for the next Power Rangers series.

[anime52k8]

"Who ya gonna call?"

"Go Busters!"

LOL

Graham

yep, My interest in this was saverly deminished when I realized it was in fact not related to Ghostbusters.

[Aladdin Sane]

As a matter of fact, rumor has it that Saban will not adapt Goseiger at all and skip to Gokaiger for the next Power Rangers series.

That's more to do with this year being the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers (well, I guess next year actually would be, but they celebrated the 10th in 2002, so...) than the quality of Goseiger, though. They wouldn't skip a show (and therefore the toys) just because the source material is mediocre.

Unless they're only going to have the Super Samurai half season this year and not begin the next one until next year, in which case skipping Goseiger for Gokaiger would match up properly with the anniversary.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Aladdin Sane

[anime52k8]

That's more to do with this year being the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers than the quality of Goseiger, though.

Either way, I'm fine with that. I Just bought an S.H. Figuarts Shinken Red at Toys R' Us today, and the sooner I can do that again with Gokaiger figures the better.

[areaseven]

That's more to do with this year being the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers (well, I guess next year actually would be, but they celebrated the 10th in 2002, so...) than the quality of Goseiger, though. They wouldn't skip a show (and therefore the toys) just because the source material is mediocre.

Unless they're only going to have the Super Samurai half season this year and not begin the next one until next year, in which case skipping Goseiger for Gokaiger would match up properly with the anniversary.

The anniversary thing isn't the only reason why Saban would skip Goseiger. It's also supposedly the challenge of adapting Goseiger without offending any religious fanatic, as the main characters are "angels". Before casting calls for this year were halted, there was a rumor that the PR version of Goseiger would be called Power Rangers Mega Force with a script adaptation of Denji Sentai Megaranger to replace all angel references to the series.

So far, these are just rumors. We'll have to wait until Saban makes an official announcement. In the meantime, I'll be looking forward to Go-Busters later next month.

[Aladdin Sane]

It's also supposedly the challenge of adapting Goseiger without offending any religious fanatic, as the main characters are "angels".

I haven't seen a lot of Goseiger so I may be wrong, but my understanding was that a lot of the angel stuff isn't really explicit in the actual battle footage, which is all that would concern Saban. I'd seen speculation about the whole "skipping 'coz angels" thing, but also that it wouldn't really be a problem. Unless they're going for a straight translation Samurai style they should be able to work around it.

Yeah, looking forward to Gobusters. Blue Buster has a nice "look at all the frakks I give" vibe to him. I still need to get caught up on Gokaiger though, haven't really been watching over the last month and a half or so (but had been loving the show prior to that).

[reeoyuy]

I like the colored visor. Also, about time they ditch spandex and use leather for the suits. Kamen Rider did that long ago.

[Old_Nash]

"Who ya gonna call?"

"Go Busters!"

LOL

Graham

huahahhahahah

That's Nonsense XD

[BeyondTheGrave]

"Who ya gonna call?"

"Go Busters!"

LOL

Graham

At a glance I did think it was ghost busters,.

[areaseven]

The show premieres tomorrow morning in Japan. In the meantime, the first wave of toys is out. Here's a look at the DX Ichigan Buster and Sougan Blade.

And here's the DX Morphin Brace.

Edited February 25, 2012 by areaseven

[areaseven]

Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters (特命戦隊ゴーバスターズ)

TV Asahi/Toei Company, Ltd., 2012

The first Super Sentai series to be completely ignored by Saban

Directed by Takayuki Shibasaki (Kamen Rider OOO), Shojiro Nakazawa (Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger), Shojiro Nakazawa, Katsuya Watanabe (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Kamen Rider Agito), Noboru Takemoto and Hiroyuki Kato

Written by Yasuko Kobayashi (Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Claymore), Nobuhiro Moori and Kento Shimoyama (GoGo Sentai Boukenger, Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger)

Running Time: 25 minutes per episode

Not Rated (suggested TV-PG). Contains sci-fi violence.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

"Let's Morphin'!"

Cast

Katsuhiro Suzuki as Hiromu Sakurada/Red Buster

Ryoma Baba as Ryuji Iwasaki/Blue Buster

Arisa Komiya as Yoko Usami/Yellow Buster

Hiroya Matsumoto (Tsubasa Ozu/Magi Yellow in Mahou Sentai Magiranger) as Masato Jin/Beet Buster

Keiji Fujiwara (Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Iron Man anime, Ali Al-Saachez in Mobile Suit Gundam 00) as Cheeda Nick (voice)

Tessho Genda (Convoy/Optimus Prime in Transformers, Dan Dastun in The Big O) as Gorisaki Banana (voice)

Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Tsutomu in Dear Boys, Shinichiro in Blood-C) as Usada Lettuce (voice)

Yuichi Nakamura (Alto in Macross Frontier, Graham in Mobile Suit Gundam 00) as Beet J. Stag/Stag Buster (voice)

Hideo Sakaki as Takeshi Kuroki

Naoto Takahashi as Toru Morishita

Fuuka Nishihira as Miho Nakamura

Risa Yoshiki (Erika in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger) as Rika Sakurada

Seiji Sasaki (Sig Curtis in Fullmetal Alchemist, Oniwakamaru in Samurai Champloo) as Messiah (voice)

Syo Jinnai as Enter

Shu Munekata as the Narrator

"Busters, Ready, GO!"

Mission 1: "Tokumei Sentai, Assemble!" (特命戦隊、集結せよ！)

Thirteen years ago, a virus caused an Enetron supercomputer to create an evil entity known as "Messiah" and the organization "Vaglass", which was sent into sub-space. At the same time, three children were irradiated during the accident - giving them special physical abilities. In present-day 2012, the three children now work in the Energy Management Center's Special Mission Unit, otherwise known as the Go-Busters. Together, the Go-Busters protect the planet's Enetron supply from the Vaglass, who are bent on making Earth their own.

"It's Time for Buster!"

Lowdown

Every year, the Super Sentai series reinvents itself. Following the massive success of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Toei decided to take a somewhat no-nonsense approach on the franchise with Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. Unlike past titles, the Go-Busters' outfits use synthetic leather instead of spandex. The spy-oriented equipment is very nifty, with weapons disguised as cameras and binoculars. The show seems to be borrowing some styling cues from the recent Kamen Rider titles and Metal Hero series. Surprisingly, the series makes heavy use of Power Rangers terminology such as "Morphers" and "Megazords".

As for first-episode impressions, the series gives no room to introduce the characters and just gets to the action immediately. Aside from chickens being Hiromu's weakness (a side-effect of his abilities), the episode is devoid of comedic humor that we're used to seeing in Super Sentai. Even the Buddyroids aren't as funny as the Engines of Engine Sentai Go-onger or the Burstosaurs of Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger. As far as action goes, there's nothing we haven't seen before in the individual fight scenes. However, the series appears to be geared towards mecha combat, with a longer and more-detailed giant robot fight scene near the end.

So yeah, if it's a storyline and characters you're looking for, you're gonna have to wait until the next episode. But if it's action you want, Go-Busters may be for you.

Rating: B-

Links

Super Sentai Series' Official Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Homepage

TV Asahi's Official Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Homepage

Toei's Official Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Homepage

Columbia Music Entertainment's Official Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Homepage

References

JEFusion

Edited August 23, 2015 by areaseven

[Old_Nash]

Enertron???

Beware!! Because Metatron is there XD

(I like your posts of sentai)

Edited February 27, 2012 by Old_Nash

[anime52k8]

The show premieres tomorrow morning in Japan. In the meantime, the first wave of toys is out. Here's a look at the DX Ichigan Buster and Sougan Blade.

Pew pew laser pistol by Nikon, lawl.

[areaseven]

Here's a look at the DX Go-Buster Ace.

[areaseven]

This week, on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters:

Mission 2: "A Promise Made 13 Years Ago" (13年前の約束)

After years of being suppressed by his sister, Hiromu finally joins the Go-Busters full-time. But Yoko shows some resentment toward him.

Goddamn, what a cold b!tch that Yoko is. Aside from that, we get to know how all of this started: the accident that created the Vaglass and gave three children their abilities. Again, there are small comedic bits, but much of the episode shows more of the series' departure from the Super Sentai formula. We get real-time transformation scenes instead of recycled footage. We even have the main villain interrupting a transformation sequence in the beginning. The mecha action scene is part Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive and part Tokusou Exceedraft, as there's more emphasis on disaster relief than the fight itself. Yeah, there's a lot more to cover in this series, but it's been an interesting ride so far.

[areaseven]

This week, on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters:

Mission 3: "GT-02 Animal, Deploy!" (GT-02アニマル、出撃！)

When Enter takes over a hospital to drain its Enetron supply, the Go-Busters must race against time to replenish the power source and save all of the patients and medical staff.

Despite being a rather flat episode, the mecha action makes up for it. We get to see GT-02 Gorilla in combat, as it fires banana missiles that cause the enemy robot to slip on peels. Still, this show could improve on pacing and character interaction.

[Hikuro]

Well, still pretty early in but I'm not digging the series. Gokaiger to me just seems hard to beat for the time being.

[areaseven]

This week, on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters:

Mission 4: "Special Ops and Determination" (特命と決意)

Enter activates a Metaroid in front of the Go-Busters. What could he be up to?

Yeah, this show is beginning to get repetitive, with no real story development going on and the action slowing down a considerable amount. I'll stick around until Go-Buster-oh shows up. If that doesn't peak my interest, I'll just watch more Super Sentai reruns, then.

[reeoyuy]

Yeah, this show is beginning to get repetitive, with no real story development going on and the action slowing down a considerable amount.

I disagree. This episode pretty much shows Hiromu's determination to save his parents and everyone who disppeared 13 years ago. More explanation on Metaroid-Megazord connection (logical explanation in Sentai? Blasphemy !). That Enter is not just brainless french-mumbling villain, he actually can cook up some nice schemes and in this episode, he's pretty much achieved his goal. Not to mention Commander sternface character got fleshed up a bit. It may not much, but c'mon, it's only 4th episode. And no way I'd call the action slowing down, that Cutteroid is damn scary and its Megazord equivalent almost give Red Buster giant pizza cutter to his face.

I like it so far. I haven't watch any sentai for years, maybe a decade or so since the last one I fully committed to watch is Megaranger in local TV. Not even Gokaiger. So I have advantage of not having too high expectation. I'm surprised with all new stuff they cram in sentai.

I really like logical explanation and details they throw here, at least by sentai standard. How come the base can watch real-live footage of Gobusters fighting? They threw sticky cameras before. Weapons out of nowhere? Clearly seen transported from base. Gobusters arrived in time? Network of chutes. All those working gauges in Buster Machine cockpit, maintenance people in hangar, visible damages on Buster Machines, etc. Story-wise, I like sense of urgency in last week's episode and tension in this week's episode. Only minor complaint so far is that Yoko's actress clearly don't know how to act as a tsundere and I can see Hiromu's overprotective sister will annoyingly nag Hiromu to leave Gobusters.

[Scream Man]

Well, so far i like it. even more so than Gokaiger.

[areaseven]

Last week, on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters:

Mission 5: "Dangerous Overheated Rampage!" (キケンな熱暴走！)

During another battle with a Metaroid, Ryuji overheats and shows Yoko how fatal his weak point can be.

This episode is further proof that Yoko is the weak link of the series. I don't know if it's the character or the actress, but having her become a crybaby in this episode brought this show down a few notches. Nevertheless, the true revelation of Ryuji's weak point makes up for that one downside.

Oh yeah, ratings must be down if the episode is resorting to slapstick comedy...

[areaseven]

This week, on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters:

Mission 6: "Combine! Go-Buster-Oh" (合体！ゴーバスターオー)

A captured Vaglass Megazord being studied by the Energy Management Center gives Enter the opportunity to infiltrate the base and reactivate the mecha. As Enter activates the hangar's self-destruct sequence, Hiromu must find a way to save his comrades trapped inside.

After a couple of dull episodes, the action finally picks up with the debut of Go-Buster-Oh. In a rather different approach from the traditional Super Sentai robots, we see how the combining sequence is done in front of the enemy mecha. Just like GaoGaiGar, the Buster Vehicles form a protective barrier to prevent any outside interference. The finished product looks a bit like DaiBouken of GoGo Sentai Boukenger. Because the combined mode is a major Enetron guzzler, Go-Buster-Oh's fights are gonna be very short.

It's just too bad the DX toy doesn't look as good.

[areaseven]

This week, on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters:

Mission 15: "The Golden Warrior and the Silvery Buddy" (金の戦士と銀のバディ)

Introducing: Hiroya Matsumoto (Tsubasa Ozu/Magi Yellow in Mahou Sentai Magiranger) as Masato Jin and Yuichi Nakamura (Alto in Macross Frontier, Graham in Mobile Suit Gundam 00) as Beet J. Stag/Stag Buster (voice)

With Messiah continuing to lose his patience of not yet being able to initiate a full-scale invasion of Earth, Enter creates a Metaroid out of a vacuum cleaner to suck up Enetron from cars. The Go-Busters sortie to deal with the Vaglass threat as usual, but a gold-colored Go-Buster and his Buddyroid appear from out of nowhere. Furthermore, the mystery warrior reveals himself to be someone from Ryuji's past.

"Boost Up for Buster!"

"Come On!"

After dropping this series over two months ago, I decided to check out this week's episode for the newest team member. Yes, it's still the same flat acting, redundant pacing and sad attempts at humor that kept me away since episode 6. I do have to admit that Masato and J are interesting characters (even more so than the main cast). Nothing like a cool, calculating genius warrior and the Buddyroid who always inadvertently upstages him.

Since it's created from a vacuum cleaner, this week's Metaroid does what it does best: sucking. And that's what the production team is doing as well, as there's inconsistency in the damage done on the cars by the Vacuumroid during its rampage. Also, the fights seem to be lagging in choreography. Even the Gamma-type Megazord based on it doesn't do much effort to put up a fight against Go-Buster Oh, resulting in one of the dullest robot fights in Super Sentai history.

So much for the "golden" debut. Well, it's off to watching Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger again.

[areaseven]

Oooh... look at the snazzy new henshin toy. It's the Morphin Blaster, used by Beet Buster and Stag Buster. The Morphin Blaster has voice-activated features that respond only to "Let's Morphin!" and "Come On!".

Edited August 23, 2015 by areaseven

[Dangard Ace]

Time to start watching Gobusters again...if only for the new villainess.

http://www.jefusion.com/2012/06/ayame-misaki-joins-go-busters-cast-new.html

[areaseven]

The series is nearing its end, and Toei and Bandai execs appear to be very disappointed. According to this article, Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters averaged a 6.9 rating among kids on its first 21 episodes, making it the least-viewed Super Sentai show over the past decade. There have also been reports of Bandai calling the show "dark" as a result of low toy sales. Because of this, this February's replacement Super Sentai series will have a more lighthearted atmosphere.

In other news:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkb-i1Ebd0

As a means to help boost the Go-Busters' disappointing toy sales, the Gokaigers return in this year's Super Sentai crossover film Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters vs. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger: The Movie, which premieres on January 19. And in typical Toei fashion, the film will mark the debut of this year's Super Sentai: Juuden Sentai Kyoryuger (yet another dinosaur-based team).

Saban will definitely be all over this in the years to come.

Juuden Sentai Kyoryuger in Hyper Hobby Magazine