There’s a new Power Rangers season coming in 2019, and we thought we’d give you a primer on the show that inspired it.
That would be the Super Sentai series Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters, the 36th season of the long-running franchise. The Power Rangers seasons use the footage from Super Sentai seasons and splice them with new footage, but Saban chose to skip the Go-Busters season (which took place in 2012) for Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger, which is better known to Power Rangers fans as Power Rangers Dino Charge.
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Many expected the franchise to go with Uchu Sentai Kyuranger (2017’s season) or Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, 2016’s season. Saban shocked everyone though by announcing their new season, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, will go back to Go-Busters.
If you missed out on Go-Busters, we’ve got you covered, giving you everything from the story and premise to the Rangers, villains, side characters, and Zords to get you caught up. Of course, these things will all have different names and even some different abilities when it is adapted, but this still gives you a good understanding of what’s in store.
You can check out the official description for Power Rangers Beast Morphers below.
“Set in the future, a secret agency combines a newly discovered substance called “Morph-X” with animal DNA to create the Power Rangers Beast Morphers team. The Rangers must fight off an evil sentient computer virus bent on taking over the source of all Ranger power, the Morphin Grid itself. Featuring never-before-seen leather suits and an all-new beast-themed arsenal (including dynamic new Zords), fans should get ready for a season full of secret ops and morphinominal fun.”
Hit the next slide to see what Go-Busters is all about!
Premise
Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters sports a spy/special task force theme with some technology elements thrown in, and takes place in the year Neoย AD 2012.
In this day and age, the world functions on Enetron, a valuable energy source. The Vaglassย is an organization that is constantly trying to either take it for themselves or destroyย it, and the Tokumeiย Sentai Go-Busters is a special task force that was created for the sole task of defending it.
Thanks to the resources of the Energy Management Center, the heroes have a wide variety of weapons andย Zordsย at their disposal to keep the energy source from falling into the wrong hands.
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Storyline
The series kicks off on Christmas day, a full thirteen years before the current Go-Busters take over. The Energy Management Center’s Enetronย teleportationย experiments go awry, resulting in a sentient virus called Messiah emerging and attempting to take over this dimension.
The scientistsย keep Messiah from going free by teleporting the whole complex into a sub-dimension, despite what it means for any humans during the process.ย Three kids who were visitingย the complex are given vaccines that protect them from theย metavirus, allowing them to survive being teleported back into our dimension with three Buddy Roids by their side.
It is now their job to be ready for the day the Messiah virus returns to our dimension to finish the job.
What Is Enetron
So what is Enetronย you ask?
Glad to be of service. Enetronย has replaced fossil fuel and nuclear energy to become the main energyย source of this day and time. It is the main power source of the city, but also allows the Go-Busters to use special defensiveย and offensiveย abilities, as well as call on their MegaZords.
The villains have useย for Enetron it as well, including its ability to help them create Metaloids. Metaloidsย are theย main monsters of the Vaglass,ย which rank above the lower tier Buglarsย thatย frequently attackย the Go-Busters.
Enetronย is protected by the Go-Busters, themselves a product of the Energy Management Center. This organization has a headquarters located underground and organizes the Go-Busters against the Vaglass.
The Go-Busters
The Go-Busters are made up of three primary Rangers, though there are two additional Rangers that help out the team later on.
The main team is made up of Red Busterย Hiromu Sakuradaย (Katsuhiroย Suzuki), Yellow Buster Yoko Usamiย (Arisaย Komiya), and Blue Buster Ryuji Iwasakiย (Ryomaย Baba). The Sixth Rangers of the group are Beet Buster Masato Jin (Hiroya Matsumoto) and Beet J. Stag, played by Daisuke Satoย and voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura.
There’s also an alternate universe version of the Go-Busters, who are all animal themed as opposed to the regular versions.
Red Buster becomes Red Cheetah.
Yellow Buster becomes Yellow Rabbit.
Blue Buster becomes Blue Gorilla.
Beet Buster becomes Gold Beetle.
Beet J. Stag becomes Silver Stag.
There are also several other Rangers in this timeline, which differs from the main timeline in that it never was attacked by the Messiah virus.
Green Hippopotamus Atsushiย Domyojiย is played by Tatsuhisa Suzuki.
Pink Cat Rikaย Sakuradaย is played by Risa Yoshiki.
Black Puma Takeshiย Kurokiย is played by Hideo Sakaki.
The Villains
The main antagonist is Messiah, who leads the Vaglass against the Go-Busters.
Messiah appears as a hovering digital skull, but it is mostly a projection from the transport research center where his body lies. Messiah can’t interact with things directly at the start of the series, but thanks to the efforts of his right-hand man Enter, he does eventually get the ability to affect the physical world.
Enter was created by Messiah, specifically from the data Messiah absorbed from the original scientists. Since Enter is essentially pure data, it makes him a difficult enemy for the Go-Busters to defeat and is a constant thorn in their side throughout the show.
Enter also creates Messiah’s Metaloidsย and the Messiah Cards. The latter are 13 cards that hold Messiah’s backups in them, though they are meant more for evolving Messiah than storing him. The Metaloids are the main monstersย of the series, but there are also Messiah Metaloids, who Enter creates for his own purposes. There are also Buglars, which are the main soldiers of the Vaglassย army.
As for Vaglass, it is an organization hellbent on restoring Messiah to power and taking over the human race.
The Side Characters
Fans will be introduced to several other characters throughout the course of the show. That will include the Go-Busters mentor Takeshiย Kuroki (or Kuro-rin), who was left in charge of the three kids that were teleportedย away from Messiah.
Kurokiย is aided by his support team Mihoย Nakamuraย and Toruย Morishita, who helpย the Go-Busters in any way they can.
The Go-Busters also get help from Mika Hazuku, the daughter of Dr. Saburoย Hazuki. She is instrumentalย in the Go-Busters getting access to the BuddyZord, otherwise known as the Buster Vehicle LT-06.
Buddy Roids
The Buddy Roids were sent over at the same time as the three children 13 years ago, and have stayed by their side ever since.
Each Go-Buster can call on its Buddy Roidย for assistance, and they also transform into the team’s Buster Vehicles.
Red Buster calls on Cheeda Nick, who has the ability to transform into motorbike mode when not in robot mode. He has the ability to wield his rear wheels as makeshift weapons. He can also add superior armor to Red Buster’s suit and allowsย him to teleport. In this mode, he also gains the Volcanick Attack.
Yellow Buster calls on Usada Lettuce, who has the ability to bolster Yellow Buster’s suit with an even more powerful armor. In this mode she also gains the Rappitย Kick attack.
Blue Buster calls on Gorisakiย Banana, who has the ability to add armor to Blue Buster’s suit as well. This mode allows Buster Blue to create stone constructs, as well as access the Gorilarge Punch attack.
There’s also Ene-tan, a Buddy Roid based on a frog design. This Buddy Roidย can combine with the Buster Vehicle FS-0O to transform it into a Buster Animal, but she can also augment the vehicle’s submarine mode. She also typically pilots the Buster Vehicle and gets a little peeved when someone else tries to take charge of it.
The Zords And Vehicles
The Go-Busters have several Zordsย and slick vehicles at their disposal, and all of them are rather impressive.
Each Go-Buster has a Buster Vehicle, which has multiple forms. The Red Buster’s vehicle is the CB-01 and is designed after a black race car. It can also transform into a Cheetah form and into the Ace MegaZordย mode.
Blue Buster has the GT-02, which has a semi-truck mode, a Buster Machine mode, and a Buster Animal Gorilla mode. Yellow Buster has the RH-03, which has a helicopter mode, a Buster Machine mode, and a Buster Animal Rabbit mode. Beet Buster has the BC-04, which has a crane mode, Buster Animal Beetle mode, and a MegaZordย Beet mode.
Stag Buster has the SJ-05, which has a jet mode and a Buster Animal Stag Beetle mode. FS-0O is an additional vehicle that can swap out with the RH-03 in the main MegaZordย formation and features a Buster Machine and a Buster Animal Frog mode. There’s also the LT-06, which has a motorcycle mode, a Buster Animal Lion mode, and the Liohย Megazord mode.
Next up is the big guns.
The first is the Tokumeiย Gattai Go-Buster Oh, which is the combined form of the Red, Yellow, and Blue Buster Vehicles and their Buddy Roids. The MegaZordย features the Boost Buster Sword and RH-03’s helicopter blades on the opposite arm. It can also create a small force field and has two finishers called theย Dimension Crash and the Explosion Kick.
Next is the Buster Hercules, which is the combined form of Beet Buster’s Buster Vehicle and Stag Buster’s Buster Vehicle. In this form, the Zordย has access to the Beet Cannon and the Gatling Bazooka, as well as the Stag Launcher and the Stag Shield. The Zord’s finishing movie is the Hercules Crisis.
Last but not least is the Great Go-Buster, which is the combination of the Tokumeiย Gattaiย Go-Buster Oh and the Buster Hercules. This incredibly powerful Zordย can actually move through HyperSpace pockets and wields the Buster Lance, a combination of the Boost Buster Sword, the Go-Buster Oh’sย face mask, and Go-Buster Beet’s arm. It holds the finishing move Demolition Thrust.
