Go-Busters & Akibarangers!

After last season's Kaizoku Sentai Gokaigers (海賊戦隊ゴーカイジャー), which was the 35th commemorative series that gathered past alumni and all Super Sentai characters into one single universe, it would inevitably be hard for Toei to top it with a new series. And yes, this year's Sentai series: Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters (特命戦隊ゴーバスターズ) is a clean reboot. A totally new direction, that tries to differentiate itself from last year's cult favorite. First off, the story is in a new universe (at least so far), and it tries to be realistic. At least as realistic as you can try to believe. Think of it as Sentai in a Gundam universe. There are background crew to work on the mecha, and there's bases, pilot training, etc.

The good thing is that it doesn't even try to compare itself to Gokaigers because there's simply to contest in that area. Gokaigers has the advantage of having ALL characters in the series, and Go-Busters has decided to go with the initial 3 rangers, similar to Hurricangers, Abarerangers and Gekirangers. The 4th and 5th will show up soon of course. I'm not too sure if I'm enjoying the series as much as its predecessors, but here comes the good part about 2012:

There are 2 Sentai series this year! Of course, like its name implies, it's not official although it's from the same studios and features actual suits and actors from the main series. Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger (非公認戦隊アキバレンジャー) is actually a parody series aiming at the more mature audiences, hence the late night time slot. There's hentai references, boob grabbing, etc but all in the name of good fun and nothing overboard. Sentai otakus (like yours truly) will enjoy the show the most, since it makes fun of the series and the jokes are awesome.

So far, I'll have to say I'm enjoying Akibarangers more than the official Go-Busters, probably because of the laughs. Like I mentioned earlier, it's hard for Go-Busters to fill in the void left by the Gokaigers, but together with Akibarangers they're going to make 2012 a memorable year for Super Sentai. I'll probably post about this year's cross overs and Kamen Rider series soon, so until next time, JUU MOUSOU!