TV-Nihon

Oh man, I really liked this episode. I thought it was just going to be silly filler, but Pink Buster turns out to be a pretty great character. I wish she were a regular.

I mean, I'm glad that she wasn't done in a silly throwaway way. She's like Catwoman to Batman. Pink Buster can go toe-to-toe with the Busters and Vaglass, plus she has some genuinely interesting motivations. She's actually acting on a moral code and not just (completely) by her fickleness. When she reappears again in the episode, she's actually helping Hiromu to find the Metaroid. She made a mistake, so she's going to own up to it. That's pretty cool.

Jin and J also got some time on their own. J admiring the bug painting is great.

Even the recap on the Messiah Cards seemed strangely like main plot.

No Enter or Escape sadly.

Good battle though. Red Buster and Pink Buster fight together as a better team than the Busters do on a regular basis. Hercules losing his gun (And SJ-05 being used by the bad guy) was an interesting thing to happen during the mech battle.

Dear Toei, Go-Busters is probably done filming, but please bring back more Pink Buster.

This was a really good episode. Pink Buster is acting on her behalf of justice. Yeah, she was a thief who stole from the bad, but she took responsibility when she realized that taking the Messiah card affected innocent people. That was very responsible and mature of her.

LET THE FANSHIPPING BEGIN! Hell, watching the commander make that love symbol was pretty hilarious, considering how stern he usually is.

Next episode:

Spoiler

Yup, Den-Liner has entered the world of Sentai.

J, oh J. Love his reaction to the painting. On a side note, the stealing of SJ-05 by the enemy Megazord was pretty cool. I really like the mecha battles in Go-Busters. It's somewhat different from regular mecha battles from most Sentai series.

Surprised that Enter didn't appear at all.

I wonder if Pink Buster will appear again.

Previews:

Spoiler

Another giant Metaroid? Well, okay. Also, is that Escape piloting a Megazord? o.O

And... Holy crap, the Gokai girls clad in black look darn cool.

Pretty interesting episode

The recap of the Messiah cards' data gathering suddenly makes those filler-type episodes seem reverent

"I have been stolen!" - Lol J, you are amusing as always

First time they found a place to play the second OP during an episode

Interesting idea for the mecha fight. Good thing they introduced a zoid that doesn't need a pilot eh?

So Luna and I were arguing about what to call the letter at the end. Luna wanted to call it a "calling card", but I didn't feel like the term fit. A declaration of an upcoming theft isn't the same thing as a calling card in my opinion. And in general, calling cards are used to mark one's crimes. Like I'd say that the card that she leaves on the bald guy's head was a calling card. I wouldn't say the same thing about the letter at the end. Sorry, but a letter is just a letter. It'd be nice if it had a cool crime term, but I don't think we can force that term into the episode when it doesn't fit.

And my reasons for it being a calling card is because many times in the "phantom thief" genre, the thief sends a card before the theft to the intended victim so that it's more sporting and more of a challenge. You see it in Man of Many Faces, D.Gray Man, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Kaitou Saint Tail, Lupin III, etc. I'll grant you it's not very common in Western media, but it's pretty much a staple of the kaitou genre in Japan.

Pink Buster is totally Decade and Diend's love child.

I totally agree that Japanese thieves will often announce their crimes beforehand, via a letter declaring their intent to steal. But I wouldn't call that a calling card. A calling card is like your signature. Your declaration "I was here". You list a lot of shows, but do you have any specific examples of a thief leaving an actual "calling card" before a crime is committed?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CallingCard

The English translation of Saint Tail refers to her pre-crime notifications as "calling cards" for what it's worth.

All the manga/shows I mentioned used calling cards in that way. As I said, it's more of a Japanese thing and not a Western one so no, I can't come up with an actual crime because it's a very romanticized genre and not really based on any actual phantom thief cases. Pretty much what they say is "I am (awesome). I will steal (rare treasure) at (time). Just try to stop me!" So I'd make the argument that Pink Buster's is basically the same.

Rewatching the scene, the letter at the end is on the same card that Pink Buster used at the beginning. However, when it's referred to as a "warning letter", it's by Ryuuji who hasn't opened the envelope yet.

I'm pretty sure you're not going to argue that every letter declaring an intent to steal is going to be called a "calling card".

Edit: So while I'd be okay with calling the card inside her "calling card", I wouldn't translate "letter forewarning an upcoming crime" as "calling card".

Also, Versus is alive?

However, if Ryuuji is calling it a "warning letter" then what is it warning of? Stay away? Don't come after her? Obviously it depends on the situation, though I think as a staple of the kaitou genre, calling card suits better in this particular case.

takenoko wrote:Also, Versus is alive?

It's been a rough handful of years but I'm finally back to toku <3

Lunagel wrote:However, if Ryuuji is calling it a "warning letter" then what is it warning of? Stay away? Don't come after her? Obviously it depends on the situation, though I think as a staple of the kaitou genre, calling card suits better in this particular case.

I know, I'm not going to say I chose the best phrasing for it, but I don't think we can just call all such things "calling cards". That just doesn't sound like the best translation for what it is. A thief sending advance warning that he or she plans to steal something. It'd be nice if there were a word for that, but I don't think "calling card" is it.

Also glad to have you back Versus.

I agree, there's not really a good English word for it since it doesn't happen in Western media but "calling card" does imply the politeness of the gentleman thief, so I think it's a decent substitute. Guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

The Commander trolling Hiromu at the end was great. So you won't let Youko get married but you're okay with Hiromu dating a criminal. I don't know what to make of that.

Come to think of it, usually these types of thieves send declarations that they are going to steal something. I would think calling cards would be what they leave after the crime is done. I can only think of Lupin III being the only one who isn't consider a phantom thief but sends challenges anyway.