I guess I'm ready for another divisive OPINION post. I watched both Juuki B-Fighter followed by B-Fighter Kabuto. The two shows are direct sequels to each other. One show was a hit and the other was a FLOP. Okay, there will be SPOILERS ahead so if you haven't watched both shows - READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. I finished both shows so I'm going to do this weird post. How does this go? I'm going to talk about how B-Fighter ended (and what the show brought up) together with how the show linked the direct sequel.
So, unlike Kamen Rider BLACK RX where the hero dons a different suit, we have a new generation of B-Fighters. I guess the failure that's BLACK RX made Toei to swear to never upgrade the heroes and introduce a new hero huh? Still, I can't deny I can enjoy BLACK RX and B-Fighter Kabuto even if I'm totally aware that they're quite messy. It took something as messy as Saban's Masked Rider and Beetleborgs Metallix (which was worse than its previous season). The B-Fighter Kabuto team has new heroes.
B-Fighter Kabuto introduces Earth Academia becoming Cosmo Academia. Takuya, the previous protagonist gets rightfully Demoted to Extra. The project is called B-Fighter Kabuto. Unlike the previous show, Kabuto is also the main lead while he's got allies in both Kuwager and Tentou. The organization was created in case of other threats. Yeah, it can be a cool idea to link certain shows. However, it can be detrimental if done too often such as why I ended up disliking Power Rangers. The show does talk about the end of Jamahl Army. Meanwhile, I'm glad that somehow, B-Fighter Kabuto forgot about the special finale where Janperson and the Blue SWAT team guested.
I think the team of B-Fighter Kabuto is still good overall. However, I do have my issues with Kohei early on. Kohei is quite the obnoxious guy but he gets better. I guess it's all about being a teenager huh? Kohei must learn to fight with the more competent Kengo and Ran. Kengo is pretty much upset about the B-Fighter Kabuto powers not choosing him but warms up eventually. Ran is a computer genius who makes a blunder early on. Having a new batch of heroes replacing the previous generation works better. Yeah, that's why I still feel that I may enjoy BLACK RX but I understand many diehard fans of Kamen Rider BLACK have some fair dislike for it. Yeah, I could agree with them BLACK RX is a mess but it's an enjoyable mess IMHO.
I still feel the Magnavores ahem Jamahl Army were somehow better
Personally, I felt the Jamahl Army was cooler than the Melzard Army. It was nice to link them both to this Will of Darkness - a plot repeated into Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger. Granted, we had Junichi Miyashita so it's very normal for that to happen. The big revelations such as Gigaro as some skeletal creature. We had Schwartz as some sentient virus. Jera turned out to have the image of a white woman acted by Shelley Sweeney. Yeah, Toei had some occasional white actors (or half-white ones) showing up to have that occasional multi-racial feel.
I think B-Fighter had better villains (in part) due to Gaohm himself. True, the Jamahl trio were typical in carrying out typical supervillain schemes. However, Gaohm is one intimidiating threat voiced by the late Takeshi Watabe. Those who saw Chojinki Metalder can testify how Watabe makes Emperor God Neros Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or God Neros (I love throwing Emperor Nero jokes at him due to how brutal he is) a fearsome foe to behold. Gaohm just sounds so scary that he'd never pass TV-Y7-FV standards.
What was scarier to know Gaohm's true goals and true form. Gaohm was just a small embryo but he's Small But Terrible. I almost felt Gaohm's real form as a small embryo felt laughable. However, Gaohm is 99% evil, and 1% hot air, unlike Sheldon J. Plankton of Spongebob Squarepants. It was still nightmare fuel to think that a small creature can possess that much power. Gaohm does manage to actually pull one final stunt. Gaohm's destruction has a failsafe namely the Jamahl Hole which leads to what I call the "true finale". The B-Fighters defeat him but they must stop the Jamahl Hole.
I find the addition of Shadow to be truly terrifying. Shadow is Takuya's clone and doesn't just become a useless gimmick. Shadow's existence as Black Beet creates many conflicts between the game-changer villain and the original trio. The final episode has Takuya and Black Beet deal with each other WHILE the heroes must destroy the Jamahl Hole. Speaking of which, I'm reminded of the failsafe Emperor Ragorn (also voiced by Watabe) in letting the Bouma Palace crash into the Great Seal. Emperor Ragorn's final defeat had him call for the opening of the Great Seal. The Turborangers did manage to stop Emperor Ragorn's failsafe all in one episode. Here, the B-Fighters had to deal with the failsafe in an episode after Gaohm gets destroyed.
After this, we had a special finale which takes place after Jamahl's defeat. However, the events were somehow never mentioned. I'm somehow glad that neither Janperson nor the Blue SWAT members are mentioned. It's because the special finale was somehow a distraction as Toei apparently had production delays.
I even want to joke that Vexor from Beetleborgs was dumber than a Saturday Morning Cartoon villain. Vexor got too trusting when he released Nukus from the sketch of Les Fortunes. In this case, I think Gaohm would've probably outsmarted Nukus or even Nukus' original counterpart, Raija. Though I still think Raija has been a better character than Nukus. Sure, Nukus could make monsters come ot life but he was stuck in the limits of TV-YY-FV.
I could still say the Melzard Tribe was still WAY BETTER implemented than the "Crustaceans"
I tried giving some episodes of Beetleborgs Metallix a shot and it's just obnoxious. I'd say that Les Fortunes was just a typical kooky guy. I doubt it Les himself could come up with twisted creatures as twisted as the Jamahl Tribe. Nukus started out as a cunning adversary but decayed eventually. I felt Raija was still better than Nukus (overall) due to how developed he was. Dezzle was the crafty villain who was also no laughing matter. I still find it funny (and stupid) at how Miolra is a praying mantis while we have Dord as a seashell (who was NEVER adapted into Beetleborgs Metallix).
Mother Melzard herself is one frightening mother figure. Maybe, not as frightening as Grand Bitch Grandienne in Kyukyu Sentai GoFoFive. Still, Mother Melzard is also born from the Will of Darkness which created both Gaohm and Mother Melzard. Mother Melzard gives birth to her new monsters calling them her children. Both Raija and Dezzle are her first two sons who bring their siblings into battle.
The B-Crushers (the evil rangers of the story) are pretty much also threatening. I fidn these guys to be a legitimate threat. Though, I also felt that they gave Toei Ltd. the excuse to add more toy characters that I felt were "just there" to sell more toys.
The not-so-good part IMHO
This is where I think things got messy. Later shows added evil rangers but never added more rangers as much as possible. I feel that there's room for bloating, unlike B-Fighter which made Kabuto (the son of Guru) only a temporary character. We have four new heroes who served as allies and gave them the weapons. I think these guys were almost as underutilized as every new gimmick in Dragon Ball Z during the bloated Buu Saga. It was also nice to see Mac Windy played by a white actor who could speak Japanese. Reuben Langdon was pretty much a suit actor during the failed Beetleborgs Metallix. These four guys seemed to be just there to be there.
What stopped the four heroes from becoming useless was the eight medals plot. Sure, it was an obvious cheap gimmick to sell toys. They weren't very integral. However, they ended up playing into more parts and not just sell toys. We have Kabutierous and later Kuwaga Titan. Both are forces of light and darkness. These guys eventually played their way into the finale one way or another.
I'd say the finale was kind of bloated. It's because we've got seven heroes, the B-Crushers, another crossover with the First Generation B-Fighters (which Guru also DIES eventually) though nothing is mentioned about "Gramps" from the previous for a reason, and we saw Professor Masaru make it out alive. I think it was nothing more than writers being unable to decide what to do. Professor Masaru was thought to have perished near the nightmarish finale. However, Professor Masaru manages to escape on time. Suspense factor anyone?
The finale had humanity facing its possible extinction as time bombs. There was really nightmare fuel as the story comes to an end. Still, the final episode had a messy concluding battle. The B-Crushers are still a threat. Descorpion's final battle was there. I also felt Raija's final battle was too violent for Beetleborgs Metallix. It was also too last-minute with how Kuwaga Titan was actually once partners with Kabutieros. It was a cheesy finale where both titans defeated the mutated Mother Melzard. Still, it was better with how Mother Melzard wasn't Repgillan who was a random mess.
The finale does have the typical separation. It was nice to have Sophie try to ask Kohei to go with her. Kohei instead chooses to go to America. Did Kohei become better friends with Mac? I was laughing at how the going to America plot as there. B-Fighter was in 1995 and Beetleborgs was in 1996. The footage of B-Fighter Kabuto was used in the failed Beetleborgs Metallix. 1993 was also the year when Saban Entertainment got the green light from Toei Ltd.
In my case, I think B-Fighter Kabuto has been somehow Vindicated by History. Beetleborgs was so bad and its short-lived sequel was even worse. We would get Kamen Rider Kabuto ten years later. I consider Kamen Rider Kabuto as Toei's official word with the Metal Hero franchise as canceled but never forgotten. Though, we'd soon get two later shows, Kabutack and Robotack, which is somehow debated if they're truly part of the now-canceled but not forgotten Metal Hero franchise.
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