Go! Go! Loser Ranger episode 1 review: this is what happens when the monsters get tired of losing

Our Loser Ranger episode 1 review summarizes why fans of Power Rangers and/or Super Sentai will enjoy this new take on the Tokusatsu subgenre.

The Loser Ranger episode 1 review

If you’re like me, you’ve seen a LOT of Power Rangers shows, from the likes of Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder to Samurai and Lost Galaxy. It’s safe to say that when we see saviors dressed in colorful outfits, we automatically know that they’re the good guys, here to deliver us from evil. We’ve been conditioned to think that way.

But are these colorful crusaders of justice truly here to help us without any agenda of their own? In this case, the answer to that question is no.

One year after aliens invaded Earth, the Dragon Keepers (Power Rangers) successfully defeated the nefarious leaders of the invasion. However, instead of eliminating the remaining Dusters (Putty Patrollers/enemy foot soldiers), they decided to enslave them. As long as the Dusters create/become a new monster of the week for the Keepers to defeat, they’ll be allowed to live. The Keepers, meanwhile, get the fame and adoration of the masses because of their “valiant efforts to protect Earth.”

After 13 years of keeping up this charade, one Duster, Fighter D, becomes sick and tired of the constant defeat that this “truce” has brought. After their 999th loss, he resolves to bring down the Dragon Keepers from within by joining their organization, and taking over the world once they’ve been dealt with.

This warped version of Power Rangers works because it takes the rules that it operates on and turns them on their heads. Power Rangers would never enslave monsters, or become clout chasers, but they are here. It’s a little dark and given how some humans behave, it’s not far-fetched to believe that some of us would do something like this if we were given the chance.

The episode

The first half of the runtime is used to show how a weekly fight with the Dragon Keepers usually goes, with the second half focusing on the Dusters’ thought process when creating a new monster (a tiger this time), and Fighter D attempting to rally his brethren by saying they should think of a strategy to defeat the Keepers and finally achieve world domination. The last three minutes show D resolving to go undercover and infiltrate the Keeper’s ranks after their latest defeat.

This first episode succeeds in showing us the current status quo, and not taking too much time to explain the history of this series as it focuses on moving the story forward. It prioritizes giving us reasons to like it, namely how D’s infiltration will go, the colorful visuals, and the action (at least what’s shown in this first episode).

You can sympathize a little with Fighter D when you see him interact with the other Fighters. Whereas they’ve all resigned themselves to their slavery situation, he’s still holding out hope for victory against the Keepers and conquering Earth, only for the others to laugh at him and for D to get beaten up by his buddies.

After seeing how corrupt the “heroes” are, you can’t help but root for this underdog to succeed and show just how wrong everyone was about him. It’s also a bit amusing seeing how the Dusters conceptualize the weekly monster as they veto each other’s ideas before going with one they deem acceptable and original.

The visuals harken back to the source material it originates from. This is exactly what an anime version of Power Rangers should be in terms of how it looks, with bright, primary colors aplenty whenever Earth’s “protectors” are on the scene, while darker shades are reserved for the extraterrestrials. Even the appearances of both the Dragon Keepers as well as the Dusters are just plain awesome to look at.

The smiles that Keepers like Yellow and Red have plastered on their faces also feel off, which is appropriate, given their motivations. Yostar Pictures put some effort into adapting Negi Haruba’s manga and it shows.

The action

As for the fight sequence, it does get bogged down a bit by characters talking mid-battle, which makes sense, given that the Keepers are all about looking good even as they “struggle” to defeat the weekly monster and announce that Earth’s “defenders” will never surrender. However, this eats into the runtime, and results in the battle wrapping up a bit too quickly for my liking.

But what we do get is pretty good, with nice-looking explosions along with the Green Keeper tossing a boulder at the tiger monster to keep things interesting. The tiger monster even transforms into a truck and rams into the Dragon Keepers to attack them, before everything ends with a multicolored blast from the Divine Artifact (the Keepers’ giant laser cannon/blaster). The particle effects that occur when the Dusters get damaged, destroyed, or morph into something are also very well done.

Though most of this debut sets up what’s to come in future episodes, this is an interesting anime series that I’ll be sure to keep an eye on. Its twisted premise, underdog protagonist, and flashy visuals all work in Loser Ranger’s favor, though I do hope we get a lot more action down the line.