Our Loser Ranger episode 4 review talks about Sakurama’s past, the junior Blue Ranger Hekiru and suicide via enraged Dragon Keeper.
Table of Contents
The Loser Ranger episode 4 review
Loser Ranger episode 4 opens with the Dragon Keepers discussing the events of the previous episode while having a banquet before it transitions to a junior Blue Ranger (Hekiru) hunting down Fighter D on the orders of the Blue Keeper. The Duster is recovering from the finishing blow he was dealt in the last episode as is discovered by Sakurama. After taking D into a cave to help him hide, the independent Ranger explains his tragic backstory, detailing the teachings of his parents about how all life is sacred and how they and his sister perished at the hands of a monster/alien proclaiming to be God.
Things get complicated when Hekiru is detected by the duo, which quickly leads to Sakurama lying about D’s whereabouts to protect him. The alien repays the human’s kindness by initiating a fight with Hekiru when things are about to look painful for Sakurama. After a bit of deforestation, Sakurama manages to kill D before leaving with him and returning to the city. However, unbeknownst to the junior Ranger, things weren’t what they seemed in that fight.
Mouthing off will be punished
The episode has a very strong start since it shows what things seem to be like within the Keeper’s organization and what disrespect can lead to. Suzukiri’s thoughts outright say that information regarding the Red Keeper’s Divine Artifact was leaked because of the junior first-rank Red Ranger, hinting that people want to be the top dog, no matter what. As for the part about disrespect, the junior Red berates the Red Keeper for losing his Artifact and being unable to transform back into his civilian form, with the junior saying he should take his superior’s place for his incompetence.
In response, Red agrees with him but then grabs him by the neck and slams him against the wall, before ending his subordinate’s life and going back to his meal as if nothing happened. Behind him is the junior’s bloodied corpse pinned to the wall, with some of his blood on the Red Keeper’s suit. It’s a horrifying moment and shows just how intolerant the Keepers (at least this one) can be with anyone acting out of line, with the sinister score backing up this scene adding to the brutal tone.
It was also intriguing to see Sakurama’s backstory and how his parents instilled in him the lesson of all life being precious and living a morally good life. It was certainly unexpected when Sakurama said that God (a monster/alien pretending to be him) descended upon a group of religious worshipers, his parents included, and killed all of them using an energy blast from his halo. The flashback ends with a young Sakurama attempting to protect his big sister from the threat, though he doesn’t elaborate on how he survived or what became of his sibling or the monster.
This sequence helps us get a better understanding of him, his personality, and the mission he’s looking to accomplish (i.e., building a world where monsters and humans coexist). It’s also another sucker punch to the gut since this isn’t what I’d expected his backstory to be. The voice of “God” is just plain unsettling and the same background music from when the Red Keeper murders his junior also plays here, easily selling just how vicious Loser Ranger can be at times.
Alliances, sacrifices and deception
There’s also the fight between Hekiru and Fighter D, with the former using an artificial Divine Artifact to take on the extraterrestrial. It was fun seeing D dodge the Ranger’s attacks before morphing into a piece of wood and utilizing a sneak attack to disarm his opponent, though he can’t pick up the Artifact since it’s imbued with the Blue Keeper’s energy. D’s resolve to finish the battle also adds to the growth he showed in episode 3, further establishing that he’s becoming braver with every situation that comes his way.
Another great moment is the final scene, where Hekiru catches up to Sakurama and D. I won’t talk about it that much because of spoilers, but just like the last episode, D (with Sakurama’s help) manages to hoodwink the junior Ranger, and enters into a position that lets him continue his infiltration. Once again, it’s great to see the main character managing to outsmart someone, even though he needed another’s help to do it. Also, let’s just say that Sakurama is way too willing to make very personal sacrifices for D, even though they’re not exactly friends. You’ll know what I mean when you watch the episode.
There’s also a bit of hilarity in between the serious scenes, like when Sakurama tricks the Duster into revealing his name by stroking his ego or when the always stoic Blue Keeper gets into a fight with his first rank junior (who is a literal child) and the Keeper’s small dragon companion who had a cameo in the last installment. Their inclusion helps in giving the audience a breather, so to speak, before things get consequential again.
Hekiru comes as someone who seems to perpetually be on the verge of tears, though he is willing to murder Sakurama for lying to him about D’s location, so I suppose he’s got some guts. He also seems to be able to use his sweat as a weapon by lobbing it at D, resulting in it burning through his mask. He also mentions that bonds are what makes humans strong and appears to be touched when Sakurama says his bond with the junior Ranger helped him defeat the Duster, so that’s something important to him. Overall, his personality comes off as a little lame and I hope he becomes more likable in future episodes.
Loser Ranger episode 4 truly delivers on the promise of a “Power Rangers gone wrong” story and with how things ended in this episode, I’m eager to see what happens next week (ideally, more dark stuff like we saw with the Red Keeper and “God”). Maybe Hekiru will be a little cooler next time.
Final score: 8/10
Go! Go! Loser Ranger can be streamed through Disney Plus and Hulu.
