With an uncooperative exam partner, Fighter D decides to manipulate him by way of reverse psychology and brings in more exam combatants to make things fun. Learn more in our Loser Ranger episode 6 review.
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The Loser Ranger episode 6 review
Now that Fighter D has settled into his new life impersonating Sakurama, it’s time for him to deal with the Ranger final exam. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t a written test, but rather a team-up exercise where he and another Ranger cadet, Shion, need to work together and defeat their assignment “monster,” Tokita. Things start off rough for D as Shion isn’t interested in working with the disguised alien. As the episode progresses and another team and their “monster” (who are all first-rank junior Keepers) join the fray, D manages to use his head, some useful objects to shoot at, a bit of reverse psychology, and his alien biology to give his side the upper hand.
When in doubt, manipulate people so things work out
Compared to last week’s episode, this installment doesn’t feel dull given the objectives given to the cadets and the ferocious “monsters” they face. Just like with XX (the female Fighter from the last episode), D doesn’t have a good dynamic with Shion, who wants to take Tokita down all by himself. At first, the two are at odds in regards to how they should tackle their monster situation, but after D realizes his battle buddy isn’t going to willingly cooperate with him and he remembers when two others of his species fought, he resorts to using reverse psychology to manipulate Shion into doing what he wants.
For example, Shion doesn’t think weaklings like “Sakurama” should be in a fight and would only get in his way. D throws that mentality back in his face later in the episode, saying that because of the beating Tokita gave him earlier, he should stay out of D’s way. This only convinces Shion to get back in the fight and help D against Tokita.
Not only that, after another team and their “monster,” Hisui (the junior first-rank Green Keeper) arrive on the scene, D manages to improve their situation by impersonating them and having them go at each other’s throats. This allows both teams to gain the upper hand, at least until the bell rings, ending the first day of the final exam.
It’s fun to see D use his head to get things done. He doesn’t just stick to his human disguise for the entirety of the exam, but rather uses drawings made by Usukubo, one of the cadets fighting Hisui, to help in impersonating them. The guy also takes advantage of his surroundings, particularly the number of fire extinguishers he shoots to temporarily obscure everyone and their surroundings with the powder within the extinguishers.
He even drives a van through a wall to where Tokita and Shion are fighting to involve Hisui, Usukubo, and Soujiro in the brawl. It’s quite a shock, but also a little hilarious that he’d do something like this. Still, it ensures things don’t get boring and that’s a plus.
His impersonation tactic is pure genius and helps to keep things interesting, instead of just slashing and shooting with his Dragon Gadget (a weapon that can turn into a sword and a gun). The dynamic with Shion also helps here since the guy is single-minded and refuses to work with “Sakurama.” D manipulating his partner to do what he wants using reverse psychology is another instance that shows there’s more to the guy than just mimicking the appearance of others.
Learning (a little bit) more about the others
Tokita’s return after the events of episode three is another factor that works in favor of this episode. He isn’t holding back with the examinees and proves it when his punches to Shion cause the cadet to cough up blood. D can’t take a single hit or else everyone will know he’s an alien, so the “monster’s” inclusion here helps to keep the main character on his toes as well. His brand of (slightly) crazy and ferociousness in battle is always a welcome sight and ensures things don’t get stale. He also mentions that he and “Sakurama” played together when they lived in an orphanage, so the fact that these two have shared history is fascinating to hear.
We don’t get to learn much of Hisui in her debut episode, but given that she’s serious, deadly, and doesn’t tolerate disrespect from anyone (including Tokita), her presence adds more spice to this week’s events, since she attacks her fellow “monster” for not adding “-san” to her name.
The other examinees, Usukubo and Soujiro, also make themselves useful, the former more so than the latter since her drawings help D mimic the Tokita and Hisui. Soujiro, meanwhile, just shoots Hisui when he has the chance. Still, it’s more than what he did last episode, which just involved him talking a bit before leaving. We also don’t learn much about Shion, but it seems like he wants revenge on a specific monster from his past, so that’s a noteworthy detail about the guy. Besides that, he initially doesn’t work with” Sakurama,” but eventually gives him a hand by holding Tokita in place for D to attack, so I guess he’s starting to learn that teamwork makes the dream work.
The episode ends with D and Tokita nearly harming each other with their swords, only for the exam timer to ring and declare it over. I bring this up because while D is just about to slash at Tokita’s face, the outro for Loser Ranger begins playing. After it ends, the episode cuts back to D slashing at Tokita’s face and it ends how I described it just now. It’s very weird and for a moment, I thought the episode was just going to end before D could deal damage to his opponent. It doesn’t impact the episode that much, but still, it’s rather strange.
Speaking of the ending, the moment when D slashes at Tokita’s face and sparks fly because of the blade coming into contact with the metal mask he’s wearing looks pretty good. The action slows down to show the sparks, the mask now heated by the D’s laser blade and Tokita’s shocked reaction. It’s short, but pretty sweet, though the instances where D tricks Hisui, Shion, and Tokita are the best scenes in this episode.
Overall, I’d say Loser Ranger episode 6 is a major step up from how dull things were last week. I hope to see the main character continue to use more tricks to ensure he gets the upper hand, as well as see him come to butt heads with other characters since Shion proved to be an interesting obstacle for him. I also hope other characters get used like how Usukubo was during the exam and that more light is shed on who these guys are and what makes them tick.
Final score: 7.5/10
Go! Go! Loser Ranger! can now be streamed through Disney Plus and Hulu.
