Go Go Loser Ranger is Much More Than Dark Power Rangers

Summary Go! Go! Loser Ranger! satirizes the superhero genre featuring the oppressive Divine Dragon Rangers and their dominated enemies.

The series explores complex character motivations, subverting the typical superhero trope of faceless goons.

Unlike other shows like The Boys, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! still reveres the superheroes it satirizes, or at least reveres their potential.

Few anime concepts receive the level of instant fascination as that of Go! Go! Loser Ranger! on Hulu, but calling it Dark Power Rangers is too reductive to describe its subversion. The series simultaneously reveres and satirizes the colorful action and spandex seen in Super Sentai or its American iteration, Power Rangers. However, Loser Ranger! takes an essential step as an anime to not feel too much like the Power Rangers version of The Boys or Invincible.

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! debuted in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine in February 2021 alongside Blue Lock, Edens Zero, and Four Knights of the Apocalypse. It isn't the same sales juggernaut as other Kodansha properties yet, but its concept is promising as an action anime. Go! Go! Loser Ranger!'s draw is in how it approaches its genre and which characters receive focus.

Related Go! Go! Loser Ranger! Episode #3 Release Date & Time Go! Go! Loser Ranger! episode #2 was an excellent follow-up to the premiere, and here's everything to know about when episode #3 will continue it.

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! Flips the Sentai Genre on Its Head in Anime Form

Calling it the Dark Power Rangers Anime Belies Its Satirical Value

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! showcases a familiar world where its Divine Dragon Rangers are an oppressive group of superpowered celebrities who force their enemies to fight them in farcical weekly battles. They won their conflict with the aptly-named Monster Army thirteen years ago, with the Rangers having a clear advantage. Since their defeat, the Monster Army's shapeshifting Fighters must entertain the masses and be beaten to submission until Fighter D decides to break the cycle in Episode #1. To do this, he resolves to kill the Dragon Keepers running the show.

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The satire of Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is more than just a cynical spoof of the violent or narcissistic tendencies awakened when humans are granted extraordinary power. While the Dragon Keepers are considered the villains, they have varied personalities, with the Blue Keeper being far more kind to his team than the insecure and murderous Red Keeper, who shows his brutality as early as Chapter #6. The nameless Fighter D and various lower-ranked members of the Dragon Rangers give in to their resentment as the series explores their reasons for wanting to destroy the Dragon Rangers.

This Isn't the First Time Power Rangers Took a Dark Path

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! Uses a New Perspective, but Sentai Series Have Dealt With Death Before

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers never explored the perspective of its Putties. Still, the dozens of sequel series and its source material, Super Sentai, have dealt with dark subject matter before Go! Go! Loser Ranger!. Ranger death has been handled across various Power Rangers shows like Lost Galaxy, Time Force, S.P.D., and perhaps most famously, in its loving tribute to Thuy Tran in Once & Always. Super Sentai has featured ranger deaths since its first series in 1975.

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Taking this dark path is not a journey to the extreme or depraved like in The Boys, but rather one that gives agency to a typically faceless faction of goons. The Fighters, aka "Dusters," have different personalities, body types, and aspirations. Fighter D wants to defeat the Rangers to assert his identity. On the opposite side, Junior First Class Ranger Yumeko Suzukiri has more mysterious plans to kill them, and cadet Hibiki Sakurama wishes to restore the Keepers' sense of justice.

Overall, the Go! Go! Loser Ranger! anime is impressively complex and has the potential for far greater buzz than simply being "Dark Power Rangers."