Making a story with a superb antihero lead could be a problem. It’s all too straightforward to finish up with a personality who’s extra of a shallow reactionary and whose solely redeeming worth is that they do unhealthy stuff to worse folks. Different occasions, they arrive throughout as a easy conduit for revenge fantasies in opposition to grievances. However Go! Go! Loser Ranger succeeds by establishing its antihero firmly after which having him uncover a private sense of conviction that even he isn’t absolutely conscious of.
The backstory of Go! Go! Loser Ranger begins off like a typical sentai collection: Years in the past, a gaggle of heroes referred to as the Dragon Keepers defeated an evil group that attempted to beat the floor world. The one remnants have been the essential goons that sometimes assault the heroes in giant numbers and get their asses handed to them earlier than the actual villains present up. Now, they’re pressured into a professional wrestling–esque kayfabe the place they fake to battle each week in entrance of a stadium viewers, not in contrast to the exhibits that happen on mall rooftops in Japan. However one mook, Fighter D, refuses to let his monster satisfaction fade away. Regardless of the percentages, he needs to battle again for actual in opposition to the Dragon Keepers, and perhaps even get revenge for all of the humiliation they’ve inflicted.
In Energy Rangers phrases, that is principally “What if a Putty was the protagonist? And it finally ends up working very well, not solely as a result of it’s an fascinating premise however as a result of it’s not content material to simply flip the roles and go away it at “unhealthy is sweet and good is unhealthy.” Positive, the Dragon Keepers really feel like they’d slot in with the extremely doubtful capes of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, and the generic Fighters are portrayed with plenty of character. There are a whole lot of grey characters on this collection, and never in a boring or predictable manner.
What I feel holds all of it collectively is that Fighter D is a perpetual underdog whose solely abilities are that he’s onerous to kill and he can have interaction in a level of subterfuge by altering form. He’s not the ultra-powerful badass however somebody who has to win by way of wits and creativity. He has to make use of his head, and this thoughtfulness (albeit coloured by the massive chip on his shoulder) is without doubt one of the key components for what makes Fighter D a compelling protagonist.
One key side of Fighter D is that his core beliefs aren’t fairly what he thinks they’re. He assumes that his sense of price comes from being a loyal foot soldier who carries on the legacy of his evil masters. However because the occasions of the collection unfold, it turns into clear that what drives Fighter D is a want for him and his fellow goons to be handled with respect and worth. He merely conflated one with the opposite, and this confusion results in some nice developments.
Go! Go! Loser Ranger finally ends up being a collection that defies expectations, and all of it facilities round a weakling difficult the sturdy, albeit for lower than noble causes. However whereas Fighter D shouldn’t be a paragon of advantage, he’s no less than a sentient being trying to carve his place on the planet. I’m curious to see what heights (and depths) he reaches subsequent.
