©春場ねぎ・講談社／「戦隊大失格」製作委員会
Fighter D may have been shocked at how he suddenly betrayed and skewered Peltrola in the middle of the Boss Monster’s battle with Dragon Keeper Blue, but I wasn’t. From the beginning, it’s been clear that Fighter D adheres to the Wreck-It Ralph School of Villainous Thought: Just because he’s a Bad Guy, it doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. Why else would his freaky coma-fantasy of a life dominated by the “Villains” involve him generously taking in his Cadet Comrades while treating Fighter XX to some swanky meals? Peltrola is out to cause mass mayhem and destruction, with casualties abound; F.D. just wants to finally live a life where some jerkass isn’t ordering him around and making him fight pointless battles that he’ll never win.
So, even if D doesn’t understand his motivations fully at first, his double-reverse-heel-turn combo makes perfect sense to us because his loyalty lies almost entirely with himself alone, rather than any of the Powers (Ranger or Otherwise) That Be…though he’s clearly started to warm up to his fellow-loser teammates at least a bit, by now. It’s an obvious but fun arc for D’s character to make, which is why it’s so satisfying when D turns on Peltrola, even if it is also the least surprising development in the world. Hopefully, XX will come around before too long, too, since our boy has a crush on the feral monstress, and she needs to start keeping better company.
All in all, this was a pretty good round of spectacle and story development for Go, Go, Loser Ranger!, and this is a boon on multiple fronts. For one, it means we get some cool fights to watch. On a big-picture level, though, it means that we’re so freaking close to this Cadet Arc being over and done with. I’ve now had multiple fans of the manga reassure me that while this storyline does indeed drag on for way too long, the Loser Ranger! experience only gets better from here. Thank Zordon for that because, like I’ve been saying for a few weeks now, I am more than ready to get out of this blasted underground complex and back into a more interesting and diverse setting. I won’t say I’m particularly fond of any of these new Cadet characters yet, either, but you know what? I’d be a lot more inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt if they had the chance to do something in literally any setting other than a damned parking garage.
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Go, Go, Loser Ranger! is currently streaming on
Hulu in the United States and Disney+ in other regions.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.
