Go! Go! Loser Ranger!

Episode 8

I think we have reached the point of this Go, Go, Loser Ranger! arc where I will have to start deducting points for every additional minute we spend in this godforsaken parking garage. Here we are, building out the world of a story that is chock full of Super Sentai craziness and freakish space aliens, and the best possible setting that this show could have picked for a storyline that has taken over a month to resolve is an endless sea of concrete pillars and nondescript sedans? I get that cheap, reused sets are a hallmark of tokusatsu shows, y'all, but come on. We could at least have randomly switched over to a big, empty gravel pit, or something!

As is often the case, I would have a much easier time overlooking the show's bland and cheap-feeling aesthetics if the writing were more up to snuff, but G!G!LR! has been stuck in a rut with this cadet storyline, and signs don't point to things improving any time soon. The single biggest issue with this whole phase of the story is that, on a fundamental level, the Ranger Cadets just aren't very interesting. Their cooky designs and penchants for over-the-top theatrics make me feel like the show is going for a kind of Danganronpa vibe with this suddenly expanded cast of characters, but I just can't be bothered to care about any of them. We're a month in and not one of them has been given enough of a personality to stick out beyond the most basic defining features of their hairstyles, except maybe for Shion and Ranmaru. In Ranmaru's case, the only thing that made him somewhat interesting is the fact that he's the first person since Hibiki and Yumeko to discover Fighter D's true identity. The thing is, “Shout Out Loud!, Cadets!” does almost nothing with what should be a pretty major plot development, and then Ranmaru is suddenly dispatched by Peltrola, so who knows if any of this will end up meaning anything going forward?

Speaking of Peltrola, I really dislike how the whole “Boss Monster Invasion” aspect of this storyline has been incorporated into the proceedings. D and XX's responses to the very notion of there being a boss monster that is still alive give you the impression that Peltrola's appearance is supposed to be a huge freaking deal. The fact that Aizome is barely able to survive the encounter after Ranmaru and some poor extra get wasted by the creature would support that fact! Yet, despite all of this, G!G!LR! still sees fit to just barely address Peltrola's presence in the cadet bunker while spending so much time on the frankly boring shenanigans that D and the other cadets are up to.

Okay, to be fair, there was one memorable moment in the middle of all that fluff, though I'm not sure if it is for the reasons that the crew making the show intended. The scene where Tsukasa's muscles inflate back into shape would have probably felt out of place no matter what kind of direction or art style this show was employing, but as is, I was downright horrified. It's as if that scene of Judge Doom blowing himself up like a balloon at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was directed by David Cronenberg. That shit is going to haunt my dreams, I swear.

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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.