Go! Go! Loser Ranger!

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Negi Haruba. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since February 2021, with its chapters collected into thirteen tankōbon volumes as of February 2024. An anime television series adaptation produced by Yostar Pictures premiered in April 2024.

Plot

Thirteen years ago, the Villainous Army of Evil attempted to invade Earth, faced by the Super Sentai squadron known as the Divine Dragon Rangers Dragon Keepers (竜神戦隊ドラゴンキーパー, Ryūjin Sentai Doragon Kīpā, lit. 'Divine Dragon Squadron Dragon Keeper') and their super weapons, the Divine Tools. The evil army, however, was defeated within a year, all of its Executives wiped out, and the surviving (and almost immortal) foot soldiers have been forced ever since to reenact their defeat to the Keepers in front of a crowd of spectators every Sunday. Tired of the charade, and realizing that this amounts to little more than slavery, one of the foot soldiers rebels, and decides he will defeat the Dragon Keepers by infiltrating the organization.

Characters

Main

Footsoldier D (戦闘員D, Sentōin D)

Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi

A rebellious foot soldier from the villainous army in the sky fortress that arrived 13 years ago, he is a Duster with transformative and regeneration abilities alongside his fellow foot soldiers who vowed to defeat the Dragon Keepers by infiltrating their organization and ranks. He takes on two disguises for most of the series; one is an appearance of an average black haired teenage guy, and the other as Hibiki so he can use his identity to infiltrate their ranks easier.

Yumeko Suzukiri (錫切 夢子, Suzukiri Yumeko)

Voiced by: Yumika Yano

A Junior First-Class ranked Ranger from the Yellow Battalion, who has a mysterious grudge against the Dragon Keepers. She and D made an alliance together to collect their Divine Tools and plans to kill them, though her background and motives remains unknown.

Hibiki Sakurama (桜間 日々輝, Sakurama Hibiki)

Voiced by: Daishi Kajita, Tenma Takeshita^{Ep. 4 credits} (young)

An inspiring independent Ranger cadet who is aware of the Keeper's corruption but wishes to fix their system by bringing them back to their original sense of justice. Following an attack to cover D, he swaps places with him after becoming disfigured while D carries on using his identity for most of the series. His current whereabouts remain unknown.

Dragon Keepers

The Dragon Keepers organization comprises the five "First Class" Dragon Keepers and those under their command. Each Keeper has their own battalion with distinct responsibilities within the organization, and each member has a different rank determined by their respective Keeper. The First Class Keepers also possess the Divine Tools that have the power to permanently kill members of the Villainous Army, although lower-ranking members can be assigned replicas or other weapons with similar power.  

First Class

Sosei Akabane (赤刎 創星, Akabane Sōsei) / Red Keeper (レッドキーパー, Reddo Kīpā)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura

The leader of the Dragon Keepers and commander of the Red Battalion. Despite appearing friendly and inspiring, he possesses an extremely violent nature that he will not hesitate to use on those that anger him, including his own subordinates.

Shōgo Aoshima (靑嶋 庄吾, Aoshima Shōgo) / Blue Keeper (ブルー キーパー, Burū Kīpā)

Voiced by: Go Inoue

The Blue Keeper and commander of the Blue Battalion an the only member with visible scars on his person. Originally in a gang to raise money for an orphanage, he joined the Rangers after Akabane blackmails him while in jail. He was killed by Peltrola's sneak attack in a battle with D.

Sesera Sakurama (桜間 世々良, Sakurama Sesera) / Pink Keeper (ピンクキーパー, Pinku Kīpā)

Voiced by: M.A.O

The Pink Keeper and commander of the Pink Battalion and Hibiki's older sister. She is obsessed with Hibiki. When un-transformed, it is revealed she is crippled after getting caught up in Peltrola's battle, and has to rely on a wheelchair.

Chidori (千鳥) / Green Keeper (グリーンキーパー, Gurīn Kīpā)

Voiced by: Kohsuke Toriumi

The Green Keeper and commander of the Green Battalion. He is the only member of the team to have his entire face covered.

Shinya Kiritani (黄理谷 真夜, Kiritani Shinya) / Yellow Keeper (イエロー キーパー, Ierō Kīpā)

Voiced by: Kensho Ono

The Yellow Keeper and commander of the Yellow Battalion. He is often seen smiling constantly.

Red Battalion

Shun Tokita (朱鷺田 隼, Tokita Shun)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino

Kai Shion (獅音 海, Shion Kai)

Voiced by: Yūki Ono

Blue Battalion

Komachi Aizome (藍染 小町, Aizome Komachi)

Voiced by: Rika Nagae

Eigen Urabe (浦部 永玄, Urabe Eigen)

Voiced by: Seiichiro Yamashita

Green Battalion

Kanon Hisui (翡翠 かのん, Hisui Kanon)

Voiced by: Azumi Waki

Angel Usukubo (薄久保 天使, Usukubo Enjeru)

Voiced by: Shiori Mikami

Yellow Battalion

Angelica Yukino (雪野 アンジェリカ, Yukino Anjerika)

Voiced by: Akari Kitō

Pink Battalion

Masurao Nadeshiko (撫子 益荒男, Nadeshiko Masurao)

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki

Colorless Rangers

The "Colorless" refer to the lowest-ranking members of the Keeper hierarchy, and are often looked down upon by those higher up the ranks.

Sōjirō Ishikawa (石川 宗次郎, Ishikawa Sōjirō)

Voiced by: Daiki Hamano

Renren Akebayashi (明林 恋蓮, Akebayashi Renren)

Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa

Yamato Kurusu (来栖 大和, Kurusu Yamato)

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka

Tsukasa Shippō (七宝 司, Shippō Tsukasa)

Voiced by: Masanori Shimizu

Ranmaru Koguma (小熊 蘭丸, Koguma Ranmaru)

Voiced by: Yukihiro Nozuyama

Villainous Army

Executives

Peltrola (ペルトロラ, Perutorora)

A surviving Executive of the Villainous Army who resides in the Blue Garrison.

Magatia (マガティア)

A surviving Executive of the Villainous Army who resides in a school by trapping it in a loop.

Dusters

Footsoldier XX (戦闘員XX, Sentōin Ekusuzu)

Voiced by: Hina Yōmiya

A stray female foot soldier who left the fortress and resides in Hibiki's room who befriends D.

Production

On October 27, 2020, Negi Haruba started recruiting regular assistants for his coming new series. On December 23, 2020, it was announced that Negi Haruba would start his new manga series Go! Go! Loser Ranger! on February 3, 2021.

Media

Manga

Go! Go! Loser Ranger! is written and illustrated by Negi Haruba. The manga series began its serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in the 10th issue published on February 3, 2021. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on April 16, 2021. As of February 16, 2024, thirteen volumes have been released. In November 2021, during their panel at Anime NYC, Kodansha USA announced their license to the series and would release it in both print and digital.

Volumes

Chapters not yet in tankōbon format

• 123. Senpo Kaisen 23 (戦保怪戦(せんぽかいせん)㉓)
• 124. Senpo Kaisen 24 (戦保怪戦(せんぽかいせん)㉔)
• 125. Senpo Kaisen 25 (戦保怪戦(せんぽかいせん)㉕)
• 126. Interval (インターバル)
• 127. Masshirona Aka (真っ白な赤)
• 128. Hōmupāti (ホームパーティ)
• 129. Goyō Aratamedearu (御用改めである)
• 130. Fukushū wa Sōki no Ato de (復讐は想起のあとで)
• 131. Kyarakutā (キャラクター)
• 132. Tekoire (テコ入れ)
• 133. Ribenjimatchi (リベンジマッチ)
• 134. Ribenjimatchi 2 (リベンジマッチ②)
• 135. Kyaria Appu (キャリアアップ)
• 136. Choppuman to Pinku Butai (チョップマンとピンク部隊)

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on December 6, 2022. It is produced by Yostar Pictures and directed by Keiichi Sato, with scripts written by Keiichirō Ōchi, and character designs handled by Kahoko Koseki, with Kenji Hayama serving as animation supervisor. The series premiered on April 7, 2024 on TBS and its affiliates. The opening theme song is "Preview of Me" (次回予告, Jikai Yokoku, lit. '"On the Next Episode"'), performed by Tatsuya Kitani, while the ending theme song is "Seikai wa Iranai" (正解はいらない, "Don't Need the Right Answer"), performed by Nanawo Akari. The series is streaming worldwide on Disney+, and on Hulu in the United States.

Episodes

Reception

In June 2021, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! was nominated for the seventh Next Manga Award in the Best Printed Manga category.

Notes

References

External links

• Go! Go! Loser Ranger! official manga website at Pocket Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese)
• Go! Go! Loser Ranger! official anime website (in Japanese)
• Go! Go! Loser Ranger! (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia