Go! Go! Loser Ranger! Season 2

Episodes 1-2

I was very excited to dive into the second season of Go, Go, Loser Ranger!, if only because I knew that we would all finally be freed from that godforsaken parking garage. I recognize the narrative function of the extended Ranger Cadet training arc, and I see the fun of G!G!LR! playing around with such a well-worn anime trope. But for goodness' sake, was it utterly exhausting to spend half of the first season in the most drab underground setting imaginable while the story bombarded us with way too many characters in a series of battles that never amounted to anything more than passable entertainment.

It's no secret that G!G!LR! is Amazon's The Boys mashed together with the tokusatsu imagery and archetypes borne from the likes of Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. The thing that makes The Boys compelling is the way it marries familiar superhero shenanigans with genuinely well-executed and sharply satirical ultra-violence, and that's where I think G!G!LR! shines the most, as well. The inextricable Super Sentai formulas make for easy story setups that can be upended by, say, making Dragon Keeper Red into a narcissistic psychopath who is willing to explode dozens of civilians with a laser if it means getting back at the monster who dared to accidentally land a hit on him. There's also the comic potential that comes from making Dragon Keeper Pink into brazen, incestuous pervert who humps a body pillow of her brother when she isn't helping her fellow rangers to cover up their crimes. Then, of course, there is Fighter D, the perfect perspective character for a show like this that helps to set G!G!LR! apart from its influences, as the faceless bespandexed mook is a beloved cliche that is very particular to this sub-genre of kids' entertainment.

The underground parking-lot battle drudge was unable to take advantage of any satirical layups, and I feel like my dislike of that misguided story direction is vindicated by just how much better these first two episodes of Season 2 are. The cast of characters has become so much more manageable; the story can combine grimdark nonsense with Super Sentai nonsense, which is one of the reasons we're all here; the hunt for the five remaining Boss Monsters gives the show some much needed structure while Fighter D works out his plot to overthrow human society; there is actual, visible color outside of varying shades of concrete grey. It's glorious.

My favorite thing about this new direction for the story is that G!G!LR! feels like an actual tokusatsu show, with an interesting cast of heroes that you want to watch solve fun monster-bashing missions together. The thrust of the Green Keeper Squad's first job beyond their routine of daily chores involves a surprisingly well-crafted and atmospheric “trapped in a time-loop plot.” This sort of thing is par for the course in any franchise that features regular bouts with aliens/monsters/ghosts/evil robots, but again, we spent so goddamned long in that parking garage that I genuinely forgot that we were watching a Power Rangers parody.

What's more, G!G!LR! manages that most impressive task of being a spoof that could measure up to the material it is lovingly making fun of. Magatia the Snake is a compelling villain with cool, illusion-based powers that put our Green Keeper Cadets in a situation where they have to think their way out of the trap. Fighter D's lack of experience with the human world plays well with Angel's good-naturedness, while Hisui and Chidori get all of the fun reactions and exposition dumps. I'd be having a good time if this were just any old episode of Kamen Rider or Garou.

Also, I didn't have a better place in the review to mention this, but Hwalipon is a new character that randomly pops up to recap the last season and (presumably) foreshadow some future schemes that will shake things up even more. I have no idea who he is or what he's about, yet, but I do know that he has a live-action puppet that disrupts the anime with its shtick, and I love it so much. Loser Ranger, I am begging you: We need more puppets.

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James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.

Go, Go, Loser Ranger! is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+ on Sundays.