In 2019, The Boys introduced viewers to a brutal yet darkly humorous world where superheroes often have more blood on them than their supposed villains. Follow Go! Go! Loser Ranger director Keiichi Sato, this world laid the foundation for his latest anime project.
Go! Go! Loser Ranger – known in Japan as Sentai Dai Shikkaku – is set in a world where a giant superhero organization rises to confront an evil army that threatens to destroy humanity. Although the series is actually based on a superhero manga by Negi Haruba, the basic premise has many similarities to Eric Kripke's popular superhero movie. The second work also revolves around a coalition of heroes who win the hearts of the public despite their sinister actions and intentions. In a recent interview with Febri, Sato discussed how The Boys helped inspire him while working on Go! Go! The ranger lost.
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Go! Go! The anime director of Loser Ranger intentionally created a tone similar to the boys
Go! Go! The story of Loser Ranger revolves around an organization called Ryujin Sentai Dragon Keeper, which emerges to fight an army of invading monsters. While humanity believes that this army is still plotting destruction, it turns out that the Dragon Keeper destroyed the monsters long ago and is now using them to stage fake battles. One day, a monster named Warrior D decided to infiltrate the Dragon Keeper and take it down from the inside. According to Sato, the manga's premise has many elements typical of “foreign television dramas”, which made him want to use them as a model for the anime. “[The story]in which the main character of the bad side confronts a hero of justice with a hidden dark side, there are similarities with The Boys, and the story develops in unexpected directions…I wanted the overall tone to resemble a foreign dramas.” The Dragon Keeper's selfish nature is highly reminiscent of The Seven, an image-obsessed heroic organization led by the tyrannical Homelander (Antony Starr).
According to Sato, the “main highlight” of the anime's plot involves mystery and suspense. However, he also emphasized that there is definitely a “grand comedy aspect” clearly shown through the main character's bizarre personality and actions. Sato explains: “D, who infiltrated the Dragon Corps, tries his best to defeat the Dragon Guardian, but he ends up doing some crazy things in a very serious way and the story is filled with humorous situational elements. “Even though the story itself is intense and serious, D's strange behavior alleviated the tense atmosphere.” Based on this description, D seems to draw a certain level of inspiration from Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), a vigilante who often goes to extreme lengths to achieve his goals. However, D has similar powers to The Boys' other main character, Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), as both often rely on their brains instead of their brawn. Sato explains: “…in addition to his immortal body and mimicry ability, D only has the power to make a normal person's head grow.” “Even though D is far less powerful than the sublime Dragon Keepers, he uses cunning as his greatest weapon.”
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Boys and go! Go! Loser Ranger Both depict superheroes as commercial products
Another important similarity that both works have in common is how they depict the mass commercialization of superheroes in their respective worlds. “In general, warriors are used not only in the main story but also in TV shows and commercials, where they are used by executives and monsters…” Sato explained. Similarly, the superheroes of The Boys are managed by Vought International, a powerful mega-corporation that uses mass marketing and advertising campaigns to bolster The Seven's popularity. According to Sato, Dragon Keeper utilizes this concept in its own unique ways. “Part A.” [of Episode 1] took 'Sunday Battle', a super popular TV show, and made it a reality…” Sato said. “'Sunday Battle' is a huge piece of content in the world of work. Dragon Keeper tie-in products, merchandise, t-shirts and other related products have been newly designed and illustrated, emphasizing how recognized they are by people around the world.”
Part 1 of Go! Go! Loser Ranger premieres on April 7, 2024. Those who want to watch the series can stream it on Hulu. The Boys is available to watch on Prime Video.
Go! Go! The ranger lost!
A foot soldier begins infiltrating and taking down a group of warriors known as the Dragon Keepers. He encounters obstacles and challenges as he tries to complete his mission against the group.
Release date April 7, 2024
Cast Yuusuke Kobayashi, Daishi Kajita, Yumika Yano, Yuichi Nakamura, Kensho Ono, Kôsuke Toriumi, Mao Ichimichi, Go Inoue
Seasons first
Source: Febri interview with Keiichi Sato (part 1 and 2)