__Overview:
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When monsters thought they rules the world.. but the Rangers put a stop to that. English title does a play off of Power Rangers American theme song. I don’t like it, the title translation is not reflective of the work being produced. Reject Ranger is the real direct translated name. Ranger Reject also works, Japanese wording and translating allows either to be correct. Anything but gogo loser ranger :throwup:

Anyways, fighter D has had enough of the constant torture show that all the fighters are put through on a weekly basis. A deal that the Dragon keepers made after they killed all the fighters bosses. Dragon keepers said you mah bitch and you gon like it as a simple tldr.

Fighters are a created thing [?] that the boss monsters made to aid in their fight against the humans. Fighters are immortalish. Ish in the sense that they cant die from normal attacks or fights but they will die if a dragon keepers divine weapon strikes them down. The weapons the keepers use are special and imbued with, as they state, the power of a dragon god. Hence the naming scheme of Dragon Keepers.

The fighters after their boss monsters/leaders were killed were put into a form of slavery. They don’t try to break out of it since they realize the futility of going up against the ones who killed their masters and creators after all. Not to say all the fighters did this but the ones that are left certainly are following their new strict guidelines.

Every weekend down in the main city the Keepers are from, they have an arena that the fighters show up and have a fight. A losing fight that the keepers will always win. The fighters are in charge of making it entertaining while the Keepers are in charge of doming them. Simple rules set to allow them to live. They lost the war after all. However fighter D has finally had enough of all this fake fighting, arena every week, die and come back and do it again. Time wise spent is 13 years, one can only imagine how that would weigh on them. They do feel pain but the fighters are each a bit different.

Some fighters will specialize in different aspects, like D is able to shapeshift very well. Some are more resistant and resilient ect. Its all varied with a lot of overlap from one fighter to another. D, has had enough of all of what is going on though and wants to take charge again. Not that he was in charge but loosely correlates. It’s a fantasy the boi is trying to live out.

He disobeys and escapes to the mainland and wants to take down all the Keepers, believing they are the reason and only thing keeping them in their current position. He is very simplistic and not thinking ahead at all of what might happen after they are taken down. He is going into this without thinking he will actually win. As the show progresses and event unfold, it is telling that there might be a chance of it happening given the circumstances that happen to follow suit around him. He is very lucky in a lot of regards.

Once he is in the city he shapeshifts to blend in but is quickly found out and well this is where he happens to meet one of the fixer uppers. She is lil bit twisted but aren’t we all… anyways, she knows D is a fighter and yet does not kill him and send him back. Instead she is the type that will use him to advance her own goals. As for what her goals are, they are unknown, only really knowing that she is in line of wanting to take down the Keepers. An enemy of my enemy is my friend type of agreement they have. D is as confused as anybody else as to why she is helping him out but sort of accepts it and chooses to turn a fairly large blind eye to the entire situation.

Shortly after the fixer upper is found and worked with, another fonds out about D and his shapeshifting and wants to talk, D aint having it though and quickly says peace while crumbling away to dust as his exit. Even now he likes to put on a show, it has been engrained into him lol. The day is not over for D though as he finally gets his chance to fight one of the Keepers, or multiple. With an ending that was already certain, but a beginning that was unexpected. After the fight he awakes in the woods near the one he did his poof disappearance with. Turns out he saved him.

While escaping and being saved, they are not out of the woods yet and one of the lower tiers under Blue Keeper tracks and fights them. Fighting in a battle that is different than the other just before. In that the fight is instead a lot more strategic with D and the one helping him out. The fight ending in a swaparoo where D is able to make his way back into the city. This time under a disguise of a actual person.

Sakurama, who is this certain person, is part of the Ranger academy ~not the official name~~ that happens to be a gateway into a position D could use to further his world domination/kill all the keepers goal.

Once inside the city, the final arc of the season occurs. For better or worse this arc also takes up most of the season. It is fairly slow. The arc consists of several wanting to become rangers to take part in trials to see who and what ones are able to advance. They are pitted against each other with their trust on the line. During the trials, friendships are made, trust is lost but through it all a boss monster appears. Stirs up quite a bit of trouble and before you know it D fights a keeper. Blue keeper to be precise, with an expectedly unexpected turn of events at the end. Yes, glossing over basically the entire arc as its mainly character development and world lore building so not a lot of actual story progression, its character progression.

__Visuals/Music:
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Visuals are great, the particle effects are on point. The CGI used is pretty heavy at times but the way that the show is animated and crafted, its melded well enough to make it work. As per usual, CGI shines when it comes to particle effects. It is used correctly and adds to the show rather than a lot of other CGI implementations for the sake of budget cuts and shoving the show out faster. Not everything is CGI and along with it, the regular animation is quite well done as well. Very clean and clear with vibrant colors. Facial animations match well to what is being conveyed. Backgrounds follow along with the rest. There are only positives when it comes to the animation quality .

Music is good but not perfect. There are great OSTs that really add to the mood and scene but the variety is lacking. Seems this is where more time could have been spent to allow for more variety. More would have helped keep the immersion for all the scenes. There are several times that it breaks a fair amount since the music does not match entirely correct.

Opening Preview of Me by Tatsuya Kitani and especially the ending Seikai Wa Iranai by Nanaoakari… heh, don’t even need to say anything, both songs productions are :pacha_perfect:. Especially with the animation sequence they have on top with all the rangers and fighters. Both artists voices and the lyrics that go with the songs fit the series quite well. Both are up there for how well they match with the series.

__Final Thoughts:
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Recommend to most, it is a fun show that would be entertaining to pass the time with and enjoy a good story. The main odd pacing is near the end of the show. The rest is quite well done. Especially the 11th episodes pacing was all over the place due to time constraints. The 12 and final episode does not quite make up for it and still feels a but half assed like the second half of that arc. Honestly not sure if more episodes would have solved it, the story itself in the second arc is just odd. Where a lot of changes would likely need to be in place to make it truly feel right, there is a lot going on and needing to be shown while also a forced need to push the story forward. Apparently, this is the lowest tier arc of the series to date with the ones coming after doing a 180. What would have likely done better is a separate arc in between to help build the world to take out a lot of that forced need that was shoved into this arc. Problem with doing that is it would also not work the best when fighter D is the one who needs to know these details. Rock and a hard place I guess. Not as bad as it is made out to be though. More of something to be aware of, it is a recommendation for most after all lol.

Ranger Reject is quite a stark difference compared to other shows and their post war worlds depictions. There are a lot of parody plays against power rangers but the actual show and story itself is not able to be further away from it. The story is edgy and such but that doesn’t matter. Even by the end of the first season, Fighter D character growth in mindset is heavy. From his childish view of the world at first to learning more and realizing a more sound end goal for his dream.

Hmm, I can fix her :eyes:

Characters (main) – 4/5
Characters (sub) – 4/5
Enjoyment – 4/5
Visuals – 5/5
Music – 4/5
Story – 3/5
`<code>Overall Ratings - Rec: 3/5 Raw: 80%</code>`