go go loser ranger vol 1 by Negi Haruba

Some time in the future, a ship of aliens parks above Japan and wages war against the human race. But, humans have the Rangers, a powerful fighting force who wields weapons of considerable power. The Rangers don’t obliterate the monsters. Instead, they work out a business deal where the evil guys will come up with a new monster for the Rangers to fight every Sunday, and the Rangers will put on a good show for a crowd that grows with every passing week. This arrangement irritates Soldier D, who thinks they could be stronger and work harder than the Rangers and could take over the world. He decides to act on his own and impersonate the Rangers and their soldiers in order to wreck havoc on the whole organization and bring it down from the inside.

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The premise for this story is really different from most battle manga. I appreciate that we focus on the bad guy and the whole thing is making fun of the "monster-of-the-week" formula. There is some humor in the beginning when the monsters are chatting with themselves, but it is quickly abandoned once Soldier D leaves the ship. The ending leaves the story in a really strange place, so I really hope the mangaka finds the voice for this series - whether it's in humor or not - and it can find an established foothold in the large swath of battle manga.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: November 8, 2022
ISBN: 9781646515097 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Action Adventure, Humor, ​Kodansha