From the name alone,The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another Worldsounds like it would beCrunchyroll’s most original isekai of the season just for including a spin on Power Rangers with its Kizuna Five. While that’s definitely part of it, the real point of interest comes from how it addresses one of the genre’s main issues. Very few isekai highlight the protagonist’s former life, and since the vast majority of these heroes start as normal people,they never have any powers to bring with them.
Of course, reverse isekai usually explores the latter scenario to some degree if the hero originally comes from a magical world, but in many of these cases, their powers don’t transfer over when they get transported to Earth, all for the sake of conflict. However,The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another Worldis revolutionizing both tropes.The eponymous hero Togo Asagaki aka Kizuna Redobviously hadpowers in his former lifeas part of Kizuna Five, and he not only still possesses them, but they make him more powerful than magic wielders in this new world.
The Red Ranger’s Powers Make This New Isekai Unique
Based on the original manga by Koyoshi Nakayosh from Square Enix; Anime produced by Satelight
It’s rather ingenious that the series chose to transfer over such a ubiquitous power system froma genre like tokusatsuthat’s naturally over the top. Togo’s powers - especially his “Megazord,” which he can somehow still summon in this new world - serve as a physical manifestation of the series' very solution to isekai’s biggest problems. The gaudier they are, the more of an emphasis they put on the issue.
Incredibly,The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another Worlddoesn’t just rely on the flashiness of tokusatsu to get this implied message across. Since Togo’s transformations and powers are so ridiculous, they obviously elicit questions from his partner Yihdra who’s from this magical world,allowing Togo to explain his past life in detail. In a more subtle scene, the two discuss their dreams, and since Togo is so open about his previous life and goals as a superhero, he is more than forthcoming about how he plans to transfer his past heroics into this new world.
It’s almost too perfect that Togo’s entire identity as Kizuna Red as part of the Kizuna Five was based upon forming the bonds of friendship (and preventing their nemesis Break-up King from shattering them). The stronger their friendship is, the more powerful their powers become.This naturally encourages Togo to share more about himselfwith Yihdra, which is essentially the unspoken antithesis of isekai, and it will undoubtedly lead to him telling her the darker parts of his past as well.
The Red Ranger Is Now Officially Part of a Trend This Season
Emphasizing a Protagonist’s Original Life Seems the New Isekai Trend
Although it’s rare to have a hero’s former life explored so thoroughly in an isekai, Crunchyroll has essentially created an unofficial pattern this season with the release ofThe Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World. Earlier, the same anime streaming platform debuted another isekai calledHeadhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four!It basically achieves the same goals asThe Red Rangerexcept in a much more subtle and nuanced way.
Similar to Togo, the skill sets ofSalaryman to Big Four!’s Uchimura Dennosuke from his former life are the highlight in this new world, except they aren’t powers. They are his negotiating skills as a businessman, and they basically turn him into a superhero-type figure as supernatural abilities normally would.Salaryman to Big Four!andThe Red Rangerare therefore an interesting duo that brings a fresh perspective to an oversaturated genre this season.
The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another Worlddoes not just try to fix isekai’s usual shortcomings, it also incorporates one of pop culture’s most ridiculously flashy genres, creating a fun and unique product that will surely be one of the highlights of Crunchyroll’s Winter season.
The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World
Cast
The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World follows a ranger squad leader transported to a mystical realm. Embracing his newfound surroundings, he leverages his abilities to protect the vulnerable, embarking on a series of quests that test his courage and leadership in an unfamiliar world.
