Review of The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World

Hey, you love Power Rangers/Super Sentai? You love Isekai? Well, I got just a thing for you because this one is a combination of both. Before we start this review, I will get this out of the way that I'm not too big on the Isekai genre since there are just loads of them. I know they are popular among some corners of the anime community, but I try hard not to watch too many of them since most of them would be generic. Well, last year, I've seen the Suicide Squad Isekai anime and thought that was fine.With the last Isekai that I've seen involving this middle-aged online shopper and did not enjoy that one. With this one, as I am a Power Ranger/Super Sentai fan, I thought this one was solid. Now, don't get me wrong, this is both crony from the Power Rangers/Super Sentai side of things and cheesy as Isekai standards goes, but I think where they were going worked a fair bit. Sure, it has a couple of issues that I will point out as I am writing this review.
So we begin our anime with the Kizuna Five fighting the evil supervillain called the Breakup King and his force known as the Relationship Enders, whose goal is to suck the bonding energy of humanity. Kizuna Red, or his name being Togo Asagaki, is forced to fight the Breakup King alone yet wakes up in a fantasy world after an explosion during his fight. Cut six months later, Togo arrives at the mansion where Yihdra Arvoln lives and passes this test against her golem. Afterwards, Togo is hired by Yihdra to help gather some mana metal in some ruins which led to some of the material getting charred by his explosive attacks. She shares her story that her father was a former Royal Scepter, or a court mage with a dream of using magic to make people happy, yet he was defeated and him and his family were exiled from the capital they resided in. It motivated Togo so much that he motivated Yihdra enough to believe in herself as well as their newfound friendship as they were fighting a dragon that was guarding a large supply of mana metal with the help of the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser that's fueled by the power of bonds that Togo and Yihdra had to pour in since they are the only two people in it. Later after the fight, Yihdra decides to form an adventuring party with Togo so she could study his powers, help him find a way for him to go back home and find a way to get back the Royal Scepter from the one who'd defeated her father.
During their adventures, they encounter some humans who are infected with these mana seeds that were explained by the princess, Teltina Liz Wagrel Alvarost, and her bodyguard, Lowji Mist. To their surprise, the humans who were given these mana seeds from the Demon Queen's children, whose goal is to harvest mana from the humans and unseal their mother. After all of that was resolved, they were summoned by Teltina's father, Emperor Gunti, to discuss the mana seeds that are rapidly spreading. Her brother, Prince Dariel, who despises his sister with a passion, suggests that instead of Teltina destroying the seeds with the use of her own demonic seed that can summon a wolf called Vrykolakas, they would gather the seeds and have Shau'ha work on a way to weaponize them to fight against the Demon Queen if she is ever awaken. The emperor agrees with his son's proposal and sends the adventuring party to meet up with the elves living in the Sun Forest, with Teltina and Lowji tagging along.
As they arrived, Yihdra gets kidnapped and Togo goes to save her while Teltina and Lowji had to fight off some elves along with an elf named Raniya, who uses a device that's similar to Togo to turn into an Egyptian-themed Kamen Rider called Amen. Thankfully, Togo and Yihdra return and asks them to stop, which they do, and make the elves see Togo in his Kizuna Red suit as a return of a red-themed hero who would save them like the original otherworldly hero who teamed up with Raniya's ancestor had done. As they arrive and discover the mural that resides in their village, Raniya explains that they are at war and the adventuring party agrees to help her and her village out. I mean, at the least they would have time to kill since the village elder is in hibernation and cannot wake for years.
I know I might've already explained so much, yet this is pretty much a three-arc style series with each new character being introduced and they're caught up with the same goal of either preventing the Demon Queen to awaken or preparing for when she awakens and they would have to fight the queen and her demon army. Not to mention, we do get some background with each of the characters. This might be my mixed thought, but it involves the backstory of Togo, his family and his time back on Earth when he's part of the Kizuna Five, fighting off the Relationship Enders. It's cool that we see it all happen, but if I have to be honest, they can be a bit distracting. It's cool the first few times and I do like some of those moments. Especially when the other Kizuna Rangers are treated like they're on the sidelines of things. I couldn't help but think that I'm watching something separate from the anime itself. Of course, it does have that way of focusing more on Togo and we see everyone else's backstory in several episodes. Despite such, I think the pacing for how they do with the story is decent. I would also have to admit that the final episode was a tad rushed. But I digress.
What makes the story worth it was the chemistry. Both Togo and Yihdra have great chemistry. Especially when it comes to how much they spend time at the capital and Shau'hi, who I accidentally forgotten that she was the one who'd beaten Yihdra's father, was mocking Yihdra and her dreams, making Togo stand up to her. Sure, there is that rushed sequence where she runs off and Togo had to catch up to her to share his standpoint with both Yihdra and Shau'ha when it comes to magic as a whole. Raniya and Teltina are good characters for where their goals are headed. The Demon Queen's children are fun villains. Azir, who was a friend of Raniya was nice, especially for what his goal was as well for what he has in storage along with what he'd obtained. The main character that I honestly am not a fan of is Lowji. I know he's written to be an ungrateful douchebag, but I think they were on the nose on making him hard to like or despise. Even when Lowji either helps out or when Togo helps him, he just can't admit his appreciation at all. I mean, would you imagine Shadow the Hedgehog questioning Lowji's character. Speaking of his character, I find his approach towards Teltina a little creepy. I get she'd helped him out of the gutter, but he acts like that character that says, "Notice me, senpai." His English voice actor makes him even more obnoxious, if you ask me. Actually, his Japanese actor makes him unlikable, too. Speaking of the rest of the cast, I've seen this anime twice in both Japanese and English. The Japanese version was fine and English was okay. Ethan Condon as Togo's English actor fits. I'm mixed with Natalie Van Sistine who voiced Yihdra while Konomi Inagaki in Japanese was better. Teltina voiced by Bryn Apprill in English and Minami Tanaka are great fits. Marwa Elda in English and Haruka Shiraishi do well as Raniya as well as Amen VII when she transforms. With the Demon Queen's children, I love them both. With the rest of the Kizuna Five, they're fine.
Then we have the animation, which I have to say looks great, in my honest opinion. I would also like to add that the CG animation that was used in the Maximum Kizuna Kaiser looks and moves great. I know not everyone likes CG animation. I will say that plenty of us are just not a fan of bad CG animation. What was used here is certainly on top of the best CG animation. The designs of the Kizuna Five, as much as they're as themed as any other Power Ranger/Super Sentai would be themed around, look nice and simple. Amen's design whenever Raniya and -REDACTED- transforms look cool as they are based on Kamen Rider. Even have their own Rider Kicks and Forms like you'd see from Kamen Rider as a whole. The action sequences are drawn well whether it's by Power Ranger/Kamen Rider standards or magical standards with both the magic Yihdra casts and the holy sword that Lowji wield.
Overall, I know some things feel in the way and a couple of things that I wasn't too fond of, but this was a solid series. Yes, it's corny and cheesy at the same time. However, some Isekai I would find be fair to be interested in like I've done for the Suicide Squad Isekai anime last year. As that ending goes, I'm interested in where it goes from there. I'd be down to see a second season whenever it comes around. For the moment, I'm gonna give this Power Ranger Isekai anime eight explosions happening behind Kizuna Red as he transforms and strikes a pose, while Yihdra gets yeeted out of ten. 8/10.