Since the announcement of the Summer 2024 anime slate, fans of popular series Sentai Daishikkaku (Ranger Reject) and Elf-San wa Yaserarenai (Miss Elf Can’t Lose Weight) have taken to social media website X to voice their frustration on the quirky reddit humor style localization of their favorite series.
While initially going under the radar when their manga series were localized, the conversation has reignited on social media. Sentai Daishikkaku was localized as Go! Go! Loser Rangers! as an obvious reference to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Elf-San wa Yaserarenai localized to Plus-Sized Elf.
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Elf-san wa Yasararenai is about an Elf named Elfuda that travels from her home world into modern Japan, and struggles with an unhealthy diet due to the abundance of delicious fast food. Elfuda seeks to return to her original world, but is unable to do so because of her weight.
“Elf can’t be on a diet” is indicated as the English translation of the title on the official logo for the series, including in the launch trailer.
Calling the series Plus-Sized Elf seems to imply the sort of ‘fat-positivity’ buzzword nonsense that has pervaded western society. In contrast to its official localized title, Elfuda wants to lose weight so she can return home.
“I am so glad it’s English title is ‘Elf can’t be on a diet'” wrote X user Respect Elves, an anime fan account with a particular love and focus on the fair, pointy-eared fantasy race. “‘Plus sized elf’ does not suit the series at all, not only because plus sized is what fat chicks call themself as a cope, but also she is trying to lose weight.”
In response to a now-deleted post calling him out, Respect Elves continued. “It’s a manga about a fat retarded elf trying but failing to maintain a healthy diet. It is not about a fat ugly woman with Disney Princess tattoos and a pitbull. Plus sized is only the localizers’ title.”
Seven Seas Entertainment is the publisher of Elf-san wa Yasararenai / Plus-Sized Elf in North America, and has been criticized in the past for excessive localizations and censorship of its licensed series. In 2022, there were several controversies over Seven Seas’ decision to censor words such as ‘slave’ and symbols like the manji from Tokyo Revengers because of its resemblance to the swastika.
They also altered the plot of the series I Think I Changed My Childhood Friend Into a Girl by changing one of the main characters from a feminine crossdressing male (an ‘otokonoko’) into a transsexual.
In a rare moment of woke vs. woke, the L, G, and B fans of the series fought against the Ts, and regular anime fans aided them in the fight in favor of accurate series translations.
The outrage on social media was so severe that the Japanese publishers took note, and Seven Seas was forced to issue a statement that it would be changing its modifications to the series back to the original author’s intentions.
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Sentai Daishikkaku (Ranger Reject), an anime love letter to the super sentai genre, saw its name localized to capitalize on Western awareness of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise.
The anime series, published by Kodansha, saw its name changed to Go! Go! Loser Rangers! in the west, prompting fans of the series to take to X, including the author of this article: “They have to go overboard with the localization.” Go! Go! Loser Rangers! is a reference to the original opening theme of the first few seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, where the opening chorus includes the line “Go! Go! Power Rangers!”
Another X user called out the Go! Go! Loser Rangers! Anime localization back in October of last year. “Ranger Reject is simple, gets the point across that it is not a Power Rangers parody, but a parody of its original Japanese concept.”
While Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and its subsequent series use footage from the original Japanese Super Sentai series, the storylines and feel of each series are completely different. To change the title to Go! Go! Loser Rangers! to more closely reflect the Power Rangers franchise rather than the original Super Sentai genre does a disservice to the original work.
Sentai Daishikkaku (Ranger Reject, Go! Go! Loser Rangers) is an anime about one of the henchmen of the typical monster army that is the primary focus of each Super Sentai series. In contrast to the Rangers being the good guys, they are engaged in a coverup with the remnants of the monster army to lie to the public and pretend that the invasion is real.
Having defeated their leaders, the rangers known as the “Dragon Keepers” force the remaining henchmen to agree to continue their battles as a fake show for the public. The Keepers use this charade to vastly increase their popularity and consolidate their power.
One of the henchmen, known as “D,” gets tired of always being beaten by the Keepers. He seeks to infiltrate the ranks of the Dragon Keepers by using his shapeshifting powers to take them down from within.
Both Sentai Daishikkaku (Ranger Reject, Go! Go! Loser Ranger!) and Elf-san wa Yaserarenai (Miss Elf Can’t Lose Weight / Plus-Sized Elf) are highly anticipated anime series for the Summer 2024 season. Sentai Daishikkaku is currently airing, and Elf-san wa Yaserarenai will begin airing in July 2024. This is likely only the beginning of the argument over the proper name of each respective series.
What do you think? Are people making too big of a deal over the localization names Go! Go! Loser Rangers! and Plus-Sized Elf? Do you support localizers or stricter translations? Leave a comment below and tell us what you think about localization.
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These Lolcowlizers are out the door once AI swoops into replace them.
I never understand the title “Go! Go Loser Ranger!”. It just sounds like a Mel Brooks parody, rather then a Anime.
My $0.02: There’s not a huge difference between Loser and Reject. The literal translation for Sentai Daishikakku is something more like Team Great Disqualification/ Failure. If I were translating it I probably would lean more towards Reject Ranger or Team Epic Fail. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing to allow some artistic license to titling and don’t think loser ranger is THAT far off from the original, and the power rangers reference is more appropriate for an American audience even if, agreed, they were way different and less fun than their Japanese originals.
As far as “plus-sized” I think we’re already past the point where plus-sized is viewed as a body positive euphemism as much as a euphemistic insult. It’s had the same linguistic history as “gay” and “person of color” — so I don’t think “Plus-Sized Elf” is meant as a title playing obesity up as healthy. The manga itself is pretty obviously not an attack on beauty standards.
The one Anitubers who said that piracy would save the industry are absolutely correct