Original subtitles

[♪ theme music]

[narrator] This is the gigantic floating fortress that appeared out of nowhere

10,000 meters above ground.

Its appearance marks the beginning of the neverending war

between humans and monsters.

[all] We are the Divine Dragon Rangers, the Dragon Keepers!

[commentator] The Dragon Keepers versus the Nefarious Monster Army!

It's been 13 years since the battle began,

and the weekly Sunday Showdown continues to draw a huge crowd.

What kind of fierce battle awaits us today?

I can't wait to find out!

The Rangers appear to be on a state of high alert

in the midst of all the excitement and tension!

Monster experts predict

that the monster army has a high chance of deploying their secret weapon

in today's showdown!

Whoa! The Red Keeper is here to greet everyone first!

Thank you very much!

Zoom in! Zoom in!

[fans murmuring]

[commentator] He takes good care of his fans.

As expected of the chief of the Ranger Force.

- The Dragon Keeper's reliable leader! - Please don't push, all right?

[commentator] Will we witness his ultimate technique, the Dragon Slash, today?

As usual, we'll entrust humanity's future to them this week.

And as for the Monster Army, they have yet to be sighted.

Just what could they be up to at the floating fortress far away...

Are you here to spectate the fight?

This place will turn into a battlefield soon.

We'll do our very best to ensure your safety!

But if you insist on spectating despite the risks,

then feel free to proceed.

[sighs]

Oh, come on... Risks? There haven't been any civilian casualties in years, right?

It's part of our protocol to say that.

What?

How admirable.

You're both so young, yet you're already part of the Ranger Force.

You can do it too!

The Ranger Force is always looking out for new blood!

- Please! Join us! - H-Hey, you're too close! Too close!

[groans]

We are recruiting!! The Dragon Keepers

Mm.

Me, joining the Ranger Force?

[recruiter 1] It's not that hard, really.

But whether you'll be like those guys is another story.

[soft grunt]

[gasps]

The rest is up to you, I guess.

[breathing shakily]

[recruiter 2] All right. This way, please.

[♪ grandiose music playing]

[popping]

Strike your victory pose

[whooshing]

[♪ tense music playing]

[growls]

[roaring]

[audience 1] The monsters are here!

[audience 2] They just don't learn, do they? They keep coming back!

[audience 3] We won't lose! Just get lost already!

- Get lost! Get lost! Get lost! - Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!

Ow, that hurt!

Ouch!

[Red Keeper] There you are, monsters!

What?

[♪ epic music playing]

So you've come.

We won't let you have your way.

This planet belongs to us humans!

And we will protect it from the likes of you!

We are...

- ...the Dragon Keepers! - ...the Dragon Keepers!

[spectators cheering]

Red Keeper Pink Keeper

I'm a monster born from all the collective grudges of the tigers

in this world.

You foolish surface-dwellers shall get what you deserve!

For starters, I'll turn all animals tiger-striped

and turn this world into absolute chaos!

How dare you! Anything but that!

[worried murmurs]

The heck are you surface-dwellers looking at?

This isn't a zoo!

Get them, Dusters! Show them hell!

[spectator] Oh goodness, no!

Stop!

[electric buzzing]

I'll be the one to deal with you.

Sakurama, bring the spectators somewhere safe.

I'm on it, Suzukiri!

- Come. Right this way. - Thank you very much!

[growling]

[both grunt]

[grunting]

[Ul-Tora] Come on, now! What's wrong?

Is that all you've got, Dragon Keepers?

[Red Keeper grunts]

This monster is stronger than any other we've fought before!

It's unbelievably powerful.

If it's a battle of strength you're looking for,

I, the Green Keeper, will be your opponent!

[Green Keeper grunts]

H-Hey, wait! Th-That's too big!

Hah! How'd you like that, monster?

Devastating strength!

[♪ intense music playing]

[laughs]

I knew it'd take more than that to kill that monster!

Why aren't they using the Divine Artifact?

I will never die. I'm immortal!

Transformation! Tora Tora Toransform!

[Ul-Tora growls]

- Scrum! - [Rangers] Got it!

[growling]

[all grunting]

[all groaning]

[♪ dramatic music playing]

[roars]

What? This can't be real!

That monster's really strong...

[spectator 1] Maybe we're really done for this time.

[roars]

[spectator 2] It's too powerful...

Don't lose, Dragon Keepers!

[spectator 3] Get up!

[spectator 4] Blast those monsters away!

There's no way... we'll lose.

[Red Keeper] As long as there's someone left to protect,

we'll get up on our feet, no matter how many times!

[grunts]

Yikes! They're using the Divine Artifact already!

Gather around, surviving Dusters!

[roars]

We're going with the classic this time.

Right after they fire the Dragon Blaster, got it?

They'll blast us back into the fortress,

and then we'll reconstruct ourselves, right?

I'm looking forward to your loser's speech this time.

Now what do I do? I didn't think of one!

What about "I'll remember this!"?

Sounds like what a monster would say. Doesn't that sound cool?

Come on. That's too cliche, D.

Wait, Fighter D?

I thought you weren't supposed to be on shift today!

Uh-huh.

What do you mean, "Uh-huh"? What are you doing here?

[Fighter A] Huh?

- Dragon's Breath! - Dragon's Breath!

Oh, no, not good! Fortify our defense!

- I'm tired of this already. - Eh?

I'm sick of putting up with this act.

Wait! Hey, D! Don't go!

Wait! We're almost done!

- Fire! - Fire!

[Fighter D] I'm so done with this pretense.

[spectators cheering]

All done. And now, to the commercials!

[♪ cheeky music playing]

We're done for this time!

I can't think of anything.

Don't give up!

No matter what it takes,

we've got to come up with the monster for this week... Ow!

Monster of the week

[Fighter A] There's no way we can come up with new ideas every single week!

I'm fresh out of ideas!

Like I care anymore. I'm going to take a nap.

[announcer] The Dragon Keepers versus the Nefarious Monster Army!

It's been 13 years since the battle began,

and the weekly Sunday Showdown continues to draw a huge crowd.

[Fighter C] Hey, seems like the arena's getting all fired up.

[Fighter G] Let's see if he says anything that'll help serve as a hint.

[announcer] Monster experts predict that the monster army

has a high chance of deploying their secret weapon...

Nope! There's nothing at all!

A 13-year-long battle? Get real!

Why are we even in this mess?

Still, who would've expected this to happen to us?

[Fighter C] The floating fortress fell in just a year,

and all our bosses were wiped out along with it.

We're just Dusters. What can foot soldiers like us even do?

Hold on. Our bosses were exterminated, so why were we left alive?

Who knows? Maybe they chickened out because there's too many of us.

[commentator] Whoa! The Red Keeper is here to greet everyone first!

Wait, this isn't the time for chit-chat!

Oh fine, I'll come up with something then!

- Fighter G! - Fighter G!

[all gasp]

How about this? A super-strong monster with bulging muscles!

Wow!

It looks strong!

[Fighter A] Rejected.

[Fighter G] Wh-Why?

I've said this before.

Abstract ideas don't leave a lasting impression on the audience!

It's going to lose the moment it steps foot on the stage!

The monster should have some sort of motif.

You're harsh, Fighter A.

If you get hung up on the details, we're not going to make it in time!

For goodness' sake!

We wouldn't be in this mess if our bosses were still alive!

There's no point thinking about what we don't have!

We'll just have to manage on our own!

- Fighter L! - Fighter L!

[Fighter L] How about this? It's a cute cat monster!

I'm sure the surface-dwellers will love it. It'll be really popular!

Why would you want them to love it?

We're supposed to create big bad monsters that strike fear in kids!

[Fighter A] There's a sense of catharsis that comes from defeating scary monsters!

In that case, we can change it into a lion...

[Fighter A] We made a lion seven years ago!

[all sigh]

[Fighter D] A tiger.

- What? - What?

I'm pretty sure we haven't made a tiger yet.

I've heard that on the surface,

they use the dragon and tiger to describe rivals.

Oh, come on. You're in the way!

If the Dragon Keepers has its roots in the dragon,

then shouldn't we be the tiger?

You're as conscientious as ever.

The dragon and tiger, huh...

That's making me kind of embarrassed.

I sure hope they think of us that way, even though we lose every week.

Why are you guys already thinking of losing?

- [in unison] Huh? - We're monsters.

We take down anyone in our way, even the Dragon Keepers! Isn't that right?

We may not win now,

but we can't give up on hoping that we'll eventually win one day.

That's what's important, don't you agree?

[Fighter C] Quiet down, D!

I can't hear the radio!

[Fighter D] Don't listen to the nonsense they say

just to please the surface-dwellers!

Your ears are going to rot!

What we should be doing

is not creating a monster that'll be defeated today,

but coming up with a strategy to win today!

At this rate, we're never going to fulfill our mission!

Mission?

What's our mission?

[Fighter D] World domination.

Our bosses may be gone, but our mission remains the same.

We're supposed to fight and make this planet ours!

Let's do this!

Round and round...

[all cackling]

[Fighter A] World domination, he says!

[Fighter C] It's been a long time since I heard that!

[Fighter G] As expected of Fighter D!

He's ambitious, I'll give him that!

How conscientious!

[growling]

[approaching footsteps]

[Fighter F] Here we go.

You should calm down, D.

What's the point of fighting amongst ourselves?

Come on, F...

Aren't you mad about this?

We've resigned ourselves to being satisfied with what we have now.

For the past 13 years,

we've already fought 1,000 times with the Rangers.

You should know better than that.

Not yet. We've only fought 998 times.

Don't harp on the details.

Listen.

[Fighter F] We lost the day our bosses were exterminated.

We still continue to invade the planet every Sunday,

but we can't let the civilians know that this is all just an act.

This is the condition for the truce we agreed on that very day.

Maybe they don't even think of us as monsters anymore.

It's time you accept it.

[Fighter C] All right.

We had some problems, but I assume everyone's fine with the tiger.

Come forward if you're good at acting as a tiger.

Also, give me a copy of the animal encyclopedia

that the Rangers provided.

Oh, I'll do it.

Fighter Z, right?

World animal encyclopedia

Think you can do it?

Who knows? I'll just have to try.

[grunting]

- Not done yet? - [Fighter Z] Just a little more...

Wait! Hey, come on!

How's this? I don't really know how a tiger works, so...

[Fighter G] Yeah, you look like one.

[Fighter C] I think we need a little oomph.

- O-Oh, really? In that case... - [Fighter L] Tiger... Tora... Truck.

[Fighter D] I'm probably better than him at reconstruction.

[Fighter F] Then you should do it, D.

I'm busy today. Besides, I'm not on shift.

Again? Where have you been off to all alone lately?

D?

I'd never volunteer as boss.

[Fighter D] Not if I'm meant to be defeated.

Huh, so you do know.

[Fighter F] Hey, D.

[Fighter D] What?

[Fighter F] During the last Sunday Showdown,

I saw a small surface-dweller in front of me.

[gasps]

Can you guess what he said to me, his enemy?

He said, "Do your best."

I didn't get why he said that to me.

It made no sense, right?

But you know, it didn't feel half bad for some reason.

I feel like for the sake of the general public

who don't know the truth, I have to do my best.

We make the Rangers stand out, and the audience gets all pumped up.

It doesn't matter even if I know we're going to lose.

- Fire! - Fire!

[Fighter D] I'll do my best to play the perfect monster.

There it is! Their ultimate technique, the Dragon's Breath!

[commentator] Once again, the future of humanity

has been protected by the Dragon Keepers this week!

[Fighter D] That freaking hurt.

Just because we're immortal,

doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want to us.

We can still feel pain, you know.

Monsters aren't meant to just take a beating.

Even though the civilians don't realize that this is just an act,

we're just repeating the same thing every single week.

Are you guys really satisfied with this?

Don't you want more?

How about something different for a change?

The possibility of the monsters winning, that is.

It seems like we missed one.

Come on. This isn't what we agreed on.

[laughs] Look at that fool!

Hey, isn't this bad?

[Pink Keeper] Hey! You can still make it in time, so get back to the fortress now!

It's time to...

end the rigged games.

I'll take you guys down...

with a real fight!

[Yellow Keeper] He's running over.

[Blue Keeper] What a pain.

Perhaps I should deal with him.

It's all up to you, Red!

What a courageous fighter!

You seem like a formidable opponent!

[spectator] All right! Finally someone with guts!

[child] You can do it!

[Fighter D] What?

Monster!

Monster! Do your best!

W-Whoa!

[Fighter D] I get it already, so just shut up.

You guys just want to see a trash mob

struggle and get beaten up pathetically, right?

Screw this. Don't look down on me!

I'll make those stupid, ignorant faces of yours twitch with fear!

Take a good look. The one you see before your eyes...

is a big, bad, and proud monster!

[Red Keeper] All right, good job today.

Don't get too ahead of yourself.

This isn't the stage for your kind to shine.

Just shut up and lose like you're supposed to.

Read the situation and know your place.

We are justice!

[Fighter D grunts]

[crowd cheering]

- Fire! - Fire!

[Fighter D] I've had enough.

I don't even look like a bad guy now.

[Fighter A] Fighter M got blasted off by the wind.

[Fighter C] Good work.

This makes 999 battles and 999 losses, huh?

[Fighter N] Why think about that now?

[Fighter F] Why isn't D back yet?

[Fighter N] Not surprising.

Many like him ran off because they couldn't stand this anymore.

Doing what they tell us to do is the only way for us to survive.

[Fighter D] Now I know.

No, I've always known.

We aren't even fit to be the villains.

At this rate, we'll just continue to be their slaves.

I'm sick of staying silent and doing their bidding!

[Suzukiri] Oh?

You surprised me. You're the one we met in the morning!

What are you doing here?

I wanted a better view of the battlefield from a higher place, so...

[Suzukiri] Mm. Isn't it great?

I like this spot too.

So, how was it?

What do you think about the Sunday Showdown?

Well, I guess it was amazing to see the Dragon Keepers up close.

They're strong.

In fact, they're really strong.

[Fighter D] I want to be like them too.

Oh?

Can I take it that you're interested in joining the Rangers?

That sounds like a good idea.

In fact, maybe I should take the recruitment exam!

Looks like you're all fired up now.

Yeah.

I'll take them down.

I'll defeat all our enemies.

[commentator] Despite the Dragon Keepers' desperate struggle

against the monster boss' devastating strength,

the cheers from the public sparked a surge of power within them!

The victory of humanity is within reach! Fight on, Dragon Keepers!

Protect our planet!

[♪ closing theme music]

Translated by Qianni Lu

"Go! Fighter D!"

- Sounds good. Let's go with that. -"Go"? Where are you going?

I'm not going anywhere! I'm short on time, so shoo!

What were you saying?

Shut it! I'm just doing it!

Just what is it?

Next episode, "Go! Fighter D!"

[Fighter D] All right, that sounded really awesome.

You were talking about the episode title?