Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Sentai shows or tokusatus are a staple of Japan’s media. Next to anime, sentai shows have contributed the most to spreading Japanese media across the world. There’s been a lot of sentai shows out there, but the most well-known is Super Sentai or Power Rangers as they’re known in the West. For almost 50 years now, Super Sentai has delivered amazing stories, characters, and crossovers that have delighted fans. It was like watching a live-action anime show. With its success, you have to wonder why there isn’t an anime based on the series. Anime has done parodies and homages to the series, but there’s never really been a full-on anime centered around them. Well that all changed with Love After World Domination. Based off the manga under the same name, Love After World Domination took the Super Sentai trope of the hero and villain falling for each other and turning it into a fun romcom. The series was written by Hiroshi Noda and lasted from 2019-2022. Despite its short run of only 37 chapters, readers enjoyed the romcom for what it is and how it paid respect to tokusatus while still being entertaining. In the final months of its run Project No. 9 (Momo Kyun Sword) turned the series into an anime to celebrate it. I’ve been wanting to take a look at this anime for some time and with Valentine’s Day around the corner now seems like a good time to enjoy some romcom. It’s romance time. This is Love After World Domination.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening is “Koi wa Explosion: by Masayoshi Ōishi and Yukari Tamura. This is an opening that way better than it has any right to me. The mix of jazz and rap is great and I like the nod to Cowboy Bebop at the start of the song. It gets you hyped for the anime and actual works as a workout song.
The ending is “Koi wa Sekai Teiri to Tomo ni” by DIALOGUE+. Shockingly, this was an ending I always skipped over, but after listening to it for the review it’s actually a good song. It’s cute, upbeat, and captures the feelings of going on a date with the boy a girl likes and being happy. Again, this is a series that really has no business having all these great songs, but the production team wanted to make this a memorable series and they succeeded.
Episodes 1-4
The anime opens up with a battle between a group of villains known as Gekko who want you take over the world (https://youtu.be/1W7c8QghPxk) and this group of sentai rangers (with attitude) known as Freezing Sentai Gelato 5 (scene here: https://youtu.be/OaZ4yXWpl9U?si=f-hxnDLwURAo23Pi, is it wrong to say I can see this team fitting into the Sentai universe? It wouldn’t be the strangest thing to come from that franchise). We have Haru the young and cute pink ranger, Hayato the playboy blue ranger, Misaki the sexy big sister yellow ranger, Daigo the serious green ranger, and Fudo the muscle-bound full of justice red ranger who leads the group into battle voiced by Yūsuke Kobayashi (Arslan from Arslan Senki). As the rangers fight we see Fudo is off in a flower field being all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend Desumi voiced by Ikumi Hasegawa who is a member of Gekko as well as one of their vice commanders named Reaper Princess (and wearing an outfit that gives boys thoughts they shouldn’t have until they’re 13). So why is the leader of a superhero team dating a villain? Well it all started a week ago when the rangers faced off against Gekko with Reaper Princess making her debut and fighting Fudo. It was love at first sight as Fudo has never faced anyone like her who was able to hold her own against him. Later on, Fudo confesses to his boss, Professor Big Gelato, that he’s in love but doesn’t say it’s Desumi. The professor encourages Fudo to follow his heart and express his feelings, so he calls out Desumi at an abandoned warehouse (typical sentai trope) and confesses to her. At first she thinks it’s a trap, but once she sees how serious he is she gets won over and the two become an official couple keeping it a secret from everyone as it’ll cause a huge scandal and ruin both of their lives (scene here: https://youtu.be/lNivWC1guTI?si=SedMotEumi0o0SSW, it wouldn’t be the first time a hero and villain hooked up with each other).
In episode 2 the rangers and Gekko are fighting in a shipyard (why are they fighting at a shipyard? If you have to ask that question then you haven’t watched enough Power Rangers) where we see Fudo and Desumi coordinate their attacks with each other to fool everyone and then sneak off to spend some alone time together. It’s here we see how the two are new to the whole dating scene (in fact last episode it was the first time they held hands) and in this episode, they finally take a picture together for the first time (wow, these two are so pure I feel like they could burn the Jack Bros. with their purity. (Baron): What this about purity? DAHHH~ my eyes! It burns~! (Corbin): AHHHH~ I’m melting! What a couple! What a pure couple!). Once Misaki comes upon them, Desumi feigns defeat and lies on the ground as the news reporter interviews Fudo about his love life and Misaki encourages girls to ask him out. Once Misaki and the news team are gone, Desumi says she wants to go on a proper date with Fudo, so they make plans to go on one later on (scene here: https://youtu.be/iOJ93tuXrbQ?si=snbplQMIdUV1NqLr). In the second half, as Fudo does research on date activities, a drunk Misaki comes by and gives him some bad advice, telling him there are no rules to dating and to just do things they can both enjoy (the first part is bad but the second part has some truth to it). Fudo takes Misaki’s advice and the next day he goes on his date with Desumi where they go workout at a gym (again, not a bad idea but that’s something you do after the fifth date and this is all assuming she likes to work out. Of course with a figure like that I say yes). After the gym, Desumi excuses herself and Fudo receives a call from Misaki telling him to disregard her advice (you’re a few hours late nee-san). Fudo becomes distraught believing he disappointed Desumi and goes to look for her where he can’t find her. As he sits on a bench feeling bad, Desumi returns saying she was standing in line at a cake shop trying to buy snacks for them. Fudo apologizes for messing up their first date, but Desumi assures him that she was happy because she got to spend time with Fudo (which is what dates are all about. Spending time with the person you like). Just before they can kiss they get called into action (ignore it) and meet once again in battle (scene here: https://youtu.be/B6ZSNingXi0?si=ON4nWepmZ2OnkAUv). After the credits, we get to hear the thoughts of Hellkos, Desumi’s cat, who reflects on how lonely Desumi was prior to her relationship with Fudo. Before she met Fudo, Desumi spent most of her time alone as the members of Gekko were afraid of her and spread false rumors that she drank the blood of animals (geez people, get to know her before you spread false rumors). However, after dating Fudo her mood brightened up and even started laughing at the fake rumors about her.
In the first half of episode 3 we see Fudo going through Desumi withdrawals. Gekko has been inactive for a few weeks and because of this he hasn’t been able to see Desumi and since he doesn’t have a cellphone (what kind of high school kid doesn’t have a cellphone!?) he can’t call or text her. Thankfully, luck comes his way when the rangers find out that Gekko is working on some doomsday device in their base and the professor wants one of them to infiltrate the base. Fudo hastily volunteers for this suicide mission and heads out. At the base we see Desumi is also having Fudo withdrawals and missing him. After coming across him in the air vents, the two go off to a room together and play Uno (they could have done so many other things but like I said, pure couple. (Baron): DAHHHH~ my eyes again! It’s like being blasted with a rainbow). The two almost get caught but Desumi hides Fudo by first sitting on him (Fudo’s inner thoughts: Best. View. Ever) and then again by hiding him in a small locker with her inside. After an accidental grab, Desumi punches Fudo and he falls out of the locker bumping into another commander named Culverin Bear (he’s essentially the dangerous but goofy commander always getting thwarted by the rangers). After bumping into Culverin Bear, Fudo accidentally activates Bear’s cannons severely damaging the base and destroying the doomsday device in the process. Desumi helps Fudo escape during the panic and they exchange numbers. In the second half of the episode, the leader of Gekko, Bosslar, meets with Desumi and all the other commanders (who once again look like they would fit in perfectly with the franchise) to discuss their plans of stealing peoples’ negative emotions and turning them into monsters (pretty sure that was a plot point in Sailor Moon’s first or second arc). Desumi proposes attacking the amusement park and Bosslar likes the idea. Desumi contacts Fudo (who finally got a cellphone) and meets him there with Misaki and Haru tailing him as they became suspicious of his behavior. When Gekko attacks, the two ladies get distracted and fight against them while Fudo and Desumi enjoy a date and ride some rides where we discover Fudo has motion sickness (thank God there are no megazord battles, yet. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Daq4U5mAFt4?si=zcwvDG9_JBmITpcq). Once the fighting is over and our two lovebirds rejoin their respective teams, they head home with Haru seeing a picture of Fudo riding a coaster next to Desumi and starts putting 2 and 2 together.
Episode 4 is a pretty emotional episode. It starts with us seeing that Desumi goes to school like a normal high school girl when she’s not trying to take over the world. When she heads out with her friends she sees Fudo in a café with Haru and gets jealous. In the café Haru tries to question Fudo about the picture from last episode but can’t find the words to bring it up. They then get called into action where Desumi attacks Fudo aggressively. While Desumi knows Fudo would never cheat on her she’s still upset. Not at Fudo, but with herself. She hates herself for feeling jealous and is afraid that Fudo will leave her for someone more feminine than her, but Fudo assures her that he will stay with her no matter what because, love (scene here: https://youtu.be/QU8F2PyUqqA?si=UmaQs8_egNo7ihbc. (Corbin): WAHHH~, I’m melting again! They’re love is as pure as a thousand suns!). As Gekko retreats in defeat, Desumi sticks around and sits next to Fudo where they get discovered by Haru (the jig is up). Rather than rat them out to everyone Haru stays quiet about their relationship and goes about her business like normal which worries Fudo and makes Desumi want to go yandere to make her stay silent forever. Fudo and Desumi meet in the park at night where Desumi sends Fudo away as she can sense Haru watching them. Once Fudo is gone, Desumi calls out Haru where Haru challenges Desumi to a duel for Fudo. It turns out Haru also has feelings for Fudo (not surprising, the red and pink ranger romance is a staple of the franchise). In fact, Fudo was one of the main reasons why she joined the team. She was inspired by his strength and sense of justice. The two ladies fight where Haru loses and Desumi asks the question we all want to know: why didn’t Haru tell anyone if she had feelings for Fudo? Her answer: she doesn’t have the right to steal the happiness of others (man, that hits deep). Once she saw how happy Fudo was with Desumi she couldn’t bring herself to interfere in their relationship (who would? They’re a cute couple) and kept quiet about it. In a surprising twist, we find out that Desumi saved Haru in the past before she became a ranger and it was Desumi who inspired Haru to get stronger (so the two people she admires the most are dating each other? That’s got to make her both happy and sad at the same time). The two girls hug and cry in each other’s arms (Haru cries because the boy she loves is dating someone else and Desumi cries because she stole another girl’s happiness. Or she was overwhelmed by Haru’s compassion. Seriously, just one word and Haru could have ended their relationship, but she didn’t because she knew the pain it would have caused Fudo and couldn’t bear to see him so unhappy just for her own selfish reasons. She did the opposite of what a lot of people would have done in her situation. Scene here: https://youtu.be/wIq8bA_VHMY?si=-H2396oxnGxk8Ls8). Fudo returns where everything has been resolved. Haru will keep quiet about their relationship and is secretly cheering for them, but let’s Desumi know that she hasn’t given up on Fudo and if she gives her an opening she’ll take him for herself.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 opens up on a monthly team evaluation of Gekko. Desumi gets high marks and high praise from the boss which pisses off Beast Princess who whines and complains to Steel Princess (who lives in her own little world) and vows to beat Desumi next month. After this, Steel Princess tells Desumi and Beast Princess (aka Kiki) that she’s in love with a fellow co-worker which is off-limits (only if they find out). Steel Princess wants to confess but she’s not too confident in herself and afraid of rejection (something I’m sure everyone can relate to). Desumi tries to help her gain confidence by giving her feminine exercises but they just make her feel worse and she gives up. Feeling bad, Desumi goes to Fudo for advice on what he expects from her in their relationship and he says nothing. Yep, he expects nothing, he likes her the way she is and just having her by his side makes him happy. This manages to help Desumi and she goes to confront Steel Princess where she tells her to just be herself. This manages to work and Steel Princess (who has been holding out on us. How does she lack confidence with a hot body like that?) confesses to her crush, Culverin Bear (so she’s a furry. I guess she likes her porridge hot and her bed nice and hard), who accepts her feelings and the two officially become a couple where they’re allowed to date (scene here: https://youtu.be/TGFxO5kI5vA?si=3Ck-Oo-JnKD5QfRb). In the second half of episode, Desumi tries to feed Fudo some of her home cooking only for him to go down from appendicitis (ouch). He gets rushed to the hospital and spends 3 days in there where in a funny visual he receives flowers from Gekko (not gonna lie, that made me laugh. That feels like something out of the Venture Bros.) and Desumi comes to visit him where she feeds him and just when the mood is good it gets interrupted by Fudo’s mama who drags Desumi to her volleyball game (scene here: https://youtu.be/APMhPNWbVK4?si=tSLbApCNKS8nX6LV). The two actually do seem to hit it off and mama is totally okay with Desumi dating her son.
Episode 6 is a fun episode. Summer is here and there’s only one thing to do in the summer, hit the beach. That’s right, it’s a beach episode but before we hit the beach we get a few other laughs. First off, we find out that Desumi didn’t join Gekko by choice. Her parents applied for her, she did really good on the exam, and they promoted her to a leadership role because of the results (well that answers a question I’ve been wondering about for some time). After this, Desumi finds out that she’s being promoted to a beast leader meaning she’s about to be fused with an animal. Their leader chooses a mountain gorilla (scene here: https://youtu.be/3ZzOpSRcAPM?si=t0XiTL4xCZ0I_4mw. Ehhhhhhhhh~! What the hell is your problem!? At least fuse her with something cute and attractive. Like a fox, wolf, dog or cat). Desumi is conflicted on what she wants to do and then she receives a call from her family (where we find out she has five younger siblings and the parents are obviously retired henchmen. Once again another question has been answered) who are all proud of her and making it even harder for her to refuse the promotion. After receiving a call from Fudo who can tell she’s upset, he rushes over to see her (such a good boyfriend). Desumi tells him about her promotion and Fudo tells her to do what she wants to do. All this time she’s been concerned with what everyone around her wants her to do instead of herself (in the end Desumi it doesn’t matter what your parents, superiors, or even Fudo wants you to do. All that matters is what you want and think is best for you). The next day Desumi refuses to be fused with a gorilla and instead of getting mad their leader actually praises her for having the guts to refuse the fusion and instead rely on her natural abilities to defeat her opponents (yeah, let’s go with that). In the second half we hit the beach. The rangers go to the beach to test out their new submarine and Desumi gets Gekko there to attack the group. After the rangers accidentally fire the missiles, most of Gekko retreats which allows Desumi to mingle with Fudo (and almost kill him from looking sexy in her swimsuit). While Fudo and Desumi play on the beach, Kiki gets hit on by Hayato (I’ll ship it) and she keeps misunderstanding Desumi’s interactions with Fudo as her torturing him. Desumi soon joins the other rangers posing as Fudo’s childhood friend where they have a BBQ and shoot off some fireworks and sparklers. It gets hinted that Misaki knows Desumi and Fudo are dating and she’s totally okay with it as it has allowed Fudo to become a better person (scene here: https://youtu.be/nK33pVeEMq4?si=5BGMvvHkkYPQqVQq).
At the start of episode 7 we find out that Desumi and Daigo have history with each other. Back when they were kids they trained at the same dojo where Daigo was the top student. However, that all changed when Desumi joined the dojo and proved to be so much stronger than him that it terrified him. At first, he thought it was just a fluke (there are no flukes in martial arts), but when he heard how she defeated the master of the dojo he started to get worried. Ashamed of his loss, the master closed down the dojo which made Desumi sad. Feeling bad for her, Daigo decided to become her instructor and the two would train by the riverbank together. It was here that Daigo found himself in a constant state of survival as Desumi nearly killed him at all of their training sessions (the girl was a beast). It didn’t take long for her to develop a reputation and all the local hooligans were attacking her left and right when she was in middle school. During the last winter of his high school year, Daigo called out Desumi for one final fight. He felt responsible for creating this demon and decided he had to take her down before other people got hurt. Unfortunately, he lost (and she wasn’t even going all out). After high school Daigo’s parents got divorced and he moved to Tokyo where he was scouted to be a hero as well as recruiter for the team (he’s essentially their rock. As you would expect from the green ranger). Daigo became completely traumatized by his experience with Desumi that just thinking about her makes him feel weak and nauseous (and she’s now dating your leader). Despite his past trauma, Daigo prepares himself to talk to her and recruit her to join the team as their sixth ranger (she’s perfect for the role. She’s cool, strong, and she’s a villain becoming an ally. That’s like the basic story for almost every sixth ranger. Scene here: https://youtu.be/p1TlEpZGm1k?si=ptnlXm-zxIBLboRC). In the second half of the episode Fudo, Desumi, and Daigo have a sit down where they talk and Daigo tries to recruit her. At first she’s not against it, but then remembers her family and all the friends she’s made at Gekko and turns it down. Daigo is shocked by this but not as shocked as seeing Desumi acting like such a girl in front of him with Fudo (scene here: https://youtu.be/lfM8hjpghbE?si=KiugloMtNFsqPS9q, in his mind he’s always seen Desumi as this unstoppable demon. He never took the chance to get to know her as an actual person. It’s kinda sad really). Daigo believes that love has made her weak and now thinks he has a chance at beating her. So he challenges her to a fight. If she wins he’ll give up on recruiting her but if she wins she has to join Gelato and can’t date Fudo because workplace relationships are forbidden (tell that to every ranger in the franchise). Desumi beats Daigo quite easily and Daigo takes his leave to save face (scene here: https://youtu.be/oRMyFTsZ870?si=VYa089nyv_VELkmD, and another chapter to his trauma has been added).
In episode 8 someone has captured a picture of Fudo and Desumi together. The photographer threatens to send the picture to magazines unless Fudo meets their demands. Fudo goes to the park at night to meet the blackmailer where we see it’s a girl from Desumi’s school named Anna. She often picks on Desumi from time to time and Desumi kind of puts up with it (most likely because she doesn’t want to attract attention. I’m confident she could squash her head like an apple if she wanted to). Fudo begs Anna to censor Desumi’s face (well, this is new). He’s okay with the picture getting leaked, but he doesn’t want Desumi’s face to be exposed as it’ll cause her trouble with the media (and her evil organization). Anna tells Fudo to break up with her but he refuses. She then tries to get him to say she loves her and kiss her hand but all of those attempts fail and she leaves frustrated but promising to come up with a humiliating request. The next night we find out that Anna has a crush on Desumi. Anna was considered an outcast by everyone at school and Desumi was the only person who approached her. This opens the door for Fudo to see Anna as a good person and the two become friends, somewhat (scene here: https://youtu.be/jpb7la6RVBk?si=cVBJR7pf1ybva9x-). Anna says she’s won’t release the picture, but she has no intention of giving up on Desumi and knows a secret that Fudo doesn’t know. We do get a good twist by finding out that Anna is secretly working for Gekko as one of their princesses, Heat Princess (jokes on you, he knows and he’s totally into it). In the second half Haru asks Fudo’s help in studying for her final exams and Desumi joins in as well turning it into a threesome (Haru’s words, not mine. Let’s add Anna and make it a foursome). Since Desumi is joining they can’t go to Gelato HQ, so Desumi suggests Gekko’s dormitory (or we could just meet at a café or library like normal people). The next day Fudo and Haru go to Desumi’s dorm where they disguise themselves as Gekko soldiers (scene here: https://youtu.be/oM1v55-O7a4?si=HZfQZP422fqOMULF) and Haru receives some weird teaching from our favorite couple (they got the spirit). Haru takes her leave and gives the two their space where we find out Fudo wants to become an elementary teacher while being a hero as well. While Desumi hasn’t thought that far ahead she knows that she wants to be with Fudo. As the episode ends Desumi receives a surprise visit from her dad and little sister (time to meet the dad).
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 opens where we previously left off. Dad and little sis (Urami) have come for a surprise visit and your boyfriend is in your room (this is the kind of stuff that boys have nightmares about). Fudo stays in disguise and I have to give the dad credit, he is the embodiment of hench 4 life (despite being retired he is a loyal henchman through and through who has dedicated his heart to the organization). We see that he’s upset about Desumi turning down the promotion and Fudo tries to speak up for her only to receive a punch in the face from Urami who has quite the complex for Desumi (man, this girl has her own little harem going on in the background). When the dad says she wants Desumi to devote herself to Gekko once high school is over Fudo speaks up for her once again in the hopes that he’ll allow her to go to college. After Fudo beats him in a fight and bonds with him over the art of defeat, Desumi’s dad takes a shine to him and says he’ll consider talking to her about college at a later time (scene here: https://youtu.be/9FOtJbuGHfU?si=DzmJczGrdFrZJiHj). In the second half, we focus on Urami who has noticed the change in Desumi and doesn’t like it. Urami has always looked up to Desumi and to see her turn into this frilly high school girl instead of some intimidating force she’s always known is quite shocking and disappointing to her (you’re young kid. You’ll learn when you get older). Urami runs away to sulk and gets hit on by some guys in the city (you do know she’s in junior high right?) and gets saved by Desumi who tells her that she’s the strongest she’s ever been and to fall in love to see how she feels (scene here: https://youtu.be/wQY1R1M0KxY?si=r4VWK_G6aKTu7LfB). Urami doesn’t get it but she starts to open up and accept the new Desumi. However, she won’t accept Fudo (then I got some bad news for you).
In episode 10 the fall season has begun. The changing of seasons, the leaves are falling, and of course school festivals. Desumi invites Fudo to her school’s festival where her class is doing a maid café (obviously. This anime knows what we want). He accepts, but she wants him to come on the last day of the festival so that they can perform some love ritual. Fudo goes to the festival, but Hayato tags along and draws everyone’s attention to him and Fudo (he’s a showoff to the end). Fudo manages to escape Hayato and meets up with Desumi in the haunted house (how romantic). Their time together gets cut short by Kiki who if you can believe it is part of the disciplinary committee (the irony is not lost on her) and is cracking down on couples because she is jealous (scene here: https://youtu.be/6lAyYmbBVDE?si=1IXqtn_IDIT3K4rA, let’s show Kiki some love. (Corbin): I do love my wild girls. (Nitsuj): Corbin, you love every kind of girl. (Corbin): The bigger the net the bigger your catch, right?). They go their separate ways in order to escape Kiki and not much happens after that. We get a few funny moments such as Desumi running away from Anna who wants to do the love ritual with her (scene here: https://youtu.be/7jVwl9_aRd4?si=vh_butDUH-sXfRSw) and Kiki running away from Hayato when they come across each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/5tTgTmBEmKw?si=yr2PnRRUZpYD-5lL). Once Fudo and Desumi meet back up they try to do the love ritual, but with so many eyes on them and everyone knowing who they are that seems impossible. Luckily, many people are cosplaying so they gear up and go do the love ritual together with nobody recognizing them (in their eyes it’s just fanfic, but they’ll ship it).
In the first half of episode 11 there’s not much to say. Desumi hosts a sleepover under the disguise of a strategy meeting among the various princesses we’ve seen so far. Her goal is to get close to Ranran aka Judgement Princess, a master of disguises who’s not good at expressing her true feelings and opening up to others. Thanks to the slumber party she does open up to the others and it seems like she became friends with Desumi. The second half is a lot more fun as Fudo has released a book on insects and which ones are stronger (why do you I get the feeling he would be a huge Pokémon nut in real life?). He’s hosting a signing tomorrow and invites Desumi to it which she happily agrees to come. However, she catches a cold from fighting in the mountains (not surprising given what she wears) and gets taken to the school nurse who is Blood Princess from Gekko. It gets revealed that Blood Princess has insane maternal instincts so whenever someone gets sick she tends to go overboard and treats them like babies (someone wants to get married). Desumi tries to escape but in her weakened state she falls prey to Blood Princess’s motherly brainwashing and falls asleep. When nighttime comes, Fudo sneaks into the school to find Desumi since she never showed up and finds her in a weakened state. After resting for a bit she comes to her senses to see Fudo there where he reveals nobody showed up to the signing (you wrote a book about insects, what did you expect? You need to choose a better topic. (Corbin): Yeah, like my book: The Best Girls in Anime Vol. 1. (Nitsuj): Shut up, Corbin. Your book was borderline porn. (Corbin): You bought it. (Nitsuj): Oh shoot, you’re right). This means that Desumi is the first person to get her book signed by Fudo (and she’ll probably be the only one. Scene here: https://youtu.be/PhuC1gvAXf0?si=FBE6N4xx01cTrYgp).
In the final episode, we start with Fudo telling Desumi about a wedding commercial he’s going to be in to which Desumi objects. She runs away upset with Fudo not knowing why (scene here: https://youtu.be/Grx45qNj5GU?si=qDR7f2tffKaGhcJ1, oh man, you can just tell this is his first time with a girl if he’s making this mistake) until Haru puts it into perspective for him (in the words of Tony Hawk: Fudo, your heading for a brutal faceplant. Do a 180 emotional alley). Now realizing the mistake he’s made, Fudo tries to get out of the commercial but it’s too late. Fudo decides to make a cake and have his first cake cutting with Desumi, but he sucks at cooking (and trying to make a cake right off the bat is like asking the Jack Bros. to be wholesome for two minutes. (Baron): Never~!). Two days go by and Gekko’s leader calls the team together in the lab (gentlemen, behold~). He reveals that they’ve gathered enough negative energy to create the ultimate phantom and after hitting the switch the ultimate phantom is born in the form of a giant monster baby (https://youtu.be/sn6jKGVxTbk). The phantom goes on a rampage destroying the base and escapes after eating Culverin Bear (this bear was just right. Man, never thought the day would come when I would make two Goldie Lock references in a review). Back with Fudo, he gets done making his cake but it’s too late, it’s time for the commercial. Luckily, it gets interrupted by the phantom (I would have made it play the ring bearer). The rest of the rangers show up to fight the phantom as does Gekko where none of their attacks seem to be doing anything and it eats the cake to become a cake monster (that is a haunting image). The rangers combine their weapons but it appears to be too much for Fudo. Luckily, Desumi shows up to help. She saw the destroyed cake Fudo made for them to cut and apologizes for her actions (don’t, he was in the wrong here). With their combined powers they manage to defeat the phantom but don’t destroy it. Instead, it returns to the size of a baby mistaking them for its mama and papa (scene here: https://youtu.be/p6aikVSt6BA?si=rideRrbbCKa9a5O_). Desumi takes the phantom and runs away when the news reporter arrives and that ends the anime (for now).
Final Thoughts
This was a fun little romcom story to watch. I did enjoy the relationship between Fudo and Desumi. They’re a cute couple and I do like how supportive they are of each other. Despite being new to the whole relationship thing the two seem to have a solid grasp on what the other one is like, but are still prone to make mistakes with each other, but work through them like an actual couple. The side characters are good as well. The members of Gekko and the rangers are all funny. Even Desumi’s family gets a good laugh out of me. I honestly wish they had more screentime so we could explore them more. I think the only downside with this series is it does start to drag and lose some of its luster with a few stories not being as interesting or funny but slowly starts to pick up with the introduction and reveal of other characters throughout the anime.
The animation for the most part is good. I did like the backgrounds and their attention to a lot of the tropes you see in a sentai series. The music was decent. Nothing really stood out to me, but I don’t remember any music that got on my nerves. There was just nothing memorable about it. While the fight scenes are short they’re surprisingly well done and once again pay homage to fights from the sentai series. We get a good assortment of funny moments whether it be the antics of Gekko, the relationship between Fudo and Desumi, or the characters interacting with each other such as Hayato and Kiki. I do feel like that even if the rangers found out about Desumi’s true identity they would still support her relationship with Fudo because she makes her happy.
Final Score
The final score for Love After World Domination is a 6/10. Like I said I could actually see this being a part of the sentai universe. In fact, this series does feel like a sentai series in the form of an anime with the emphasis being on comedy rather than action. If you’re looking for a lighthearted and wholesome romcom then check this series out. I have heard that this series will be getting a second season. Don’t know when that will be but I look forward to seeing what happens next for this young couple. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.