Ranting on Akibaranger Season One and Tsuu

I did quite an incomplete rant on Akibaranger not so long ago or so logn ago, well here's what I was thinking about the series in a nutshell...

Season One

Season one was basically the battle that seemed to take only in their heads until they realize that their fantasies weren't just fantasies.  That was, everything about this season starts with Nobuo Akagi who is a delusional delivery man who is 29 years old but is too open about his obsession with Super Sentai and two, why in the world is he too in love with a fictional character Aoi?  Well, he is in love with Sayaka and I wanted them to be together.  For Mitsuki she's probably the only one who thinks from the trio and for Yumeria, she happens to be pretty silly but fortunately not overly silly.


At first made me think was the battle only in their heads?  So I guess I can relate to them since I delude myself to be a henshin hero whenever I am alone. Not that I actually an open about it or two, I accept that reality.  But not these guys... that's what makes it funny!


I just envy how these guys could actually imagine their favorite Sentai warriors a lot into shape.


Basically season one was like a review of Super Sentai for adults.  I did love Kazuo Niibori's guest starring even if he's quite past his prime.  I don't mind older people appearing at all, in fact I love seeing elderly people play mentor roles!


The sidestory of Malshina as a comedic villain was pretty good for comic standards.  that was she was a scrapped out design that ended up becoming real after some time.  That of course, she was Dr. Z's "daughter".


For me the funniest episode has to be when this happened. The drunken episode which was really downright funny at the same time a reminder to myself not to write when I'm drunk.  I just found it funny how the delusions ran too much except for a sober minded Mitsuki who saved the day.  Other than that, I am already drunk because of Hiroyo Hakase's beauty.


For some drama to avoid the show from becoming too silly, there is the plot behind Hiroyo Hakase and her father Dr. Z who was a crazy scientist indulging in Anime.  Hmmm... and also for comedy I think it's unusual for fictional characters to realize they are just part of some TV show and even realizing credits were there.  I do think that was also what made the finale pretty special... it did show the inevitable that shows must come to an end. The clip show which was episode 13 recapped everything and I guess, maybe Naruhisa Arakawa was trying to look at his mistakes as every good writer will.

Season Two


So Malshina returns yet again with something silly.  Now she is working for General Pain who is a dentist.  Season Tsuu was focused on events that happen in Delusion World could really affect the real world.  I was thinking that he was funnier than Dr. Z.


So Mitsuki walks away and is replaced by the much younger Luna whose naive tendencies caused the major disaster that is Powerful Rangers.  So she thinks Power Rangers came first instead of Super Sentai which caused another major trouble in the real world, which actually also targeted the issue of misconceptions.  She's pretty much naive and doesn't know much which can be evident that after Dairanger was restored, she has a lot to learn and it was more evident during the Powerful Rangers episode.


The beginning featured the two parter arc featuring the Dairangers were scrapped, the whole Chinaman rumor (Now will somebody PLEASE tell me if that is even true but otherwise, I think the name Chinaman is pretty cool.) and the what if Akibaranger was in its place.  Then it turned out to be that if Akibaranger were in its place, it was a bad season because one, it is NOT standard Toku but a parody.  Also, Toshiki Inoue was mentioned probably as a nod to the whole Kamen Rider Hibiki writer change.  Then again, Toshiki Inoue x Akibaranger = worst mix ever for me!


So Yumeria got married.  I do think that strange her mom-in-law would originally ban otaku activities but for some strange reason, she turned out to be a secret otaku.  I guess she forbids open otaku fandom.


The Super Akiba Red battlizer was probably a parody of battlizers at best.  To be honest though, I find the battlizer concept to be mixed like it goes from cool to downright annoying.  I mean, you might want to think of how bulky most of them are... and I wonder why Power Rangers adapted the idea from B-Fighter's Super Blue Beet?


Perhaps the silliest (and my favorite moment) here is the crush of Nobuo on robot girls?  Are they parodying My Life as a Teenage Robot here?  I dunno, in fact when I saw this episode I was even thinking of the rather absurd thought of what if Nickelodeon Japan will be broadcasting Tokusatsu instead of TV Asahi or will gain the rights to the broadcast.  Then again, that's just my silly imagination that was unintentionally brought by this episode.  I just thought that General Pain was right in saying that it might be hard to kill any monster if it kept its cute appearance for the whole episode.


I thought things got really exciting for Season Tsuu that aside from parodying Power Rangers, making a what if Akibaranger not Dairanger was after Zyuranger and whatever events in Delusion World made history go wrong, I thought the whole Prism Ace was a parody of Ultraman.  Speaking of Ultraman, I used to watch it as a kid but I stopped after watching Ultraman Tiga which makes me wonder why I easily outgrew the franchise. =P  In here, we are treated to the scenario of what if Super Sentai will be cancelled sooner or later, which I think I am ready to accept its inevitable cancellation like the Super Robot genre from Toei.


I guess the death of the Akibarangers at the end of the season was meant to address imo that all things must come to an end.  In fact, no matter how much I like Super Sentai, sooner or later it might need to end because some things have passed its prime.  Which the clip show was really kind of sad because they died, and of course I feel sorry for Luna the most considering she's a minor and for Yumeria's unseen husband.  Later Mika (hmmm I wonder if the actress really died), Mikoto and Naoto picked up the Akibarangers back to the afterlife.  And I just wonder did they dedicate this clip to Thuy Trang as well?  Just my speculation!

I guess there should be a season three and maybe, they can target on other Super Sentai that are yet to be featured.

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