I admit, I made a list of Tokusatsu seasons celebrating their major anniversaries aside from those that turned 30 this year and guess what - I entirely forgot about HIKONIN SENTAI AKIBARANGER! Yes, it slipped off my head especially with how real life can affect anyone. This takes me back way back to 2012 when Akibaranger premiered and I was freaking hesitant to watch the show. Gokaiger ended and I ended up thinking about Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters that year. I was afraid to admit I actually liked the show even if it wasn't all as good as most of its predecessors or IMO this year's Kyuranger is better than it.
I admit, I was too afraid to watch it except for my really stupid crush on Hiroyo Hakase. Yes, I admit I wanted to watch Akibaranger only because of Hiroyo (because of her beauty and personality) and not for the sake of enjoying a good comedy. The more I watch it the more I really started to discover stuff I never knew. Akibaranger is the show that introduced me to important figures such as Kazuo Niibori for Season One and Yoshinori Okamoto for Season Two. I didn't even know that Niibori was among the many stuntmen who made several cameos in several Super Sentai seasons without this show.
So I did view Season One and Season Tsuu came seven months after that. At first, I kinda wanted to think of it as a Teen Nick in Japan though I wonder why it's meant for adults. I decided to watch it and get entertained by the cartoony plot. Some of my favorite episodes also involve the one where everyone but Mitsuki Aoyogi got drunk. Nobuo Akagi represents something about the adult who still likes Super Sentai... which I could relate to him to a certain point. Yumeria Moegi is the eccentric cosplayer though I wish her focus episode with her mom didn't come with a sad conclusion.
The first season also made me think of the relationship of the show's main villain Doctor Z (and strangely, the super imagination station powered ToQGer would also get Emperor Z who I'd rather refer to as Zetto from now on), the recurring villain Malshina and his estranged children. This of course Doctor Z had two children namely Takuma Tsuzuki who is the younger paternal half-brother of Hiroyo. Doctor Z's comedy with the Blatantly Eeeevvvviillll Marketing Firm was pretty funny. It was nice to see how Hiroyo reconciles with her father though the plot between father/daughter didn't get that far.
The second season for me had me mixed with what went on. The replacement villain Tsu Shogun was a bit more active. Too bad there isn't any development for Hiroyo and her formerly estranged father or her younger half-brother. Malshina is still the recurring villain and she takes things too far towards the finale by affecting all of reality in her image. It's also funny how the villains are taken by the wave of events beyond their control such as the Powerful Rangers mess or Dairanger never existing.
The positive side for me was trying to get some more crazy plots than the last season. One involved adding ten days a week and all otaku activities got banned. Another involves Nobuo falling in love with the robot girl Yuru Chara (I think she would have finished off the Megafail team in no time since Troy Burrows may fall for her) even if the latter isn't a robotic red ranger. It also showed the possibility that one day Super Sentai may end soon as Prism Ace shows up.
Then, I think about one thing. What was the purpose of killing the Akibarangers? It felt like a Looney Tunes type of death. Think of the number of times Daffy Duck or any Looney Tunes' character dies. They crash into the sun since they didn't have Prism Ace to save them. The final episode still leaves tears in my eyes. I think about it that it's already four years and we don't see Hatte Saburo come up with that excuse Akagi promised. I guess it's for the best the show has already ended with two seasons. Maybe, a third season would have ended up derailing the whole show.
Anyway, RIP Akibarangers you'll never be forgotten!
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