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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Akibaranger Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Fear the Moe!

For this episode of Akibaranger we find out a shocking reveal from our otaku leader, Nobuo thanks to the new MOTW. Will Nobuo be able to overcome this problem or will he be love struck forever?
Well onto Nobuo we find out what he has a well thing for. Cause of the monster being a super cute robot girl, Nobuo can't even delivery a hit on her. He even admits to this and I'm surprised I didn't see this coming. I mean really in this episode he holds his new Aoi-tan figure in a very suggestive way. We even get a flashback where he first realizes his love for the robot gals. This was during when Liveman was airing and Nobuo fell in love with the character, Colon. He even got more crazy for her when she was all dressed up for an episode. Then this continued for many other characters and sheesh Nobuo really got creepier in this episode. I mean he fell in love with Peebo and Mag! Also there is then a connection with Aoi-tan as well since she is part mecha. So it really seems Nobuo had this fetish for a very long time and it doesn't seem he is going to kick it off anytime soon.
The team try to help him out by giving him special training and it's because the other two members can't take on the monster. I have to say they are making Nobuo looking like the strongest member of the team in this season. For season one I felt more of a balance, but right now Nobuo seems to be the best and he even has the Super mode so that just makes my assumption even more correct. I will say I am not completely happy about this because a Sentai has good teamwork and balance that is why they fight together. Right now this seems like how a Sentai does the red focus too much. I mean really, in Luna's first fight she was wild and now she doesn't do any of that anymore. Even Moegi wasn't at her best and even she had some good fights in season one. Maybe the Sentai trope was just far too strong for them.
The trope I am talking about is the cute monster with a dark secret. This was even brought up by Nobuo as he knew this by heart. He even reference Carranger and Boukenger from when they had that episode. Here's the problem though, those monster soon reveal their true nature and thus having a different look then. Thanks to Shogun though he made so that the monster won't have that ugly face so she will always remain the same. Doesn't mean she can still fight though as she easily attacks the three heroes. I will get onto her later, but I really loved how they played with this trope. I mean it's so obvious that monsters like her just have to hide their face and wait for a much better chance. So it's a nice joke about the trope that really works well thanks to how cute the monster is.
This monster from the Moe world is actually a new Vyram and for those who don't know, Vyram are from Jetman. They were made by an insect attaching to an item and then they create their body out of it. The only reason why she is here is because Shogun had a fight with a costumed character, but the person in the costume knew martial arts. He even had to make the new Aoi-tan that Nobuo has now. That was a little funny that both of them have a friend and thanks to that they have a slight connection. Well Shogun soon makes the monster thanks to the two events and she is dangerous! She has the usual face when you think of an anime girl and her body is nothing, but a suit with blue and silver. She doesn't have a lot of details to her, but it's very simplistic and it carries the idea easily. What was also fun was the extra effects they put on her when she winked or started to cry. Again it just shows the anime motif even more and this just causes Nobuo to crash on the ground. So overall she was a very fun MOTW as she proved to be a challenge cause of her cuteness. Heck she even beat the tar out of Blue and Yellow by herself.
Something interesting happens in this episode though. Luna tries to get the idea of a fourth Akibaranger as she thinks a famous idol could easily fit that role. Sadly the three never really bother her, but thanks to their delusion powers she comes as a masked heroine. I guess this is a nice reference to White Racer from Carranger or just making a joke about magical girls. Either way she actually faced the monster and was going to win. Thanks to Red though he stops her from dealing the final blow and thus she is turned into a...... some sort of vegetable? Yea this is one of the monsters abilities as she can turn people into the thing they hate the most. Thanks to this the idol in real life was been replaced by one the Shogun's minions and even the Shogun is shocked to see this. So yea she was fun for that one scene, but that was it. This idol character was just brought up to make a problem for the episode since this creature didn't do anything to affect the real world. What I was hoping for was that many real women were replaced with robot girls, now that would have been great to see Nobuo try to get through all of that.
So how will Nobuo even be cured of this fetish he has? Well it actually isn't fixed, I mean our heroes tried, but it doesn't work. Hakase dresses up like a mecha girl, but she forgot one thing. She left her face the same and this doesn't give Nobuo a big issue as he attacks her with ease. I loved seeing Hakase's reaction as she was pissed that she did that for nothing. I mean the other girls had to hold her back and Nobuo ran away then. Don't F$#@ with the Hakase! Luckily Hakase thinks of a new plan and that is simply covering the monster's face. Blue and Yellow soon do this with rope and a paper bag and now Nobuo can attack. Sadly this plan fails quickly as the monster just vaporizes the bag with her laser. All hope seems lost now, but a voice from the Toku world comes to help our Red leader.
Hakase had a plan B and this plan was to have veteran narrator, Nobuo Tanaka give Akiba Red a boost! What I love the most out of this was how excited Red gets proving that his love for Sentai cannot be defeated. Also thanks to Tanaka he actually gives Red an idea to defeat the monster. At first we don't know what his plan is, but he uses Super mode. He gets a hit on her and then he makes a discovery that his new sword weapon can combine with the blaster. This makes the Munyu Moe Zubakyuun and Red delivers the final blow to the monster. Then he reveals what he did to finally attack her. It was simply blinding himself with a fake visor. Tanaka actually said to use the eye in the mind as Red follows up on that. So not only did we get a great narration we got a new weapon reveal as well!
The action in the episode was mostly comedic and that is fine since it really does work for this episode. Still though I do feel like they did drag this on for a little too long. Then when Red was blazing with power it was a quick finish, but at least it didn't feel too anti-climatic. Also it was fun to see the MOTW give some fast punches to the two females, heck she even kicked Blue around thus making Blue attack Yellow then. It was interesting at times to see how the monster fought. Also for the new weapon reveal it was quick and it's just another laser finisher, there are a lot of those in this series. So yea the action was more comedic at best and even at that they just dragged it on for a little too long.
There is one more thing I need to say as it bothered me. The Shogun just started to realize that what happens in the delusion world affects the real world. So wait, why was he doing all of this? I guess he was just having fun like how the Akibarangers did in the beginning of season one. Still though how did he not notice the changes that were happening? I know he stays inside a lot, but you think he would notice what happens to the Sentai franchise. I mean series before Gaoranger were gone! I can tell he loves the Showa era Sentai a lot so you think he would notice that. Oh well he knows now and will start up something he always wanted to see.
Overall it's like the last episode as it just felt average, but I will say I had some more laughs with this episode. The whole moe theme was pretty funny and seeing Nobuo literally fall down on the ground because of it was great. Still Akibaranger is having the red focus issue which is surprising for a three teamed Sentai and many things that were brought up were cool, but it was too short to leave a really big impact. So I would give this episode a C+
Next Time: A yellow Raiger?

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