Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Akibaranger Episode 2 Review: Final Form Ride

We start the episode off with the usual recap and soon we find out the truth about the delusion. We see a video tape of the three fighting in the middle of the street. We also find out that the villains were even in the cafe as the police get the real criminals out of the cafe. We also find out that whenever the team senses evil they will enter the delusion. Along with that their Henshin device will broadcast their thoughts to each other. Nobuo gets mad and wonders why he is even fighting since there aren't any villains. He storms out of the building and soon sits down to think about what a Red would do. He turns around to see that the actor Ryuji Sainei in a car as he gets excited to see his favorite Dekaranger. Back in the cafe, Mitsuki is stretching while Moegi is eating curry a lot because of the Sentai tradition. Hiroyo then tells her that she doesn't have to force the yellow traditions on herself and says only two Yellows ever did that. She gets disappointed and soon her ears fall off her head as she yells in a more masculine voice. We then find out that she (I hope it's a she) is 23 years old as Mitsuki was wondering why the sudden change of voice. Hiroyo asks the two if they are going to stay as Akibarangers, as Mistuki wants to because even though it's not a real fight it seems like it and it's good training for her. For Moegi, she had fun so she is staying as well. Mitsuki then notices an Aoi key chain and gawks over it as Moegi talks about a shopping district. Back with Nobuo as he yells out Banban and gets his attention. Banban realizes that it's Akibared and motivates him as he is the advent of a great new team. Ban also asks if he could be his partner, but Nobuo doesn't think he is worthy enough. Ban tells him though that he could even be a greater partner than Hoji! Nobuo then bows down before him and asks for teaching, but it was his imagination again as Ryuji turns him down because he is only in costume for an SPD event. Before he leaves though he thanks Nobuo for still being a fan of the show.
Back with the females as they are heading for a store, but they see some strange people going into an alley way for official art of Aoi. The two suspect that it's a bootleg and investigate. They see a woman giving them the offer with a bubble sheet as the men are simply amazed. The bots though are perverts as they want to take the bubble sheet off so they can see more of Aoi. One man starts to pull it off and soon a bubble sheet appears around him as he is naked. A monster then appears from the DVD and terrorizes the other men as the two just ignore it because it isn't real. The woman though shows her true identity as it is Malshina and the monster of the week is a different Shibuya. The two wonder what the differences possibly could be and then transform to fight him. Beginning the fight is Shibuya using his bubble beam, but it misses and hits Malshina as the bubble sheet appears around her. She leaves embarrassed as the other two realize that they need Red so they could use him as a human shield. Hiroyo calls Nobuo and tells him the other two need his help, but he says everything is a delusion so he will let them have their fun. Shibuya mentions something about a project and summons the grunts to attack. The two fight the grunts with random items they pick up as Yellow uses a traffic cone and Blue uses a rod. Soon the big project a is revealed to be to turn Akihabara into a Shibuya since Otakus are looked down upon. The two want to protect that culture though as they try to fight Shibuya. He is easily defeating them though as he spanks Blue, tossing her onto Yellow, and then stomping the both of them. He taunts them, but Blue tosses him back as they try to attack. Shibuya blocks their fist and goes straight for their chest as he takes a grab. He throws them and to finish things off he uses some sort of laser from his chest. The two are saved by Hiroyo as she shut down the delusion. Doing that too much though will be risky since it can get rid of the delusion powers the team has. Hiroyo also tells them that they misses the flag of defeat as Shibuya said "Before you die."
With Nobuo, he is still depressed about the whole thing and almost throws his device into the river. He sees Deka Red though and soon follows him. Nobuo follows him into a alleyway and for some reason he doesn't talk as he has to point to things to represent what he is saying. He tells Nobuo that he has to see the light, but he tries to walk away since he thinks it's another delusion. Deka Red then shoves Nobuo and gives him the same kick Ban gives to Hoji from Dekaranger. Nobuo now is fully pumped and heads back to the cafe where he tells Hiroyo that Deka Red said he was waiting for him. Mitsuki wonders how that happened if it wasn't a delusion, but Hiroyo says it doesn't matter since it's one more step to become official. She conveniences Nobuo to keep deluding himself so he can keep becoming stronger. Soon one of the cafe workers turns on the T.V as the news is on. There we hear the Akihabara is being brought up by underground businesses. The team get ready to leave, but Hiroyo gives them permission to take a special machine. After they leave we see that the Deka Red was just a cosplayer working for Hiroyo as he gets his pay for the job. The team get to the machine and see that it's a car with Aoi all over it. The team transform and take the car onto the road, but they get stuck in traffic. Blue thinks of ditching the car, but Red thinks it could transform into a robot like Deka Base. Yellow gives him a Aoi CD and when Red turns up the volume the car changes into the Istash Robo! The three do a pose as Blue is confused as Red says it's a legacy of Dynaman. Meanwhile more fans of being tormented by the villains, but the team soon appear in the robot. Shibuya attacks with giant cards thanks to Yellow though she makes the robot dodge the attack by dancing? It's not the hero's turn as Red get the laser beam ready. The robot though keeps dancing and forces the three out as it leaves. There Hiroyo tells the three that they aren't deluded enough for a robot battle.
The fight is then taken somewhere else as the team strike their posses. The explosion scares Blue like last time and Yellow is sent to the ground. Malshin orders her men to attack as Yellow beats them up with her fist, Red attacks them with his hair design on his helmet, and Blue kicks and flings them around. The team get ready to fire their guns as Shibuya counters though with his beam. The guns are knocked out of their hands as Shibuya beats them around in close combat. The situation is looking bad like last time, but Red won't give up since he has to fulfill the hopes of the official heroes. Shibuya uses his special beam again as Red keeps running towards him. When he jumps to dodge the attack all of a sudden Deka Red appears! It seems to be the real one too as we hear Ban's voice. The two Reds attack Shibuya by kicking him to the ground as Malshina leaves the scene. Deka Red shoots Shibuya with his D-Magnums and then turns to Akiba Red and gives him new powers. The next thing we see is that Deka Red turns into a giant pair of handcuffs! Red uses the Deka Cuffs as claw attachments and slashes Shibuya with them. The other two kick him towards Red as he traps him in the cuffs. Shibuya asks if it's really okay for unofficial heroes to get official powers as the team finish him off with their Moe Magnums. The delusion is over as the team get excited for their victory and hop around in the car. In the cafe we see Nobuo happy as he could ever be as he fought with Deka Red. We end the episode with Hiroyo completely confused if that really was the real Deka Red or not which is a good question.
That is episode 2 and its another enjoyable episode. First I love the Dekaranger references as I knew more facts for true fans would be around. The best part was with the actor Ryuji as he had to act as himself this time. Also its funny to hear SPD being mentioned since SPD is being aired in Japan. The fights were good from last time and I am really hyped to see what the many different weapons will be for our heroes. Sure it's similar to Decade, but this series is already a much better crossover series. Seeing Deka Red was awesome and unexpected since I was just thought Ryuji would give Nobuo some words of advice. Blue and Yellow got better screen time than the last episode and seeing them lose shows how they need a die hard fan on their side. The comedy is about the same, but more jokes towards the anime fan base as we saw perverts gawking over a naked character. There are still great references though to Super Sentai and the jokes are hit on again. The villains though aren't that hard hitting yet though. I did like the joke of having the same monster again, but so far we are made to think that they are just delusions, but I know that something big is going to happen. I give this episode an A as I can't wait to see more returning heroes.
Next Time: Bouken Red!!!!!

2 comments:

  1. I really liked this ep too. LOL.

    The preview to the next ep was weird. Yeah, BoukenRed appeared, but I didn't see Chief's actor... oh whatevs, I want an older actor to return!!!

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  2. Remember Ban came back for Gokaiger so there is a high chance they got Boukenred as well. I bet people who came back in Gokaiger will make cameos in this series. Just you wait I bet Akashi will be somewhere in the episode

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