Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger - Talk Up!

[Toku Prime]

I kinda wish they went a little bit more meta at the end though.

I'm kind of the opposite. I preferred the earlier episodes to the meta stuff in the final two. I can see what they were trying to do, but I just preferred the otaku culture gags that were more common in the earlier episodes. Having said that of course, they were clearly never actually going to become official, so I've no idea what ending I had been expecting.

Sayaka is his designated love interest, but they really laid it on thick with the Marushina/Nobuo thing towards the end. I think it's just taking the piss out of Sentai like Liveman, Jetman and Carranger where the Red was or had previously been involved with the villainess.

Part of me was reminded of Kegalesia, and how she kind of revelled in being the useless bad guy towards the end of Go-Onger (and helped out the good guys in the end). I'm sure that was entirely intentional, as they've made it obvious Kegalesia is one of Malsheena's inspirations. Part of me was disappointed that nothing really came of the Sayaka character. She was just a plot device for Nobuo in the end. But in a way, that was the point, and they were never going to be able to develop all the characters as much in just 12 episodes. But if they'd done a little, like with Kozkoz, it would have been nice. By the end she was literally just one of the extras in the crowd.

I don't think Akibaranger will get another series, which makes me a little disappointed, but it wouldn't really work. Sentai has never made a sequel or second series of a show before and it's not something the franchise "does", so it doesn't fit in with Akibaranger being a parody of the official Sentai.

I don't think they will either. Which is sad, as there were still many things for them to parody (6th rangers, wedding episodes etc), but still, I guess it's better to leave on a high with us wanting more than drag it out until it stops beign funny.

I feel like that was a moderately unsatisfying conclusion and yet I feel like that was sort of the point.

Same here. The end felt a bit rushed and the final announcement about next week's episode almost makes me wonder if there will be one more finale scene at the end of the next one. But either way, it was short but very sweet.

 

[Psychotime]

What a downer that was. You know I'm disappointed when the opening song (that I initially said made me want to gouge my eardrums) actually grew on me by the end of it!

I was a naysayer when this started, but that was a very enjoyable show. I expected it to be far more crude than it ended up being and I really loved the plot and all the little references.

I'll have to echo this. I was expecting at best Panty and Stocking antics or at worst, Welcome to NHK repulsiveness. The last thing I expected was something actually knowledgeable of the source material it was parodying and calling out various tropes it's accumulated, despite how appropriate that is for a franchise that's 35 years old.

It's certainly not perfect, but Akibaranger turned out to aim at what it should have, in some respects. And it grew on me.

 

[Mou...Mou...TAUROS!]

I miss the show already.

T_T

 

[Red Ranger]

Japanese production staffers seem to say crazy stuff on Twitter all the time, and it's rarely taken seriously.

I don't know about that actually. There's been a lot of bickering and childishness from toei guys on twitter over the last several months. It seems to attract a fair amount of attention by Japanese toku fans at the least. I never bother reading those though because It's annoying hearing a bunch of old men whining and complaining like babies. Although I did read some tweets when Shirakura was getting some heat by displeased fans/parents over Super Hero Taisen a few months ago. :laugh:

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

I'm kind of the opposite. I preferred the earlier episodes to the meta stuff in the final two.

Same here. I didn't really like the last few episodes -- the whole TV show thing, I think it's just going one step too far. It's like something explaining the joke and trying to retell it right after. The whole show's charm was supposed to be these nerds who thought they were heroes and ended up actually being heroes, and that was supposed to be great. But I guess writer Arakawa took Kevin Williamson's two week "How to Pretend Your Writing Is Cleverer Than It Is" class. Akibaranger taking it as far as it did cheapened the charm and lessened the fun, IMO.

I still like the show and enjoyed most of it, it would have just been nice for it to have the balls to stay on the path it was on. I guess the staff thought it would be too "cheesy" to have it be anything other than a TV show.

 

[live jetabare]

Same here. I didn't really like the last few episodes -- the whole TV show thing, I think it's just going one step too far. It's like something explaining the joke and trying to retell it right after. The whole show's charm was supposed to be these nerds who thought they were heroes and ended up actually being heroes, and that was supposed to be great. But I guess writer Arakawa took Kevin Williamson's two week "How to Pretend Your Writing Is Cleverer Than It Is" class. Akibaranger taking it as far as it did cheapened the charm and lessened the fun, IMO.

I still like the show and enjoyed most of it, it would have just been nice for it to have the balls to stay on the path it was on. I guess the staff thought it would be too "cheesy" to have it be anything other than a TV show.

I don't know; the show has been "meta" since the beginning; as a result, the "fourth wall" stuff at the end seems in fact pretty a logic resolution of Akibaranger ; besides, the Akibarangers's main aim was to become a TV show, an official sentai; sentai being a TV show was an important concept since the beginning; as a result, the last episode, when they try to fight to make their show go on, almost feels like a battle to survive, where they sometimes do some morally controversial choices; all the last episode seems to be a battle to fight the unavoidable: the end of the show, that they try to escape, but finally, they can't.
Besides, Nobuo showed that he had some heroic stuff into him when he has been able to henshin outside the delusion dimension. Same for the others.

 

[RaiDK]

I kind of figure everything that you might be able to criticize was put there deliberately.

 

[ParaParaJMo]

it could have a straight to dvd movie sequel for all we know. but i did enjoy the series and thought it had its own unique creativity

 

[FieryRed]

Finally saw the last episode, and I think it is hilarious to see them trying to avoid all the final episode cliches in an effort to save the show. But as they said, they were fighting against their "god" so it was a fruitless battle, but it's still entertaining to see them actually taking on the "The End" sign in the last scene. :anime: As an Akibaranger fan, I'm disappointed to see them ending it after 12 (okay 13) episodes, and while some people think it will be getting old if they don't end it right now, I disagree. I think if Decade can get 25 episodes or so, then Akibaranger can go on for at least as long, plus there are still areas in Super Sentai they haven't touched upon yet (like the Sixth Ranger, and maybe how the fact that Super Sentai is adapted in the U.S. as Power Rangers).

I'm not sure I want to check out ep. 13, but I heard rumor about it possibly offering some proof that there will be a sequel, and I hope that will be more than a rumor.

 

[Smilodon]

I actually really like the thought of a wrap-up episode, though I wonder if it will be serious with the actors and co. talking about their experience on the show or whether it will be another parody, I'm sort of hoping for the former however. We don't really get to see backstage stuff with the actors and whatnot beyond those hobby link interviews, and those are in print.