 This article is about an episode in Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger.
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Lame-ale: Farewell, Deluded Sentai (二最痛回 さらば妄想戦隊 Ni Saitsūkai Saraba Mōsō Sentai) is the twelfth episode of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger. Though it is not the official finale, the tropes in the episode mirror that of a official Sentai finale.
Synopsis[]
With Nobuo's discovery that their world is in fact a television show, the Akibarangers must subvert the final episode tropes to prevent the end of their world.
Plot[]
After much deliberation, everyone at Café Himitsukichi concludes that the true mastermind behind the manipulation of their reality is Saburo Hatte, the pen name synonymous with every Super Sentai series. In an attempt to keep their universe existent, they create sub-plots of their own, such as Yumeria creating a relationship with Kozukozu and Mitsuki introducing her undefeated high school rival; these plots, however, quickly become resolved once they are introduced, by way of Kozukozu returning Yumeria's feelings and Mitsuki's rival showing up with a broken leg, meaning they will be unable to settle their feud. Akagi then attempts to deepen his relationship sub-plot with Sayaka, but she brings closure to it by revealing to be a Super Sentai fan herself. Meanwhile, at Delusion Empire headquarters, Doctor Z is doing diagnostics work on Delu-Knight when he is suddenly knocked out by ©Na. She then attempts to kill Delu-Knight in his sleep, but he awakens and grabs her gun, announcing himself as the new leader of the Delusion Empire before gunning down ©Na and Doctor Z.
He then takes Sayaka hostage and calls Akagi out to come rescue her, despite Akagi suspecting this as a plot trap set by Saburo Hatte. The Akibarangers succeed in rescuing Sayaka before they face Delu-Knight at an abandoned warehouse. During the battle, Delu Knight tells the Akibarangers that Doctor Z and ©Na have both been sent to hell. Seeing this as an attempt by Saburo Hatte to end the series, the trio cover their ears while Delu-Knight speaks. Demanding a final battle with Akiba Red, Delu-Knight takes his sword and damages his own chest armor, in order to give himself a handicap. After the Akibarangers refuse to fight him, he charges at them, only to be shot in the chest by Doctor Z and ©Na, who reveal that ©Na's gun only works on monsters. The duo then tell the Akibarangers that their battle is not over until Doctor Z converts the citizens of Akihabara with his own ideals.
Then the viewer's screen flickers, and Doctor Z reverts to his Delusion Empire persona, ordering the launch of the giant robot Boomerang Titan. As the Akibarangers and ©Na leave the warehouse before Boomerang Titan destroys it, Doctor Z resurrects Delu-Knight to pilot the giant robot and wreak havoc all over town. Suddenly, Machine Itashar appears and transforms into Itashar Robo before growing into giant size and grabbing the Akibarangers to engage in battle with Boomerang Titan. Knowing that a giant robot battle triggers the flag for the series' ending, AkibaRed destroys Itashar Robo by firing its missiles toward itself. He then offers to be stepped on by Boomerang Titan, but AkibaYellow throws a soda can that sends one of the flying boomerangs back to the mecha, resulting in Boomerang Titan being destroyed by its own weapons. Akiba Red rushes to save Doctor Z before the mecha's severed head falls on him.
As Sayaka and the crowd run to the Akibarangers and surround them to thank them for saving their lives, Doctor Z walks away while the trio make a mad dash away from the crowd, recognizing this as another end-of-series flag. The trio arrive at the café to see Doctor Z and Hiroyo confront each other. Doctor Z asks his daughter for forgiveness, but Hiroyo refuses, seeing this as the end of the series. The trio convince her to come to terms with this end before she runs and embraces her father. Akagi, Mitsuki, and Yumeria then leave the café to face ©Na and her Shatieeks before they join forces in an attempt to destroy a giant "The End" (オワリ Owari) sign. The combatants suddenly see Saburo Hatte off-screen before a hand slaps the viewer's screen shut and AkibaRed yells, "It's not over yet!"
Cast[]
- Nobuo Akagi (赤木 信夫 Akagi Nobuo): Masato Wada (和田 正人 Wada Masato)
- Mitsuki Aoyagi (青柳 美月 Aoyagi Mitsuki): Kyoko Hinami (日南 響子 Hinami Kyōko)
- Yumeria Moegi (萌黄 ゆめりあ Moegi Yumeria): Karin Ogino (荻野 可鈴 Ogino Karin)
- Hiroyo Hakase (葉加瀬 博世 Hakase Hiroyo): Maaya Uchida (内田 真礼 Uchida Maaya)
- Kozukozu Mita (三田 こずこず Mita Kozukozu): Kozue Aikawa (愛川 こずえ Aikawa Kozue)
- ©Na (まるシーな Marushīna): Honoka (穂花)
Tropes and References[]
- As this is the technical finale to Akibaranger, numerous season finale tropes are present.
- The "motivational speech" delivered by the team leader is delivered by Nobuo.
- When Hiroyo nearly gives up on saving their world, she starts crying and Nobuo says that commanders only cry in season finales.
- The "big invasion" finale plot is mentioned by Dr. Z and Delu-Knight, though it is never actually used.
- Delu-Knight requests that the Akibarangers meet him in "the standard abandoned warehouse".
- Sentai final battles are usually fought between the team and the leader of the evil organization/empire. In this case, the Akibarangers try to avoid fighting Delu-Knight.
- Delu-Knight reveals that he's going to return to his fiancée once the fight is over. This is not a common Sentai trope, but a cliche where characters express that they will be visiting a family or lover after one final job, and be subsequently killed before that job was finished. The Akibarangers try to avoid this.
- The giant robo battle is present, with Machine Itashar growing to 50 meters.
- By destroying it themselves, the Akibarangers have played out the trope of sacrificing a Giant Robo for the final battle.
- Delu-Knight being revived to pilot Boomerang Titan is a reference to Goggle-V where defeated monsters are resurrected to pilot a giant robot instead of being grown.
- Delu-Knight references Bounty Hunter Kiaido from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger by injuring his chest to handicap himself against the Akibarangers.
- When Sayaka returns to Akihabara, she mentions the Sun Vulcan movie.
- When Delu-Knight confronts ©Na, he says that his response time is one hundred times faster than the Japanese government in a crisis. It is a reference to the government's slow response in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
- Mio Usagi is played by Julia Nagano, who also portrayed this character on Ryuta Tasaki's "Salvage Mice". Mio's uniform here is the same as in the movie.
- In the movie, Mio performs the same martial arts kata as seen on this episode, Chatanyara Kushanku. The scene in the episode is filmed to resemble the same scene on the movie, with the added leg snapping sound at the end.
- Akiba Red parodies both Jan and Rio's roll calls during this sequence.
Notes[]
- Saburo Hatte, also read as Saburo Yatsude, is a collective penname for Toei's executive producers, used when contributing to Toei's tokusatsu series. This name has appeared throughout the entirety of the Super Sentai franchise, and also on other works such as Metal Heroes.
- While the claim that Saburo Yatsude is the one behind the official Sentai is accurate, he is not the creator of all official Sentai series; Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai, included in the Super Sentai Series retroactively, were created by Shotaro Ishinomori.
- The kanji for Hatte can be literally read as "eight hands", a detail that can seen on the design for Boomerang Titan.
DVD/Blu-ray releases[]
Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Volume 4 features episodes 10-13: Ep. 10: The Bitter Curse of Z ― A New Chapter Begins, Ep. 11: The Replacement is Cool, Not Lame, Ep. 12: Lame-ale: Farewell, Deluded Sentai, and Ep. 13: Recap! It's Okay to Not be Lame!.
