HJU was lucky enough to attend the press event of upcoming Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger held over the weekend. The cast and crew were there and we got to see the first episode at a private screening.

The event was closed off to the public and photography was strictly forbidden within the building. Outside we were greeted by the Akibarangers vehicle and mecha, the Itasha Robo.

At the Q&A, the cast explained they don’t want kids to watch Akibaranger as the show is set in the real world and Super Sentai is only a television series, so if the kids see it, it will break the illusion. One of the key points in this show is delusion power and we even see some of Nobuo’s fantasies, hinting this is where the Sentai actors reprise their roles. They stated that both TOEI and Bandai are onboard with the show and happy with the work they’ve done so far that while it does have mature content, it’s very funny for fans of the show and completely respectful to the source material. One of the catchphrases for the series is “Annoyingness is power!“.

Afterwards, we saw the first episode of the show, which was funny and caters for hardcore adult fans, the humour usually routed in references or knock offs to Sentai. Warning, spoilers ahead.

Nobuo(Akiba Red) is a massive Sentai otaku, hoping to get his hand on an 80`s sentai robot toy seen outside a Akihabara hobby shop. He also into anime and works part time as a delivery service and gets recruited to join the Sentai cafe, a coffee shop full of toys, posters and props.

Mizuki(Akiba Blue) is given the job on the spot by the recruiter who owns the Sentai cafe.

In another cafe, there appears to be signs of Magiranger magic and two girls cosplaying as Nai & Mea, the two personalities of Vancuria from Magiranger, who are the monster for this episode.

Nobou brings up points refering to the original Go Ranger show, explaining how things worked there and how they should follow some of those routines as Akibarangers.

During their first henshin, the explosions frighten by Akiba Yellow and Blue, who stumble from shock.

And in a last gag of the episode, the team defeat the monster and wait anxiously for it to grow in giant sized, but it never happens, even though they wait until sunset.

In the preview of episode two, empty streets of Akihabara are shown and the Itasha Robo transforming and the narrator stating that the show still isn’t suitable for kids.

Each person attending the event was given a bag with a stencil picture of the Akibarangers full of flyers, stickers and a mini booklet explaining about the different characters.

Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger premieres on television on 6th April on BS Asahi at 1:30am.