Mini Review - S.H. Figuarts AkibaRed, AkibaBlue, and AkibaYellow (Season 1 Akibaranger)
I'm not the most knowledgeable about Sentai shows but I've always been fascinated by their costume designs and slightly cheesy, over the top fight scenes. I've never been able to convince myself to fully commit to watching any of the shows outside of various clips here and there but when I stumbled upon Akibaranger, a self concious parody of the Sentai genre and its fans, I knew I struck gold for a Sentai wannabe fan like myself. It's silly and ridiculous in the same way the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Technically my first exposure to the Sentai genre even if it was the North American version) was for me as a child. The show exists in a universe where Sentai heroes are simultaneously TV super heroes and real heroes fighting the evils of the world.
The show revolves around Nobuo Akagi aka AkibaRed, an obsessive fan of Sentai and Manga. An Otaku in every sense of the word, Nobou dreams of one day being the leader of his own Sentai team and is granted that wish when he becomes AkibaRed! Together with the Martial Arts expert in training Mitsuki Aoyagi (AkibaBlue) and Cosplay idol Yumeria Moegi (AkibaYellow) they fight evil as Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger (Unofficial Sentai Squadron Akibaranger). The AkibaRangers fight evil using the power of their own delusions and hope one day to be recognized as an official Sentai team and receive a TV adaptation and merchandise.
Bandai has produced the Akibaranger Team in their S.H. Figuarts line and I found them to be a fun little team. My only real complaint is a lack of a bicep swivel that hinders some more action related poses and can make some poses look a little stiff. The packages are a little light on accessories as the teams super weapons were packaged with other Sentai figures from different series in order to promote a cross buy of other lines. If I could ask for a bit more to be included it would have been both versions of the Moe Moe Z Cune weapon and more expressive hands, pointing, peace sign, etc. All in all for the price I paid of around $20 a figure I can't complain about the final product as it is mostly up to par with other S.H. Figuarts offerings from the same release period.
