Akibaranger Season 2 Event Report: More Guest Rangers

Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger, which originally aired from April to June 2012, was confirmed to return for a second season, retaining the spirit of the first while introducing several changes. A fan report from a series event described the proceedings: it opened with the three heroes already transformed, posing to a new theme song titled “Akibaranger Season Two,” performed by Haruko Momoi, Yukio Yamagata, and MoJo, which appeared to reference Bandai directly. A reworked edit of the second teaser video followed, covering a portion of the first episode.

The cast then appeared alongside returning director Ryuta Tasaki. One detail drew particular attention: the new Blue ranger’s name, initially assumed to be Mitsuki Iwashimizu based on the kanji shown, is actually read as Luna, despite sharing the same characters as the original Blue, Mitsuki.

According to the cast, roughly nine months have passed since the defeat of the villainous Stema Otsu Corporation. Akagi has returned to his unglamorous life as a deliveryman when he discovers that the team’s makeshift MMZ-01 device is now being sold as an official toy, the DX AkibaLaser, raising the question of whether the Akibarangers have unknowingly become official heroes. Luna Iwashimizu, an aspiring idol, joins as the new Blue, while Yumeria returns as Yellow, no longer working as a businesswoman. The new villain, General Two, played by Ryo Horikawa, leads an empire whose name combines villain organizations from Bioman, Jetman, Livema, Flashman, Maskman, and Dynaman. A self-described Sentai villain fanboy, General Two bases his look on Dynaman’s General Kar and creates monster figures that he sends into the Delusion World; the returning villain Malshina was also reported to have joined his organization.