Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger

[http://www.otakunovideo.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Akibaranger-300x154.png|300x154px|Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger] Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger

Japan has a long tradition of "sentai" shows, which we in America got a taste of with the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

What's important to remember is that Japanese viewers remember sentai shows with the same fondness we reserve for the shows of our youth.

Enter Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger, in which the same studio that makes those shows produces a parody of them.

And boy, what a parody.

A taste: the heroes are otaku hired by a mysterious organization, who transform with the aid of a cute girl figurine--that transforms into a gun--and by shouting "Grand Delusion!" They then enter a delusional world where they fight as suited rangers...but in the real world, they're standing in the middle of a sidewalk, miming all the jumps and attacks while amused crowds watch. One villain wants to spread host clubs throughout the otaku-focused Akihabara, at which point the hero shouts proudly, "Akihabara is a place for those with no romantic skills!"

The show also throws a lot of anime jokes at the audience: there are at least two Gundam references, and one villain is trying to "rid Akihabara of the infestation of moe." Every side character and even trivial characters like security guards are played by famous voice actors or sentai actors.

Even better, since this is produced by Toei, it's got all the martial arts and special effects of a full-scale sentai show. (They even parody their lack of effects outside of this, but I won't spoil that.)

However postmodern or however much of a parody you can imagine a show being, Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger is more postmodern than that. Wow. Much of the show's joy comes from experiencing the parody within the plot twists, so I won't spoil them. Suffice to say they stunned me, and I frequently had to pause the video because I was laughing so hard I couldn't pay attention.'' ''

I've seen only bits and pieces of sentai shows, besides a few episodes of Power Rangers, so the fact that the show blew me away, and I finished watching it in under a week, is impressive enough.

The first season is available via torrents (note that the final episode is a clip show, and yes, that's a parody as well), and the second season is coming soon.