Trivia / Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger

• Acting for Two:
  • Episode 9 reveals that Hiroyo is Aoi's voice actress, which means in real life, the actress who plays Hiroyo has two roles in the show.
  • Ryuuji Sainei plays both himself and his character from Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger.
• Dawson Casting: Inverted. 24/25-year-old Yuko is played by 16/17-year-old Karin Ogino.
• Exiled from Continuity: With the exception of the "Episode 14" stage show which featured Shinkenger and Goseiger (along with Go-onger), the four most recent Sentai series as of the beginning of each season are never directly shown, with only a few minor references included, rather than specifically calling out their plots and characters (with the exception of AkaRed, who has appeared (though not as part of the story) in his Gokaiger appearance rather than that from Boukenger)- presumably this is to avoid catching the attention of younger kids. This also applies to Goranger and JAKQ, which some have speculated is meant to avoid having to credit Shotaro Ishinomori or deal with his involvement- but again, there have been a few minor references to those shows.
  • Towards the end of Season 2, while not mentioned by name, Kyoryuger was given at least two nods.
• The Merch:
  • Averted, which initially seems surprising, but makes sense considering the nature of the show^note Low budget, different target audience and it's also not an "official" Sentai series.. That said, merchandising does exist, but it is limited to collector-oriented pieces like S.H.Figuarts.
  • The pieces of the Akibarangers' season 1 team cannon are packaged with the Figuarts of their corresponding official ranger, and the pieces of their season 2 bazooka come with the season 2 versions of Akiba Blue and Akiba Yellow.
• No Budget: Compared with other modern Sentai, there's a noticable drop in quality across the board. From the CGI & effects to the monster/mook design to the fight choreography to even the Akibaranger suits themselves. Still doesn't keep the fights from being entertainingly awesome though.
  • May be justified in that the show targets an older demographic, and of course by being an Affectionate Parody.
  • Also consider the time they spend in their suits is more to set up gags and in-suit related humor as opposed to just fighting.
  • Then again, the Akibaranger helmets are much more uniquely detailed (the anime hair would require a more elaborate molding procedure then the standard Super Sentai helmets,) the costumes contain full armor instead of just the usual spandex, and instead of the standard rubber costume, the mecha is done in much more costly CGI, so YMMV on this one. That's why the mecha is only used in episodes 2, 7 and 12.
  • Apparently Blue and Yellow's helmet hair kept breaking off, so they redesigned it for season 2.
• No Export for You: There are official English subtitles for the show, but they're only viewable in Asian countries.
  • So are the SH Figuarts for the show in the US due to license problems (same will happen with Deka Red and Bouken Red), which explains the US release of SH Figuarts Red Hawk (which itself an aversion along with the Web exclusive Black Condor) is missing the Jet Winger part.
• The Other Darrin: The legends fighting side by side with the Akibarangers (Dekaranger, Boukenger and Jetman) in Season 2 Episode 1 all have voiceovers not done by their original actors. The same goes to Tyrannoranger and Dragonranger. Averted with Kibaranger, who uses the original Byakkoshinken voice. Although zig-zagged with Ryuranger: When he's China Red, he's voiced by Tomokazu Seki. Once he's back being himself, he's back to being voiced by Keiichi Wada.
  • Nao Nagasawa is present in the Hurricaneger episode... but she's instead voicing the Monster of the Week (Hadezkin) instead of her usual Hurricane Blue, who is taken over by Akiko Nakagawa (otherwise known as Bomper and Inori Yamabuki/Cure Pine). Also, along with Tomokazu Seki standing in for BOTH Hurricane Red and Kabutoraiger, Takeshi Kusao is also present standing in for BOTH Hurricane Yellow and Kuwagaraiger (and in the previous two episodes, he took in for Dragon Ranger).
• Prop Recycling: The giant robot Malshina is seen piloting in the flashback sequence of episode #2-1 is the same costume that was used for the (human-sized) Drill Cyclops monster from episode #1-11.
  • With very few exceptions, this is the general rule for all MOTW. This is Justified in Season 2, since General Pain is an otaku making his monsters out of kitbashed toys within his own budget.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Mitsuki was replaced by Luna in Season 2, due to scheduling conflicts on Kyoko Hinami's part (she was shooting a movie at the same time as Akiba S2).
• Reality Subtext: Yumeria's monologue over the credits for #8 mentions her coming down with the flu after wearing a skimpy costume; Karin Ogino actually did come down with the flu while filming the show.
• What Could Have Been
  • The series was originally intended to be a Gokaiger spin-off called Kaizoku-ban Sentai Gokaiger (Pirate Copy Sentai Gokaiger).
  • There was a proposal that the team consist of a female red and two males before the genders were reversed.
  • There was a plan to give all three Akibarangers a Super Mode in the second season before this changed to the Aoi-themed Super Akiba Red with Akiba Blue and Yellow receiving minor modifications to their costumes.