Ep. 11: The Replacement is Cool, Not Lame

The Replacement is Cool, Not Lame (二代目はサワヤカ無痛戦士) is the eleventh episode of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger. The episode heavily breaks the fourth wall as it establishes the Akibarangers world as being a television show.

Synopsis
As the Akibarangers bid farewell to Nobuo Akagi, Hakase's half-brother Takuma Tsuzuki takes on the role of Akiba Red. As Nobuo is preparing to leave Akihabara for the United States, he comes to a shocking revelation about their world.

Plot
Shortly after Takuma introduces himself as the new Akiba Red, everyone at Café Himitsukichi bids their farewells to Akagi, who hands his MMZ-01 unit to his replacement before heading off to The Pentagon. Meanwhile, Doctor Z restructures the Stema Otsu Corporation into the Delusion Empire, much to the surprise of Malseena as Delu Knight summons the organization's first Mosoborg, Drill Cyclops. Takuma, Mitsuki and Yumeria - now wearing colored jackets, sortie out to confront Delu Knight and Drill Cyclops, despite their initial concern of triggering Hiroyo's curse with their MMZ-01 units.

Meanwhile, Malseena and a Shatieek are seen walking by a park when Akagi accidentally collides with them. After a brief argument, Malseena explains the change of atmosphere in her organization. Hearing this and thinking of his departure from the Akibarangers, Akagi realizes the events around him are parallel to episode 23 of Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan and deduces that he is inside a TV show. To prove his theory, he folds his Atsugi Base gate pass into a paper plane and throws it off the bridge, only for it to be picked up and thrown back to him by a police forensics agent collecting crime evidence at the river below. Suddenly, an American Secret Service agent and two soldiers appear and open fire at them, killing the Shatieek while Akagi and Malseena run for cover. As they enter a tunnel, Malseena tells Akagi to rejoin his comrades while she uses herself as a shield against the soldiers.

Back in the battle, Hiroyo and Kozkoz upload data on Drill Cyclops' weak point to Akiba Red, who uses it to help his comrades destroy the Mosoborg. The Akibarangers then force Delu Knight to retreat to a car park. There, they meet up with Akagi, who tells them that they are all inside a TV show called Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger. As further proof, he stops an advertisement banner scrolling on the bottom of the viewer's screen while Mitsuki and Yumeria read it aloud. He then points out that Hiroyo's curse and Takuma's appearance are indicators of a mid-season change. Takuma receives a text message from Interpol confirming Akagi's theory and tells everyone and Hiroyo that Akagi is correct. The lights at the café suddenly turn on and Hiroyo's curse disappears. Just as Delu Knight appears to confront his new rival, Takuma hands his MMZ-01 unit back to Akagi before speeding off on his motorcycle, leaving the Executive Director in frustration. At the Delusion Empire headquarters, a wounded Malseena pleads for Doctor Z to return to normal. He does so, but the viewer's screen flickers and he reverts back to his evil self, shooting at her before she leaves his office. Akagi, Mitsuki, and Yumeria return to the café, now pondering on how to deal with the fact that their lives are in a TV show.

Cast

 * Nobuo Akagi: Masato Wada (和田 正人)
 * Mitsuki Aoyagi: Kyoko Hinami (日南 響子)
 * Yumeria Moegi: Karin Ogino (荻野 可鈴)
 * Hiroyo Hakase: Maaya Uchida (内田 真礼)
 * Kozkoz Mita: Kozue Aikawa (愛川 こずえ)
 * ©Na: Honoka (穂花)

Suit actors

 * Akiba Blue: Haruka Oshima (大島 遥)
 * Akiba Yellow: Fusayo Fujita (藤田 房代)
 * Akiba Red (Takuma): Masaki Onishi (大西 雅樹)
 * Delu Knight: Hiroshi Maeda (前田 浩)

Tropes and References

 * During the opening, Hiroyo (as the narrator) states that the opening would be changed the following week.
 * The Akibarangers receive their team jackets, a tradition of Sentai series.
 * Hakase wears the uniform that resembles Commander Aya Odagiri from Choujin Sentai Jetman.
 * Kozkoz also wearing a UAOH suit that belongs to Juri Nijou of OhYellow of Ohranger.
 * There are a few references to Juken Sentai Gekiranger in this episode, notably:
 * The roll call is similar to the Gekirangers, with a phrase followed by a English phrase before the ranger's name. It is also the first time where Yumeria states her ranger name instead of something related to cosplay, as well as the first time since episode 9 that Mitsuki does not do kicks and flips during her roll call. Also, the roll call goes Akiba Red, Akiba Yellow, and Akiba Blue, the same order the Gekirangers did their roll call.
 * As Akiba Red, Takuma Tsuzuki performed the Heart Tiger (ハートタイガー Hāto Taigā?) attack, projecting his energy as a tiger; this is similar to Jan Kandou's "Hou Hou Dan" technique projecting a bullet in the spirit of a tiger; further, he uses the element of "Heart", which is that of Ran Uzaki, completely avoiding any connection to his twin brother.
 * The "Triangle" of Body, Heart and Technique from Gekiranger is likewise used but in a different distribution, with Takuma as "Heart" and the Red, Moegi as "Technique" and the Yellow, and Aoyagi as "Body" and the Blue, avoiding the same Red/Body, Yellow/Heart and Blue/Technique of Gekiranger but still getting the same point across
 * While the role call is similar to that of Gekiranger in reciting a line and attribute, the phrase they say appears on the screen, similar to that of Gaoranger's role call. The "Kagayake!" ("Shine!") call towards the end is the exact same as the call-out for Sun Vulcan
 * The scene where Nobuo bids farewell to the team in the cafe is deliberately composited badly, with Nobuo's shots in the cafe being separate from the rest of the team. When Nobuo and Takuma interact in the shot, it is two shots composited in the middle. This refers to several TV series' styles of patching up video when a character has left the show and no video is usable.

Songs

 * Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger (opening)
 * Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan
 * Wakasa wa Plasma
 * 1 Tasu 2 Tasu Sun Vulcan
 * Ashita wa Akiba no Kaze ga Fuku (ending)

DVD/Blu-ray releases
Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Volume 4 features episodes 10-13: Ep. 10: The Bitter Curse of Z ― A New Chapter Begins, ''Ep. 11: The Replacement is Cool, Not Lame, Ep. 12: Lame-ale: Farewell, Deluded Sentai, and Ep. 13: Recap! It's Okay to Not be Lame!''.