Ep. 12: Lame-ale: Farewell, Deluded Sentai

Lame-ale: Farewell, Deluded Sentai (二最痛回　さらば妄想戦隊) is the twelfth episode of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger. Though it is not the official finale, the tropes in the episode mirror that of a official Sentai finale.

Synopsis
With Nobuo's discovery that their world is in fact a television show, the Akibarangers must subvert the final episode tropes to prevent the end of their world.

Plot
After much deliberation, everyone at Café Himitsukichi concludes that the true mastermind behind the manipulation of their reality is Saburo Hatte, the pen name synonymous with every Super Sentai series. In an attempt to keep their universe existent, they create sub-plots of their own, such as Yumeria creating a relationship with Kozkoz and Mitsuki introducing her undefeated high school rival; these plots, however, quickly become resolved once they are introduced, by way of Kozkoz returning Yumeria's feelings and Mitsuki's rival showing up with a broken leg, meaning they will be unable to settle their feud. Akagi then attempts to deepen his relationship sub-plot with Sayaka, but she brings closure to it by revealing to be a Super Sentai fan herself. Meanwhile, at Delusion Empire headquarters, Doctor Z is doing diagnostics work on Delu Knight when he is suddenly knocked out by ©Na. She then attempts to kill Delu Knight in his sleep, but he awakens and grabs her gun, announcing himself as the new leader of the Delusion Empire before gunning down ©Na and Doctor Z.

He then takes Sayaka hostage and calls Akagi out to come rescue her, despite Akagi suspecting this as a plot trap set by Saburo Hatte. The Akibarangers succeed in rescuing Sayaka before they face Delu Knight at an abandoned warehouse. During the battle, Delu Knight tells the Akibarangers that Doctor Z and ©Na have both been sent to hell. Seeing this as an attempt by Saburo Hatte to end the series, the trio cover their ears while Delu Knight speaks. Demanding a final battle with Akiba Red, Delu Knight takes his sword and damages his own chest armor, in order to give himself a handicap. After the Akibarangers refuse to fight him, he charges at them, only to be shot in the chest by Doctor Z and ©Na, who reveal that ©Na's gun only works on monsters. The duo then tell the Akibarangers that their battle is not over until Doctor Z converts the citizens of Akihabara with his own ideals.

Then the viewer's screen flickers, and Doctor Z reverts to his Delusion Empire persona, ordering the launch of the giant robot Boomerang Titan. As the Akibarangers and ©Na leave the warehouse before Boomerang Titan destroys it, Doctor Z resurrects Delu Knight to pilot the giant robot and wreak havoc all over town. Suddenly, Machine Itashar appears and transforms into Itashar Robo before growing into giant size and grabbing the Akibarangers to engage in battle with Boomerang Titan. Knowing that a giant robot battle triggers the flag for the series' ending, Akiba Red destroys Itashar Robo by firing its missiles toward itself. He then offers to be stepped on by Boomerang Titan, but Akiba Yellow throws a soda can that sends one of the flying boomerangs back to the mecha, resulting in Boomerang Titan being destroyed by its own weapons. Akiba Red rushes to save Doctor Z before the mecha's severed head falls on him.

As Sayaka and the crowd run to the Akibarangers and surround them to thank them for saving their lives, Doctor Z walks away while the trio make a mad dash away from the crowd, recognizing this as another end-of-series flag. The trio arrive at the café to see Doctor Z and Hiroyo confront each other. Doctor Z asks his daughter for forgiveness, but Hiroyo refuses, seeing this as the end of the series. The trio convince her to come to terms with this end before she runs and embraces her father. Akagi, Mitsuki, and Yumeria then leave the café to face ©Na and her Shatieeks before they join forces in an attempt to destroy a giant "The End" (オワリ) sign. The combatants suddenly see Saburo Hatte off-screen before a hand slaps the viewer's screen shut and Akiba Red yells, "It's not over yet!"

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)

Tropes and References

 * As this is the technical finale to Akibaranger, numerous season finale tropes are present.
 * The "motivational speech" delivered by the team leader is delivered by Nobuo
 * When Hiroyo nearly gives up on saving their world, she starts crying, and Nobuo says that commanders only cry in season finales.
 * The "big invasion" finale plot is mentioned by Dr. Z and Delu-Knight, though it is never actually used.
 * Delu-Knight requests that the Akibarangers meet him in "the standard abandoned warehouse"
 * Sentai final battles are usually fought between the team and the boss of the evil organization/empire. In this case, the Akibarangers try to avoid fighting Delu-Knight.
 * Delu-Knight also reveals that he's going to return to his fiancée once the fight is over. This is not a common Sentai trope, but present in various series whereas many characters expressing that they will be visiting a family/lover/relative after one final job, they would be killed before that final job was finished. Obviously, the Akibarangers try to avoid this.
 * The giant robo battle is also present, with Machine Itashar somehow growing to 50 meters.
 * By destroying it themselves, they have played out the trope of sacrificing a Giant Robo for the final battle, albeit differently.
 * The throng of civilians in pain before the sentai, as well as their running up and thanking the Sentai for saving them is present.
 * Delu-Knight being revived to pilot Boomerang Titan is a clear reference to Goggle-V where defeated monsters are resurrected to pilot a giant robot, instead of being grown.
 * It is also a connection to Bio Hunter Silva, who Nobuo previously compared with Delu-Knight. In Bioman, Silva piloted his own giant robot which was called Balzion.
 * Delu-Knight also references Bounty Hunter Kiaido from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger by injuring his chest to handicap himself against the Akibarangers.
 * When Sayaka returns to Akihabara, she mentions the Sun Vulcan movie.
 * When Delu-Knight confronts ©Na, he says that his response time is one hundred times faster than the Japanese government in a crisis. It is a reference to the government's slow response in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
 * Usagi Mio is played by Nagano Julia, who also portrayed this character on Ryuta Tasaki's "Salvage Mice". Mio's uniform here is the same as in the movie.
 * In the movie, Mio performs the same martial arts kata as seen on this episode, Chatanyara Kushanku. The scene in the episode is filmed to resemble the same scene on the movie, with the added leg snapping sound at the end. You can see a sharper version of this kata here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CcRRswlG5g
 * The fateful battle referred by Akagi is probably episode 45 of Gekiranger, "Pikin! Showdown of Destiny", where long-time rivals Jan/GekiRed and Black Lion Rio have their 'destined battle' before the events of the finale.
 * Akiba Red parodies both Jan and Rio's roll calls during this sequence.
 * Yumeria talks on her rolecall about the second cour of a regular Sentai show, which is often where the main team gets their powerups. The Akibarangers did end up getting a second cour, albeit a year later, and Nobuo will receive an upgrade.

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!''.