*Season 2 Episode 9*
We start this episode with Pain making this week’s new monster and laughing evilly because evil. The Akiba gang is out looking for Pain with the business card they got last episode. He works at the Ushirozawa Dental Clinic as the Chief Dental Technician and his real name is Ushirozawa Tsuguo. Looking around his room, they activate a trap telling them to go down to the basement. Pain is waiting with a huge Deluimport pad. The Akibas get tricked on to it and teleported away. They are not in the normal Delusional World but in Pain’s Delusion World. Pain gives them a Shinkenger script Act 22 and a half The Bathing Suit Beauty of Hana Island, Nobuo has to read this because of perv reasons. The mere thought from Nobuo gave the Akibas some embarrassing swim suits and in the real world the café customers are now all in swimsuits. In this world, the gang can’t transform.
They are then given a Go-onger script Grand Prix 33 1/2 Gold Green Wedding, Yuko wants to read it as she’s into that. She just can’t resist opening it. This puts the girls in wedding dresses and Nobuo into a suit. This is because in an official Sentai series right after a new character or a movie there’ll be episodes where brides are being targeted, so one of the heroines has to put on a wedding dress as bait or, as the script title hints at, it would have been Go-on Green as they liked putting him in dresses. Nobuo’s lips are moving on their own and they try to kiss the girls, but he gets cake thrown at him. Cake or a kiss is a hard choice. This is also happening to the guys at the café, poor Hakase and KozKoz. They can’t eject from the delusion either.
Pain throws another script at them for Bioman 46.5 “Run Through the Southern Island?” He then challenges them to a mini marathon. Luna races for their side and wins the Honolulu Marathon. This week’s monster is also a reference to Bioman, Mecha Gigan Coelacanth Canth appears. The Akibas summon Itasha and can transform now because Pain allowed it. Pain’s plan was to have them run though the Sentai calendar milestones. Now in this delusion world it is the time when a Sentai team is weakest, two weeks before Christmas, where the team gets defeat so they can introduce a new robot to sell to the kids. Itasha Robo gets destroyed.
The Akibas run away to avoid the Mech Gigan but run into a controlled Malshina, who was freed with the spell of reincarnation, and now she’s as powerful as Wolzard from Magiranger. They try to summon the penultimate bazooka but the official heroes get changed into evil commanders. Malshina uses them for the Dark Penultimate Cannon. Hakase sends new Itasha, it is a RC car as that’s all Hakase could afford. The new robo is Itasha Boy named after similar mechas like Tetra Boy and Liner Boy. It may be small but easily defeats the Mecha Gigan. In the real world, Hakase in pain from the scorpion mark she had in season 1. The Akibas awaken from the delusion and Pain is on the floor passed out. The hospital guy is starting to feeling better. KozKoz’s actor does a cover of Hot Hot Gao Muscle from Gaoranger for the ending theme.
GRADE
In terms of references this show does very well from just the script titles, even mentioning Go-On Green’s cross-dressing to Itasha Boy’s name. I would have liked the official heroes turning into commanders from their own series instead of non-connected bad guys. The story is seeming to connect strongly to the first seasonm which does make it seem a little predictable but after the turns they had in the past anything can happen. While the story doesn’t feel as original as the first season there is some great potential for the next few episodes. 4/5