[Fish Sandwich]

I don't know what's going on, but I know I love it!

...is about the sum of my opinion of this episode. Like, I watched this thing once, and realized I couldn't even begin to process my feelings well enough to write about them, so what else was I to do besides just watch it a second time right then and there? It's not often I give a toku show an immediate encore like this!

It's not even because it was confusing. The thing is, the broad strokes of this episode are incredibly easy to follow. There's a really densely packed script that's also supported by fantastic direction, so clarity isn't actually an issue at all. All the things I don't understand yet are the things I'm not supposed to understand just yet, because this show expects me back the next week, and I will gladly be there. You've got Shinichirou Shirakura, Toshiki Inoue, and Ryuuta Tasaki all cooking up what looks to be another amazing series together, for the first time in a very long while, and there's no way I'm missing out on this ride.

Tasaki's direction helps a lot, first of all. I really don't think that can be overstated. He's always been great at subtly guiding the viewer through the story with how he sets up the visuals, and it lends a lot of flow to keep the chaos from feeling more out of control that it's meant to be. And he always puts care into the tiniest little places, too. I love how the very first shot of the series has the sunglasses the timestamp is written on actually show the, uh, "Nouto Layer", is apparently what it's called? (Is that even how we're romanizing the bad guys' name? I don't know any of this stuff for sure yet.) At any rate, that whole hidden world idea is obviously at the core of the series, so seeing it slyly established right at the earliest possible point is just cool. It honestly becomes sort of frustrating how good Tasaki is at what he does, when I'm trying to break it down, because I could seriously sit here taking random shots and explaining how nicely they're conveying whatever they're going for, but you know, a picture is worth a thousand words. His stuff is both stylish and functional, and it's a huge boon to Donbrothers to have him as the main director.

Plus, of course, the whole visual identity of this show is also rather neat in ways that are the exact opposite of subtle. The whole episode is extraordinarily colorful even by the standards of a franchise defined by color, and the virtual aesthetic works to push things in ways you wouldn't see in any other show. I really think it worked out great. I know there are going to be tons of complaints about Kiji Brother (and Inu Brother soon enough), but honestly, even though he is decidedly the weak link here, I don't even mind him. The show has already won me over enough where I can look at that as a fun experiment continuing on from Zenryoku Zenkai-Oh, and unlike in Zenkaiger, this gimmick is baked into Donbrothers from the start. Plus, on the subject of CG mecha, the Don Zenkai-Oh fight genuinely looked quite nice throughout, which was surprising to me.

And then there's the reason a lot of us are either excited for or maybe dreading Donbrothers, which is the matter of who's writing the scripts. But man, I gotta say, I love the energy Inoue is bringing to this show already. Plenty of Sentai focus on a single character in the premiere to keep things focused, but I mean, for starters, it's not even the Red who's put in the spotlight here. No, instead the episode dedicates almost its entirety to following Haruka along, and making sure we as the viewers get who she is, and can identify with her as we're all drawn into this insane world together, and it helps immensely in setting the tone. I think it's notable how little she's actually told here about why she's now a superhero. The only exposition she gets is "go find the Red guy", which she does her best at, comically throwing herself at every lead except the correct one, but she's given space to kind of determine for herself why she's involved in everything. Having Haruka quickly assume one of the bad guys is actually a hero was a particularly brilliant touch. I can only sort of define why, but like, to narrow it down to two things, it 1)plays nicely off what seems to be the Nouto's gimmick of looking oddly gallant and clearly believing themselves to be righteous, and 2)it's just a neat, compact arc for Haruka to have in the premiere, realizing how mistaken she was. That little bit of her noticing that paddle still on the ground at the end and being sad, that adds so so much to the story. I like the idea that the loss of a single person is set up as a motivation for her fighting, instead of somebody telling her the whole world is in danger or whatever. It's a nicely small moment for a show that's otherwise going big in every way it can.

I don't know. My brain is still a little fried, so I'm probably getting very disjointed and rambly, but I adored how everything plays out here. There's a strong backbone to the plot, but also these completely insignificant minor things Inoue makes to room to establish and then pay off, such as Haruka's mama's boy boyfriend. I dig how much there is to dig into, even from bit characters. Shows like that end up being loads of fun in the long-run, and great for rewatching. (Maybe helps explain why I'm already getting a headstart on that!)

Oh, and speaking of characters getting established, Don Momotaro is owning every moment he's on-screen, transformed or not. From the previews and stuff, I ended up getting extremely excited about his character when I realized he's basically going to be the usual "fireball Red" as only Inoue could write one, and he's living up to that so far. I mean, he delivers happiness. You've gotta love that kind of confidence! Plus, his suit actor is Kousuke Asai, who I maintain is second only to Seiji Takaiwa when it comes to being expressive. So again, in and out of suit, Tarou is a delight already. It's impressive how much character Inoue managed to convey from him already despite giving him relatively little screentime. The whole "can't tell a lie" description also seems thematically relevant to the hidden world shtick, so it'll be neat seeing how that plays out. Really looking forward to seeing more of this dude.

And I'm looking forward to seeing more of this show, clearly! I was hoping for something that felt totally new and fresh, and I'm getting that so far. I'll be as direct as possible here: I was more hyped for Donbrothers prior to it airing than I have been for at least the last few Sentai, including Zenkaiger. A lot of the announcements were rather enticing, and I was pretty much sold for good the first time I heard that catchy theme song. Something tells me this is one bond* I'm going to be glad I made.

*I don't know if this is how people are going to be translating Tarou's use of 縁 yet either, but hopefully this joke is still clear enough!