[Sh Ranger]

It's humorous how Kaito is like Inoue's self-insert, with his "no explanation, no problem!" approach to anything that doesn't serve the complex human drama.

There's a nice parallel between Tarou and Zyudenki. Both of them are arrogant (to the point where Tarou even criticizes Saruhara's arrogance, projecting much?) and push people away, but this comes from a feeling of loneliness. It's a clever deconstruction of the Mary Sue type Reds like King from Kyoryuger, showing that a good leader isn't the strongest, but the one who puts their trust in their teammates. Tarou may not be at the point where he can admit this yet, but the way he calls everybody fools seems like overcompensation. Tarou can't lie, but maybe he can deceive.

Saruhara takes the role of SIC here, befitting his cool personality as he stands up for his teammates by forcing Tarou to confront his own weakness, resulting in a confused Inubrother and Don Momotarou being attacked by all the Noto, who just learned that he's related to the Don Clan that devastated their world. Saruhara is also the first to Morph after realizing Don Momotarou needs their help.

However, it might be a few episodes before we can see more of Tarou's development, now that he's been killed. I mean, we've already seen him die twice before, but this time there isn't even a body! I previously brought up the similarity between Tarou's and Sonoi's friendship and Takumi's and Kiba's friendship, so upon seeing the trailer for this episode, I knew it was going to be something tragic. I do think it's good timing how Don Onitaijin, which debuted last episode, ended up being Don Momotarou's critical weakness that Sonoi exploits to destroy him. It makes sense that Don Robotarou being the center of the Gattai would be the one who takes the most strain and it's symbolic of Tarou as well, with how he takes all the responsibility on himself due to his lack of trust in his companions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vproject

Also, Kaito seems to have some hosting experience in the past.

In Japan, the customer is "God", no matter how obnoxious that customer may be! Kaito's doing what he must as the Master to ensure the satisfaction of his patrons and encourage their return.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

Has it been explained why Tarou's personality shifts so drastically when transformed? Like, the stark contrast to how he speaks to Sonoi when untransformed, despite just learning of his identity, compared to how he acts while morphed is so jarring.

No, but I imagine Tarou uses his Avatarou as a way to vent his frustrations about humanity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Man, Donbrothers......

-The Don Family loredump, it's super interesting. Since Dragoku also shares the Don title, they're related? (I've heard Taro can be used as kind of an suffix to denote the eldest son, and it seems like our new friend's name is commonly used for second sons, so...)

Good point about the possibility of Jirou being the second son, the "ji" in his name is often the kanji for 2, as it is in Igarashi Daiji. Although we know Tarou and Jirou are both spelled in katakana, the meaning might still be implied. Wouldn't be the first time that the Red and Sixth were brothers, since it previously happened in Zyuranger, Kyoryuger Brave and PR Ninja Steel. However, if your speculation is correct, this would be the first time that the Sixth is the younger brother.