[Fish Sandwich]

Tarou has a habit of smiling in this very particular manner, where he raises just the one side of his mouth in a way that makes his joy look like something the people around him should be scared by, and that's... well, I suppose it's just one of the seemingly limitless number of reasons the characterization in Donbrothers is so consistently exceptional.

This episode is just great. You've got it starting off with the promise of a cool new supervillain(?) for the heroes to fight, and then that entire notion just gets completely ignored right up until the last five minutes of the episode so we can focus on some unrelated nonsense instead. And that's just this show knowing how to play to its strengths! Don Murasame can be as cool as possible, and it still won't matter, because no amount of action is going to leave as much of an impression as Haruka's melodramatic determination to get one over on Tarou set to cartoonishly exaggerated storm clouds. Or Shinichi's paintball assassination attempt on Tarou. Or Tsuyoshi's comically optimistic expectations of how Tarou will react when he tries to steal his food.

Or heck, we've got Sonoi to talk about here again, too! Him and Tarou are just straight up frenemies at this point, aren't they? There was a thought that occurred to me this time, listening to Sonoi's dialogue about how both the Nouto and Tarou value humanity. While the relationship between Tarou and Sonoi in particular recalls Inoue's work on Faiz, I've only just realized how much the overall dynamic of the Nouto resembles the antagonists in Kamen Rider Agito, and Shirakura's whole thing from that era of shows he produced that made a point to question what justice is. I'm sure there's some very interesting thematic stuff that could be pulled out of further analyzing that connection, especially depending on how Donbrothers plays out from here, but like, right now? It's so hard to do anything besides just sit there grinning at how much fun it is watching these two rivals compete in a way that only proves how strangely harmonious their relationship is for alleged mortal enemies. Like pretty much everything else here, it's both a delightful series of wacky events, and also totally informed by all the odd yet entirely human emotions that drive this cast.

And as always, that's what really makes it all land so well -- how grounded that insanity is in the consistency of the protagonists. That scene with Haruka is maybe my favorite in the episode. (To nobody's surprise, I'm sure.) It's exemplifying everything I loved about the episode all at once. For one thing, I felt Satoshi Morota's direction was exceptional, and that completely absurd thunderstorm is the perfect thing to point to while explaining why. The visuals throughout have a habit of getting exaggerated in the same way the writing always is, which makes them a perfect fit, keeping the mood super clear even as the story swings wildly from heightened emotion to heightened emotion. And again, nowhere is that more apparent than in the sudden shift to the heavenly glow of Haruka imagining her plan to pretend to be an angel instead of a demon, followed by the neutral reality of the situation, where's she kinda both. It's a sequence that's only around two minutes long, and it packs so, so many different things in there. And this is far from the only sequence in this episode that plays out like its own beautiful little short film.

By the time Don Murasame actually does factor back into the plot, it's like I'm so satisfied by the resolution, with Tarou showing his vulnerable side in a big way and everyone refusing to take advantage of that, that it's hard to imagine there's room left for this new character to make an impression. And I guess if I'm being totally honest with myself, this one didn't make me any more curious what Don Murasame's deal is? I'm interested in where that plot thread is going and everything, but not any more than I was after the cliffhanger last week. It was mostly just neat to see Don Momotaro Alter again. (I'm still holding out hope for Don Zenkai-Oh's return!) So I guess if this episode needs a flaw, that's maybe it, but if you're on the same wavelength I am with Donbrothers, that probably won't sound like much of one.