[TF RyuShin]

This is my first time posting my opinion on a Donbrothers' thread. You see, all of the members of Donbrothers are so lovable in their own way. I love every one of them, from Taro's strict earnestness, Kijino with his relatable daily life, Inuzuka and his weird love and search for Natsumi, Jiro who can be seen as endearing and creepy at the same times and Haruka who I would not argue if anyone say she's your favorite character. Saruhara, on the other hand... He might be my favorite character in this distinct and quirky cast written by Inoue.

I will keep this short because Fish and the others have said it much better. I always feel Saruhara is such an enigma to begin with. If you read the Toei web, they basically compare Saruhara to a cloud who just follows the direction that he was put in. When he is with Haruka, you could see him as a big brother and mentor for the girl and when he is with Taro, there's some kind of slight annoyance that he mildly expresses whenever Taro is against him. In this episode, where he faced his own predecessor, it's always a curious guess to see how he will accommodate himself in the situation. It's not surprising to see that Saruhara acts even more of an adult and mentor to Shirai who is older and a former Saru Brother.

My favorite scene in this episode was when the two of them were talking in the rain and I must applause Shirai's actor to be able to put such a good act in contrast of Saruhara's more carefree attitude. You could just see Shirai has much more weight in his life compared to Saruhara, despite Saruhara is risking his life to fight monsters. One thing that I also love is there's no a single mention of Shirai wanting to get back being Saru Brother, a big contrast during Haruka and Marina's ep back then. I think the message of this ep would be ruined if either Shirai wanted to get back as Saru Brother or something crazy like Saruhara propose to relent his position to Shirai. A simple question from Saruhara of 'Why do you need answer? Why people search for answer?' might be the most impactful line, not just in Donbrothers but in Toku also. I suddenly remembered that one scene in Ultraman Saga where Alien Bat asked why Zero and the other Ultraman always want to protect human. Same can be said for Rider and Super Sentai. And to that point, is an answer really important. There's something beautiful that sometimes some things that's really obvious doesn't really need a clear answer. Just do what you want and what you think is right.

That end scene where Shirai treated Saruhara with an imaginary ramen was the perfect end and a chery on top of a cake. At the start of the series, I always wonder why people refer Saruhara as 'Professor'. After this episode, no wonder people called him like that. Saruhara basically solved someone's life problem even without his power as Saru Brother. You see Professor is not just a simple title. When you are given a huge problem but you can solve it in the best way possible and make it work the best in society, I think someone like that deserves to be called Professor.