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Avatarou Sentai Donbrothers New First Love Hero and Post-Season Review


In preparation for King-Ohger tomorrow, I'm watching the Summer Movies and associated spin-off today!

This will also be my thoughts on Donbrothers overall.

Starting with New First Love Hero, it's pretty much what I'd expect from a Sentai Summer Movie written by Inoue. Jetman didn't have one, so this is the first time seeing something like that. It's ridiculous, but I love it.

Ninpuuki is basically Niram from Geats. He's an eccentric movie director who's all about the "Reality". And honestly, I kind of ended up agreeing with his weird vision. Sonoi and Sononi did a good job portraying the two leads at their most basic. But that's all they were, basic, cliche, too perfect, the kind of 2D performance that Sonoza would rip up.

Whereas, Tarou and Kitou as the two leads? They're terrible actors. But damn, they're amazing to watch and their improvisation is crazy! The way Tarou does all those gestures like he's a kabuki or something. The way Kitou exaggerates her lines so awkwardly. Sonoza makes a great zombie lord as well. I'm not surprised the movie bombed with the test audience in the post-credits, but I can't even be mad that it bombed so spectacularly. If it wasn't canceled, it probably would've become a cult classic and source of memes.

Oh, Kaori's actress is here, giving Tarou and Kitou some corn that may or may not have been grown on Raita's farm! Inoue shows up at the award ceremony as well!

Moving on to the main show, I guess I'll start with the final arc, since I haven't talked about that at all yet.

One of my few complaints about the show has always been the lack of focus on Saruhara, a character with so much potential. So I was actually surprised that he had this little rivalry-turned-friendship with Sonoi in Episode 48.

Those two Blues have an intriguing dynamic. Saruhara asserts his role as the SIC trying to hold these crazy people together in Tarou's absence and doesn't trust these interim Donbrothers to get the job done. While Sonoi feels like he has the closest relationship with Tarou and wants to honor him. They're both proud and stubborn, but they eventually learn to respect and trust each other enough to complete the mission. I appreciated that, with Saruhara finally getting his own bond with a Noto that he wanted. Better late than never.

The Kijino/Miho/Natsumi/Inuzuka/Sononi love triangle is a season highlight for sure. I wasn't sure if Miho was really dead when her body passed through the moon portal, but yeah, looks like she's dead.

After Inuzuka's year-long quest to spring Natsumi from the Jyuto Forest and all his Romeo-like melodramatic lines about how much he loves her and cannot love anybody else ever, it ends in a similar way that Gai/Kaori did, with both parties realizing that Inuzuka's need for secrecy and Natsumi's need for honesty are too much of a barrier for their relationship to survive.

For all Kijino's less-than-heroic inclinations, he did see the error of his ways in the end and try to move on in a healthy way. So, if he does want to accept Natsumi's offer of continuing that dream as a new reality with her, then sure, I'll approve of that ship. Even if illusions are false, the feelings experienced through them can be just as real as anything else.

Overall, I loved watching Donbrothers for year, as it relentlessly subverted and deconstructed all the tropes that are so common to this franchise and delivered on all the exaggerated comedy and suspenseful soap opera drama that makes Inoue such a perpetually polarizing love or hate kind of writer. Tarou/Sonoi, Kijino/Miho, Inuzuka/Natsumi, so many exciting ships that were put to the test of human flaws. I used to suggest Inoue for new Sentai with the expectation that it would never happen, so however this show turned out, I was glad for him to return to the franchise and hope to see him return once more someday.

Now that there's enough entries, here's my first ever Reiwa Sentai Ranking:

1) Zenkaiger
2) Donbrothers
3) Kiramager

I like Kiramager BTW, but seriously, I think Sentai has been super competitive and high quality recently, at least since Ryusoulger. Can King-Ohger full force full power rise to the king of this ranking above Zenkaiger? We'll find out next year!