 This article is about an episode in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.
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Don 1: Avataro (あばたろう Abatarō) is the first episode of Avataro Sentai Donbrothers. It features the in-series debut of Don Momotaro and DonZenkaiOh after their previous appearances in episode 42 of Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger, as well as Oni Sister, Kiji Brother, Zenkaizer Black, the Zenkaiger Avataro Gear and Sonoi.
Synopsis[]
21 years ago, a peach-shaped capsule flowed in front of a man. There was a baby in it...
In the present, Haruka Kitou, a high school girl who won the manga award for her debut work "First Love Hero", suddenly comes to a turning point.
She is attacked by a mysterious monster, helped by a mysterious hero, and after putting on mysterious sunglasses, she could see the mysterious world... and she transformed into a mysterious hero "Oni Sister".
What appeared before Haruka was the bright red hero "Don Momotaro" with a flashy peach on his forehead.
Plot[]
In 2001 in Tokyo, a rift appears in the sky. A peach-shaped capsule falls out of it, carrying a baby that floats down across the bay. A jogger passing by, Jin Momoi, sees this and rescues the infant and is in disbelief.
In 2022, aspiring manga artist Haruka Kitou receives the prestigious Zyodansha Manga Award for her manga First Love Hero. She is showered with praise as she is the youngest artist ever to receive the award. After her interviews, Haruka takes a taxi home, but the driver begins acting strange. He then attacks her after turning into Benitsuki. She gets rescued by Sonoi, who arrives in a motorcycle and changes into his monster form to quickly imprisoned the monster with his sword. He reverts to his human form and gives her a flower before departing. Haruka is enchanted by him, proclaiming that heroes are real.
The next day, Haruka goes to school, and her classmates congratulate her for winning the award. However, she is modest and thinks it is not worth fussing over. One classmate, Yoshioka, is not thrilled and even shows anger about her success. But her boyfriend Hitoshi defends her. He says that Haruka's manga has given them hope. After Yoshioka leaves, Hitoshi tells her that Yoshioka has been acting weird lately and quit the table tennis club the previous month. Somewhere outside, Yoshioka is hammering nails on a paddle and filling up with rage as an evil aura begins to surround him.
At a café, Haruka is checking her social media page. Suddenly, a slot machine pop-up appears on her phone. The slots stop on three eyes, and the phone glows, with a pair of floating sunglasses coming out of them. A fourth glowing eye appears, and the sunglasses unexpectedly latch themselves to her face, and she falls over.
Upon examining her surroundings, Haruka sees that the world looks distorted and Anoni (disguising themselves as humans) are present among the humans in the café. One of them notices she can see him and approaches Haruka. She runs out of the café while the café’s master, a man resembling Kaito Goshikida, sees this sitting behind the counter. After coming out of the café, Haruka sees even more bizarre things like buildings, doors, and stairways that are not present in the real world. She stumbles upon a police officer who is also an Anoni. After realizing that Haruka can see him, he walks towards her. Haruka finds an invisible door and goes into it. But after emerging on the other side, she sees that she has somehow reached Shibuya. Haruka sees more Anoni in the crowd, and a mob of them start chasing her after realizing she can see them.
The Anoni corner her, but she suddenly gets catapulted into the air by a panel on the ground. She lands on the top of a building, but the Anoni follow her. A Donblaster appears out of nowhere and fires upward, opening a panel in the sky and transforming Haruka into Oni Sister. Haruka initially freaks out upon seeing her reflection but discovers she has enhanced strength and can fight in this form. She finds an invisible bridge and attempts to retreat by crossing it, but the Anoni smash it. She almost falls before successfully making it across the crumbling bridge. Upon making it to safety, Haruka drops her gun, and its gear dislodges from its slot, reverting her to normal. Then an exhausted Haruka tries to comprehend the earlier situation.
Elsewhere in the city, Taro tries to drop off a package. The customer, Haruo Suzuki, is a grumpy shut-in who refuses to sign for it. Taro forces Haruo to give his signature, proclaiming they have bonded. Haruo throws books at Taro, demanding him to leave his apartment. One of the books is study material for a bar exam, indicating Haruo wishes to be a lawyer. Haruo thinks he is worthless as he has failed the exam multiple times and covers himself with his blanket. He hears noises, and after removing his covers, Haruo sees that Taro had somehow cleaned up his entire apartment in mere seconds. Taro writes the character for 'Victory' (勝利) on a paper at his desk. He encourages Haruo not to give up and places the piece of paper on his forehead. Haruo suddenly feels energized and decides to study for the exam once again. Taro says that he is a bearer of good fortune besides a delivery person and leaves.
Later, a series of misfortunes befall Haruka. Her publisher cancels First Love Hero, revealing its artwork and story as plagiarism of another manga. The original manga's author threatens to take legal action if the studio does not fire Haruka and pull her manga from print.
This event makes national headlines and stains Haruka’s reputation despite her claims of not stealing anyone's art. Her classmates shun her and write a cruel note on the chalkboard. At the same time, her boyfriend Hitoshi's mother forces him to dump her as no good can come from dating a thief.
A sulking Haruka thinks that the mysterious sunglasses somehow caused these events. She tries to get rid of them, but they reattach themselves to her face. She appears in front of a virtual prison containing Jin.
At school, an enraged Yoshioka challenges various opponents to table tennis. He gets more violent with each match and desires more strength and challengers.
Jin informs Haruka that she was chosen to be a warrior with four others. He tells her to search for Taro Momoi, then to bow and pledge loyalty to him. Jin tells Haruka about Taro—a person who never lies. If Haruka finds Taro, he will guide her. This way, she can regain what she lost. Then Haruka returns to her previous location and unknowingly runs into Taro Momoi. However, she does not see his name tag because Taro’s comment about forming a bond with her creeps her out and they part ways. Haruka thinks that the Taro Momoi she is searching for is Sonoi, who saved her from Benitsuki.
Yoshioka continues to rampage as he targets Japanese gold-medalist table tennis player Makoto Kazuga. Haruka’s Don Blaster reappears in front of her, and she gets forcefully transformed into Oni Sister again, teleporting to the scene of the attack. She sees Yoshioka turn into Shisotsuki, who throws giant metal ping pong balls at Makoto and knocks him out. The Anoni appear upon Yoshioka’s desire for more, and Haruka tries to reason with Yoshioka. But he pushes her aside and continues to rampage. Sonoi reappears in front of Haruka, and she swears loyalty to him, misunderstanding him to be Taro Momoi. But he kicks her aside, only caring about Yoshioka’s attack on the city. Sonoi transforms into his monster form and swiftly and coldly imprisoned Yoshioka, much to Haruka’s horror and disgust.
The Anoni push her back, and Tsuyoshi appears at the scene possessing the Don Blaster and pink sunglasses. He is annoyed because Haruka misunderstands him to be Taro as well. Saying this is not the time for it, he changes into Kiji Brother. The two Rangers fight together only to be interrupted by a procession of miko dancers and retainers carrying Don Momotaro on a portable shrine. He proclaims boisterously that his arrival is a ‘festival’ and starts laughing. Everyone stops fighting in bewilderment at such an odd sight. On the other hand, an embarrassed Haruka thinks Don Momotaro is not the Taro she seeks. Don Momotaro rides around in his Enya Rideon and challenges Sonoi to a sword fight contest, eventually driving him back. Sonoi spots Makoto, and after seeing his greed, he changes him into Kishiryuki. He then says that continuing this fight will only taint his sword and leaves. Overwhelmed, Don Momotaro transforms into Zenkaizer, which boosts his firearm prowess and takes out all the Anoni.
Kishiryuki grows into Kishiryuking after Don Momotaro destroys him. Zenkaizer Black appears without being noticed and aids him by forming DonZenkaiOh. After a long battle, including traps and a test of swordplay and wrestling, Don Momotaro finishes off Kishiryuking with the Don Zenkai Crash. After its destruction, the Ryusoulger Sentai Gear exits its body. The black Zenkaiser collects the gear, saying that collecting the Ryusoulger Gear adds one Sentai Gear to his possession and leaves. Makoto emerges unharmed and back to normal. Haruka asks the other two Rangers if they are her comrades. But Kiji Brother says her questions will have to wait as they teleport away to their previous locations. The episode ends with Haruka’s quest to find Taro Momoi proving difficult, mostly because 'Taro' and 'Momoi' are common names in Japan.
Cast[]
- Taro Momoi (桃井 タロウ Momoi Tarō): Kouhei Higuchi (樋口 幸平 Higuchi Kōhei)
- Haruka Kitou (鬼頭 はるか Kitō Haruka): Kohaku Shida (志田 こはく Shida Kohaku)
- Tsuyoshi Kijino (雉野 つよし Kijino Tsuyoshi): Hirofumi Suzuki (鈴木 浩文 Suzuki Hirofumi)
- Kaito Goshikida (五色田 介人 Goshikida Kaito): Kiita Komagine (駒木根 葵汰 Komagine Kiita)
- Jin Momoi (桃井 陣 Momoi Jin): Soko Wada (和田 聰宏 Wada Sōkō)
- Sonoi (ソノイ): Yuya Tominaga (富永 勇也 Tominaga Yūya)
Guest Cast[]
- Makoto Kazuga (春日 誠 Kazuga Makoto)/Kishiryuki (騎士竜鬼)[1]: Masanari Kanou (狩野 絹成 Kanō Masanari)[2]
- Yoshioka (吉岡)/Shisotsuki (シソツ鬼): Yusuke Yatouji (八頭司 悠友 Yatōji Yūsuke)[3]
- Haruo Suzuki (鈴木 春男 Suzuki Haruo): Seiya Ishikawa (石川 晟也 Ishikawa Seiya)
- Reporter: Kota Goto (後藤 公太 Gotō Kōta)
- Hanako Kanemura (金村 花子 Kanemura Hanako): Emi Tanaka (田中 えみ Tanaka Emi)
- Chief Editor: Koichi Yada (矢田 晃一 Yada Kōichi)
- Hitoshi Hanamura (花村 ひとし Hanamura Hitoshi): Kyoya Honda (本田 響矢 Honda Kyōya)
- Student: Honoka Kawasaki (川﨑 帆々花 Kawasaki Honoka)
- Old man: Gan Furukawa (古川 がん Furukawa Gan)
- Model: Miyu Murashima (村島 未悠 Murashima Miyu)
- Woman with a dog: Ayumi Shimozono (下園 愛弓 Shimozono Ayumi)
- Ryo Takagi (髙木 涼 Takagi Ryō): Gamon (我門)
Suit Actors[]
- Don Momotaro: Kosuke Asai (浅井 宏輔 Asai Kōsuke)
- Oni Sister: Ayumi Shimozono (下園 愛弓 Shimozono Ayumi)
- Kiji Brother, Zenkaizer Black: Masashi Takada (高田 将司 Takada Masashi)
- Don Zenkai Gattai DonZenkaiOh (motion capture): Yohei Fujita (藤田 洋平 Fujita Yōhei)
- Transformed Sonoi: Hirotsugu Mori (森 博嗣 Mori Hirotsugu)
- Kishiryuki: Shinsuke Kusano (草野 伸介 Kusano Shinsuke)
- Shisotsuki: Naoya Iguchi (井口 尚哉 Iguchi Naoya)
- Benitsuki: Kenya Saitou (齊藤 謙也 Saitō Kenya)
Form Changes and Collectibles Used[]
Avataro Gears[]
- Don Momotaro - Zenkaiger
- Oni Sister - N/A
- Kiji Brother - N/A
Avatar Changes[]
- Don Momotaro - Zenkaizer
- Oni Sister - N/A
- Kiji Brother - N/A
Sentai Gears[]
- Zenkaizer Black - Zenkai Juran (Kikai side)
Errors[]
Ryusoulger Gear has the wrong symbol
- When the Ryusoulger Gear is ejected from Kishiryuki, the Kikai Side has the Zenkaiger symbol instead of the Ryusoulger symbol.
Notes[]
- Viewership: 4.6%
- As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside Kamen Rider Revice
episode 25, Revive! Vail!? Memories of The Igarashi Family. - Donbrothers sunglasses featured in title card: Red
- Count at episode end
- Gears in the Donbrothers' possession: Zenkaiger, Ryusoulger
- Tsuyoshi is the only Donbrother whose transformation sequence was shown in this episode.
- The capsule that contained Taro as a child bears a striking resemblance to the Don Momotaro Alter's peach form.
- While many shots of DonZenkaiOh were recycled from the mecha's Zenkaiger appearance, the Zenkaizer manifest was altered with Zenkaizer Black's color scheme besides fixing an error where the Donbrothers Sentai Gear in Enya Rideon’s front wheel remains immobile.[4]
- The date shown on the calendar in Cafe Donbura when Haruka first obtains her power is Thursday, February 24.
- The date shown on the news article about Haruka's alleged plagiarism is March 6, 2022, the same as the episode's air date.
- Though he does not appear on-screen until the next episode, the latter part of the episode takes place on Shinichi Saruhara's 21st birthday.
episode 25, 
DVD/Blu-ray Releases[]
- Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Volume 1 features episodes 1-4: Don 1: Avataro, Don 2: Big Peach, Small Peach, Don 3: Light Thief, and Don 4: Onigiri Oni.
- Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Blu-ray COLLECTION 1 comes with 12 episodes (1-12).
External links[]
- TV Asahi's official preview for あばたろう
- Toei TV's official episode guide for あばたろう
- JAE's official episode guide for あばたろう
References[]
Footnotes[]