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Icon-donbrothersThis article is about an episode in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.

Don 22: Hellish Road of Manga (じごくマンガみち Jigoku Manga-michi) is the twenty-second episode of Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.

Synopsis[]

The captive Haruka has been forced by Sonoza to make a continuation of her cancelled manga First Love Hero, who inserts his own character into the story. Unable to work creatively under his demands, Haruka seeks out the mangaka who accused her of plagiarism. Meanwhile, Taro makes a delivery to a mansion, whose owner turns into a Hitotsuki with electromagnetic powers!

Plot[]

Haruka recaps her current predicament, that she has been kidnapped by Sonoza for her manga and has him verbally abusing her for her subpar continuation of First Love Hero.

Within the manga story, Haruka Kanata has just transferred to Pitch Black Academy, but a classmate threw a smelly shoe at her. Though she catches it, she is repulsed by its foul odor.

Sonoza is reading the draft pages while Haruka works on more, she narrates that she has been captive for a few days but doesn’t feel like a hostage. She secretly wants to prove herself capable of moving her readers with the stories she writes, so that even the Noto would love them. She then asks her captors name to get aquatinted and asks how the draft is. First Love Hero: New Semester is the continuation of the original story, featuring a new transfer student as the protagonist. Haruka’s new direction gives a shake up to the status quo, as the new student will give an air of mystery to the story.

As Sonoza continues reading, the boy who threw his smelly shoe retrieves it and confesses he also transferred to Pitch Black Academy. Another transfer student who resembles Sonoi arrives, though he is more friendly and a charming ladies man compared to the real one. Tsubasa’s counterpart in the story is a shy and nervous nerdy teen with a weak bladder. Tsuyoshi is the classroom teacher, a slick haired delinquent who tells his students to enjoy their youth.

Sonoza is impressed with how innovative the story is so far, which flatters Haruka, but Sonoza tells her to draw more.

At Café Donbura, Shinichi and Tsuyoshi talk to Jiro, who has reverted back to normal, about what he did as Dangerous Jiro. Jiro is naturally upset about this and apologizes, saying he doesn’t remember a thing after his evil personality took over. Tsuyoshi says that is what troubles them all the most. Taro overhears the conversation and notices Haruka is absent. Kaito says she hasn’t shown up for work the past few days, which concerns Taro.

Shinichi and Tsuyoshi continue their conversation with Jiro, saying that the unpredictability of his split personality is exactly why the team doesn’t trust him. Jiro isn’t exactly sure how he can fix the issue. Shinichi concludes that Jiro is a double edged blade, far too dangerous to be in the Donbrothers.

Taro finds Jiro’s problem interesting and thinks it might be a worthy challenge, his ability to turn on them at any moment would keep the team alert and on their toes. Shinichi is frustrated that his decision to kick Jiro out has been overruled while Jiro shows his gratitude for being allowed to stay on the team.

As the two leave the Café, Taro explains his reasoning for defending Jiro is because both have Don in their hero names, wanting to discover if they are both connected to the mysterious Don Clan. Jiro is excited by the possibility, speculating he might be Taro’s younger brother. While Taro seems to be open to the idea at first, he cannot see a familial resemblance and denies this as fact.

Sonoza looks over the new pages of the manga story, unsure how to feel about them and questioning why all the transfer students are confessing their love to Haruka Kanata and even the homeroom teacher pursues a forbidden love with her. Haruka says it is just how romance manga works, but Sonoza finds that to be a poor attitude for an artist of her caliber to be in. He wants to learn about human emotions across the entire spectrum and First Love Hero is the first true experience of emotion he has ever felt. The new pages are not giving him the same experience or convincing him to feel anything. Sonoza angrily asks if humans even fall in love for no good reason and tears up the pages in rejection, much to Haruka’s shock.

She narrates though that he may be right, she has to try harder as it is her responsibility to help Sonoza understand humans. Haruka thinks her manga could bridge the divide between humanity and the Noto and goes back to the desk to draw new pages.

Elsewhere, Taro has delivered a package to the owner of a large mansion. He tells the man they have now formed a bond and offers to help him with any problems he might have. Goda, the owner of the mansion, is interested in Taro’s proposed assistance and invites him into his home.

Taro is then given a gourmet steak dinner while Goda explains he is absolutely bored with his life. He has made every achievement and obtained everything he possibly could want, even simple pleasures such as a fine meal bore him. To have everything you could ever desire is like having nothing to Goda. Taro cannot really understand that problem, but is asked by Goda to ease his boredom by telling an interesting story about himself. Taro says he isn’t an entertainer and then his brutal honesty comes out, saying Goda might be bored with life because he is in fact a boring person.

Goda is depressed as Taro drives off, asking his butler if he is a boring person. His servant reassures him he is not, but becomes flustered when asked to tell an interesting story. Goda gets angry that he cannot alleviate his boredom and his desire to just feel something other than boredom turns him into Denjiki.

Sonoza reads some new pages, with the plot now being Haruka Kanata is secretly a kaijin hunting magical girl version of Oni Sister. She charges at the monster, only to trip over banana peels it had thrown. Sonoza doesn’t get the wordplay joke that the heroine makes about bananas and why he should laugh about it. Haruka explains that joke used to be very popular and she wanted to homage its use. Sonoza prefers to think she is ripping off someone else’s work and rejects her pages, tearing them up. This makes Haruka cry, as she is suffering creative burnout and is in a slump. She then gets delirious, seeing herself as one of Don Momotaro’s Miko and beating herself up on being a failure.

At a tech company called Goda Digital Holdings, the office workers are attacked by Denjiki, who demands to be told something interesting and if they fail to do so, he will vacuum them into his body.

Haruka is teleported by her DonBlaster, which Sonoza doesn’t notice as he is immersed in reading New First Love Hero by Naoki Shiina.

She arrives at the office transformed and overhears Denjiki shouting about wanting to hear interesting stories. The office worker he is harassing says he heard a story about Heaven from one of his supervisors, which satisfies Denjiki who lets the worker go. Sonoza appears and not knowing Oni Sister is Haruka, transforms into his armor and immediately attacks her. She gets dragged into a small office and they fight until the other Donbrothers show up. Taro wonders where she has been, to which Haruka says it is complicated as she fends off Sonoza. Taro thinks she was slacking off somewhere and then rescues an office worker from Denjiki by blasting him. Haruka is chased by Sonoza while her teammates chase after a fleeing Denjiki.

Haruka later returns to her manga and shows off a finished draft page, Sonoza is perplexed by the changes and sees a character based on himself being beaten up by the main character. Haruka panics as she let the emotions of her battle with Sonoza transfer onto her work and her creative fatigue causes her to briefly go delirious again. Sonoza tears the page up and demands that she tries again. Upon seeing Naoki Shiina’s manga, Haruka makes a request to see him as he is responsible for her creative slump.

Both of them go to a signing of Naoki’s manga, confirming the rumors that he never shows his face upon seeing him wearing a full bunny costume. Haruka confronts Naoki, who immediately runs away from her and a brief chase ensues with Haruka cornering him. Sonoza decides that a contest is needed against manga artists to prove which of them is genuine. Naoki nods silently in agreement to the contest.

Haruka finishes first, with Sonoza reading a story about Haruka Kanata joining the school dance club, meets the beautiful president of the club (who resembles Sononi) and they become friends after the president is mesmerized by her dance vibes. They then become the magical girl hero duo Moody Wave. Sonoza likes the story, but Naoki tries to butter him up by making Haruka’s beef stroganoff. Upon eating it, she discovers Naoki’s tastes exactly like her stroganoff, which angers her as he is now plagiarizing aspects of her life.

At a beach, Denjiki attacks again as the Donbrothers teleport to the location. Denjiki screams as he demands to be told an interesting story, to which Haruka says it is difficult for a person to make stories interesting. Shinichi recites a haiku about shaved ice on a summer date, Denjiki decides to spare Shinichi for the haiku, much to Haruka’s exasperation. Don Momotaro orders the team to Avatar Change, with all of them transforming into the avatars of Fiveman.

Jiro arrives to help, but Shinichi coldly rejects the offer and Tsubasa pushes him into the sand as he will only get in the way. Tsuyoshi tries to call them out on being mean to Jiro, but they are too focused on the Hitotsuki to care. Their mean behavior makes Jiro realize how much the others hate him for what he did. Rather than let this upset him and turn into Dangerous Jiro, he strengthens his resolve and becomes Don Doragoku, fending off Sonoi when he tries to attack Taro.

Meanwhile, the others use their Five Blasters on Denjiki, who summons a surfboard to fly on (emulating the Megaranger’s Cyber Sliders). He proves too fast for the team to shoot at, so Taro uses Five Red’s V-Sword and ducks under Denjiki, slicing the surfboard in half and sending the Hitotsuki flying and crashing into the sand. The Donbrothers then change into their Robotaro forms and use the Frenzied Peach: Blast Party to defeat Denjiki, who changes into Denjiking.

While the main group becomes Don Onitaijin to fight Denjiking, Jiro uses the Kyoryu Gold Avataro Gear to push back and zap Sonoi with the Zander Thunder Slash. Sonoi gives up the fight and leaves through an invisible door. Jiro hopes this victory will help his case to be on the team, but finds everyone is busy with the giant Hitotsuki.

Fired up from her long and frustrating day, Haruka unleashes a powerful barrage of Oni Kicks on Denjiking, who tries to strike Don Onitaijin with an energy whip (copying Galaxy Mega’s Saber Electromagnetic Whip). He then tries to do a knockoff of the Super Galaxy Knuckle attack but Tsuyoshi shoots down the rocket fists with his Kiji Missiles. Don Onitaijin takes to the air and Shinichi unleashes his Continuous Sky Monkey Strike. Taro suggests that they use the Optic Beam attack, firing a quintet of lasers from their eyes to critically weaken Denjiking enough to be finished off by the DonBros Paradise attack.

Upon seeing their victory, Jiro thinks he needs a power like Don Onitaijin to prove himself worthy of being a member of the Donbrothers.

With no clue of what actually happened, Goda returns home believing he had a very interesting dream.

Haruka returns to the room she was being held in, only to find Naoki and Sonoza gone. She sees Naoki’s manuscript and upon reading it, she realizes that she lost the competition. Nevertheless, she narrates she will not let it end like this and will surpass Naoki one day and angrily tosses his manuscript pages. The episode ends with a manga drawing of the final scene.

Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Kentaro Goda (豪田 健太郎 Gōta Kentarō)/Denjiki (電磁鬼 Denjiki): Tet Wada (テット・ワダ Tetto Wada)
  • Butler: Katsumi Nakayama (中山 克己 Nakayama Katsumi)
  • Namiki (並木): Takanori Miyamoto (宮本 剛徳 Miyamoto Takanori)
  • Imamura (今村): Toranosuke Kobayashi (小林 虎之介 Kobayashi Toranosuke)

Suit Actors[]

Form Changes and Collectibles Used[]

Avataro Gears[]

Avatar Changes[]

Errors[]

  • When Sonoi retreats, the camera crew can be seen reflecting off Jiro's helmet.

Notes[]

  • Viewership: 5.1%
  • As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside Kamen Rider ReviceIcon-crosswiki episode 46, Courage to Face Each Other... What Should You Really Protect?Icon-crosswiki
  • Donbrothers sunglasses featured in title card: Yellow
  • Count at episode end
    • Gears in the Donbrothers' possession: Zenkaiger, Ryusoulger, ToQger, Lupinranger, Ohranger, Patranger, Zyuohger, Fiveman, Kiramager, Go-Busters, Gokaiger, Ninninger, Kyuranger, Kyoryuger, Turboranger, Carranger, Zyuranger, Jetman, Go-Onger, Dairanger, Hurricaneger, Shinkenger, Megaranger
File:Donbro 22.jpg
  • Oni Sister takes on an alternate costume that resembles the Toei Magical Girl, Poitrine, from the 1990 Fushigi Comedy Series entry La Belle Fille Masquée Poitrine.
  • Haruka’s Moody Wave idea is a satire of Takara Tomy’s Girls x Heroine series, Miracle Tunes.
  • Tsuyoshi’s fictional manga counterpart is a parody based on delinquent manga characters such as Eikichi Onizuka from Great Teacher Onizuka.
  • The date shown on the calendar in Café Donbura when Jiro talks to the Donbrothers is Sunday, July 31, the same as the episode's airdate.
  • When Goda transforms into Denjiki, the Degitaizer's voice shouting 3, 3, 5 can be heard in allusion to the transformation code for the Megarangers.
  • Tsubasa does not appear untransformed in this episode.
  • When Donbrothers performs their Avatar Change into the Fivemen, Tsubasa says Let's go at once! (一気に行くぜ! Ikki ni ikuze!) which is a reference to Ikki IgarashiIcon-crosswiki's catchphrase, one of the main protagonists in ReviceIcon-crosswiki.
  • The Donbrothers fighting Denjiki as the Fivemen are contrasts to each other, considering the original Fivemen are teachers, while the Megarangers (who Denjiki is based on) are students.
  • This is the only episode to feature all five main Donbrothers transforming into the same team.
    • The Fiveman Avatar Change marks the first time all the Donbrothers transform into all the core members from the Heisei Era.
    • The Donbrothers would do another full team Avatar Change in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers vs. Zenkaiger.
  • This is the first episode to not feature an appearance from Don Murasame since his debut.

DVD/Blu-ray Releases[]

Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Volume 6 features episodes 21-24: Don 21: The Extreme Ramen Path, Don 22: Hellish Road of Manga, Don 23: Dog Becomes a Dog, and Don 24: Son, Trench Coat for Two.

External Links[]

References[]

Footnotes[]


Icon-donbrothers List of Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Episodes
Episodes 1-10
Don 1: AvataroDon 2: Big Peach, Small PeachDon 3: Light ThiefDon 4: Onigiri OniDon 5: Holed Up DogDon 6: Short-Lived PheasantDon 7: Group of TeachersDon 8: Long Hair CaptivityDon 9: Worn Out Taro and RobotaroDon 10: The Rainbow the Oni Saw
Episodes 11-20
Don 11: The Dog Gets SunstrokeDon 12: The Moon Is LyingDon 13: Goodbye TaroDon 14: Substitute JiroDon 15: Welcome Back TaroDon 16: Darkness SwitchDon 17: Light and TsubasaDon 18: A Jawsome StrikeDon 19: Hello GhostDon 20: High Nose Elegy
Episodes 21-30
Don 21: The Extreme Ramen PathDon 22: Hellish Road of MangaDon 23: Dog Becomes a DogDon 24: Son, Trench Coat for TwoDon 25: Hero-WorkerDon 26: Finale Forward Step-OutDon 27: Duel for RealDon 28: Secret's SecretDon 29: Mourning and MurasameDon 30: Juto Hunter
Episodes 31-40
Don 31: Doggie Face RevealDon 32: Duel Part 2Don 33: The Wasshoi BirdDon 34: Natsumi Meets MeDon 35: Origami SongDon 36: Dog Dog BattleDon 37: I and Ni and Za and ShiDon 38: Nonsensical CookingDon 39: Unexpected Button PressingDon 40: Dangerous Love Ride
Episodes 41-50
Don 41: Santa StrugglingDon 42: Off-putting FamilyDon 43: Run Through Time, Run Through the MysteriesDon 44: White Revealed, Black RevealedDon 45: Laughing Village, Rugged VillageDon 46: A Natsumi Night's DreamDon 47: DonNo ConferenceDon 48: 9 DonbroDon 49: Last MemoriesDon Final: We Have Made True Bonds
Movies & Specials
Movies: Avataro Sentai Donbrothers The Movie: New First Love HeroAvataro Sentai Donbrothers vs. ZenkaigerOhsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. Donbrothers
Specials: Avataro Sentai Donbrothers meets Kamen Rider Den-O: Aim for it! The Don-OIcon-crosswikiAvataro Sentai Donbrothers meets SenpaigerAvataro Sentai Donbrothers Spin Off: This is the Donbrothers' Roll Call! The True Form of the Donbrothers!?Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger with DonbrothersBakuryu Sentai Abaranger with DonbrothersAvataro Sentai Donbrothers vs. Avataro Sentai Donburis
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