 This article is about an episode in Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.
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Don 9: Worn Out Taro and Robotaro (ぼろたろうとロボタロウ Borotarō to Robotarō) is the ninth episode of Avataro Sentai Donbrothers. It features the debut of Don Robotaro and Kaito's first on-screen transformation into Zenkaizer Black. The Juto makes a cameo appearance as an evil spirit.
Synopsis[]
Taro Momoi, who came to deliver to Café Donbura, collapses with a staggering gait. Meanwhile, a special demon appears in the city. Donbrothers responds, but Don Momotaro has no energy and is easily blown away. Haruka and Shinichi, who thought that Taro's appearance was not the only thing, decided to talk to Jin Momoi. In order to cure Taro's illness, Haruka and Shinichi decided to make something based on the recipe.
Plot[]
As the recap of last episode shows a montage of Don Momotaro’s strength, Haruka narrates that she admits he is overwhelmingly powerful… but people who have some weaknesses can be more endearing. She wonders if she is the only one who thinks that way.
A young boy appears floating in the air and then drops down, he shouts to the busy crowds walking around that it is time to play and suggests Daruma-san ga koronda. None of the adults on the street participate, ignoring the boy and continuing to move around, so they all lose the game. The boy changes into Tokumeiki and the people disappear, with him complaining that they didn’t follow the rules as they were not supposed to move.
At Cafe Donbura, Haruka shows Kaito True First Love Hero by Naoki Shiina, the manga that was supposedly plagiarized by her for her manga story. Kaito asks if it is any good, but Haruka thinks it is trash, until she reads more of it and admits to herself its not that bad.
The two are surprised to see Taro arrive with a package, but at the front entrance rather than going through the back as he normally would. He struggles to carry his parcel and even staggers a bit walking in. The package isn’t heavy and Haruka wonders what is wrong with Taro, to which he denies anything is wrong and tries to stagger out the doorway but she stops him as he clearly isn’t feeling well.
Elsewhere in the city, the boy decides to play Daruma again with a new crowd. As Taro tries to leave the cafe, Haruka hands him his paper confirming the delivery, which he forgot. But then both are teleported to where the boy is by their DonBlasters.
The rest of the Donbrothers appear as well, but arrive too late to save the people as the crowd lost the game. Tsuyoshi is confused for a second as he was in a meeting earlier only to appear where he is now. Tokumeiki is excited he has new friends to play games with, though Tsubasa thinks the Hitotsuki is mocking them. Shinichi is puzzled by the fact that their enemy thinks this is a game, but Tsuyoshi believes that this foe will be an easy one.
Haruka isn’t so sure about that and the others soon find out why as a very sick Don Momotaro appears in a lackluster version of his entrance on a raggedy futon bed with disheveled and grumpy retainers and one of the dancing Miko bored and pulling out her smartphone to text. Don Momotaro falls off and stumbles to his feet, getting berated by the retainers and coughing all the while, then grabs the ZanglaSword and challenges Tokumeiki to a duel…very slowly. Don Momotaro then musters up just enough vigor to charge at Tokumeiki to strike, but his sword is blocked and he gets tossed aside like a rag doll.
The Donbrothers are shocked to see this happening as he lies limp for a second, only for Taro to quickly get up and in his feverish delusions to decide to go for the Momotaro Slash right away to end the fight despite the others thinking it is too soon to do so. The Momotaro Slash fails, as Don Momotaro is too woozy and weak to accurately hit his target and his illness further diminished his power so it had no effect on Tokumeiki.
Tokumeiki wonders what all that was and thinks that “game” was boring, running off to go play elsewhere with Tsuyoshi and Tsubasa chasing after him. Don Momotaro tries to get up to follow them but collapses and demorphs in exhaustion as he struggles to breathe.
Concerned for Taro, Haruka and Shinichi consult with Jin, who confirmed that Taro is sick. A side effect of Taro’s superhuman abilities is once every few years he is rendered helpless. Upon hearing this, Shinichi considers the idea of besting Taro in a fight while he is normal, daydreaming about beating him and his expressions of humiliation. Haruka asks Shinichi if he is thinking about exactly that as he smiles, to which he denies and feels embarrassed for even putting such thoughts in his head.
Haruka asks Jin how they can treat Taro’s sickness, to which he sends a recipe to her smartphone and says Taro will feel better if he eats that particular food. Jin also warns them that Tokumeiki has no true from. Shinichi asks how they can defeat it then, but Haruka correctly predicts that their time is up and have no answer given from Jin.
In a hospital, an elderly man named Taichi Izawa is having a bad dream based on a memory from his childhood back in the late 1950s. As a boy, none of the other children would play with him because of his appearance and ran off whenever he showed up to ask them to play, this hurt his feelings and he would cry. As he dreams, Mr. Izawa pleads for the children to come back so they could play together.
At Cafe Donbura, Haruka reads the recipe while Shinichi tries to keep Taro’s fever down by putting cold rags on his head. Haruka doesn’t know some of the ingredients such as sticky millet or even what what it will make. Shinichi describes what sticky millet is and through his deductive skills figures out that the recipe is for kibi dango. Haruka says it will be impossible since Taro needs to eat 300 of them to recover, but Kaito comes in with a large bowl of kibi dango dough he had stored in the fridge. Shinichi points out it just needs to be rolled in potato starch and then served to Taro.
Haruka asks how Kaito got so much kibi dango dough, to which he reveals it is a seasonal menu item at the cafe, flipping over the sign for mixed juice to reveal the kibi dango is sold at market prices. Haruka had no idea that they sold kibi dango and wondered what else her boss is hiding, trying to flip over the other menu signs only to be stopped by Kaito.
All of them roll the kibi dango and prepare them on a plate. They then try to encourage Taro to eat up, as he ingests the first two kibi dango.
Elsewhere, Sonoza is observing humans as he walks and still wonders why humans have emotions as he witnessed two women laughing, a child crying to her mother and a businessman yelling in rage on his cellphone. He cannot make sense of it no matter how much he ponders and then approaches the girls, once again trying to laugh and asks if he did it right. The two women are afraid of Sonoza acting weird and run away.
Tsuyoshi is nearby, having lost the trail of Tokumeiki and he is now concerned for Taro as he did not look well when he saw him. The two women run past Tsuyoshi screaming in terror, only for him to be startled by Sonoza’s laughter when he appears right behind him. Sonoza asks if that was the appropriate way to laugh, but Tsuyoshi doesn’t answer since he has a nagging feeling he has seen the man in front of him somewhere before. While he cannot recall at the moment, Tsuyoshi clearly can tell the man is insane and decides to ignore Sonoza and walk away slowly. He changes his mind however when Sonoza bothers someone else with his creepy laughter.
Tsuyoshi politely tells Sonoza not to force whatever he is doing on others as they might be bothered by it and call the cops. He tries to help Sonoza laugh, saying not to force a laugh but do so naturally. Tsuyoshi then foolishly tries tickling Sonoza to make him laugh but Sonoza isn’t ticklish and just stares at Tsuyoshi. Tsuyoshi apologizes for overstepping personal boundaries and excuses himself to leave, only for Sonoza to take an interest in Tsuyoshi’s apparent knowledge of human emotions and drags him back with the bottom end of his spear. He then asks Tsuyoshi if his way of crying is the correct way, his unusual wailing terrifies Tsuyoshi and he makes his sneak escape while Sonoza’s eyes are closed. Sononi arrives and wonders what Sonoza is doing, Sonoza stops crying and explains he is learning from the humans. Sononi says that can wait, something is wrong with Sonoi.
At the Noto base, Sonoi is frozen in place and doesn’t respond to Sonoza or Sononi. He seems intensely focused on something only he can see, with that vision being of a six eyed beastial shadow lurking, rampaging and pouncing in a dark forest.
The boy starts another game of Daruma in another crowd..
Taro, cheered on by his companions, manages to eat all 300 kibi dango just in time, as the DonBlasters teleport the trio to where Tokumeiki is.
All the Donbrothers once again arrive too late to save the people, but Tokumeiki is happy to see them again as he wants to continue playing Daruma. Upon Tokumeiki calling Tsubasa “Mr. Puppy “, Tsubasa moves in a fit of anger and loses the game as does Tsuyoshi when he tries to stop him and both disappear. Haruka realizes what game is being played and urges her remaining teammates to stay perfectly still and not to move. Tokumeiki checks to see if they moved, satisfied they are good at playing the game. As Tokumeiki permits them to move again, the trio try to rush the Hitotsuki, but Don Momotaro’s power starts to decrease and he becomes ill again, collapsing to the ground. Realizing that they are in big trouble, Haruka decides that they need to retreat, stopping and going to the game’s rhythm as to not disappear while she and Shinichi carry Taro to safety.
Jin eats the kibi dango from Cafe Donbura, saying to Haruka and Shinichi it is not good enough to restore Taro. Theirs was made with modern commercial production, taking shortcuts and skipping the necessary steps to make quality kibi dango. They need to use a usu and kine to knead the kibi dango dough. The two do as instructed, hammering away and kneading the mochi-like dough by hand, though they find Taro, in his delirium, left the cafe with Kaito saying he is doing deliveries in his condition. The two work to finish the dough and make 300 kibi dango.
On a faraway bus tour, Detective Kenji Sayama, now on vacation, is enjoying his time off with a friend and heading to the hot springs to relax. He tells his friend that he is working behind a desk now and his career is winding down but he is fine with it. When his friend offers for them to go to get drinks at the bar after their soak in the hot springs, Kenji accepts.
Taro is out doing deliveries from his van but is clearly struggling to work. He hears the boy again, planning to play tag this time with a crowd of people, if he catches them, they lose. The boy changes into Tokumeiki again and uses Red Buster’s cheetah super speed along with tendrils to tag almost everyone except Taro. Taro tries to rescue civilians even though he isn’t at full strength, using his sunglasses to find hidden doors to evacuate as many people as he can away from the Hitotsuki, defending them and getting them outside where Haruka and Shinichi have teleported in.
Taro drops down from the door and asks if the people are alright and about the kibi dango. Haruka says it is almost ready, but then Shinichi gets tagged by Tokumeiki and disappears. Tokumeiki can’t fit through the small invisible door above and leaves. Kaito personally delivers the 300 kibi dango to Taro and then decides to become Zenkaizer Black to buy some time by fighting Tokumeiki so Taro can finish his food. Haruka is shocked her boss is a Ranger and Taro is equally surprised as he scarfs down his kibi dango. While Zenkaizer Black does his best, Tokumeiki cannot be damaged by his attacks and the Zenkaiger hero has to play keep away to avoid getting tagged.
Taro finishes his kibi dango and changes into Don Momotaro. Zenkaizer Black is satisfied but then sees something on his phone and says he will go get “it” for Taro. Haruka is flustered with questions as to what is going on. Before he leaves, Zenkaizer Black informs Don Momotaro that they face a Hitotsuki that had its greed separated from the human host into a form all its own. Even back at full strength, Don Momotaro cannot defeat it with normal attacks.
Don Momotaro offers to play with Tokumeiki, to the latter’s excitement who wants to play Daruma again with “everyone”, summoning Anoni. As they fight the grunts, Taro asks Haruka how to win the game as he has never played Daruma before. She tells him that the players need to tag the “Daruma” when they are facing away from them. Taro thinks that is a fun game. The fight pauses as Tokumeiki looks for anyone who moved, then goes again faster and faster. Taro weakens again, revealing he only ate 299 kibi dango and one was missing. He praises Haruka’s efforts. but then knocks her aside again and says her companionship makes it 300.
Don Robotaro's debut
The Don Robotaro Gear is ready to use and Don Momotaro becomes Don Robotaro, using the new mech suit to outmaneuver the Anoni and make it so that they are out of the game by creating a tornado with the ZanglaSword. Tokumeiki is impressed and decides to make the game harder, using his super speed to be in multiple places at once so he can’t be tagged. Don Robotaro focuses and executes the Avatar Photon Slash, pinpointing where Tokumeiki would appear next and “tagging” him to defeat the Hitotsuki and the boy’s spirit thanks Don Momotaro for the fun game before departing. Zenkaizer Black catches the falling and purified Go-Busters Avataro Gear while trying to deliver the 300th kibi dango to Taro. All the disappeared people and Donbrothers return back where they were.
At the hospital, the boy is revealed to have been a part of Mr. Izawa, who merges back into his body. Mr. Izawa smiles as he rests, with the nurses happy that he is having a good dream for once.
At the Noto base, Sonoi finally moves again, stumbling back a bit with a worrying expression of fear on his face.
On the touring bus, Detective Sayama is napping while the other passengers are singing “Mori no Kuma-San”. The bus turns into a tunnel on a mountain road, once it exits, all the occupants vanish and the camera shows a POV shot of it crashing into a rocky hill. Inside, a mist swirls, weird noises are surrounding the bus and a slimy saliva drips onto a backpack.
Sonoi is even more terrified and Sononi and Sonoza wonder why he is so frightened.
He only utters….
“Juto…The Juto are coming!”
Cast[]
- Taro Momoi (桃井 タロウ Momoi Tarō): Kouhei Higuchi (樋口 幸平 Higuchi Kōhei)
- Shinichi Saruhara (猿原 真一 Saruhara Shin'ichi): Yuuki Beppu (別府 由来 Beppu Yūki)
- Haruka Kito (鬼頭 はるか Kitō Haruka): Kohaku Shida (志田 こはく Shida Kohaku)
- Tsubasa Inuzuka (犬塚 翼 Inudzuka Tsubasa): Totaro (柊太朗 Tōtarou)
- 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)
- Sononi (ソノニ): Amisa Miyazaki (宮崎 あみさ Miyazaki Amisa)
- Sonoza (ソノザ): Shinnosuke Takahashi (タカハシ シンノスケ Takahashi Shin'nosuke)
Guest Cast[]
- Taichi Izawa (井沢 太一 Izawa Taichi) (Young)/Tokumeiki (特命鬼 Tokumeiki): Ouga Tsukao (塚尾 桜雅 Tsukao Ōuga)
- Taichi Izawa (Now): Bunmei Harada (原田 文明 Harada Bunmei)
- Kenji Sayama (狭山 健児 Sayama Kenji): Ryoji Sugimoto (杉本 凌士 Sugimoto Ryōji)[1]
- Passenger: Mamoru Tsubouchi (坪内 守 Tsubouchi Mamoru)
- Bus Guide: Haruka Miwa (三輪 晴香 Miwa Haruka)
- Nurse: Fuyou Koyanagi (小柳 ふよう Koyanagi Fuyō), Kanoko Sakamoto (坂本 佳乃子 Sakamoto Kanoko)
- Child: Haruyoshi Kito (城戸 晴慶 Kito Haruyoshi), Kiko Endo (遠藤 希子 Endō Kiko), Riku Toida (戸井田 竜空 Toida Riku), Yuka Shiga (志賀 由香 Shiga Yūka), Chihiro Jinushi (地主 千尋 Jinushi Chihiro)
Suit Actors[]
- Don Momotaro: Kosuke Asai (浅井 宏輔 Asai Kōsuke)
- Saru Brother: Yasuhiro Takeuchi (竹内 康博 Takeuchi Yasuhiro)
- Oni Sister: Ayumi Shimozono (下園 愛弓 Shimozono Ayumi)
- Inu Brother: Kazuya Okada (岡田 和也 Okada Kazuya)
- Kiji Brother: Masashi Takada (高田 将司 Takada Masashi)
- Zenkaizer Black: Yohei Fujita (藤田 洋平 Fujita Yōhei)
- Tokumeiki: Naoya Iguchi (井口 尚哉 Iguchi Naoya)
Form Changes and Collectibles Used[]
Avataro Gears[]
- Don Momotaro - Don Robotaro
- Saru Brother - N/A
- Oni Sister - N/A
- Inu Brother - N/A
- Kiji Brother - N/A
Avatar Changes[]
- Don Momotaro - Don Robotaro
- Saru Brother - N/A
- Oni Sister - N/A
- Inu Brother - N/A
- Kiji Brother - N/A
Sentai Gears[]
- Zenkaizer Black - N/A
Errors[]
The zipper on the back of OniSister's suit.
- In a brief shot of OniSister with her back facing the camera, the zipper on her suit can clearly be seen.
Notes[]
- Viewership: 3.9%
- As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside Kamen Rider Revice
episode 33, Lovekov's Rebellion!? Sakura's Resolution. - Donbrothers sunglasses featured in title card: Red
- Count at episode end
- Gears in the Donbrothers' possession: Zenkaiger, Ryusoulger, ToQger, Lupinranger, Ohranger, Patranger, Zyuohger, Fiveman, Kiramager, Go-Busters
- The date shown on the calendar in Cafe Donbura is Monday, April 25th, six days before the episode's air date.
- Kibi dango is often associated with the Momotaro legend as the confection is used by the young hero to gain his animal allies in the most popular variation of the folktale. Kibi dango is also popular at festivals and ceremonies. It is most famous where it originates from, the Okayama prefecture (formerly known as the Kibi prefecture), where a statue of Momotaro stands as one of its landmarks.
- Daruma-san ga koronda is a variant of the globally popular children’s game Statues, this particular variant arrived in Japan from China over 200 years ago. The “Daruma-san” is a reference to the daruma doll.
episode 33, 
"Colorful Sundae"
- The sign that Haruka flips up, only for Kaito to turn back down, reads "Colorful Sundae" on the underside of it.[2]
- The recipe for Taro’s large portions of kibi dango is: 5 cups of Sticky Millet, 4 1/2 tsp of salt, 10 1/2 cups of water, 1 cup each of sugar and rice flour and 2 cups and 1 tbsp of boiled water, add potato starch as needed.
External links[]
- TV Asahi's official preview for ぼろたろうとロボタロウ
- Toei TV's official episode guide for ぼろたろうとロボタロウ
- JAE's official episode guide for ぼろたろうとロボタロウ
References[]
Footnotes[]