Substitute Jiro
Summary
Oh look, it's the Son Goku rip-off.
With Taro gone, the team has no idea what to do without him. According to Jin, he believes Taro will not return, however a replacement for him will appear soon. While fighting off Kousoku-Ki, a man calling himself a "natural-born hero" named Jiro Momotani appears, claiming to be the new leader for the Donbrothers. Unsure what to make of him, the team try to figure out who he is in the meantime.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Jiro's "demonstration" manages to get a real laugh (or a close-enough approximation) out of Sonoza, who knocks him to the ground.
- Back from the Dead: Discussed. Haruka, Shinichi and Tsuyoshi discuss the possibility of bringing Taro back, first with Kaito then Jin. Neither of them give direct answers. (Though Jin informs them that there will be a replacement.) Haruka and Shinichi use their Kibi-Points to bring Taro back, though it ends up being temporary.
- Bait-and-Switch: Taro's back! ...until he fades away once more.
- Call to Adventure: Jiro's backstory has him claiming that he has an inner voice telling him he will be a great hero someday, motivating him to train up his entire life for it. After Taro's death, the inner voice tells him it is time, driving him to resign from his job and leave behind the village that raised him as he embarks to the city to seek out and aid the Donbrothers.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Haruka and Shinichi's plan to revive Taro working only briefly and Tsuyoshi manifesting his own Hitotsu-Ki after seeing Miho hurt in the hospital, swearing to make whoever hurt her pay.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Jiro's attempt to "be the hero" is a bust. He gets knocked on his butt by a light breeze from Sonoza's spear.
- Deconstruction: Super Sentai generally treats the debuts of its Sixth Rangers as the demonstration of a bold, exotic character whose Hidden Depths reveal themselves to varying levels of team skepticism; which is softened once they prove their usefulness in some form. Jiro by contrast is treated like a delusional poser by hero and villain alike and has yet to demonstrate any traits to the contrary, being about as useful against the Noto as the rocks he threw.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Jin's seemingly-underwhelming reaction to Taro's death sees three of the Donbrothers accuse him of not caring at all. He responds that he loves Taro and would do anything to bring him back, but grieving will not change the fact he died.
- Failure Hero: Jiro has spent his whole life training to be a hero against the forces of evil. All he can do is pathetically throw rocks.
- Hope Spot: Taro seems to come back to the battlefield just fine, only to disappear into nothingness right afterwards. Haruka and Shinichi express their utter disbelief at this, as they thought that using their points would allow Taro to come back.
- Internal Reveal: Haruka also reveals to Shinichi that she used her points to temporarily quit the Donbrothers a few episodes prior something that nobody but her and Kaito are aware of thanks to the reality change.
- Interface Spoiler: Despite his death in the previous episode, the show's Evolving Credits don't omit Taro from the opening in any way. Granted, he does appear in the episode, even though not in the usual way.
- Leader Wannabe: Jiro wants to replace Taro as leader of the Donbrothers, even trying to form a Team Hand-Stack to make it official. None of them are having it.
- Mistaken Identity: Tsubasa finally meets Miho through an almost bike accident whist running away from "Kenji Sayama", and he naturally starts calling her Natsumi. Miho insists he's mistaken her for somebody else, but faints shortly after he leaves...
- My God, What Have I Done?: Sonoi feels remorse at his underhanded means of defeating Taro, which is an emotion he has trouble processing due to it conflicting with his duty.
- Mythology Gag: The school Kousoku-Ki invades is named after the one the Turborangers grew up in.
- Not Himself: Subverted. Taro's usual pre-combat arrival doesn't change, but sounds noticeably less enthusiastic than usual. There's also no real banter from him in any sense - his voice-lines all being form/attack announcements.
- Not Quite Dead: Taro (or a simulation thereof) is able to arrive and aid the Donbrothers, only to fade away right after.
- Serious Business: Much like the other Hitotsu-ki, Kousoku-Ki's birth was from his host taking shogi very seriously.
- Skewed Priorities: The Nōto seem to be taking the Donbrothers more seriously as a threat; they once more prioritize the heroes over the Hitotsu-Ki despite them having (seemingly) dealt with Taro.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Naturally due to his supposed delusions of being a hero, Jiro was considered an oddball in his village.
- Due to Jiro having no powers or any impressive traits, he ends up failing miserably against the Nōto generals. The team call him out for it, with Tsuyoshi even going as far to call him a "superhero nut".
- The Reveal: Taro is not the only survivor of the Don Clan. Jiro arrived on Earth in a peach-craft much like his.
- There Is Another:
- Jin states that if Taro falls, his replacement will appear.
- This episode also reveals that Sayama isn't the only Cat Juto, with the other one being the tour guide from the bus that the Juto attacked.
- A Truce While We Gawk:
- Jiro's arrival stops the Noto/remaining Donbrothers fight because of how absolutely flabbergasted everyone is. While Sonoi shields himself and Sononi steps behind him, it's not until Sonoza gets clocked in the face and retaliates that anyone else remembers what they're supposed to do.
- Downplayed with how Sonoi protecting Haruka from Sononi's ambush catches everyone off-guard (including Sonoi himself), but only slows the fight for a moment.
- Villainous Rescue: Sonoi saves Haruka from getting surprise attacked by Sononi. Since Sonoi felt that he only defeated Taro by exploiting his honesty he felt he owed her one for his dishonorable attack given how she reacted to Taro's "death". But he only gives her one save, and in the next battle anything goes.
- Wham Shot: Tsuyoshi having the aura of a Hitotsu-Ki envelop him.
