Recap / Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Ep 27 A Serious Showdown

A Serious Showdown

Original Airdate: September 4, 2022
Written by: Toshiki Inoue
Directed by: Ryuta Tasaki

Summary

Seriously.

Taro: Don Robogoku and Don Robobolt combine into Toradragonjin.
Lately, he's been really stealing the spotlight...

Sonoi challenges Taro to a 1-on-1 showdown, which will take place three days from now. In preparation, Sonoi trains against Sononi and Sonoza, but Taro continues to go about his daily life and does nothing special in particular to prepare for it. On the day of the duel, the Donbrothers and Nōto await their champion's victorious return, however a long time has passed and yet neither Taro nor Sonoi has returned...

Tropes:

• Ambiguous Situation: Don Murasame appears after Taro and Sonoi's duel to take Sonoi's body to places unknown.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Taro and Sonoi end up adopting this pose while trying to make sense of the melée that's developed around their duel.
• The Bus Came Back: Aside from a few victims turned Juto who come back for the big fight scene and Minoru Ohno who comes back as Mahou-Ki, Zyuden-Ki's former host Fusako comes back as a recipient of one of Taro's deliveries.
• Call-Back:
  • Taro brings up to Sonoi the conversation they had about oden, pointing out that Fusako was having it for lunch.
  • Sonoi manages to calm down Fusako by kissing her on the hand, much like how Kaito did so a few episodes back.
  • Taro defeats Sonoi with a single strike, much like how Sonoi defeated him back in #13.
• Diabolus ex Machina: Minoru Ohno, now Mahou-ki, and a bunch of Juto only really appear to make Taro and Sonoi's duel far more complicated than it should be.
• Duel to the Death: The plot of the episode revolves around Taro and Sonoi's fateful duel, but it somehow manages to get delayed for a myriad of reasons. They finally have their duel right at the end of the episode... which ends with Taro committing a fatal strike against Sonoi not unlike Sonoi's strike against him in episode 13. It ends with Sonoi seemingly dying, with Don Murasame taking his body for unknown reasons.
• Godzilla Threshold: Jiro gets so frustrated that he switches to Don Torabolt on his own volition just to finish off Mahou-Ki.
• In Medias Res: The episode begins with Taro and Sonoi about to have their long-awaited duel, with the episode explaining the event leading up to it.
• Internal Reveal: The Donbrothers finally know of the Juto's existence.
• Mêlée à Trois: Taro and Sonoi's duel ends up escalating into a five-way fight between the Donbrothers, the Noto generals, Mahou-Ki, the Juto, and Don Murasame.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Several characters want to be the one to defeat Taro including Sonoi, Jiro and Minoru Ohno, who has somehow obtained the power of Mahou-Ki to fight against his nemesis once more.
• Parody: Much of the episode is a parody of Samurai movie cliches. Taro and Sonoi repeatedly enter into Staredown Faceoff, both of the combatants are operating on Honor Before Reason and the big duel that's repeatedly emphasized as a defining moment for both of them is side-lined by a myriad of interruptions.
• Perspective Flip: It's The Rival Sonoi who has to enter into heavy training sessions to be able to stand up to The Hero Taro. Played for Drama when the Donbrothers ask Taro why he isn't training. He's already at his peak and to get any stronger would, to him, be unfair.
  Taro: This is a painful strength...
• Rapid-Fire Interrupting: What was supposed to be a 1-on-1 duel between Taro and Sonoi ends up getting interrupted by Jiro, who declares to Sonoi he has to Go Through Me before getting to face Taro. Don Murasame then cuts into the fight, with Mother tasking him to eliminate Taro. Minoru Ohno, the former Shuriken-Ki, also shows up to challenge Taro, having obtained his new power as Mahou-Ki at some point offscreen. The other Donbrothers are summoned onto the scene to deal with Mahou-Ki, and to make matters worse, a whole group of Jūto lastly joins in the fray.
• The Reveal: Sonoi explains to Taro that the Jūto are artificial lifeforms created by the Don Clan, with Don Murasame being likely related to them as well.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • Sonoi strikes only red and blue billiard balls, showing his attempt to find a way to defeat Taro.
  • The days counting down to Taro and Sonoi's duel are symbolized by a trio of red flowers, each of which wilts for every day that passes.
• Single-Stroke Battle: Taro ends up needing only one attack to defeat Sonoi, hearkening back to Sonoi defeating him earlier in the series.
• Skewed Priorities: Taro ends up not showing up for the showdown for quite a few hours because he has to fill in for a sick colleague and insists he absolutely needs to complete his deliveries for the day before he could move on to it. A frustrated Sonoi helps him complete his work in order to resume the duel.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: We have Taro fatally wounding Sonoi... with their jazzy pop Image Song playing in the background.
• Suicide by Cop: How Sonoi intends to defeat Taro. Knowing he can't win with raw strength, he decides that this is the only way to defeat Taro.
• Unwanted Assistance: Jiro jumps into the duel between Taro and Sonoi, much to their irritation. Taro later pays him back when he as Onitaijin interferes in Toradragonjin's fight with Mahou-King.
• Wham Episode: Sonoi and Taro finally settle their duel to the death... with Sonoi dying.

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