Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022)

Pure Chaos Personified as A Sentai Shows

This might not be the best sentai shows, but it sure is one of the most unforgettable sentai shows that I ever watch (and I watch all from Jetman until this one). Now hear me out, or technically read me out.

Main storyline for a sentai show usually has the same premise everytime, there is big bad villain that wants to destroy/conquer the whole world and in their way stands a group of people who usually armed with the right power just to oppose them. Big bad sends minions each week for a year and then it ends with the sentai team fighting the final boss.

BUT THAT IS NOT HOW THIS ONE GOES

From the start, Yellow is struck with unluckiness and somehow roped into the team. It is only until this point that it follows the normal sentai trope. What follows afterward are sentai teams that band together only when fighting the monster, teams that never really know each other until a few episodes in and only fully know each other on the last 10 episodes, many personal arc for each of the member, monster that were not part of any faction, and enemy general that all has personalities. Hereon it just pure chaos. You can never know what will happen next, why it happen, and how the heck can that happen. I can't even imagine how the final episode will be about and how this will end. Each member has their own story and motivations to keep being Donbrothers beside fighting to keep people safe. Not to mention their personalities also differ from each other yet they can still work as a cohesive team

Overall, watching Donbrothers felt more like watching a drama series with tokusatsu and fantasy elements since it is more heavily focused on the characters and story arc rather than exploring on the lore about the villains faction. By the end of the final episode, you can see the result of each character journey. How they finally kind of find what that they wants at the start of the series. The sad part is that it did not really delve on the villain faction as I stated before. There are no final showdown with the big boss and no explanation what happens with the villain faction after it.

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Mild spoilers ahead:

Everything the show did well:
-Extremely likeable characters from the most part, one of the most unique teams in the franchise.
-Every member in the team has a really distinct personality that makes them really stand out. And that includes the main Nouto trio.
-Consistently really funny.
-Not a single boring episode, every episode manages to have something interesting and be pretty funny.
-The dynamic between the team and their rival sentai Nouto is done really well.
-Momoi and Jiro's fighting style is consistently really well done.
-Most of the characters/monsters of the week are really memorable.
-Most of the show's emotional moments are really well executed.
-Great soundtrack.
-The show has ton of style, it visually stands out from any Sentai.
-Most of the mecha fights are really great, the change in background makes it so that the show can do really cool stuff aestheticly.
-Great finale for the most part.
-Despite being kinda messy, they show has pretty great and interesting world-building.
-Having a a mix between a J-Drama and absurdist comedy approach to the main characters makes the cast stand out.
-Better acting than your usual Sentai.
-First arc feels really unique due having the yellow ranger Haruka be the protagonist.

Everything the show did bad:
-Most of the fights don't look that great. During the first arc only Momoi knows how to fight which affects the choreography of early episodes. The pink ranger Kijino and the black ranger Tsubasa just pretty much never look great on screen or when they fight. They manage to make some pretty fun scenes with this but for the most part they barely actually fight on the show and when they do it doesn't look good. Some fights in the show go by very fast.
-Dispite having quite a few serious moments and the premise being 'kinda' dark, the show just doesn't take itself seriously at all and some of the answers to this show's biggest mysteries can be extremely goofy. Personally I didn't mind this due to how entertaining the show was but I understand why it would be a complaint.
-Murasame could be just reduced to a non-sentient weapon and have his character arc removed from the show and it would barely affect the show, he's easily this show's most wasted character and you can tell the writer didn't particularly care for him.
-The show not having a proper main antagonist makes the finale slightly less endearing.
-The show's main mentor is named exactly the same as Zenkaiger's protagonist, is played by the same actor and has mostly the same powers yet the show never properly explains who he is which might feel like a cop-out answer for some, personally I didn't mind it.
-The show can be pretty messy at times trying to balance focusing on the Zyuto, Nouto, the other Nouto, Jiro, Murasame, the team's inner conflict and the whole 'They Live' situation with the anoni.
-Black Onitaijin Murasame pretty much never looks well on screen.
-The pink ranger Kijino gets anti-character development in the final arc.
-The deal with Naoki Shiina can feel pretty disconnected from the overall plot.
-Some upgrades feel like the come out of nowhere.
-Jin, while an overall likeable character, spends most of the show prison without being able to do anything.

Reasons for the show strenghts:
Producer Shirakura is the best person at getting the most out of Toshiki Inoue's writing.

Reasons for the show flaws:
Shirakura wanted the team to have distinct silhouettes so he opted for CGI rangers. Toshiki Inoue's writing is insane for better or for worse. He really doesn't care much about shilling toys so some upgrades are asspulls and he didn't bother writing a proper character arc for Murasame.

Overall:
The show doesn't have a concise story and one could argue that the answer to a lot of the show's mysteries are copouts. However, the solid cast both in writing and acting, the show having ton of cool concepts mostly done well, the really good comedy and the really entertaining monsters of the week just makes this show an overall great time and arguably one of Sentai's best just because of how well executed all of these are. If you're searching for a deep plot or expect the show to answer all of its mysteries then this show will probably not be for you, but otherwise this show is a high recommend.

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