Donbrothers Theory: the meaning of the Noto
Donbrothers is a story about a lot of things. It's also kind of about nothing. But I'd say it's really a story about stories. The stories we tell ourselves, the ones we tell each other. It has a lot to say about Super Sentai as an institution.
So what are the Noto? We never get much of an explanation beyond that they're from "a higher dimension" and that they subsist on the mental energies from the world of the story. What does that make them?
They're us. Specifically, adult Sentai fans. The way they fall in with the Donbrothers, and their reasons for doing so, reflect reasons why head writer Inoue Toshiki thinks people watch the show as adults.
Sonoi doesn't understand art, but he knows what he likes. He appreciates Tarou for who he is. He even ends up emulating him for a while, but this isn't how an adult should act about their favorite character. He gets over it and goes back to just spending as much time with him as possible. He shows the sort of romantic connection someone with media literacy can have for a show they love.
Speaking of romance, Sononi is in it for the character drama. Inoue loves writing romance arcs into his shows and it stands to reason that he thinks that there should be a sort of person interested in that part the most. She's the shipper, the fic writer, the one who follows the actors on social media.
Sonoza is just trying to feel some fucking joy in his life. He literally can't laugh. His arc is all about just feeling the raw, uncomplicated emotions of this children's show and working to increase that as much as possible. This is the face of a man who buys merch and decorates his desk.
All three of them satisfy their desires by being in the world of Sentai.
The second trio are a bunch of fucking haters. They don't like the show, they think it's cringe, they think you're a loser for watching a kid's show. But... they're here too, aren't they? They don't want Sentai off the air and they don't want adult fans to stop watching, because if that happened, who would they make fun of on image boards?
The last two are the ones who do want you to stop watching. Sentai is for kids, let it just be for kids. No more toku actress gravure, no more adult collectables, just fucking stop.
It's not a 1:1 situation, it fails to consider the way that they are themselves characters within the narrative and can directly interact with the team in a way that fans literally can't. But I can't stop seeing this.
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