I, Ni, Za and Shi
Summary
Tsubasa: I was trapped in the Jūto's forest, but managed to escape.
As for how...?
...I don't know either.
As for how...?
...I don't know either.
Sonoza works as a spartan editor for Haruka's manga. Sononi seeks contact with Tsubasa, who has returned to normal. And lastly Sonoi bonds with Taro over oden!? A new inspector, Sonoshi, has been deployed to observe and judge the Nōto generals' current performance. Depending on Sonoshi's report, Sonoi and the others may be severely punished by the Council. To avoid this, Sonoi and the others decide to agree to a special request from Sonoshi...
Tropes
- The Bus Came Back:
- The oden cart owner who was Tokusou-Ki's host comes back, serving his fare to the Donbrothers and the Nōto again.
- Minoru Ohno is shown to be alive and well, and almost turns into Seijuu-Ki before Sonoza nabs the Hitotsu-Ki as part of The Plan.
- Call-Back: The fact that a Hitotsu-Ki can change hosts (like with Tensou-Ki) is exploited in this episode as part of the plan to deal with Sonoshi. Minoru Ohno is shown about to turn into Seijuu-Ki before Sonoza takes the Hitotsu-Ki away.
- Characterization Marches On: Subverted. Playing with peoples' lives is established as a Berserk Button of Taro's, yet not only is he aware of Minoru Ohno but is more-than-happy to use the man's tendency for Hitotsu-Ki possession to assist in The Plan. Then again, it isn't like the Noto's plan puts the man himself to harm.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Sonoshi says that if his report on the trio is bad enough, they'll be condemned to eternal floor-cleaning duty. An Imagine Spot of the three Sprint Scrubbing the entire Layer instills them with fear.
- Empathic Environment: Downplayed; Dark clouds form and lightning strikes just as the Donbrothers and Nōto have their duel, but the weather turns back to sunny right before they do their Roll Calls.
- Enemy Mine: Sonoshi is so odious that the Nōto decide to team up with the Donbrothers to put them in their place.
- Faking the Dead: To trick Sonoshi, the gang take advantage of Taro's "almost dies from lying" function.
- Four Is Death: Subverted. Sonoshi is the fourth Nōto we see, and it appears they're about to die at the hands of Sonoi... but he hesitates at the last second, allowing GolDon Momotaro and Don Torabolt to strike the finishing blow and sparing Sonoshi in the process.
- Friendly Enemy: Sonoshi is sent in to stop their fellow generals from being these to the Donbrothers. The teams end up actively working together to stop them instead.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: The premise of the episode is that the Noto Council has taken notice of the fraternization between the Noto trio and their enemies and send Sonoshi to try and put a stop to it.
- Gossip Evolution: Sonoi tries to get messages across to Taro, not wanting to speak to him directly. His messages inevitably get distorted as they're passed from Sononi to Sonoza to Haruka, with hilarious results.
- In Medias Res: The episode starts with the Donbrothers facing off against the Nōto, with Sonoi's opening narration explaining How We Got Here.
- Internal Reveal: This is the episode the Donbrothers learn that Haruka has been showing her writing to Sonoza.
- Locked Out of the Loop: When the three Nōto generals appear after Sonoshi left, Tsubasa aims at them assuming they're up to no good, only to get kicked aside by Taro.
- Medium Awareness: Sonoshi orders the Noto trio to "declare themselves" with a roll call in the spirit of fair contest. Sonoi mentions it to Taro beforehand and asks him not to laugh. Taro takes it further and has his team perform a roll call of their own to make it less awkward.
- Meta Twist: Minoru Ohno is established to be an Unknown Rival to Taro to the point where he's become a Hitotsu-Ki three times. While he's managed to attract another Hitotsu-Ki (Seijuu-Ki) this time, the possession doesn't even happen as Sonoza nabs Seijuu-Ki to use for The Plan, thus leaving Minoru unmolested for the rest of the episode.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Sonoshi is odious enough that the three Nōto generals are more upfront with discussing The Plan to Taro, which the latter points out.
- Pie in the Face: Shinichi tries to flirt with Sononi, thinking she hasn't bonded with any of the other Donbrothers (they don't know about Tsubasa's bond with her, after all). She promptly shoves a piece of cake in his face.
- The Plan: Realizing that their camaraderie is at-stake, the Donbrothers and the Noto team up to disable the latter's new supervisor by having Taro pretend to lose to Sonoi in a duel and declare his own death, causing his death-by-lies to kick in and distract Sonoshi long enough for the other two Noto to turn the commander into a Hitotsu-Ki.
- The Reveal: Noto can become Hitotsu-Ki as well if forcibly implanted with the spirit of one on the verge of maturity.
- The Unreveal: Sononi confronts Tsubasa and asks him how he freed himself from the Juto realm. He doesn't actually know.
- Wham Shot: Earlier in the episode, Tsuyoshi is shown in an upbeat mood as he claims that Miho has returned to his side. The end of the episode shows that he actually has gone off the deep end, as "Miho" is revealed to be a doll that he treats as a Replacement Goldfish.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sonoza calls out Sonoi for not striking Sonoshi down. Sonoi replies that even as much as he detests Sonoshi, he can't bring himself to kill a fellow Noto.
