Kira Kira Precure Ala Mode Ep 17 Review: Restore Back the Kiraru Energy!

Let's Cooking! This is my review of Kira Kira Precure episode 17 and Julio has his sights on Ichika.

After knowing that Ichika's mother is sending some sweets to her, she decided to get some ingredients to make cookies for her mother. Rio tagged along and when Ichika was happy to receive her mother's sweets, he started ranting about why Ichika isn't upset that her mother is not with her and has some painful memories of his own.

Rio then extract Ichika's Kiraru energy from her. (How is not known) When the other girls arrived at her house, Ichika has become an empty shell and forgotten what sweets are. Pekorin immediately knew that Ichika has lost her Kiraru energy and Rio was standing on top of them.

Yukari immediately revealed that Rio is actually Julio and he transformed infront of them. The four girls transformed to battle him however Julio has created his own version of the Candy Rod and was able to mimic their special attacks.

Pekorin and Elder was trying their best to get Ichika to remember but to no avail until Pekorin suggested for Ichika to make cookies with the ingredients she bought. Ichika slowly make the cookies with Pekorin's support and she recalled her childhood with her mother and the love she gave to her.

Ichika finally remember who she is after making the cookies and joined in the fight as Cure Whip. She was able to overwhelm Julio's attack and damaged his Candy Rod. With the others, they managed to trap Julio in 3,2 Wonderful Ala Mode Attack and his mask was broken.

Cure Whip offered her hand to Julio to make peace but he refused. He immediately proclaimed that he has always hated sweets and retreated. At the same time, a mysterious female figure was observing their battle claiming that Julio has disappointed her...(Oh yeah, Ichika did send her cookies to her mother at the end of the episode)

This episode is both good and bad in my opinion. The bad, I felt it is a bit early to have such an episode, not saying you can't do an episode where the main Cure has doubts or trapped in a despair situation. We know that Ichika is perhaps the most positive among the five which probably explain why she was able to restore her Kiraru energy so quickly. Furthermore, Julio's experiment kinda of failed since Ichika recovered so quickly. So basically if someone lose their Kiraru energy, all you need to do is to motivate and probably create sweets. (With love of course)

Ichika somehow was able to make cookies despite losing her Kiraru energy which I am guessing is some kind of sub-conscious memories otherwise why she did told the others that she cannot remember what sweets are. The fight was a bit one-sided from both oppositions. The other four girls were getting kicked around by Julio though why couldn't they counter his attacks with a different attack is a big question.

Cure Whip's return is not as awesome like Cure Flora's comeback in Episode 39. (Go and watch that episode, it is the Best Real Time Transformation in Precure) Somehow Cure Whip was able to make a crack on Julio's Candy Rod with her own attack and defeated Julio. How did she do that? Did making her cookies actually restore her Kiraru energy to full power and beyond? Toei, I felt that not giving the Kira Kira Team no physical attacks actually make the fight scene less interesting and splashing and spraying Whip Cream on others is definitely sending the wrong message to kids.

Now the Good. At least we now kinda of getting of a hint of why Julio hate sweets and seeing that girl in his memories is probably a good guess that something bad might have happen between them and it led Julio to the dark path making him hating everything that is sweet and nice.

Of course, the reveal of the new General who we now know as Bibury and looking at her skin tone, she is probably came from the same world as Julio and she has that mischievous vibe with her evil looking doll. Seeing how she mentioned that Julio was disappointing, we will be probably getting a reveal of the organization that the girls are fighting all these while and who is the Big Bad of the series.  (No Dokuroxy or Desumast this time, Toei. I want a more Proactive Big Bad who is not afraid to take chance and at least talk in full sentences unlike Dokuroxy who has less than ten lines or Desumast who has none in the whole series)

Next episode, the girls discovered a rival shop is taking their customers away but they soon come face to face with Bibury and finally a monster of the week! Until then, see you in the next post!

P.S: Anyone watch Dragonball Super Episode 92 today? We have the first Female Super Saiyan Caulifla on Screen but we are getting another Female Super Saiyan with Kale in the next episode and if you haven't figure out who Kale's Seiyuu is, it is Yukana who voiced Cure White! Yes, Cure White is now a Super Saiyan and not just any ordinary Super Saiyan. She is the Legendary Super Saiyan that is paying homages to Brolly from the DBZ movies. Yukana is a perfect fit for Kale since she can do both sweet and total psycho characters in a moment. (Go and watch Saint Seiya Omega where she voiced the new Gemini Gold Saint or Four Murasame of Zeta Gundam the Movies Trilogy)
  

Anime Comedy Shows that I will recommend to Tickle your Funny Bone!

Hi everyone, based on a suggestion, I decided to come up with a list about some of my favourite anime comedy shows that I will recommend. Now this is my list and some of you might have already guess what is my all time favourite comedy series was. So in no particular order, here we goes!

Konosuba: A recent show that became a personal favourite of mine due to the wackiness of the characters and a parody of the sword/magic fantasy genre. Kazuma who was killed in an accident and was given a chance by a water goddess, Aqua to be reincarnate to a hero in a fantasy setting. However Kazuma tricked Aqua into coming along and soon he found out that Aqua is a slacker for a goddess.

The first two episodes didn't make much impact when I first watch it but when the other two female leads, Fire Mage Megumi and Crusader Darkness entered the group, that is where the show really shine. Megumi has an extremely powerful fire spell however using it will drain all her energy which make her useless after that and Darkness who can't hit anything with a sword but is secretly a masochist who dream of being screwed up by anyone or anything.

Every episode is very fun to watch especially seeing Kazama who ended up being the straight guy to the three girls and so often being wrongly accused of things which he did not do. A fun show to watch despite having a low episode count of 20.

Full Metal Panic Fumoffu: Some of you might have know Full Metal Panic (FMP) which is a mecha show blend with school life. Main Heroine Chidori Kaname lead a normal life but once she was revealed to be a "Whisperer"-a human that is capable of creating futuristic technology, Private Milliaty group, Mithril send a bodyguard, Sagara Sousuke to protect her from enemies. But Sagara who spent his whole life as a soldier knew zero to about normal social life leading to some ridiculous moments.

FMP Fumoffu explore this side of ridiculous as it details the "normal" life of Chidori as Sagara will do anything to protect her and the lengths he will do. From sniping down potential suitors to Chidori, rushing home to get Chidori's notes like a madman and even accidentally releasing a "deadly" virus in class, Chidori's life was turned to a living hell every day by Sousuke.

A fun show to watch but it is recommended to watch the original FMP (despite being less funny and more serious) to understand the characters better.

Handa-Kun: A prequel to Barakamon that is not necessary to watch Barakamon despite it was out first but recommended. Handa Seishun during his high school years is a child prodigy in Calligraphy however he feel uncomfortable interacting with others but what he doesn't know that everyone in school idolize him like some kind of Super Model Student that they look upon to.

Handa didn't even know that a fan club (or rather his crazed bodyguards) was dedicated to watch him 24-7 which of course led to many misunderstandings as his fans treated his words of wisdom with respect but Handa think they are all hating him.

Although you don't have to watch Barakamon which is Handa in his adult years and he was send to stay in a village on a Island after he punched a judge who criticize his works. There are Easter eggs and references in Handa-Kun which kinda guess what kind of person Handa is going to be. Overall, both shows are recommended but Handa-Kun is hilarious in it's execution.

Sakamoto Desu Ka: Meet Sakamoto-Super Cool Model Student who can turn any situation into an awesome moment. No one know where he came from but everyone who interact with him can't stop idolizing him.

From helping a fellow classmate from bullies, getting out of a building in style during a fire drill to even helping a obsessive K-Drama mother to get over her obsession. Sakamoto will make the impossible possible because he can!

Seto no Hanayome: Also known as My Bride is a Mermaid. This is a parody take on the Little Mermaid story with one hell of a twist. Nagasumi was visiting his grandmother in Seto which is close to the ocean. He accidentally fell off a cliff and was rescued by a real-life mermaid named Seto Sun. However the mermaid law state that if a mermaid and a human were to come in contact, both were to be executed however to prevent this, Nagasumi has to marry into Sun's family.

Sun was willing to become Nagasumi's fiance however Sun's father is not happy about it and the worst thing was the Seto Family are a group that resemble the Japanese Yakuza so hi jinks ensured..

What make this show so fun to watch was the people who desperately trying to ruin Nagasumi and Sun's relationship with outrageous results. There are also references and parodies to different shows like Fist of the North Star and even a parody take on Terminator 2: Judgment Day. (If you seen this episode, you know what I am talking about)

It started off like a typical Harem series which I thought but it became one of the funniest shows that the romance parts isn't that important. Highly Recommended if you can find it. Oh yeah, one more thing-MASA SAN!!! (This character in the show is one of my favourite anime characters of all time)

Watashi ga Motete Dosunda: Also know as Kiss him, Not me. In recent years, Shoujo manga (Young girls comics) has been getting a lot of attention and before that, I did watch Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki Kun which was funny although the misunderstanding between the main heroine and Nozaki was kinda of tired for a while.

So by accident, I watch Kiss him, Not me. It indeed make me go and look for the manga after that. Basically it is about a fangirl, Tae who is crazed about BL (Boys Love) but when her favourite character in a show was killed off, she went into depression that resulted in her losing weight and becoming a pretty good-looking girl.

The problem now is the guys in his school are giving a second look at her and getting unnecessary attention for herself. But soon five guys were chasing after her but she has crazed delusions of the guys in BL relationships which led to a lot of funny moments.

Although the show is only 12 episodes long, it was a lot of fun with all the BL references and a lesson of how inner beauty is also important no matter how the person looked like from outside. This is also Kobayshi Yui who voiced Tae best work since she has to play crazed fangirl one moment and sweet girl the next. Highly recommended!

School Rumble: Tsukamoto Tenma is your typical average female student but she has a crush on fellow student Karasuma who is oblivious to her. Meet Harima Kenji, a delinquent with a heart of gold and has a crush on Tenma which make him come to school every day.

A pretty typical love triangle at first but when Tenma's sister, Yakumo and fellow classmates, Eri and Hanai got into the equation, it become one hell of a rumble which explained the title-School Rumble.

A personal favourite of mine as it took a simple premise and mix with a lot of pop culture references from Initial D to Jackie Chan. Tenma is funny in her pursuing of Karasuma but Harima is outrageous hilarious as he mistaken Karasuma as a rival and his attempt in winning Tenma. With an all star cast that also launched Koshimizu Ami (Tenma's Seiyuu) and Noto Mamiko's (Yakumo's Seiyuu) careers to celebrity status.

Lucky Star: Izumi Konata love anime, video games and manga after getting influence from her father. Although a slacker but brilliant most of the time. Together with her friends, Kagami, Tsukasa and Miyuki, the lives of 4 friends and their anime adventures continued in Lucky Star.

Although I enjoyed this show for it's references. The real reason I like this show was one unique side character who is the unofficial mascot of Animate-Anizawa Meito who make his debut here. A hot-blooded manager in an anime shop who refer Konata as the Legendary Girl A and tried all ways and means to get her to buy something in the shop. If you still have doubts, just look for his scenes in Youtube. If such a person exist in real life then every day will truly be the fight of your life.

Gintama: Finally the show that some of you know that this is my favourite anime comedy of all time-Gintama. If you still living in a rock for the last ten years then you don't know what you are missing. Gintama took place in an alternative Japan where Samurais and swords still exist however when aliens invade the country, a bloody war was fought and in the end, the human lost and the aliens co-exist with humans which the aliens brought their culture and technology with them. (Basically if you watch Rurouni Kenshi, it is based on the Meiji Era where western countries started coming to Japan with their culture)

With it, Japan became a modern country and the age of Samurai was over. However one guy named Sakata Gintoki who now used a wooden sword but has the heart of a Samurai and his companions, Shinpachi and Kagura, the trio opened an odd job store called Yorozuya and accepted all kinds of weird and wacky clients.

Sounds simple? But what make this show really good are the characters both main and side. Everyone has their back stories and the adventures range from silly parodies to one of the best written shouen series ever. Furthermore with no or little brand restrictions, the show make fun of other anime shows or pop culture ranging from Dragonball to Nintendo itself.

I won't spoil the show but it is highly recommended to watch it yourself. Although there are funny episodes but when the show has serious long running arcs, it actually become really good and sometimes you can shed a tear.

That's some of my favourite comedy shows I will recommend. If you like it, go and watch these shows. I know I miss out some titles here and there but these are the shows that I will go and watch again just to tickle my funny bone! Until then, see you in the next post! 

Kira Kira Precure Ala Mode Ep 16 Review: Yukari's Deception

Let's Cooking! This is my review of Kira Kira Precure episode 16 and Yukari has her suspicious on Rio for a while and decide to play it out.

As the girls were discussing about Julio's recent attacks, Yukari has her own suspicious on who he really is. After a day at the Patisserie, Yukari left without telling anyone and Akira caught up with her. Rio interrupted them and Yukari suggested to everyone to come to her house for a tea ceremony.

The girls were amazed by Yukari's tea making display which oddly enough Rio was able to mimic her tea-brewing. Rio later met Yukari and she claimed that her parents care more about her older sister and she find life so mundane.

Ichika who was inspired by Yukari's tea making decided to come up with an ocean theme for their Patisserie with the Whale Strawberry Daifuku as the menu. After the event, Yukari's fangirls were attacked by Julio and Yukari transform to confront him.

Julio managed to caught hold of Cure Macaron and even taunt about her older sister. At that moment, Cure Macaron knew that Julio and Rio are the same person since she make up the lie of having an older sister. Julio realised he was duped and tried to attack her furiously.

Cure Macaron used her new skill-Macaron Perfection to even the odds and the rest of the girls joined in to finish off Julio's weapon. After the battle, Yukari make some tea for her grandmother which she commented that it is not good. Yukari laughed to herself that she finally knew what enjoyment is about all. Although the tea that Rio make before has also raise some suspicious.

Meanwhile, Julio set his sights on Ichika...

This confirmed that Yukari is the most cunning girl in the group and how she has her suspicious on Rio since Day 1. The only problem is Yukari is more of a loner who decided to take on Rio/Julio and not letting the others know. Probably she knew that Ichika or Himari might screw up her plan.

At the same time, Yukari decided to play "the Lonely girl" act to get Rio to lower his defenses by lying about her older sister getting all the attention from her parents. Sure enough, when Julio later mentioned about Yukari''s sister, she knew that Rio and Julio are the same person since she only told  him before.

Other than Cure Macaron's solo battle with Julio and Macaron Perfection looked like Spin Saucers blades, this is so far a pretty heavy episode of Yukari trying to unravel Rio's true identify and we get to know that Yukari is still trying to find a purpose in her life since we knew that she is Miss Perfect. Although tea making will probably a past time for Yukari to enjoy and perhaps strive for perfection. But I am still waiting for the episode where Yukari will act out of character since she alway play cool and collective as seeing that expression will be priceless.

Overall, an episode that doesn't involve a third party but Yukari herself overcoming her doubts and unraveling Julio's identify. However Julio is pissed that Yukari has ruined his plans and decided to set his final experiment on Ichika. As seen in the preview, Ichika lose her Kiraru energy by Julio and the rest of the girls must figure out a way to get it. Until then, see you in the next post!

Kira Kira Precure Ala Mode Ep 15 Review: My Beloved Sister!

Let's Cooking! This is my review of Kira Kira Precure episode 15 and today we are introduced to Akira's younger sister, Miku!

Hey little girl, want some sweets? (Ichika looked like some dirty old man preying on little kids)

When Akira was first introduced in the series, she mentioned she had a younger sister, Miku who is warded in hospital for a certain health condition. So when the girls met Miku for the first time, she was very lively and full of cuteness that the girls immediately make her a waiting staff at the  Patisserie.

Akira was resistant to the idea but saw Miku trying her best despite forgetting the order and messing up the sweets decoration. Later Miku told Ichika that she want to make something for Akira for all the support she gave her (which even Rio supported her)

Ichika came up the idea of a chocolate poodle cake and Miku was able to make it for Akira. She was touched by it since she recalled how she calmed a young Miku (by giving her chocolate) when she was frighted by a poodle dog.

Of course, Julio appeared and sucked Miku's Kiraru energy to make his weapon which looked like a trident and Cure Chocolat went head-on desperately trying to get back Miku's Kiraru energy.

Similar to last week's episode with Cure Gelato, Cure Chocolat could feel Miku's energy and she used it to create Chocolat Aromase which looked similar to Cure Whip's special attack. Once Julio retreated with him now being pissed off which is odd since everything he claimed he did is just an "experiment", Akira brought Miku back to the hospital (I forgot to mention the doctor gave her a day pass to leave the hospital) and the girls told Miku that she is welcome to the Patisserie anytime...

Despite the title of this episode claimed it is about Akira but it is more of introducing Miku. Miku is the sweetheart to everyone as she showed liveliness even though I got a feeling it is to cover up her health condition. (You know, for kids?) Although the reason why Miku love chocolate was Akira giving her to coax when she was frightened by a dog as a child and even have some spare chocolates make by Akira which Miku called it her treasure.

However compared to Aoi's episode, Akira in this episode wasn't that impressed since we already know she will do anything to protect her sister and even went head-on against Julio which failed obviously. Even Cure Chocolat's new attack, Chocolat Aromase didn't feel amazing as it is just Chocolate cream shooting all over the place. (Seriously Toei, you are going everyone a bad case of sugar rush by the end of the series)

Overall, an okay episode since Miku is the one who stole the show but an unimpressed fight with Julio. Next week, Yukari decided to take the offensives to find out who Rio really is. Until then, see you in the next post!

P.S: Miku is voiced by Honda Kadea and she is the voice of Aoba from Keijo (Ass of Babylon) and Miyoko of Handa-Kun (Eraserrrrrr....) Those who watch Handa-Kun will know what this means...

Kira Kira Precure Ala Mode Ep 14 Review: The Lion and The Dolphin

Let's Cooking! This is my review of Kira Kira Precure episode 14 and Aoi is revealed to be an Ojou Sama!

After last week's little moment of Aoi not willing to appear in front of the camera, we finally got an answer this week and after a mysterious (and handsome) butler "abducted" Aoi during her live concert, Yukari (for reasons unknown) got Aoi's home address and they paid a visit.

You know, Aoi is pretty sweet among the three junior girls.

What caught them (minus Yukari) by surprise was a well dressed Aoi and her family is well-known in the business industry. Aoi's butler introduced himself as Mizushima and he is pretty strict towards her. Although the girls learn from him that he was adopted by Aoi's parents and became a surrogate brother to Aoi.

It actually make sense for Mizushima to repay Aoi's parents by coming a guardian to Aoi. I felt that Mizushima behave more like an older brother disciplining his sibling despite having a poker face which of course got Aoi upset since she was not allowed to go to her performances or work with the girls.

My god! What did they do to you, Rio?!

The girls were discussing what to do next until Rio came in and tried to give discouragement to them. But of course, Ichika is pretty dense and decided to do the opposite! By making Mizushima and Aoi coming to an understanding and with the power of cooking, they created Blue Jello with a dolphin stuffed in!

Rio was speechless and Yukari who is most observant knew something was wrong with Rio's words but decided to keep mum about it. The girls crash into a party hosted by Aoi's family and Aoi did her gig with her band (Though how did her band members sneak in is another question? I know Aoi's working staff did supported her by getting her band members but setting up a stage in record time did raise some questions)

Mizushima was annoyed by the stunts however Ichika let him eat the Dolphin Jello and listening to Aoi's performance which he was moved by it but he kept a poker face and remarked that it is a waste of time. Rio after seeing the people in the party having Kiraru energy while listening to Aoi decided to make his move and started sucking the Kiraru energy including Mizushima.

A battle ensure and Julio spotted that there is some Kiraru energy left in Mizushima but Cure Gelato deflected his attacks and realised that Mizushima do care for her and she absorbed his energy, turning it into her new attack-Gelato Shake (Which again why Toei is taking the easy way out by having Cure Gelato way back at the background while her attacks is at the foreground)

I am smarter than I looked, Ichika!

After Julio retreated and everything went back to normal, Aoi returned back to the Patisserie and Mizushima allowed her to go for her performances and work in the Patisserie as long she keep her grades up which surprised Ichika since she assume that Aoi is not good with her grades and Aoi tease her...

Overall, this is a better character developed episode than last week as it show that Aoi is pretty different from most typical Ojou characters like Minami or Alice. For her, Aoi is very free spirited and her friends accepted her for who she is and not what she is.

Mizushima's nagging is understandable since he is given the responsibilities to take care of Aoi since how Aoi's parents are not around all the time. It make sense for Aoi to do something she really enjoyed and to keep herself occupied. (It could be worse, Aoi might mix with bad company given how she like to potray herself as a rock singer)

Miku is the "Sweetest" sister!

Next week, we are introduced to Akira's younger sister, Miku and she is the next target for Julio! Can Akira protect her from him? Until then, see you in the next post!