No 3: Takumi and Jinjin's last chance.
Jenos complained to George that she want to lay off her men, Takumi and Jinjin which George has no objection. Dr Trauma gave Jenos an experimental time stoppage bottle for her to use however Takumi and Jinjin stole the bottle and went on a rampage in the city by freezing anyone in their path.
Of course, things don't go well when the girls confronted the two of them and somehow the energy from the bottle merge Takumi and Jinjin into a mindless Oshimaida. But Jenos who appeared didn't care about them what happened to them and ordered them to attack the girls instead.
No 2: The New Power! Cheerful Style!
As the title of this episode state, the girls' memories and feelings has reacted the Mirai Pad and Hug-Tan which created the Cheerful Crystal and the Memorial Miracle Clock!
With the new powers, they used their new team attack-Precure Cheerful Attack and purified Takumi and Jinjin again...
With that, the girls gained a new form and Hug-Tan is getting healthier every day and the girls remember this day with a photo together...
No 1: Hana and Eri.
In the beginning of the episode, Eri learn about Hana in the girls' blog and went to meet her. However Eri ran away when she met Hana again. Hana on the other hand was not herself after a few slip-up in the shop that got the other girls worried.
The other girls decided to find out what is going on between the two of them. Saya and Homare spotted Eri in the street and learn that Hana stood up for her in middle school when she was competing in cheer leading. However the other members started spreading rumours about Hana and she was isolated from everyone.
Eri felt responsible what has happened to Hana but couldn't do anything. Even when Hana transferred school, Eri didn't get a chance to apologise. Saya and Homare hugged Hana when they met and explained about Eri's troubles.
They even told Hana about Eri's upcoming cheer leading performance and encouraged Hana to meet her again. Ruru and Emiru also joined in and even sing a song for Hana to meet her which she finally agreed.
When the girls heard that the make-up artist has yet to arrive, (due to Takumi and Jinjin's rampage) Hana used the Mirai pad to become make-up artists. Eri was touched in tears when Hana was doing her make up. She apologise to Hana for what has happened and Hana just want her to be her friend from now on.
After the battle, Eri's performance was successful and the two of them finally reconciled...
Despite this is a plot and character development episode, I have some grips about it. The good things was the girls new Cheerful style looked wonderful and even Hug-Tan is now part of the attack which I am suggesting that she will get a bigger role in the future since she supposedly represent the White Mirai Crystal and is the centre of the group based on the Cheerful Crystal patterns.
The Team attack was pretty simple and nothing fancy since it is very similar to other team attacks where the girls just focus their energies and fired a giant rainbow to purify the enemy. Hopefully there is more than that since it will get pretty boring after seeing it for the fourth or fifth time.
Now about the main plot-Hana and Eri's past is pretty well done since bullying is a serious matter that there is no clear solution on the matter. You either stand your ground and risk antagonizing everyone or keep quiet until things can really get out of hand.
Like what Hana's mother mentioned before in a previous episode, she is not wrong in defending Eri but her peers decided to focus their attention on Hana which caused her to be isolated until she was forced to transfer schools. Eri felt guilty for causing Hana to transfer and never got a chance to apologise to her until now. Of course, Hana has very good and understanding friends who help her to take the first step and in the end, all's well that end's well!
Which lead me to the other grip I have for this episode- The new power up was too easy to obtain for the girls! To be honest, this should be a two-parter. Firstly, Takumi and Jinjin's Oshimaida form was a pushover since all five girls pinned it easily and the girls just speak out the encounters they have for the past few weeks and the Mirai Pad just acknowledge like that. Does anyone think it was too simple and there was no serious stakes involved? Sure, many people got froze in time but it was not a big deal since defeating the Oshimaida restored everything back to normal.
If you looked back at the past seasons like Team Smile has to overcome some very dark moments, Team Princess has their keys stolen, even Team Kirakira has to deal with hordes of zombies like creatures running in the city. All these lead them to their new power-up which the challenge to overcome it was more satisfying.
So why Toei play safe this time round? Don't get me wrong, Hugtto Precure has very good characters moments than both of Kirakira and Mahou Tsukai combined. But I felt that every battles they fought was not a challenge but rather a "chore" to get through.
Toei, this is the 15th anniversary of Precure. Don't you think you should make one good series rather than paint by the numbers? Even Kamen Rider Zi-O which is the last Rider series for the Heisei Era is going out with a bang with the tributes to previous rider series. Don't leave a bad taste in my mouth for this season especially for an anniversary season. (Happiness Charge already ruined the tenth anniversary!)
Next episode, the girls ended up in fairy tales with Homare playing the little mermaid and Harry as the prince!? Until then, see you in the next post!
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