No 3: Hi, I am Kurosu!
After a battle with a Zetsuborg, Close realised that Haruka is the center of the group as such devise a plan to defeat her. He disguised as a student of the school and called himself Kurosu. He first introduce to Haruka and Yui and claimed he supported her dream of being a princess.
Later he purposely supported Minami and Kirara to go for their errands and tricked Yui and Towa into going an art exhibition.
Finally he trapped Puff and Aroma in a pet shop and isolated Haruka alone. He finally make his move and reveal himself as Close, forcing Haruka to battle alone.
No 2: Cure Flora vs Close (The Rematch!)
Haruka transformed to battle Close. Even though Close was slightly stronger than her and even knocked her out, Cure Flora remember her dream to be a princess and because of her friends' working towards their dreams, she too was motivated to move forward her dream.
Despite all these efforts, Close managed to gain the upper hand and defeated Cure Flora.
No 1: Kanata's words shattered Haruka's dreams.
Kanata arrived to witness the battle between Cure Flora and Close. He was afraid of the battle but went forward to Cure Flora's side. However Kanata told her to give up her dream of being a princess as it is hopeless.
 |
| Even the ending is in darkness... |
This caused Cure Flora to be in shock since Kanata was the one who told her to believe her dream as a princess in the first place. She felt betrayed and loss the will to fight anymore. Close (who somehow never realised Kanata was Prince Kanata) thought he won the battle and because of Haruka's despair, the evil roots in the city started to grow at an accelerating rate. Cure Scarlet who arrived after battling Stop and Freeze could not believe what has happened as Haruka ran away from everyone...
What an unexpected twist since Close is close to being one of the best villains in Precure history. His plan is more of reverse psychology as he isolated everyone from Haruka in order to weaken her spirit. True enough, Haruka tried to overcome Close's plans as she believe in her friends.
But the shocking moment was when Kanata told her to give up her dream as a princess. From the first episode, Haruka and Kanata shared a special bond and believing in her dream and Kanata was what kept Haruka from moving forward. But Kanata betrayed her dreams and she realise that everything she worked for was futile.
I don't really blame Kanata fully as you have to understand that he has no memory of who he really is and his reaction is actually normal for someone who don't see such battles on an everyday basics. He is worried for Haruka's safety and thinking her dream is near impossible which explain why his words were pretty direct. But because he has no memory of him and Haruka sharing a bond since young, Haruka felt betrayed and lose her will to fight anymore.
Overall, I gave this episode an A minus for a surprising twist at the end but I do have a few grips for this episode. One was the opening scene as how come nobody bother to look up to see Close spying on the girls? Kirara was facing right in front of him and yet didn't notice Close up there?
Next was Close's disguise as Kurosu in the school. Didn't anyone bother to ask where he came from and nobody is able to see through his disguise? Close also didn't put two and two together and realise that Kanata was Prince Kanata? (But then in the world of Precure, everyone is a little oblivious when it come to people in disguise.)
This episode felt like a set up for the next episode since Minami and Kirara returned to Haruka's side and with the city being turned into a second Forest of Despair, can Haruka and Kanata able to come to terms with each other? But the next episode preview already spoilt the tension as the girls are getting one more power upgrade! Seriously Toei, stop spoiling the preview! We get it that you want to sell your toys but come on, don't reveal all your tricks in one basket!
 |
| Yeah! (Face palm) More toys to sell! |
However the next episode is in two weeks time and thanks to Toei, the tension is not hyped anymore. Until then, see you in two weeks time! Gokigenyou!
WTF DID KANATA SAID TO HARUKA??!! NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE A PRINCESS??!! Ahem, my earlier ranting aside, I was stunned that it was Kanata (out of all people!) who actually told Haruka to abandon her lifelong dream, the dream that she cherished when she was still a child! No wonder Haruka was utterly DEVASTATED because the one who encouraged her to live on her seemingly impossible dream now turned on her back (inadvertently given that Kanata is still in his amnesia state) T_T But Close, man he's such a smart and cunning bastard, keeping all other Cures and the royal mascots away from Haruka under the guise of "Kurosu" and swiftly earning her trust before handing her a demoralizing beating, leading to the sprouting of a new Forest of Despair even more! well letting the main protagonist struggling for real is a bright point as I'm fed up with continuous enthusiasm of main Cures without true trauma hitting them! And for the other Cures who weren't aware of "Kurosu" (even MINAMI failed to spot that disguise), well at least Towa was suspicious and critical of him from the start, but it's to no avail as Haruka's already succumbing to a budding despair...
ReplyDeleteIn two week's time (damn Toei!), the anticipated reconciliation of Haruka and Kanata aside, there's going to be another power-up for the Princess Cures! Can Haruka overcome the unintended insult of Kanata and bounce back? Gokigenyou all!
I like how they end with despair but preview ruins everythings.
ReplyDelete