Maho Tsukai Precure Ep 13: Happiness in your Hand

Cure Up! Rapapa! This is my review of Maho Tsukai Precure Episode 13 Review and the girls are out at the hills for some BBQ!

For Riko, everything is new and exciting for her since this is her first BBQ outing. From pressing a car window to how interesting that you can cook food over a fire, it is an eye opener for her.

I want some of Rizu's meat...Give it to me!!

Of course, Rizu arrived and apparently Mirai's male classmates (Souta and Yuto) were captivated by her beauty despite earlier they try to get into Riko's good books. (Boys will be boys!) Rizu also passed a letter to Mirai and Riko from the headmaster who claimed he found a clue on how to find the next Linkle stone.

Although the two girls didn't understand the meaning of the headmaster's letter, Riko decided to find the Linkle stone by using her magic and nearly being chased by a swarm of bees. Worse, Riko tried her magic to get directions of the Linkle stone but failed.

However after tasting the rice that she had cooked, Riko realized that magic is not omnipotent. Sure, magic and equipments could help in some way but sometimes, using your own hands to get things done make you appreciate more of the little things in life as Mirai's father expressed.

The fight with Batty and his Yokubal was all right since the girls used the speed of Sapphire form to make the Yokubal had a head-on collision to the ground. With Riko learning more of herself, the Linkle Peridot stone appeared in front of them. (Although it is weird that their fight didn't attract Rizu and the others since there was so much explosion going on)

The final scene was touching since Rizu told Riko that she was destined to be a great Magic user ever since her magic wand reacted to the Linkle Diamond. With it, Riko had a new view in becoming a better Magic User and Precure.

Other than that, Kana is being treated like the butt of jokes since this is her third sighting of seeing the girls flying their broomsticks and nobody seem to take her seriously. How much do Toei want to make this poor girl a running gag in the show? Also, Early in the episode, Souta commented Mirai on her bringing Mofurun along and he nod to Mirai...(did Souta saw Mofurun nod his head or it is just a wink to the fourth wall?)

Mirai..a bear is smarter than you...

A fun episode with Rizu giving her blessings to Riko at the end. Next episode is Mirai's greatest challenge-Exam Papers which you could see from the next preview that her studies isn't on par with Riko. She decided to give Mirai some Spartan training in order to pass her next test paper. Until then, see you next week!

Maho Tsukai Precure Ep 12 Review: Starry Memories

Cure Up! Rapapa! This is my review of Maho Tsukai Precure Episode 12 Review and today we learn more about Mirai's childhood and Riko trying to be a model student.

From the beginning of the episode, Riko tried to show that she is a model student in class. Like answering a geometry question in great detail (Literally) and showing off her knowledge in astronomy which surprised her classmates. However Riko was unapproachable since she spent the free time in class reading which Mirai had to gave an excuse for her peers.

Riko didn't realise it further when Mirai and her friends were playing volleyball and Riko mistaken it to be a requirement in school and started reading a book about volleyball. We do get some Riko and Mofurun for once since the two of them rarely interact alone and Mofurun treat Riko just as nice as Mirai since he helped to massage Riko's shoulders after practicing volleyball.

Later Mirai's parents told Riko during dinner that Mirai didn't cried when she got lost during a camping trip as she was engrossed at the stars in the night sky. However the truth which Mirai later revealed to Riko that she was scared when she got lost however the stars calmed her down which make her enjoy looking at the night sky. (Which explained why she was looking out of the window in the first episode)

Mirai also reminded Riko that to enjoy herself in school and not to be pressured of being the best in school. Her pep talk make Riko realise her flaw and she gladly accepted it. Although the fight with Spalda's Yokubal was kinda of mediocre but it was because Mirai and Riko went out flying in their broomstick at night. If they didn't went out then there weren't be any fight at all.

Despite the girls' reward in defeating the Yokubal was getting a new Linkle stone-Tanzanite and a funny moment of Kana claiming she saw two moving objects in the sky, the final scene was Riko finally interacting with Mayumi and Souta and she even allowed them to call her by her first name.

Overall, I am actually enjoying their daily life and the fight is kinda of shoehorn at the last minute because it is a Precure show so a fight is mandatory. Furthermore, did anyone noticed that the Yokubal are one of the weakest monster in Precure series as the threat is pretty low compared to other series' monsters? Hopefully things will change since we are heading the first quarter next week.

In the next episode, Rizu come to Earth to visit Riko. (Yeah, more Nazuka Kaori!) Together with Mirai's family and friends, they went to the hills for some barbecue! Of course, the Dark Magicians are always one step behind them. Until then, see you next week!

P.S: This week's review is a bit short since not much movement on the main plot but more on the two girls' character developments. If you like it, more power to you.

Maho Tsukai Precure Ep 11 Review: Riko's First Day in School

Cure Up! Rapapa! This is my review of Maho Tsukai Precure Episode 11 Review and today Riko enrolled in Mirai's school.

Basically, we were introducted to a few new characters in this episode. We have Mirai's father, Daikichi who is an inventor of sort and created the first instant bread maker. Even Riko was amazed by his invention and thought it was magic but Daikichi explained it to be Science! Who want to think that Daikichi could use his inventions to help the girls if he is let in their Precure lives?

Then we are introduced to Mirai's class (finally some male students in the series!) which consists of Mayumi and Souta who are Miria's friends. Kana who accidentally saw Mirai and Riko using their broomsticks to fly to school and Mofurun and Ha-Chan appearing in class which nobody believe her although I have a feeling she might go and try to find out their identifies in future episodes.

We also learn that Mofurun is always been with Mirai since young and the head teacher telling the girls that they are not suppose to use their magic in public which include not bringing Mofurun and Ha-Chan to school. These got Mofurun very upset and he sneak into Mirai's school bag with Ha-Chan and begin their little adventure in school.

Gamets is actually more smarter than Spalda from last episode since he decided to go after the Linkle Topaz when Mofurun got it. He is also more brutal as he tried to wrest the stone out of Mofurun when he caught him.

The Topaz Form, in my opinion is the Trickster Style or some called it the Green Lantern Style since it can create any things the girls wanted which is funny to see Cure Miracle creating a giant hammer to smash the Yokubal's head. Their final attack is also overkill since it involved throwing the Yokubal into a lava pit.

Other than that, we finally have Riko using the word-Izayoi as her family name, the talking Crystal ball is called Kathy (Cute name), Ha-Chan is able to talk now (Hayami Saori using a cuter voice) and how did Grandmother fool Mirai's parents? By telling them that Mirai went to a tea cultural school (Sahou in Japanese) during the holiday although Grandmother wasn't surprised about Riko's appearance when Mirai introduced her to the family.

Overall, a better episode this week around. Next week, Riko tried to be the best in her academic and seems to push herself a bit too hard! Until then, see you in the next episode!

P.S: Our prayers and thoughts are for the people of Japan as they are now suffering from two major earthquakes last week. Hope you can recover soon! Gambare, Japan!

Maho Tsukai Precure Ep 10 Review: Follow that Topaz!

Cure Up! Rapapa! This is my review of Maho Tsukai Precure Episode 10 Review and Mirai is finally back on Earth!

Basically this episode is made up of finding the Linkle Topaz which is casually lying on the ground the moment the girls tap out of the station. But when a crow took the Topaz away and both Riko and Ha-chan rushed to chase it, the girls were seperated for their own adventures until the third act.

For Riko, she encountered Mirai's mother, Kyoko and she offered some food at her place. Riko did told a bit of how her parents are always away for work and Kyoko kinda of empathize her since her husband is away and Mirai is off to places unknown.

For Mirai is more of retracting her steps in finding Riko and even refused to eat the last cookie she saved for Riko. However the two girls finally meet at the Ichigo Pan stand before Spalda showed up. Although I am wondering why Spalda didn't take the Linkle Topaz since she caught a cat holding it? Maybe only the Linkle Emerald is worth taking it or the other stones are deemed useless? A smart person will have held the Topaz for the girls to exchange the Linkle Emerald if they found it. But then, this season's villains are pretty dumb to begin with...

The fight with the Yokubal on a motorcycle was kinda of okay. Yes, we do have people running away from the Yokubal but if a Yokubal riding upwards on a building didn't attract anyone, it is probably because the people are too oblivious about it or Toei didn't want to spend the extra money to make more extra characters.

There was a weird scene when the Yokubal scratched the two girls and the claw effects hit on the girls. The girls didn't react until the claw effects were gone and if this show was shown during the wee hours, the girls' costumes will have been torn off. (I am sure some older fans of Precure will want some Fan service if that happened)

At the end, the girls lost the Topaz and Riko was surprised that Kyoko was Mirai's mother. As expected, Kyoko demanded her daughter to tell her what has been going on with her. Maybe her grandmother did told Kyoko about Mirai going to Magic school and Kyoko didn't buy that. Good for Kyoko for using common sense!

Although the Head Teacher coming down to Earth in Merry Poppins style is kinda of interesting and she probably has her reasons in finding Riko. (I was expecting Rizu to come so that Nazuka Kaori can be a regular in the series)

Overall, Riko and Kyoko's interaction was nice but the fight was still bad as ever. Next week, Riko joined Mirai's class and met three very familiar students in her class. Topaz Form has arrived and it is kinda of funny to see a pudding on Cure Magical's head in Topaz Form. Until then, see you next week for the next episode!

Maho Tsukai Precure Ep 9 Review: The Final Test!

Cure Up! Rapapa! This is my review of Maho Tsukai Precure Episode 9 Review! It is the girls' final magic test and Mirai and Riko have some issues with each other.

I am not really sure how long Mirai has been in the Magic world but it looked like after 5 episodes, she has make friends with Jun and the others since Mirai helped Kei in making a poster to remind her of what to bring for classes.

However both Mirai and Riko knew that if they passed the test, Mirai will have to return back to Earth. During the final test which involve a more annoying version of Laser Tag (with screaming flowers) Mirai jumped straight to take down Rizu but being the magic prodigy, she doesn't go down easily and took down the other three students with ease.

As expected, Mirai told Riko that she is willing to help her become a real Magic User and Riko misunderstood that Mirai wanted to go back home as soon as possible. The two of them of course took down Rizu (With the power of friendship, what else?) and everyone passed the final test.

If there is one grip, it was Batty's appearance and challenge a fight with the girls. I felt there was no reason for Batty to come here because, one, there was no new Linkle stone in this episode, two, unlike some previous seasons where the villains are gathering negative energies for their evil scheme, the Dark Magician group have no motives other than finding the Linkle stones.

Basically this fight was shoehorn at the last moment and the Yokubal was a pushover with no dire consequences (Other than their report card got turned into the Yokubal) but then even the report card was destroyed, the teachers could just issued a new one and gave the stamps accordingly since they passed all the test already.

The final scene was what stood out in this episode since this felt like a Season finale since everyone minus Riko and the Headmaster bid farewell to Mirai and Mofurun at the train station. Although Mirai was holding her emotions together but since we are only nine episodes in, it was no surprise that Riko with the endorsement of the Headmaster allowed her to join Mirai on Earth.

The two reunited at the end was sweet although Riko still act all Tsundere but then this is Horie Yui who is famous in doing Tsundere roles since she got famous playing Naru of Love Hina fame in the first place.

Overall, other than the fight with the Yokubal, the episode was pretty all right but I have one question. What is the point for Mirai going through all these magic remedial lessons when eventually she will return back to Earth without even attending a proper class?

I thought she came to the Magic world to become a Magic user and we are suppose to know more of the Magic world. But these few episodes are pretty superficial other than finding four of the Linkle Stones, I don't see any reasons the point of the magic lessons.

I always thought that Precure's powers are like memories bank since every season before, the girls are able to use their powers with ease and doesn't need much training but more of muscle memory and instinct to use their powers. Here, Mirai and Riko relied on their instincts like every other Cure before them to overcome their enemies and not their magic lessons they were taught.

But then, there is a flip side since the Linkle stones are sentinel and need to see if the girls are worthy to obtain them. Maybe that is why the girls had to go through these lessons but Toei can come with a better plot about helping one other and courage and you will also get the same results in the end. In conclusion, the magic lessons are really a waste of time!

Enough of me ranting since Mirai and Riko are finally back on Earth although how Mirai is going to explain to her parents of her disappearance is yet to be seen. I really want to see if Mirai's grandmother really told her parents of her going to the Magic world and her parents called grandmother a total senile and called up the police. But this is Precure where the people in this universe are totally oblivious to magical girls in primary colors.

Riko Croissant?

But when the girls arrived back on Earth, Riko got separated with Mirai and started another wild goose chase to find her in the city! Until then, see you next week for the next episode!