What a cute episode! It is so incredibly refreshing despite the fact some people may already find Hime annoying with her scaredy-cat personality. It was great to see the girls team up, and balance each other’s flaws while giving each other the support and boost of confidence they needed to accomplish defeating the terribad for the first time. Hime’s character is extremely flawed, and probably has the most negative attitude we have seen yet in Precure right off the bat. While I am certainly okay with her pessimistic attitude right now, if it persists for ten or twenty episodes, i am going to quickly become fed up with her (if not sooner than later). But having Cure Lovely as her partner should help her gradually start becoming more opstimistic as they improve her previous failed track record, and start becoming a viable threat to the Phantom Kingdom. It was amusing however to see her choose to tell Cure Lovely that they should run away when she actually had a golden opportunity to finally purify the terribad.
I really enjoyed the fact that Cure Lovely struggled on her first fight. Seeing that while she did deliver some kicks and punches, she hadn’t actually inflicted any damage. For the past two series, the leads were always able to pull it off without a hitch- sure there would be some blunders here and there, but nevertheless within their first fight, they would win on their own. Thanks to that, it makes the girls’ teamwork all more fun to watch. It was absolutely adorable to see how Cure Lovely was all like, “WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH A TEAM NAME AND AN EPIC POSE!” – hence here we have Happiness Charge Precure as their name. Their team name was inspired by Megumi’s way of ‘injecting’ and ‘charging’ happiness to another. I especially like that because it’s no longer just a name, it actually means something.
Another factor liked was the whole, “COME UP WITH THE MOVES” aka, basically make up your moves as you go by using the Prebrace. It is not only amusing, but it makes their special moves personal. This isn’t some “pre-programed ability” that we have seen in many of the past Precure Series, and that what makes it all more special and unique to them.
We were told of the origin of troubles with the terribad and who Blue really is. Turns out Blue is a God who watches over Earth (who would’ve thought! What a pity though, I was hoping he’d be Hime’s brother…). The terribad were originated/released from the Box of Axia, and ever since they have been on a rampage all around the world. They are led by Queen Mirage, ruler of the Phantom Empire, along with several indiviual leaders that serve under her. She is known to loath love and happiness.
No surprise to see that the Pre-Cards are outfits that comes with abilities according to its attire. This is definitely going to be a fun element that will be used over the course of the series. I can see Megumi having fun with it during her free time because of it’s quirks. Today she showed us the Detective outfit and the skills that came along with it. But more importantly, we are told that once they complete their collection, they will be granted a wish.
Last thing before I wrap this up, we were told today that the Kingdom of the Blue Sky is under control of the Phantom Empire. There is where Hime’s family and people are held hostage. Frankly it was no surprise, as this particular basis of the plot was used in the previous series, Doki Doki Precure and many others. I guess I should count myself lucky being a casual precure viewer since I would probably be sick and tired of this concept by now.
Next week! Looks like Seiji is going to find out that Megumi is now a Precure! I look forward to it, heehee! <3 Let there be romance!
