Hands down, this was probably the most emotional episode of Go! Princess Precure to date. They had me tearing up many times, seeing Towa’s memories as a child, with her parents and her kingdom. But most of all, this was the first time she has been back since she had been saved. She horrified of seeing it in ruins, consumed by the Forest of Despair and she was terribly upset about it. Her fury had her acting aggressively, moving ahead of the others to take down Dyspear’s zetsuborg. Seeing Towa in the place she once knew as home, and her desire to reclaim her beloved Kingdom and save both her parents and their citizens, was hard. My heart ached for her.
It was a beautiful moment when she started playing the violin, playing her half of the duet she and her brother had promised to do together when they were young. To see them fulfill the promise despite such a sobering environment only made the scene even more meaningful.
But while Towa’s part of the episode was special and full of meaning, there were also parts that left me with mixed opinions.
I was not particularly impressed with how anticlimactic Dyspear’s attempt to eliminated both Kanata and Towa in one go- specifically because not for a second, did I feel either one of them were threatened by her. She talked big, but she did not deliver int he way I had hoped or at least expected her to. We have seen her do better in the past, so to see this… I dare say… pathetic attempt, was a real downer when she has been an excellent villain throughout the entire season. The next part is the pacing. I raised my concern about this last week considering Go! Princess Precure is so close to the end now. This week did not reassure me the slightest, it only made me more worried and seeing how Yui will be getting an episode focused on her next week- which is long overdue- but god, what a terrible time to do this. Furthermore, it feels as though… how should I say it? Almost pointless for them to be teleported back to Hope Kingdom and only leave after they purified and reclaimed the Castle of Flames. I honestly though this was going to be the beginning of them reclaiming the map, specifically with the Castles of the other Precures. I find it puzzling why they would suddenly throw in a Yui episode this late in the game and right after this particular episode. I don’t know what they have in mind of how they are going to deliver the falling action parts, but I am not feeling the confidence I had ten episodes ago…
On the brighter note, Towa was ridiculously adorable and watching her be able to interact with Kanata for the first time since they had last seen each other as children was precious. She was so happy to show off what she was learning, what she made and just being able to be with him again. Ugh, so precious. Towa alone is what makes this episode wonderful to watch.
Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how the parents actually resemble their kids!? Kanata looks like his mother and Towa looks like her father!
Well, it’s the fault of the episode schedules board from the scans I guess and the heck brainstorming plan of the staff to make an episode (it’s almost everywhere in anime! >_<). But the saying "better late than never" would make sense for our Yui-Yui to at least one centered episode and very fine for me to do so; yet damn we don't wanna see a "strike three" for our dear Cure helper, instead we wanna see a "give-chance-to-others-and-turned-into-a-Zetsuborg" kind of thingy although something tells me that there's still a deeper meaning about Yui-Yui's dream but what could it that be? I think I found her quite mysterious, but at least a flashback would do hopefully in the next ep.
Anyhow, off to the episode, Towachi's already acted like a kindergardener who always spoiled on her dear onii-sama Kanata (and he still has got the two-colored hair even at his casual clothing. :3) which in other words, she's just damn too cute! On the other hand Nishikido-sensei gives Kanata a new violin (since his original one has turned into the Scarlet Violin) for free and therefore I totally like that. Then the part when Towachi showed her experiences on Earth to her onii-sama was such oozing. And all of the sudden that the Royal Key glows in red and I've never thought that the whole squad (with Yui-Yui, Ms. Shamour and Kuroro this time) was just transported to the Dys Dark-controlled Hope Kingdom with a secret password: Royal Majesty and… CHONG! There they are in that dimension… Full of vines, people (and even mascots) trapped inside the despair cages, the lake turns red… Everything's completely gone dead into a deity-forsaken ghost town! I was sad about what the kingdom looks like right now. 🙁
Now on Lock, este Kuroro got ran away and said that this isn't the Hope Kingdom anymore, trying to on the rainbow and the gang is now looking for him all over. And when flashbacks popped up, I'm gonna recall 'em in a story form: Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl named Princess Hope Daylight Towa, who looked herself up in a mirror but worry. Then… ugh I have to jolt down instead! Her mom and dad told the red haired princess that if she sees in worry then the peeps may looked worry too, so she should just be herself with a smile on her face (which is definitely true)… And the crowd cheers before the royal family! Then we've gotta see Puff and Aroma on training with an experienced maid and a butler. A flashback about Kuroro along with his two other fairy friends (oh God, don't tell me that one of the Dys Dark generals is also a fairy… Or not?! :o) but trapped in cages too and our cute calico is then possessed by a dark jacket, which enable for him to turn into the Dys Dark Musketeer Lock.
Other than those stuff, I learned the reason why Towachi got mysteriously disappeared while sensing her own desire to become a Grand Princess and being Twilight is because yes, the peeps are felt hopeless and even the king and queen being upset despite the efforts to retain the Hope Kingdom from despair. But yeah, the rest is history: the kingdom is invaded and collapsed, Dyspear had taken the entire dimension into a dead wasteland and the citizens had put into the despair cages. And then goes Dyspear! She's still calling Towachi her past self (ah, can ya please you should start calling her either the title name or the Cure name instead?) then summoning a new type of monsters from Dys Dark – Metsuborgs (coming from "metsubou" meaning destruction) – before she taunts the royal siblings too much! And the fight was pretty intense (plus the Scarlet-related BGM) before Kanata's coming to Scarlet's aid while taking Kuroro. I do like the new solo finisher with the Sun Key and the Princess Palace that's Scarlet Prominence then on the Grand Printemps part, the fire princess takes the "gokigen yo" end phrase after purifying the Metsuborg.
The part when Scarlet and Kanata having a violin performance together in an imaginary once-peaceful Hope Kingdom reminds me of their song called "Strings," (on the season's second vocal album) particularly the bridge part and it's beautiful. Finally, the Fire Temple was reformed via the Princess Palace, Scarlet's four keys and most importantly, her feelings. Such another emotional episode of GPPC for me and I'm happy for both Towachi and Kanata that they can now talk to each other after so many years. Hands down for Yukiko Nakatani for animating the episode! :')
Wowww Scarlet’s attack with the sun key was amazing, and the use of all of her keys with castle item to restore the castle of fire … YaY! can’t wait to see the other precure so the same with theirs sakura, corail and galaxy keys, this will be just beautiful!
Excellent episode with many touching moments (Towa curtsying in front of her people, the King and Queen of Hope Kingdom making their first appearances, Kanata playing the duet with Towa etc.), and it’s sweet to see Towa acting like a little sister in front of Kanata, that’s simply too adorable! But Kanata’s horrid PERMANENT pinkish hair colour (and the transformable prince outfit) is back again :p
I really love this episode! And more than I expected! Aaaaaww, Towa is so wonderful and cute, especially with her brother! 😀
I can’t help it! I like Towa being like that, even in front of her friends! XD
I really love the scene when she tell to Kanata what she’s been doing and she sparkles with giga-happiness and everyone including us viewers watches at her like “Aw, kawaii”! I was so happy for her as well, as all her fans too. ^^
I liked to see the memories of Towa’s past with her brother and parents. It was cute and beautiful to see, not to mention that we all saw the true parents King and Queen. This and the previous episode makes me think that we will be seeing more memories of the past of some or maybe all the members of the team. I hope this happens. It would be very nice to see, learn or know their lives in the past. 🙂
True that it’s been awhile since the last time they’ve been in the Hope Kingdom, except for Yui which is her first time to be there. Poor Kuroro that he had friends and lost them and was chosen to become a Dys Dark commader, I feel so sad for him. Gladly that Scarlet cheered him up. I hope Kuroro keeps smiling more often. ^^
And I must admit that Queen Dyspear didn’t show up like the last time as you mentioned, Eva, I really expected more or worse from her. But that Zetsuborg was really cool looking and powerful. I really liked that one. As I watched the episode, I thought the Queen would be disappointed or even angry with Close after the previous episode, which makes me suspicious that there must be something else or even a Plan B hidden. That I wonder. Hum…
I dare write that even when Scarlett is angry or gives an angry expression, she’s still beautiful no matter what. But I got worried about her during that battle and I was like “Scarlet, wait! Scarlet, calm down!”. Then she puts up a great battle with her friends together and I was happy to see that Scarlet says “Goki’genyou” after the Grand Prinstemps this time! Hooray! 😀
And the moment when Scarlet and Kanata play their violins together is really REALLY beautiful and touching to see. That’s the strongest scene of the episode to me. “The Kinship Reunited” I would call it. I’m so happy for them as much as anyone who loves them. :’)
Pity that Towa and Kanata couldn’t save their parents yet as I was hoping they would, but I’m still putting hope that they will when the time comes. At least Scarlett and her friends have the Temple of Fire, but there are more to save afterwards. I’ll try not to be hasty or anxious, but I guess the Royal Key opened the gate that links to the real world in the end because maybe Haruka, Minami and Kirara aren’t “ready” yet to save the other temples. Perhaps… Or maybe the other reason or more. Who’s to say?
I really want to watch the next episode and see how it goes for Yui in the coming art competition! Ganbate, Yui! 😀
PS (delayed): I should’ve mentioned and realized since I watched that this too has become one of my favorite episodes of this great series! 😀