Hugtto! Precure Episode 3

When I saw last week’s preview, I was under the assumption this was probably going to be one of those in between episodes since it heavily revolved around Hugtan and her mood. But I was in for a pleasant surprise when they dove straight into the plot. (Also a moment of appreciate how cute Hugtan’s unimpressed expression is!)

Hana asked question that was bound to come around sooner or later, “Where is Hugtan’s mother?” but as soon as she said it, all I could think of was, “Oh snap, it’s about to get real!!!!” And to some degree, it did. Harry confirms they were from another world, a world much like the one they are in. However he and Hugtan were the only survivors thanks to escaping Criasu Corporation’s wrath with the help of Mirai Crystal White. In order for them to free their homeland from being frozen in time, the precures must collect the power of 8 Mirai Crystals to Hugtan.

Although it is nothing new for precures to be gathering a source of power to complete an objective, usually leading up to their next power-up or newest member, but this time, it felt a little bit different- in a good way. Of course maybe it’s just me, but I felt the the overall mood when Harry opened up to them about what had happened to their homeland was a lot more serious in comparison to some of the other series. It think what also contributed to that element was how Hana was a lot more conscious of what could happen to her own world, thanks to having witnessed Hugtan’s memories through her dream, along with the fact Harry did not tell her this in his “Hariham” form.

It amused me however how the general purpose of the episode was actually pursuing what Hugtan was looking for, and that is the third Precure (Homare). At first I thought she was looking for specific power source, the Mirai Crystal White – but seeing it move around, I suspected it had to be a precure related. Sure enough it was her, because everywhere she went, the tracker on the Mirai Pad followed. The girls of course didn’t catch onto this, but it looks like Homare will finally be joining the team next week, or so I would imagine based off the preview. But why do I have this impression she suffered from a leg/foot injury? She wants to fly again, I remember seeing her skate in the preview I think (though maybe I should take that with a grain of salt). That being said though, she has quite an amusing personality. Cool and collected on the surface, but absolutely melts whenever she sees cute things. Also shown us a bit of her gloomy side, where she longs to fly again.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how adorable Lulu? Who cares she only had like maybe a minute of screentime, I already love her! First off I adore her character design, it’s quite refined, matching her chilled personality and cool abilities to do a search on a whim of tracking where the Mirai Crystal White is located. But as much as I’d love to gush about her some more, she did mention another important detail: that is how they are specifically searching for a Precure. Not a crystal, but an actual precure. Chances are this precure is Hugtan, and nobody can find her because she’s a babe, the last thing the villains are probably expecting to find. It is also quite telling how at the end of the day, it’s Hugtan who needs the Mirai Crystals, making sound more like she is the one who has been depleted of power.