Hugtto! Precure Episode 25

This week’s episode was a treat for shippers like myself, as something so simple and so small, and so unlikely to actually go anywhere, I was ecstatic to see them confirm that Hinase does have feelings for Hana. (ASJDHAKSJDHAKSJDHASD) I litterally screamed! Seriously, it made me day. But poor guy, Hana is dense, and his confession completely blew over her head, thinking he got it for Hugtan. Stay strong Hinase, we are rooting for you!!!! He blew all his money on her too. That’s rough buddy… Also Hana had him hold her candy apple, and he was so flustered about it – gosh, I hope she didn’t leave him hanging. That would be so cruel.

It is also worth noting this was probably the first episode where they hinted Harry possibly developing feelings of his own towards Homare. He blushed seeing her in the Yukata, thought she was very cute, and was ready to finally open up to her, only to have Bishin interrupt whatever he was going to say. It will be interesting to see if this actually goes anywhere, or of this will end up being Homare’s first and unrequited love.

Alas, this episode wasn’t about the romance in the air, but Harry and his true background! Honestly, for most part, Harry’s secret didn’t come across as a huge surprise, mainly because a lot of us have already had suspicions he was formerly affiliated with Criasu. He and his friend Bishin was scouted by George, by being employed they were granted food, shelter and power (at the cost of being modded).

The necklace Harry wears is a form of a seal, given to him by a precure. We didn’t see who did it, but there is a good chance it may have been Hugtan, considering Harry was imprisoned at the time, and perhaps Hugtan wasn’t simply frozen in time, but captured for other reasons. I also don’t think it was coincidence we saw the white glow, given that we now know Harry is in possession of the Mirai White Crystal. This only further my suspicions the White Mirai Crystal originally belonged to Hugtan, and this is perhaps how the two of them ended up escaping together. As much as that would be a great way to follow up this episode, I don’t think we will see that happen since next week will be focusing on Saaya, (the poor girl have been been more or less written off the grid up until this point).

Speaking of Saaya, I liked how she noticed Homare’s feelings for Harry, and was clever enough to go off with the girls so the two of them could have some alone time. I kind of want to see her tease her about it. I’m pretty much starving for the main trio to have some proper interactions again. They have been separated and doing their own thing for for too long, or else the screentime had been hijacked by Emiru and Lulu.

That being said, I do hope that Homare will have another opportunity to have an episode dedicated to her in a more impactful way. It’s not that opening up how her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother isn’t important, that piece of information may not necessarily contribute to the story, but we have to remember this show is targeted to children, so it’s little things like this that helps them find someone to connect with.

Overall while it was a great episode, it definitely wasn’t perfect. Bishin’s debut was lacklustre, but I suppose it’s alright since we didn’t see him reveal any of his true powers. Today his objective was to have Harry redeem himself so he could work with Criasu again. Since that failed, he retreated. That being said, I hope he does true out to be quite strong. We need stronger villains, hopefully Gelos will do a better job next week, because last week’s was one heck of a pathetic showing.