Star Twinkle Precure Episode 15

This week we meet Mao, a popular idol by day, and a daring thief by night. It was super obvious that she was the thief from the get go, but damn did I enjoy this episode. The girls don’t know how she knew about them being precures, but it was because of that she deliberately made use of them for her theft. She figured they would make a good distraction if she granted them access to an auction where the Sagittarius Princess Pen was being sold off. But to my surprise, she didn’t actually have a huge role this episode. Instead the spotlight a actually more on Madoka, (and I am not even mad about it). However despite her light appearance, she certainly left an impression on me. Truth to be told, as soon as it was established she is a Space Idol, I became weary of them potentially milking the music thing all over again. Please don’t. I absolutely do not want to go through that again. (Although I have to admit, Mao’s song was really good, her voice too, but seriously don’t push it!!!!) But other than that, she struck me as a really cool character. I absolutely loved how her real personality clashed with Madoka’s. (Poor Prunce though, he was a fan, and she used them, so that really hurt him.) 

And while I would absolutely love to see Mao do her own thing with her own power, it certainly feels like they are setting up to make her the next precure. Depending on how they go about it, I suppose I won’t mind it too much, but I am admittedly weary of them potentially milking the whole idol persona thing all over again.Please don’t. (Though I have to admit, Mao’s song was really good, her voice too, but seriously don’t push it!!!!)

Then we have the star of the episode: Madoka. I swear to god, the more we get to see her the more I love her. Right now, she is probably my favourite character of the cast, so I was thrilled to see more of her. ? She was absolutely fabulous this week. Having gone with her father to various auctions, she knows how the game works, as well as the tricks that help secure her prize, by intimidating her opponent into thinking she more money than she actually has. But the highlight had to be the incredibly shrewd and risky idea to make the daring claim of the donuts Prunce had brought with them as an incredible valuable item, and propose it as a trade to participate in the bidding war. She banked on its incredible taste, and luckily for her, a food critic was smitten by its flavour and turned it into an asset to bid with. I thought it was tastefully done, enough to have me laughing and cheering for Madoka to dupe everyone. What makes it even more incredible about her stunt, is how the donuts are consumables, so once they are eaten, its gone!

I also love how Madoka kept her eye on the main target. Sure Ayewon was there, but she trusted the girls could handle her on their own while she went after Blue Cat. I am already a huge fan of the tension between them, and I am kind of hoping they will turn into rivals of a sort. There’s something about their personalities that really mesh together in an interesting way, so am I looking forward to their confrontations in the future!

But there were a lot of things that also raised questions about the circumstances going on in space at the moment. For starters, today’s planet Moonlah is a lawless planet where dirty money is constantly at play. A number of items showcased at the auction were treasures of various fallen planets. But the one that stood out the most was the necklace from Planet Rainbow. We learned the reason why the planet had fallen was because its habitants all turned to stone, but nobody knows the cause behind it. A part of me wonders if it has any connection to the Notraiders, be it a victim of their invasion, or perhaps a direct connection to some of the generals’ background. This is also why I have a sneaking suspicious this may not be the last time we hear about this kind of thing. On top of that, although Prunce has disregarded the claim, the myth about how if one were to gather all twelve pens, and they’ll grant any wish. This is definitely a big issue about the pens. I imagine its probably true, or perhaps it might even have another purpose, maybe simply making its holder incredibly powerful.

Another interesting connection that was pointed out today was between Mao (Blue Cat) and Ayewon. While Ayewon doesn’t appear to know her (at least as Blue Cat), it seems the two have some sort of history pushed Mao into willingly returning the Sagittarius’ Pen to Madoka, after having stolen it alongside the other treasures she had taken from the auction’s vault.

Next week, another Madoka episode! HURRAY— or at least to some extent. Whoever her rival is at the archery competition might just end up stealing the spotlight, but we’ll see how it plays out!