Episode 31
HIKARU GAVE FUWA PRINCESS JELLO!
WHAT? FUWA IS EVOLVING!
CONGRATULATIONS, FUWA EVOLVED INTO UNICORN PRINCESS!
…WHAT?!
The girls’ reaction to Fuwa’s transformation sums up just about the mood of most if not everyone watching. The humour’s take was a bit jarring so I didn’t find it particularly funny, I was more along the lines of “What the @#*!?” – Not that a fairy or magical creature undergoing a transformation is anything new of the sorts. Really it just came down to the way they presented it.
But aside from having successfully retrieved the final Princess Pen (Pisces) and Fuwa has taken on her true form, there were more pressing development that took place this episode. The Starscape Alliance has successfully followed them back to Earth, and asked the girls to join their coalition only for everyone (except for Hikaru) to pretty much excuse themselves from the conversation.
Mr. Topper, the Commander of the Starscape Alliance then decides perhaps it would be best to have a private discussion with Hikaru, who he perceives as the leader of the group. It is from there on out when things start to get interesting. The discussion finally shifted to the weight of their duty. They are young, it’s an understatement why it’s difficult for them to grasp. After-all, they have yet to witness the true horrors of the Notraiders’ Invasion, and what makes them such a powerful and fearsome enemy. In a way, the girls’ unwillingness to even hear out the Commander became off-putting, because the commander does need their help, and since they are supposed to be the saviours of the universe, the least they could do is hear him out after he had made an exception to their case.
However agreeing to join the Starscape Alliance is a different matter altogether, as they cannot simply just leave home for weeks and months, they all have their own lives. I am sure they can figure out a compromise, especially since both are fighting against the same enemy.
Speaking of which, we finally got to see Galogre in action. He is as strong as I expected him to be, and had Fuwa not brought the girls to back Hikaru up, she would have lost and probably would have died on the moon due to losing the ability to breathe in space (thanks to the Princess Pen’s power). Galogre was also in a similar position, the bracelet which Master Darkest had blessed enabled him to breathe in space as well, and as soon as the power expired, he had no choice but to retreat. It was thanks to the time limit that the girls even managed to recover Pisces and not have to fight him any further because he is so powerful, that even thought they were 5 VS 1, neither one of their special attacks worked against him. Because of that, there was a moment I had thought when Hikaru had snatched the final pen, we were about to see their special attack be upgraded, but we didn’t. However now it makes sense why they didn’t, since Fuwa only evolved after that fight. So it makes more sense for them to get their new power either next week or within the next few episodes to reflect that.
Episode 32
This week the girls got their new power up (the sequence was super adorable by the way!), and a lot of new information about Fuwa. As expected, this is not her final form, and Master Darkest revealed that she is in fact a “vessel” of a sort. Whether she is a vessel of “power” or an entirely different entity (perhaps a Queen or a Goddess of a sorts), much to the girls’ dismay, they will have to wait until they have successfully provide her “Twinkle Imagination” before they can go off to fight the final boss. It’s also why Master Darkest is ramping up his efforts, he is running out of time, but at the same time, it works to his advantage that she is in this current form, putting the power into a singular form of the Shiny Twinkle Pen.
We also learned that the Notraider’s headquarters is located where Galogre’s home planet used to be before it was destroyed. Interestingly, all of the generals, such as Kappard and Tenjou have come to this place when their respective homes and loved ones have suffered from a similar fate as well (unless they ended up being from the same planet after-all). Only then, Master Darkest appeared before them, offering them power if they were to pledge alliance to him. (Though who to say he wasn’t the one behind it).
That being said, after watching these two episodes back-to-back, it became very apparent that something is missing. Something is throwing me off, I can’t wrap my head around it and it’s bugging me like crazy. While I have a few ideas what it might be, (such as the execution of the theme, characters, etc…) I am going to wait until we are closer to the end before I elaborate further on it. Perhaps by then, it will make it more clear what has been preventing me from enjoying the show to the fullest, or maybe iron things out for the better.
Overall it was an okay episode. While the fight was cool, one of the things that really bugged me was when they made Galogre dumb. Like really? Have Fuwa litterally fly into his arms, and then he tosses her back to the girls because he didn’t recognize her. Really? Yes she looks different, but does it really make sense for him to be that careless?
Other than that, I really like the girls design for the power-up, the crowns are a nice touch and the dresses are pretty simplistic compared the fairly flashy ones we have seen in previous series for a while now. It was also sweet to see Mr. Topper’s soft side, and more of how much he cares about the Princesses. It lifted a lot of weight off his heart to learn they have been saved after he had failed to protect them. So he told the girls they don’t need to join the Starscape Alliance (go figure), and will be on stand-by should they ever need their assistance.
Next week, Fuwa wants to be helpful or something. I get the feeling this episodes is something I will have to save for a double-post, so I’ll let you know here whether or not that will be the case!
so far the second half of star twinkle is decent. not as bad as prerivous seasons second half but still it on edge. in those 2 episodes my main problem was the fight against Galogre’s
I think the problem here in these 2 episodes is how much ignorant the girls are to the whole situation, and also some of them join the Precures for personal reasons, but the common reason that they are still joining as Precures is to protect Fuwa, that’s it. They never thought about saving the universe or anything, it is all about Fuwa.
The lack of tension mainly because they are all fighting in easy mode is another issue I found, Galouga is right in that they are only relying on Fuwa’s powers and their powers only happened in coincidences, which is very similar to how the generals in Knot Raiders are. For some reason, I am respecting the villains more than our heroes despite the fact, that the generals might have been tricked by the snake.
Yeah you nailed it on the head: Ignorance, and these two episodes further validated it’s all about Fuwa as well, which as you said, is a huge problem. It probably would have been better to have the girls witness the true extent of the Notraider’s horrors much earlier to set the tone so they could better grasp the situation. The fact they haven’t yet is a problem, or rather, it’s because they it hasn’t affected their planet that the gravity of the threat hasn’t really sunk in or is real to them in a way it is for the rest of the Galaxy.
I also agree, I like the villains more than the heroes in this series. The villains in general just seem to be better in a sense of they don’t waver on their resolve and alliance to Master Darkest. They aren’t perfect, but definitely better than the ones we have seen as of the late.
Agree with you there, in previous Precure series, they at least get a taste of what happened if the villains win. Some even faced worst. Here, only Yuni and maybe Lala witnessed that. The human Precures don’t.
And I also agree that the villains really don’t waver in their resolve, some even found a new resolve like Aione despite how short sighted it is.
I totally agree about the Galogre giving back Fuwa thing – it makes no sense. Even if we/he were to believe he didn’t realize it was Fuwa, it still was something important to the Cures and he could have used it as leverage to get actual Fuwa, and then the Cures must get it back without him realizing it actually is Fuwa
NOTICE: Star Twinkle Precure Ep 33 will be released as a double post next week!