My Review
WHEN SHUT MET CURE SCARLET
MINAMI: Summer vacation is a great chance to experience new things. Try out many things and make good use of the break.
(All of the students take their leave of each other on the schoolyard.)
TOWA: Where is everyone going?
AROMA: It's summer vacation, so they're all going home.
TOWA (surprised): Home?
(She remembers the Hope Kingdom, sunken in perpetual night.)
Minami and Towa stand next to each other on this photo...
The Cures are going to spend the weekend at Haruharu's place/family sweetshop
in the old historical district of Yumegahama.
Their street still looks like something out of a samurai period piece.
(Noble Academy, before departure)
KIRARA: Minamin, what's with all that luggage?
MINAMI: It's for the sleepover. There's one more.
HARUKA: We're just going to my place, and you're bringing that much?
MINAMI: This is the first time I've been over to a friend's home. I do not want to be rude.
I keep adding more and more... Maybe a bit too much?
YUI: This is quite more than "a bit."
KIRARA (sarcastic): I guess you're the one who's the most excited, Minamin?
TOWA: Take care.
AROMA: What are you saying? Towa, you're coming with us!
TOWA (surprised): Huh?
AROMA: I've prepared your luggage already.
MINAMI (walking towards Towa, cheerfully, holding her left hand, where she holds the violin): Come on, let's go!
(Holding her hand, Minami pulls Towa along)
TOWA (startled): Huh? Wait!
THE WHOLE TEAM: Let's go!!!
Three suitcases...? We knew Minami was wealthy... but she's sensible as well...
Three cases? Of that size?
(Back to the Haruno shop)
MINAMI (to the whole Haruno family: Haruka, Momoka, parents, and grandmothers): This is just a little something that I have brought for you. (She opens the melon case)
MOMOKA: Wow!
MRS. HARUNO THE YOUNGER: Oh my, that's far too much. You don't have to mind us that much.
MINAMI: It's just a little something.
YUI (surprised): It's full of first-class melons!
KIRARA (equally impressed): What a nice suitcase...
Minami has brought suitcases COMPLETELY FULL of summer fruit
and other summer essentials (the melons are but the tip of the iceberg)
MINAMI: Summer vacation is all about experiencing new things.
(Cut to the Cures in uniform in the kitchen)
ALL FIVE (unison): Welcome!
The Cures help out in the Haruno business as traditional dessert cooks and as waitresses.
In my opinion, Towa and Minami are the ones who look best in khaki.
Like Cinderellas or other kitchen wenches.
MRS. HARUNO THE YOUNGER: The anmitsu is ready!
TOWA (surprised once more): Anmitsu?
(Haruka's and Momoka's mother brings bowls of anmitsu, a dessert of algae jelly decked with all kinds of colourful fruit: Like a fruit salad with jelly. Towa looks into them.)
MRS. HARUNO THE YOUNGER: Oh? You like anmitsu?
TOWA (doubtful): Y-yes.
The five girls sit down to enjoy their anmitsu.
Towa cannot be more pleased with the sweet snack:
TOWA (elated): It's amazing, nothing objectionable!
At dusk, the girls return home to the Harunos' from the local hot spring, which happens to be within their reach at a short distance.
MOMOKA: We hold tests of courage here!
MINAMI: Tests of... c-courage?
(Remember: Minami is afraid of ghosts and ghouls)
HARUKA: Don't worry! We hold them in mid-August!
MINAMI (shivering, shuddering, with a trembling voice, a cold sweat, and her left hand on her chest): I see...
KIRARA (to Towa and Momoka): Minami is afraid of ghosts and ghouls.
TOWA AND MOMOKA (at unison, surprised): Eh?
MINAMI (blushing, trying to steel herself): Everyone has something they aren't fond of.
As the four other girls rush homeward ahead of her, Towa stays still at twilight for a moment, thinking of what Minami just has said.
TOWA (wondering): "Something I don't like?"
The other girls notice that Towa is left behind.
MINAMI (stopping and turning around): What's wrong, Towa?
TOWA (smiling): It's nothing. (She walks towards Minami) Come on, let's go.
(Now Minami is the one who stops, behind the other three, to ponder on the words of another.)
NOODLE, NOODLE, DO THE NOODLE DANCE!
The sweetshop garden, the next day. There's not a cloud in the summer midday sky.
The middle generation of the Haruno clan, husband and wife, are busy making a contraption like a water slide of bamboo reeds and pouring ice-cold water down it.
MR. HARUNO: Okay! We're all ready!
MRS. HARUNO THE YOUNGER: Time for the cold noodle slide!
Minami Kaido stands ready, chopsticks in her right hand and bowl of cold stock in the left one.
MINAMI (excited): A great summer experience!!!
(The young socialite tries to catch the noodles that surge down the slide with the water, making a precision strike with the chopstick, but the noodles rush away).
MINAMI (slightly surprised): Oh my, it's harder than it looks.
(Towa has caught one only noodle with her chopstick. Kirara has made a nice capture, and so have Haruka and Yui. After catching their pasta, it's time to dip the noodles in the stock and eat the dish cold. Upon seeing the success of the others, Towa and Minami decide to try again and get their chopsticks ready to strike the noodles in the slide, not getting anything but splashes of water.)
Haruharu, more of a veteran in this game, gives both newbies good advice:
HARUKA: Here's a hint for the two of you. You don't grab at the noodles. You wait for it! Like this! (She makes a perfect catch as a demonstration.) How about that?
TOWA AND MINAMI (at unison, surprised and impressed): Eh??
Soon, both the princess of the Hope Kingdom and the Kaido heiress are able to
catch and relish their own "flowing noodles".
MINAMI (delighted): Delicious!
TOWA (equally delighted): Yes!
Afterwards, Momoka comes along with a basket of freshly-harvested corn on the cob.
Kirara, in her usual impulsive manner, grabs the very first cob and takes a bite out of it.
KIRARA: So sweet!!
TOWA (surprised, wondering why such a lack of etiquette): Do you eat it like that?
MINAMI: Another new summer experience.
TOWA (surprised, turning towards Minami): Eh?
After finishing their corn, both girls were challenged by Mr. Haruno to a match of...
expectorating (!) watermelon seeds. To see who could shoot them at the longest distance.
TOWA (as a bystander): What are you doing?
MOMOKA: We're competing to see who spits our watermelon seeds the furthest! The one who spits the furthest wins.
TOWA (surprised): Seed-spitting?
MR. HARUNO: Okay! I won't lose either! (He spits out seeds like a gatling gun)
MRS. HARUNO THE YOUNGER (from inside the kitchen, loudly, like a drill sergeant): HONEY!!
MR. HARUNO (choking, clearing his throat): Uh?
MRS. HARUNO THE YOUNGER: (from inside the kitchen, loudly, like a drill sergeant): You're in the middle of a work-day! What on Earth are you doing?! COME BACK NOW!!
MR. HARUNO (getting back in): Yes, ma'am!
Now we see who's in charge at the Harunos'.
Once their host has left, Minami and Towa are left with their plate of watermelon.
MINAMI (looking at the fruit): Another summer experience.
TOWA (surprised): Eh?
All the other girls are surprised by how far the Kaido socialite has fired her projectile.
(Though there's still a seed on her cheek, she doesn't give a dang. It looks like a beauty mark too!)
Boating downstream on the local river.
Taking a photo in a field of sunflowers.
Saying their prayers at the Shinto shrine (Towa, hands folded and head bent, looks curiously at her friends, since, not sharing their religion, she is merely doing as she sees the others do.)
With so much fun to do (pleasure and action make the hours seem short), the day is soon over and the Cures are once more at home, against a setting sun. Now it's bedtime (or rather "floortime", since the Harunos don't have any beds, being so traditional, and sleep on the floor).
MINAMI (surprised once more by their lack of etiquette, acting like some etiquette Nazi): That's so improper, everyone.
HARUKA: You can sleep on the floor in a tatami.
MINAMI (surprised): Really? Then... I'll try, too. (She lies down to sleep on the floor on her right side.)
HARUKA: Towa, you'll feel more comfy if you lie down.
TOWA (smiling, courteously): No, I'm fine.
KIRARA (tackling Towa): An opening!
TOWA (startled): (Gasp!)
All of the girls burst out into laughter.
Kirara captures Towa in a game of tag late in the evening.
In no time, Minami Kaido, so accustomed from childhood to sleep in beds, has got used to lying down on the floor. And so has the red-haired princess.
MINAMI (pleased, calmly): This tatami is so cool and comfortable.
TOWA (falling asleep, as cozy as can be): Yes...
The sunset is golden and warm. Cicadas chirp in the Harunos' garden. A wind chime gives off a soothing peal. And the princess of the Hope Kingdom is now fast asleep.
Yet tonight the peace that Towa seeks in her dreams will by no means come to her...
GHOSTS OF TWILIGHT PAST
Exhausted, Towa sinks quickly into sleep... but will her dreams be peaceful?
We know her too well...
For soon her brow is drenched in a cold sweat...
In her dreams, it's dark and cold, and she runs for her life, desperately.
Yet the threat of Lady Dyspear looms large, with glowing ruby eyes, the clutches of the villainess closing in on Towa more and more, for the more she hastens her pace... until a hair's breadth separates them.
TOWA (desperately): No!!!
Right when Dyspear was about to seize her, a frightened Towa awakens in a cold sweat.
As Towa gasps for breath, she turns around to see Minami waving a hand fan to cool and soothe her.
MINAMI (calmly, with a smile): Are you awake?
TOWA (turning around and looking at Minami, noticing that the other four are gone, and surprised by not finding them): Where are the others?
MINAMI: They're in the kitchen, learning how to make traditional Japanese sweets. Towa, would you like to learn too?
TOWA (in an apathetic tone, as she walks towards the open door): No, I'm fine.
MINAMI: You sounded like you were in pain.
MINAMI: You sounded like you were in pain.
TOWA (standing on the threshold): (Sigh!)
MINAMI (concerned, yet still smiling): Did you have a bad dream?
(Towa remains silent and still for an instant. Cicadas chirp.)
TOWA (her back to Minami): No, it's nothing.
MINAMI (smiling): I have said those same words many times before.
TOWA (her back still to Minami): Huh?
MINAMI (sincerely): I didn't want others to worry about me, that's why. But sharing your worries will make things easier.
The breeze plays with Towa's scarlet locks as she confesses her feelings to Minami, whom she is not facing still, but rather standing back to:
TOWA (slightly anxious): Whenever evening comes... I remember my time as Twilight.
(Her anxiety increases.) I feel as if I will get swallowed by the darkness yet once again.
(Her anxiety increases even more.) I fear for the coming of darkness.
The tension is eased by Haruka appearing, surprising both girls, and inviting them to go out, to the riverbank park.
TOWA (wondering): Where are we going?
MINAMI (smiling, confidently, careful not to spoil the surprise factor): You'll know when you come with us. Another new summer experience!
FIREWORKS AND KINDRED SPIRITS
"On my own, with no one else beside me..."
While the other four amuse themselves lighting fireworks, a brooding Towa, detached,
stands alone. She looks at her reflection in the stream, at how the ripples make her face slightly change.
In what appears to be a big-lipped alligator moment (but is actually not, as we shall see), the local Fire Safety Patrol on duty pops up and the Cures reassure the firefighters that they are handling the explosives properly.
When the Cures run out of fireworks, Minami goes away for a short while and reappears as suddenly pulling another suitcase...
MINAMI: Wait just a minute. (She opens the case, which is shock-full of firecrackers) So... The real fireworks start now!
The other four are astonished.
YUI (shocked): The second suitcase was full of fireworks?
KIRARA (shocked as well): Minamini, how much were you looking forward to this?
On her own, Minami, with a thin tube of lit green fireworks in her left hand, walks close to Towa.
MINAMI (in a reassuring tone, to Towa): Here you go.
TOWA (shyly, as usual, as she takes the tube of fireworks): Thank you.
The princess stands entranced watching the green sparks dance and flicker.
TOWA: This light is so pretty.
Soon, more local children and youngsters pass by, and the Cures invite them to their fireworks show.
Everyone lights firecrackers and enjoys the explosions and the brightly-coloured sparks.
But Towa and Minami are sitting on the lawn far from the crowd, tête-à-tête, alone with one another.
TOWA (feeling happy): So a night can be like this, too...
MINAMI (getting closer to Towa): Are you still afraid?
TOWA (at first surprised and gasps, then smiles): Not so much now.
MINAMI (reassuring): If you feel afraid of the dark, then just spend it with everyone like this.
(Turning her gaze towards Towa, and speaking sincerely): You should rely on us more.
TOWA (insecure): Minami...
Now the Kaido heiress and the dethroned princess have brought their fireworks close to one another's.
TOWA (smiling, sincerely): When you're with all of us, do ghosts not scare you anymore?
MINAMI (feeling struck in a soft spot): Yeah, I guess, a little bit less.
(Both Towa and Minami chuckle. Their firework sticks burn out.)
Who said fire and water don't mix at all?
In fact, both Towa (royalty) and Minami (socialite) have a lot in common:
both of them are clever and smart overachievers of high social standing
with powerful and good-natured older brothers they look up to...
Kindred spirits, aren't they?
THE RETURN OF SHUT
A TURNING POINT IN MY STRAIGHT OTP'S NAVAL CAMPAIGN
The first time we see Shut in this episode, he's sitting in a rowboat and
brooding over Twilight, his lost Lenore.
Actually, I was expecting this moment ever since the heel-face turn.
Shut's interactions with Towa and Cure Scarlet.
And I was as hooked on these interactions as I am hooked on Jaimienne...
In a rowboat drifting downstream, Shut is sitting, holding the Despair Gauge.
SHUT (apathetic, disappointed): Curse you, Lock. (Pause.) Telling me to collect despair while you look down at me.
(Looking at the Gauge.) I thought this trip could clear my mind. But all I've been doing is sighing.
(Laying himself down on the rowboat.) Princess Twilight is no more. I must forget about her.
(The laughter of young people lighting fireworks reaches his ears. Shut quickly gets up again.)
SHUT: Who's there? I'm feeling down over here. (As he skims the crowd of the riverbank, his heart is given a jolt and his peridot irises widen when he sees a certain pretty redhead dressed all in white.)
SHUT (shocked): "That's... the one who used to be Princess Twilight!" (His voice and the look in his eyes are now those of unchecked anger.) "Curses! How dare you have fun while I'm down in the dumps?" (Standing up from the rowboat) Unforgivable!!! (He hops out of the boat and on the bridge, which the firefighters on duty [remember them?] are crossing, then approaches their captain.)
CAPTAIN (startled): Who... Who are you!?
SHUT (commanding): Show me your dreams.
(Shut sees the dream of the firefighter captain, one of duty and self-sacrifice, and Shuts it in the usual way.)
(The level of despair [as a blood red liquid] in the Gauge rises to one seventh full.)
(There's a brief flashback on Lock looking down smugly and wistfully, à la Joffrey, from the throne to Shut at the foot of the staircase, and tossing a horned padlock down to the blond Mad Hatter.)
Amidst the dark purple smoke-screen cast by the desporg du jour, Towa is lost and frightened.
TOWA (trying to steel herself): This is... Darkness?
(The dark purple smoke envelops her completely.)
From behind Towa, Shut closes in on her, until he is a hair's breadth away.
SHUT (ironic): How disappointing.
TOWA: (Frightened and startled, she gasps. Then, she turns around as she steps away, facing him and addressing him in the same tone): Shut!
SHUT (bending the knee before Towa, with a serious expression on his face): The beautiful (uruwashiki) Black Princess. I was supposed to serve you for all my life. But! (Pause. He raises his gaze and his expression changes to one of anger. Still he speaks as calmly as before, trying to restrain all that suppressed anger that is seething within him) Look at your state now! My hatred grows even more! (Seizing two roses, as he speaks in an imperious tone): I have to eliminate you, Twilight!
Before Shut can fire those roses, Minami steps in and, embracing Towa, pushes her aside. Neither one is hurt.
TOWA (startled, surprised): Minami!
As gold is tried in a crucible, friends are tried in hardship.
And Minami would gladly take a bullet... er... an explosive rose for Towa...
Defiant and stern, Minami confronts her evil counterpart...
MINAMI (stern, determined): Shut!
You even come all the way here.
SHUT (serious): Don't get in my way. I am only here for Twilight!
(Towa is still lying on the lawn, watching the confrontation)
MINAMI (stern, giving Shut a serious rant): She should have nothing to do with you anymore.
SHUT (ironic): What?
Towa looks on, without saying anything, and listens to the discussion going on.
MINAMI (stern, determined, giving Shut a serious rant): She is not Twilight anymore. (Pause.) She is our friend (nakama). Towa Akagi!
(Towa is slowly rising up. Her eyes widen and she can't speak, as Minami, standing tall before her, confronts Shut)
MINAMI (turning around, with a sincere tone and a sincere smile): Right, Towa?
TOWA (smiling and determined): Yes.
THE BATTLE DU JOUR
(WASN'T MORE THAN THE AVERAGE SKIRMISH, ACTUALLY)
AND SHUT'S REACTION TO CURE SCARLET
(NOW THAT'S MORE INTERESTING... AND THE TURNING POINT WITHIN THE TURNING POINT)
Victim: The captain of the Fire Safety Patrol (like Kirara's agent in the previous episode, another
victim foreshadowed by Chekhov's law).
MINAMI AND TOWA (unison): Precure... Princess Engage!
Once both Cures have transformed, Shut gets the shock of his life.
CURE SCARLET: Please prepare yourself!
SHUT (astonished, at first pushing his cheeks to verify he's not dreaming, then shocked): So pretty!!!
(Coming to and switching back to anger) Curses! (Onore!) I hate you even more now!
As he watches Cure Scarlet gracefully leap out of the reach of the desporg's attacks, Shut smiles and
seems to recover his usual happiness...
SHUT (smiling confidently): That's nice.
Cure Scarlet and Cure Mermaid made a perfect battle couple.
CURE SCARLET: So this is what it feels like to have those you can depend on.
CURE MERMAID: Yes.
CURE SCARLET (defiantly): If my fate is to be chased by darkness, then I will face it head on!
I will eliminate you with these hands of mine, every single time!
Exchange! Mode Elegant!
Scarlet Violin!
(You know the whole desporg purification drill)
(Shut's reaction face... I swear I have seen it before.
(Shut, shocked, post-defeat.)
SHUT (desperate, angsty): You're still so beautiful (utsukushii)!!! (gasp) Ah! (Steeling himself, changing tone and expression to determined) Tsk! I will definitely defeat you for once and for all!!
(He leaves through the keyhole portal)
NAVAL CAMPAIGN INTERLUDE:
ON SHIPS BY ANY OTHER NAME
The ship formerly known as Shutlight has, in a certain sense, changed name to ShutScar (think of "Cure Scarlet", "scarlet", and scars).
Still, it has branched off from Shutlight to become a different pairing but is nevertheless
founded on the same OTP.
Think of Shutlight/ShutScar as a Ship of Theseus (has this term been applied to shipping before?)
a paradox in which Shutlight is the old hull and ShutScar is the new.
ON THE FUTURE OF SHUT
At the end of the "My Own Humble Opinion" of this episode, you readers will find my conjectures and those of others regarding my favourite male character's (for this series) destiny.
As the Cures return home, they discuss their fight with Shut.
KIRARA: Thanks to him, our fireworks got ruined.
TOWA (sincerely, smiling): No, it wasn't bad at all. It has been such a fun night that it would be a waste to sleep through it.
MINAMI (when asked by the others if they can stay awake all night): I brought something nice just for that.
KIRARA: Oh yeah, you've got one more suitcase. What's inside it?
MINAMI (smiling): You'll see when I open it.
KIRARA (curious): Now I'm curious.
TOWA (chuckles): I can't wait at all.
(Minami smiles in response.)
(So what was inside the third suitcase? We never had a chance to see it. Only the Cures know. We can merely speculate.)
MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Last episode revealed that Minami was Kirara's academic mentor, but actually... these two girls have got so much in common!
Who said fire and water don't mix at all?
In fact, both Towa (royalty) and Minami (socialite) have a lot in common:
both of them are clever and smart overachievers of high social standing
with powerful and good-natured older brothers they look up to...
Kindred spirits, aren't they?
(While, on the other hand, Kirara and Towa are foils to each other)
This episode centered partly on their excellent chemistry, partly on an issue I had been freaking impatient for the series to explore: Shut's reaction to Towa and Cure Scarlet (after all, the heel-face turn had put my OTP on edge for two summer months in a row).
Minami Kaido, her kindred spirit, so gentle, is the "good cop" in Towa's Earthly education. The savvier and more different Kirara is the "bad cop" in the same routine. So now Towa, after a taste of the whip in last episode, truly deserved now a taste of the carrot, and she is more than pleased with it.
I abso-freaking-lutely adored how Minami had planned it all and brought so many summertime essentials, and also how skilfully she handled the surprise factor in revealing all of these events.
(So what was inside the third suitcase? We never had a chance to see it. Only the Cures know. We can merely speculate.)
This episode also introduced me to some Japanese summer customs I never knew, like catching cold noodles from a water slide or anmitsu (fruit salad with algae jelly). Being a Westerner, I was as surprised as Princess Towa when it came to discovering these new facets of summer, hitherto unknown to me, in the Empire of the Sun.
Again, Towa has got a lot to marvel about. As you watch this episode and both the previous ones, have a drink from every time Towa is surprised by Earth/Japanese/post-industrial culture. You'll ruin your liver, but at least you will have a great time!
To change theme: Towa's shell shock returns, and she has to confront her past once more.
I love the way her character arc is developing, with these turns from carpe diem to haunting memories back to usual carpe diem and so on.
Here, she finally lets go of the past: "If my fate is to be chased by darkness, then I will face it head on! I will eliminate you with these hands of mine, every single time!" A defiant, passionate, and more than certainly badass manifesto (farewell to being "sublime, regal, and elegant/beautiful"...)
Now on to the gist of the review: Shut's first encounter with Cure Scarlet.
The first time we see Shut in this episode, he's sitting in a rowboat and brooding over Twilight, his lost Lenore.
Actually, I was expecting this moment ever since the heel-face turn. Shut's interactions with Towa and Cure Scarlet.
And I was as hooked on these interactions as I am hooked on Jaimienne...
Now, post-age-up and having claimed the throne, Lock is no longer Shut's equal, but his commanding officer of sorts, giving orders that Shut has to take. You can guess how pissed our fair-haired and green-eyed Mad Hatter is.
Poor Shut needs to see a psychiatrist. I am honest. In this episode, we find him having a bad day, which, considering all that has happened to him (the one he loves has turned to the enemy, his rival has usurped the throne, etcetera), could perchance be worse. And putting Shut into focus once more is just cathartic. I mean, he is my fave male character in this series so far.
Once more, we see that he barely has changed. I love that he still has this courtly point of view on romance, idealizing (like Romeo and Cassio) the lady he loves. Which is one of the things I like the most in a male character or a real-life human male.
So Shut is in mourning for Twilight, and he hates Towa because the redhead is his dark princess turned good, i.e. the one who "killed" Twilight. Hence Shut going from adoring her to quickly nearly killing her. As an Othello fan, I sure know that Shut is going through the same process as the Moor, being desperate and ready to kill as a reaction to his beloved's disloyalty (well, in Othello's case, unlike in Shut's, it was alleged disloyalty!). His good counterpart Minami Kaido gave him a really important rant about who Towa Akagi is and the fact that Twilight will never return.
However, the first sight of Cure Scarlet has stolen his heart, much like that of Twilight had done before. And he hates the princess of scarlet flames and loves her at the same time, because they're now on enemy sides and cannot have one another. So he wants to defeat her (and surely kill her) but feels also attracted to Cure Scarlet...
So here's Shut's table of emotions for the three identities:
- Twilight: formerly courtly worship, now mourning and anger as second stage of grief.
- Towa Akagi: irrational hatred for having "killed" the one he adored.
- Cure Scarlet: hate-love (like Othello's in the climax of the play): adoration due to her good looks and cool demeanor (like to Twilight) laced with hatred and wish for death/defeat, for having "killed" the one he adored and for standing on enemy sides of a conflict, beyond one another's reach.
Shut's reaction to Cure Scarlet was just as I expected, that hate-love kind of mixed feeling, and it gives his character arc, at this turning point, more complexity and a turn towards hardships (his rival is now giving him orders, the one he loves has gone over to the enemy) that, sooner or later, will prove more than Shut can hold.
An important clue to Shut's possible future may be hidden in the way he speaks of Twilight and of Cure Scarlet. To Shut, Twilight was "uruwashiki", an archaic word for "beautiful" also translated as "elegant" (and the third part of Twilight's motto), while Cure Scarlet is "utsukushii", a more common word for "beautiful" also translated as "pretty" (and the third part of the Noble Academy motto). Foreshadowing of the choices that lay ahead on the path of a loyalty crisis, and of the eleventh-hour coat-turn that may prove his demise?
So much cussing on Shut's side with one of my favourite expletives, at least in translation (I love the fact that Shut's "Onore!" was translated as "Curses!", which I usually say in anger) is a tell-tale sign that he's already heading down the slippery slope.
Again, the outcome is in the lap of the Toei creatives... Still, I ship ShutScar hardcore, like I ship Jaimienne, knowing nevertheless that both ships will be sunk sooner or later...
POSTLUDE: SHUT'S FUTURE
THE FOLLOWING ARE MY OWN OBSERVATIONS AND CONJECTURES
So much cussing on Shut's side with one of my favourite expletives, at least in translation (I love the fact that Shut's "Onore!" was translated as "Curses!", which I usually say in anger) is a tell-tale sign that he's already heading down the slippery slope.
So... Will our love-mad hatter Shut become a tragic hero? Great chances that the answer is "yes". Whether Kanata turned evil or Lock or the March Hare and Dormouse (new Dysdark cadres) will terminate his life, whether it will be Minami or Towa (that last possibility, if Towa is as Cure Scarlet, would surely be the most interesting), or whether he will simply make a suicide charge for the enemy, Shut is most likely to die an untimely and violent death (which is least likely to be due to a stroke or a heart condition) at some point in the series (and leave me grieving and mourning for another great character unjustly deceased, which, since the Baratheons burned their little daughter Shireen at the stake, I was terribly missing.)
Shut's character arc has gained, at this turning point, more complexity and a turn towards more than one unexpected hardship (his rival is now giving him orders, the one he loves has gone over to the enemy), all of them his worst fears come true, that, sooner or later, will prove more than Shut can hold.
An important clue to Shut's possible future may be hidden in the way he speaks of Twilight and of Cure Scarlet. To Shut, Twilight was "uruwashiki", an archaic word for "beautiful" also translated as "elegant" (and the third part of Twilight's motto), while Cure Scarlet is "utsukushii", a more common word for "beautiful" also translated as "pretty" (and the third part of the Noble Academy motto). Foreshadowing of the choices that lay ahead on the path of a loyalty crisis, and of the eleventh-hour coat-turn that may prove his demise?
Again, the outcome is in the lap of the Toei creatives...
THE FOLLOWING ARE CONJECTURES BY OTHER FANS:
Additionally: Dyspear doesn't agree at first, but then changes her mind if Shut can defeat the Precures and take her back. To do so, he'll get the same sort of transformation as Close did (probably a rose monster), but is still killed.
Shut will have a Heel-Face Turn.
- Or it could be a case of Love Redeems.
NEXT TIME ON GO PRINCESS (EP. 26)...
Due to her frequent traumatic nightmares,
Towa comes down with a fever, having to lay in bed for the whole episode...
but will she forsake her convalescence?
And will the mercury also rise concerning the myth arc of the series?
Last but not least, it's nice to see how Shut reignited his crush and fangasm for Towa/Cure Scarlet (or not?) even though they are on the opposite sides now, and it's clear to see how Shut is reluctant to fight Scarlet but must comply to Lock's command (or maybe I was wrong?) Next week, Towa has fallen ill and the royal fairies (Puff and Aroma) must take care of her for that is their primary duty to serve the royal house of the Hope Kingdom. What will unfold? Or maybe Shut will seize this chance to woo back "his" Twilight-sama? To be revealed! Gokigenyou all!
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