WHEN SHUT GETS GOING...

Go!Princess Precure - Episode 44

My Own Review

WHEN SHUT GETS GOING...



DREAMING OF THE PACIFIC

The elongated shadow of the Kaido surname, in the form of its flagship, looms high overhead.

ADVENT IN NOBLE ACADEMY

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
falalalala--- lala lala!
'Tis the season to be jolly,
falalalala--- lala lala!

The golden star in hand bear I,

with five points sharp as they can be,

and I pray you, masters, be merry,

quod estis in collegio...

Stellam auream defero

reddens laudes Domino...

Due to the fact that she will be moving to Paris for her career (accepting the Kaiser's offer, remember?), Kirara is currently polishing her French.

ASUKA'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

My Life as a Marine Veterinarian,

by Asuka Kitakaze.

SPOTLIGHT ON: DEPUTY HEADMISTRESS SUMIRE ZAMA

As a child, Sumire admired pop stars greatly, and she wished to be one of them.

In her puberty, she wanted to be a police officer.

And, as a young adult, Sumire's ambition was to draw shójo (romance) manga.

Now, in middle age, she is deputy headmistress at a boarding school.

ROYAL COUNCIL MEETING

THE OCEAN OR HIGH SOCIETY?

WHEN THE GOING GETS SHUT, SHUT GETS GOING!

Better not have insulted Shut, Mrs. Zama...

And Sumire's current dream is... to support the NA students' dreams.

CORAL MAELSTRÖM (IT'S NOT THE NAME OF THE SWEDISH EXCHANGE STUDENT AT NA!)

MEANWHILE IN THE HOPE KINGDOM...

ALEA IACTA EST!

Asuka Kitakaze sitting a host of orphan emperor penguin chicks. 

Committed to endangered species as usual...

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
On Minami's final decision of dreams: Alea iacta est! Now it's crystal clear that she wants to protect the oceans to say the least. Now Minami Kaido has crossed her Rubicon, like Kirara in last episode. She will follow her heart and her dream is no longer to be an entrepreneur/entrepreneuse (French has a feminine form, so should I use it?).  Which she will find hard to say next week at the Kaidos' family Christmas...
On Coral Maelström: After Towa and Kirara, now it's Minami's turn to get her special attack. A maelström, to say the least. It's called "malström" in Swedish. And it's AWESOME as well, but not as awesome as Kirara's or Towa's. Still... getting absorbed by a maelström is a pretty painful and impossible-to-escape way to die.
On Asuka's autobiography: She wrote her own life up to these days? :O At least it's a sunnier story than, for example, Mein Kampf or Mit livs eventyr (My Life's Fairytale/Adventure, chronicling Andersen's Dickensian childhood and youth written by himself). Or Helen Keller's Story of My Life. Or the memoirs of Queen Christina... Somehow, nearly everyone who has written his/her own life story, be it in real life or in fiction, has had a dark and troubled past (loss of parents/guardians, abuse from parents/guardians or institutions, bullying, disability, conflicts between caregivers and their in-laws, shattered dreams, the hell of war... you name it). Did Asuka have such a tragic backstory? She appears to be right as rain and not to show any signs of having undergone misfortune...
On Deputy Head Sumire Zama: First she wanted to be a pop star, then a cop, then a mangaka... and now she's deputy headmistress at Noble Academy. To show us that the show's resident Septa Mordane/Mrs. McGonagall/Fräulein Rottenmeier had once been a child and a teen, and had high-flying dreams, lends her more humanity. As for her as victim of the week: once more I have to say my usual victim-of-the-week tirade: "I saw it coming! I saw it coming! I saw it coming all along... I only thought it, but if it came true, who could e'er tell me that I was wrong?"
On Ranko appearing in the Deputy Head's dream: Though merely a cameo, we got MORE RANKO!!! Yet this is not the MOST RELEVANT RANKO CAMEO IN THE SERIES. Read below!

If this were a Westerosi court council... the roster would be like this:

Queen: Minami Kaido

Hand: Seira Azuma

Master of Coin: Ayaka Nishimine

Master of (Relation-)Ships: Shun Imagawa

Master of Laws: Naoto Koshiba

On the idea of a STATUE OF RANKO ON CAMPUS: The council sitting down to talk affairs of state... er... school, just like in the Red Keep (it's so reminiscent of Westeros I had to put the roster as well), and a petition for a statue of Ranko Ichijo on the campus gardens is one of the items on the agenda. Minami simply trashes it. Indeed. When Ranko hears of such an offense to her personality cult (don't tell me that, if her media career is wrecked, she will change her dream to becoming a dictator), she'll tear at her pigtails, or drown her sorrows in Marble Doughnuts, or both.

On Shut in this episode: Good R'hllor. Hitherto, Shut had been but a die-hard taking the brunt of everything. Here, he springs back into action. Love how Shut's character arc is unfurling right now. What will become of him in the finale? Here we saw Shut ready to put the Precures to rout to get his rep back... His reaction when the prim and prude Sumire insulted his attire was priceless as always.
On Minami's discussion with Kirara: a tea party on a beached rowboat is something on my to-do list for our next Swedish summer holiday. And talking about her ocean dreams... Truly, Kirara seems to have replaced Seira as Minami's confidante, but Seira doesn't even seem to care.
On Minami's trenchcoat and Kirara's overcoat: Sharply dressed, these two... and I cannot make up my mind whether fashion-savvy Kirara or Minami in her WW1-inspired attire looks the best.
On Kirara polishing her French: Mais oui, elle sara à Paris ce printemps... Alors, son niveau de français... Allez, allez! Allez olà olé! I bet she's currently singing La Marseillaise and/or Mylène Farmer songs in her sleep every night.
On Minami's sudden loss of powers and regaining of them: To the dream-inspired Princess Precures, doubt and despair are their kryptonite. And all Minami Kaido needed was to steer clear of her doubts and realize that she had to follow her heart.

On Asuka's penguin adoption programme: Seeing her at the Stralsund Oceaneum or at the Valencia Oceanogràfic pretty soon would be not a coincidence. And emperor penguin chicks are just ad <3 rable... What is Minami going to do... wish for a penguin to sponsor for Christmas? That would be a redoubtable and unlikely gift, and the Kaidos can surely afford it. I would luv her to sponsor a baby penguin...
Deck the halls with boughs of holly... falalalala, lala, lala! Next episode, the winter holidays begin, so we see everyone getting ready in the Advent period with decorations, carols, and a festive mood. It's a great sight, everyone preparing for such a relevant time of the year.
To wrap it all up: Minami follows her heart. Ranko is surely brokenhearted. Kirara is polishing her French. Shut gives us more of his emotional display. And Christmas is coming.




IN NEXT EPISODE (46):

The whole Kaido clan drops by at Noble Academy for the holidays, to celebrate what will be its most eventful family Christmas. Wataru will surely understand his sister's decision... but will their parents understand Minami's final decision?

Tsukasa and Masumi looking pretty smart in winter clothing. And their daughter bowing before them at the moment of truth...

The famous Noble Academy "Chistmas tree" (Cheerleaders+Xmas).

OUR OWN RESIDENT STAR RANKO ICHIJO WILL DELIGHT US WITH A GREAT PERFORMANCE IN UMBRELLA JUGGLING!

And Mrs. Shirogane... better scrap that 'tache and appear as Mrs. Claus, not as a drag middle option between the husband and wife who run the workshop.

But Minami lost her heart in the Pacific...

...ever since Wataru and she were children...

C'mon! There are two empty chairs and two drinks waiting for you kids, and mum and dad with smiles on their faces (and dad is suntanned, showing off some chest!)

Somehow, I have the impression that the Kaido children's childhood was spent inland, somewhere landlocked, and their first sight of the vast blue ocean filled them with awe. Especially Minamini.

And will (it's their family Christmas after all) Tsukasa and/or Masumi Kaido fall prey to the Dysdarks? (Considering Minami's "Stark luck", it may be a probability)