MISS DERMARK'S LITERARY RAMBLES: ENEMY AT THE GATES

Go!Princess Precure - Episode 48 (Finale Part 1-3):

MY OWN REVIEW

ENEMY AT THE GATES

Previously on Go!Princess Precure: THE HOPE KINGDOM IS FINALLY FREE!!!
BUT LADY DYSPEAR HAS ANOTHER REALM/DIMENSION IN HER POINT OF VIEW...
AND IT'S OURS.

In the end, the four rainbows have converged on the Dysdark palace, filling it with colour and erasing it.

KANATA: The Hope Kingdom...

The streets of the towns are colourful and peaceful once more.

But the denizens of the HK, and the King and Queen, are still trapped beyond the Door of Despair.

CURE SCARLET: Our country is revived!!!

KANATA: Now all that we have to do is open the Door of Despair.

(To free his parents and subjects, who are trapped beyond it. So come on!)

MME SHAMOUR: After I heard what Cure Flora said about princesses, I think there is nothing more I can teach you. Mes leçons sont finies!

AT LAST, THE HK IS FREE!!! (Pops a bottle of Moët and begins to pour herself a glass)... Now all to do, as Kanata said, is to free the royal pair and their subjects! But... Is that Lady Dyspear I hear...? and does she say... (Pause.) SEVEN GODS!!! (Drains her cup at one fell swoop)

DYSPEAR: I have no business for the Hope Kingdom, I give it back to you.

"You can have the Hope Kingdom. Earth is my prize now!" Finally, the HK had been completely freed from Dysdark rule, and all that was left to do was freeing the trapped subjects of the Kingdom. Dyspear then suddenly announces that she is no longer interested in the HK and teleports herself before Noble Academy.

So yes, we have reached our purpose... but it ain't over till the dark lady sings. And I'm all like WHAM. I did not at all expect that Spanish Inquisition. I'm like this: (*O*): Eyes like oranges, maw like an open oven, brain teeming with sudden questions about the Dysdarks.

THE ENEMY IS AT THE GATES OF NOBLE ACADEMY...

SHUT IS BACK.

RANKO FREAKS OUT.

OUR HEROES RETURN FROM THE HOPE KINGDOM...

...TO FACE THE LAST STAND.

OUT OF LOVE, YUKI PULLS HARUKA OUT OF HARM'S WAY.

SEIRA AND AYAKA (SEIRA FIRST) RUSH TO HELP MINAMI.

MRS. SHIROGANE AND YUME CAN'T LET THEIR STUDENTS BE IN HARM'S WAY.

RANKO IS STILL PESTERING KIRARA.

NOBLE ACADEMY BECOMES A DYSDARK FORTRESS.

THE ELDERS ARE CONCERNED. TOWA IS AWESTRUCK. RANKO IS STILL HYPED.

MINAMI GOES FORTH, TO THE COUNCIL'S SURPRISE...

RANKO HOLDS KIRARA BACK...

TOWA IS HELL-BENT ON DEFEATING THE DYSDARKS.

PRECURE PRINCESS ENGAGE!!!

KIRARA'S TRANSFORMATION (AND MAYBE HER NUDITY) SENDS RANKO INTO HER LIFETIME'S GREATEST STATE OF SHOCK.

THE HEADMISTRESS AND HER NEW FRIENDS ARE SURPRISED BY FINDING OUT TOWA IS CURE SCARLET.

YUME: The transfer student... is a warrior princess!?

THE COUNCIL IS ALSO SURPRISED BY MINAMI'S TRANSFORMATION.

SEIRA: I didn't know that Minami cosplayed...

YUKI HAS A GREAT REALIZATION.

YUKI (in shock): Haruka... is... Cure Flora!?

KANATA STEPS TO THE FRONTLINES.

AND SO DOES CURE SCARLET.

EVERYONE ELSE IS AGHAST.

RANKO GETS HYPED.

AND REIKO CAN'T BELIEVE PUFF IS TALKING.

YUKI REALIZES THAT YUI KEPT THE PRECURES' SECRET.

YUKI: Yui, you don't seem surprised at all.

YUKI (determined): You knew all of this!? Answer!!

YUI: (no reply, brooding)

SEIRA: Really?

AYAKA: Please tell us what is going to happen!

YUI WAVERS...

YUI (caught unaware): Um...

...AND YUKI PROTECTS HER. LIKE A REAL KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR.

WITHIN THE FORTRESS...

DYSPEAR: The Precures are coming.

CLOSE (bowing before her): I know what to do.

CLOSE: Your Ladyship, what is your command?

SHE GIVES HIM SOME STRANGE DARK CLOTH...

It's clearly Lock's tattered cowl, as you can see from the horns and the dragon wings.

KANATA WONDERS WHAT THE VILLAINS ARE PLANNING...

STOP AND FREEZE DEFEND THE FORTRESS WITH THEIR GAZERBEAMS.

THE CROWN PRINCE CASTS A FORCE FIELD TO DEFEND HIS ALLIES...

KANATA (to Stop & Freeze): I will be your opponent!

MME. SHAMOUR (to the Cures): You four go on ahead!

KANATA: Your opponents...

MME. SHAMOUR: ...we will be!!

KANATA: Eh, Shamour... can you fight?

MME. SHAMOUR: Don't underestimate me! I have fought Shut before!!

AND THUS, KANATA TAKES ON FREEZE...

KANATA: Even we...

...WHILE SHAMOUR AND STOP DUKE IT OUT.

MME. SHAMOUR: ...can stop you as well!

A WILD CLOSE APPEARS, WITH THAT SICKENING GRIN OF HIS.

CLOSE (To the Precures): He he he! Your opponent is not me! (Commanding.) Go ahead, Lock!

PRECURES (surprised, unison): Lock!?

EVEN SHUT IS UNABLE TO BELIEVE IT.

SHUT (surprised): Lock!?

YES. LOCK IS FRICKING BACK.

THE PRECURES' USUAL ATTACKS DO NOTHING ON THE NEW LOCK.

CURE TWINKLE'S FULL MOON SHIELD EVEN FLINCHES.

TIME TO TAKE OUT THE HEAVY ARTILLERY (TRINITY EXPLOSION WORKED BEFORE, DIDN'T IT?)

TO NO AVAIL. LOCK JUST ABSORBS MORE AND MORE PRECURE ATTACKS, BECOMING STRONGER THE MORE POWER HE QUAFFS.

EVEN CURE SCARLET IS POWERLESS.

NO MATTER HOW HARD THE PRECURES TRY.

LOCK EVEN DEFENDS HIMSELF WITH NEW AND IMPROVED PURPLE FIRE.

SERIOUSLY, NOW HE'S EVEN MORE DIE-HARD THAN SHUT HIMSELF.

IN THE END, HAVING BEEN USED TO THE EXTREME, THE PRECURES' WANDS...

...SHATTER INTO TINY SHARDS.

AND EVEN THE SCARLET VIOLIN...

...SHARES THE SAME UNPLEASANT FATE.

CURE SCARLET: My brother's violin...

WHAM.

THE PRECURES ARE UNARMED.

CLOSE: I've got an idea.

CLOSE TARGETS ALL OF NOBLE ACADEMY: TEACHERS, STUDENTS, AND THE REST OF THE STAFF.

EVERYONE HAS THEIR DREAMS CLOSED: HEADMISTRESS MOCHIZUKI, DEPUTY HEAD ZAMA, MRS. SHIROGANE, KENTA, SEIRA, RANKO... EVEN THE PROMPTER.

BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO REMAINS FREE.

AND THAT PERSON IS YUI NANASE.

THIS IS HER FOURTH TIME BEING TARGETED BY DYSDARKS, AND THUS, SHE RESISTS HARDER THAN EVER BEFORE...

...YET SHE FINALLY WAVERS AND FALLS. THIS IS HER FOURTH TIME.

LIKE THE LATEST TIME, YUI KEEPS HER EYES OPEN WHILE IMPRISONED. THERE ARE STILL HIGHLIGHTS (NO EMPTY EYES YET!), BUT SHE'S GOT AMNESIA.

THE DYSDARKS BEGIN TO HARVEST DESPAIR AT AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE...

...A POWER THAT IS ABSORBED, OR RATHER QUAFFED, BY LOCK...

...AND THE POWERLESS, UNARMED PRECURES WIND UP TRAPPED IN DYSDARK KUDZU.

RIGHT IN THE DARKEST HOUR, YUI'S RESOLVE SHOOTS UP.

YUI DECIDES TO BREAK FREE OF HER PRISON...

...AND SHE HAS FINALLY FREED HERSELF! WITHOUT ANY ASSISTANCE OF OTHERS!

KURORO & CO. RUSH FORWARDS, AMAZED THAT YUI HAS SET HERSELF FREE.

YUI IS THE NEW MESSIAH.

EVERYONE ELSE (SEE RANKO AND SEIRA?) IS TRAPPED IN A DARK DIMENSION, GLOWING PURPLE AND CROUCHED IN A FETAL POSITION, WITH THEIR EYES SHUT OF THEIR HEADS BURIED IN THEIR HANDS.

YUI REACHES OUT TO YUKI...

...WITH A SMILE AND AN OUTSTRETCHED HAND, THEN TO EVERYONE ELSE.

...EVERYONE IS SAVED (WE SEE EVERYONE AS YOUNG ADULTS: AYAKA AS A GRAND MASTER, SEIRA AS A BASEBALL BATTER, SHUN AS A MASTER SWORDSMAN, REIKO AS A JUDGE... [AND RANKO AS A POP STAR? SURELY])

YUKI: Yui!

CLOSE (shocked): What!?

RANKO (wiping her brow, savvy): Phew! I was so near not becoming a superstar...

CLOSE (shocked): Why!? Why are the Precures fighting over there!?

YUI AND THE PETS ARE SURPRISED...

...AND THE CURES ARE SURPRISED, THEN ELATED UPON HEARING THAT YUI HAS BROKEN HER PRISON ALL BY HERSELF.

SHE MODESTLY TONES IT DOWN.

WHILE LOCK IS BROKEN BY THE NA STUDENTS' AND STAFF'S ALL DREAMS COMBINED.

KURORO PLEADS THE PRECURES TO HAVE MERCY ON LOCK, WHO WAS ONCE PART OF HIM, AS HIS MASTER AND POSSESSOR.

LOCK IS CURBSTOMPED. CLOSE THINKS, "WHAT A USELESS RAG... I NEED TO GATHER MORE DESPAIR ASAP."

SO HE DECIDES TO TAKE ON THEM HIMSELF.

CLOSE (firing purple lightning from his hand): Let me finish all of you.

IN STORMS SHUT, WHO INTERCEPTS CLOSE'S LIGHTNING WITH HIS OWN ORANGE LIGHT, TO DEFEND THE PRECURES.

CLOSE (FURIOUS): SHUT!! WHAT THE HE** ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!!??

CURE SCARLET (surprised): Gasp!!

YEAH!!! (POP ANOTHER MOËT!!!) SHUT SAW THE LIGHT!!! (AMAZING GRACE, INSTRUMENTAL)

SHUT (furious, attacking Close): SHUT UP!!!

(Shrek 2, Fairy Godmother version)

I need a hero!!
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night!
He's gotta be strong
and he's gotta be fast
and he's gotta be fresh from the fight...
I need a hero!!
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light!
He's gotta be sure
and it's gotta be soon
and he's gotta be larger than LIFE,

larger than life...

MORE LIKE "SHUT UPPERCUT!!!"

AND A POWERFUL ONE (THE ELEGANT, ARISTOCRATIC STRIPLING WAS SO STRONG!?).

CLOSE IS EVEN SPITTING BLOOD.

THEN, SHUT ADDRESSES LOCK, WHO STANDS THERE ALL WIDE-EYED...

SHUT:

All those days chasing down a daydream...
All those years living in a blur...
All that time never truly seeing
things the way they were...

And at last I've seen the light,

and it's like the fog has lifted...

And at last I've seen the light,

and it's like the sky is new...

And it's warm, and clear, and bright,

and the world has somehow shifted...

All at once everything looks different...

SHUT (determined): Lock, let's escape from Dyspear's Dysdark curse!

LOCK: (No positive reply)

SHUT (determined): Now it's your time, Precures!

THE CURES DO GRAND PRINTEMPS ON LOCK, WHO VANISHES...

LOCK: Dreaming...

LOCK BECOMES A NORMAL COWL, WHICH HIS FORMER HOST KURORO EYES WITH THE SAME MOURNFUL LOOK HAMLET HAS WHILE WATCHING YORICK'S CRANIUM.

"Alas, poor Lock! I once knew him well..."

AT FIRST, IT APPEARS THAT SHUT SHALL WIN THIS EPIC BATTLE (AND WE ROOT FOR SHUT, DON'T WE?)

SUDDENLY, IN THE MEANTIME, CLOSE HITS SHUT IN THE FACE. THAT'S THE BLOND HATTER'S WEAK SPOT.

WITH HIS SELF-ESTEEM DOWN, SHUT BECOMES AN EASY TARGET, WHOM CLOSE SERIOUSLY CURBSTOMPS... UNTIL SHUT IS REELING...

...AND FALLS UNCONSCIOUS, BREATHING HEAVILY, DEFEATED, ON THE KUDZU-COVERED GROUND.

LADY DYSPEAR EMERGES FROM HER COCOON...

DYSPEAR: Anyway... this is the time...

And thus, the last stand begins...

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:

On this episode as a whole: Part Fricking One of the fricking Grand Finale. And it's FRICKING AWESOME! Everyone had a role to play and this was like a great ensemble number at the climax of a musical, in which the whole cast sings, every person about their plans. And yes, I'm thinking of One Day More in Les Mis, so here's my GPPC finale filk:

KANATA: One day more,

another day, another destiny...

this never-ending road to liberty...

This time it is the final stand,

to save my other motherland...

One day more...

YUKI: We may not live throughout today...

and yet, with you, I'm not half-hearted...

HARUKA: Tomorrow'll be another day...

recall, with me, a new you had started...

SHUT: One more day, all on my own...

YUKI+HARUKA/SEIRA+MINAMI: Will we ever meet again?

SHUT: One more day without a purpose...

YUKI+HARUKA/SEIRA+MINAMI: I will bleed and die for you...

SHUT: What a life I might have known...

YUKI+HARUKA/SEIRA+MINAMI: And I swear we'll make it through...

SHUT: Now where do I go from here!?

CLOSE: One more day of violent storm...

SHUT: Do I follow the Precures?

KANATA: One more day to fight for freedom...

SHUT: Should I find my calling there?

CLOSE: When we harvest all despair...

SHUT: Do I stay or do I dare?

KANATA: Will you take your place with me?

NA STUDENTS AND STAFF: The time is now!!!

The place is here!!!

DYSPEAR: One more day on the agenda,

Earth is sure full of despair!

I am ready for those Precures,

they will soon fall short of air!

STOP: Watch them lose their hopes---

FREEZE: ---catch them as they fall---

STOP & FREEZE (unison): Never doubt the spoils will be despair for all!

STOP: Here a little stop---

FREEZE: ---there a little freeze---

STOP & FREEZE (unison): All of them will never, ever be released!

HK DENIZENS, NA STUDENTS AND STAFF: One day to a new beginning...

PRECURES: Raise the flag of freedom high!

HK DENIZENS, NA STUDENTS AND STAFF: Everyone a queen or king!

PRECURES: Everyone a queen or king!

HK DENIZENS, NA STUDENTS AND STAFF: There's a new world for the winning!

PRECURES: There's a new world to be won!

HK DENIZENS, NA STUDENTS AND STAFF, PRECURES: Do you hear our people sing!?

SHUT: My place is here!!

I fight with you!!

(Everyone repeats their respective lyrics in counterpoint)

HK DENIZENS, NA STUDENTS AND STAFF, PRECURES, SHUT: Tomorrow, they'll be far away!

DYSDARKS: Tomorrow is the Judgement Day!!

EVERYONE: Tomorrow we'll discover what the gods, if there are, have in store!!!

One more day...

One... day... mo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ore!!!!

On the way the crisis was presented: Every muggle at Noble Academy reacted in a different way to the Dysdark invasion and the subsequent battle, and I love how these diverse reactions were presented. Like... what if there was an alien invasion (or a terrorist attack) suddenly at my university? How would everyone (me, lecturers, friends, strangers, staff) react to the sudden crisis?

On the way Yui Nanase has definitely become a Christ figure: There is somewhat of a messianic aura around our wannabe illustrator, as seen, for instance, when she was targeted for the second time and Cure Scarlet cradled her lifeless form à la Pietà. But now she shows what she is capable of doing. Mind that this is the FOURTH time she is the victim of the week. Once bitten, twice shy, thrice strong, FOUR TIMES POWERFUL. Yes indeed. SHE BROKE THROUGH HER FRICKING BARS ALL ALONE, ON HER OWN, WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM THE PRECURES. AWESOME.

On Seira Azuma in this episode: Badass. Cool and calm. Ready to die for Minami's sake... and we saw her dream as a baseball batter from up close. Indeed, awesome as ever. Except when she was in despair. Still we count on her.

ON RANKO ICHIJO IN THIS EPISODE: With Shut going serious, there still had to be an attention whore whose high extroversion and intense emotions brought on awesome expressions and reactions, and RANKO fit the slot perfectly (except when she was in despair, that is). Reactions worthy of being Shut's as well. And a little of Kirara's trademark sarcasm has rubbed on her, like when she was freed and said: "Gosh, I was so close to not becoming a superstar..."

On the Return of Lock: THE COWL IS BACK. And Lock retains the absorption ability for which he is so well known, becoming more powerful the more enemy attack power he quaffs. Still, the Precures were able to curbstomp him even easier than when he was possessing Kuroro. And there are two other battles here which are even more exciting. PS. Lock became a normal cowl once purified... Does it mean that Shut is actually a top hat and Close is some punk accessory whom Dyspear breathed life into??? Next week we'll know!

On Kanata & Mme. Shamour vs. Stop & Freeze: Twindividuals just have to fight a 2vs2 battle. It appears to be a convention whenever this kind of characters appear. Here, we have to watch perfectly synched Shamour vs. Stop and Kanata vs. Freeze, the HK combatants even picking up their Dysdark opponents' typically twindividual habit of finishing each other's sentences. All four of them were graceful and precise in this battle. Yet Shut's role here trumps Stop & Freeze definitely.

ON SHUT'S HEEL-FACE TURN: GODS, IT'S HAPPENED AT LAST! I saw it fricking coming at large and now, at the finale, Shut finally shows he's on the Precures' side, making him a traitor to the Dysdark agenda (but... he got laid off before, so does it count as being a traitor at all?). Seeing Shut defend the Precures and duking it out with his archrival Close left me hanging at the edge of my seat. And Shut lying unconscious on the ground, defeated and breathing heavily, reminded me of Oberyn at the end... GASP. Only that Shut is still breathing and with his head intact. So there is still hope... Will his story end with a happy ever after?

IN NEXT EPISODE (49):

WE WILL FINALLY GET A GLIMPSE OF THE DYSDARK BACKSTORY AND AGENDA!!!

Plus, Dyspear becomes purple-skinned, with the scariest eyes I've ever seen on an animated villain...

...and she grows to a huge size.

Will the Princess Precures (like their DokiDoki! predecessors) have to undergo a fantastic voyage to enter her heart and turn her good? (I seriously hope so!)