MISS DERMARK'S LITERARY RAMBLES: BEAUCOUP DE NOUVEAUX DÉBUTS

KIRAKIRA PRETTY CURE À LA MODE -
Episode 24
My Own Review
BEAUCOUP DE NOUVEAUX DÉBUTS
(Lots of New Debuts)

**cue opening credits**

Post-opening, we return to the Monde Noir, which apparently is not as empty and far vaster than we had ever seen so far.

So Glaive makes all these mooks by hand...

LISA: Leo's sick leave is lasting for ages...

LANGUAGE TEACHER:

GLAIVE: Kirakiraru! Stained in darkness! NOIRE INFLATION!!

(I would not have posted this if Aoi and Ciel weren't present and in a fight-ready stance)

CHOCOLAT AROMASE!!

Then, Cure Gelato freezes the pavement, creating an ice skating rink for Macaron to skate...

(Macaron glacé? Well, thinking of that right now...)

CURE MACARON: Tickle tickle tickle...

PS. OPENING CREDITS

Voilà la petite blonde...

Will Giulio return at the end of this arc?

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
This brand new arc breaks the ice in the best of possible manners: Pikalio/Giulio can be resurrected!! (Pop that Moët champagne!!) Only that the Cures will have to find these orbs to bring their ailing little friend back...
Lots of new debuts: Ciel as a schoolgirl and a martial artist, the new cadres, gathering these orbs to resurrect Pikalio...
I'm a bit sad this episode didn't take place at Ichigozaka High --which appears to be rather palatial, and I also expect the headmistress to be a she (since the headmaster of Ichigozaka Secondary is a guy)-- because of all this audience surrogate thing. Still, the next episode may take us to the Koukou and/or the Kotozume Yashiki, as YUKARI GETS A SUITOR...
Anyway, Ciel being the foreign exchange student who is perfect at anything she does... as the resident Ace, she towers high above her classmates (except in Japanese writing, given her French/yousei background), something that would not have been possible if she were a high-schooler in a far more challenging environment. But still I wonder what could have been if she had transferred to the Koukou (instead of the Chuugakou). I wonder for instance if she would get a fanclub, how the Koukou uniform would fit her, and how this environment would react to her Kirarin form.
And also, this arc gives us two cadres for the price of one --a Sensitive Guy Sissy Villain (Elysio) and a manly Dark-Skinned Blond Large Ham (Glaive); anyone else agreeing that these two blokes are gay (and anyone else expecting Zoisite-and-Kunzite-style tragic drama as well)?-- I was made to think (more than of Zoisite and Kunzite, given the way Glaive and Elysio contrast in personality and colour scheme) of Dextra and Nistro in YGO Zexal... if you made Dextra a guy and made Nistro blond, that is. I just love this stark contrast, along the lines of a feminine guy (or lady) with lots of sang-froid paired up with a hot-blooded buff fellow...

(Any similarity is purely coincidental)

Their MO, or at least the one of buff blond Glaive, involves buffing up their mooks, while Elysio is a strategist led by using card spreads --think Cardians or Clow cards... man, those monsters of the week made my kid self terrified of Tarot cards!--
The battle... impressive when Cure Macaron tickled the henchman of the week.
Cure Parfait charges ahead of the others, but that turns out to be a mistake. She is told that they can rely on each other, and the Cures launch a joint attack.
Parfait's new attack, Parfaite Étoile... (Perfect Star)... Then there's Kirakuru Ruban, her Finishing Move... I love the French sprinkled throughout the series. The non-audience-surrogate Precures' magical names, the names of their attacks, the opening theme... C'est tout simplement redoutable!
Ciel officially becomes a part of the KiraPâti. She makes some cupcakes...
The next episode, THE MUCH EXPECTED EP 25 WHERE YUKARI GETS A BETROTHAL, and that will also shed some spotlight and relationship development on Yukakira, also leaves us a pleasant foretaste with a European prince as the Disposable Fiancé/Count Paris-style suitor! Instead of wearing a Victorian uniform, however, this prince dresses like something out of Shakespeare or some other Tudor fiction, puffy sleeves and all... and that right hand kiss isn't anything to disregard either!

So he's basically Prince Edward of Andalasia (pictured above), but made blond. Still, like the Kimimaro debut episode, I hope there is a solution to this --even more given the fact that Yukari has already got a partner, and a bifauxnen, a commoner maiden but nevertheless a gentlemanly one, to boot. Still, my blood pressure cannot do anything but rise!!!

"Next episode, the focus is on Yukari and Akira as Elysio makes his move on Yukari which causes some tension between Akira and her." So will this be a queer Othello scenario, with Elysio in the role of Iago and this foreign prince in that of Cassio? Actually, seeing Akira as Othello and Yukari as Desdemona could make for any good AU...
Anyway, let's wait for next week to see how this scheme unfurls... and, if it doesn't play out Othello-style, that AU scenario is worth giving a shot, right?

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