MISS DERMARK'S LITERARY RAMBLES: ONE BAD BILBERRY

Kirakira Precure à la Mode
Episode 32 - My Own Review
ONE BAD BILBERRY (SPOILS THE WHOLE BUCKET)
PART TWO

#NoSell

Iru is basically left on his own.

At last, Macaron recognizes the dark foggy landscape as her own Ichigozaka.

CURE CHOCOLAT:

The Cures wind up in Taisho-era Ichigozaka, a century before our time.

Everyone, whether wearing kimonos or European attire, is either furious or depressed, their eyes glowing red in this sinister Prussian blue fog.

There are also these direwolf-style beasts perched on every shingled rooftop...

There is a lack of kirakiraru in the past, but there is one person who fights against the darkness.

Cure Lumière performing her attack, Lumière Confiserie (Light Confectionery).

Elsewhere, Bilberry finds herself in a familiar place. Thanks to this little trip back to the past, she realises the person responsible for making her end up alone (as a homeless orphan) was Noir himself.

Inside the KiraPâti, it's full of dark-hearted refugees.

Bilberry appeals for help, tears in her eyes.

After discovering that Noir was just using her, Bilberry flees from the darkness. She ends up running straight to the Precures and asking for their help, in tears. Noir then attacks, so Lumière transforms to confront him.

The power is already within you...

Lumière protects the past; she entrusts the others to do the same for the future

As she goes to confront Noir, Lumière has the current PreCures return to their own time. Before they go, Lumière tells them that the shape of their crystals is the shape of their new power.

Everyone may have their differences, which is why everyone helps each other out

The others try to offer some solace for Bilberry, but that is short lived as Noir still possesses Iru. The girls transform and try to defeat it with their usual finisher, but it proves to be too strong for that.

Facehugger Iru

Iru absorbing Bilberry

Like in the Princess Cures' battle against Lock, the usual Finishing Move is a no sell on the final enemy of the arc/cour.

Bilberry is trapped within Iru (Frankeniru? Irustein?).

Kirakuru Rainbow+Sweets Wonderful à la Mode:
combining the two previous Finishing Moves

#NoSell, as per usual in arc finale battles:
this calls for an upgrade in weaponry and Finishing Move.

Still, Ciel/Parfait has not given up when it comes to the goodness within Bilberry.

Absorbed by dark kirakiraru... she wavers, she surrenders to her fate...

As the Cures reach out and tell her that they want to bake and share food, she is swallowed up by the dark kirakiraru.

Pekorin arrives with Lumière’s icing pump, and it transforms through the power of their crystals into the Kirakiraru Creamers.

The Cures get one Creamer each.

The new Finishing Move looks pretty spectacular, and it is able to eliminate the darkness of Noir. Iru disappears afterwards.

Bilberry is free of Noir’s power

Bilberry collapses, exhausted, but the next episode preview has shown she’ll be back on her feet soon enough.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:

We finally got some backstory -involving Cure Lumière- and the heel-face turn of Bilberry I had prophesized last week!
Against Master Noir (Darkness), there once fought and vanquished him one Cure Lumière (Light). I see what they did there, and it's pretty clever (aside from basic-level French). Her advice to the Cures that they already had their powers within them all along reminds me of The Wizard of Oz -the Scarecrow's brain, the Tinman's heart, the Cowardly Lion's nerve, and Dorothy's way home-. Lumière is also an inspiring role model, gathering as many refugees as possible under the roof of the KiraPâti, of which she was the original Taisho-era owner. Sheltering the helpless as she fights a losing battle.

The journey to the past made Bilberry also realize that Noir had been corrupting human hearts and taking advantage of her (wink wink), not before leaving the poor girl a homeless orphan, estranging her by force from her home and parents, to make her more vulnerable. This also means that she is 1) from Ichigozaka, and 2) really over 100 winters old. She tries to reform herself, but her muppet clings to her Facehugger style, and in an instant she gets trapped inside a berserk Iru (which, like the monster in Frankenstein, turns against his master).
With the knowledge that the power was within them all along, and that the McGuffins were merely symbolic, the Cures can activate the Creamer and try out a new Finishing Move (as per the norm in every arc finale).

An unconscious Bilberry, restored to her original self.
What better way to crown this story arc? What better way than this crowner, indeed. The new Finishing Move, it appears, will serve the Cures well until their inevitable confrontation with Noir...

IN NEXT EPISODE (33):