LE PRINCE DES GLACES

Hugtto! Pretty Cure
Episode 8 - My Own Review
LE PRINCE DES GLACES (THE PRINCE OF ICE)

It is Homare’s turn to shine again. A face from her past shows up, and is eager to have her go to Moscow to pursue a figure skating career.

You are giving me the wrong idea, Henri! (Now take that dress off!)

 Henri introduced himself to the girls as him and Homare trained together since young. He wanted Homare to follow him back to Moscow and claimed that spending time with the girls is a waste of time. 

Henri, who also happens to be happy to wear ladies’ wear as long as it suits him

So the person who turned up at the end of previous episode was Henri, who used to train together with Homare for figure skating. Hearing that Homare has gone back to it, he wants her to go to Moscow to pursue the sport further.

He also says right to Hana and Saaya’s faces that they are holding Homare back. Not a good impression to be making there.

Homare is trying her best to make that skating jump. (With a creepy looking Henri stalking her everywhere she goes)

The transformation devices can function as phones

 While she's training, it seems that Homare finds some comfort in hearing her friends' voices. Homare invites Hana and Saaya to go out with her the following day.

Hugtan stands up for the first time

Hana, Saaya and Homare go out as promised. Saaya talks a little with Homare, and says that her first memories of them sparkle more and more when she is together with them. Harry suggests that the girls may be a little too nice, and should be honest with their own hearts as well.

MEANWHILE AT CRYASSE:

The mysterious man, George which Papple commented that she wished her time with George would last forever but George preached of a utopia will fall eventually which is similar to what Harry described of his world before Cryasse conquered it.

A little later on, Henri approaches Homare when she is alone, en tête-à-tête, and says that she can have a top level coach if she goes to Moscow with him.
Henri retorts that she is just adding extra pressure to Homare by doing that, and that anybody can cheer someone else on. He insists that Homare goes with him.

But Henri rebutted that anyone can cheer and the girls are holding Homare back. 

On cheering: Henri claimed that anyone could do it and it is giving unnecessary pressure to the people that is cheered on. 

Homare comes to a decision

Homare has something that she wants to show Henri.

The thing she wants to show is her ice skating, and how Hana and Saaya have introduced her to a brand new world.

Homare decided to show Henri that the girls are not holding her back as she showed off her skating skills to him. She fell down the first time but their cheer gave her strength and both Hana and Saaya swore they saw angel wings coming out of Homare's back (Like Saaya in the previous episode)

Homare astounds her observers with her ice skating. It doesn’t go perfectly, however; when she tries the same jump that injured her before, she ends up falling.

Homare refuses to give up

Homare may have fallen down, but she just gets back up again. She gives it her all, and shines just a like a shining star. After successfully landing that jump, Hana and Saaya rush onto the ice.

Homare gives an incredibly moving performance

Even Henri is wowed by his Étoile's brilliant performance and perseverance.

But that’s enough happiness for the moment, it’s about that time for the monster of the week to strike. This time it is summoned by Papple, who uses the thorny power of the people stuck in a traffic jam (a bunch of people irritated about being stuck in a traffic jam) to create a boomgate theender. The snag that ticks me off is that they made ONE monster with the negative emotions of ALL THOSE driverS. I always love multiple Monsters of the Week in the same episode, right?

Since this is a Homare episode, Cure Étoile ends up getting most of the action this time around. When Papple mentions something about a waste of time, Étoile simply states that there is no thing as wasted time. (Hamilton reference not mandatory, but still...)


Moreover, Henri is caught in the crossfire...

Étoile doesn’t take kindly to Papple’s words

Homare finally makes that jump but at the same time, Papple has created a theender from angry road users. The girls went to battle and with the help of her friends, Cure Étoile was able to form the new Future Crystal from her emotions.

Étoile awakens her second Future Crystal, and the monster of the week is eliminated in due course after a display of teamwork between all three Cures.

With the enemy gone, the Cures return to normal. After having seen Homare’s skating, Henri gives up on trying to get her to go to Moscow.

Hana encounters this mysterious fellow

Hana ends up encountering a mysterious man, a forty-something with dark features who has an interesting-looking book. He says something about a beautiful story where people looked forward to the future, full of hope. With those words, he departs.

This mysterious man (who earlier was together with Papple) started preaching about how nothing lasts forever. 

From the look of it, this man which is credited as George in the ending could be (a) the overlord/big bad in human form or (b) a person related to Hug-tan (her dad?). Or both...? just think of it... Only time will tell.
Hana encounters an incredibly mysterious (handsome/ikemen) man, and who carries a beautiful book, describing it was a world where everyone had great hopes for the future. They called it the a veritable Garden of Eden. However its splendour would not last forever. It is hard to decipher whether or not he is referring to the story, past, or perhaps even this world. One of the biggest question that comes to mind: Who is he? And which side is he on?
He appears to also be the same man standing outside on the terrace with Papple inside reviewing paperwork of a sorts. I am curious of whether or not that is actually the case. It also did not go unnoticed to me how it looked as though he had a wistful expression on his face when he spoke about the book, only making me even more curious about the world he speaks of. But another big question is of course: What is Papple’s relationship with the man? She has mentioned about going on dates, and today we hear her mention how she wished tomorrow would never come.

Finally, there is one last surprise in store for this episode.

Henri joins the 3rd year sports class of L’Avenir Academy

"Did I actually say 'au revoir'?"

Henri accepted Homare's resolve and later contrived to transfer as a student in their school. He even deduced that Homare is Cure Étoile and teased he might try to be a Precure (Oh no, you don't!)

Henri showing up at the school is a surprise, but he also reveals that he knows Homare is a PreCure. He keeps that to himself, though.
That brings this episode to an end.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Henri appears to be of French descent. I mean, a Slav with a French name? Or a Frenchman who relocated to Moscow to pursue an ice-skating career?
Then there was Henri. I am glad that I was wrong about his origins (I had initially though he was a Russian skater due to the topic of Moscow in the last week’s preview), but he is still the cut out classic half French, half Japanese, or as he likes to call himself: "a double." He and Homare have been skating together since they were kids, and Henri came to see her in hopes she would join him to train in Moscow.
Of course by the end of the episode, Henri surprises Homare with having transferred to their school and is now part of the Sports Class (which she was once a part of, before transferring to the regular class). Although Henri came off as a prick for most of the episode, his attitude improved by the end of the episode, and I actually screamed when he confirmed my suspicions he had caught onto Homare being a precure, and even joked to her about maybe he should try becoming one himself. And I am not gonna lie, if they were to do that, I would be all over it. The only thing I am concerned about however is making him disappear altogether, especially since he and the girls are in different departments at school. I think it would be great he were to have a similar presence as Yui did in Go! Princess Precure. One of the most memorable characters to be part of the group without having any super power of their own.
Henri’s earlier comments on how “Cheering someone is something anyone can do”--- And to some degree, Henri is right.
The stalking element in the Homari pairing (Homare*Henri) definitely gives it a bit of a creepy vibe, what with invading your kismesis's privacy (at least Iago and Cassio were roommates, right?)...

The school in this continuity is called L'Avenir, which means The Future in French.

As for that mysterious George bloke, I’m almost certain that he is involved with Cryasse. Maybe it's Kurai himself? Only time will tell... The relationship between George and Papple (Georple?) is certainly interesting. If there ever is a Precure Mizzie AU in the works, I've already handpicked my Thénardiers!

Hana encounters an incredibly mysterious (handsome/ikemen) man, and who carries a beautiful book, describing it was a world where everyone had great hopes for the future. They called it the a veritable Garden of Eden. However its splendour would not last forever. It is hard to decipher whether or not he is referring to the story, past, or perhaps even this world. One of the biggest question that comes to mind: Who is he? And which side is he on?

He appears to also be the same man standing outside on the terrace with Papple inside reviewing paperwork of a sorts. I am curious of whether or not that is actually the case. It also did not go unnoticed to me how it looked as though he had a wistful expression on his face when he spoke about the book, only making me even more curious about the world he speaks of. But another big question is of course: What is Papple’s relationship with the man? She has mentioned about going on dates, and today we hear her mention how she wished tomorrow would never come.