MELODY OF THE HEART

Hugtto! Pretty Cure
Episode  18 - My Own Review
MELODY OF THE HEART

In the eighteenth episode of Hugtto! PreCure, Lulu struggles to understand the concept of heart (kokoro). Fortunately, Emiru is there to help her learn just what it is.

Supper at the Nonos'

 Lulu remains a part of the Nono family

At the beginning of this episode, Lulu returns Mrs. Nono's memories back to normal. She was worried that she would end up being kicked out of the Nono household, but that’s not the case at all. Lulu is still very much a part of their family, regardless of what she did before.

Mrs. Nono officially adopts Lulu Amour

Emiru shows up at secondary school

When Hana, Saaya, and Homare go to school next, they all receive letters asking them to go the courtyard during lunch break.
They do that, and Emiru almost outs them as PreCures in front of everybody.

Fortunately, Lulu is able to move very quickly; a perk of being a gynoid, right? (Reminded me of the Flash!)

The others quickly take Emiru to Harry’s place.


Emiru wrote a letter to the girls to meet during lunch break and tried to expose their secret identifies in front of their peers. However Lulu's quick reflex immediately dragged her out of the school and she was brought to Harry's place.

 SHUTUP (#Dreadpan)

Lulu keeps Emiru quiet

Once they’re at Harry’s place, Emiru reveals that she saw the others undo their PreCure transformations. She also mentions how the rat was talking. Harry snaps at her to correct her on what he is (HAM-STERRR!), before realising what he had done.

 FOX IN SOCKS ON KNOX IN BOX!

 WHOOOSH!

 PIERCE THE HEAVENS!

Emiru indeed knew the girls are Precures and insisted that she too want to be a Precure as well. The girls gave in and in return, Emiru was not allow to tell anyone else about the Precures. Later Emiru tried to learn more of how to be a Precure like watching Homare skating and Saaya doing a rehearsal however with little success.

all the praise that Emiru has for PreCures

After having told the girls that she knows their secret, Emiru asks for a favour. She simply wants to spend time with the heroes during their everyday lives. Emiru and Lulu end up spending a bit of time with both Homare and Saaya.

Emiru swooning over a rehearsing Saaya

Homare is practicing her ice skating, whilst Saaya is rehearsing – both are doing things that come from their heart (kokoro). Lulu doesn’t quite get what that means.

Emiru helps Hana practice for an upcoming singing test

Hana has a singing test coming up, so she gets Emiru to help her out with it. Emiru has perfect pitch; she can even identify what note a pen tapped against a mug makes.
The girls encourage Lulu to give it a try. Whilst Lulu’s tone is perfectly accurate, it does not resonate with heart.

Emiru actually showed off her music talents which amazed everyone. Lulu tried to sing the same song however she was unable to express it with her feelings which resulted in a system shutdown again.

 

As Lulu tries to understand what heart/kokoro is, she experiences a system error and shuts down.

Empty Eyes and shadows over the upper half of the face;

signs of Lulu having a purple screen of death.

Emiru stays by Lulu’s side

The girls explain to Emiru that Lulu is a gynoid from the future. When Lulu wakes up, Emiru asks her about it. Lulu shows her undeniable proof that she is a fembot. Ocular proof.
However, Emiru won’t let that put her off. She insists that she and Lulu become PreCures together. Lulu doesn’t think she can, as she is an artificial life form.

To convince a "doubting Thomas" Emiru, Lulu does what, if she were a person, would be considered flashing (pun completely intended!):

The girls explained to Emiru that Lulu is an gynoid which of course in one of the most funniest moments, Emiru asked Lulu to prove she is an artificial lifeform, and she literally showed her internal system to Emiru. In an LED light show!) Now wouldn't that be considered flashing if Lulu was a person of flesh and blood?

 Emiru was not afraid of her instead she want Lulu to be a Precure as well. However Lulu claimed it is impossible as she is a gynoid and does not have a "Heart."

Awww... the tin girl does not know she already has a heart of her own...

Emiru gets her guitar out again

After that, Emiru wants to do something to cheer Lulu up. She decides to play a song for her, though since she isn’t sure about it she performs for the others to get their opinion first.
They tell her that the most important thing is the feelings she can get across.

The girls tried to encourage Emiru and Lulu in their own ways to believe in themselves. Homare and Harry talked to Emiru with Hug-tan cheering her and Saaya giving a pep talk to Lulu.

This week's theender. The source: designer's block. Rita Yoshimi is very frustrated when she can't think of an idea for a design.
However Papple turned the Fashion Designer (From Episode 14) into a theender and the girls went to battle.

Enough of that, though, as it is about time for the monster of the week to show up. Papple is the one who brings it along, and this episode skips the transformation sequence. It seems like PreCures overwhelm it fairly quickly, but this particular theender, due to its negative emotion source material, has a trick up its sleeve.

This particular theender has another form that allows it to absorb the attacks from PreCures, and then fire a blast of energy. Ange and Étoile end up getting hit by the energy blast, and then the theender jumps onto those two in an attempt to crush them. The girls seemly being crushed by the thenender's weight while Papple taunted Lulu for trying to be a hero.

Emiru stands up for Lulu

With every active PreCure out of commission for the moment, Papple taunts Lulu and calls her a heartless mechanical doll. Emiru stands up for Lulu. Papple soon grows tired of hearing all that and commands the theender to crush them.

Ange and Étoile aren’t finished yet. They lift the theender, and Cure Yell sends it straight up into the air with a punch. After that, they finish it off with PreCure Trinity Concert – we get a shortened version of the stock footage here. 

But Emiru stood up for Lulu and she is proud to have Lulu as her friend (tomodachi), which touched her.

The girls also survived the attack and finished it off.

Lulu and Emiru sing together

Instead of the usual ending theme, we are treated to Lulu and Emiru singing together. This song resonates with heart, and Lulu even sheds a tear or two.
This episode may not have been as silly as the previous Lulu and Emiru episode, but it definitely had a lot of heart. After what Lulu was made to go through previously, it’s very nice to see her just being accepted as she is and discovering what heart is.
Emiru was good in this episode, too. She stood up to Papple, which shows that she is more than qualified to become a PreCure just like she dreams.
Lulu and Emiru’s song was a great way to cap off the episode.
I’m hoping that Lulu remains a gynoid. It’s entirely possible there’ll be a point where she becomes entirely human, but I think her story would be stronger if she remained an android. Lulu already mentioned how it is probably impossible for her to become a PreCure – I think at this point everyone knows where the show is heading and just how wrong she will end up being.
Still, the lead up to the inevitable event has been very good, and delivered some of the strongest episodes Hugtto! has seen for a little while.
Next time, a fashion show. It also looks like a new villain will be introduced, and I’m quite keen to see what she is like. Oh... a brand new cadre/general in Cryasse... and the return of Henri... as a male model -just like Adrien Agreste and my senpai Andreu Ciscar...
Already in this episode we have seen a glimpse of the aforementioned henchperson concealed in the shade:

After Lulu's betrayal, Papple reported back to President Cryasse (Which is what Lulu called him in the episode) and he is really pissed together with Ristle and Daigan who blamed Papple for her failures. However in the shadows, a mysterious lady was observing everything...

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Ooh this episode was so sweet. Emiru has grown on me quite a bit since she has first debuted, and now I feel very comfortable with her being a part of their group. The one thing I love most is the friendship that somehow blossomed between Lulu and Emiru, and it’s something so pure, that it’s exactly what Lulu needs. To some extent, thanks to the day she had spent with Lulu, she actually knows a bit more about Lulu than the others do. They developed a unique connection through music, and it’s something that gives Lulu great comfort and a way for her to connect to her newfound heart. My favourite moment of the episode had to be when Emiru stood up for Lulu, telling Papple that Lulu does in fact have a heart, and she knows it because she feels troubled, said she loved her music, and most importantly, because they are best friends. I found it so incredibly sweet in a way that only Emiru could pull it off. And to top things off, Emiru wrote beautiful lyrics to her song so Lulu could sing along with her. It’s quite incredible how quickly my opinion towards Emiru has changed for the better, but it’s a great feeling and now I look forward to their friendship and hopefully the day they too (hopefully Lulu too, despite being a gynoid) can become a Precure.

I was surprised to see Henri being re-introduced into the the scene at the end of the episode. He has shown his face here and there, but seeing him make a return is starting to make me hope we will see him become part of the group as well. I wonder if he will become friends will Lulu and Emiru, creating another unique trio. And to be perfectly honest, I really do want him to become a precure ahahaha, do it please.

Emilu... That Master and Commander style duet between the Tin Girl and the peppy bard was definitely one of the best codas for a non-finale Pretty Cure episode out there!
Emiru wrote a new song "Kimi to Tomodachi (Me and My Friend) and want Ruru to sing it with her. Lulu began to sing properly as Emiru was playing her guitar. The girls and Harry enjoyed the song as Henri who was spying with his camera phone commented that these two girls are good...

After last week's intense episode, you thought no more emotional moments for the time being. Well, no! This week's episode continue from where we left off and it was both funny and touching at the same time.
The show stopper was Emiru who brought a bundle of lively energy. Being a kid, she tried to get the girls' attention by trying to expose their identifies but with good intention as she too want to be a Precure. The girls were also amazed by her music talents and her reaction in seeing Lulu's internal system was priceless! (Although somewhere some doujin artists might have other ideas for this scene)
Emiru and Lulu were indeed soulmates and like how Lulu stood up against Emiru's brother, this time, Emiru stood up for her when Papple taunted her. It really touched Lulu and the final scene which is probably a first in Precure history-An Insert Song for the End Credits.
Emi's perfect pitch and musical intelligence (as a guitarist and lyricist) and Lulu as an Ace: kindred spirits
 
Does this final pastel-chalked freeze frame say anything? I consider it, myself, the proof that Emilu is canon.
Nakama vs tomodachi
Kokoro and the difficulty of translating the concept

Word of Lulu confirms the fembot theory. We have OCULAR FRICKING PROOF of her being an artificial life form.
The Heartless made from creative block: the negative emotions a person can experience run a pretty wide gamut, don't they? Moreover, the designer's block Rita suffered from kind of mirrored Lulu's creative crisis (about feeling that she could not express herself being someone without emotions).
How this review was gradually turned into a musical:
A new cadre is coming:


IN NEXT EPISODE (19):

Not only it was a first but Lulu and Emiru's duet was so beautiful that I can't wait to get the single when it comes up. Other than the same fashion designer (Rita) was the victim again and she is coming back next episode and... why Henri is back again?

Seeing that next week's episode, Henri become a model for a fashion runway show just to instigate the girls into entering... and the appearance of a new general who is also female!? What is going on!? Until then, see you in the next post!

 Who are you?

Whoever you are, you must hate Papple's guts.

Now it is finally your chance 

to claim the spotlight that may be yours by right...