THE FUTURE THAT WE'LL BRING WHEN TOMORROW COMES

Hugtto! Pretty Cure Episode 49
My Own Review
THE FUTURE THAT WE'LL BRING WHEN TOMORROW COMES

The Harihari bros (sans Harry) ready to board the time train

The time train is almost ready, my lads!

A brand new day begin after the girls saved the future, everyone went back to their normal lives. Dr Trauma was about to finish a time train (Back to the Future 3 Reference!?) and Hana suggested to everyone that they go out and enjoy themselves...

Nothing like a really scary film to hold tight to your loved ones (even if Emiru is the fraidier one and Lulu seems more unfazed...)!

What will be the last Twin Love concert in decades, right?

The girls went to various places and met back the acquaintances from the previous episodes and had a great time together. As they are walking back home, they found an unusual-looking pen and at the same time, Fumito, that student who was late for homework deadlines in Episode One, was releasing negative energy which caused Dr Trauma's time train turning into a theender. (A repeat of the first episode as Fumito was the first victim)

Wait... why is it a PACMAN FROG theender in the first place?

The girls went to battle the theender. Hikaru Hoshina was nearby and transformed to Cure Star to aid the girls.

 After the girls purified the monster frog, Hug-tan gave the pen to Hikaru and a picture of Hug-tan appeared on the pen. Hikaru suddenly saw a kappa in the river and rushed off. Everyone wondered who Cure Star/Hikaru is and Hana believed they will meet again. (In the All Stars movie this March!) 

Emiru's expression was priceless...

At the same time, George was walking alone however his eyes were gleaming with hope of the future.

In tears...(sob)

The time train was ready to move off and Harry took back his store and place in his suitcase. The girls hugged Lulu and Harry brought Hug-tan to the train. As the train started to move off, the girls ran after it and Hug-tan started calling "Mama" to Hana and Hana held her little hand before the train headed to the future leaving Hana to call out Hug-tan in tears...


Lulu looking out the window at Emilu, Papple sulking, even Charalit drying up tears...

Aki (L) and Junna (R) become comedians - who's the straight woman and who's the funny gal in this double act? It would be more appropriate for Aki to be the funny gal, but to shake things up I think that their usual roles are reversed, right?

Masato has become a classical musician (but Henri?)

In the 2030s, everyone has went on to have successful lives. 

Charalit, Gelos, and Gelos' paid harem are primary school-age kids - one can already guess what they're like as young adults, right?

Seeing everyone grown up and what are they doing now is interesting. Although it is funny that Gelos, Charalit, Jinjin & Takumi as little kids while Daigan and Papple still looked the same (after all, these shown as kids are twenty-somethings in the main war storyline, while Daigan and Papple are middle-aged).

Papple looked even better in the future!

Papple looks even more attractive than before, even without the 80s style

My gosh, Kotori is a beauty!

Kotori Nono - 

ENFIIIIIN! HENRIIIII!! I wonder if he and Masato will ever cross paths at any event and... (sigh!)

Of course all the Aizakis, sans li'l sis Emiru, are live on the spot and rooting for Henri (though I'm surprised to see the old curmudgeon is still alive - medical advances anyone?). And of course Masato on first row - and mum and dad doing their ridiculous finger-heart...


And the smile on Henri's face is priceless (when is the wedding? I'm sure Henri will be the "bride" and wear a white gown...!)

Ranze proves she's a worthy Ichijo and rakes home awards - her daughter having chosen the medical profession, Reira Yakushiji has adopted the rival starlet instead... talk about heartwarming!

And of course, if Mr. Aizaki Senior is still alive - Tanpopo and Yone appear to be still alive and kicking even after Queen Liz has passed away...

Even Homare's dog and that queen cat survive this long!

The Harihari brothers found a foster family after their home village was overrun - Homare's pet dog as their foster dad and the kitty he likes as their foster mum... interspecies family...! waow!

And in the end, after decades of estrangement...

Little underage Amour-Lulu steps into the picture...

...meeting adult (thirtyish) Emiru at last...!! Awwwwww!!

Long time...

I actually like the scene when Emiru saw Lulu again after all these years and no matter how long it took, their song is still everlasting in their hearts.

THE FEELS - THE FEELS - THE FINAL CROWNER FOR YET ANOTHER OTP...
Then, once they finally made the time jump, Emiru’s and Lulu’s reunion eats up a huge chunk precious time again, and if it wasn’t painful enough, they decide to shove their bloody friendship song down our throats one last time. (I was being ironic there, wasn't I?)

...no see!!

The feels, the feels, the feels, the feels, the FEEEEEELSSS!!!

Little Amouru is sweet!

In the 2030s, everyone has went on to have successful lives. Dr Trauma introduced Emiru to a child version of Lulu-Amour and she was speechless. Lulu did not recognise a thirtyish Emiru at first but when Emiru started playing their song, Lulu started to remember the lyrics and sang along with her. And WHAT A DUET!!!!

Awwwww... And I'M MELTING as I see this embraaaaaaaace...
Definitely, this is the best closure an OTP can get, isn't it?

Hana was the chairperson of a corporation and was goofing around when she suddenly went into labour. Saaya who is an obstetrician began to prepare for Hana's delivery while Homare rushed from the airport to hospital.

Oh, Saaya looks good even in a surgical mask, cap, and goggles!

Hana was struggling in her delivery while Saya and Homare were beside her. Finally her baby was born and Hana named her Hagumi (Hugmi) as they began a new life together...

Wow! This is probably one of the more mature and better endings from the Precure series. If you didn't shed a tear when Hana was chasing after Hug-tan, you have no soul. We finally confirmed that Hana is Hug-tan's mother and even named her Hagumi (Hugmi) which is her real name. Although Toei leave it open for who is Hana's husband since we can't see his face as he rushed to the hospital with Hana's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nono (the only signs that Shinta and Sumire have become older are a few wrinkles... so are they really pensioners?). 

But he's a tall and thin, pale gentleman carrying a bouquet of craspedias - so we are sure that Hagumi's (and Hana's married) surname is indeed Kurai, it's the likeliest headcanon!

So, if we get it right...

Hana and Hugtan-Tomorrow-Hagumi (her real muggle name) are mother and daughter by blood?

Mum!!!


Harry and an adolescent Hagumi as Cure Tomorrow - so we can finally say the customary line from Les Misérables:

It is the future that we bring when tomorrow comes!!
Aaah... aaaah...
TO-MO-RROW COMES!!

Notice all the Criasu defectors in the background...

Hugtto! PreCure is the fifteenth entry of Izumi Todo’s Pretty Cure series. A magical girl series that clocks in at forty-nine episodes, the show started airing in February 2018. It also happens to be a celebration of PreCure franchise‘s fifteenth anniversary.
The directors for this season-continuity were Junichi Sato and Akifumi Zako, whilst the writer was Fumi Tsubota. The studio that produced it, was of course, Toei Animation.
There’ll most likely be spoilers in this review, though it does concern stuff that is pretty much common knowledge by this point. Still, thought I’d give a fair warning just in case.

Much like previous seasons, Hugtto! follows the same monster of the week formula. Still, with 49 episodes, there’s plenty of chances for each of the main characters to get fleshed out.


Lulu Amour and Emiru Aisaki, my favourite characters in Hugtto! PreCure. They transform into Cure Amour and Cure Ma Chérie respectively, both known as the PreCure of Unconditional Love (Ai)
Emiru is first introduced as a classmate of Kotori Nono in primary school, who is very conscience about safety and comes across as quite strict due to that.
As for Lulu, she starts as a member of Criasu, but some befriending soon sees her joining PreCures.
Emiru and Lulu absolutely bring out the best in each other, and are quite simply one of the best yuri couples that have ever appeared in the PreCure franchise – or anime in general, one could argue. Definitely for 2018, at least.
One of my main reasons for getting into PreCure was because I learned of its yuri subtext (which is just sometimes text, just look at DokiDoki for blatant examples of that). Hugtto! PreCure absolutely delivered that with Emilu.

The two are seen together very often, and especially towards the end, they always seem to be in each other’s arms. They also start a band together, and if Kindred Spirits on the Roof and BanG Dream! have taught me anything, it’s that I really, really like lesbian bands. The songs that Emilu-Twin Love compose together are pretty much love songs, too. KiraKira à la Mode gave us AkiYuka-Macaron de Chocolat, but that sort of ended up going nowhere, at least in the finale. Fortunately, Emilu do not suffer the same uncertain fate.


I could probably spend the rest of this review going on and on about how incredible Emilu are, but there are other points that I should probably bring up as well.
A couple of other yuri ships are teased throughout – but nothing quite compares to the magnificence of Emilu, whether on stage as Twin Love, in battle as Amour & Ma Chérie, or in their day-to-day.

Episode 13 is when Lulu entered the circle. Saaya and Lulu had a hilarious rivalry going on between them, which in turn allowed us to see a different side of Saaya. But unfortunately for us, we never actually get to see the two of them form any kind of friendship because starting from Episode 15, that’s when Emiru and Lulu starts to take over the show.

This was supposed to be a parody, but the "sad" part is, this is exactly what ended up happening.

For the next seven episodes, it is all about Emiru and Lulu developing their friendship. 

The second member of the Hugtto! team is Saaya Yakushiji, who transforms into Cure Ange. Out of the initial Cures, she arguably has the best character arc. There are two paths laid out before Saaya in terms of her future; acting, or medicine (obstetrics). Her episodes tend to be some of the best that Hugtto! has to offer. That’s a good thing, because she doesn’t seem to get too much attention when it comes to group episodes.



Finally, we come to Homare Kagayaki. She transforms into Cure Étoile. Homare has my least favourite character arc in this season, particularly because it reminds me of Yes! PreCure 5 and I really did not get on with those seasons. Her ice skating stuff is fine, its her falling in love with the mascot character that doesn’t sit well with me.
To be fair, though, Harry isn’t a bad mascot – leagues better than Coco and Nuts from Yes! 5, at least.
Also, long time watchers will be pretty familiar with Homare’s debut as a Cure. Quite a few seasons have seen a character wanting to become a PreCure, but having something hold them back.


Let’s shift focus to the mascot characters. Playing the role of cute animal is Harry, who is able to transform into a human form. Male mascot characters tend to be a bit hit and miss in the PreCure franchise, but for what it is worth I like Harry. He has an interesting backstory, and is even capable of holding his own in a fight if it calls for it.


Our other mascot is the baby Hugtan, who holds some kind of power – because of course she does. Much like the other characters, she grows over the course of the season. Not as much as a certain pink-haired fey baby called Kotoha, but it is there. Actually, Hugtan is definitely one of the better baby characters in the franchise, and the catalyst of something that was very, very good for longtime PreCure fans.

Whew, that covers the central group of characters, but what about the supporting cast? I won’t go into detail for each and every one, but I will bring up some highlights. Homare’s classmates Aki and Junna, for example. – they’re all pretty great characters. However, the best supporting cast members are a couple of characters who had rather negative introduction, but they managed to turn it around.


I am referring to Masato Aisaki and Henri Wakamiya. Masato is Emiru’s older brother and heir to the Aisaki clan, whilst Henri is Homare’s longtime ice-skating rival. Masato is somewhat misogynistic when he is first introduced, firmly believing that girls, especially those of rank, should not play electric guitar. And focus on more classical instruments.
Henri is rather condescending when he first appears, and it doesn’t make for a particularly good first impression. However, Masato and Henri happen to meet, and honestly that is the best thing that could have happen to the both of them.
Yaoi ships are typically my thing, but Masato and Henri end up with great chemistry between themselves. Viva for Henrisato!!! THE KING AND QUEEN IN THE NORTH!!!


Henri is a particularly notable character. One of his earlier episode basically has the message that boys can be princesses (or even queens) too if they so choose – this certainly got Hugtto! onto a lot of people’s radars with that positive message. Henri also provides a first for the franchise, but that’s all I shall say about that.

On the enemy side, the forces of Criasu use monsters called theenders. These are typically humanoid foes, though there are a variety of shapes and sizes. Combat is much more physical than it was in KiraKira PreCure a la Mode, which is welcome return to form. Of course, a typical fight involves some fighting, followed by a finishing move. There are some pretty good fights.
The monsters of the week have to be summoned by someone, and that role falls to Criasu’s leaders. As far as villains go, they fairly decent. Most of them even manage to get even better after being defeated, which is always nice.

Hugtto! PreCure is the fifteenth anniversary celebration of PreCure franchise, and there are plenty of nods to previous seasons scattered throughout. However, the epitome of this comes in episode 37. That episode has to be seen to be believed.
Hugtto! absolutely blows that out of the water with a single episode.

I could praise Hugtto! a lot more (and I will), but it does have some downsides. Not every episode is a winner – but what do you expect when there are 49 of them? I’ve already mentioned the Homarry stuff, which isn’t great (and it was right to leave him in the friendzone, eh?. There’s also the time travel aspect, which can cause some confusion – are Criasu from the distant future, or is it closer than we think? What happens to people who return to the future?
Much like with time travelling stuff, it probably isn’t worth thinking about too hard. PrettyCure is a girl-power-themed kids’ show, after all.

For a middle-grade children’s show, Hugtto! has some very, very dark moments. We have implied attempted suicide, Lulu shutting down (basically a death scene), and Hugtan falling into a coma. Whilst not exactly dark, we do also get a couple of instances of female characters going into labour and giving birth onscreen, with any explicit details being shown.
Moments like those are what make Hugtto! stand out in the franchise, though. On top of the celebration of fifteen years of PreCure franchise, it is made very easy to look past the flaws that are present.

The endung certainly went with a very bold move. That’s another thing that stands out about Hugtto!.

Score: 10/10
Hugtto! PreCure is pretty much the epitome of what Pretty Cure can be, even with its flaws. An utterly brilliant celebration of fifteen years of Pretty Cure, and easily one of the best entries in the entire franchise. Also gave us Emilu-Twin Love, which is the most important thing really.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION
FINALLY... ALL LOOSE ENDS ARE TIED UP!!
And not only did we get the customary Where-Are-They-Now Epilogue (yeaaay!!), but EVERYONE gets some closure at the end of the day...

After the controversy of violence and slightly dark matters that parents and moral guardians complained, Kira Kira à la Mode took a nosedive in their action and storytelling as such I was really worried that Hugtto will follow suit. But instead, it delivered not just action that was good (Although they still hold back their punches especially in the later episodes) but good character development to not just the five main girls but the villains. (minus George and Gelos)

Let's start with Emiru and Lulu since they are a pair. THE ONE TRUE PAIR -HENRI AND MASATO ASIDE-. When Emiru first appeared, she was overbearing but she meant well in her action. However her family was pretty dysfunctional. Her parents are living in their own world, her brother Masato who was a real jerk thanks to their grandfather's teaching. (Until Masato opened his eyes to Henri and they are now an item!!) But when she meets Lulu who is basically like a fish out of water, Emiru started caring about her and the pair hit on very well. 

I like the scene when Emiru was willing to give up being a Precure when there was only one Preheart changer until the goddess appeared out of nowhere and made an extra changer out of thin air. After that, the pair was inseparable and among the core cast, Cure Ma Chérie and Cure Amour has the best looking costumes and seriously, the two could carry the show without the other girls since they have the best chemistry. (SQUUUEEEEE - AND THE CLOSURE TO OUR OTP DECADES LATER IS PERFECT!)

Lulu is adorable since she initially started off as an android who knows nothing about human emotions until she meets Emiru and company. I love it when she decided to betray Crisis and was turned into a killing machine before Emiru saved her "humanity." But after that, she was reverted to comic relief and often seem munching like a glutton. Although I love her interaction with her father Dr Trauma especially when Lulu used her deadpan voice to reject Dr Trauma's overbearing love... -when her dad turned too annoying and even embarrassing, right?

Homare... I thought she behave more tough since her initial character looked like a rebellious student but instead, she is just a shy girl who has self- confidence issues after her ice skating accident. Her crush with Harry is puppy love since she spent most of the time with the only male adult in the series. 

I was actually glad that they ended with Harry that rejected her confession. (Which seriously one episode is enough to settle her issues but instead they used two episodes to repeat the same issue again!) - Though Harry and Hagumi are destined to be an item, so friendzoning her beloved to let him be happy IS the best thing Homare can do...

Saaya is not just sweet but a strong and smart girl (who could guess she was into obstetrics, hot sauce, or power tools?). Of course, it took a while before her character was developed since she behaves similar to Rikka from Doki Doki!, but when Lulu began a rivalry with her, you can tell that Saaya was having fun with someone her equal. 

She too also set her mind like Minami from Go! Princess and not following blindly in her actress mother's footsteps. Her focus episodes were probably the most fun to watch and Toei loved to make Cure Ange a badass when she is dealing with the theenders.

The villains themselves are a step up from the last two season and I loved it when former enemies became allies and although the initial trio-Charalit, Papple, and Daigan didn't really do much other than comic relief, they too also help in the final battle and even become temporary Precures for that few minutes. I felt Ristle and Bishin's changing sides was pretty rushed in episode 47 and could have a single episode dedicated to the two generals each to show their development but Toei has to throw everything and see what sticks in order to reach the finale. 

George himself was even a bigger mystery like Noir from last season. Another human turned into a powered villain with no explanation why he is like that. Although I still think it has something to do with that magic spellbook he always carried. Yes, George is another villain who loathed humanity because of their selfishness. We also didn't know what make him snap as it is most probably hinted that Hana is his future wife and something terrible happened to her -making the future Mrs. Kurai a Lost Lenore 

Even the goddess known as Mother who granted Hug-Tan/Cure Tomorrow her powers which we have no idea where or who she was. It looked like Toei forgot this plotline after the All Stars two parter and Mother is just as a plot device to grant the girls their cheerful style and ultimate attack. 

As this is also the 15th anniversary of the Precure franchise, it is understandable that Toei reintroduced Cure Black and Cure White to aid Team Hugtto. But the all star two parter episode which itself is like a minifilm was fanservice to all the fans who enjoyed the series. (Yes, I did watched the All Star Memories movie and everyone returned to have at least one or two lines spoken unlike the two partner which was odd that some characters remained dumbstruck during the final battle) 

However to me, they could have the final battle to include the All Star cast to aid Team Hugtto which will definitely raise the ratings but because they need to accommodate the All Stars movie release date in October that cause Hugtto's storyline to go off track and why characters like Dr Trauma reappear again and now given a backstory which if he was given earlier in the series, his send-off in the two-parter will be more meaningful. 

Overall, Hugtto Precure is probably in my top five series since I started reviewing this franchise years back. With interesting characters and a back to basic storyline with more mature themes, this series is one of the better series in recent years.

Pathetic Villains (WARNING FOR IRONY!)

Dear gosh, the villains were such a disappointment. The first group I can understand because they are more like the gophers of the organization. But the second group of the so-called “elitists”? I had a lot of hope in them, but they quickly became a huge failure. With the exception of George, everyone else failed big time to the point their presence was not needed. In fact you know there’s a huge problem when Papple, who despite her laziness, actually did more than Gelos (who I don’t understand why she even exists, or the point of her story to begin with). It was as if they didn’t put any thought into their characters whatsoever. All they did were simply exist. And this was in particular infuriating because it quickly became apparent how not a single one of them were a threat.

What made George an interesting villain is how his ideals of Happiness, clashes with the Precures. He doesn’t seem himself as antagonist, in fact what he actually trying to do is protect the precures, because he believes their struggle to protect humanity is futile. In fact we learn the ones who are responsible for eventually making time stop, are actually the people of the future. This is why he believes he is doing the right thing. What he wants to accomplish is to stop time when Humanity are the happiest. So he's basically a well-intentioned extremist, isn't he? However that isn’t to say there is some inconsistency in his character. One hand we see his love for Hana (his future wife), but other times we see them giving orders to his employees to make sure the world. 

Hana being Hug-tan's mum all along... (Does that mean George is her dad, Hug-tan is Hagumi Kurai, and Hana is Mrs. Kurai née Nono? I still second that headcanon, don't you?)
Henrisato: WAOW...
Twin Love - Adult Emi meeting child Lulu, after decades apart: THE FEELS THE FEELS THE FEEEEEEELSSS! I knew our OTP had to have this reunion... It felt like they were about to finish each other's sentence, especially if it was "Long time... no see!"

We now bid farewell to all of them, especially Lulu and Emiru as they began new chapters in their lives and welcome Star Twinkle Precure next week! Until then, thank you Hugtto and see you in the next post for the first episode of Star Twinkle next week!