My Own Review
IN WHICH A MASTER THIEF CRASHES AN AUCTION
Episode fifteen of Star ☆ Twinkle sees the girls travelling to the Planet Zenny, where they participate in an auction to acquire the next Princess Star Colour Pen. With super rich galactic celebrities participating, and word of a thief, getting the Sagittarius Pen isn’t exactly going to easy.
Space popstar Mao
The first thing the girls hear when they arrive on Planet Zenny is a
song by space popstar Mao. As luck would have it, they soon end up bumping
into the idol herself. Purunce is a huge fan – Mao’s song saved him when
he was about to give up during his search for PreCures. The catgirl Mao is
accompanying a super-celebrity alien, a dapper young dragon dandy named Mr. Drasms, who is going to
attend an auction. At Mao’s suggestion, the others are
invited along as well.
We found out that Purunce is a big fan of Super Singer Mao-Chan and she is an accompanying guest to a posh alien dragon surnamed Drasms and Mao was kind to the girls including Fuwa.
Mao lends Hikaru and company some dresses
Wish I had a better shot of all four-five girls in their dresses, but the
screenshot above will have to suffice. Anyways, Mao lends some fancy
dresses to the others, and they enter the auction hall. The
event begins with a performance by Mao, before the auction gets
underway.
Super celebrity Mr. Drasms buys all the lots. The final item in the auction is the Sagittarius Star Colour Pen. The amount everyone bids is vastly outside PreCures’ price range, but Madoka comes up with a plan to deal with that. (Insert Blackadder theme)
Madoka bids with doughnuts
Madoka proposes a trade: a single star doughnut for the Star Colour Pen. She is
able to convince the audience that one doughnut is worth a billion shien
– the currency on Zenny – and ends up in a bid war.
Ultimately, she is able to prevail – just as she runs out of doughnuts
to bid with, too.
She used Prunce's Star Donuts (which he bought for Mao) as value and even an alien gourmet expert claimed that each donuts is worth a billion after tasting it. The girls bid with all the donuts they have and Drums gave up the bid after seeing Madoka's determination. (A trick she learned from her own father, who used similar tactics while auctioning)
Madoka is awared the Star Colour Pen, but that’s when a thief strikes.
Space Thief, Blue Cat
In response, the others go outside to discover that it was Mao who had
stolen the Pen – and the other items from the auction. Mao isn’t her
true identity, though – she is actually a thief known as the Blue Cat.
However
the Sagittarius key went missing and the girls track it to Mao who
revealed herself to be the Kaitou Thief Blue Cat! Everyone was surprised especially Prunce who was disappointed about his idol.
Oh, Ayewan and a 'trigger show up too
As if dealing with a thief isn’t enough, the situation becomes even
more complicated when Ayewan shows up with a KNottrigger (made from the darkened Sagittarius Pen and the dashing Mr. Drasms) in tow. Cue the
transformation theme, and Cure Star, Cure Milkyway, and Cure Soleil engage
the 'trigger in battle. Cure Selene, however, has her eyes on the
prize.
Aiwan also appeared and has already turned Drasms into a Knot-Trigger. This Blue Cat even called out Aiwan and knew the girls' secret identifies as Precures. The girls went to battle and Cure Selene tried to stop the Blue Cat.
Our Blue Cat realised how dangerous the Trigger was and reluctantly handover the Sagittarius Key to Cure Selene which she used it to weaken the Knot-Trigger.
Cure Selene goes after the Blue Cat in an attempt to retrieve the Pen
Whilst the others fight the 'trigger, Selene focuses on the Blue Cat.
Ayewan is not a big fan of being ignored whilst the two squabble, so she
orders her 'trigger to attack them. The Blue Cat throws the Sagittarius
Star Colour Pen to Selene, who uses it to power up her attack.
Selene Arrow powered up by Sagittarius
Sagittarius Fuwa
Princess of Sagittarius
With the power of Sagittarius restored, PreCures are now halfway to collecting all twelve Princess Star Colour Pens.
After the girls defeated the Trigger, Fuwa revived the Sagittarius Princess while the Blue Cat has already stolen all the items that Drasms won from the auction.
On their trip home, Hikaru wonders how this Blue Cat knew about them being PreCures, whilst Purunce just binge eats to drown his sorrows.
The girls left the planet with the Sagittarius pem while Prunce started to stuff himself with donuts after knowing Mao is the Blue Cat...
We are now introduced to this mysterious thief Blue Cat voiced by Sumire Uesaka (best known as Kana "Oni" Kojima in the current Spring show-Why are you here, Sensei and voiced several Russian characters like Anya from Idolmaster Cinderella Girls and Nonna from Girls und Panzer). Rumours has suspected that she will be the "Sixth Precure" to Team Star Twinkle as Cure Cosmos. Her appearance as the Blue Cat has also raised some questions since she already knows who Aiwan and the Precures are. So there could be more to her beside a common thief. Funny that last year we have Lupinranger vs Patranger and Toei could have done some collaboration but they missed the opportunity.
Purunce was pretty disappointed that his idol, Mao is the Blue Cat as he explained that Mao's songs gave him strength to move on while he was on the run with Fuwa before meeting Lala. I love how Madoka was able to win the bid with Drasms since she tagged along with her father in his auction bids and knows the tactics to win. (With the power of Star Donuts of course!)
If there is one thing I have with this episode is probably the reveal of Mao as the Blue Cat too soon. I will rather have some build up like a real Kaitou Thief as the girls tried to unravel who the Blue Cat is in upcoming episodes. But I am guessing they want the girls to have some early interactions with the Blue Cat (like how Team Hugtto interact with Lulu before she change sides) until her true intentions is revealed since she is also after the Star Princess Keys. Since Madoka was the first one to interact with the Blue Cat in this episode, the rest of the girls will probably get their chance soon.
This was a really fun episode of Star ☆ Twinkle. I’ve been waiting for the girl in the top hat to make her debut, particularly with her appearing in the opening credits. She’s only had a relatively brief appearance, but I can happily say that I like this Blue Cat a lot. My money is on her becoming the next Pretty Cure.
I’m going to guess that our Blue Cat is from the same planet as Lala. She has pointy ears, and is aware of PreCures' existence. The Blue Cat doesn’t have any obvious antenna like Lala does, but anything could be hiding under that top hat.
Now the Blue Cat’s appearance was great, but Madoka definitely deserves some kudos as well. She was able to win the bid for that Star Colour Pen thanks to some quick thinking. This episode also opened the door for a potential rivalry between Cure Selene and the Blue Cat. I don’t know if future episodes will follow up on that or not, but it’s fun to speculate. The girls all looked great in their dresses, too.
So, overall, a really great episode. I very much look forward to more inevitable Blue Cat encounters. Before that, though, Madoka has an archery competition in the next episode. Oui, we get two focus episodes for our ojousama in a row!!
This week we meet Mao, a popular idol by
day, and a daring thief by night. It was super obvious that she was the
thief from the get go, but damn did I enjoy this episode. The girls
don’t know how she knew about them being precures, but it was because of
that she deliberately made use of them for her theft. She figured they
would make a good distraction if she granted them access to an auction
where the Sagittarius Princess Pen was being sold off. But to my
surprise, she didn’t actually have a huge role this episode. Instead the
spotlight a actually more on Madoka, (and I am not even mad about it).
However despite her light appearance, she certainly left an impression
on me. Truth to be told, as soon as it was established she is a Space PopStar, I became weary of them potentially milking the music thing all
over again. Please don’t. I absolutely do not want to go through that again. (Although I have to admit, Mao’s song was really good, her voice too, but seriously don’t push it!!!!) But
other than that, she struck me as a really cool character. I absolutely
loved how her real personality clashed with Madoka’s. (Poor Prunce though, he was a fan, and she used them, so that really hurt him.)
And
while I would absolutely love to see Mao do her own thing with her own
power, it certainly feels like they are setting up to make her the next
precure. Depending on how they go about it, I suppose I won’t mind it
too much, but I am admittedly weary of them potentially milking the
whole idol persona thing all over again.Please don’t. (Though I have to admit, Mao’s song was really good, her voice too, but seriously don’t push it!!!!)
Then
we have the star of the episode: Madoka. I swear to Rh'llor, the more we
get to see her the more I love her. Right now, she is probably my
favourite character of the cast, so I was thrilled to see more of her. ?
She was absolutely fabulous this week. Having gone with her father to
various auctions, she knows how the game works, as well as the tricks
that help secure her prize, by intimidating her opponent into thinking
she more money than she actually has. But the highlight had to be the
incredibly shrewd and risky idea to make the daring claim of the donuts
Prunce had brought with them as an incredible valuable item, and propose
it as a trade to participate in the bidding war. She banked on its
incredible taste, and luckily for her, a food critic was smitten by its
flavour and turned it into an asset to bid with. I thought it was
tastefully done, enough to have me laughing and cheering for Madoka to
dupe everyone. What makes it even more incredible about her stunt, is
how the donuts are consumables, so once they are eaten, its gone!
I also love how Madoka kept her eye on
the main target. Sure Ayewon was there, but she trusted the girls could
handle her on their own while she went after the Blue Cat. I am already a
huge fan of the tension between them, and I am kind of hoping they will
turn into rivals of a sort. There’s something about their personalities
that really mesh together in an interesting way, so am I looking forward
to their confrontations in the future!
But there were a lot of things that also
raised questions about the circumstances going on in space at the
moment. For starters, today’s planet Moonlah is a lawless planet where
dirty money is constantly at play. A number of items showcased at the
auction were treasures of various fallen planets. But the one that stood
out the most was the necklace from Planet Rainbow. We learned the
reason why the planet had fallen was because its habitants all turned to
stone, but nobody knows the cause behind it. A part of me wonders if it
has any connection to the 'raiders, be it a victim of their invasion,
or perhaps a direct connection to some of the generals’ background (she is a catgirl, Bakenyan is a catboy... fiancés? siblings?).
This is also why I have a sneaking suspicious this may not be the last
time we hear about this kind of thing. On top of that, although Prunce
has disregarded the claim, the myth about how if one were to gather all
twelve pens, and they’ll grant any wish. This is definitely a big issue
about the pens. I imagine its probably true, or perhaps it might even
have another purpose, maybe simply making its holder incredibly
powerful.
Another interesting connection that was
pointed out today was between Mao (Blue Cat) and Ayewon. While Ayewon
doesn’t appear to know her (at least as the Blue Cat), it seems the two have
some sort of history pushed Mao into willingly returning the
Sagittarius’ Pen to Madoka, after having stolen it alongside the other
treasures she had taken from the auction’s vault.
Next week, another Madoka episode!
HURRAY— or at least to some extent. Whoever her rival is at the archery
competition might just end up stealing the spotlight, but we’ll see how
it plays out!
MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Planet Zenny -- Vegas in SpAace...:
Mao-chan the Czarina of Pop:
Madoka Kaguya's Prowess in Auctions: Should any of the previous ojousama (ladyship) Cures across continuities eat her heart out? I love how Madoka was able to win the bid with Drasms since she tagged along with her father in his auction bids and knows the tactics to win. (With the power of Star Donuts of course!) Fuyuki Kaguya is shrewd, as any gentleman in a position of power should be, and his girl is a quick learner. Prefect for Slytherin, definitely, in my Hogwarts AU.
The Reptilian Dandy:
The Mao Concert at the Auction:
How Purunce Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mao-chan:
Donuts as Currency: Lousy at economics as I am, ...
On the Pen Front: Now we have the Sagittarius Pen, which means we have all three fire signs (first elemental trifecta - oui!!) and we are halfway though the collection. It does improve Selene's markswomanship by empowering her arrowhead projectiles (btw, aside the common weapon of choice, there is very little Chiron has to do with the Moon).
Once we have talked about the powers, let us talk about the Fuwa form:
Centaurwa gets more legs, a crown of leaves, and the requisite Chiron bow and arrow...
And let us talk about the Sagittarius Star Princess, of course! Reminds me of Milky Rose, with lilac for a theme colour and that rose motif...
Madoka and the Blue Cat: Soluna vs Maoka, let the shipping war commence!! Or most surely why not stop the war if there has to be one? Like having poly relationships; Elena for a moirail and Mao/the Blue Cat for a kismesis (but the rival in next episode, her second focus episode in a row, may change the latter game)?
PS. Drao/Dradoka? Do you think any one of these two could have a straight disposable fiancé in the dragon boy?
IN NEXT EPISODE (16):
Next episode, it is another Madoka episode as she is competing in her archery competition but a rival of hers is determined to win her. Until then, see you in the next post!
Our resident Ladyship's markswomanship is put to the test against a mysterious hot-blooded rival, extraverted enough to serve as foil to Mademoiselle Sang-Froid...
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