IN WHICH LALA COMES MARCHING HOME

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Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 29
My Own Review
IN WHICH LALA COMES MARCHING HOME

It has been a bit of a bumpy ride, but PreCures finally arrive on Lala’s home planet of Samaan in episode twenty-nine of Star ☆ Twinkle. Lala doesn’t seem too thrilled to be back home, though.

Hikaru is fascinated by everything on Samaan

In this episode, PreCures finally arrive on Lala’s home planet. They discover how the planet runs in the most efficient way possible, as well as meeting Lala’s family (parents and fraternal twin Lolo). Lala is melancholic through the whole thing, and things take a turn when the KNotraiders show up to steal a Princess Star Colour Pen.

Lala tells about Samaan’s AIs

The first thing I want to focus on is how Samaan is run, because it sounds a lot like Psycho-Pass or 1984, of all things. An AI decides the job a person gets based on their traits and all that kind of stuff. No mention of crime coefficients, but the similarities are there.

Lala’s family

This episode also introduces Lala’s family: her dad Toto, her mum Kaka (No offense, that is literally her name!), and her twin brother Lolo. The three of them were all given high ranking jobs by Samaan’s MOTHER AI, unlike Lala. Lala has one the lowest ranking jobs. Parental favouritism anyone?
It becomes clear why Lala was so reluctant about the others meeting her family, and then she has to worry about whether or not she should tell them that she is a PreCure.

recreation dome

We get more sci-fi references in this episode, particularly with Samaan’s recreation dome. It is effectively the same thing as Star Trek‘s holodeck. This location also serves as a place for a heart-to-heart between two characters who haven’t really had all that much interaction so far.

Lala and Madoka

Madoka is able to pick up on Lala feeling rather melancholic, and decides to offer her some advice. I can’t recall if Lala and Madoka have had any meaningful interactions like this one before, so this is nice to see. It’s always good to see unity within a team.

The show definitely lingers on this shot of Tenjou's "female weapons" for longer than necessary

Tenjou

Serving as our villain for this week is Tenjou, who targets the Cancer Princess Star Colour Pen being researched by Samaan. She’s not the one getting her hands dirty, though – she has a victim do that for her.

Lala’s boss is transformed into a KNotraider

One transformation sequence later, and PreCures are doing their thing. Naturally, there is a particular focus on Cure Milkyway; this is her episode, after all.

Cure Milkyway

Cure Milkyway’s fight against the 'raider definitely has some Dragon Ball Z about it. Her pose, the powering up, even a beam struggle (à la Priori Incantatem) – definitely more than a few familiar elements in there.

Lala and company are declared wanted criminals

The end of this episode brings with it an interesting twist. I would have never expected Lala and the others to be accused of stealing the Cancer Princess Star Colour Pen, but that is exactly what happens. A familiar one-eyed face shows up, too.
This was a good episode. Of course the focus was always going to be on Lala when they got to Samaan, but I’m glad to see the interaction with Madoka.
Definitely got to give this episode props for that ending, as well. I wasn’t expecting things to go in that direction, but I am glad they have. I guess Yuni would be used to that kind of situation, but it will be interesting seeing how the others adjust.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing what is in store next time, particularly with Ayewan showing up to cause trouble – and not just for PreCures, but for all of Samaan, it appears.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:

WHAM. Lala and her fellow Precures declared PERSONA NON GRATA -- THAT was a twist ending worthy of a Game of Thrones eighth episode.