EN PATINANT SUR LA GLACE FRAGILE D'UN NOUVEAU JOUR

Hugtto! Pretty Cure - Episode 43
My Own Review
EN PATINANT SUR LA GLACE FRAGILE D'UN NOUVEAU JOUR

http://hallofanimefame.blogspot.com/2018/12/hugtto-precure-ep-43-top-3-moments-bye.html

The forty-third episode of Hugtto! is a Homarry one, so I’m just going to try to breeze through it as quickly as possible.

Papple guesses that Homare must be in love

Homare has her important ice skating competition coming up, but there is something on her mind that is preventing her from concentrating on it. Of course, the thing on her mind is Harry – she is in love with him, after all.

Saaya has a chat with Homare

With Homare’s feelings being a major distraction for her, Saaya decides that it is time that she had a talk with her en tête-à-tête. Then Harry shows up, and Saaya takes off.

Homare talks with her Mum

The competition draws nearer, and Homare has a couple more chats with people – more specifically, Henri, and her own mother. They pretty much tell her that they want to see Homare giving her best and will be supporting her.

Just before Homare has to perform her routine, the others set up an opportunity for her to talk with Harry. Homare confesses her feelings to him, and it goes about how she expected. 

Still, that proves to be a weight off her shoulders, though she does run into Hana’s arms and have a good cry about it.

Hana gives Homare a much-needed hug

Homare pulls off her routine flawlessly

With all said and done, Homare goes out on the ice, nailing her routine. Of course, that is thanks to the support of everyone watching her. And just as her routine ends, the place shakes.

Bishin’s Wild Theender de rigueur

This time it is Bishin who is leading the attack. Bishin tries to tell Étoile that things wouldn’t work with Harry, but of course Étoile knows this now. This is followed up by PreCures doing their usual thing.

Homare claims victory

This episode wraps up with Homare hugging her friends in celebration of receiving the gold medal.

Well, I never really cared for the Homarry stuff before as Twin Love overshadowed it, and this episode did nothing to change my mind about it. I am glad that that particular thread has been wrapped up, though – it means the last few episodes can focus on far more interesting things.

Here’s a shot of Lulu in pyjamas, just because (those ugggggggsssssessss...)

This episode did provide a few decent moments, though – Lulu in pyjamas was very nice. 

We also had Hana’s encounter with George – I’m quite keen to see how that will tie in with the inevitable Hana episode we’ll get before the finale. He stops her from transforming by grabbing her arm, and mentions how miracles appear wherever she goes. It seems that George’s visit was merely to shake Hana’s resolve once more.

Not really much else to say about this episode – it wrapped up something that I didn’t really care for. Going from the preview alone, I can already tell that I will like next week’s episode. It is one that focuses on Saaya, but more importantly, Lulu’s outfit – ah, let’s save that for next week.

We have reached the point of the series where all the characters are trying to reach the conclusions of their arcs… except, Homare and Saaya’s developments have been neglected for so long, we are finally seeing the results of the repercussions.

This week was about Homare finally getting the closure she needed with her unrequited feelings for Harry, and I loved the way the handled it. With the support of her friends, Homare found the courage to confess her feelings, and Harry in return, gave her the much deserved respect of being straight with her how he cannot return her feelings since he is in love with someone else. On top of that, as much as he wanted to comfort her, he knew better that it’s better if he shouldn’t. So props to Harry for the way he handled it.

And I am glad Homare can finally begin the healing process of moving on. I always loved how Homare’s character handled her crush, and the level of maturity of knowing to keep things that she knew she didn’t have the right to know a secret, and not letting jealousy take over. She handled her first love and heartbreak incredibly well, but it’s such a shame that I couldn’t find it in me to really care about it at all.

This is where the consequences of not being given enough time for the audience to really connect with her  becomes incredibly apparent. Sure, we have seen her deal with it along the way, but just wasn’t enough for me. As I watched this episode, it had me thinking back to Happiness Charge, because it’s one of the most vivid memories of mine when it comes to Precure dealing with unrequited love. In that series, I was completely invested and felt heartbroken for all the characters’ feelings. And I think one of the most important differences between the two is how the story dealt with it. Of course Love was a central theme in Happiness Charge, but not so much in Hugtto!, which is really a variety of things. But I still feel like they missed a huge opportunity in many occasions where we could have seen Homare talk about her feelings with other characters, or at the very least, it should have been with Saaya if they had to go with one. She was the only one who figured it out very early on, while the others only received confirmations of their suspicions when they spoke to Papple about it. And it frustrates me because this was yet another thing that really could have been something between the main trio.

While we are on the subject of Saaya, holy shit— it has not gone unnoticed to me for the past several episodes or so (excluding her own focused ones), Saaya’s character has virtually faded into the background, and it really ticks me off. Next week, she will finally be getting her episode, but again, I am in a situation where they have neglected her so much, that her’s (and Homare’s) development feels incredibly shallow. There’s hardly any depth to their characters, and worst off, Saaya has absolutely been the one who had it the worst of them all. I don’t know what direction Saaya will choose, odds are she has a good chance of leaning in the direction of going into the medical field because it really piped her interest, but we’ll see…

And lastly, for the love of Rh'llor, Hana needs an Anti-George spray or something. He’s has gone all sorts of creepy and I really don’t like how he pops up to see Hana and how he’s interested in her and all that, ugh, I don’t know about you, but it actually made me shudder. Worst off, was it just me (and I have had my own suspicions of this since episode 23), or does Hana have a small crush on George? Anyhow, shit is bound to hit the fan sooner or later, maybe Episode 45? I actually can’t believe we are almost at the end, I’m surprised at myself for making it this far…

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
The concerns of Twin Love on Homarry:
Aunt Papple's Relationship Advice:
What Henri has to Say about This:
Mrs. Kagayaki's Advice to her Only Daughter:
Homare said it's Suki, ie Philia:
Tomorry, Homarry, and those Heartfelt Confessions:
PS. Georgieshin and now Rishin? How Come All those Higher-Ups are Sweet on the Blond Boy?




In Episode 44, Saaya, Reira, and Ranze get to star in... a bland-named version of Game of Thrones? At least it looks the part of realistic medieval Western fantasy without much supernatural, doesn't it?

ET TU, HARRY? THEN FALL, RISTLE!

Hugtto! Pretty Cure - Episode 39
My Own Review
ET TU, HARRY? THEN FALL, RISTLE!

Hugtto! returns after taking a break last week. In this 39th episode, PreCures find themselves ending up in Harry’s home.

Dancing Hugtan

This episode starts of pleasantly enough, with the girls enjoying Hugtan dancing. Emiru and Lulu have also prepared some pancakes... but then there is an anomaly.

One moment, everyone is in Harry’s shop.

Even in the middle of an anomaly, its nice to see Emilu 

Then the anomaly happens, and they all find themselves in Harry’s hometown, the Harihari Township. 

They meet the Harihari Clan (don’t call them rats or rodents, or else...), but that is soon interrupted by the arrival of Ristle. The PreCures are sent elsewhere, leaving Ristle alone with Harry and Hugtan.

 the others are sent to the Infinite Labyrinth

The girls were relaxing at Harry's shop when they were all transported to a familiar place-Harry's home village in the future where many of Harry's Harihari friends welcome them. However something was not right and true enough it was Ristle who brought them here. He send all the girls into one of Dr Trauma's traps into another dimension leaving Harry and Hug-tan. Ristle was full of contempt over Harry and the two fought each other. Hug-tan used the Tambourine she was carrying to send a signal to the girls and they managed to escape Dr Trauma's dimensional trap. 

Our OTP Twin Love-Emilu chasing each other around an infinity loop...

With PreCures out of the way for now, Ristle tells Harry to stop defying the will of Criasu. He believes that resisting overwhelming power is ultimately meaningless. He is after the White Crystal.


Harry and Ristle fight in both harihari and human forms

Harry and Ristle fight, but Ristle is able to get the upper hand. He binds Harry, but Hugtan is able to call out to PreCures which allows them to escape the Infinite Labyrinth. 

With PreCures arrived, Ristle shows them the future of Hugkumi – their Tokyo borough (whose name was unknown up to ths date) is barren, having been frozen in time.

Risutol summons a Wild Theender, which is powered up by the abundance of toge-power. Thus, the others have a hard time fighting it. Whilst they are doing that, Ristle attempts to break Harry. 

the truth between Harry and Ristle...

During the battle, Ristle blamed Harry for betraying their friendship and made him recall a terrible incident. Their fellow Hariharis including Bishin were suddenly struck by a strange disease which Ristle suggested to get Crisis to help them. Harry agreed and did Crisis's bidding.

However the rest of the hariharis were killed in a fire that overran their village (which no one knew who did it) and Dr Trauma claimed this is how the future should be which trigger Harry's trauma. Ristle blamed Harry for everything and it was useless to try to change the future.

It seems some kind of disease swept through Harry’s hometown in the past – Criasu were the ones to offer to help

Harry is reminded of his past, and how he, Ristle, and Bishin lost their hometown. If it was possible to resist such overwhelming power, their home would still exist – or that’s how Ristle puts it, anyway.

When it seems that Harry is about to give in to despair, he is joined by the others, and Harry snaps out of it. With his support, they defeat the wild theender...
The monster of the week may be defeated, but Ristle doesn’t retreat. Instead, he takes Harry and Hugtan captive. 

The Cures fought Ristle after he took Harry and Hug-tan hostage.

Of course the Cures encouraged Harry not to give up as all of them have gone through setbacks and overcome all odds to create miracles.

This episode is probably one of the darkest episodes after all the team-up we had weeks ago since we are at the final quarter of the season. Harry blamed himself for the death of his fellow hariharis although I looked that Ristle was the one who suggested to get help from Crisis. So Ristle is also to be blamed but then he is blinded by Harry's betrayal since he choose the side of good with the mysterious Precure leader that is his Lost Lenore... 

Speaking of that Precure... it is probably no-brainer that Hug-tan's true identity is the mysterious blond Precure that appeared in front of them during their new Finishing Move. But what caused her to revert into a toddler, and how is she connected to the lady in yellow which we now know as "Mother." What is her connection to all these? 

The new power or Finishing Move-Minna de Tomorrow is a more flashier version of their Cheerful Style with wings and I was expecting "Mother" to give a big hug to Ristle like in the opening credits as a finisher. 

Ristle tells that the future the heroes are aiming for doesn’t exist, but they insists on fighting for it anyway; wanting a future where Hugtan can grow up. Hugtan loves (daisuki) the future, and those words are the catalyst for activating the White Crystal.

Hug-tan's feelings awaken the White Crystal and out came the lady in yellow appeared which Ristle referred to her as "Mother"...


The White Crystal brings forth what appears to be the same being that made both Emiru and Lulu into PreCures back in episode 20. Ristle calls her ‘Mother’, and she seems to bestow a new power upon PreCures.

The girls then added the White Crystal in the Future Clock, which granted them wings and the new Finishing Move-Minna de Tomorrow. It hit Ristle and somehow he felt a sense of regret over the things he has done. 

Together Into Tomorrow

Ristle is blasted with the attack. After they use it, someone appears in front of them and asks the Cures to save the future.

Presumably Hugtan’s older self

Ristle returns to Criasu, where he reports to George about the White Crystal turning into the Mother Heart. He also tells George that he detests him.

Did anyone notice that George is trolling with Ristle at the beginning and the end of the episode? Ristle gave George a blanket before leaving to deal with the girls and he swore his loyalty to George but after the battle, Ristle immediately curses George for ruining his life which George took it calmly and gave the blanket back to him. It's like George knew that this is going to happen and with the last Crystal appearing, it is now a matter of time before George makes his move again on the girls!

PreCures, Hugtan, and Harry return to Harry’s shop, where Harry has something that he wants to tell everyone. However, he is interrupted by an unexpected arrival.

Doctor Trauma shows up out of nowhere

Trauma has come to see his daughter, Lulu. She is not so eager about the situation. We’ll have to wait until the next episode to see what will happen, though, as this is where this one ends.

Before Harry could tell the girls what is going on, Dr Trauma appeared in front of them. (I am surprised he is still alive after being vaporised by the powers of every Cures and Cameos two episodes ago) He told Lulu that he is her father, to which Lulu reacted by knocking him down. 

Literally- to the ground!

As the next episode preview will reveal Dr Trauma's secret about Lulu... but will she accept him after what he has done to them before? Until then, see you in the next post!






MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Whoa whoa whoa whoa - at least we get some exposition for the backstory of Harry's Species, ie the Harihari Clan (official name, oui!), in general and Ristle and Bishin in particular... and the canonical confirmation of our theory that Harry's nakamatachi ARE the Criasu/Cryasse cadres...

This was a fantastic episode of Hugtto!, and well worth the break we had to endure. Harry’s past is very dark – presumably those of the Harihari Clan that Criasu didn’t help died off. If not by the disease that they seemed to be suffering, then definitely in that fire…
Or maybe I’m wrong and they are just hiding. I don’t know.
My respect for Harry has gone up a bit. After all, not many mascot characters are capable of holding their own in a fight, besides those who end up becoming PreCures later.

Than there’s the matter of the Mother Heart. Presumably there is some connection with Hugtan, and I am curious as to why Ristle called that golden deity thing mother. Is she a deity? She clearly has some kind of power.

A truly excellent episode of Hugtto!. With the next one focusing on Lulu and her single father, I am very much looking forward to seeing it.

This marks George’s first appearance since the crossover episode, and boy did it leave me feeling confused. It is terribly unfortunate how they didn’t just create a special villain that wasn’t tied to Criasu for the special. By dragging Criasu, like Dr. Trauma and George into this mess, it created this inconsistency where we have one guy, Dr. Trauma was ‘cleansed’, and George was shown to have been affected as well (to some extent, considering he “acknowledged” their time cannot be stopped). I had to remind myself to pretend that special didn’t happen. Anyhow, what the episode did do however, was solidify George’s position the dominant villain. We saw this play out with how the White Crystal evolved into “the Mother Heart”.

But aside from that, we were treated with some great story content in this episode!

Harry’s, Bishin’s and Ristle’s past about their home-village really surprised me. I never expected them to take it as far as they did, considering the trio’s past was nothing short of a tragedy. The three joined because their Harihari Clan (and Bishin) were sick from something, and I guess you could say they were all dying of the same illness (because it sure looked like it). Criasu promised to help them by providing them a cure which would give them the ability to turn into humans. However regardless of doing everything Criasu had asked them to do, eventually their village fell into ruins. The weird part about this however, was according to Dr. Trauma, their little hometown falling into ruins was just part of their future. Criasu didn’t have to or do anything to instigate it, but even so, I am still taking this with a grain of salt. This is why Ristle hates ‘tomorrows’, because all he sees waiting at the end of the day is more and more despair, and he wants nothing of the sorts. Stopping time is a way of preventing that.

Ristle also tried to persuade Harry to join Criasu once more because according to him, the grim future of the girls’ hometown being robbed of its future was already set in stone. And it is important to note, how Ristle is projecting his own insecurities onto others. He believes if he shows the others how their efforts are futile, as they are “fated” to lose to Criasu. This is because  Ristle had long given up on the future altogether. He feels powerless against tomorrow, and he doesn’t want to deal with it. However for the others, despite the grim projection, they still want to fight for the future because there are still things they want to do and accomplish. They haven’t given up because they still feel the little things they want to enjoy in life are worth fighting for, and one of them are seeing Hugtan grow up. In that aspect, I feel the point they were trying to convey was: No matter what’s in store for our futures, both the highs and the lows, try to embrace tomorrow instead of being afraid of it. We have a choice, of either allowing despair to consume our lives, or let that go and focus on the good things to come or what we’re working towards.

The fight scene between against Ristle was really cool to watch. It is a real shame that we didn’t actually get to see Ristle fight until now. I love the overall design and weapon choices they used for him. He really does make a cool villain, especially in combat.