ENCANTO - Dermark spoof cast

 ENCANTO - Dermark spoof cast; which anime characters I would pick to play the roles in a spoof or in AMVs. This will be a crossover of course! Updated! This is the latest and most definitive Cast List...

Cast in chronological order:

Sango as Young Alma Madrigal (symbolised by Wurmple/Silcoon/Beautifly)

Miroku as Pedro Madrigal (symbolised by Caterpie/Metapod/Butterfree)

Fire Nation Military as Revolutionaries

Shino Kotozume as Abuela Alma Madrigal 

Lady Une as Pepa Madrigal

Treize Khushrenada as Félix Madrigal

Byron Arclight/Vetrix (post disappearance) as Bruno Madrigal

Alolan Rattatas as Bruno's Rats

Dextra as Julieta Madrigal

Nistro as Agustín Madrigal

Yui Nanase as Dolores Madrigal

Duo Maxwell as Camilo Madrigal

Max from Pokémon Gen 3 as Antonio Madrigal (all jungle fauna will be done as fitting Pokémon: Raikou as Jaguar, Toucannon as Toucan, Bidoof as Capybara...)

Yukari Kotozume as Isabela Madrigal (all her plants will be done as grass-type Pokémon: Cacnea as Cactus, Roselia and Roserade as Roses, Lilligant as Flor de Mayo, Alolan Exeggutor as Palma de Cera...)

Akira Kenjo as Luisa Madrigal (Cerberus from Disney's Hercules as Himself, Avalugg as Iceberg)

Princess Towa Hope Daylight as Mirabel Madrigal

Prince Nata of Confeito as Mariano Guzmán

Stella Amanogawa as Señora Guzmán

Purin Huang/Huang Bu-Ling and All Her 5 Siblings (Tokyo Mew Mew New) as the Caffeine-Hyperactive Village Children

Jaken as the Bald Village Priest

Misty as the Fish Owner (Magikarp as Pet Fish)

Junpei "J.P." as the Gut Guy

THREE LI'L KITTIES AND A KAPPA GENOCIDE

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 37
My Own Review
THREE LI'L KITTIES AND A KAPPA GENOCIDE

We are now wrapping up the month of October, and that means it is almost time for Halloween – so of course, episode thirty-seven of Star ☆ Twinkle is the de rigueur Samhain (pronounced saawin) episode.

Lala looking forward to the dress up contest

In this episode, Lala gets hold of a leaflet from Mihoshi High Street with information about a dress up contest for Halloween. Her whole class decides to enter the competition. They aren’t the only ones, as some familiar faces join the fun, including Kappard. Not that Kappard intended to get involved…

Hikaru, Lala, Sakurako Himenojou and some other characters, dressed up for the contest

As you can imagine, there are plenty of costumes to be seen in this episode. Hikaru’s class goes for a cryptid theme. And Sakurako as Mothwoman (FRICKING MOTHWOMAN) completely steals the spotlight...

Una familia muy floral

Elena, Madoka, and Yuni are Las Tres Gatas

Apparently Elena gets to wear two different costumes, but I’m fine with that. Amusingly, Yuni simply opts to use her true form; going as herself literally. Kind of a shame when she is (almost) a master of disguise. I like the sun and moon pendants on Elena and Madoka’s respective kitty collars; it’s a neat little touch. Yuni has a galaxy pendant because she's Cosmos.

Kappard proves to be surprisingly popular

Kappard gets to do a bit more than the usual antagonist role in this episode, starting with taking selfie photos with all the people dressed up (like these two sexy pumpkinettes). Naturally, they think he is in a kappa costume as well, and we also get some glimpses into Kappard’s past.

Kappard attacks

Of course, Kappard is still a villain, so when the others come across them a fight ensues. Thing is, PreCures need to do something to prevent Earthlings learning about the aliens in their midst. Fortunately, Hikaru has an idea.

Mihoshi Stars

The encounter with Kappard turns into a hero show, at least until they can move the fight away from civilians. We get a full on sentai-esque sequence with the Mihoshi Stars’ introductions and everything. It is some pretty amusing stuff.

A flashback featuring a young Kappard

We get a Kappard-focused flashback, showing us how he lost his planet and all of his kin to an invasion from another world. The Kappa Planet was drained dry of freshwater by the enemy, and everyone was dying of thirst, until only one kappa boy remained alive to tell the tale (guess who?) It also gives the audience an idea of why he firmly believes people from different planets are unable to get along. Of course, Cure Milkyway doesn’t believe that; her bond with her friends (or rather companions, ie nakama), some Earthlings and a Rainbowian, totally contradicts Kappard’s views.

This is actually a group photograph, but we’re focusing on the important characters here

The episode wraps up in the usual manner. It was quite a good one, and I did like learning a little more about Kappard’s past. I do wonder who was in charge of the forces that drained Kappard’s home planet of water; was it Darknest, or some other evil force?
I could totally see Kappard turning on Darknest in the future, perhaps aiding the Cures when they inevitably come to fight him.
Lala got a fair bit of focus in this episode, but ultimately, I’d say that this was very much Kappard’s episode. It’s nice to get to know our villains a little more.

Next time, looks like the plot gets back on track with an episode that focuses on Yuni as the search for Twinkle Imagination resumes once more. Ayewan will be back, too.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
(Cue The Final Solution by Sabaton)
Oui, the Great and Powerful Kappard is the sole survivor of a genocide. And he was underage when said catastrophe occurred. THE FEELS. Knowing the trauma that lies beneath.

...et l'on pourra boire les rayons du soleil

DEATH TO THAT RACE OF EMETIC LIQUID, BORN OUT OF THE POND SCUM, WHO DURING THE ICY-GREEN SEASON SEND OUT THEIR WICKED SPELL AGAINST OUR ELDERS AND OUR CHILDREN!

LET US PURGE THIS WORLD OF FROSTKIN FREAKS, OF THIS FILTHY RACE THAT NEVER HAS DESERVED TO LIVE...

Death to the frostkin! DEATH to the FROSTKIN!!

Propaganda Rally at the start of a flamekin military campaign

So the plot of StrixAlluka's latest AU/crossover is inspired by the Neo-Romantic 1980s aesthetic, the Spandau Ballet song "Through the Barricades" and by this Franime (French animesque) film called Les enfants de la pluie / The Rain Children by Philippe Leclerc and a Franime Moby Dick series episode "Le gouffre aux chimères / The Chasm of Confusion" (ep 29) and some episodes of fellow Franime series Le Petit Prince 2010 (the third of my main inspirations: mainly the planets of Coppelius, Ludokaa, Wish-Trees, Music+Flowers, Ashkabaar), but with some Potterverse and ASoIaF, Waterfire Saga and A:tLA and Lakmé elements, as well as some Stevonnie/Salmacis genderqueer fusion stuff. Basically fuse the best of all these worlds and the plot of the first-mentioned Franime sources together, then add inspiration from the swashbuckling genre and from Victorian middle-grade literature with counterpart cultures of France and Prussia and the obvious ensuing conflict counterparts (Laboulaye's Gobemouches vs. Coqsigrues, or Maurois' Patapoufs vs. Filifers). Now add the cast of Les Mis (and a few cameos from other Victorian fiction and gaslamp fantasies), set the timer for a Shakespearean five-act structure... and what comes out of this?
Ever since the old gods (some whimsical child-gods who finally came of age as soon as the sapient species they had created developed beyond their control) left these two humanoid races to their fate, a militaristic steampunk fire nation (no, not that militaristic steampunk Fire Nation but more westernised and still pretty close) that worship light in spite of their clouded skies persecute their helpless, aesthetically inclined ice counterpart of a more twilit realm under colour-changing polar lights (think Ondalina sans militarism, fused with Ludia and with something of the Water Tribes), and devastate the dark "enemy" lands, thinking that the cold and the excess of liquid and plant life in their realm will quench their internal source of life. For the frostkin, heavy rain or snow and darkness mean breath, while intense heat and light mean death; whereas, for the flamekin, intense heat and light mean breath, while heavy rain or snow and darkness mean death. Two elemental races, both alike in dignity, lead pleasant lives (more austere for one, more self-indulgent for the other), during a decade of respite provided by armed peace... everyone still more or less unaware that their respective worlds are about to collide and fall apart at the seams.

On one side of the frontline, three cadets, orphaned by execution ever since their parents discovered some dark secrets about the government, knit close bonds with one another and with the firstborn daughter of their drill instructor and the cook-lady at the military academy (for of course the Thénardiers had to be there). Within a few years, all four of these siblings-in-arms graduate - Éponine Thénardier as a sergeant like her dad (she thinks it's unfair), the inquisitive Combeferre and the irreverent Courfeyrac as lieutenants like the rest of the class, and class ace Enjolras as the youngest colonel EVER in the history of their military (also attracting the envy of Théodule Gillenormand, the Draco-Malfoy-flavoured jerk jock du jour, who got to graduate as a lieutenant as well). Shortly after, all four of them (and the homeschooled civilian servant Marius Pontmercy, a translator from an industrialist family on his mum's side, whose renowned military father went missing in action) are sent as the leaders of a forlorn hope on a suicide mission across enemy lines. They are all eager to prove themselves to the establishment that persecuted their elders, but little do they know the government's real intentions.

Across enemy lines, the gentle Cosette and the unusually cynical Grantaire, both orphans, are raised as siblings by a polar bear of a gentleman, ever since the war tore their families and their childhoods apart. For as long as they can remember, their gruff yet loving gruncle figure M. Fauchelevent has never told them of his past or his real name. Other artistic and peaceful underage-young people, like the reserved gardener-poet Jehan Prouvaire or the dollmaker Feuilly, come to live at the idyllic improvised orphanage for similar reasons and, as they all learn and play throughout their daily routines, most of them dream of a future where their descendants will live in peace with the Others for more than two decades straight (ie, forever and ever). Alas, the light-shy frostkin and the light-adoring flamekin seem to be, though the ostensibly calm armed peace, doomed to confront one another in a conflict as old as day... and that it will soon awaken, earlier than they could ever expect, from ancient grudge to new enmity, then close in on their unprotected home, shattering their unity and scattering them throughout the realm.

During that fateful raid, paths cross, destinies entwine, skins and hearts burn, convictions are put to the test, and truths revealed, as flamekin take to arms and frostkin struggle with the dilemma of whether they should fight for the first time in forever or attempt to parley with a stubborn enemy, while a resistance movement brews in the twilight of light and darkness and its ranks increase, tying all walks of life of both ice and fire together...

Only impossible love will someday overcome the Great Sundering.

Then, the One shall at last recover their Unity -

- the cosmic order shall be restored -

- and all people shall drink the light of the sun...

IN WHICH A CASTAWAY HAS DOUBTS ABOUT HERSELF

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 2
My Own Review
IN WHICH A CASTAWAY HAS DOUBTS ABOUT HERSELF

The second episode of Star ☆ Twinkle naturally introduces the second member of this new PreCure team. That means it is Lala’s turn to be in the spotlight, and I have been looking forward to this. Let’s see if this episode lives up to my expectations.

Lala is super cute

This episode begins with Lala attempting to make repairs on her starship, but it has suffered a lot of damage. Meanwhile, Hikaru wants to know exactly what PreCures are supposed to be. Purunce explains that they are legendary warriors of prophecy who will restore the light of the stars when they fade.

I’ll say this now: I really like Lala

As Lala continues to attempt to repair her shuttle, Purunce decides that he should look after the Twinkle Book. Hikaru disagrees; it was her treasure before it transformed, after all. She persuades Purunce that it is best kept in the hands of a PreCure.

Why are these two girls so heavy? (Purunce winces)

You do realise that Prunce has very "long tentacles." The things he could do with his tentacles... hehe!

After finding out that her spaceship needed time to repair, Hikaru invited Lala, Fuwa, and Prunce to her home. Although reluctant to go, they went ahead even though Lala explained that aliens are not suppose to make contact with earthlings as ordered by the Universal Enforcement Organisation. (Not sure the actual name)

Lala and Purunce are not allowed to be spotted by Earthlings

For the time being, Hikaru decides to take Lala, Fuwa, and Purunce to her home. There’s a catch, though: if they are spotted by Earthlings, they will be banned from space travel. Hikaru has dinner with her family, during which time Lala decides to go back to her wreck for the night.

Hehehe Grandad is such a curmudgeon - and Purunce is trying so hard to tie Lala to the ceiling so Mr. Hoshino does not see either of them... XD

However Lala and Prunce entered Hikaru's room through the windows and she was amazed by the space-related things by Hikaru, especially the library. Hikaru explained that it all belonged to her father and she took over his things. Hikaru's Grandpa entered the room to tell Hikaru that supper is ready, he was kind of pissed after seeing her father's items on the table.
(There must be some Hoshino family mystery here... right?)

Luckily he's soon gone...

 Out of curiosity, Lala asks her on-board AI the chances of her becoming a PreCure. It sits at 0.000000012%. Coincidentally, Hikaru’s chance of becoming a PreCure was exactly the same.

A snowball's chance in purgatory.

Lala returned back to her quarters and asked the ship's AI computer on the possibility of Hikaru and herself becoming Precures and the numbers was less than 1 percent. Hikaru arrived with a basket of onigiri but Lala showed her that she can survive with Cosmic Gummies. 

Hikaru took one survival gummy and was loving it.

Hikaru shows up, and she brings along some rice balls to share with Lala. Lala insists that her Cosmo Gummies are fine for her, but Hikaru is able to convince her to try the rice balls. Lala is pleasantly surprised.

Lala also took a bite of the onigiri and claimed it is delicious too. Hikaru took off and promise to look after Fuwa and Prunce at home.

Hikaru shares some rice balls with Lala

We also learn that Lala is 13 years old in Earth years, though considered an adult on her planet. Hikaru has to cut her meeting with Lala short, as she’ll end up in trouble if she stays out too late.

At the same time, Kappard has arrived on Earth and, after a healing dip in the nearest lake, is talking to his female comrade through a communicator...

There is still an ikemen kappa outlying around; he took a dip in the nearby lake to fill his cranial indentation and recover from injuries received in action...

 This is how we greet Lala by touching her balls!
PS. They're actually her electric sensor organs, like those of electric fish. Chekhov's gun loaded and planted onstage!

Four of the twelve Star Princesses (L-R: Capricorn, Libra, Taurus, Leo)

The following day, Purunce tells team newbie Hikaru about the Starsky World, where the Star Princesses live in the Star Palace. They are the protectors of the galaxy.

The next day, Prunce explained that he and Fuwa came from the Star Palace which is ruled by the Twelve Star Princesses however the Knot Raiders invaded the heart-shaped planet and both Prunce and Fuwa were sent away in order to keep them safe. 

However, the Knotraiders invaded to claim their power as their own, so the Star Princesses used the last of their power to send Fuwa and Purunce away to seek out PreCures. They ended up scattered across space, which is why Lala is so keen to fix her starship and take off once more.

The Star Princesses then used their power to stop the Knot Raiders however in the process, they lost their powers and were scattered throughout the universe. Lala was investigating the strange readings nearby and saved Prunce and Fuwa.

 Hikaru reacts in her usual way (ie fangirling) to hearing all this, which makes Lala feel that she isn’t taking her duty as a PreCure seriously.

Also, if you haven't noticed, Lala has pointy elven ears (aside from antennae and star-shaped pupils) as proof of her unearthliness.

Hikaru tells Lala that she can become a PreCure

After a close encounter with Mr. Ryou, (which oddly enough, he doesn't seem surprised to see Lala in her getup) Hikaru asked Lala if she wanted to become a Precure in which Lala replied it is impossible based on the ship AI calculations. However Hikaru claimed sometime you got to trust your feelings and instinct and not rely too much on technology.

Lala takes a break from her repairs, and ends up meeting Ryotaro – the Santa-like old gentleman from the observatory. Hikaru shows up, and says that she is just a friend (nakama?) and totally not an alien. After Ryo departs, Hikaru asks Lala if she wants to become a PreCure. As far as Lala knows, the data says that she can’t. Hikaru believes otherwise, though.

Kappard shows up at this point, still determined to capture Fuwa.

 Kappard ambushed the girls and Hikaru transformed to Cure Star and hold off the minions. Kappard cornered Lala and Fuwa and Cure Star told Lala to believe her feelings if she wants to become a Precure.

Wow, that sword-stopping move...

Cure Star protects Lala from Kappard’s attack

 Hikaru transforms, but finds it difficult to protect Lala and Fuwa from both Kappard and his soldiers. Cure Star tells Lala to transform, and through her desire to protect Fuwa with her own strength, that is exactly what Lala does.

Nom

Lala then confessed to Fuwa that she wanted to protect her and Lala was granted her oqn Star Colour Pen and Pendant.

YAAAAY, Lala got her own pen and inkwell pendant!

The Milky Way Galaxy unfolding in the heavens, Cure Milkyway

Lala transforms into Cure Milkyway. Of course, Kappard sends the mooks after her immediately. However, she is able to defend herself this time around.

Anyone else up for deep-fried mooks?

Cure Milkyway uses electrical attacks (from her antennae)

Cure Milkyway is impressed at her own power, whereas Kappard says that miracles don’t happen twice. Milkyway agrees, though. Hikaru transforming into Cure Star was her miracle; this time it was Lala’s miracle that saw her transform into Cure Milkyway.

Lala transformed to Cure Milkyway and easily took down the mooks and even used her special attack-Precure Milky Shock to force Kappard to retreat.

Kappard attacks, but Cure Milkyway unleashes her special counter-attack, the PreCure Milky Shock.

 After being electrocuted, Kappard retreats. 

That burn on his right arm? Only a flesh wound.

Hikaru’s Star Colour Pendant begins to glow

Lala says that she thought she could become a PreCure because she saw Hikaru do it, which seems to make Hikaru happy. Then the Star Colour Pendants begin to glow, and their compass needles point at the sign of Taurus; but we’ll need to wait until the next episode to see what all that is about.

With both girls becoming Precures, pendants start to glow, pointing to somewhere in a Taurean direction... (So the pendant is not only an inkwell and a transformation trinket, but also an orientation compass!)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH LALA IS SO FREAKING CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I adore her so much.
WHO AM I KIDDING, THIS WHOLE EPISODE WAS SO FLUFFY I LOVE IT!

I really enjoyed this episode. It wasn’t as crazy as the premiere, but I thought it found just the right balance. We were able to learn a lot about both girls and Fuwa’s background and quest to save the twelve zodiac princesses.

It starts off with, somewhere far away from Earth, there is a place known as the Starsky World. There in the Star Palace, resides the Twelve Zodiac Princesses, who posses the power to protect Space. But it is because of that they are attacked by Knotraiders who wish to use their power so they could take over the universe. While the twelve princesses were able to drive the Knotraiders away, and they wounded up scattered and lost in space, and the Starsky World fell into darkness again. In order to stop the disaster from occurring on her planet, Lala embarked on a quest. She ended up saving Prunce and Fuwa when they were being pursued.

First of all, let me just gush about the villains. I am super pleased to see the Knot-raiders Generals directly attack the precure with their mooks, as opposed to possessing people to produce minions to wreck havoc. Maybe this will change down the line varying on the generals themselves, but I for one am absolutely embracing this change of pace. I am loving how the girls are forced to face the enemy head on, and how at least Kappard, doesn’t lay around and do observe from the sidelines while his minions does the work. After the pathetic showing of the villains in the last series, proactive villains are exactly what we need. (Side Note: Did anyone laugh really hard when Kappard said: “electricity is effective against a drenched body”. I mean, it’s true, AHAHA! Also the dude is going to be witnessing at least two more miracles.)

Another little detail I loved was how instead of having Hikaru barge into her home like, “HEY MUM, I MADE A NEW FRIEND SHE’S CRASHING HERE FOR A BIT OKAY?”, they actually snuck into her room, and Lala and Prunce have to be concerned about the space law of keeping their identities as aliens as secret from Earthlings. Although she ended up going back to the rocket that night, it was still really cute to see them sneak in. We also discovered that Lala can’t communicate with other earthlings besides Hikaru, which shows us how Fuwa’s power didn’t extend to enabling her to understand what everyone besides Hikaru is saying. I suspect this will change in due time for the sake of convenience, but it would be a curious thing if they actually choose not to.

We learned that Hikaru’s room used to be her dad’s study. It seems he may played a part in her love for astronomy, as he had a huge collection of books about outer space, which she has more or less inherited. I look forward to the day we get to learn more about how Hikaru became so passionate about space.

It looks like Fuwa is about to eat her LOLOLOLOLOL!

Another thing  that was further established this week was this series’ theme: You can imagine whatever you want to be, your experiences are your own, and don’t give up before you try. A what better character to deliver the message than Hikaru, who is fearlessly exploring all sorts of new things— even though it can be a bit on the risky side at times. Lala was able to learn a lot of this from Hikaru in this weeks’ episode, by trying out foreign food and strengthening her convictions of wanting to become a Precure so she can protect Fuwa too.

In fact this makes me wonder if Precure as a franchise is looking to shift away from the idea of the girls fatefully being “chosen” as the legendary Precure warriors. Hugtto Precure played a huge part of stepping away from that by revealing anyone with a strong heart can become one, regardless of your age or gender. With Lala outright asking Fuwa to grant her power so she can become a Precure to enable her to fight, I am curious to see if this pattern will continue from here on out— needless to say, this is an extremely early speculation, as we are only two episodes in.

As for Cure Milkyway’s debut, I love her design! And I think it goes without saying how her transformation sequence is significantly better than Cure Star’s because there at least more going on than just plainly drawing squiggly lines. I appreciated the more expressive delivery because I felt it reflected her character’s personality better. I am also a huge fan of her power being electricity! Look at her shocking those mooks!

On the flipside, as expected Cure Milkyway features the same the song during her transformation as well, making it an easy way for them to compliment the group transformation now. I have a feeling we might just hear all of them sing at the same time when that happens, or maybe they will break up the lines in between them. I think the former would make it less complicated though. Either way, even after sitting through it for the second time, I don’t think it’s going to grow on me. I really don’t like the addition. It feels terribly forced and out of place. Also, is it just me, or does the melody also feel incomplete?

And last thing: while we are on the subject on songs, I can’t believe I neglected to mention this last week: But I am absolutely obsessed with the opening and ending songs. They are both super charming in their own way!

So, did Cure Milkyway’s debut live up to my expectations? Yes, it absolutely did. I already like Lala a lot, and she just got even better in this episode.
I also like that we get a blue Cure that uses electricity – typically they tend to favour water or ice attacks. Definitely got to give Cure Milkyway some credit for that.
As for Cure Milkyway’s design – well, she bares a strong resemblance to Mio Minato from Aikatsu Friends!. I like it, though.
Lala’s extremely cute, too. There’s a moment during her transformation sequence where she puffs her cheeks up – when her hair is changing – that is just adorable. She does a similar thing when unleashing her Milky Shock as well.


Finally, I want to draw your attention to this:

 These pictures come from an advert for Star ☆ Twinkle gummy sweets, and I’d like to think that they are a hint of things to come for Cure Star and Cure Milkyway.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Keeping on hoping that Hikaru is a book-smart pink Cure: Still keeping my fingers crossed for that fact to be true. (I seriously hope we do NOT get another book-dunce geek like Miyuki-Emily in Smile!, who knew everything about fairytales and nothing about other things taught at class, but instead Hikaru as the third book-smart pink Cure ever, after Cure Blossom-Tsubomi and Cure Heart-Mana-Maya!!!).
Backstory - on the takeover of the Star Palace by Knot Raiders: I HAD TO WITHSTAND THE URGE TO MAKE A FIRE NATION REFERENCE THIS TIME. AND YES, IT WAS QUITE THE STRUGGLE.
Once more a mook fight: It seems that Kappard's specialty is commanding mooks.
Mr. Hoshino's mystery: Still Sir Not-Appearing-So-Far, but we now know that Hikaru's bedroom and library were inherited from her estranged father. As well as her passion for astronomy.
Cure Milkyway transformation sequence:
Lala's sensors:
The constraints on Lala's interpreting spell:
The cliffhanger coda with the Taurus clue:
This episode was pretty interesting as we get some back stories on Lala, Prunce, and the world building for this series. Look like there is some kinda of Space Enforcement organisation that maintain order in the universe. (Kinda like the Galaxy Police from Space Sheriff or the Galactic Patrol from Dragonball Super) It will be fun if Toei will do a crossover between Star Twinkle and either one of these series to expand the universe.

I am also wondering if Hikaru's father is still alive or probably overseas... maybe overspace? Perhaps her father might play a part in the future and looking at Hikaru's Grandpa disgusted look on his face in Hikaru's room, something must have happened between them.

We also get to know that Lala's alien species has different cultures since 13 earth years mean you are an adult according to her society. But you can guess that Lala will probably behave like a normal teenager eventually after interacting with Hikaru and company.

Lala is also a girl who relies on technology and logic thinking. After seeing the chances of becoming a Precure is less than 1 percent, she nearly gave up hope but Hikaru is a girl with a lot of gut feelings, she gave Lala the push to believe in herself and finally becoming Cure Milkyway.

Cure Milkyway transformation song was a step up from Cure Star and it is great to see a Teal Cure to be the 2nd Cure instead of being the 3rd or 4th member. Furthermore, after Cure Peace, we finally have a Precure who also used Lightning based attacks. (A Homage to Sailor Jupiter whose uniform is Green and used Lightning based attacks? Well, Jupiter was GREEN, NOT TEAL. More likely a Homage to Azula -AZULA- and her BLUE LIGHTNING!!)






IN NEXT EPISODE (3):

Next time, it looks like Hikaru and Lala won’t exactly be getting along. A pretty common occurrence for a lot of new PreCure in-team couples. Also seems like we may have to wait until episode four to see the next member join the team, but I’m willing to wait.

Better yet, it looks like next week the Red General/Cadre (the Baroness du jour) will make her first appearance, which means she should be revealed in next week’s or the following episode’s opening if they intend to reveal each silhouette as soon as, or after they make their debut. Our next Precure, Elena/Soleil, is also debuting as well, but while they will meet the girl, it doesn’t look like she will necessarily become one next week since they want to build up some time forge the friendship between Hikaru and Lala.

So now with two cures, the girls can finally start their search for the Star Princesses. Of course, it is not going to be easy since Hikaru and Lala have different opinions and approach and got into an argument. Furthermore, we are getting a new female general in the next episode. (She is voiced by Aya Endo, who voiced the Sword Maiden from Goblin Slayer and Miyuki of Lucky Star)

 With what appears to be red skin and an oversized nasal mask (think plague doctors), the Baroness of this continuity looks very less than the plant person obscured in these episode's openings... and instead very like a tengu.

 

L-R and clockwise: The baroness (in leotard of power, 7-11 o'clock), the gentlemanly butler (an ikemen? Centre), the brute (1 o'clock), the perky female minion (dark-skinned blonde in puffy breeches, 3-5 o'clock), and some guy who may or may not be Kappard (6 o'clock)

From this, we may theorise that the Knotraider cadres/generals will most surely have a Japanese youkai theme:

• Kappard - Kappa
• The Baroness - Tengu
• The Perky Female Minion - either Nekomata (cat spirit) or Raijuu (lightning beast)
• The Brute - Oni (ogre)
• The Affably Evil Butler - looks waaaay more European than Asian (quintessential British "James") - maybe his status as the odd one out will lead to, or explain, something about the Knotraiders... 

Until then, see you in the next post!