IN WHICH THE 13TH STAR PRINCESS REVEALS...

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 47
My Own Review - Series Finale
IN WHICH THE 13TH STAR PRINCESS REVEALS...

https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/STPC47/Image_Gallery INSERT ALL SHOTS OF THE STAR PRINCESSES AND AYEWAN/YUNI (AYUNI) INTERACTIONS FROM THIS EP IN THIS FINALE REVIEW



We’ve more or less come to the end of our time with Star ☆ Twinkle, as we have only two episodes left – and I’ll be writing a review for the show after the last one. Things tend to get pretty spectacular during the final few episodes of any season of PrettyCure, so lets see if Star ☆ Twinkle continues that trend.

Hikaru and company check on the KNotraiders

After taking Fuwa captive in the previous episode, the Ophiuchus Princess starts a ritual with the intent of destroying the universe. PreCures and the Starscape Alliance join forces with the KNotraiders in order to bring a halt to the thirteenth princess’ plans.
When they confront her, our sheroes discover that protecting the universe comes at a cost.

The Ophiuchus Princess

This episode is effectively made up of two parts. The first has the others interacting with the hospitalised KNotraiders, whereas the second is the confrontation against the Ophiuchus Princess.

Ayewan & Yuni

 I heard you stopped all of us 'raiders from going berserk...

 There's no need to thank you, Jo.

 Aún así, gracias, Nena. De todo corazón.

(¿Qué? ¿Por qué?)

On the front, Tenjou decides to help Soleil

We get some nice little moments between the KNotraiders and members of PreCure ensemble; each good counterpart with their respective evil counterpart. Elena’s chat with Tenjou is one moment that carries over nicely from their prior interactions, and we get even more Yuni & Ayewan (or Eye-wan, whatever you prefer) interactions. Lots of chemistry between good counterparts and their respective evil counterparts -- also Ayuni is the new Valvert, isn't it?

 Trying to get something to open

 Yuni judges Ayewan's taste in designing

HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE ME?!

Yuni tells Ayewan there's a trick to opening that

Meow! (*wink*)

Ayewan blushes and looks away

Ayewan tells Cosmos that she won't lose this time

The newfound alliance with the KNotraiders is not something that people readily accept, but there isn’t really any other options due to the circumstances.

PreCures and allies heading straight towards the final battle

This episode of Star ☆ Twinkle is also one that is most certainly playing up its sci-fi aspect, and I can appreciate that. I’d say I something about expecting someone to pull out a lightsaber, but Kappard has that covered.

We get a few still frames of shots that perhaps could have been animated…

Don’t expect too much from the KNotraiders, by the way. All they’re doing is simply clearing a path to allow PreCures to get to the Ophiuchus Princess. Kind of a shame, but I guess someone has to take a hit with what part of this episode is providing.

PreCures ready to confront the Ophiuchus Princess

So yeah, quite a bit of this episode is actually just exposition delivered by the Ophiuchus Princess. She goes into the origin of Star Twinkle Imagination, and how the universe came to exist. Basically, the creation of the Star*Twinkleverse by its thirteen physical goddesses is delved upon in detail. Of course, her ultimate goal is also revealed as well. SO THERE IS MORE TO HER AGENDA???

Gemini and Cancer giving up their some of their power to create imagination in the universe

Apparently the 12 official Star Princesses, as they created this universe, they granted imagination as a gift to all its sapient species, hoping to see their creativity used in wonderful and prosperous ways. And, much like Zeus hated Prometheus for giving fire to us puny naked apes, Ophiuchus was against giving imagination, let alone cognitive thought, to living creations of her kin, expecting the worst outcomes instead of hoping for the best; in Ophiuchus' own words, believing that it could be misused and disturb the proper order that all thirteen had worked so hard/given their all (ganbare) to maintain; not to mention catastrophes as a consequence of free will.

AND WHAT WILL YOU TWELVE DO IF THEIR FREE WILL BECOMES TWISTED?

And, to be fair, she wasn't wrong, as the KNotraider cadres would later approve (viz, Kappard's species dying of thirst due to extravagant water expenditure - Ayewan living in squalour or want as a streetrat - Tenjou suffering discrimination due to not fitting into the beauty canon of her species).

Ophiuchus tells the Cures that the Star Princesses granted everyone imagination

Understandably, Ophiuchus wasn't convinced by what the other twelve were trying to sell, ie that those with pure imagination will purify those who are twisted - and, to right things out, they all decided to just seal her away.

Ophiuchus forced out of the Star Palace

So even if she did bring up some good arguments, Ophiuchus's twelve fellow deities didn't hear her out. Thus, the Star Princesses pretty much created their worst enemy in the process. Thus she has a body count of at least trillions if not much more. Like Nietzsche said, those who fight monsters become monsters themselves.

Fuwa makes a move when PreCures can’t

This exposition culminates in the Ophiuchus Princess revealing that a sacrifice will have to be made to put a halt to her plans. This shakes the others into inaction, so Fuwa takes it upon herself to actually get something done.

Our Little Pony, you see, contains the 50% of imagination the Star Princesses had left within themselves after they sent the other half to sapient species across the Star*Twinkle universe. And Ophiuchus needed all of that power within Fuwa to hard-reset the universe. Meanwhile, the dozen Princesses wanted to use Fuwa and the Twinkle Imagination to permanently defeat Ophiuchus next time - the Star Princesses are trying to erase her for the good of the universe. Doing so would get rid not only of the villainess, but of Fuwa as well in a mutual kill. No strange that the Cures waver in the face of sending their sacrificial unicorn to the slaughter; even though the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Fuwa’s decision results in… well, that’s something for the next episode. While everyone else is wavering, she uses the power of the Princesses to annihilate Darknest/Ophiuchus, but perishing herself in the process.

I feel that perhaps this episode could have been a little lighter on the exposition, perhaps give more chances for the KNotraiders to shine in battle.
Overall, though, I would say this was a good episode. PreCures, Starscape law enforcement, Star Princesses, and their former enemies charge into battle against a great evil to save Fuwa – it definitely sounds good when it is summed up. Gondor calls for aid, and Rohan replies. Even though Fuwa, like the One Ring, has to be reduced to nothing at the end of the day...

I believe the next episode is the final one, so I’ll have a review out for Star ☆ Twinkle, and I’ll have to think about where this season fits into my ranking of every season/continuity of Pretty Cure franchise.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:

At last we got to see what the thirteenth Star Princess's real game was, and I have to agree that all well-intentioned extremists who preach about the evils of free will are somehow right. Though, even if the WIE in question is lawful good, it calls to mind that, like Nietzsche said, those who fight monsters become monsters themselves.

The highlight of this episode was definitely the tale of the Star Princesses, told in flashback. I really adored the moral quandary that results from it - I like how, through the villains of this show, we've seen how free will can be used in the best and worst of ways, giving credence to their side. I wished I was a little more invested in said villains (the backstory I identified the most with was Tenjou's, having suffered from bullying in the flesh - but Kappard's or Ayewan's were a tad removed from personal experience).

A Clockwork Orange - the titular metaphor explained by Alistair Murden:
If a person is able only to do good, like Alex de Large post-brainwashing, they become like a clockwork orange: ostensibly a living fruit but inside full of cold metal, lifeless, unable to slake anyone's thirst - and a tin toy or timepiece that can only move upon being wound up by higher powers, be them gods or fates or the police state (the last being the case of Alex).

IN WHICH FUWA STRUGGLES TO FIND HER NICHE

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure
Episode 33 - My Own Review

IN WHICH FUWA STRUGGLES TO FIND HER NICHE


The thirty-third episode of Star ☆ Twinkle is one that focuses on Fuwa. Quite fitting, given the (physical and psychological) growth she has experienced recently. Fuwa is very eager to get on with PreCures’ mission, but everyone else is busy.

Fuwa is not happy with being unable to search for Twinkle Imagination

This episode’s plot is a pretty standard one for mascot focus episodes, as things go. Fuwa wants to start searching for Twinkle Imagination, but everyone else is so busy. She tries to help them out, but only causes trouble. That’s all there is to it.

Fuwa’s attempt at helping does not go down well

I don’t really have a whole lot to say about this episode. Fuwa has the potential to be annoying, but she never really crosses into that territory for me. After all, what she wants is to effectively move the plot along, so I can agree that everybody should get out there to find the Twinkle Imagination.

Fuwa (in Santa garb) is almost discovered by Sakurako

As far as mascots go, Fuwa is by no means the worst the PreCure franchise has to offer, but she’s not particularly the best, either. Fuwa is supposed to be growing up, but Maho Girls had a much better take on that with Haa-chan, AKA Kotoha. Fuwa is pretty typical in terms of PreCure pixies (yousei).

Fuwa meets old Ryou

Whilst I think that this episode was average overall (well, at least until the fight against Kappard), I will admit that Fuwa deciding that Ryoutaro is a space wizard amused me quite a bit – even more so when Yuni sees him for the first time and agrees (I mean, he's the spitting image of Albus F-ing Dumbledore, right?).

Kappard’s weapon is powered by pet dog Yeti’s imagination this time around

Kappard is the villain this week, and unlike Garuogre, he is able to recognise Fuwa upon seeing her in her new form for the first time. The fight scene is where this episode picks up a bit – Cure Star finds herself having to fight Kappard alone whilst the others are dealing with the mooks.
Fuwa wanting to be helpful also comes into play here, too. Fortunately, her desire to help doesn’t cause any trouble this time around. PS. Isn't it evident that the victim of the week was an English Sheepdog? (Especially with the shield design)

So overall, not the greatest episode of a PreCure series, and not the worst either. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I had a stronger attachment to Fuwa. That’s not the case, so this episode to me was a pretty middle of the road experience.

Next time, seems like we’re getting an episode that focuses on Elena as a cactus-like alien visits Earth.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Isn't it evident that the victim of the week was an English Sheepdog? (Especially with the shield design). The VotW is generally another animal, wild or pet, in a mascot-centric episode (most notoriously, Go! Princess had a cicada when Towa fell dangerously ill in August and was left alone with her guardians).

Also. SAKURAKO. May not have the same memetic status as Ranze and Ranko, but once more she stole the spotlight right before our noses.

IN WHICH ALL 12 STAR COLOUR PENS ARE GATHERED

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 31
My Own Review
IN WHICH ALL 12 STAR COLOUR PENS ARE GATHERED

hallofanimefame
angryanimeb*tches


PreCures’ goal of obtaining all twelve Princess Star Colour Pens is in sight in the thirty-first episode of Star ☆ Twinkle, but obviously their enemies don’t intend to let that go unchallenged.

Some great expressions in this episode

In this episode, PreCures return to Earth, with General Topper from the Starscape Alliance in hot pursuit. He asks the girls to join the Starscape Alliance, but the response he gets is not something he expected.
The final Pisces Princess Star Colour Pen shows up, but they will have to fight Garuogre in order to get it.

Seems like Hikaru’s onigiri (filled rice ball) is really quite popular with extraterrestrials

The first part of this episode focuses on Topper and his efforts to recruit PreCures into the Starscape Alliance. Unfortunately for him, the girls have other commitments (including caring for the family business, or practicing to become a concert pianist). We get some more light-hearted moments in this part of the episode, too – because things get a little more serious shortly.

Topper regrets his lack of power

“With great power comes great responsibility” could be a well-known phrase that applies to the conversation Topper has with Hikaru. She is a PreCure, and it is her duty to protect; something that the vertically-challenged general failed to do (when the 'raiders stole and scattered all the Pens).

Garuogre vs. Cure Star

Topper’s conversation with Hikaru is cut short by the arrival of Garuogre; it is the first time we are seeing him fight any Cure directly. Unlike the other cadre enemies, Garuogre relies on his own strength – which has been augmented by Darknest.

Garuogre throws off his cloak (INSERT PILLAR MEN THEME)

Cure Star and Garuogre fight a single combat on the Earth's Moon – something which amused me quite a bit considering the events of Symphogear XV episode 10. No lunar ruins in sight, but we do get a nice fight sequence. The fights tend to be pretty good whenever a cadre antagonist gets directly involved, and this time around is no exception.

The fight does not go well for Cure Star

During the fight, Garuogre has some things to say about a pummelled Cure Star’s desire to protect. Perhaps he failed to protect something in the past, and that led him to serving Darknest (CONFIRMED IN NEXT EPISODE!!). That’s just a guess, it could just be typical villain talk.

The cavalry arrives

You’d think the arrival of the other Cures would mark a turning point in the fight, but Garuouga is remarkably resilient, even shrugging off all the Cures’ special attacks. Fortunately for the Cures, Darknest’s power is a finite resource.

Cure Star acquires the Pisces Princess Star Colour Pen

During the fight, Cure Star manages to grab the final Pisces Star Colour Pen from her foe. Once he retreats, it is time for one more trip to the Star Palace.

Pisces Fuwa (Merwa)

Pisces Star Princess (oui, she's a mermaid!)

That’s all twelve Princess Star Colour Pens gathered together, and their combined power has a surprise in store for Fuwa.

Fuwa transforms into an alicorn

That caps off this episode of Star ☆ Twinkle, and it was a great one. The fight against Garuogre has to be my highlight; some really enjoyable animation there. It also helps that Garuogre is the biggest threat the Cures have faced; though I guess it does depend on how much of that was Darknest’s power.
Still a great fight, though.
Fuwa’s transformation is all right, I guess. I don’t dislike it, but I’m not sure why it is necessary to have Fuwa transform at this point. Perhaps the next episode will provide some insight into all that.
We haven’t really had the chance to see what the power of all twelve Princess Star Colour Pens can do, but what we have got so far is a little underwhelming. They were built up as being able to grant any desire, or something along those lines, and all we have at the moment is Fuwa becoming a unicorn. No matter how you look at it, she is still the cute mascot fairy.
Looks like we might get some more background on Garuogre (and maybe the other 'raider cadres) next time, as well as discover just what is going on with Fuwa.

 


MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
WOWOWOW Alicorn Fuwa: I definitely smell some brony bait in the design of her evolution... also unicorns and alicorns are pretty much in vogue this decade, so this was not entirely unexpected (think of Cure Parfait's rainbow pegasus theme!)... However, she had reminded me all the way of a jigglypuff before she evolved, so this came as a twist and a surprise!

General Topper (and his Napoleon complex): Anyone else agrees that with his oversized commissar cap, he might be compensating for something? ;)

IN WHICH THE CATGIRL FINALLY JOINS THE OTHERS

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure Episode 23 -
My Own Review
IN WHICH THE CATGIRL FINALLY JOINS THE OTHERS

You know, I think that episode twenty-three of Star ☆ Twinkle might just be a homage to Star Trek, of all things. Well, more specifically a certain alien species from Star Trek. Oh, and there’s also the small matter of welcoming Yuni to the team – you know, a few episodes after she transformed for the first time…

So Fuwa is part tribble, then?

In this episode, the others decide to hold a welcome party for Yuni. That soon gets overshadowed when Fuwa eats one of the catgirl's Matter Cookies, causing the tribble-like pixie to feel intoxicated, then to uncontrollably multiply - like rabbits. 

Feeling responsible for what happened, Yuni tries to tackle the problem on her own.

Elena has some bread crusts (hard bread, as for ducks or torrijas de leche) ready for the hungry Fuwas

As you may have guessed by this point, this episode of Star ☆ Twinkle is on the sillier side. It is about Yuni learning that she is part of a team now, and can rely on the others to help her out. Elena is the one who spends the most time with Yuni this episode, helping her to realise all that.

Lala is prepared to deal with the Fuwas

This episode is pretty much one that focuses on Yuni, but that doesn’t meant that the other characters can’t have their moments. Lala is particularly noteworthy in this episode.

Mao makes another appearance (the M in her logo is a Virgo M...)

We also get another appearance from Mao. I hope that becomes a recurring thing, because it would be nice to see Yuni putting her shapeshifting abilities to use every now and then.

Yes! Doughnut belts for everyone! -- MOVE OVER RAMBO

Not exactly the most intimidating weapon

Our villain for this week is Kappard, who does manage to capture the original Fuwa, singling her out from the legions of the copies. 

Though at first he's got a real pest control issue before singling the original out...

KAPPARATTA!!

Come here, come with daddy...

The girls transform, but Cure Cosmos quickly discovers solo attacks won’t work. Fortunately, she does have a team she can rely on.

Good luck Purunce is so elastic!!

Yuni and Elena

So by the episode’s end, Yuni has learned the value of teamwork. Perhaps she’ll stop being so aloof in the future, and actually spend time with the others.

An episode with a rather silly premise, but it does serve to develop Yuni’s character a bit more. I’m happy with that: more Cure Cosmos is very much something that I welcome. Its also nice to see her interacting with the other Cures, too; in this case, Elena.

Next time, it's the middle of the summer, but things are going to get very cold on a permafrost planet... (oh, who could follow these sheroes and escape Thermidor!)

This week revolved around the mayhem of Fuwa greedily taking Yuni’s special cookie that made her drunk and gave her hiccups, which then caused her to start spawning endless copies of herself. Although the girls had figured out how to make the copies vanish (by feeding the little gluttons) it didn’t take long for the girls to become quickly overwhelmed and were unable to contain them all. It took a team effort to resolve the issue, but working together with others was something Yuni was not used to. She is so used to working independently, she doesn’t know how to rely on others. Knowing that the situation they were dealing with was impossible to handle alone, Elena wasn’t about to let Yuni go off on her own, and made sure to stay tagged with her. She also showed her the benefit of working together as a team, as Yuni had forgotten to bring some food along to give to the copies, and later the two of them were able to act on the spur of the moment to have one distract the public while the other lured out the wave that had made its way into the shopping district.

But it wasn’t just about not being used to having others to depend on, Yuni also felt she needed to resolve this problem alone because she felt responsible for it. It is definitely going to take her some time, as even by the end of the episode, Yuni was about to go off on her own again, but Elena made sure to capitalize the opportunity to make sure she stuck around for the welcome party they had put together for her.

Besides the hilarity of the situation with Fuwa’s hiccups of doom, what I really liked about this episode was that we got to see the girls switch up the pairs they are usually with. The usual duos were switched up with Elena and Yuni, and Lala and Madoka, while Hikaru worked together with Purunce. It was just nice to see because I enjoy it when we actually get to see the girls interact with the others more so than the ones they usually stick close to the most. I thought the brief interactions between Madoka and Lala to be quite cute, as both of them are kind of the brains of the group. It was really funny when Madoka realized Lala’s A.I. was referring to hiccups, her expression was priceless.

I also found it amusing to some extent how Kappard was quick enough to beat Yuni to capturing the original Fuwa, and successfully ended their misery by scaring the shit out of her. Unfortunately for him, Fuwa slipped out of his grasp once more thanks to the girls successfully retrieving her. This probably makes Kappard the only General at the moment who was the closest to actually succeeding, especially since he even used his powers on Fuwa’s copies to enhance his weapon. Had Yuni fought him on her own, he probably would have beaten her thanks to the power of fluffballs.

Next week, the girls are back to searching for the pens and will be visiting a planet of frost and snow!

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Yuni or Uni? (It's as in 'verse): Still she is missing a surname, and will not be getting one until she debuts as a schoolgirl this autumn. Anyway, her first name when I read it on some sites and subs makes me think of sea urchin genitals, while the name of this catgirl is pronounced yoo-ni as in 'verse -- so I use this spelling to keep on reminding myself of that (compare Giulio in Kirakira à la Mode).
Parasprites - that tribble episode. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E10SwarmOfTheCentury