IN WHICH YUNI MEETS OLD ACQUAINTANCES

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure
Episode 38 - My Own Review
IN WHICH YUNI MEETS OLD ACQUAINTANCES


Star ☆ Twinkle gets its plot back on course with episode thirty-eight, as Yuni has an idea about where they can go in the search for Twinkle Imagination.

Hikaru and company arrive on a fortune-telling planet

With zero leads in their search for Twinkle Imagination, Yuni suggests they pay a visit to a fortune teller on another planet in hopes of being sent down the right path. Yuni also crosses paths with Ayewan once more.

Hakenyan appears

One of the major characters in this episode is Hakenyan, a visually-impaired old Rainbowian fortune teller and the person that Yuni believes will lead PreCures towards some Twinkle Imagination. Hakenyan looks familiar, and this episode shows just why that is later on.

Excellent expressions here

Ayewan

Also playing an important role in this episode is Ayewan. We get a little of her past in this episode, and it shows she was homeless as a child – though we don’t get the specifics of how that came about. Either way, seeing Hakenyan does not make her happy.

Yuni sought out Hakenyan after losing her planet

This episode spends quite a fair chunk of time exploring the past, which is by no means a bad thing. It gives us some insight into both Yuni and Ayewan, and how they both feel that they lost everything at the hands of the other. It also shows that Yuni’s appearance as Bakenyan was based on the younger Hakenyan, and how she ended up working with Ayewan.

 

Eyewone Robot - model 23

Of course Ayewan is the villain of the week this time around, and Cure Cosmos has to take her on by herself to begin with. Whilst I would have liked to see a one-on-one fight, that wasn’t the case. Much easier to fill the runtime when you’re using quite a bit of stock footage, after all.

Cure Cosmos has an epiphany whilst fighting Ayewan

The fight in this episode brings along some rather important developments, particularly when it comes to Yuni and Ayewan’s relationship. It also happens to be a step forward for everyone else as well.
Overall, I’d call this an excellent episode of Star ☆ Twinkle. We delved a bit into the past of both Yuni and Ayewan, finally had them realise they aren’t so different and managed to take a step forward in the search for Twinkle Imagination.
I was always going to enjoy a Yuni-focused episode regardless, but I’m really happy with what we got out of this one.
Ideally the show can keep up this kind of strength as the other girls find their Twinkle Imagination – and it is entirely possible that Elena may be the next to do so.
Even if that’s not the case, the next episode is one that focuses on her, so it is one to look forward to.



MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Of course with last episode showcasing the Kappa Genocide, it appears that CADRES WILL GET FOCUS EPISODES!! (Raise a glass!) And now the turn comes to our favourite deranged cyclopette, whom we see as a child for the first time... also, was there some war between Rainbowians and cyclops that caused Ayewan to resent them for her precarious social standing? (This headcanon could lead to some pretty interesting theories that lead to something deeper than kismesissitude Valjean-Javert style...)
Ayewan the gamine: we know that Bilberry in KiraKira à la Mode was an orphan gamine too... and even wore a riding hood as well (maybe this garment is shorthand for "streetrat" in a contemporary setting anime?)
Hakenyan: So Yuni was NOT the sole survivor of the storming of Rainbow, right?
Mentors fated to... not to see their mentées' success: ***MENTOR OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD; Hakenyan theory...
Why are so many seers visually impaired? From Teiresias onwards... The Blind Seer is an old archetype. They are visually impaired, and yet they can see more than we can. This seems to be a recurring theme in mythology; Justice is blind, Odin plucked out an eye to gain knowledge, and the Graeae or Gray Sisters had only had one eyeball between three of them. Time and time again, the sacrifice of eyesight is shown to result in greater cosmic knowledge.

A special case of Disability Superpower, often demonstrated with Prophet Eyes. Blindfolds are another favorite.

PS. It seems that the next episode will come in mid-November, after one of those week-long hiatuses... Also, angryanimeb*tches has dropped Star*Twinkle for episode reviews.

IN WHICH AYEWAN TAKES THE DEEPEST PLUNGE

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 27
My Own Review
IN WHICH AYEWAN TAKES THE DEEPEST PLUNGE

(angryanimeb*tches)

(will there be a hallofanimefame review?)

I noted last time how the opening animation had changed to reflect Cure Cosmos joining the team, but there was also something else that I failed to notice last time. When the shot of the villains comes up, Ayewan is wearing a riding hood – I wonder if that particularly signifies anything.

Who knows, perhaps this episode will provide an answer.

OK, Purunce showing off for Yanyan was pretty funny

After Lala’s starship was damaged for the umpteenth time during a battle, PreCures travel to the home planet of Yanyan in order to get their transportation fixed. Before that, though, they explore the underwater planet of Bubblepool.


Ayewan also appears, intent on getting revenge on Yuni for deceiving her.

Cure MerCures and Yanyan

In something of an unusual twist, this episode gives us two different sets of transformation sequences. Of course, we get the usual PreCure transformation for the villain-of-the week fight, but Yanyan’s morphpearls also give us a sequence where the girls transform into mermaids.

Does that make MerYuni a catfish? :3

Hikaru and Yuni

Merfolk have been quite a common theme throughout PreCure. For a start, Go! Princess gave us Cure Mermaid (AKA Minami Kaido), but I can also recall seeing them in Maho Girls and Hugtto!. Not that I mind, considering we get to see some quite interesting underwater sights.

Ayewan

The antagonist for this episode is Ayewan, who says she is no longer with the KNotraiders. In fact, she has nowhere to go, and seems to be jealous of Yuni who has found a place for herself.
Perhaps Yuni, or the other members of our PreCure crew, could start steering Ayewan towards the path of redemption.

Ayewanbot 16

No 'triggers from Ayewan this time; instead, she transforms the stolen spacecraft she is using. As these things tend to be, Ayewan has some things to say about Cure Cosmos. Naturally, Cosmos’s allies are there to rebuke Ayewan’s claims, and the fight ends in typical fashion.

Huh, its like we’re in the middle of an arc or something. The past few episodes have all been directly connected; I can’t help but think that this is leading up to the acquisition of the last two Princess Star Colour Pens, and the inevitable confrontation against Darknest.
Darknest might seem like the big-bad final boss for the moment, but I feel like there could be something far darker lurking behind the scenes (ie a Man/Woman/Entity Behind the Overlord)…

As for this episode, it was a good one. The mermaid transformation was a fun touch, though I think it would have been pretty funny had they gone with Hikaru’s initial idea for transforming into something that could breathe underwater.

The mermaid stuff was fun, but the most important aspect of this episode has to be the stuff concerning Yuni and Ayewan. Ayewan is no longer with the KNotraiders, though she is still very much an enemy to PreCures.
Hoping to see that change, even if just gradually.

Seems like the wrecked starship will finally be repaired in the next episode. Seems that Elena and Madoka have particularly important roles to play, too. (HOPE THERE ARE INTENSE SOLUNA MOMENTS...)

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
So the quest for Lala's homeworld is growing into a feuilleton -- if a four-parter can be called one. It began in episode 26 and will conclude in episode 29: encompassing four parts in total.

Purunyan or Yance? Purunce and Yanyan are another pairing...
It is either Valjean or Jav-... well, either Yuni/Cosmos or Ayewan! ... (on this scenario)



NEXT EPISODE (28)

THE SURGEON'S STORIES DREAMCAST: PART 1

Med fjärde cykeln av Fältskärns berättelser är handlingen framme i frihetstiden (mitten av 17oo-talet). Topelius såg epoken som ett nationellt förnedringstillstånd p.g.a. de korrumperade politikerna (samt fejderna mellan "förrädiska" mössor och "blodtörstiga" hattar!). Undantaget är övergångsgestalten mellan stormaktstiden och frihetstiden Arvid Horn, som Topelius omfattar närapå lika oreserverat som Gustav Adolf. Borgerskapet och mösspartiet representeras av Lars Larsson den äldre, omutlig och oböjlig riksdagsman för provinsens borgare och ägare till ett Vaasa-baserat handelshus och rederi vars affärer omfattar hela Europa. Den här änklingens älsklingsdotter Ester är »skälmsk och liflig, käck ända till öfverdåd, och ofta långt gången i idrott» och jämförs med sin tids stora drottningar Katarina den Stora och Maria Teresia.
Handlingen i den femte cykeln utspelar sig i universitetsmiljö i Åbo, på familjen Bertelskiölds gods Falkby i Östergötland och under 1772 års riksdag i Stor-Stockholm. Skildringen av såväl den fysiska som den mentala miljön är välgjord och riksdagsintrigerna gör Topelius här liksom i den fjärde cykeln direkt spännande. På det privata planet står familjen Bertelskiölds inflammerade relationer i fokus. Victor Bertelskiöld, som gift om sig med sin Ester efter adliga första frun Malins död, är vänlig och tillmötesgående mot hög som låg, och varmt fäst vid sin familj. Men han saknar i motsats till sin maka viljestyrka och karaktärsfasthet. Huvudperson blir Ester Larsson, nu grevinnan Bertelskiöld (fast styvbarnen ser henne som varken mor eller grevinna). Inom de traditionellt kvinnliga handlingsutrymmena sjukvård och förkunnelse behandlar hon sin cyniske, ståndsmedvetne och allmänt osympatiske styvson Bernhard så framgångsrikt att han överger diplomatin och politiken för en tillvaro som from och filantropisk lantjunkare. Bertelskiöldarna drivs in i en återvändsgränd av präktighet medan Larssönerna p.g.a. girighet och besticklighet diskvalificerar sig för ledarskap. Gustav III lyckas visserligen med statsvälvningen, men i sin iver att visa dels hur illa det går för giriga egoister, dels presentera ett harmoniskt slut på Bertelskiöldarnas familjekris, förbrukar Topelius energin i berättandet.

Det finns dock ljusglimtar, som »det finska universitetet» (där Fritänkaren börjar sina äventyr), och en bättre framtid är att vänta det land som, med borgarkungen Larsson den äldres ord, »har burit sådana bördor och icke dignat». I synnerhet genom borgarkungens födelsedagstal till den samlade larssonska släkten i tolfte berättelsen »Prinsessan av Vaasa» förknippas det finska folkets historia med en providentiell föreställning om den adlige svärsonen som ledsagare till en ljusare framtid och som garant för den:»ty han hafver lust till detta folk, och han skall göra vårt mörker ljust».

49För det andra sammanväver Topelius det nationella temat med ståndsmotsättningen. Klyftan mellan stånden i de fyra första cyklerna skapar bilden av ett folk som är splittrat. Motsättningens upplösning genom Victor Bertelskiölds och Ester Larssons giftermål i , och borgarkungens välsignelse av alliansen, varmed han sägs bryta »stafven öfver den långa strid, som i sekler söndrat adel och folk i Finland», kan tolkas som en återförening av det tudelade finska folket till ett folk, en enhetlig nation. Å ena sidan förefaller Topelius med detta framhålla att allt split måste övervinnas och alla krafter sammanföras inför det gemensamma projektet: nationsbygget.

Den progressiva historiesynen kommer även till uttryck i att Topelius låter romanens ståndsmotsättning tillfälligt upplösas genom att Victor Bertelskiöld och Ester Larsson, med greve Bertelskiölds och »borgarkungen» herr Larssons motsträviga samtycke, gifter sig i fjärde cykeln. Syntesen fullbordas ett par decennier senare i femte cykeln när de bertelskiöldska barnen från Victors tidigare äktenskap med grevinnan Malin överger ståndsfördomarna som har splittrat familjen och accepterar Ester som sin mor och hennes barn som syskon. Även motsättningen mellan adelsmakt och folkmakt upplöses i femte cykeln, i den sista berättelsen, genom att romanen slutar vid Gustav III:s statsvälvning, som resulterade i att den politiska makten temporärt delades mellan kungen och riksdagen.

These little snippets deal with the social milieu of Zachris Topelius' magnum opus Fältskärns berättelser, Englished as the Surgeon's Stories - a generational saga spanning from the 30YW to the Gustavian era... and one that has never ceased to inspire me. To quote the most blatant examples: the Ringstetten Saga is choc-à-bloc with nods, down to the hero of the 30YW installment being a lieutenant whose Carolean grandson Gustav Adolf stars in the GNW installment and is taken prisoner at Poltava! (But then I tweaked it with fairytale, Les Misérables, and Ikuhara and CLAMP elements, leading to a different beast quite unequal to the Topelian source material).
So, covering the last installments (skipping the 30YW and GNW because filming the former would be too costly and difficult, while the latter would be outright depressing!), this will be a trilogy composed of The Count and the Schoolgirl, The Princess of Vaasa, and The Freethinker. But for now let us dreamcast part one, whose premise is basically Romeo and Juliet in eighteenth-century Sweden -- the story of an orphan officer of the courtier nobility and a motherless bourgeois schoolgirl (he's dashing, she's badass; he's an only child, she has a half dozen siblings) who literally crush on one another during a meet cute involving an encounter with an unruly Magyar steed... but whose respective parental figures are obviously at each other's throats for ideological reasons. But there's so much more than just Bertelskiöld-vs-Larsson ie Montague-vs-Capulet squabble here: rather, there's so many discussions about politics and how to face a socioeconomical crisis post-military defeat (rebuild the military and avenge old glories upon the battlefield without any foreign support, risking it all at one turn of pitch-and-toss... or focus on farming, education, and trade, even if that means allying with the enemy that won the war?) that it soon becomes Romeo and Juliet meets Game of Thrones with the counterparts of a Stark girl and a Lannister scion caught in the crossfire while their elders rant and rave when it comes to realpolitik. Also, the Mercutio is the officer's Magyar orderly, who calls him "hadnagy úr", while the Nursemaid is the schoolgirl's older sister, promoted to parent ever since her mum ceased to be... and the Count Paris character is a countess -- oui, the male lover is the betrothed one who has to marry for power...


RELATIONSHIP CHART:

The Bertelskiölds (Montagues):


Count Lieutenant Victor Bertelskiöld: Tom Felton


Count Thorsten Bertelskiöld: Russell Crowe


István: Adorjáni Bálint

...
Malin Bertelskiöld: ??? (thinking of it still)

....................................................................

The Larssons (Capulets):


Ester Larsson: Emma Watson


Herr Lars Larsson Senior: Hugh Jackman


Veronica Larsson: Alicia Vikander


Lars Larsson Junior:



Once more: This will be a trilogy composed of The Count and the Schoolgirl, The Princess of Vaasa, and The Freethinker (the latest installment set in a Bertelskiöld-Larsson patchwork family where the children of the late Countess Malin, ie diplomat Bernhard -cast as Felton once more?- and Prussian diplomat's wife Louise, see Ester as the wicked stepmother and persecute her and her children Paul, the titular freethinker -Marius Pontmercy meets Harry Potter, in fact both their actors are casting choices- and adorable little Véra... while also involving tons of make-up, a punctured lung following a gunfight, a cerebral concussion, and last but not least a delightfully gay Gustavus III -Justin of Home Heist?- in a leading role)!