My Own Review
NOW SHOULD WE CLOSE THE KIRAPÂTI?
A year has passed after the battle with Elysio. The girls are in their final year of school and everything was going well. Himari won a Sweets Chemistry contest, Aoi has a real live concert, Akira is preparing to go to med school at University, Ciel and Giulio won in every culinary contest... and Yukari was successful in her overseas stint, just returning home to Ichigozaka from Europe.
Akira Kenjo, ready to take on her Medicine degree!
Yukari Kotozume has made new acquaintances, and even friends, in Confetto.
(Wait... I don't see even a glimpse of the Prince... has he really given up on her?)
Wild Azüre is going live and viral all over Asia!
From what Aoi and Ryúta look like, they're really enjoying it... really, the group is even better sans Kei. Though we'll miss him sorely... (and Akira will be his senpai).
Our little Prof finally dons a lab coat for real.
And the twins finally make a pâtissier prodigy dream team!
They kept a wall of memories in the Pâtisserie and still remember the promise from Elysio to make the world a better place. At the same time, Hana Nono and Hug-tan were looking for their Pâtisserie and met Yukari who took them there.
Bienvenue!
(also, Macaron de Chocolat proximity... squeee... <3 )
After enjoying a nice meal, Hana left with Hug-chan.
As Hana was leaving, a strange creature suddenly absorbed the kirakiraru energy from the sweets and it turned out to be the Elder's physical body (I am calling it Dark Elder) which has been corrupted and became huge. The girls went to battle but were knocked out by the Dark Elder's constant yelling.
Yousei to the Rescue... led by Cure Pekorin...
Pekorin and the other spirits (yousei) went into battle but were captured by the Dark Elder.
At this moment, Cure Yell appeared and freed all the yousei. The girls tried again to purify the Dark Elder with both Pekorin and the Elder convincing the Dark Elder to forgive them.
The hot Human Elder is back... and inside his rightful body... such a heartfelt moment when the yousei cuddle like that...
Shouldn't Yukari and Akira be like... more center stage?
Anyway, the redhead's awkward expression still speaks volumes...
Getting the Last Supper vibes from this group pic, right?
The KiraPâti is now run by Pekorin.
Outside, Glaive mellows up to his bratty foster daughter Bilberry.
(Definitely, she needed a guardian and he needed someone to care for, like Valjean and Cosette!)
About five years later, when all of them are young adults...
Ciel and Giulio still keep their business in Ichigozaka, under the watchful eye of a retired Solène, who had grown weary of Paris and needed somewhere to spend her winter years.
Himari is the most adorkable Chemistry freshwoman ever. She's hoping to make some serious contributions to the scientific community... a budding Madame Curie indeed.
Aoi Tategami, now going solo after the disbandment of Wild Azüre,
has developed an even SEXY image!!!
She's a killer queen,
gunpowder gelatine,
dynamite with a laser beam...
Wanna try?
Akira Kenjo, now with her fire-red hair in a queue, does her first practice treating patients of rare diseases.
She's not running for her life, but for that of a terminally ill child who needs her desperately.
Yukari Kotozume has just bobbed her hair and acquired more Westernised tastes.
Though she looks icy cold, we know there is a burning heart under that lab coat... burning for a certain fire-haired physician back in her hometown...
Noir and Lumière have just been reborn as children, and Diaval as their pet chihuahua.
A few years has passed and everyone was successful in their life. In a remote country, somewhere in the Mediterranean, we meet two familiar-looking streetrats and their chihuahua puppy. Really... what may become of these children?
Kirakira actually gave a proper epilogue with the girls moving to adulthood (Finally seeing their adult looks!).
All's well that ends well...
also, finally some Macaron/Chocolat at least back to back grazing!
Final Thoughts: Kirakira is all about breaking out of one's shell and growing to be a better person. Himari overcame her shyness, Aoi followed her dream of becoming a singing sensation, Akira became a doctor to help others, Yukari realised that the world is huge...
The villains might not be the best but at least they put up a more decent fight. The only one that jumped left-field was Elysio, who backstabbed Noir without any rhyme or reason. Although we do get an explanation of his betrayal, but it looked like an eleventh-hour change from the writers in order to make the show interesting.
I am not saying you can't pull a stunt like that but at least have some hints of Elysio's eventual betrayal. It took the last three episodes to have such a climax which in my opinion is too rushed and looking at Noir and Elysio's motives-both of them are just big babies who threw a large tantrum and turned the whole world upside down. (Does that make Voldemort, and Orfeo, and Hitler... brats with Earth-shattering tantrums as well?)
I am not saying you can't pull a stunt like that but at least have some hints of Elysio's eventual betrayal. It took the last three episodes to have such a climax which in my opinion is too rushed and looking at Noir and Elysio's motives-both of them are just big babies who threw a large tantrum and turned the whole world upside down. (Does that make Voldemort, and Orfeo, and Hitler... brats with Earth-shattering tantrums as well?)
Sure, there were some decent episodes like Giulio's reveal as Ciel's brother, and Elysio's betrayal.
MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Our OTP finally reunites, after a year worlds away from each other, and absence has truly made their hearts grow fonder! Even though they are torn worlds apart time after time...
The loose end of the Elder being a ghost and his missing body reappears. And it's tied into a bow pretty nicely and neatly. Really heartwarming indeed
As for the Distant Finale with the girls as young adults; and child Noir, Lumière, and Diaval... I loved to see these two last ones being reborn as children. And Glaive adopted Bilberry! (Definitely, she needed a guardian and he needed someone to care for, like Valjean and Cosette!) As for Noir and Lumière, I was reminded of a little known literary fairytale, Gockel Hinkel Gackeleia, which centers around the power struggle for a wishing stone that grants every wish without any consequences (also, the stone is worn on a ring, pretty much like the One Ring or the Ring of the Nibelungs!). Luckily, Gackeleia, the heroine, discards the ring given its perversion potential (it corrupted both the villains and her parents, the other two titular characters) and, right before it, she makes a wish for everyone to become children. A young adult Gackeleia and her fiancé Prince Kronovus, aside from his parents and her own (four seniors, a royal couple and a count and countess), are aged down to childhood as a result, because children are innocent and uncapable of evil. Also of note is the Forbidden Fountain (Baum's version of Lethe) in the Land of Oz, where thirsty invading leaders stop for refreshment and lose all of their memories, becoming children at heart and giving up on their military campaigns as a result. (The Forbidden Fountain amazed me so much that it's appeared in both In the Shades of Dawning and The Queen Beyond the Wall as a plot point...)
On Aoi's singing career: She's too sexy for that shirt, too sexy for her shirt, so sexy it hurts... Really, Wild Azüre could really beat the Misfitz (of Jem fame) in a remembering the 80s festival. WOW. The group holds better sans Kei, whom I picture myself as Akira's classmate in med school (just friends and nothing more).
On Yukari's and Akira's character arcs (and how our OTP might develop further): Absence makes the heart grow fonder indeed. Maybe they are going separate ways, but every now and then their paths will cross... I hope they attend one another's granny's funeral. And also Akira in a scarlet suit and Yukari in a white empire-waist gown, with those brave new hairstyles (that queue and that bob), holding hands and receiving the blessing of being pronounced wife and wife. Also (surely) adopting the reborn Noir and Lumière!
Now comes a corner in which we learn more about the making of such an epic!
Both creators, Jin Tanaka and Yuu Kaminoki, grew fond of the characters and are sad to say goodbye.
Initially, it was hard to integrate the sweets motive into both everyday segment AND battle segment. It was director Kaizawa's idea that one could convey his or her feelings to another person through making sweets. They wanted the protagonists to deliberately choose to fight for the sweets they make everyday, thus the concept became “Kirakiraru is stolen and retrieved”. The granular depiction of feelings as kirakiraru helped the audience to better understand the concept of “Daisuki” (one’s liking or fondness).
.
Recent fighting style (no hand-to-hand combat) meant “hitting the opponent with one’s feelings”.
.
While Go!Pre allowed the audience to admire princesses, PreÀLa focused on each girl’s individual character traits to allow children to become something independent. To enhance individuality they added the animal features.
.
They requested different people to handle each character’s episodes. Jin Tanaka did Akira/Chocolat, because he never wrote a character like her (a neutral and cool Onee-san who could be admired by children -and by adult bifauxnen fans, I must add-).
.
Stories came out short due to the final 1-minute-cooking segment, but they always put effort to tell the stories they wanted to convey.
.
They wanted the audience to root for individual/single characters, not the group itself. Thus the girls’ individual motives and traits were decided on, and eventually their character songs are composed accordingly. It is particularly the things they like most (“daisuki”) what’d emphasize their individuality.
The weekly single stories combine to a story about 6 individuals, rather than featuring them as a group. However, girls work together every time to protect what each of them likes.
.
Onwards ep. 40 the motive of “dreams” is depicted. Unlike Go!Pre, which is about pursuing one’s dream, this time is one step prior, namely figuring out one’s dream.
.
The story gradually deepened throughout the series course (stealing kirakiraru from sweets >> stealing them from hearts directly >> light VS darkness and staining peoples’ hearts). As ordered by the director, the girls shouldn’t start out with a strong sense of duty, but gradually extend their view. Thus the enemy’s scheme and abilities is revealed only little by little. They thought that middle-grade children could grow with the unfolding fictional world and thus better understand it.
.
Giulio (who outwardly hated sweets) was introduced as opposition to the Precures (who loved sweets). Giulio and Ciel were made twins to emphasize the “Daisuki - daikirai”-concept (someone loves a certain thing, another person loathes it).
The primal concept of “Daisuki - daikirai” evolved into a concept of “light - darkness”. In accordance to this Elysio and Glaive were created.
The battle started 100 years ago in Ichigozaka, so this time the final battle started there as well. The panic in episode 39 was requested, because episode 47 featured a world of nothingness.
.
Pekorin becoming a Cure was planned from the beginning. Tanaka imagined her to not remain in the fairy status! Pikario, though on his way to become a patissier, couldn’t do so because of his sleeping interval.
.
When Elysio debuted, Tanaka thought of him as final boss. Elysio and Noir were always thought to originally be one being.
.
There wouldn’t be a reasonable settlement between light and darkness, so “nothingness” came into play. Everyone has different likes and dislikes (even Noir), but true wickedness and sadness is a world of nothingness, because all individuality would be lost.
.
As requested by the director, there is no alternate world (magical land) in PreÀLa, but a single one where everyone falls under the same fundamental values (like and dislike for certain things, loved and detested people, being influenced by each other).
Final episode is baton touch episode, but as an epilogue it also serves as the conclusion and sums up what they think PreÀLa has turned out throughout its past year run.
Now comes a corner in which we learn more about the making of such an epic!
Both creators, Jin Tanaka and Yuu Kaminoki, grew fond of the characters and are sad to say goodbye.
Initially, it was hard to integrate the sweets motive into both everyday segment AND battle segment. It was director Kaizawa's idea that one could convey his or her feelings to another person through making sweets. They wanted the protagonists to deliberately choose to fight for the sweets they make everyday, thus the concept became “Kirakiraru is stolen and retrieved”. The granular depiction of feelings as kirakiraru helped the audience to better understand the concept of “Daisuki” (one’s liking or fondness).
.
Recent fighting style (no hand-to-hand combat) meant “hitting the opponent with one’s feelings”.
.
While Go!Pre allowed the audience to admire princesses, PreÀLa focused on each girl’s individual character traits to allow children to become something independent. To enhance individuality they added the animal features.
.
They requested different people to handle each character’s episodes. Jin Tanaka did Akira/Chocolat, because he never wrote a character like her (a neutral and cool Onee-san who could be admired by children -and by adult bifauxnen fans, I must add-).
.
Stories came out short due to the final 1-minute-cooking segment, but they always put effort to tell the stories they wanted to convey.
.
They wanted the audience to root for individual/single characters, not the group itself. Thus the girls’ individual motives and traits were decided on, and eventually their character songs are composed accordingly. It is particularly the things they like most (“daisuki”) what’d emphasize their individuality.
The weekly single stories combine to a story about 6 individuals, rather than featuring them as a group. However, girls work together every time to protect what each of them likes.
.
Onwards ep. 40 the motive of “dreams” is depicted. Unlike Go!Pre, which is about pursuing one’s dream, this time is one step prior, namely figuring out one’s dream.
.
The story gradually deepened throughout the series course (stealing kirakiraru from sweets >> stealing them from hearts directly >> light VS darkness and staining peoples’ hearts). As ordered by the director, the girls shouldn’t start out with a strong sense of duty, but gradually extend their view. Thus the enemy’s scheme and abilities is revealed only little by little. They thought that middle-grade children could grow with the unfolding fictional world and thus better understand it.
.
Giulio (who outwardly hated sweets) was introduced as opposition to the Precures (who loved sweets). Giulio and Ciel were made twins to emphasize the “Daisuki - daikirai”-concept (someone loves a certain thing, another person loathes it).
The primal concept of “Daisuki - daikirai” evolved into a concept of “light - darkness”. In accordance to this Elysio and Glaive were created.
The battle started 100 years ago in Ichigozaka, so this time the final battle started there as well. The panic in episode 39 was requested, because episode 47 featured a world of nothingness.
.
Pekorin becoming a Cure was planned from the beginning. Tanaka imagined her to not remain in the fairy status! Pikario, though on his way to become a patissier, couldn’t do so because of his sleeping interval.
.
When Elysio debuted, Tanaka thought of him as final boss. Elysio and Noir were always thought to originally be one being.
.
There wouldn’t be a reasonable settlement between light and darkness, so “nothingness” came into play. Everyone has different likes and dislikes (even Noir), but true wickedness and sadness is a world of nothingness, because all individuality would be lost.
.
As requested by the director, there is no alternate world (magical land) in PreÀLa, but a single one where everyone falls under the same fundamental values (like and dislike for certain things, loved and detested people, being influenced by each other).
Final episode is baton touch episode, but as an epilogue it also serves as the conclusion and sums up what they think PreÀLa has turned out throughout its past year run.
On how Shades of Dawning will continue... Still halfway across the Fourth Story and gleaning inspiration left and right. One thing for sure is that all courtiers and socialites present would wear Remembrance Cockades that look like Tudor roses, but made of satin ribbons, at the soirée. Also, AzenZone's Suite review is inspiring me to know Ako and Ellen far better... (as well as those Trio de Major scenes, which will have an element of hilarity) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK4zC8mecK4 The canonical KKPCàlM series may be over, but my epic inspired by it is not at all!
On Hugtto Precure: Now we know that Homare will get her powers in Ep 5 (waiting in the wings for March), while Saaya will already get her angelic wings in Ep 2.
The Star of Power and the Prince of Strength. The old guard and the new. Passing the bâton, or the torch, or whatever... Anyone else ready, Freddie?
The Star of Power and the Prince of Strength. The old guard and the new. Passing the bâton, or the torch, or whatever... Anyone else ready, Freddie?
All's well that ends well, right?
