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? ;)

THE KIRAKIRA À LA MODE FILMS

The best things to see on this poster are Akira before the Arc de Triomphe and Yukari before the Tour Eiffel...

KiraKira ☆ à la Mode: Crisply! The Memory of Millefeuille! is the 23rd Pretty Cure film produced by Toei Animation. The director for the film is Yutaka Tsuchida, and the screenplay is by Isao Murayama.
Besides the main feature, there is an animated short called Petits ☆ Dream Stars! Let’s・La・Cookin’? Showtime! as well.
I’d recommend watching the film before reading this post, as I want to discuss some events that could be considered spoilers. Though some of these were featured when the TV series’ opening credits were previewing the film, but I figure sticking a spoiler warning here is probably appropriate.

Now for the main feature, KiraKira ☆ à la Mode: Crisply! The Memory of Millefeuille!
In this film, the pâtisserie Cures travel to Paris in order to participate in a famous sweets contest. However, Ciel ends up losing her ability to make sweets after an encounter with an evil whisk.
Meanwhile, Ciel’s mentor, Jean-Pierre Silberstein (that Germanic surname implies a Lorrainian background, from eastern France at the German border) is pursuing the creation of the Ultimate Sweet, together with the help of a ghost pixie (yousei), in the shape of a green-haired chef doll, named Cook. 

Cure Parfait is the star of the show here

As you may be able to guess, Ciel is pretty much the star of the show here, but the other Cures are more or less relegated to supporting roles. The pâtisserie Cures are already a fairly sizeable group, and then you have a cameo appearance as well. Not everyone is going to be able to get equal billing in the film’s runtime.

Let’s talk a little about a couple of important characters. Presumably anyone choosing to watch this film will already be familiar with the pâtisserie Cures, so I won’t really talk too much about them.

Jean-Pierre Silberstein

Jean-Pierre is Ciel’s mentor, and who had a brief appearance in the TV series from what I can recall. Here, we get to see exactly what he is like, and it turns out he is eccentric. He can also be quite harsh towards Ciel, especially with her cooking abilities being diminished.

The ghost yousei, Cook

Another important character in this film is Cook. She is a ghost pixie – because apparently we needed more than one of those. Though the Elder insists that he’s not a ghost…
She is very insistent on Jean-Pierre completing the Ultimate Sweet, though it seems she cares little for kira-kiraru.

Anyone else got a craving for lobster thermidor?

The pâtisserie Cures end up acquiring animal forms

As tends to be the case for the Pretty Cure films, there is a part where the antagonist is able to get one up on the heroines. That happens in this film, though that whole sequence might just be one of the silliest examples of a villain getting the upper hand.
It begins with the enemy analysing each of the Cures, and using magic to change their forms to make them easier to deal with. Well, they can’t quite get a handle on Yukari, which amused me quite a bit.
Actually, Yukari stole the show for me. She gets some of the best lines, and she just seems to take almost everything in her stride. Yukari was already my favourite character --alongside Akira-- to begin with, so perhaps I’m just biased here.

This is about the closest the film comes to any yuri

Though KiraKira ☆ à la Mode gave us the prominent pairing of Yukari and Akira (a LEGENDARY OTP), don’t expect to see any of that in this film. In fact, there’s maybe a couple of minor moments starring Ciel, but you’d have to stick to the TV series for the more prominent yuri.
I didn’t really expect all that much, to be honest. If if Yukari or Akira had been the central character, perhaps the case would have been different. But this is Ciel’s film, and Bilberry is nowhere to be seen (ditto Giulio, for that matter).

When it comes down to it, KiraKira ☆ à la Mode: Crisply! The Memory of Millefeuille! feels like just another good episode of the TV series, but just a bit longer. I enjoyed watching it, though it’s not my favourite PreCure film.
Of course, feeling like a feature-length episode of the TV series does mean that there’s not much in the way of physical combat.

I’ve already mentioned how some Cures only serve a supporting role in this film. Fans of Ciel will certainly find enjoyment here, but don’t expect too much from any of the others.
I will say that it might just be worth checking out for the hilarity of the animal Cures alone, though. And it will certainly leave you with a craving for lobster thermidor with millefeuille for dessert!

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 Pretty Cure Dream Stars! is the 22nd animated film in the Pretty Cure franchise, and the successor to the All Stars films. It was first released in Japanese theatres on March 18th 2017, not too long after KiraKira ☆ à la Mode had started airing. This is the first film in the PreCure franchise to feature the KiraKira à la Mode Cures.

If you’ve watched any other PreCure film before, you’ll probably be familiar with one of the Cures and/or yousei directly addressing the audience at the beginning (as if we were watching Henry V!). Dream Stars! takes those fourth wall shenanigans even further, and actually has characters appear “on stage” as it were to ask for the audience’s help. This happens right in the middle of a couple of scenes.
Whilst KiraKira ☆ à la Mode has toned down the fights, Dream Stars! actually sticks with the more typical physical fistfights. The inevitable fight against big bad Samidare might just be my favourite within the film, but the other fight scenes were pretty enjoyable as well.

Yui Nanase meets Akira Kenjo

During the course of the film Yukari and Akira go to Go! Princess‘s Noble Academy. As you might expect, some silliness ensues – the screenshots above providing an example of that.

Yukari has a pretty interesting reaction towards Akira’s approach.

I found that Dream Stars! doesn’t really manage to deliver the same hype as the first All Stars films did. Having the Cures join a fight accompanied by their theme tunes will probably never be topped.

When it comes down to it, though, it is just another PreCure film. Pretty much just an extended standalone episode,, and if you enjoyed the TV series than you’ll probably get some entertainment out of this film as well. I did highlight some things that I wasn’t keen on, but overall I did enjoy watching Dream Stars!.

PS. Our OTPs of last continuities are BACK for the next All Stars film, All Stars Memories!!! In the opening theme of today's Star*Twinkle episode, we got to see them getting up to shenanigans and boy, didn't they deliver!

Amour holding Ma Chérie in a bridal carry - like, OVER THE THRESHOLD style!

Amour and Ma Chérie attack, shoulder to shoulder

Saaya meets Akira

There is some silliness to be found with the three different teams meeting up. We get some Saaya x Akira kabedon – Akira did the same thing to Yui Nanase at Noble Academy in Dream Stars!, so perhaps Toei intend for it to be something of a running gag. And Yukari still doesn't give a hoot about her significant other's penchant for wall-pinning flirtation!

ALL TOGETHER NOW...

Hugtto! Pretty Cure - Episode 36+37
My Own Review

ALL TOGETHER NOW...

Episode thirty-six of Hugtto! is one that I have been eagerly anticipating. The reason for is quite simply the return of a few familiar faces that we haven’t seen for a little while...

Surprise, it’s the KiraPâti girls!

Even before the usual introduction, Trauma is attacking the PreCures – no, not Hugtto ones, but KiraKira à la Mode girls. Amusingly, the usual introduction has assurance for the viewers that, yes, we are still watching Hugtto!

They appear to have picked up from the finale of Kirakira! à la Mode: Akira is a med student with a grown ponytail, Yukari keeps her trenchcoat and bobbed hairstyle, and Aoi is still going solo as an 80s-style rockstar...

Our story start with Dr Trauma wearing a large robo-suit and attacking Team Kirakira à la Mode who are now young adults but a beam from Dr Trauma shot them and turning them back into teenagers again! So this pic is of them in their twenties - once rejuvenated five years or so... even Akira's ponytail shrinks, as does Aoi's, while Yukari grows her hair back. Their respective clothes ensembles, however, remain unchanged... only that they are now a little oversized for their adolescent bodies!



At the same time, Team Hugtto were hanging out at Harry's shop and everyone had a friendship bracelet. Hug-tan sense something wrong and a portal was created by her bringing Team Kirakira à la Mode to their world.




How come Akira and Aoi get nearly null lebensraum in this scene? Yukari, however, fares a little better...



Dr Trauma followed them also but Team Mahou Tsukai also came to the girls' aid. However Dr Trauma fired the same beam at Mirai and Riko, turning them back to teens. The three teams wasted no time and transform to battle. (Though it was funny that Yukari mentioned that their clothes did not fit their current teenage bodies and Kotoha used a magic spell to their own season casual clothes). As you can see here, their clothes are the same ones they wore as 20-somethings, but the adolescent Cures have grown a little small for them!

• Fountain of Youth: The Kirakira à la Mode girls being sent into the Hugtto universe allows them to reappear as teenagers.
• Skewed Priorities: Yukari refuses to fight Dr. Trauma until she gets new clothing - they're still wearing their adult clothing.

Hugtan senses the danger that the KiraKira à la Mode Cures face, so she warps them to her location. Unfortunately, Doctor Trauma follows them. Doctor Trauma uses a de-aging ray to make the girls slightly younger – because changing the stock transformation footage would take time and effort. Anyway, this PreCure bargain sale means time for transformations.

The united PreCures fight against Trauma, and the fight ends in an own goal, as it were.

EXIT STAGE LEFT...!
The three teams battled Dr. Trauma and managed to damage Dr. Trauma's suit. However he used the strange beam on himself and restore all the damages making him back at full health. But a screw came off and his suit fall apart! He realised that he went too far ahead of his restoration and retreated.


Before the battle, Doctor Trauma attacked the Magic World and Mount Ichigo, leaving both suspended in time. In an attempt to put a halt to any more of that, the gathered Cures split into two groups to seek out any other PreCures as reinforcements.



After the battle, Team Kirakira à la Mode and Team Mahou Tsukai explained that Dr Trauma has earlier invaded their worlds and took all the Asu power from their worlds and rendering everyone trapped in time.



The girls split into two groups hoping to find the other Precure teams before it get worse.

 Hana and Saaya joined Team Kirakira à la Mode... and met Bumbee who has not eaten for three days. Bumbee explained that he joined Crisis as an employer but was harassed by his fellow colleagues. He even mentioned that Dr Trauma is creating a sinister device in his lab.




Homare, Lulu, and Emiru joined Team Mahou Tsukai and met Love/Cure Peach while at the same time, Nozomi/Cure Dream met up the KiraPâti staff...


Lulu doing "We Are the Robots" :D 






Suddenly Dr. Trauma reappeared, fired the strange beam all over the prefecture, and froze everyone in time. The girls survived due to creating barriers however Team Go! Princess, Happiness Charge, Splash Star, and Yes! Five Gogo are trapped in time.


WTFudge... Don't tell me that all the other (ie, all the something better) members of Yes! 5 have been affected...


As well as everyone at Noble Academy... (shudders)




I am suggesting that Dr. Trauma probably went to certain "fix points" in time where the previous teams were in their prime but then why did he went after Team Kirakira à la Mode, who are adults now? Too many questions with too little answers! 
It was also nice to see that Urara praised Saaya's acting and was heavily inspired by her (Which make sense as Urara is also an adolescent actress like Saaya); and poor Bumbee is still the butt joke of an evil organization. Love on the other hand taught Lulu how to do the We are the Robots dance...

That’s where this episode ends, and what an episode it was. Seeing so many PreCure groups gather together outside of the films is already hype-worthy, but the whole thing is also tied together with Doctor Trauma attacking the respective locations the various continuities and teams are based in.

***************************************

The episode starts with the continued battle against Doctor Trauma. The Hugtto Cures use their finishing move against him, but he gets back. They prevent his ability to rewind time, but the doctor doesn’t give up that easily.






LOL Aoi's retreating face... she is my favourite blue Cure and there are many reasons why...






Gondor calls for aid...

 Team Hugtto tried to defeat Dr Trauma with Cheerful Style and damaged his time reverse device. 









How come they have made it to ... London? Or is that Ichigozaka?




But Dr Trauma absorbed all the Asu power and become an orb like creature; created a black hole and engulfed all the girls leaving the mascots behind.
Trauma is taken down again, but this only results in him going berserk. The gathered Cures are pulled into what I assume is just pure toge-power – the mascots manage to get to safety beforehand.
All the Cures revert back to their normal selves and are just stuck in a void. 
Everyone else starts cheering as well, and the Cures are released and ready to fight once more.




No. I can't take it - even Akira and Yukari are captured - Ciel has reverted to Kirarin...



Hug-tan started calling out the girls and the others followed, to ensure the Cures could hear the mascots' calling. The others struggle to get up and with enough will power, they broke free and transformed again.


How come Akira's attire shifted from intern to garçon when she temporarily was changed back to muggle form from Chocolat? Ditto Yukari's, including her hair growth... Right. The Kotozume heiress asked for new ensembles before they could henshin and battle (facepalms)!

An army of theenders await

The Cures’ next task is simple: defeat an army. They are totally outnumbered, but things start to get really good as reinforcements arrive.

Cure Scarlet from Go! Princess 








One by one, the other groups of Pretty Cures start arriving to join their allies in the fight. I’ll just sum it up with this screenshot:



Dr Trauma created an endless amount of theenders that surrounded the girls. However Team Go! Princess arrived to clear a path and the various teams who was freed from the time freeze also appeared to aid them. (Although Harry is wondering did Hug-tan brought the other teams here?)

So what follows is a battle of epic proportions. I would love to screenshot every single moment of it and share it here, but I’ll hold back a bit and just choose some of my highlights.





Team Frozen


Team Firmament


Team EnGarde




Cure Ace, Cure Moonlight, Cure Chocolat, & Cure Macaron








Cure Scarlet, Cure Ma Chérie, Cure Beat, Cure Amour & Cure Passion

All the Precures assembled and began fighting back! (This part is totally fan service to the Extreme! Words has no little to describe on how crazy and awesome the team up fights were!)

OK, that was pretty much most of the battle anyway – so much for holding back.
After those excellent scenes of all of Pretty Cures fighting their foes, they launch an attack on Trauma. He goes down, but soon gets back up with one final form.


Doctor Trauma’s final form

Dr Trauma is weakened by the Cures and he grew even bigger than the Earth itself. 



With the words of encouragement from all the other PreCure groups, a new power springs forth.




Everyone gave Team Hugtto a boost and their friendship bracelets become the new Mirai Bracelets!



Much like a Spirit Bomb, everyone offers their support for the final attack to defeat Doctor Trauma. Oh, and when I say everyone…


Pekorine is back...




This scene with the Kiryuu twins made my lose my wits – watch Splash Star to learn more about these two





Ser Giulio - I totally adore the uniform and cravat he gets to wear and wish Ciel-Parfait could wear a matching one (twin siblings should deserve that right...)


Oh... Yui Nanase, Regina, Bilberry, Otokichi... EVERYONE who is something is rooting for them!!


Some familiar faces – I like how Bilberry manages to be tsundere even in a still shot. Also got a lot of love for Regina on the right there!


Team Hugtto used their new attack-Precure All For You and everyone including a few surprises cameos dealt the final blow to Dr Trauma. 

He then saw a past self looking at a new activated Lulu. Lulu told Dr Trauma to let go of the past and he went off peacefully...






Episode 37 left it really unclear to me as to where George stands after all of this. It looks as though he has come to accept that time cannot be stopped, like… what the frick going on now? Are you telling me he’s actually done? That this fight made him magically realize that his approach is wrong? If so, what an awful cop-out.


George was speechless by the power of the Precures and soon later, everyone returned back to their own time as Team Hugtto were glad to meet their seniors...


Seems like Harry's new favourite place to perch is Homare's head!





I mean everyone. Doctor Trauma is blasted by PreCure All For You, and he is finally defeated. He gets a small, somewhat touching scene with Lulu as a send off. Time begins to flow again in the affected areas, and everyone returns to their proper places.

That brings this episode to an end, and whew, what an excellent episode. So it turns out that the best All Stars film is actually episodes 36 and 37 of Hugtto!.
This episode even acknowledged characters that are generally left out of the usual crossover films, which even invoked an actual vocal reaction from me. It’s a rare thing that can do that to me.

The 15th anniversary celebration for PreCure has been absolutely brilliant, though these two recent episodes have certainly set a very high bar for the upcoming Hugtto! film – which we saw a preview of during the opening credits.

It was such a brilliant feeling seeing all the Cures in action together. Before this episode, none of the crossover films ever really managed to capture the same hype as the first All Stars for me. These two episodes – this one in particular – did manage to do that. It’s not even one of the actual films.
It’s Pretty Cures doing what Pretty Cures do best, and I’ll probably be riding the wave of the hype for quite a while.

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
First things first, I must profusely apologise to any larvae of any stages and/or adolescents of any gender in the readership who support the viewpoints of Duns Scotus - a Scottish Catholic scholar whose reputation and prestige dwindled post-Reformation on the British Isles. It is a shame that our common insult "dunce" should come from a once such distinguished medieval scholar. Therefore, I beg my pardon.
But first, I was and am ELATED by this episode crossover - seeing my OTP for last season and their successors for this season, as well as the canonical confirmation that all the towns of adventure and continuities share one single universe! Speaking of which, maybe Shades of Dawning is about to resume production --post-La Fée Verte, most surely; this month brings the release of the full uncut version of another Snow Queen fusion fic, this one the Enjoltaire version!
Lulu dancing We Are the Robots by Kraftwerk...
Dr. Trauma




A group of fan faves - my Kirakira à la Mode OTP alongside Moonlight and Ace - maybe a good ensemble team all of them together? Yuuri as the more ice-queen foil to Yukari and Aguri as the cadette but also the conscience of team...


Also Ellen-Beat and Towa-Scarlet with our Hugtto! OTP... what would the new name be? Quad Queen instead of Twin Love, surely (Emi would be Deacon, the blond... the others as members to Queen are up to you - like I can't decide on whether Towa or Ellen would be Freddie)!!








The Kiryuu sisters, Giulio... Yui Nanase, Regina, Bilberry, Otokichi... EVERYONE who is something is rooting for them!!



Also - how awkward is this to have this chat with your single poppa as he is breathing his last - remember when you gave me life, when you pushed my on button for the first time? There definitely is a Hamlet vibe around here.
I wish that Dr. Trauma had more character development other than being Lulu's creator before his demise. Like one or two scenes where he interact with Lulu and to understand his motivation in joining Crisis. His flashback scene didn't tell much other than he was happy to see Lulu activated for the first time and Lulu told him to let go of his past. (But it won't be over till the fat lady sings - so let's see if he returns for the series finale in midwinter!)
On the flip-side of things, this is and was a 15th anniversary special, and I fear I might acting too hasty because I am so riled up right now about the way they went about it. I think I should at least give it one more episode to see where they actually plan to go after this, and what actually became of George (not to mention Gelos is still in the mix of descending into madness). Since Ristle will be making his move again, it seems he’s trying to recruit some familiar faces, but I mean, obviously it’s not gonna pay off. The real question we should be asking ourselves at this point, is if we will be seeing development of Henri being lured to the dark side, because it’s something that has been quickly overshadowed over the past four weeks.



IN NEXT EPISODE (38):


38 is the Halloween Episode... but Ristle decided to recruit Daigan again to fill up the ranks. Until then, see you in the next post!