Episode 12
L'ARRIVÉE DE LULU AMOUR
In the previous episode, Charalit was defeated by the Pretty Cures.
Post-defeat, he has become a YouTuber:
I am also incredibly relieved that Charalit was not turned into a tree, it was just part of the visuals. (Actually
apparently he is still part of Cryasse Corporation since he has yet to
be terminated, which is a surprising to say the least.)
Fortunately, Harry happens to have a popcorn machine. With their popcorn ready, they all sit down to watch a film called The Dread Visitor – Hana insisted on watching a horror movie. There are some pretty interesting reactions to the horror film.
Turns out Homare can’t cope with horror films.
Since the horror film is a bit much, they decide to put something else on instead. However, they only have the Dread Visitor series with then.Everyone ends up going outside.
As it turns out, the world Harry and Hugtan are from is actually from
the girls’ distant future. This is why he didn’t want to share much
because he was afraid if he changed the past too much, there would be
consequences in the future. He says the future they are from is quite
some time away, which is why he was comfortable with opening up to them.
And it was truly such a tragic thing to hear how the Cryasse Corporation
destroyed their world, forcing Harry to look for a way to protect
Hugtan and travel back into time, barely escaping with their lives. He
didn’t expect to have traveled so far into the past though, which is
quite interesting given the current “form” of the said evil
corporation.
Initially Harry believed the bigger the
team, the better, thinking they would have a higher rate beating the
enemy. But the girls’ inner strength showed him one strength isn’t about
numbers, but character, individuality, differences, when those
strengths combined, an unbelievable power is born, producing a beautiful
melody. And having met the girls, he has a lot more hope they will be
able to open the way to a bright new future, and he thanks them for it.
One of the things cherishes the most, were the peaceful memories of the
world he loves so much. (Wow I just realized this is going to mess
us all up at the end of the series, since Harry and Hugtan are bound to
return to the future. Crap, I can already see myself bawling about it. I
am not emotionally prepared for this.)
Outside, Harry reveals to the girls that he and Hugtan came from a world
in the future. He came into the past in order to flee from the Cryasse
Corporation, and he is confident that PreCured can prevent that bad
future from coming to pass.
He thought they would need four members of a PreCure team, but he has been proven wrong. The girls may play different music, but it makes a beautiful melody when they play together.
Hana and Saaya’s reactions to Harry’s words are very amusing. However, their conversation gets cut short.
He thought they would need four members of a PreCure team, but he has been proven wrong. The girls may play different music, but it makes a beautiful melody when they play together.
Hana and Saaya’s reactions to Harry’s words are very amusing. However, their conversation gets cut short.
Also, Harry told his backstory... and the Future hypothesis is confirmed and canonised!!
Of course the important part Harry revealed more of his and Hug-tan's backstory to the girls and they came from the future
(as for the origins of Cryasse, we'll have to wait till winter, as usual).
Throughout the episode, Papple was struggling to gather toge-power. She eventually gathered enough... yadda yadda yadda (the victim du jour was a )... transformation... This time, however, they have new techniques to go along with the power-up they received in the previous episode.
I am especially thrilled to see after last week’s episode, we are finally starting to see the cadres be
more proactive. Papple shows yet again she is not someone to
underestimated, especially when she’s pissed off. She packed the girls a
bit of a punch today, but was unable to successfully take them down,
especially with their new power upgrade.
Now, I am scared.
Finally, we end the episode with a surprise.
Lulu on the other-hand, is the one who
really kicked things up the notch. She is no longer sitting int he
office, she took it upon herself to investigate further, and positioned
herself by attacking Hana’s mother, and placing a spell of a sort on her
to enable her to be a guest living in their household for a bit. It was
quite a stark turn, which was quite fitting to say the least
considering the girls were previously watching horror movies, but now
the real horror has just begun. Lulu will not only be living in Hana’s
house to constantly observe her, but she will also be transferring to
their school. She is in for a surprise with the way Hana is certainly
going to welcome her with open arms, but will that be enough to start
thinking about switching sides? It’s a bit early for that, so I suspect
if anything, Lulu may only be living at Hana’s place for one episode. It
will be very intersting if she stays any longer than that though.
Nothing is scarier than having the enemy live in your own house,
especially since it’s a place where Hana feels the most comfortable to
be vulnerable, in front of her mother no less. Lulu can mess her up big
time by having her mother turn her back on her, which would be pretty
damn dark for a precure series.
Overall, it felt like a setup episode with only Harry's backstory and Lulu to infiltrate Hana's home to learn more about the Precures which are vital to the main plot.
MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
Ah, brainwashing.
The brainwashing in Avatar: The Last Airbender did not differ a lot from hypnotism in A Series of Unfortunate Events, or the Ludovico method in A Clockwork Orange (which inspired both methods): the victim lapses into the trance on cue ("Lake Laogai", "inordinate", and Beethoven's Ninth / An die Freude; respectively), the cue having been given to the victim under physical and/or psychological torture.
The Ludovico technique is a form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is injected with nausea-inducing drugs while watching graphically violent films, eventually conditioning him to become severely ill at the mere thought of violence. As an unintended consequence, the soundtrack to one of the films, An die Freude (Beethoven's Ninth, also the anthem to the European Union) renders Alex unable to enjoy his beloved classical music as before.
The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated to a group of VIPs, who watch as Alex collapses before a bully and abases himself before a scantily clad young woman whose presence has aroused his predatory sexual inclinations. Although the prison chaplain accuses the state of stripping Alex of free will, the government officials on the scene are pleased with the results and Alex is released from prison.
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the victims of A Clockwork Orange-reminiscent brainwashing have their pupils dilate, nearly enveloping the iris.
In the Avatarverse, the technique of brainwashing allowed the Dai Li (the Praetorian Guard/Gestapo of the Earth Kingdom) to change attitudes, alter beliefs, augment personalities, and erase an individual's memories. The main reason for the use of brainwashing methods was to maintain cultural order and to prevent anyone from mentioning the Hundred Year War.
Process
The Dai Li often brought victims to their secret headquarters beneath the surface of Lake Laogai where they would proceed to brainwash them. During the process of brainwashing, agents would repeatedly recite anything they wished for the victims to believe. When the Dai Li were brainwashing Jet, they used a dim lantern which revolved on a rail slowly around the agent brainwashing him while stone cuffs prevented him from moving his arms, legs, and head. The agent repeated phrases to assure Jet he was safe, and that there was no war within the walls. In the case of brainwashing the young women, the women would simultaneously repeat the words of a single agent. The process could also give the subject a secondary task, to be accomplished after saying the trigger-phrase "The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai." Long Feng used this code phrase on both Jet and the Joo Dees.Effect
When brainwashed, people are tricked into believing anything the brainwasher states. The victim forgets any information the brainwasher wishes to erase from their mind. Long Feng (supreme commander of the Dai Li) could also activate the subject's secondary task with the code phrase. When this was done, the subject entered a trance state and answered the code with "I am honoured to accept his invitation."
Cures
There are only two known methods of curing brainwashing.Healing
The waterbending technique of healing has been known to be capable of bringing a subject out of their hypnotic state.Familiar surroundings
Oftentimes, familiar surroundings are able to slowly regenerate the memory of a brainwashed victim or even completely reverse the effects of brainwashing. The same can be said for spoken reminders.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To return to Lulu and Mrs. Nono...
Those The Matrix-esque number cascades (anyone else up for the Lulu Fembot theory?), actually called Matrix Raining Code, added an extra vibe to the fact that brainwashing in this universe is painful.The dark stranger's book of the maiden fighting darkness:
And now this is where things get real interesting, because Harry knew about the Melody Sword, but never expected it to have changed forms. It sounds to me, the story which the mysterious book the ‘handsome-no-name’ carries seems to be an oracle that shares the tale of the future, and that very story will change based on the course of actions the girls take, starting with the Melody Rod itself.
Next time, their school gets a new transfer student.
