IN WHICH, FOR ONCE, THERE IS NO WHERE-ARE-THEY-NOW EPILOGUE

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 49
SERIES FINALE FINALE!!
My Own Review

IN WHICH, FOR ONCE, THERE IS NO WHERE-ARE-THEY-NOW EPILOGUE... OR IS THERE?

https://rorymuses.wordpress.com/2020/01/
https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/STPC49/Image_Gallery

Our story starts, as usual, before the Star Palace.

Yanyan is a bit cranky: I WANNA EAT DONUTS WITH PURUNCE!!

But her future in-laws stop her in her tracks, as they're trying to catch Fuwa. (Glad to see Purunce's mum and dad are still alive!)

Uff, that was exhausting... I'm done with catching Fuwa... Right, Crabby, we can have some of those donuts.

 As the Taurus and Scorpio Princesses (opposite signs!) sip their tea, they wonder if Fuwa shall regain her powers someday...

MEANWHILE ON RAINBOW...

Olivia sees that she can move about - free from her petrification.

Yuni?

Indeed, and she is the happiest of all the Rainbowians to see Olivia free again!

Thank you for everything you have done for us...

You are always welcome...

Even tears flow!

Ayewan shyly shows herself to the Rainbowians...

 ...stands before their leader...

...and asks for her forgiveness.

Olivia and Yuni accept Ayewan's apology.


MEANWHILE ON SAMAAN...

https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/STPC49/Image_Gallery

MEANWHILE ON EARTH...

https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/STPC49/Image_Gallery


FIVE YEARS LATER...

Elena interpreta lo que dice la presidenta de EE.UU. al japonés.



MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
RAINBOW IS FREE!! And clan leader old Deuterono... I mean, Olivia has forgiven both Yuni and Ayewan - in one last masterful Ayuni crowning moment, Yuni interceded for our cyclopette like Victoria for Grizabella! Or maybe the mewsical is still on my mind since a fortnight ago (Check out my Cats review on this blog!) The where-are-they-now epilogue confirmed how much I was waiting for my OTP of this season to tie up loose ends as adults... (So Soluna is not confirmed canon - while Ayuni is at least canonically te-e-e-eased!!)
FUYUKI KAGUYA AND THE MASK OF VAMPIRISM: Seriously, any Phantom Blood spectator has trembled for this statesman when he held the 'raider's mask in hand. --- But thankfully it was Mr. Hoshino who put it on and made for a less threatening epilogue villain! (Sighs in relief)
LALA REFORMING THE SYSTEM ON SAMAAN: This is what happens when people give power to AIs. The latter disregard the Three Laws of Robotics:

• A robot may not injure a human or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm
• A robot must obey the orders given it by humans except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
• A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws

And thus, dystopia inevitably ensues.
The future needs, also in this flesh universe, to put the human in humane. And the master lesson is conveyed masterfully.

IN WHICH STAR*TWINKLE IS REVIEWED

FIRST THINGS FIRST, WATCH THIS VIDEO ON FREE WILL AND WELL-INTENTIONED EXTREMISM AMONG THE STAR PRINCESSES!!


Star ☆ Twinkle is the sixteenth instalment of Toei’s Pretty Cure franchise, and the first series released in the Reiwa period. This season of PrettyCure has forty-nine episodes.
The director was Hiroaki Miyamoto, it was produced by Akari Yanagawa and the writer was Isao Murayama.
The show started airing on the 3rd of February 2019, and ended otherwise 26th of January, 2020.

Star ☆ Twinkle‘s story starts with a place called the Star Palace being attacked by a group known as the KNotraiders. Aliens Lala and Purunce take their pet MacGuffin Fuwa to our own green Earth, where they seek out someone to become a Pretty Cure and revive the Star Palace.

That’s when they meet Hikaru Hoshina, Elena Amamiya-Rivera, and Madoka Kaguya, and give each of these maidens a Star Colour Pendant and Star Colour Pen. Hikaru transforms into Cure Star, Elena AKA Nena into the Cure Soleil, and Madoka into Cure Selene; and Lala is soon joined by other allies as they fight the 'raiders in order to revive the twelve scattered Star Princesses.

The main cast is made up of four girls, at least at first. First is Hikaru Hoshina, who transforms into Cure Star. She pretty much loves everything to do with space. As far as shocking pink Cures go, Hikaru is a pretty good one, the rare example of a book-smart AND extroverted shoujo centre-stage-on-the-poster lead heroine. At first, her stubbornness and tendency to act on her intuition is a direct contrast to Lala’s logic, but soon the pair become inseparable.

Next, we have the first alien Cure (extraterrestrial as opposed to ultraterrestrial) introduced in the franchise. Lala Hagoromo comes from the planet Samaan, where everyone tends to take a far more logical approach to things. As proven by how frequently she confides in her starship AI when she is a fish out of water here on Tell-Us! This rationality causes some initial tension between herself and Hikaru, but they smooth things out in the end.

Another first is Elena "Nena" Amamiya-Rivera: the first dark-skinned Cure or Pretty Cure. She is Hispanoasian: half-Mexican, half-Japanese (meaning that the only Spanish Cure in canon so far is based upon a loathly blood sport!! RARGH!!!). Possesses incredible athletic skills and is arguably the most selfless character of the cast. That probably stems from being the eldest sibling of a big family. Elena is also known as the sun of Mihoshi Secondary School.

The fourth member is Madoka Kaguya. If Elena is the sun, then Madoka is the moon of Mihoshi Secondary School. She possesses many talents, with archery, piano, polyglossy, economics, and ikebana (flower arrangement) just being a few. That is reflective of her upbringing in her strict upper-class family.

For long time PrettyCure fans, it will come as no surprise to learn that the main cast grows by one over the course of the series. Arguably the fifth addition to the team is the most interesting, and not just because she is another alien.

Yuuuu-ni!! Yuu-ni!! 

PS: Did she like the Cats musical?

YUNI: Grizabella hugged close, Mr. Mistoffeles and Skimbleshanks on the brain (have to admit that their songs are catchy! not to mention I see myself in Misto as the Blue Cat and in Skimble as Bakenyan!). THE CAT ON THE RAILWAY TRAIN!! But nevertheless enjoyed it all, all the musical numbers and both the heroes and the bad guys. Ayewan and I even hugged and were this close to joining lips when MacCavity got... --all right, my optic friend, you said give the readership no spoilers--! Now what is this Lemizerable you mentioned that was shot by the same film team?

The thing is, with Star ☆ Twinkle‘s main cast, is that Hikaru, Lala, and ESPECIALLY the fifth addition to team kind of steal the show. At times, Elena and Madoka feel like little more than extras. They have their episodes where they debut as Cure Soleil and Cure Selene respectively, but then there isn’t all that much to do around the middle of the season as the fifth Cure steals the spotlight.
This is remedied as the season moves towards its end, as Elena and Madoka both get multiple opportunities to shine in the second half of the season, and they even help each other to grow as characters.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a season/continuity of PrettyCure without its female characters getting particularly close to each other. First and foremost is Hikaru and Lala (Hikala), but Elena and Madoka (Soluna) get a bit of that towards the end of the season as well. There’s also some notable moments between the Cures and some of their enemies – pay attention to the fifth Cure and the cyclop girl in particular.

Being an entry in the PrettyCure franchise, there are some typical things to expect. The usual monster of the week formula is in place, though there are a couple of different approaches to it – sometimes PreCures will fight a KNottrigger (ie a person who has been triggered and subsequently seized over by the 'raiders), other times it will be an enemy who powers up their weapon with twisted imagination... and there are occasions when they’ll be fighting groups of KNotraiders.
Stock footage is also a given for magical girl warriors, and it seems that some feel that the show might rely on it a little too much. It does make the fights that forego the stock footage have more impact, though.

Of course, there’s also the transformation sequence. Notable in that this time around, the Cures themselves actually sing during the transformation. It is a great tune, and it is used to great effect at the end of the season.

On that note, when Star ☆ Twinkle wants to do emotional scenes, it does them fantastically well. It may be a middle-graders’ show, but there are scenes in this season that easily put shows for older viewers to shame. 

The antagonists in this show are certainly an interesting bunch. They, too, get their moment to shine in the spotlight, which gives some insight into their motivations (ranging from aesthetic discrimination to genocide and a childhood in squalour). Also, at least one of them isn’t what they seem at first.

With a strong space theme running throughout the season, Star ☆ Twinkle definitely plays up some sci-fi tropes when given the opportunity. This isn’t the first PrettyCure season to involve outer space, but it certainly is the one that uses the theme best.

Star ☆ Twinkle actually has quite a bit in common with Maho Girls. It starts with a girl from Earth (Mirai/Hikaru) meeting a girl not from Earth (Riko/Lala). They travel to different locations together (Magic dimension/different planets) whilst carrying out their duties as a PreCure battle couple.
There are even some strong similarities with its endings.

As a season or continuity, the strong sci-fi theme running throughout helps to make this season stand out, even if everything else is pretty typical for the franchise.
But, after celebrating the fifteenth anniversary with Hugtto!, it was inevitable things were going to a little more standard – doesn’t detract from Star ☆  Twinkle still being a really fun time, though.

Score: 8/10
Star ☆ Twinkle is a great entry into the PrettyCure franchise. It does have elements that could have been improved on, but ultimately it leaves behind a lot of fun memories and some incredibly strong emotional scenes.

IN WHICH IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE SNAKE LADY SINGS

Star*Twinkle Pretty Cure - Episode 48 (Series Finale)
My Own Review

https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/STPC48/Image_Gallery

IN WHICH IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE SNAKE LADY SINGS

Well now, looks like I was wrong about episode forty-eight being the last one. So, here’s one more episode review of Star ☆ Twinkle. Getting to this point involved a sacrifice, but things aren’t over just yet.

A good villain doesn’t stay down for long

In this episode, the Ophiuchus Princess comes back after what was supposed to be her defeat. There is little anyone can do as the thirteenth princess completes her ritual, and darkness consumes the entire universe.

the others can only look on as the Ophiuchus Princess returns

So it turns out what happened in the previous episode was not enough for peace to be brought back to the universe. This leaves the Ophiuchus Princess free to continue with her own plan, and nobody can stop her. A rare instance of an overlord/overlady antagonist actually being able to carry out their objective.

Even lost in darkness, Lala will find Hikaru

So all that’s left in the end is darkness, but perhaps there is a faint glimmer of hope. Also, Lala finding Hikaru in the darkness with those electric feelers – that’s such a great moment. Of course, the other girls are there as well, but I’m thinking of views from a Hikala perspective her.

Hikaru sings one last time

With this episode, it also becomes perhaps a little clearer as to why they opted to have the girls singing during the transformation theme. Their rendition of the transformation theme in the cold black void is beautiful. Usually it is such a happy, bouncy theme, but it works really well as a slower tune.

If the Ophiuchus Princess can make a comeback, so can PreCures

As anyone who was seen Symphogear can tell you, music is the perhaps the most powerful force in the universe. So much so, that our Cure company return in super forms ready to fight the Ophiuchus Princess.

There’s so many great moments in this fight

The all-PreCures vs. Princess Ophiuchus fight is absolutely superb. It looks so good, though it definitely needs to be seen in motion. Screenshots won’t do it justice, so you’ll either have to watch it yourself or just take my word for it. So good!
The end of the fight takes a cue from the Dragon Ball franchise, though that wouldn’t be the first time the PrettyCure franchise has done that.

Cure Milkyway will support Cure Star’s decision

After the battle, Cure Star has a choice to make. It is not an easy one, but the other girls are willing to support her regardless of what she goes through with.

Oh, so Star ☆ Twinkle is just going to stab me right through my heart, huh? Thanks…

If you feel that perhaps the end of this episode invokes certain events from towards the end of Mahou Girls (namely the leave-taking of muggleborn Mirai and mageborn Riko at the end of the series!), let me just say that Star ☆ Twinkle has the same writer. Man, they really want to make their audience shed tears with this episode, huh?

An utterly fantastic episode, that certainly invoked a range of mixed emotions. There was just so much great stuff going on here, and we still have one episode to go. Can’t help but feel we might be headed towards an ending very similar to Mahou Girls for the Hikala pairing, but I guess we’ll have to see.

Going by past seasons, it is likely that we’ll be seeing a very important debut in the next episode. Knowing that Aoi Yuuki voices the lead Cure is only making me look forward to Healin’ Good♡ even more.

Before that, though, we have one final episode of Star ☆ Twinkle (combining both the where-are-they-now epilogue and the segue into next season in one single 20-minute installment!), and I’ll have a review to write, as well as a serious think about how I’d rank this season among all the others.

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).