#particularly considering how the previous 4-issue arc begins and ends the same way

[daydreamerdrew]

back-up story to The Flash (1959) #310, as republished in Immortal Doctor Fate (1985) #3

[smallersocksx]

My Problems with the Pokémon Journeys Anime

Pokémon Journeys as an anime has divided the Pokémon community in so many ways but in particular last week’s episode has sparked a lot of debate and personally, I had mixed feelings about the end result. So, I thought I would write down my opinions on the Pokémon anime in its current state and comparing it to some of the previous anime.

I feel the need to say this: these are my opinions I am just as entitled to my opinions as you are to yours, so you don’t have to read this if you don’t want to. Secondly, this will probably be a long post but I’m going to split it into sections so it’s hopefully not too overwhelming.

But these feelings have been building up and up and I think I’ll feel better writing them all down and getting them off my chest to some extent.

Introduction:

So, I’ve essentially been a fan of Pokémon for as long as I can remember particularly watching the anime when I was very young. The anime didn’t really begin to stick with me though until around AG and DP in particular. The first Pokémon game, I played was DP which is why I have a particular fondness for that series and that cast of characters and Pokémon.

I didn’t watch the series as intently around the time of BW because I found Iris’ character rather annoying and I understand she developed and grew as the series went on but that initial characterization of her kind of ruined the series for me. But I did dip in and out of the series mostly for Ash’s Snivy.

My friend recommended that I watch the XY series and I fell in love with the cast and the storytelling that the series provided as it reminded me of DP. Sun and Moon was a good series as well providing fans with some of the most heart-breaking and tear-jerking episodes to date. (And Rowlet).

When they announced that Journeys was Ash travelling around the world instead of staying and travelling in a specific region, I’ll admit I was sceptical. To be honest, I kind of preferred the old formula particularly as I’m a creature of habit myself but I decided to give this new series a chance as the premise did sound interesting and there was the potential for Ash to reunite with some of his old travelling companions.

With the benefit of hindsight, I realise this was one of the problems: the series kind of relies heavily on the nostalgia provided by older fans.

The Premise:

The whole premise of Journeys was Ash and his new friend, Goh travelling the world and there lies one of the series biggest problems. For a series that is meant to be about travelling around the world, a bulk of the series has been set in Kanto in particular Vermillion City where Sakuragi/Cerise Lab is situated. Now that shouldn’t be a problem as Ash and Go need a place to stay and go home to. The problem is we are nearly 60 episodes into the series, they hardly seem to leave Vermillion City or Kanto for that matter.

I went through all the episode synopses released so far to see how many episodes Ash and Go travelled to an alternative region. In this case a visit to a different region only counts if Ash and Goh (and Chloe) visit the region therefore episode 32 wouldn’t count:

Johto – 2 episodes

Hoenn – 4 episodes

Sinnoh – 2 episodes

Unova – 2 episodes

Kalos – 2 episodes

Alola – 1 episode

Galar – 11 episodes

Arguably, as this is meant to a Gen 8 anime, its not particularly shocking that they have visited Galar the most especially as Ash hopes to battle Leon someday. Nevertheless, the initial premise and selling point of the Journeys series is travelling the world and yet only 2/5 of the series so far has been set outside of Vermillion City. They promised the world (no pun intended) and are kind of falling flat…

 Goh and his goal:

Now Goh is certainly a character that has divided the community some love him and some definitely hate him. Personally, I’m in the middle, I like Goh’s personality I thought his rational and logical personality made him a great counterbalance for Ash. The problem I have with him is: his goal, his rapid character development, and his status as a protagonist.

1)   His Goal:

Goh’s goal is to catch every Pokémon in existence and considering there over 800 Pokémon that is a lofty goal to begin with. Initially, I thought it was an interesting goal as we never had a character wanting to catch every Pokémon as there are some trainers in the anime universe who only specialise in a specific type, some who catch only cute Pokémon, some who only catch evolutionary lines etc. Therefore, I thought this was an interesting goal and wondered how they would execute its portrayal and there lies the problem…

Goh was named after the game Pokémon Go and is essentially being used as a walking advertisement for Pokémon Go and the Let’s Go series as his gimmick is throwing a Poke Ball at a random Pokémon which can get pretty old very fast. I honestly didn’t understand the need to create a character to promote these games as it has been 4 years since the release of Pokémon Go. Arguably, they could be trying to re-ignite the hype around Pokémon Go as after the initial excitement a lot of people stopped playing or uninstalled it as it was taking up a lot of space on their phone.

One of the things, I particularly love about the anime series is not only the human cast gaining character development but their Pokémon as well. Around the AG series, the writers really begun improving on giving each Pokémon their own unique personality traits as well as traits of their species. It gave the Pokémon more depth and made them memorable for example there’s Dawn’s prideful Piplup, Brock’s weird and wonderful Sudowoodoo who would salute every time he came out of his Poke Ball, Clemont’s gluttonous Chespin and Serena’s shy Eevee to later a confident Sylveon. The list could go on and on but I think you get the point. Therefore, this gives me my second issue with Goh’s goal.

Goh’s goal is to catch every single Pokémon currently in existence, with so many Pokémon, there is difficulty feeling any attachment to them. Cinderace and Sobble (and now Grookey) are the Pokémon Goh is most seen with, needless to say, Cinderace underwent a lot of development and was interested in battling which to be honest I found a little strange as Goh’s goal doesn’t particularly align with Cinderace’s interests. Nevertheless, it is clear that Cinderace is Goh’s ace and utilises him when he does need to battle. Sobble didn’t receive any development until 26 episodes after his capture. However, aside from Cinderace and Sobble we don’t feel any particular attachment to his other Pokémon, one strength is that anime does give each of his Pokémon some spotlight like Goh using his Goldeen to teach Jinny’s Feebas how to swim elegantly but aside from that.

My final issue with Goh’s goal is development, from a story-telling point of view his goal isn’t that engaging like with some of the other goals we’ve had in the series. Take Dawn for example her goal is to be Top Coordinator in order to do that she needs to win 5 Ribbons, participate in the Grand Festival and win the Ribbon Cup. On paper it sound simple but it’s not, we have Dawn’s arc where she lost twice in the Performance Stage fell into depression, lost confidence in her abilities and was uncertain as to whether or not she was a good coordinator. It wasn’t until she befriended May and competed against her that Dawn found a renewed sense of confidence in her abilities, even after that Dawn still lost a few contests before being able to compete in the Grand Festival where even then there were a few rough moments like her battle with Ursula.

My point is even though Dawn (and May’s) goal looks simple on paper they had a lot of struggle to get there. Whereas, with Goh’s goal and the current execution of it, I don’t get that same sense of story-telling especially when he’s already caught a Legendary Pokémon, there just isn’t that same level of struggle. The most I could see Goh struggling at this moment is not catching a Pokémon the first time round.

2) His rapid development

One of the biggest issues I have with Journeys is pacing and development, and this issue isn’t just exclusive to Goh. In the beginning, Goh is a rookie trainer after catching Scorbunny and as we saw in the Flute Cup his lack of battling experience caused him to be eliminated very quickly and yet 29 episodes later, he’s defeating a Flygon with a Fire-type and using a technique Ash had once used himself in his battle against Grant. I understand Ash and Goh are close friends and understandably their traits are going to rub off on one another for example Goh’s logic and caution has rubbed off on Ash to the extent Ash had his Dragonite use Dragon Dance in his battle with Korrina. Before this, we’d never seen Ash use these types of moves in his Pokémon battles. I have no issues with Goh developing as a character, everyone loves good character development, my issue is with how rapid it is.

I’ll use Dawn’s arc as an example again, I loved it because it was well-paced, in the first season of DP Dawn was overconfident in her abilities which led to some losses particularly towards the end of the first series and Dawn didn’t fully recover from this until nearly midway through the second series of DP. Arguably, Ash’s influence has caused Goh to develop an interest in battles but I feel like we haven’t seen him go through enough battles to justify the level he is at.

3) His status as a Protagonist

To be honest, I didn’t realise Goh has a protagonist status until someone pointed it out to me, I just saw him as another one of Ash’s travelling companions. This is one of the biggest issues Goh haters have with him and that’s feeling as though Goh is taking the spotlight away from Ash and there are a lot of episodes focusing on Goh. Arguably, Ash has taken on the role of mentor like Brock had done once for him. However, my issue with Goh’s protagonist status is that I don't feel like Goh's goal justifies him having it, even in episodes focusing on Ash and his participation in the World Coronation Series, Goh still manages to catch a Pokémon which as I mentioned before it got old pretty fast. I can understand some people would see this as a good thing they are both closer towards their goals but if an episode advertises its going to focus on one character, I want it to focus on that character.

In some of the previous series when May, Dawn and Serena were participating in Contests or Showcases, Ash would generally put his training the back burner and support his friends. Likewise, his travelling companions would support him during his gym battles. In some cases, Ash would even get ideas for his own battles from watching them compete like the Counter Shield from Ash watching Dawn and Ambipom.

Sometimes, I feel like Goh is there for the sake of being there like in Episode 56, I honestly felt like him and Scyther/Scizor didn’t need to be there. The episode did focus on Ash and Farfetch’d relationship improving but I felt like the only reason Goh was there was to have his Scyther evolve their presence at the training camp didn’t really contribute anything to the story.

Ash and his Pokémon:

Whenever Ash starts a new journey, he always starts with a clean slate leaving his most recent Pokemon with Professor Oak or Kukui. One of the things that excites fans the most is guessing which new Pokemon from the new generation Ash would catch. Arguably, since Sun and Moon, certain traditions have been turned on their head. Some of these traditions included:

Ash catching the regional bird e.g., Starly, Pidove, Fletchling etc.

Catching at least one of the region’s starters

Although, in Sun and Moon, Ash never caught the regional bird and it was one of the first series with Ash not having a water-type either. However, in this current series, Ash only has 2 Generation 8 Pokémon being Farfetch’d (which will evolve into Sirfetch’d) and Dracovish. This is kind of understandable as Ash isn’t based or travelling around Galar but to be honest it’s still disappointing.

As many of you know, in the most recent episode Goh caught Grookey completing the Galar starter trio (which I’ll cover later), however, a majority of the fandom wanted Ash to have Grookey as they felt personality-wise Ash would be compatible with the Chimp Pokémon and it would continue the long-held tradition of Ash catching one of the new region’s starter Pokémon which is why this latest capture has sparked a lot of controversy with some people calling Goh a thief.

Personally, I would have liked Ash to catch Grookey but in one of the earlier episodes like when they first visited Galar. The reason for this being the storyline development and I know many will argue Ash is a Champion he doesn’t need a starter at this point but Leon in the Sword and Shield games took on and trained the starter that was left over after the Protagonist and Hop had chosen theirs. However, as I mentioned earlier one of the things, I love about the anime is each Pokémon having their own personality and character but also their own traumas and trials to overcome alongside their trainer this can be particularly reflected in the case of Ash and Infernape.

I am not trying to suggest they re-create the Ash and Infernape storyline with Ash and a Grookey but one of the ways a Pokémon develops as a character is through evolution or in some cases like Pikachu and Bulbasaur choosing not to evolve and finding strength in staying the way that they are. Pokémon when they evolve can go through personality-changes whether that be good or bad but having a Pokemon at its first evolutionary stage allows us to go through that development and journey with them.

Which is one of the issues, I have with the series, Ash caught two fully evolved Pokémon being Dragonite and Gengar. Before anyone gives me any grief, I love Dragonite and Gengar’s personalities but as they are fully evolved, we don’t get that same sense of development as we’ve had with some of Ash’s other Pokémon. The only development I could see for these two is potentially learning a new move or overcoming a stronger Pokémon alongside Ash. But having two fully evolved Pokémon makes it difficult to go on a journey of development alongside them. There is also the fact, Dragonite and Gengar are meant to be incredibly strong Pokémon and yet Ash hardly uses them.

Another one of the biggest issues in Journeys as previously mentioned is Ash not fully utilising his team. Whenever, a battle occurs Ash either uses Pikachu or Lucario, the others are kind of pushed to the side and that annoys me so much particularly with Farfetch’d and Gengar. I’ll start with Gengar, Gengar was abandoned by its previous trainer and told to wait in an abandoned building that would later become Cerise Laboratory and in the earlier half of the series (before Riolu) Ash utilised Gengar a lot like in his battle with Visquez and Team Rocket but after Riolu came along Ash used Gengar less and less. In Episode 57, Gengar was taking its anger out on Renji, Chloe and Chrysa and Chloe pointed out that it may have been angry Ash left it behind. This is what I found frustrating; Ash is kind of repeating the behaviour of Gengar’s previous trainer.

Next is Farfetch’d, personality-wise Farfetch’d reminds me of Ash’s Buizel and Hawlucha, with how prideful and aloof it is. I feel like the writers thought they couldn’t flesh out Lucario any further so they decided to focus on Farfetch’d and after two Farfetch’d-focused episodes I can’t help but feel that Farfetch’d is going to evolve in the next episode and that’s what annoys me, that is lazy writing, they haven’t given time to develop Ash and Farfetch’d relationship although it has definitely improved since Episode 56, I feel like it’s too soon. Farfetch’d has so much potential to grow as a character before evolving as I previously mentioned evolution in the Pokémon universe can contribute towards development and I feel like for Farfetch’d they’ll use it in a positive light as Sirfetch’d are noted for their fighting spirit and noble personality. But, as I mentioned before, I would have liked to have seen more development before an evolution.

Then there is Dracovish, this was a completely unexpected capture, however, many fans were surprised by how strong Dracovish was in the games. However, Dracovish was captured in Episode 50 and nearly 10 episodes later, we haven’t seen it… On the other hand, many of Dracovish’s Pokédex entries state that it can’t breathe unless its underwater, therefore, applying that logic to the anime world, may make battling with it difficult...

Team Rocket:

One of the biggest complaints’ viewers have is the series use of Team Rocket. Particularly, using their use of the Gacha machine and using them to create easy conflict. I love Team Rocket; they are basically lovable idiots to me. They’re meant to be “bad guys” but we’ve seen on many occasions they’re kindness and compassion such as rescuing a bunch of wild Ekans and Koffing from a Pokémon hunter and releasing their Arbok and Weezing to protect them whilst they distract the hunter, Meowth sympathising and trying to cheer up Litten following Stoutland’s death are just two examples of their kindness.

Nevertheless, the Journeys series has been utilising them poorly using them as convenient plot device and in my opinion Team Rocket deserve so much better than this. Initially, a lot of viewers may have found the Gacha device interesting but much like Goh throwing a Poké ball at a random Pokémon it got old fast. Similar to one of my issues with Goh, we don’t feel any attachment to the Gacha Pokémon they use unlike other series where they had their own Pokémon which I’ll get on to in a minute.

I feel like the writers missed a huge opportunity, as one of the initial selling points of the series, particularly to the older fans was nostalgia. Team Rocket keep some of their old Pokémon in Team Rocket Headquarters and as the series seems to like staying in Vermillion City, Team Rocket could have collected their old Pokémon and use them similar to when they brought some of their Hoennian Pokémon to Sinnoh. I loved some of Team Rocket’s Pokémon like James’ Mime Jr. and Inkay and Jessie’s Gourgeist and her Yanmega was noted to be strong.

Moreover, in series such as AG, DP and XY they expanded on Team Rocket’s role outside of trying to steal. Jessie showed a promising career in Pokémon Coordinating (particularly in DP) and Pokémon Performing, I loved how she became a rival for Dawn and Serena and particularly in XY, Jessie showed maturity in her loss in the Semi-Finals much to Meowth and Gourgeist’s surprise compared to when she begrudgingly congratulated Dawn on her victory. I just loved the fact in these series they expanded on Team Rocket, showed their friendship and support for one another whether it was cheering each other on from the side-lines or willingly helping Jessie in her pursuits of fame and glory. I realize in Journeys, it’s a bit difficult to expand on Team Rocket’s role in this way but they way they are currently using Team Rocket is to be honest kind of insulting to them as characters who we’ve watched grow over the years.

Chloe, Yamper and Eevee

I’ll get this out the way, I honestly love Chloe, and I’ve loved her development so far, I think they’ve gotten the pacing right for her when they’ve given her focus. I think many people like Chloe because she is similar to Serena, in the sense, she doesn’t have a goal and is discovering what she wants to do in life which is something a lot of people find relatable. I think what would be interesting for Chloe’s character if she does decide to be a Pokémon Professor after initially feeling as though the idea was being forced on her by her peers. Anyways, one of the biggest issues with Journeys is pacing, it takes ages before they actually decide to give a character development and ever since Chloe got Eevee, I feel as though Yamper has been pushed to the side (which is kind of ironic as Chloe calls Ash out on this) and I know Yamper is Professor Cerise’s Pokémon but Yamper acknowledges Chloe more than his own trainer. I feel like a great way to use Yamper was for Professor Cerise to actually give Yamper to Chloe when she was old enough to have a Pokémon, as a lot of Chloe’s earlier development was a result of her bond with Yamper.

Next is Eevee, I love Eevee it is one of my favourite Pokemon, but I also feel similar to Goh, she’s a walking advertisement for the Let’s Go Eevee game as she is unable to evolve. However, the fact that Eevee is unable to evolve makes her a good match for Chloe who is uncertain of her own dreams. Nevertheless, what I don’t understand is why they are trying to promote one of their older games in a new generation (especially when Lana’s Eevee (which don’t get me started) should have filled that role). Also, with Chloe catching Eevee, arguably, she should be joining Ash and Goh frequently, this could allow for Chloe and Eevee to develop and find their own path but aside from joining them twice in Galar, they’ve hardly left Kanto. Which is frustrating because I love Chloe and Eevee and I don’t want it to be another 20 episodes before we get any development from either of them.

Structure

I’ve realized that above I’ve kind of been focusing on the characters and some of the issues surrounding them. Arguably, one of Journeys biggest issues is structure or lack of it for that matter and pacing. Everything is all over the place but I’ll cover each section.

Pacing:

One of my biggest gripes with the series is pacing, lately we have been having back-to-back filler episodes and I don’t mind having filler every now and then to give us a break as you don’t want a show to be too content-heavy. And I don’t mind when the filler is at least entertaining but that Gulpin episode from two weeks ago was absolutely pointless, I’m sorry. So much stuff has taken place off-screen and Ash went up by 500 ranks to Rank 415 they could have taken out some of the filler episodes and used it to show Ash training at least or put it towards actual development for characters like Chloe and Eevee or Farfetch’d.

Another issue, I have with the pacing and I think a lot of you will hopefully agree is the pace of Goh catching a legendary Pokemon (which I’m in the middle about). Normally, around the end of the series, all of the respective characters have found or are closer to their goal like Dawn and Serena coming Runner-Up in their respective competitions or having confidence to keep pursuing their goal. This is normally, in the last series of that generation’s anime adaptation but Goh’s already achieved such a huge milestone towards his goal in the second series. I can’t help but feel as though this has been completely rushed.

Continuity:

Continuity in Journeys is strange, I can see it as a strength and a weakness. I’ll start off with the positives, continuity-wise I like the fact that Journeys at least references to past episodes and characters for example episode 57 Chloe’s younger brother says he’s going to a sleepover at his friend, Jinny’s house, the girl with the Feebas from episode 31. Or episode 47, Goh uses his prize from winning the Pokémon Eating Contest to have a dessert tour around Unova’s Castelia City. These small examples of continuity are something I can appreciate. But I can’t help but feel some of the past characters returning are merely fan-service for the older fans, so far, some of the character returns haven’t really contributed to the series’ narrative aside from the Alola episode contributing to Goh’s development.

A good example of utilising a past character is the Wallace Cup arc, with May and Dawn helping each other out of a losing streak and allowing Dawn to renew her confidence. I think no matter the outcome, both Coordinators gained something from the tournament even if Dawn lost to May, I think she would have had a regained her confidence but winning the Aqua Ribbon allowed her to re-affirm her self-belief and skills.

Episodic vs Linear:

Now I’ve watched a few videos on this to have a better understanding, the reason why Journeys feels so unstructured is that for some reason the writers chose to go down an episodic route instead of linear. The best example I know of episodic storytelling is Phineas and Ferb where characters and elements are introduced and can come back. But utilising episodic storytelling in a series like Pokémon feels like an unnatural choice we’re meant to be following these characters and their journeys towards achieving their goals whereas in a linear narrative this would be a lot clearer.

The Setting:

A lot of people have an issue with the fact that a series, that promises travelling the world, it really fell flat. As I have previously mentioned, so far only 2/5 of the episodes have taken place in other regions, most of the time Ash and Goh end up staying in Vermillion City. With the way things are currently being executed, I honestly would have preferred a Sword and Shield anime, with Ash at least travelling around Galar, it would allow for the Galar story to be more fleshed out instead of shoe-horned into a four-episode arc and with the announcement of the Sinnoh re-makes, I feel as though they are going to promote that in some way in the anime later on. (Perhaps with a Dawn cameo).

As I’ve been writing this, I’ve kind of realised one gripe I have with the anime that has become rather blatant as of late. That is the commercialism in the anime, I understand the anime is utilised to promote the game and re-makes of games but with this latest series the commercialism is blatant and honestly annoying. An early example of using the anime to promote a game was the Johto arc in DP to promote HeartGold and SoulSilver. Whereas, currently we have Goh, the human advertisement for Pokémon Go and Chloe’s Eevee promoting Let’s Go Eevee (which I honestly don’t see the need to advertise older games).

The controversary with Grookey…

Needless to say, the latest episode of Pokemon Journeys has sparked a lot of debate and anger particularly from Goh haters who have declared him a thief and are dropping the anime. There are some people who don’t mind Goh catching Grookey, they may have disliked the storyline they used for Goh to catch Grookey. I’ve made my feelings clear, that I would have preferred for Grookey to have been introduced much earlier and for Ash to have caught it.

However, I do have an issue with the way Goh caught Grookey as I can kind of understand why people are calling Goh a thief, I wouldn’t go that far maybe immoral at the most. The initial concept of Grookey belonging to Team Rocket was interesting but the whole story falls flat when they don’t give us any backstory like how did Team Rocket catch Grookey? why was Grookey so desparate to stay with Goh? was Grookey being mistreated by Team Rocket?

Honestly, if Grookey was being mistreated by Team Rocket, I’d understand why it’d want to leave them but this is Jessie, James and Meowth, the trio that released Mimikyu and Mareanie since they didn’t want them to be left in Team Rock Headquarters because they’d thought Mimikyu and Mareanie would be unhappy. So, I honestly can’t see the mistreatment storyline.

Also, the fact that Grookey smashed its own Poké Ball to gain its freedom kind of undermines other storylines that have seen Pokémon being abused by their trainers as they could have arguably smashed their Poké Balls to gain their freedom. Although, you could argue there is an element of fear in these cases.

I feel like if they built up the story more, I may have been more accepting but I kind of find it hypocritical in the sense Goh wants this Pokémon that belongs to someone else and it smashes its own Poké Ball to be with him. Whereas, its bad when Team Rocket try to steal someone else’s Pokémon but its okay for Goh because he’s the protagonist. Considering this is a kids anime that kind of sends the wrong message. I honestly would have found it more interesting if Grookey decided to stay with Team Rocket that would have been an interesting twist with Team Rocket having a starter Pokémon on their side. Plus, we know, James loves his Grass-types.

Conclusion:

Basically, I needed to get this off my chest and honestly, I feel much better for it. No Pokémon anime series is perfect by any means but lately I feel as though the writing has taken a huge dip and it has taken the enjoyment out of the series. I’m still trying to give the series a chance and hopefully I can warm to Grookey under Goh’s ownership, I think if the episodic formula has taken away the storytelling element that I love about the Pokémon series.

I have honestly never seen a Pokémon anime divide the community so much but I’m hoping that things begin to improve particularly if Ash’s Farfetch’d evolves in the next episode.

[buddha-in-disguise]

Discourse, Supergirl and fans.

The Supergirl situation with William Dey, is far more than about William Dey per se.

I touched on this when I first posted about David Harewood.

What I have seen, and I am still seeing is while some SuperCorp fans were annoyed about the preview for episode 12, this was also coming from a diverse section of the fandom. That David (and others) have singled out the SuperCorp fandom is both unfair, and unhelpful. But that is a different discussion altogether.

So - I am going to repeat and expand on some of what I wrote at the time to try and explain why I, (and others) have found Supergirl to be really problematic at the moment.

First of all: There is no doubt Supergirl currently has a diverse cast, inc. LGBTQ representation. 

However, all the diversity in the world means absolutely nothing if a program is seemingly only playing lip service to the characters. 

Compare and contrast with Legends of tomorrow. They have 6 women. 2 Muslim superheroes (a TV first). 5 characters are LGBTQ, including Charlie; who is recognised as gender fluid. 4 people of colour. The lead is a woman, who is bisexual, in a canon relationship with a lesbian, and is a superhero. 

They do this without it being made a big deal of, enjoyed by LGBTQ and heterosexual audience alike. But it is a huge deal for many because of that diversity, and just as importantly they haven't overloaded the cast numbers, so they all get good solid storylines through a season. A season that is also shorter than Supergirl. 

Legends are an example of how you can put in a diverse minority cast, without it becoming forced or cumbersome. It isn't without fault sure, but no program is. 

So where is Supergirl going wrong at the moment? 

Let's use William, as the crux of the problems are best shown with his character, but it isn't limited to him. I will put first - this is absolutely *not* a criticism towards Staz Nair, who I respect (& like, as far as one can from limited SM interaction). All too often the accusations are made that if you don't like a character, you hate the actor. That is categorically not true for me, nor others I've seen posting about this. Of course if anyone does hate on the actor, that is not okay.

So, back to William. I get the reason he came along in regards to Russell and so the Andrea connection. That story made sense.  What hasn't made sense - William being used as a journalist, when Nia is right there! Nia has barely had any screen time, and virtually none as a journalist; you know - her actual job. I'm not sure what the minutes on screen ratio has been this season between the two, but it has felt completely slanted towards William as a viewer, at least until now. 

First instead of Kara and Nia investigating Leviathan after William was 'exposed' in the earlier episodes, now Nia is sidelined again, because they want Kara to team up with William to investigate Lex.

Why? Why do they need that journalistic pairing, when Nia - who as a Superhero, is better placed if danger from Lex occurs. But no, they're making it about Kara having to work with William because Lex threatened to kill him. Plus Nia was being mentored by Kara. Is she no longer being mentored by Kara? Are they a team? Even if the mentoring has ended, Nia is still not being utilised as a journalist.

I am utterly baffled as to why they feel this arc makes any sense. Moreso when an already established character gets sidelined. 

I'm also getting tired of seeing anyone who sees these valid opinions about current storyline as being trolls (or the comments all SuperCorp fans are just outright haters. No - SuperCorp fans are a large diverse group, that have incredible artists, fanfic writers, and social media users. Many also multi-ship. To place a blanket statement about a whole fandom as large as SC, is hateful. All fandoms have some who are problematic, but to single out an entire group is not right). 

So back to my thoughts. An episode can have some great aspects to it, but it can also be highly problematic to some fans, & receive valid criticism or valid opinions for it. For example, the latest episode of Batwoman. The Alice/Beth story was great. The acting superb. What I found worrying was the way they made Sophie feel guilty for legitimate reasons why she had led a closeted lifestyle. That lifestyle is valid, for Sophie and many LGBTQ people, and for good reason, including keeping some people safe from harm. I felt it was a clumsy attempt for Alice to get into Sophie's mind; it could've been tackled other ways, so it felt wrong they used her sexuality as a way to achieve that. Being closeted for many literally keeps them alive. So that was one hell of a poor choice in my opinion. Yet others have made perfectly credible counter arguments that it showed the difficulties faced by many LGBTQ people. So, great episode, valid criticism/opinion from both points of view. It also highlights you can have excellent episodes, but they can have legitimate issues.

Nor does differences of opinion, as long as it is respectful, makes those voicing them a bully, no matter how much you disagree. 

At the end of this, if you don’t agree, and your opinion makes you say something that is intentionally hurtful (directly or indirectly to a person or group of people), it's a bad thing. The key word being intentionally. We all make mistakes, and responses that could've been better, & we all need to be aware of that, but if it is an intended attack, don't be surprised if others call you out for your behaviour. 

So now what in regards Supergirl?  

I know ultimately that this show is about Supergirl, but it is also about those around her as family & friends. I understand there are only so many minutes in one episode. What I don't understand is why those precious minutes are going to a character, when they have one perfectly placed to do the same role. Why they have to potentially explore another relationship, when we have one canon relationship, one canon on/off again relationship & one relationship that while isn't canon in terms of romantic, it is a big story in terms of best friends, all seemingly sidelined. Which brings me to the Kara fighting for Lena's soul aspect. Again, I am not seeing a lot of fighting for anything, except more and more fans fighting themselves and cast. 

Then you just need to look at the dislikes that teaser was given on YouTube, and compare them to previous ones. I've attached screenshots to show this.

A serious misjudgment was made by someone on how that teaser would be received, and again I will stress, this dislike hasn't just been from one area of fandom, but multiple areas. For many it wasn't just about William, but the culmination of unease that has built for a few episodes. A prime example of the straw that broke the camel's back. If you are solely focused on one area of fandom for this discourse (as many blame SuperCorp fans), you need to step back and recognise you are not allowing yourself to see the whole picture. To focus solely on one thing, rather than acknowledging the wider audience are saying this, does not make you the better fan. To dismiss it as trolls, is being dismissive of good, regular fans with legitimate questions or concerns. It is insulting to many of us.

I will be honest, I had high hopes for this season. I also knew it was likely going to be pretty confusing at times since it was given as 'our Black mirror season' and 'nothing is as it seems.' I accepted that.

However, all it seems at the moment is a jumbled mess from pre and post Crisis. They just doesn't appear to be any cohesion at all, which is making it really difficult as a viewer. Add in the changes post Crisis and it feels even more of a mess.

Of course, they could bring in more cohesive elements soon, but considering that we know episode 13 is 'It's a wonderful life,' and Alex Danvers in a later episode is wearing a Super suit - I just sense this whole 'nothing is as it seems' side we appear to be getting isn't changing any time soon, & with episodes running out, with so many strings running through at the moment, it feels really discombomulated. If by seasons end, they pull it off and you can look back and see how it's played out as a whole, I will be the first to say well done for that part. 

I do though think right now Supergirl feels chaotic beyond expectation, and no end in sight. I feel there have been too many character additions this season (particularly Andrea & William) that is taking screen time away from Kara, Alex, Nia, Lena, Kelly et al.

It feels like a mess of unnecessary pairings and the crux of the story seems to have been lost in the midst.

That is causing confusion for fans, that is also beginning to become frustration. That frustration is spilling over. Add in the genuine and extremely legitimate concerns over the LGBTQ issues that have arisen (again from far more than just SuperCorp fans), and the frustration has built even more. 

I can only hope the next couple of episodes address some of this and not complicate the mess further. 

Whatever happens, Supergirl is not doing well in terms of a storyline that is gripping for fans, that is now top heavy with regulars, taking screen time from established characters, and a social media blunder that has so far only exacerbated the simmering uncertainty being felt by many.

It might improve, and I sincerely hope it does, but they are edging into the potential for the anger felt by fans to become an all out riot if they don't stop and see where valid criticism is being given. If this season continues on in this vein, then there is going to be huge swathes of fans drifting away. The concerns are legitimate. I wish it could be seen as that.

[canonicallyanxious]

okay so my theory on who the druck mains for the next three seasons are going to be - i’ve been harboring this idea almost since the beginning of the season and i think the possibility of this happening is extremely dependent on whether druck will actually explore the themes i’m interested in it exploring lol but it’s still fun to speculate so even if i end up being completely wrong i still like thinking about it

anyway there are some very strong parallels bw nora’s and hanna’s seasons - some sort of pre-season drama we’re not immediately privy to, themes of the mains finding their own friends and being able to stand on their own two feet, the mains making mistakes that hurt the people they care about, the mains not ending up with their love interest by the end so they can focus on their own selves - so with that in mind i kind of feel like it’s likely the next three seasons will be kind of loose parallels to seasons 2-4 as well

so like fatou for season 6 as a rough mia equivalent, particularly if kieu my is being set up as a proper love interest as it seems like she is - tension bw ava and the instas kind of like how there was tension bw kiki/alex, the possibility of fatou having to keep their relationship on the DL [bc of aforementioned tension or kieu my struggling to come to terms with her sexuality or something else?? hmmm], kieu my being set up as this very attractive and aloof figure in the previous season kind of like how all the willhells are set up but then hidden depths are revealed and the main’s preconceived notions of their love interest get broken down [sidenote: my hope for a fatou-centric season, especially considering the involvement of the new writer collective, is an exploration of the intersection of queer identity + race + immigration issues, but you know, we’ll see]

Ismail for season 7 as a rough matteo equivalent - like if kieu my was set up as the love interest in the previous season then that would give plenty of room for the instas to be more fleshed out to set up a season that actually focuses on one of them [and imo this is why fatou is a more likely season 6 main than kieu my, since right now we know little to nothing about the instas and thematically it would just make sense to keep the focus on the ca$hqueens for at least one more season]. and it’s notable to me that Ismail hasn’t been explicitly confirmed queer or nonbinary in the show yet. So in this case, maybe season 7 could focus on Ismail coming to terms with being nonbinary [like matteo coming to terms with being gay]?? [sidenote: my personal wishlist for a season 7 starts and ends with TRANS RIGHTS]

Ava for season 8 as a rough Amira equivalent - this is admittedly my weakest connection mostly because as we’ve only had one season with the new characters so far it still feels kind of early to say what their intentions are with their characters and where they want to go with these arcs. But I’m thinking Ava for season 8 because there could be some parallels b/w Amira’s feelings of isolation and being torn b/w two worlds with Ava and being someone who comes across as having a very strong sense of self but potentially having some insecurities we don’t know about [i.e abandonment issues]. also personality wise they’re both very compassionate and honest characters; Amira is the kind of character who really stands by her morals for better or for worse and Ava is kind of the same way imo. and there’s just lots of things they’re already establishing about Ava’s character that would make a compelling season - contentious relationship with Instas, experience with bullying, abandonment issues, her experience with social media, etc. [sidenote: my personal wishlist for an ava season includes a deeper exploration of her identity as a black woman, as well as to find out more about her family life - how did she end up in Alaska?? I’m so curious!]

[pedanticat]

Marco Diaz Wasted Character Development

Over the course of the series, there have been a couple of characters who have come a long way from their season one version om Star vs the Forces of Evil. Star went from an irresponsible teen who could care less about her royal title to someone who used said title to fix the strained relations between monsters and mewmans, Tom went from jealous ex with anger issues who couldn’t let go of Star to a more laid back guy who accepted that he needs to find someone who actually makes him happy and Buff Frog went from an evil minion of Ludo’s to  becoming a proud and loving father. However, there’s one character who hadn’t fully developed despite being at the forefront of the series right with Star and that character is none other than Marco Diaz. Now you may be confused as to why I think Marco hasn’t developed as a character, after all, he has come a long way from the safe kid he was back in season one. Now while it is true that the Marco we have now is much different from the version we had in season one, I wouldn’t call his development necessarily great.

What I really liked about Marco character  when the show first started was how he was able to fight side by side with Star. Despite being a regular human who has lived a normal life, he was able to go toe to toe with monsters and magical creatures due to his training in karate. Season one and two really focuses on the fact that Marco is a skilled martial artist and take pride in his combat skill with him also aiming to become a better fighter such as in the episode Red Belt where he seeks to move on from a green belt to a red belt. Marco also became more confident, less insecure and more daring as the show went on, which was expected given how it was an obvious direction for his character to go in given how we’re told he's known as the safe kid at Echo Creek Academy. However, the biggest misstep in Marco development was the episode Running With Scissors.

Running with Scissors was a good episode when it first came out with many people, myself included, enjoying it. Though as you can tell from my previous paragraph, my thoughts have changed since then. The episode mainly focused on Marco getting back Star scissors by blowing out Hekapoo flame. After 16 years of traveling, maturing and hardcore training, he tracks down the real Hekapoo, blows out the flame and even gets his own pair of scissors. Now he ends up going to Earth due to Star convincing him that he should come back with him then reverting back to his 14-year-old self.  The episode ends on this somber note with Marco realizing he doesn't even remember the password for his laptop before deciding to take the laser puppies out on a walk. With how the episode ended, it seemed to implied that after traveling 16 years through various dimensions, that he’s no longer the same person anymore and things are going to be different. Yet that wasn’t the case at all and the whole plot point about his 16 years of travel was basically abandoned and never brought up again. In the second Marco Diaz live stream that aired a while after the episode, it’s revealed that’s Marco memory of the sixteen years in Hekapoo's dimension are slowly becoming like a hazy dream or an old childhood memory. Now while this line did make the episode pointless in hindsight, I didn’t really mind since the episode was still a fun one and it showed how determined Marco could be when he put his mind to something. So I continued to enjoy the rest of season 2 without giving the 16-year plot thread any serious thought. However, despite it at the time seems like the episode wouldn’t’ really be important later on in the series, it ended up affecting Marco development in season 3 and 4. 

Season 3 shifts the focus from Earth to Mewni, which resulted in Marco moving to Mewni also where he became Star’s squire. Now Marco becoming a squire was an interesting idea and we’re told that he has participated in activities with other squire’s. Now, this is where we enter the first road bump with Marco character development: we don’t his journey from squire into becoming a full-fledged knight. He’s made a squire in Lint Catcher and then he becomes knighted in Knight Shift with no episodes showing his training as a squire. This was a big moment in Marco character development yet it was never shown and focused on. Just like how we saw Star slowly become better at magic due to episodes focusing on that development, we should have had episodes that showed Marco training in becoming a knight. 

The second road bump that occurs in Marco development as a character is retconning how much Marco remembers from his 16 years of travel. In the episode Divide, he says to Star “You forget I have 16 years of experience fighting thousands of Hekapoos.”. Now I hate this line for two reasons. First, they have him say that instead of saying that he improved as a fighter due to his as his training as a squire, which honestly would have made more sense considering that what he was apparently doing in season 3. And secondly, it contradicts with what we saw from Marco character after the events of Running with Scissors and what Adam McArthur said in the Marco Diaz live stream about him soon forgetting almost everything about the 16 years. By keeping the fact that Marco remembers what he did in those 16 years, the show ended up giving him 16 years of character development without showing any of it! Sure, the same could be said about the Squire plot thread but its worse since instead of months its 16 years of him becoming a more skilled fighter and growing as a person. Furthermore, if he developed in those 16 years, it makes his behavior strange in places since he should technically be more mature, but as we saw in the aftermath of Running with Scissors,  that didn’t seem to be the case at all. Based on that, it makes the staff seem to be very selective about which aspects of Marco character developed from the 16 years of travel and exactly how much he remembers. The problem is particularly noticeable in  A Boy and His DC-700XE since he’s apart of a dragon cycle gang that love going on thrilling rides and doing crazy stunts with the reason Marco is cool and great at it being due to his 16 years of training, which again, wasn’t shown.

Tom and Star development worked because we actually saw them developed as characters in the series. If we didn’t see Star practicing her magic or Tom working on his issues, those arcs wouldn’t feel as satisfying as they ended up being. Marco did have solid on-screen development in season 1 and 2 but the staff then started making a lot of his development in season 3 and 4 ties into things that we never got to see him do. It also doesn't help that he was pushed to the sideline for a good chunk of season 3.  Running with Scissors did more harm than good for Marco character development and started dozens of arguments about his age that I don’t even want to begin to get into. 

[darkershining]

DarkerShining’s thoughts on Pretty Cure: Hugtto Pretty Cure

All right, it’s time for another one of these! I’ve been looking forward to write this one.

So, last time I talked about Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode, and this time, I’ll be giving my thoughts on Hugtto Pretty Cure.

The story begins with our pink lead Cure, Hana Nono, getting ready for her first day at a new school. She tries to cut her bangs to try and give herself a more mature new look, but she doesn’t manage to get it quite the way she hoped. On her way to school, she experiences a strange phenomenon, when she hears a baby’s cry and time seems to freeze for a brief moment. She manages to save an old lady from being hit by a baseball before time resumes moving, and ends up late for school after stopping to help the old lady carry some things.

After making it to school, Hana is initially worried about having messed up her first impression, when she hears that strange cry again. She goes to investigate, and comes across two of her classmates, Saaya and Homare. Saaya admits that she likes Hana’s cheery attitude, while Homare compliments Hana on her hairstyle, much to her surprise.

Later that night, Hana concludes that her first day of school didn’t turn out that bad after all, and decides to keep an optimistic attitude. As she is cheering herself on, a bright light appears in the sky, falling towards her. Hana manages to catch it in her arms, and finds to her surprise that it is a baby girl, which Hana decides to call “Hugtan”. The baby is accompanied by a hamster-like creature named Harry, who decides to stay at Hana’s place for the night.

The next day, Hana wonders if her encounter with Harry and Hugtan was just a dream, when more strange things happen. A mysterious company known as Criasu shows up at her school, using a classmate’s negative energy to create a monster. For some reason, both Hana and her classmate Saaya are unaffected as the monster spreads more negative energy throughout the school, and the two try to get others to safety. However, when Hana gets separated from the group, she comes across Harry and Hugtan once more. After Hana goes to defend Hugtan, refusing to leave her side despite being afraid, a glowing crystal emerges from Hana and an item from Harry’s suitcase flies out. Combining the two, Hana becomes the Pretty Cure of Spirit, Cure Yell.

With her new power, Cure Yell manages to purify the monster and restore the positive energy around the school. Hana is told to give some of the energy from her new Mirai Crystal to Hugtan, and Harry muses that maybe the world can be saved after all. Harry later explains more of the situation to Hana, and that he still has three more Prehearts, meaning they must find three more Cures. Hana manages to bond more with Saaya and Homare, who take up two of the Prehearts, and together they must save the future.

And from here, I’ll be putting the rest of my thoughts under the “Read More”, and there will be spoilers from the entire series. (previous parts can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

Hana Nono/Cure Yell

As usual, I’ll begin by talking about the lead pink Cure. Hana Nono is a thirteen year old girl who is quite energetic and tries her best to cheer on and encourage those around her, as you’d expect from most pink Cures. However, even from the start, it is clear that Hana has some self-esteem issues, later revealed to be partially caused by being bullied at her old school after she defended another girl who was bullied. While trying to stay cheerful, there are times throughout the series where Hana’s insecurities and worries will come to the surface, and times when she just doesn’t know what to do. Thankfully, her friends are always there to help and support her like she does for them.

I really like Hana. Her design is cute, and I particularly like Cure Yell’s cheerleader motif. She’s always trying to support, defend and inspire her friends, and they in turn are willing to do the same for her when her doubts start getting to her. Over the course of the show, we see Hana discovering where her own strengths lie and becoming more confident as she fights alongside her friends. I feel she embodies the themes of the show well, particularly the “you can do anything, you can be anything” part, with her willingness to try different things and inspiring those around her to do what they want.

Saaya Yakushiji/Cure Ange

Next up, I’ll talk about Saaya/Cure Ange. She’s an intelligent young girl with a generally calm demeanour. When she was younger, she was famous as a child actress at one point, and her mother is also a famous actress. While still taking part in auditions for parts and such, Saaya isn’t actually entirely sure if acting is what she should continue to pursue, or if there are other options she hasn’t considered yet. After befriending Hana, Saaya ends up becoming the second Pretty Cure, Cure Ange, the Pretty Cure of wisdom. As a Cure, she gains healing and barrier based abilities.

I like Saaya, she has a pretty design and I like how she’s a slightly different take on other blue haired smart girls that we’ve seen throughout the various Pretty Cure series. Saaya doesn’t come across as quite as serious, being more of a dork with interests in various odd things, such as machines or special effects used in movies. Saaya is also in one episode shown to have a bit of a competitive side to her that emerges when she has to try to keep up with someone with just as much knowledge on a certain topic as her. And interestingly, while Saaya manages to often know what her close friends are thinking, she’s otherwise not that good at reading people.

However, Saaya is still the least quirky of her teammates, and since she isn’t as directly involved in some of the sub-plots as the other Cures, Saaya has a tendency to not stand out much in episodes that aren’t focused on her. With that said, I do feel Saaya fares better than some of the other Cures of previous series who were in a similar position, as Saaya does have her own character arc and we get to watch her gradually figure out what she really wants to be when she grows up.

Homare Kagayaki/Cure Etoile

All right, now onto Homare. She’s another one of Hana’s classmates, although at the start of the series, she hadn’t attended class lately. Homare initially comes across as a somewhat aloof, but still nice girl. We soon find out this behaviour comes from an incident a few years ago, when Homare was a figure skating prodigy, but ended up suffering an accident on the ice that injured her leg and left her unable to skate for a while. Having recovered since then, part of Homare wants to return to skating, but can’t bring herself to do so due to the trauma of the incident that forced her to quit. This has also affected other parts of her life, as she just can’t seem to find much interest in other activities either.

When Hana enters her life, things start to turn around. This is partially because Hana reminds Homare of herself when she was younger. However, when she initially creates her Mirai Crystal, she can’t bring herself to jump up and reach for it, causing it to disappear. She continues trying to distance herself, but ends up captured by Criasu and used as bait for the other two Cures. However, forced to confront her feelings from the monster created by her negative energy, Homare is ultimately able to find the resolve she needs, and successfully manages to get her Mirai Crystal. Becoming the Pretty Cure of Strength, Cure Etoile, she works together with Cure Yell and Cure Ange to stop the monster.

After becoming a Pretty Cure, Homare is gradually able to begin conquering her own inner demons and return to ice skating. She starts becoming more social and active again, although she still often has more of a serious demenour than that of her friends. She also develops a friendship with Harry, which gradually develops into a bit of a crush on her part.

I really like Homare. She is the one with the most serious and tomboyish demenour for the most part, but when just having fun with her friends, she often lets the girlier aspects of her personality show, like squeeing over Hugtan’s cuteness, her fear of horror movies and admitting that she sleeps with a rabbit plushie. It’s rather cute. Her initially being unable to become a Pretty Cure was sort of similar to what happened with Karen in Yes! Pretty Cure 5, albeit for different reasons. Sort of a darker take on that idea. But it is great to see Homare managing to overcome the doubts preventing her from taking the first step to start moving forward again, and her first fight as Cure Etoile, working together with Cure Yell and Cure Ange to soar once again.

One thing I really like about her designs is while how her present self has short hair, we see that she had longer hair tied in a ponytail in the past, which she cut off after she had to quit ice skating because of the accident. Her hairstyle as Cure Etoile looks similar to her younger self’s, which I think is a really nice touch.

I also think the sub-plot about her crush on Harry was done fairly well. She is conflicted about it, but after discovering that Harry may have feelings for someone else, she is able to accept that her feelings may be unrequited, making for a contrast with Bishin, who in his corrupted state can’t comprehend this. Homare eventually does confess her feelings, and while Harry does reject her because of his unresolved feelings for Cure Tomorrow, Homare at the very least manages to get some closure and thanks him for being honest with her. I liked how maturely Homare deals with it, and while it was painful for her to go through with it while knowing there was a very real chance she’d get turned down, she ultimately realized it was the only way she was going to be able to stop worrying about it.

Emiru Aisaki/Cure Ma Cherie

And now, onto one of the two Cures to join at the halfway point. Emiru is introduced as a classmate of Hana’s younger sister Kotori. Emiru is shown to be a somewhat socially awkward young girl who tries a little too hard to make sure things go well during a trip with her class, trying to be prepared for every situation and making things safe. When she and Hana end up in a situation she didn’t account for, she freaks out a bit, but Hana is able to calm her down and get her to talk about why she acts the way she does. During this, we also see that Emiru is a good singer, even if she was too shy to sing with her classmates earlier, setting up another major aspect of Emiru’s character, her love of music.

In Emiru’s next major role, she, inspired by Hana’s encouraging words to her and witnessing Cure Yell in action, is trying to act like a Pretty Cure herself and helping people, even if she keeps messing up. She ends up meeting Ruru, who had gone on an errand for Hana’s family, and quickly takes a liking to her. Even after concluding that Emiru isn’t actually a Cure, Ruru still accompanies Emiru to her house, where Emiru shows off her skills on the guitar, which captures Ruru’s attention. It is here we find out that Emiru’s reluctance to share her interests is partially because of her brother, who is heavily influenced by their grandfather in his thinking, and feels Emiru should focus on more feminine instruments like the piano or violin. After Ruru comes to Emiru’s defense, Emiru is even more amazed with her, and by the end of the episode suggests that she and Ruru try to become Pretty Cures together, despite Ruru not being especially interested at this point.

During the fight between the Cures and Ruru to try to save her from Criasu and bring her back to their side, Emiru notices the commotion and goes to investigate, learning the identities of the Cures. When Emiru goes to talk to them about it later, Ruru keeps her from blurting out their identities to a crowd of people. The Cures fill Emiru in on what is going on, including Ruru actually being an android from the future. Despite all this, Emiru still wants to be friends with Ruru and become a Pretty Cure alongside her. As the two spend more time together, Emiru is able to convince Ruru to become a Cure with her, but there’s one problem: There’s only one Preheart left.

With no way of obtaining another Preheart, the girls are left hoping for a miracle, since only one of them can become a Cure otherwise. When their Mirai Crystals manifest, both initially try to tell the other to take it, but neither of them want to become a Cure without the other. Due to the strong friendship between them, the being later revealed to be known as “Mother” appears and creates a copy of the last Preheart, meaning both of them can become Cures by transforming together, allowing them to become the Pretty Cures of love, Cure Ma Cherie and Cure Amour. Ruru later starts learning how to play the guitar along with Emiru, and the two start a two-girl band together.

I really like Emiru, I think she’s a fun character with her quirky personality. She’s initially a bit shy when it comes to sharing her interests, in part due to her brother and by extension, grandfather’s influence, but with the help of Ruru, Hana and the others, she soon overcomes this. Her friendship with Ruru is also really sweet, but with that said, I wish we could’ve seen Emiru bond with Saaya and Homare a bit more. With Ruru, we at least saw her have different interactions with each of the initial three Cures when she was observing Hana and the others as a spy, but Emiru only really connected with Hana before getting involved in the Pretty Cure stuff.

Even when we do see her interact with Saaya or Homare, these interactions usually have something to do with Emiru’s friendship with Ruru. So, while Emiru is still clearly part of the group of five, I feel like we don’t really have a good idea of the relationships and how she interacts with Saaya and Homare. I feel the age difference might also contribute a bit, since Emiru is still in elementary school, while the other four are in middle school.

Still, I really like her, and she has a cute design. I also like how Cure Ma Cherie and Cure Amour’s outfits have the same theme going on, since they’re both technically using the same Preheart to transform. I also like the songs she and Ruru perform together.

Ruru Amour/Cure Amour

Ruru initially starts off as a mysterious member of the Criasu Corporation, who is eventually revealed to be an android. The other Criasu Corp members see her as a little more than an emotionless puppet working for them as an intern. After a while, Ruru decides to infiltrate the group by hypnotizing Hana’s mother into thinking she’s the daughter of a friend of hers and staying at Hana’s place. Ruru has trouble getting along with everyone at first, as she doesn’t understand a lot of human behaviour and particularly why people wouldn’t choose the most efficient method to do something. After noticing that people at school are making fewer attempts to socialize with her following this, Ruru begins to reconsider her plan and thinks about leaving. However, a conversation with Cure Yell seems to stir something in her, and she decides to stick around a bit longer.

Much like other villains who have tried the infiltration route, her time with the Cures lead to a change in Ruru, as she gradually grows to care for the Cures. She also meets Emiru, and discovers music. All this ultimately leads her to return Homare’s transformation trinket after stealing it, and taking a hit for Cure Yell that ends up breaking her. Ruru is brought back to Criasu and reprogrammed to fight the Cures. The Cures attempt to fight Ruru who has been put into a bigger robot to fight them. They try to bring her to her senses, and Ruru is eventually able to access her memories of them when she tries searching for more data on her opponents.

Ruru ultimately breaks down, showing the most emotion she has shown up until this point, finally changing sides for good. Ruru undoes the hypnosis she did to Hana’s mother, but is still allowed to stay at their house, much to her confusion. Ruru spends the next few episodes wondering if an android like her can truly have a heart, and if an android can really become a Cure. With the support of Emiru and the others, Ruru gradually begins to overcome these doubts.

As mentioned in Emiru’s section, she and Ruru ultimately do become Cures together. Alongside the others, Ruru continues to develop her heart, and we eventually learn that she was originally created by Dr. Traum as a daughter, presumably to fill a void left when he lost his first daughter, but Traum eventually gave up on her when he couldn’t get her to develop the way he hoped. After Traum switches sides, he wants to patch things up with his android daughter, but Ruru is understandably somewhat cold towards him for turning her away before. The two are gradually able to become closer, although Ruru still shows little patience with some of her father’s antics.

I really like Ruru, and I find the concept of an android Pretty Cure really interesting. And while she does at times use her android abilities to analyze opponents and such, I wish they’d have done a little more with this concept. Still, I enjoyed her character arc and how she gradually came to understand more and more about human emotions, and even as the show nears its end, there’s still more for her to learn, particularly when it comes to how to deal with her father.

Also, in the various series in the Pretty Cure franchise, there is usually at least one Cure who is a bit of a big eater, and in this particular series, I find it really amusing that they chose to give this particular character trait to an android. I guess it makes sense that she has these human-like qualities, considering Dr. Traum initially envisioned her as a daughter. I like her designs too. The way her eyes change as she gradually develops a heart is also a nice touch and reminds me a bit of the Kiryuu sisters of Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star. 

Another aspect I like about her is the fact that unlike the other four, storywise, she wasn’t actually meant to become a Cure initially. Later episodes revealed that Hana, Saaya, Homare and Emiru all witnessed time stopping and heard Hugtan’s cry in the first episode, which in some ways reminds me of how Tsubomi, Erika and Itsuki all had dreams of Cure Moonlight’s defeat and eventually became Cures in HeartCatch Pretty Cure. The fourth Preheart was always meant for Emiru, but thanks to the strong friendship between her and Ruru, Ruru was able to become a Cure too even if she wasn’t “chosen”. I just think that’s really neat.

The Fairy Partners

Now that we’ve covered the main team of Cures, lets talk about the “fairy” partners.

First, there’s Hugtan, the mysterious baby girl that the Cures and Harry look after. Hana is the one to name her Hugtan, following in the footsteps of the Doki Doki and Mahou Tsukai girls naming a baby based on the sounds it makes. We don’t know a lot about Hugtan at first, except that she needs the energy from the Mirai Crystals created by the girls to help save the future. Hugtan is later shown to have some powers of her own, such as when she exhausts herself by purifying an Oshimaida when Hana is unable to transform, or even summoning Cures from different series. Throughout the series, Hugtan gradually grows up a little, such as learning how to talk and walk.

We eventually find out that Hugtan is actually a aged-down Pretty Cure from the future, Cure Tomorrow. Among the Pretty Cure of the future, Cure Tomorrow is the last known member, as her three teammates presumably sacrificed themselves to try to help her escape from Criasu. Cure Tomorrow saved Harry from Criasu, and Harry later returned the favor by freeing her when she was captured herself. The two used Tomorrow’s Mirai Crystal to travel back in time in hopes of saving the future, but the process used up most of the power in the crystal, which is what turned Cure Tomorrow into a baby upon arriving in the present.

Hugtan is pretty cute. Her role naturally draws some comparisons to Ai from Doki Doki Pretty Cure, being a magical baby who helps empower the Cures in some way. One aspect in particular about Hugtan that intrigues me is that I don’t it is made entirely clear how aware she is of everything going on. While she mostly acts like a baby, it is suggested at a few points that Cure Tomorrow is still in there in some capacity, particularly with some of the things she pulls off throughout the show. I also really like her design as Cure Tomorrow. It looks a lot like a typical lead pink Cure’s outfit. The design also reminds me a bit of Cure Heart from Doki Doki Pretty Cure.

The final episode throws in one more reveal regarding the character, namely that Hugtan was Hana’s kid from the future all along. I think a lot of us caught onto that near the end, and I began to suspect they might pull this trope by noticing that Hana and Hugtan had sort of similar eye colors, and the fact that Hugtan continued to refer to Hana as “mama”, rather than calling her by name even after she started calling the other Cures by name. I kept going back and forth on whether I thought this would be the case or not, though, as I couldn’t quite make sense of how it’d work within the timeline. And the closer the show got to the end, the more it began to dawn on me just how confusing some of the timeline and time travelling mechanics of this show were, but I’ll talk more about that later.

Anyways, I certainly didn’t mind it. I think it’s kind of cool to have a Cure whose mother was also a Cure when she was younger. I guess we had something close to that in HeartCatch Pretty Cure, where our pink lead Tsubomi/Cure Blossom’s grandmother was also a Pretty Cure in the past, and the ending implied that Tsubomi’s younger sister would become one in the future. I don’t really have much else to say on this, so let’s talk about Harry.

Hariham Harry is a hamster-like creature with the ability to transform into a young man. He accompanied Hugtan into the past, and assists the Cures, giving them their transformation trinkets and getting them started on their mission to save the future. Much like Nuts from Yes! Pretty Cure 5, Harry starts up his own store to make money while staying the present, Beauty Harry’s, which is also where he lives and sort of a headquarter for the Cures.

Harry for the most part comes across as sort of a supportive big brother character to the Cures, but there is also a mysterious air about him as he initially keeps a lot of details regarding himself from the Cures, only revealing things bit by bit as the show goes on. We eventually learn that Harry was part of Criasu for a time, as his people came to them to try to save their village and their kind from a mysterious illness by becoming humans. Harry was experimented on by Criasu, and turned into a monster. He was eventually rescued by Cure Tomorrow, who gave him the golden chain he wears to keep him from turning back into his monster form. Harry ended up betraying Criasu and tried to save Cure Tomorrow, leading to the two of them ending up going back in time to try to stop their plans. 

I really like Harry. I like how he can both be this mature big brother type of character towards the other Cures, while also having his goofier moments depending on the situation. He also has a pretty dark backstory for a Pretty Cure fairy-type character, considering everything he went through before the events of the series. Even after he starts opening up to the Cures, there are still details about himself that he keeps secret, and in fact, the Cures don’t find out about his previous connection to Criasu until Harry’s former friend Bishin reveals it to them. Even so, the bonds between them at this point mean the Cures don’t let this affect their friendship with Harry and they know he’s now on their side.

I liked how we gradually got bits and pieces of Harry’s story and how he and Hugtan ended up in the past. Even by the time Harry finally reveals the last bit about Cure Tomorrow, we’ve already got most of the pieces and can probably piece most of it together from there. His connections with both Bishin and Ristoru also helped develop those two villains, but I’ll talk about them a bit later. I also like Harry’s designs. His hamster-like form looks kind of similar to the fairies from Yes! Pretty Cure 5, and his human form is pretty good-looking. I also liked how that chain he wears in both forms was revealed to have a purpose beyond just being part of his design.

The Villains

And now, for the villains of this season. I usually go in order of when they introduced, although there may be exceptions. Either way, I’ll start with Charalit.

Charalit is the first villain our heroines go up against. He’s a dark skinned, blond young man who fights against the Cures in the first few episodes. He has a bit of a laidback personality, but as he keeps failing against the Cures, he finds himself in a tough spot as Criasu starts losing patience with him. He pleads for one last chance, targetting Homare and attempting to take advantage of her self-doubts, but this backfires when it ultimately leads to Homare becoming Cure Etoile. He is eventually punished by being left locked up alone in a dark room for several days, if not weeks, before being let out in episode 11 and transformed into an Oshimaida against his will.

As an Oshimaida, he goes on a rampage, until Cure Yell nearly attacks him with the Sword of PreCures. Seeing his frightened normal self within the monster, Cure Yell refuses to strike him down and instead tries comforting him. After the Sword instead becomes the more typical Cure weapon, the Melody Swords, the three Cures purify Charalit. While being purified, Charalit thinks that there might be a bright future for him after all, and the next episode shows that he basically decided to become a vlogger.

Charalit is later seen again early in the second half of the show, alongside Papple and Daigan, who have also been purified by that point. The three of them have basically come together to form their own talent agency and occasionally do other jobs around the town to help support it. Charalit is shown to be more optimstic and helpful towards others after being purified, and even gives Hana some encouraging words at one point to return the favor from the time she saved him.

I like Charalit’s design, and I feel he does well as the starter villain for this series. We also get an early look into how ruthless Criasu Corporation can be at times, with their method of punishing him for his failures. One thing I like about what they did the villains in this series is how they basically eventually join the supporting cast as friends of the Cures. When former villains team up with the Cures, it is usually near the end for the final episodes, while here, it starts out early in the second half of the show, also giving them a bit more room for character development. And while they don’t get quite as much development as certain other characters, you still see how they’ve changed for the better thanks to the Cures and found something to believe in again.

Anyways, next I’ll talk about Papple. She’s a flashy young adult woman who comes across as more ruthless than Charalit. However, despite her bad treatment of her co-workers, she secrelty longs for love, and is often seen interacting with her “boyfriend” (later revealed to be George), who doesn’t seem all that interested in her despite her seemingly believing otherwise. She’s the main opponent the Cures usually face after Charalit’s purification for several episodes. She eventually meets Gelos, a younger employee, and a bit of a rivalry is set up between the two women. Despite temporarily breaking Ruru (with an attack meant for Cure Yell) and taking her back to Criasu to be reprogrammed, Papple interestingly enough seems to have reservations against putting her into the mecha suit.

Things eventually reach the point in episode 22 where Papple, having already been threatened with the same punishment Charalit went through, discovers that her “boyfriend” has seemingly been cheating on her with Gelos, which ultimately pushes Papple into transforming herself into an Oshimaida using the negative energy from her own despair, all while hoping her “boyfriend” will try to stop her, only to go through with it as she concludes that he never loved her.

With the help of Cure Black and Cure White, the Cures manage to weaken Oshimaida!Papple, and Cure Ma Cherie and Cure Amour eventually manage to enter the Oshimaida to speak to Papple and try to calm her down. They eventually manage to get through to her, and with their new Twin Love Guitars, purify her. As she is purified, Papple muses that even if things didn’t go so well this time, if she keeps holding on to her own love, maybe she’ll someday be able to find someone who will return her feelings.

As mentioned above, Papple returns a few later alongside Charalit and Daigan, having started up a talent agency. She is more friendly towards the Cures, and shows an interest in having Emiru and Ruru sign up with their company after hearing them perform. While Emiru and Ruru refuse, Papple continues to reach out to them in hopes of getting them to change their mind. It is unclear if they eventually accepted, but even so, we see Papple supporting and helping out the two in later episodes.

I really like Papple’s design, and I think she’s one of my favorites among the Criasu characters. As a villain, she is as mentioned established as more ruthless than Charalit, since she's the one to turn Charalit into an Oshimaida, and she later ends up breaking Ruru after she betrays Criasu. Still, her scenes with her “boyfriend” show that there is more to her, even if these scenes can be a bit unsettling with the way the “boyfriend” acts, among other things, never actually responding to anything Papple says in their scenes together. I’ll go more into details on my thoughts about him later.

The imagery during Papple’s breakdown after discovering her boyfriend cheating on her with Gelos is quite unsettling, as she seems to hallucinate while her inner monologue expresses that she wishes he would try to stop her from doing what she’s about to do while she makes her way to the top of the tower. The fact that she also triggers her transformation into an Oshimaida stabbing herself with a shard formed from negative energy makes the metaphor they’re going for pretty clear.

Thankfully, Cure Ma Cherie and Cure Amour are able to get through to Oshimaida!Papple and purify her. From there on, Papple is much friendlier with both the Cures and the other reformed villains. One particular moment I liked was when Papple offers some encouraging words to Daigan after he was briefly tempted to return to Criasu, letting him know how the people at the festival they were helping out at appreciated the work he’d been doing. I also like how she supports Emiru and Ruru, helping them plan out concerts, and when Emiru briefly lost her voice, telling them to take their time for her to recover when informed of the situation.

Next up is Daigan. He doesn’t really get to do much throughout the first half of the season, mostly complaining about his co-workers and claiming that if they just let him handle it, he’d defeat the Pretty Cures in just five minutes. When he finally gets to fight them, though, he is quickly taken out by Dr. Traum. Cure Ange manages to heal him, and we find out a few episodes later that thanks to that, he survived and joined up with Charalit and Papple.

After being purified, he still continues boast about being able to do things in five minutes, clearly having a bit of an obsession with efficiency, and being easily frustrated when he can’t pull it off. This leads into the Halloween episode, where he is briefly tempted to return to Criasu, leading to the Cures getting a proper fight against an Oshimaida he created. After being defeated, he calms down again and receives some encouraging words from Papple that motivate him to get back to helping with the festival. After purification, he is also quite grateful towards Saaya/Cure Ange for saving his life. When the group got stuck in a VR space based on a movie Saaya and her mother were starring in, Daigan showed up to help Saaya out and helped her reach her decision regarding which career path to pursue by once again reminding her of how she had saved him and how he’d never forget that.

So, yeah. Daigan is one of the villains we don’t really get to know as well, but even so, I like seeing him working alongside Charalit and Papple after being saved by Cure Ange. His gratitude towards Saaya for saving his life is also really sweet, and I do like his design.

Since there’s not all that much else to say about Daigan, let’s move onto Gelos, Takumi and Jinjin. I’ll just over all three at once, since the latter two’s role in the story is pretty closely tied to Gelos’, for the most part. Gelos initially comes across as a bit of a rival for Papple, who has a tendency to sprinkle english words into her dialogue, and is often accompanied by her two handsome henchmen, Takumi and Jinjin. Later on, Gelos seemingly gets involved with George, which leads to the events in which Papple ultimately became an ally to the Cures.

Of course, Gelos doesn’t have much luck in beating the Cures either, but doesn’t seem too perturbed about it. Despite the bonds between herself, Takumi and Jinjin, Gelos at one point in episode 31 shows that she is willing to throw the two under the bus to make herself look better, leading the two of them to try to betray her with an invention stolen from Dr. Traum to freeze time. Things backfire horribly for them when the unfinished prototype turns them into an Oshimaida, with their reactions suggesting that this is very painful for them. When Gelos tries to get them to fight the Cures in their state, the Cures call her out on her treatment of those she claims are her friends. Reaffirming their own friendship, the Cures gain a new power that they use to purify Takumi and Jinjin and return them to normal. As they are purified, they hope that Gelos will eventually come to remember how much she really means to them.

Following these events, Takumi and Jinjin get regular jobs, while we quickly come to realize that Gelos probably needed them more than even she realized, as without their presence, she starts getting more unhinged and worried about growing old due to her belief that only the efforts of young people are appreciated, complete with a makeover that makes her look more wild. It ultimately results in Gelos making use of Dr. Traum’s invention to try to freeze time once more, and turning herself into an Oshimaida.

While the Cures try to stop her rampage, Takumi and Jinjin eventually show up to help calm Gelos down. Gelos initially thinks the two of them ditched her because she was getting too old for them, but the two manage to talk her down, letting her know just how much they care about her and telling her they want to grow old alongside her, causing her to break down and cry. The Cures manage to purify her, and the three of them reunite. The three of them reappear in time to help out during the final confrontation between the Cures and Criasu by giving the Cures a ride to Criasu’s tower.

So, yeah. These three are also villains we just don’t get to know that much about, although we at least get some hints at a backstory. It is clear that the three had always been close, but I guess Gelos must’ve eventually come to take them for granted, leading to the events of episode 31. After being purified by the Cures, we see that Takumi and Jinjin hold no hard feelings towards Gelos despite trying to have them fired, and only hope that she’ll remember the good times they’ve had together someday. In addition, with how quick Gelos starts to break down after those two leave, I guess their presence also helped Gelos’ mental stability. Of course, at this point, it’s kind of hard to feel bad for her, considering what she did to Papple and that she brought this all on herself.

The fact that one of the things Gelos fears is getting older also feels interesting to me, considering she’s one of the younger members of Criasu. I kind of wish we’d gotten to see more interactions between her, Takumi and Jinjin prior to their purification. I feel that could’ve helped flesh out all three characters a bit more. Plus, the other villains all sort of have some sort of connection with each of the Cures (Charalit and George with Hana, Daigan with Saaya, Papple with Emiru and Ruru, Dr. Traum with Ruru, Ristoru with Harry and Bishin with Harry and Homare), but these three don’t really have that either. 

Next up, Dr. Traum. He’s likely the oldest member of Criasu, and is also the creator of Ruru. While we never quite get the full story, it is heavily implied that Dr. Traum had previously lost a daughter, and Ruru was built in an attempt to fill the void. However, when he failed to get Ruru to develop the way he hoped, he felt as if he had failed and started distancing himself from her, leaving her with Criasu to work alongside the other employees. When we first meet Dr. Traum, he makes his entrance by quickly taking down Daigan, nearly killing him in the process, had it not been for Cure Ange’s intervention. He also takes over the Oshimaida that Daigan had already created, modifying it with his own tech.

While his taking down Daigan during his introduction may have given the impression that he’d be another one of the more ruthless villains of Criasu, it is soon established that out of the current set of villains, he’s actually one of the goofier ones, with his over-the-top mannerisms and such. Despite his daughter being one of the Cures, he still fights against them, and he later admits that he was a bit jealous of the Cures for succeeding in helping Ruru develop a heart when he had failed to do so.

After being purified during episode 37, he returns a few episodes later to try to reconnect with Ruru, as well as give the Cures some important information about Criasu and George Kurai’s goals. Considering how Dr. Traum had treated her before, Ruru is initially kind of annoyed with her father and doesn’t understand why he would want to bond with her now. Dr. Traum eventually admits that even he is full of contradictions, and that it is hard for him to explain how he feels. Ruru gradually begins to warm up to him over the course of the last few episodes, even if she still hasn’t fully accepted him yet.

Dr. Traum ended up becoming another one of my favorite Criasu characters, due to his somewhat goofy personality and connection to Ruru. As I sort of already said, he ended up being rather different from what I expected based on his first appearance. I feel he provides some comic relief among the set of villains the Cures face off against in the second half of the show, and I like how he’s basically the expert on technology and inventor of the company.

Of course, he’s still quite dangerous as a villain, as with the use of his inventions he managed to get pretty close to achieving Criasu’s goal in episodes 36 and 37, and in the latter episode grew so powerful after becoming an Oshimaida that the Hugtto team needed the assistance of all the previous Cures and their allies to stop the army of monsters he had summoned, and then purify him.

After becoming one of the good guys, he tries his best to make things up to Ruru for giving up on trying to raise her before. I like how Dr. Traum eventually manages to bring himself to admit that it wasn’t Ruru’s fault that things didn’t go as he hoped, but his own since he had his expectations in how he wanted Ruru to develop, while the Cures were able to bring about this development simply by accepting Ruru as she was to begin with and not pressuring her. I like the sort of wacky parent, serious child dynamic between the two.

I’m also really curious about what happened to his original daughter and how whatever happened ultimately led him to becoming part of Criasu, and I’m wondering if supplementary materials might some day give us an answer to that, as it did with clarifying some of the details regarding another character, but I’ll get to that later.

Next, I’ll talk about Bishin, or I guess his name might be spelled Bicine? Anyways, the character is first introduced when Ristoru goes to free him from his cell, asking Ristoru if he’s really sure about letting him out, since he might end up destroying everything. Bishin turns out to be an old friend of Harry, and really wants him to come back to Criasu. He ends up revealing Harry’s previous connection to Criasu to the Cures, and ends up forming a bit of a rivalry with Cure Etoile over Harry.

Bishin comes across as having trouble understanding others, such as having trouble understanding Harry’s decision to oppose Criasu, and not understanding how Homare is able to accept that her feelings for Harry are like unrequited. Since Bishin appears to be younger than both Harry and Ristoru, I’m guessing some of his behaviour can be attributed to him being more immature, combined with Criasu’s influence having left him a bit mentally unstable. Bishin later seems to move on to Ristoru, who comforted him after his duel with Cure Etoile in the VR space. Bishin is also seen questioning why George removed Ristoru’s “heart”, and wonders if the two of them can be happy together forever once Criasu’s goal has been reached.

In Harry and Ristoru’s backstory, we found out that Bishin was seemingly among the members of their village who was afflicted with some sort of illness, and hoped Criasu would save them by turning them into humans. After Ristoru is finally fully purified by the Cures, Bishin flies into a rage, and only calms down once Ristoru assures him that he truly cares about him, allowing Bishin to finally be purified and reunited with both Harry and Ristoru.

As you could probably tell from some of my thoughts on the various episodes, I did mistake Bishin for a girl until he was confirmed to be a boy, due to his voice and androgynous design, along with his crush on Harry. I do like the design, and I think he’s an interesting character. He is presented as a bit of a foil to Cure Etoile in the episodes revolving around both characters’ relationships with Harry, since Homare is ultimately able to accept Harry’s decisions and how things are, while Bishin just doesn’t understand.

Considering how Bishin seems to move on to Ristoru later on, I’m guessing Bishin doesn’t handle being alone very well, which again might be partially due to him being younger than Harry and Ristoru. Also, if I remember correctly, I don’t think it was ever really explained what Bishin did to get himself locked away in the first place. Well, whatever the reason, I imagine being locked up for a while might’ve also worsened his mental state. I feel kind of bad for him, thinking about how much Criasu’s influence messed him up.

Next is Ristoru, who was introduced in the first half of the show, but we didn’t really learn all that much about him until the second half. During the first half, he seems to be running things on behalf of their leader while he is away, or something. During the second half of the show, he starts to take on a more prominient role, including seeking out potential new employees for Criasu Corp after several of the villains have switched sides. We learn that Ristoru is a squirrel-like creature from the same village as Harry and Bishin, and that he initially joined Criasu as part of a deal to save the village. When the village was destroyed anyways, Ristoru fell into despair and came to believe fate couldn’t be avoided.

In spite of continuing to stoically carry out his work for Criasu, it gradually becomes apparent that part of Ristoru really resents George for not keeping his promise to save the village. After the Cures succeed in partially purifying him, Ristoru admits this. Because of this, George does something to Ristoru that Bishin describes as taking away his heart, messing with his memories and leaving him showing even less emotion than before.

During the final battle against him and Bishin, the Cures and Harry gradually manage to get through to Ristoru, jogging his memories and finally purifying him, allowing him in turn to help them talk down Bishin.

So, yeah. Ristoru turned out to be a very interesting character. At first, the most I could gleam from his role in the first half of the season was that he was obviously the second-in-command to the big bad, but I wasn’t sure what else to make of him. So I was very intrigued once the second half of the season started giving more focus and insight into Ristoru’s character. Ristoru turning out to be from Harry’s village was a bit of a surprise at first, and then I realized that his name does sound a bit similar to the Japanese word for “squirrel”.

I guess what’s really interesting about Ristoru, is that while part of him resents George for not keeping his promise, he has come to believe that there’s really nothing else left for him. When the Cures manage to partially purify him, he’s able to start admitting that he hates George, but he still can’t bring himself to leave, leading to him basically being brainwashed into an emotionless state to keep working for Criasu. It’s a bit unsettling to see him like that, especially when Bishin was talking to him and he did not react at all.

Other than that, I like his design. I’m glad the Cures were able to save him in the end, and that he in turn was able to help them save Bishin.

Finally, George Kurai, the big bad of the series. He makes appearances throughout the first half of the show, as this adult carrying around a book who occasionally talks about his worldview and ideals with Hana, which even inspires her at times. However, it is clear that something is up with him, as he keeps commenting on the actions of the Pretty Cures with great interest, Hugtan seems unnerved when he briefly interacts with her and Harry, and it eventually being confirmed that George is the “boyfriend” that Papple keeps spending time with.

George is eventually revealed to be the leader of the Criasu Corporation, much to the shock of Hana who had grown to trust him to some extent. During the second half of the show, we see how George manipulates the other villains. He seems to believe there is no hope for the future, which is why he is trying to stop time. He also continues to show a weird interest in Hana, due to a combination of her being able to draw out the power of Mother, much like Cure Tomorrow, and the fact that he and Hana knew each other in the future he came from.

Thanks to supplementary materials, we know more of the story, in that George and the alternate Hana were friends, but since the Hana of this timeline never transferred schools and met the others, she never found the inner strength the Hana we got know over the course of the show did, and it eventually led to her death. This was one of the factors leading to George going down the dark path.

However, it seems to me that George doesn’t quite seem to understand that the Hana he fights against in the present isn’t the same Hana he knew in the bad future, leading him to come across as rather creepy with his interest in this girl who is several years younger than him. It is also interesting that despite his reactions to his book changing in response to whenever Hana/Cure Yell and the other Cures change the future in some way, he still thinks the future is a lost cause and that stopping time is the best option.

So... Well, George does have a nice design, but I’m not sure where I’d put him on the scale of how well developed he is as a Pretty Cure main villain. Maybe it’s because there’s a lot of things we don’t really know about him, since some of the details regarding his backstory and such didn’t come up in the show itself. 

Despite his insistance that what he’s doing is to put an end to a future that can’t be saved, he still shows himself to be rather cruel. He seems to emotionally manipulate several of the other villains, including Papple, Gelos, Ristoru and Bishin. Due to his interest in Hana, I doubt he really cared about any of those villains the way he could make it seem. He also has a knack for torture, as shown with how Charalit was punished for failing to defeat the Cures, as well as how he tortured the other four Cures in episode 47 to try to get Cure Yell to surrender.

Of course, he is defeated in the end, and Cure Yell goes back to have one final talk with him. Despite his claims that his worldview hasn’t changed, Cure Yell believes otherwise, claiming that he wouldn’t keep telling her that they’d meet again otherwise. Seemingly accepting that she has a point there, George says good-bye by promising that they’ll meet again.

I admit, it does feel a bit weird that Hana is willing to forgive him after all he’s done, and that she still became friends with him in the good future, albeit presumably with his younger self who hadn’t done all those things. There’s a lot of things that are left unclear regarding their relationship, including whether or not they were more than friends at any point. Personally, I prefer to think they’re just friends. I mean, after everything that’s happened, anything more would just feel a bit weird. I’ll talk a bit more about this later when I go into my thoughts on the plot and the ending.

Other Characters

As I’ve mentioned before, I really do like the supporting casts of the various Pretty Cure series, and this one also had some really good ones. I’ll begin by talking about the family members of the Cures, starting with Hana’s family.

Hana’s parents, Shintarou Nono and Sumire Nono are both shown to be very good parents to their daughters, Hana and Kotori. Shintarou is the manager of a local store, HugMan Home Center, while Sumire works as the reporter for a magazine. All in all, both are shown to be kind and understanding to those around them, with the two helping give advice to the girls and Harry on how to look after Hugtan, Shintarou being a reasonable, good boss to his employees at the store, and Sumire still caring for Ruru’s well-being even after realizing something had been done to her memories after Ruru undoes the effects.

I really like both of them. I feel Sumire in particular is very perceptive in regards to Hana’s mood and mental state, even figuring out that Hana is Cure Yell during the final battle. They’re both really good people.

Hana’s younger sister, Kotori, comes across as more down to earth and calm than her sister, and doesn’t as easily get caught up in her family’s goofier moments. She seems to be a bit embarrassed over her older sister’s antics, but she still clearly cares about her. In an episode focusing on her, Kotori worries that Hana might be unintentionally creating problems for the Pretty Cures, since they always seem to show up in places she’s been to, and tries to investigate alongside two of Hana’s classmates, one with a crush on Hana herself and one with a crush on Cure Yell.

During her investigation, she comes to realize Hana’s strong points, and even starts to figure out that Hana and Cure Yell might be the same person. While she doesn’t get to confirm her theory due to Hana falling asleep before she can ask her, she at the very least has a better understanding and appreciation of her older sister.

I really like Kotori, and I wish she’d gotten more episodes focused on her. For example, she and Emiru could’ve gotten at least one episode together, those two being classmates and all. With their different personalities, it might’ve been interesting to see those two interact more. At least she still got a pretty good episode centered around her, and it was interesting seeing her interactions with those two male classmates of Hana’s. I also wish they’d perhaps done a little bit more with her being implied to have learned Hana’s identity.

The last member of Hana’s family to be introduced (not counting Hugtan) is Hana’s grandmother, Tanpopo, who is more of a minor character featured in a few episodes, most notably episode 29, her debut episode. She runs a shop where she sells traditional sweets that she makes herself, with one of her customers, a friend of hers named Yone, expressing that the sweets just aren’t as good as they used to be. Tanpopo tries to ignore this and keep at it, but as she throws out her back and has to be taken to the hospital, has to consider the possibility that she’s simply getting too old to continue working at the shop.

After speaking to Yone, Hana and her friends decide to try to re-create the Hope Manju that the shop used to sell back when Hana’s grandfather, Tanpopo’s husband, was still alive. Upon receiving these, Tanpopo admits that the reason she had stopped making them was because it was the one sweet that she couldn’t bear to make if it didn’t turn out the way it did before. She’s inspired to return to the shop and teach Hana and her friends how to make them properly, and ends up helping the Cures fight the monster of the week, and recognizing Cure Yell as Hana. In the end, she decides to keep the shop running, but acknowledges that it’ll be difficult to keep it going on her own. Hearing this, Yone offers to help out, as she still has quite a bit of strength, being stronger than she looks.

Tanpopo may be a minor character, but I really like her and the episode that introduced her. She and Hana seem to get along well, seeming to have some personality traits in common. Her episode also addresses another aspect to the show’s focus on the future, namely the fact that there may come a time when you have to retire and just can’t do your job as well as before. In the end, Tanpopo is able to keep her shop going, realizing she can’t do it all on her own and hiring her friend Yone to help out after she offers her assistance and physical strength for the tasks Tanpopo has difficulty with.

Seeing Tanpopo step out to protect her shop and actually managing to deflect an Oshimaida’s attack with her shop’s equipment was also pretty cool, as well as her figuring out that Cure Yell is Hana. I also like Yone, and the friendship between the two old ladies.

Next I’ll talk about Saaya’s parents. We learn early on that Saaya is the daughter of an actress, and part of her character arc is whether to follow in the footsteps of her mother as an aspiring actress, or if there’s another dream she’d rather pursue. In the episode properly introducing Saaya’s mother, Reira, we learn about how Saaya’s mother convinced a lot of the crew she worked with to help her with balancing continuing her career and making sure Saaya was raised well.

It is shown that when Reira plays a role, she will do what she can to understand the role and get really into character, leading to her sometimes doing things she wouldn’t normally do if it’s something the character would do. As a result, she can come across as a bit clumsy at times, but her dedication to her work certainly shines through.

While she is supporting of Saaya and the choice Saaya makes regarding her future career in the end, things take an interesting turn as while Reira is accepting of Saaya choosing a different path, part of her is also conflicted due to the reality of the fact that her daughter is growing up. After a heart-to-heart between Saaya and Reira after Reira is turned into an Oshimaida, Reira manages to sort out her conflicting emotions, and later goes off-script during the scene she and Saaya are practicing as a way of showing her full support of Saaya’s dream while still in-character.

I really like Reira. Her dedication to her career, while also wanting to make sure her daughter is raised right is quite admirable. I also really like how close she is to her co-workers and how they pitched in to help her balance her career with raising Saaya. I thought her internal conflict when Saaya decided to focus on a medical career instead of acting was interesting too, realizing how fast her daughter is growing up and being reluctant to let her go. She initially tries to keep these feelings to herself, but being turned into an Oshimaida brings them to the surface as she abducts Hugtan, seemingly mistaking her for a younger Saaya. They ultimately manage to talk things out, with Saaya letting Reira know just how much of an influence Reira has been and how she also played a part in helping her reach her decision.

Next is Saaya’s father, Shuji. He first appears in episode 7, where he is seen preparing Saaya’s favorite food. He works as a caterer for the film sets Reira works at, and sometimes helps Reira with her work. When he’s not delivering food to the set, he seems to handle the household chores and such while Reira is at work.

He doesn’t get that much screentime, but it is clear that he supports Reira and is a good parent to Saaya, presumably being able to spend more time with her than Reira. I like their story.

Next, onto Homare’s family. We don’t get to see much of them, but Homare does mention in one episode that she lives with her mother and grandparents, and that her mother and father are divorced for unknown reasons. We finally get a glimpse of the family in episode 25, when Homare’s mother, Chitose, is seen helping Homare get ready for the festival and giving her a hair accessory for the occasion.

Chitose makes another appearance in episode 43, when she notices that Homare is feeling conflicted due to her feelings for Harry, and gives her some advice, reassuring her that no matter what happens, her friends will be there for her.

While a minor character, I liked Chitose’s interactions with Homare. She is able to tell what is troubling her and gives her some advice based on her own experiences. She’s clearly a caring parent, and I wish we’d seen some more of her and Homare’s grandparents.

I guess Homare’s dog, Mogumogu, also counts as a family member, so I’ll talk about him real quick. Homare basically adopted him as a pet after saving him from being hit by a truck during the brief period in which Hugtan froze time. Mogumogu gets an episode focused on him, where he develops a crush on a cute celebrity cat named Lily, shown on TV. When an oppurtunity to meet her presents itself, the Cures try to help Mogumogu muster up the courage to win a competition. When an Oshimaida attacks during the event, Mogumogu manages to show his courage when he rescues a girl who was separated from her mother during the chaos and leads her to safety. The girl and her mother later come to thank him, turning out to be Lily’s owners, allowing the two to finally meet.

Yeah, not really much to say about Mogumogu. He’s cute, a bit of a slow learner, but managed to prove his courage when things got tough. And he can tell that Cure Etoile is Homare, which isn’t that surprising, as other pets belonging to the Cures tend to be able to figure it out. And his little relationship with Lily the cat is cute too, I guess, with the final episode suggesting they still meet regularly.

Anyways, since I’ve already talked about Dr. Traum, that only leaves Emiru’s family. We meet her parents in episode 15, and we quickly see that the two are quite eccentric, wearing old-fashioned outfits and singing and dancing around the room when Ruru first meets them after following Emiru to her house. A later episode shows that they also support Emiru in her music career. I don’t have that much to say about them, really. They’re kind of funny, giving us a bit of an idea of where Emiru gets her some of her overly dramatic tendencies from, and I like how they are supportive of Emiru.

Now, let’s talk about Masato, Emiru’s older brother. When he is first introduced, he comes across as sort of a rich jerk, due to having been heavily influenced by his grandfather. As such, he disapproves of Emiru’s interest in the guitar, suggesting that the violin or piano are more lady-like, leading to Ruru, moved by Emiru’s guitar playing, to stand up to Masato on her behalf.

Masato is seen again in episode 19, commenting on how feminine a ribbon Henri wears on his school uniform tie looks, with Henri just ignoring his opinion. When Masato later in the episode tries to pull Emiru away from performing in a fashion show with “heroes” as a theme due to his belief that only guys should be heroes, Henri steps in after changing into a beautiful dress. After Henri stands up against Masato and his sexist views, Masato leaves, with his negative energy making him into a target for Criasu and turning him into an Oshimaida.

During the confrontation with the Cures, Masato’s Oshimaida kidnaps Henri. While caught up in the situation, Henri calmly speaks to the Oshimaida, encouraging Masato to love himself more. After being purified, Henri’s words seem to have had quite the effect on him, as Masato starts mellowing out and showing more support for Emiru. He apologizes to her by giving her tickets for her and Ruru to see a concert, and also apologizes to Henri, with the two becoming close friends afterwards. In later episodes, the two are often seen together, with Masato supporting Henri in his ice-skating and such.

Masato’s character development really shines when his grandfather shows up after Emiru loses her voice over being unable to admit to not wanting Ruru to leave once the Pretty Cures’ mission is over. When Emiru and Masato’s grandfather tries to talk Emiru into quitting her band with Ruru, Masato stands up to his grandfather and helps give Emiru the encouragement to regain her voice and talk things out with Ruru. 

Masato ended up becoming a surprisingly interesting character, once Henri and the Pretty Cures helped him gain enough insight to think more for himself and not just follow what his grandfather taught him. I really like how he redeems himself by becoming a supportive older brother for Emiru, and the friendship he develops with Henri. As the story progresses, it even seems their relationship might be developing towards something more than just friends.

I think the moments between those two that really stand out to me are his scenes in episode 42. There’s the scene where he and Homare visit Henri in the hospital after the car accident that broke Henri’s leg, with Masato tearfully wishing he could’ve been the one who got injured instead of Henri. Then there’s Masato’s joyful reaction when Henri temporarily becomes a Cure, and him running out on the ice to catch Henri in his arms after the transformation wears off. Yeah, that episode had some really good moments between those two.

I also really liked his confrontation with his grandfather during the episode where Emiru temporarily lost her voice as mentioned before, and while the grandfather is still being stubborn and refusing to change his mind by the end of the episode, Masato still hopes he’ll eventually come around, even if might take time. I feel that episode really showed how Masato has changed for the better, and how his more open-minded perspective has also helped him connect with others more.

Well, I think that about covers the family members of the Cures, so now let’s move onto other recurring characters. I’ll start with Henri Wakamiya, a half-French, half-Japanese figure skater from Russia. He is initially introduced as a childhood friend of Homare, who is thrilled to see that she’s taken up skating again, and wanting her to come with him to Moscow to help her get back to her former glory. Henri is initially skeptical of Homare’s new friends, Hana and Saaya, believing them to be holding Homare back from getting back to her full potential.

Homare eventually proves him wrong, and he starts to warm up to Hana and Saaya, and it is implied that he figured out that they were the Cures after witnessing their battle against an Oshimaida in that episode, which is confirmed in a later episode. After these events, Henri transfers into the Cures’ school. His comments to Hana indirectly led to the plot of episode 10 and 11, which had Hana start doubting herself, before eventually overcoming these doubts with the help of her friends and gaining the Melody Swords.

Henri’s next big role is in episode 19, where he invites Emiru and Ruru to take part in the fashion show after hearing them sing together. We also see him not caring for Masato’s mocking comments about his fashion choices, even when Hana tries to defend him, explaining to her that he believes arguing with those who disagree with his choices is just a waste of time. When Masato tries to interfere with the fashion show by taking Emiru away, Henri chooses to stand up to him, appearing before him in a dress. Henri explains his worldview to Masato, believing that living life with unwanted restrictions is a waste, and stops him from taking Emiru home.

As mentioned when I talked about Masato, an Oshimaida is made from Masato’s negative energy, and it ends up capturing Henri. While the Cures try to save him, Henri also assists by calmly talking to Masato, embracing the Oshimaida and encouraging him to love himself more. After the Cures rescue Henri and return Masato to normal, Henri and Masato end up developing a close friendship, as I mentioned earlier.

Henri’s next appearances start up a sub-plot in which the Criasu Corporation look to recruit him, while Henri is recovering from a problem with his leg which may potentially force him to retire from ice skating. When first approached by Ristoru, Emiru witnesses their conversation and goes to talk to Henri, who assures her that he has no intention of joining up with them. He also comments about this surprising turn of events saying that he would’ve sooner expected the Pretty Cures to recruit him.

However, Ristoru does leave Henri with a business card, and the ending of the episode to introduce this sub-plot shows that while Henri may have rejected Criasu’s offer for now, this isn’t the end of it. Indeed, Homare eventually notices that something is wrong and asks Henri about it. Henri eventually admits that while he’s already had the doctors take care of his leg, he knows that he likely won’t be able to continue, but he wants to have at least one last ice skating performance before he starts looking for another dream.

Unfortunately, Henri is unable to perform when he gets into a car accident which results in him breaking his leg. Henri initially tries to put on a brave face for Homare and Masato when they come to check on him, but once left alone, his despair starts to get to him, with Ristoru making it worse by showing him his fans who are upset at not being able to see his performance. This leads to Henri briefly falling under Criasu’s control, but the Cures manage to snap him out of it.

As the Cures manage to reach Henri, a miracle occurs, leading to Henri temporarily becoming a Cure himself, Cure Infini. Cure Infini assists the Cures in their battle and manages to raise the spirits of the audience with his ice skating skills. After the battle is over and Henri is taken back to the hospital, he speaks to Hana, Saaya and Homare about why he chose to call his Cure form Cure Infini and talks about how he considers the first three Cures the Precures of wings, pointing out in Hana’s case that Cure Yell’s name also sounds similar to “Aile”, which means wings. Henri is seen still recovering in the last few episodes leading up to the finale.

I think Henri is easily one of the most interesting characters of Hugtto’s supporting cast. I think it’s particularly episode 19 where we really get to know him. He is true to himself, and has no issues occasionally wearing dresses because he likes them. I enjoy watching his interactions with Masato, and I think his sub-plot was an interesting one. Much like Tanpopo’s debut episode, it ties into the show’s theme in the aspect of the possibility of injury or medical condition interfering with your ability to follow your passions.

Ultimately, the sub-plot results in something I don’t think anyone saw coming until the preview for episode 42: Henri Wakamiya becoming the first official male Cure, even if it was only temporary. While the idea of a male Cure has previously been teased in previous series and we’ve certainly seen plenty of male allies of the Cures, Hugtto Pretty Cure finally had a male character recognized as a Cure. It was quite awesome, and with the themes brought up in episode 19 and Henri having shown an implied interest in being a Cure, I feel it was quite fitting that they actually went through with it. And what makes it even better is that this wasn’t just a one-time thing: It was foreshadowing for the events of the final battle between the Cures and George! I really loved that. I’ll go more into detail about that later.

Aside from Henri and Masato, I also like his relationships with his childhood friend Homare, and how they’re shown to understand each other fairly well as both notice the other’s troubles. Another relationship I liked is his relationship with Hana. While it starts off with him skeptical to her, he soon starts warming up to her once he realizes how big an impact she really left on Homare in helping her return to ice skating. While the two are on friendlier terms, it is still shown in later episodes that they still haven’t quite come to fully understand each other, but eventually, in episode 42, when Hana shows him the design she made for an outfit that ultimately becomes the basis for Cure Infini’s outfit, Henri, while commenting that the outfit doesn’t seem all that practical for ice skating, at least acknowledges that Hana has grown to understand him more as he still likes the design itself. I really liked this little moment and the acknowledgement of how their relationship has progressed.

Okay, I think I’ll talk about Ranze Ichijo, a recurring character who plays a role in Saaya’s character arc. She’s an aspiring young actress, and self-proclaimed rival to Saaya, even if Saaya doesn’t fully understand that she sees it that way. This is because Ranze and Saaya were both in a variety show together as children, but while Saaya was the main character of the show, Ranze was just a side-character, wearing a leek costume. This itself also leads to a bit of a running gag in the episodes where Ranze shows up, as she keeps inexpliacably ending up in roles relating to leek, such as the person delivering leek on a show about cooking, or a leek knight in the episode where everyone got caught up in another virtual world created by Criasu.

Ranze’s appearances mainly focus on her desire to get bigger roles as an actress, while “competing” with Saaya. However, as is made clear in the episode where Saaya decides to retire from acting to focus on pursuing a career in medicine instead, Ranze also respects Saaya. She calls Saaya out on not putting her heart in her role, and when Saaya informs everyone of her decision, Ranze is initially upset and even tearfully asks if there’s a chance that Saaya could both work in medicine and still be an actress, while respecting Saaya’s decision when Saaya explains why that wouldn’t work.

I really like Ranze, particularly her moments with Saaya in episode 44. Due to the similarities between their names, she may be partially based off of Ranko Ichijou from Go! Princess Pretty Cure, another fun side character who wanted to be an idol. Still, whether that was intentional or not, she seems very different from Ranko. I also like her design.

Next, I’ll talk about Fumito Chise, one of the Cures’ classmates, and the first person to be the victim of the week on this show after getting angry over his teacher scolding him for turning in an assignment late. He becomes interested in Cure Yell after she saves him, and episode 34 reveals that he at some point started his own Cure Yell fan club. He is usually accompanied by Hinase Amano, another one of his classmates.

During episode 34, we see just how enthusiatic he is about Cure Yell. On the other hand, he’s not all that interested in Hana, unaware that they’re the same person. He and Hinase end up talking to Kotori about her concerns, and the three of them end up helping give the Cures the power boost they need to defeat the opponent of that episode.

Yeah, he’s a minor character for the most part, but I really liked his interactions with Kotori and Hinase in episode 34. The way they work off of each other with their different personalities and viewpoints was fun to watch. I also like the little book end with Fumito’s frustration being what causes the negative energy to possess the train the future characters are supposed to use to get back to their own time, with the reason for his frustration even being just about the same as what got him turned into an Oshimaida in the first episode.

I’ll talk about Hinase next, a guy is part of the school’s orchestra club and is often seen preparing for concerts. While also a fairly minor character, he does play a slightly bigger role than Fumito. Aside from background appearances in early episodes, his first scene to stand out is a conversation with Hana in episode 10, where he tells her of one the orchestra club’s upcoming concerts and talks about how many different talents come together to make amazing music. This later comes up again in episode 11, where the girls are trying to figure out how to help a comatose Hugtan, and end up heading to the tower where the concert is held. Remembering his words, Hana and the other two girls are able to figure out how to wake up Hugtan.

Later episodes show that Hinase has developed a bit of a crush on Hana, but unfortunately Hana is totally oblivious to this. He later gets a focus episode alongside Kotori and Fumito, as I’ve already mentioned. He helps Kotori with her concerns by providing his perspective on Hana, and how she’s always caring for the well-being of others, even if she can be a bit clumsy at times. He, Fumito and Kotori later help the Cures by cheering them on and giving them the power boost they need to save the day.

I like Hinase, and I think his interactions with Hana are really sweet. While she may be oblivious to his crush on her, he manages to give her some good advice and encouragement. I also find his interactions with Fumito interesting, as mentioned above. He’s just a nice, sort of dorky guy who is very understanding of others.

And now for Aki and Junna, two other classmates of Hana who are frequently seen in minor roles throughout the show. While the two are shown throughout early episodes, their only real focus episode was episode 16. The episode focuses on Aki, the read haired girl, wanting to be more like Homare, which leads to conflict with Junna, the girl with the glasses, who thinks Aki is fine the way she is and doesn’t think Homare would make a good role model considering her reputation prior to Hana and Saaya helping her to get things back on track in regards to her ice skating.

As Homare tries to convince Aki to sort things out with Junna, we learn how the two have been friends since kindergarden, and that Junna has helped Aki a lot throughout the years since Aki has trouble staying focused on things. Homare can’t figure out how to help the two, so when the two later get into another argument, the become an easy target for Papple to create an Oshimaida. 

During the battle, Cure Etoile’s words reach them, and they begin talking things out. Aki explains why she wanted to be more like Homare, while Junna explains her own feelings and realizes she may have been unconsciously holding Aki back. Thus, the two patch things up. They continue to play minor roles in later episodes.

So, yeah. I like them, they have a fairly interesting dynamic. I like their designs, and their focus episode was good. I don’t really have much to say about them, though. Aside from their focus episode, I can’t think of any other big roles they play in other episodes at the top of my head, aside from being among the people shown to temporarily become Cures in the finale. Still, I felt the show still treated them as important enough among the recurring characters for me to include in this post.

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Overall Thoughts

I really did like this series a lot. I liked the art style, which reminded me a bit of Yes! Pretty Cure 5′s art style, the character designs were really great and the soundtrack was really great too. I really think the whole future theme worked really well, and it is in some way similar to the theme of Go! Princess Pretty Cure about following your dreams, another Pretty Cure series that is among my favorites. The characters are all really great, and I like how this show continues experimenting with the Pretty Cure formula like Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure and Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode did.

Hugtto Pretty Cure is also one of the darker Pretty Cure seasons, which I’m guessing is partially due to the previous two seasons for the most part having had a fairly light-hearted tone, so they allowed themselves to go a bit darker with this one. For starters, the main threat facing the world is made known right from the start, with Criasu’s goal being to eliminate the future by stopping time, while in both of the series that preceded this one it took some time before it became clear what the villains were trying to accomplish. The first few episodes also have more of a serious tone in some aspects, particularly with Homare’s initial difficulties becoming a Cure.

This show could get seriously intense at times. A few scenes that come to mind are the endings of episode 10 and episode 16, the imagery in the scene in episode 22 leading up to Papple becoming an Oshimaida, Harry’s backstory shown in episode 25, Henri getting into a car accident in 42, George torturing the other four Cures in episode 47 in order to force Cure Yell to surrender... And those aren’t even all of the examples I can think of at the top of my head.

There’s also the way the show presents its future theme in very relatable ways, showing different worries people may have about their futures. How do you become the person you aspire to be? What goal do you truly want to pursue in the future? And what do you do when it seems you may no longer be able to do the thing you love because of injury or because your body no longer works as well as it used to due to age? There’s even sort of an element of this with the villains, who for the most part have all given up on hope for their future, and are already aware that the world will end up in a bad state in a few years anyways. Considering all the worry about climate change and whether we’ll be able to do something about it before things get worse, this can hit kind of close to home.

But of course, being a Pretty Cure series, this series still takes a optimistic approach to many of these topics, with the Cures gradually figuring out what they truly want from the future, and inspiring others to do their best too, even managing to convince the villains that there might still be a good future for them and inspiring them to explore the possibilities. I feel this in some ways sums up one of the reasons why I like the Pretty Cure franchise so much. There’s something very inspiring about watching these girls fighting for the futures of themselves and those around them, always managing to find a way to get back on their feet no matter what hardships they might face along the way. And I feel this element of inspiration is really highlighted in Hugtto Pretty Cure.

This series also celebrates the 15th anniversery of the franchise, much like Happiness Charge Pretty Cure celebrated the 10th anniversary. And while I did like Happiness Charge, I do feel this Hugtto does it better. Happiness Charge had some interesting concepts, but all in all, it didn’t utilize those concepts to its full potential and had some romance sub-plots that were a little hard to get invested in because it was already pretty clear what the outcome would be. The series wasn’t bad, but it could’ve been better.

With Hugtto, there are plenty of callbacks to previous Pretty Cure series, they are also willing to try new things and take more chances, managing to truly capture the essence of the Pretty Cure franchise. And sure, it has some flaws and there are perhaps some characters that could’ve been explored more, but all in all, it’s still a pretty good series.

And while on the topic of it being an anniversery series, I of course have to talk about certain episodes. I’ll first bring up episode 21, which ends with Hugtan summoning the original Pretty Cure duo, Cure Black and Cure White, who end up assisting the Hugtto team in episode 22, helping Emiru and Ruru sort out some problems between them and helping fight Papple’s Oshimaida before Hugtan returns the two to their world. This was pretty cool, and also ties in to the Hugtto Pretty Cure movie, which also has the Hugtto team teaming up with Cure Black and Cure White to help reclaim the memories of the other Pretty Cure teams, basically making it a Pretty Cure All Stars movie, which also has me wondering if we’ll get another All Stars movie for the 20th anniversary, and if that’ll be a recurring thing or not.

Anyways, back on topic, episode 36 and 37 then decided to one-up those episodes, by basically being a two-part episode All Stars movie on its own by bringing in all the other Pretty Cure teams. Basically, episode 36 has Dr. Traum planning to stop time, and trying to prevent the Cures from doing so by turning them into babies (again, another reference to the plot of the Hugtto movie) with one of his inventions, going after the grown-up Kira Kira Pretty Cures, who were meeting up for the first time in a while. Hugtan manages to get them out of danger by teleporting them to the Hugtto team, but not before Dr. Traum’s invention has turned them back into the ages they were during the Kira Kira Pretty Cure series itself. Hana and Ichika recognize each other, presumably due to the events of the crossover movie with them and the Mahou Tsukai Cures. (as well as Hana having visited the KiraPati in the finale of Kira Kira, but I’m not sure if this came up in the crossover movie or not, I do need to catch up on those.)

The Mahou Tsukai girls soon show up, with Mirai and Riko getting de-aged as well (Kotoha still being the same age as before due to essentially being a physical Goddess or something as shown in the finale of Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure), and the three groups team up in order to stop Dr. Traum. As his new invention proves especially difficult to deal with, the Cures split up to seek more help, and end up meeting up with Love Momozono from Fresh Pretty Cure, and Nozomi Yumehara from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo.

Cure Peach and Cure Dream join the fight, but Dr. Traum ultimately manages to freeze time, including most of the other Pretty Cure teams, however, we do see that in addition to the Cures gathered so far, Cure Black, Cure White and Shiny Luminous also managed to avoid being frozen and soon join up with the other Cures. However, Dr. Traum continues to get stronger, until he becomes a powerful Oshimaida and summons various monsters from previous series.

However, thanks to the determination of Hana and the others, the Cures manage to break through Dr. Traum’s attempts to stop them, and eventually the rest of the Cures from various series are able to join them, resulting in an epic fight where the various Cures fight together. In the end, with the help of all the Cures, as well as the encouragement from various allies those Cures have made throughout their series, they manage to purify Dr. Traum with their combined strength.

Now, while I do love these two episodes, episode 37 in particular, I do have to bring up the fact that this causes a few small issues with the timeline previously established by the final episodes of Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure and Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode. You see, in Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure’s final episode, Mirai and Riko are both college age, but are temporarily returned to middle school ages by Kotoha’s magic, as they go on one last mission as Cures and find out what has happened to the other characters during the time skip. During their adventure, they meet Ichika, who is at this point a middle schooler.

Cut forward to Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode’s final episode, where Hana stops by the KiraPati along with Hugtan, and which takes place before a time skip leading to the final scenes where we see the Kira Kira Pretty Cures all grown up. However, in episode 36, we see the Kira Kira Pretty Cures in their grown-up ages, despite the fact that Hana’s appearance in the last episode should suggest that they’d still be close to the same age as her at this point in the timeline. In addition, Mirai and Riko’s grown-up selves still appear to be the same age as we saw them in the last episode of Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure, even though the grown-up versions of the Kira Kira Pretty Cure suggests that those two should be even older by then. Yeah... Kind of messes up the timeline a little, doesn’t it? Again, I haven’t seen the Dream Stars and Super Stars movies yet, so I don’t know what their take on the timeline is. I suppose the time travel element might play into some of this, but I’ll talk more about some of the more confusing aspects of the time travel stuff later.

Now, as mentioned, while there are some confusing details regarding the timelines of these shows, I’m actually willing to mostly overlook it simply because of how awesome episode 37 was. Seriously, that episode was like a love letter to the fans that have been following the entire franchise so far. I love the little details of the Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode team being clueless as to who most of the Pretty Cure teams are, as the last Pretty Cure All Stars movie prior to the Hugtto one was the Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure one, and thus the Kira Kira Pretty Cures hadn’t met most of the previous teams.

The entire fight scene during episode 37 is pure awesome, with how they pair up different Cures with similar abilities or personalities. Like the defensive Cures getting together to deflect an attack with their barriers, the former villain Cures with musical instruments (+ Cure Ma Cherie) joining up for an attack, Cure Blossom and Cure Flora combining their flower power, the star themed Cures doing an attack together, the Splash Star, Happiness Charge and Mahou Tsukai teams using their different forms, Milky Rose, Cure Felice and Cure Parfait (all being fairies who became human) fighting together, Cure Rouge, Cure Sunny and Cure March using their ball-themed attacks, the Cures who in some way use swords joining together, Cure Rhythm (also being an aspiring patissier) finally getting to meet Cure Whip... There are so many good combinations in this!

And there’s even more! We even get cameos from other notable characters from previous series, starting with an appearance from Bunbee, who was unwittingly roped into helping Dr. Traum with his invention, and then bailed out once he realized what was going on and then informed the Cures of what was going on.

Then, when the Cures are preparing for their final attack to purify Dr. Traum, we see both Pekorin and (partially) Mofurun assuming their Pretty Cure forms, and we get cameos from Michiru and Kaoru from Splash Star (in their Cure Bright and Windy forms), Cure Flower from HeartCatch Pretty Cure, Royale Candy from Smile Pretty Cure, Cure Tender and the Aloha Pretty Cures from Happiness Charge Pretty Cure, Pikario and Bibury from Kira Kira Pretty Cure, Soular and Westar from Fresh Pretty Cure, Otokichi from Suite Pretty Cure, Regina from Doki Doki Pretty Cure, Yui from Go! Princess Pretty Cure, the principal from Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure and even Cure Echo from the All Stars movies appears to pitch in for the final attack. All of these allies of the Pretty Cures... Ah, it was so awesome!

There were probably a few more characters they could’ve included, with Seiji Sagara and maybe Blue from Happiness Charge in particular coming to mind, but it was still really awesome seeing them acknowledging all of these characters as basically part of the Pretty Cure teams. I loved that scene so much! And they even worked in a cameo of Kaoru from Fresh Pretty Cure after the battle and time returned to normal. It was just such a great episode! And they even managed to work it into the on-going story of Hugtto, since Dr. Traum was purified in the process. Seriously, this is how you celebrate a franchise’s anniversary. I also liked the use of the opening theme of Futari wa Pretty Cure for the action scene and the special episode ED themes.

The character development in this series is pretty solid, for the most part. As I mentioned earlier, I think Emiru could’ve had some more interactions with the team besides Ruru, and Saaya tended not to stand out as much in episodes not focused on her. Although I feel they at least managed to avoid having Saaya end up in the same category as Alice from Doki Doki Pretty Cure, Yuko from Happiness Charge Pretty Cure and Mirai from Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure, three characters who didn’t receive as much character development as their teammates and while they certainly had episodes focused on them, they sort of remain static characters for most their shows. With Saaya, there is a clear progression in her character arc and her focus episodes develop her story well.

There might’ve also been aspects of some of the villains that could’ve been explored in more detail. On the other hand, I suppose there’s that saying “show, not tell”, and it might be better not to just tell everything. Still, in some cases, certain unanswered questions leave you wondering, and I’m not sure if we’ll possibly get an answer to some of those via supplementary materials, like we got with for example Sasorina, Kumojacky and Cobraja from HeartCatch Pretty Cure.

That aside, I feel the show overall does a pretty good job with setting up its plot points and the foreshadowing, with the gradual reveal of Harry’s backstory, the mysteries surrounding Hugtan and so on. There’s just enough clues that you can kind of piece together what’s going on, and look forward to seeing if you were right and what the other characters’ reactions will be. At least, that’s how I felt watching this series.

I also really appreciated Cure Infini. I feel this show was probably the most perfect time and place to introduce a male Cure, as I mentioned earlier. I kind of hope this could open up new possibilities for future Pretty Cure series. As I mentioned earlier, the appearance of Cure Infini also foreshadowed the events of the second-to-last episode, so I think it’s about time I start getting into the last few episodes, my thoughts on them, among other things.

So, basically, the last battle is kicked off by Criasu managing to stop time, and creating a giant Oshimaida to deal with the Cures. George kidnaps Hugtan, but the Cures do manage to finally purify Ristoru and Bishin, and Gelos helps give the Cures a ride to Criasu Corp’s HQ before joining the other former villains in holding off Oshimaidas while the Cures try to rescue Hugtan. George eventually traps all five Cures, and tries to break Cure Yell’s spirit by torturing the other four by eletrocuting them. However, the four manage to encourage Cure Yell to not give up despite all this. The four of them are sent away, leaving Cure Yell to confront George alone.

The two fight for a while, with Cure Yell refusing to give in. Recalling how much things have changed since she met Hugtan and the others, she finds the strength to keep fighting and eventually manages to destroy George’s book, freeing Hugtan. The other Cures soon rejoin the fight, and as they spread positive energy all over, time resumes as everyone becomes a Cure to assist with the final battle. Yes, everyone in town temporarily becomes a Cure to help deal the final blow against George. After this, Cure Yell goes to have one last talk with George, where they seem to reach somewhat of an understanding before he leaves, promising that they’ll meet again somewhere. After that, the Cures and the other former villains watch the sunrise together.

Yeah, that second-to-last episode was pretty awesome. With the angel-wing imagery throughout the show, I thought for sure that the Cures were going to receive one final power-up that included angel wings, but that didn’t happen. I think what they ended up doing with everyone in town becoming Cures was really cool, though. There were a few characters whose Cure forms we didn’t get to see, though, including Harry, Bishin and Ristoru, although I’m sure fanartists have come up with some designs. Among other characters I would’ve liked to see as Cures were Ranze and Reira, who I at least don’t remember seeing during that sequence. There were a lot of cool designs, though, especially for some of the former villains. A clever alternative to giving the Cures a final upgrade for the final battle, and works well with the show’s message. By working together and getting everyone involved, they were able to make a better future.

After the final battle, the last episode focuses on everyone going about their daily lives, with the first half of the episode dealing with the girls spending time together before it is time to send the characters from the future home. While working on the invention that’ll send the characters from the future back, the invention ends up turning into an Oshimaida and going on a rampage due to absorbing Toge power from a frustrated Fumito. The Cures have one last fight, with Hikaru/Cure Star from the then upcoming Star Twinkle Pretty Cure making a cameo to help them out, before going off to chase a kappa.

With all that done said and done, Hana and her friends see the characters from the future off as they board Dr. Traum’s time machine train to return home. However, they find it hard not to cry at being separated for a long time, especially as Hugtan doesn’t fully understand what is going on. In the end, the characters from the future return home.

Yeah, the scene where the characters from the present and the ones from the future part ways was really sad, especially with Hugtan’s reaction to it. Cure Star’s cameo was also kind of short compared to the cameos of Ichika/Cure Whip and Hana/Cure Yell in Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure and Kira Kira Pretty Cure A La Mode. Still, since every other Cure from the previous series had been featured, and this show does have the whole future theme going, it’d also be strange if she didn’t show up. Also, after watching the first episode of Star Twinkle, I thought the whole thing with Hikaru running off to chase a kappa turned out to be a clever bit of foreshadowing, considering the first of the villains she ended up facing.

Anyways, as for the second half of the episode, we jump ahead several years into the future, where Hana and her friends are now adults, and we see what the supporting cast has been up to. We find that this timeline’s version of Dr. Traum has built a child version of Ruru which is supposedly capable of aging, which he calls the grown-up Emiru over to meet. While it’s not the same Ruru (who she presumably will have to wait another 13 years to meet again, if I understand things right, I’ll get back to that later), Emiru is happy to see her, and plays the song she wrote for the original Ruru on her guitar. New!Ruru seems to know the song, and sings along with Emiru.

Meanwhile, Hana is now the president of a successful company and is well-liked by her employees, which include some of her former classmates. However, one of her employees point out that she’s not even supposed to be working at the moment, and we soon see why as Hana is revealed to be pregnant and she starts going into labour. Saaya, now working as a doctor alongside the good timeline version of Daigan, prepare to help Hana as they get the call about her. Homare, now a famous ice skater, hurries over from the airport to be with Hana as she gives birth. We see more glimpses of what the rest of the supporting characters have been up to, and Hana gives birth to a familiar-looking baby girl, naming her Hagumi.

So, yeah. It is pretty neat seeing what all the supporting characters are up to in the good future. A few lingering plot points, such as the whole deal with Masato and Emiru’s grandfather is resolved, as we see him attending one of Henri’s performances, seemingly more accepting than before. Also, Henri and Masato probably had a relationship upgrade at some point during the time skip. Good for them!

And it is confirmed that Hugtan/Cure Tomorrow is indeed Hana’s daughter. The identity of her father is still ambiguous, though. While it could be George... I don’t know. I think it’d be kind of strange for that to happen, considering everything the bad future!George put Hana and her friends through. Even if the good timeline George is different, and Hana was willing to forgive the bad timeline!George to some extent... It just seems strange. I guess I just personally think that if anything, those two would just be friends.

While George being Hugtan’s father could potentially explain why she alone was spared in the bad timeline, but that could also just be because George knows she’s Hana’s daughter, even if he’s not the father. Yeah, I mentioned earlier that there are some confusing elements of the story, due to lack of certain details and the whole time travel aspect with the two different timelines. The whole deal with Cure Tomorrow being one of them.

By the time the series begins, the timeline has already changed slightly from the bad timeline George, the other Criasu members, Harry and Hugtan came from, with Hana having transferred schools and cut her bangs, while in the bad timeline, Hana never did transfer schools and meet the other girls. So, I guess the bad future characters going back in time might’ve caused some ripple effect that set in motion the changes to the timeline, including somehow Hana changing schools, although that’s just speculation on my part.

And then there’s the final episode, with the characters from the future returning to the good timeline, a brief scene of human!Harry with Cure Tomorrow seemingly confirming that they did make it there. I do wonder, though, since we do see the younger versions of the former villains there, is there going to be two of each of these characters in this timeline? My reason for this is based on the appearance of human!Harry, since we see hamster!Harry with Bicine and Ristoru in an earlier scene, and considering the events of the bad future didn’t happen in this timeline, Criasu wouldn’t be around and Harry, Bicine and Ristoru presumably wouldn’t have been experimented on and given their human forms.

I guess I’m curious as to how things would’ve played out when the characters from the future return to about 13 years after the events shown in the second half of the final episode. I imagine Emiru being thrilled to now have two Rurus to hang out with, and the two versions of Dr. Traum discussing new inventions, as well as discussing the possibility of upgrading the original Ruru to be able to age like the new Ruru. And then there’s Hagumi, assuming Hana did indeed have her in the bad timeline too... I mean, would good timeline!Hagumi have had any reason to become a Pretty Cure, since there doesn’t seem to be any villains causing trouble in the good future? So, if there’s two Hagumi in the good future now, would one of them be a regular girl, and the other a Pretty Cure?

Yeah... Assuming that’s how it would work, I guess it could make for some interesting fanfic. I imagine Hana and the others would do their best to help their friends from the bad future settle down in the good future.

So, basically, if you think a little too hard about it and try to make sense of how the whole time travel and timeline aspect works, certain things can get a bit confusing. The series does have a few other flaws, but all in all, it’s a very enjoyable series with plenty of great characters, nice animation, a good soundtrack and so on. The story is really good, with its optimistic message about the future and plenty of call backs to previous Pretty Cure series while also trying some new twists on the usual tropes. As I said earlier, this series perfectly captures the spirit of the Pretty Cure series.

Well, I guess I’ve said everything I can think of. I really loved this series! A great series to celebrate the 15th anniversery of the franchise, and I certainly have high hopes for the future of the franchise. I’ve been enjoying Star Twinkle Pretty Cure a lot so far, and when that series concludes, I’ll certainly look forward to writing another one of these posts with my thoughts on that series! Okay, that’s all for now. I’ll see you guys later!

[noconcernofyours]

5 Takeaways from Avengers: Endgame (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Here’s another one I didn’t really have a place to post, so it’s going up here. Hope you enjoy my Hot Takes™.

On Thursday I went down to my local cinema to watch Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of over a decade of continuous, intricate world-building and story-telling from the mind of Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige and co. This article is not a review of the movie. To be clear, I loved it and there are a million reasons why, but looking at it purely as a film doesn’t really make sense to me considering all of the factors that make Endgame more than just another Marvel movie.

Instead, here are five takeaways that I, as someone who has been seeing these films in the cinema since Iron Man released in 2008, have been sitting on since I walked out of the screening on Thursday night. WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

1.    Sam Wilson is the perfect successor to Steve Rogers. Fight me.

There are several major emotional themes that Endgame introduces throughout the film: parenthood, reconciliation, coping with one’s failures. But, as the film moves into its insanely climactic final battle sequence, a new theme starts to move to the front of the pack – a passing of the torch.

From Peter being the major emotional anchor of Tony Stark’s death scene to Captain Marvel mirroring Steve Rogers’ heroic yet futile act of holding Thanos’ hand open from Infinity War, and even to Hawkeye teaching his daughter to shoot a bow and arrow in the film’s emotionally fraught opening scene, there is a real sense that the most definitive way this film can wrap up the original team’s character arcs is by showing who is still there to take up their mantles.

I’ve seen a lot of angry takes complaining that Steve passed on the mantle of Captain America to Sam over Bucky. These takes… *clears throat*… are dead wrong. Bucky is just as out of time as Steve was, more so even, due to the amount of time he spent either in ice, or out of his mind. He’s also so unclear of his own identity that it makes no sense for him to adopt this mantle that is meant to be so clearly defined and inspiring, especially considering the amount of damage he’s done to the world. That same internal conflict is why Steve was so uncomfortable being Captain America for so long. The main argument, I guess, is that he has a closer relationship with Steve, but I would argue that this is an incorrect analysis of their relationship. One of the things clarified by the time travel sequence is how Steve’s relationship with Bucky wasn’t about friendship, or loneliness, but about one of the other themes of the film: failing to deal with one’s mistakes.

It makes so much more sense for Sam to take up the mantle because, arguably, he is Steve’s greatest achievement as Captain America. Steve’s deeds inspired Sam to act. His training made Sam, someone with no superpowers at all, a superhero and brought him to the highest echelons of the Avengers. He, like Steve, was a military volunteer, unlike Bucky who was drafted. And, like Steve, and perhaps most importantly, he doesn’t know how to exist without the next mission. Sam has been Captain America-in-waiting since his introduction in Winter Soldier.

2.    This film shouldn’t be nominated for best picture, but there are Oscar nominations that it does deserve

This last Oscar season was incredibly long, taxing and discursively toxic. One of the narratives in various online forums was a sense of discontent that Black Panther was nominated for best picture over Infinity War. Now, despite the fact that I thoroughly disagree with that feeling – Black Panther is one of the most narratively and thematically powerful superhero movies ever released and Infinity War has a thoroughly unpleasant message of abuse=love – there will, without a doubt be an Oscar narrative surrounding this landmark movie.

Let me set the record straight here: Endgame, whilst being an incredibly important moment in cinema, a hugely emotional watching experience, and a massive technical achievement, is not best picture material. Why? It doesn’t stand on its own. Without the background of the rest of the MCU propping it up, it couldn’t achieve nearly as much of the emotional impact that it did. For the same reason, I don’t think Return of the King should have been a best picture winner either. Sue me. The film also has some tonal issues that prevent it from landing all the emotional punches that a best picture nominee should have.

That being said, there are elements of Endgame that deserve recognition from the academy, and they are thus:

Robert Downey Jr.’s gut-wrenching performance as Tony Stark

Honestly, it does feel like Downey’s been playing this character in his sleep since Age of Ultron, but not here. This, for me, is his strongest performance put to film, and that’s all down to an awareness of how this character has changed since his debut in 2008. His meltdown scene after he is rescued at the start of the film is masterfully frightening and sad, made all the more so by his CGI-facilitated emaciated state.

Alan Silvestri’s genius score

Alan Silvestri is an incredible film composer; this much is clear. While I loved his score for Infinity War, which was full of clever little twists on previously existing material, and stunning uses of silence, I did feel a little let down that some of the better leitmotifs from previous films weren’t utilised at all, particularly Captain America’s theme, which Silvestri wrote for The First Avenger back in 2011.

As of now, I understand why he made the decision to leave that out. It wasn’t studio interference, demanding overly aggressive aesthetic consistency. It was a choice made to enhance Steve’s character development. We haven’t heard Steve’s theme since Winter Soldier, because he hasn’t really been Captain America since that film. The moment in Endgame that brought me closest to ugly crying in the cinema was when Tony handed Cap back his shield, and we finally heard that theme again. Silvestri has been paying attention in a major way, and probably deserves a writing credit for every movie in which Steve Rogers has appeared since 2011 because of it. Thanos’ theme is terrifying and beautiful too. Give. This. Man. All. The. Awards.

3.    Guardians of the Galaxy needs a soft reboot, Ragnarok style

I hate the Guardians. I hate all of them… well… except Gamora and Nebula, but the former was done dirty in Infinity War, and the latter pretty much finished her character arc in Endgame. All the other ones are either funny window dressing (Rocket, Groot, Mantis), or outright intolerable (Starlord, Drax). One thing that made me enjoy Endgame so much more than Infinity War, was that I didn’t have to watch the Guardians’ unbearable antics for the majority of the movie. It was a small reprieve from the dick jokes, backwards character development, unfunny temper tantrums and relentless stupidity.

The end of the film sets up the future involvement of Thor in the next Guardians movie. I hope to god that means they’ll bring Taika Waititi on board to help write the new movie with James Gunn. I’m glad Disney made the right decision to bring Gunn back after his premature dismissal, but after the catastrophe that was Guardians of the Galaxy, vol.2, and the negative impact the characters have had on Infinity War, I think someone with the creative instincts of Waititi needs to be brought on to help make these characters into people again. Thor joining the team is a chance to make that happen.

4.    Marvel did ScarJo dirty

Ugh. Every member of the original team got a proper ending, except ScarJo, who got fridged. I’m a huge Hawkeye stan, but Black Widow should not have been tossed off (literally!) in order to develop his character in the way they did. To make matters worse, she doesn’t even get a funeral! Just a little nod at the end from the guy who she died to save. After everything that happened with Gamora in Infinity War, I can’t believe the Russo brothers, who did so much to develop this character in Winter Soldier, were okay with giving Black Widow a death that was not only meaningless, but so similar to the woman they killed in the last movie.

Come on!!!

5.    Endgame wrapped up 10 years of movies so perfectly that I don’t have to care what they do next anymore

All that being said, it really doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Over the last few years, I’ve gotten increasingly frustrated with the MCU. With the exception of Black Panther and Ant-Man and the Wasp¸ every film in the series since Captain America: Civil War has been a bit of a let-down for me. I hated Guardians 2, I was left feeling a little empty after Ragnarok and Infinity War, and Spider-Man: Homecoming was the biggest disappointment in the entire series that came close to ruining the character for me.

What’s so special about Endgame, is that it so neatly and powerfully brings to a close the narrative arcs of (nearly) all of the characters I’ve cared about since the MCU’s beginning over a decade ago. It, surprisingly enough, is a legitimate jumping-off point. If I were so inclined, I could be content to never see a Marvel Studios film again because most of the threads I was invested in have been tied up.

It also seems unlikely that they’ll be building to a huge single-narrative conclusion for a long, long while. How could they? Endgame was a movie a decade in the making, and I suspect it’ll be another decade before they get to anything that could rival the emotional resonance of their latest achievement. What comes next will, undoubtedly, feel substantially different than what came before, and therefore, probably isn’t targeted at me or others in my position. If I fancy seeing a new Marvel film, I will, but I highly doubt that by skipping one I’m going to feel like I’m missing out in the same way I would have done if I’d missed any of the last 22 MCU movies.

The greatest gift Endgame has given me, is a way out of the vicious circle of Marvel movie discourse. I can rest now.

[coolman229]

Star vs The Forces of Evil is handling its racism subplot far better than RWBY is handling the Faunus subplot. And I think the main reason is that they’re actually willing to do things that are uncomfortable.

We see in season 1 that the real history of Mewni involved the Mewmans vastly overpowering the monsters and slaughtering them simply because they saw all monsters as evil. There are certainly evil monsters like Toffee, but even Ludo isn’t truly evil. Heck we even see Ludo’s family in the show and they’re really not bad. And then you have Buff Frog who since the end of season 1 has been friends with Star (Star even babysits his kids for him). The show acknowledges that the monsters get mistreated, and instead of just bringing it up and then barely showing it we get numerous times throughout the show that supports it. We’ve seen peaceful monsters get run out of shops simply for wanting to buy something. We’ve seen all the way up to Queen Moon hating monsters just for being monsters. The monster expert of Mewni was shown to still hold odd and even twisted ideas about the monsters despite not hating them. We saw at the party that all the monsters were arrested even though they were invited while the Mewmans were all coddled. It took Star using her royal authority to get them to let the monsters go. The writers actually had the balls to show good characters like Star’s mom and the Magical High Commission show extreme prejudice to monsters and Eclipsa even when they had no reason to. In some cases it’s understandable since Moon’s mother was killed by a monster, but it doesn’t stop the show from bringing up just how wrong and hypocritical they are. When they’re cool with some non humans simply because they’re rich or the Lucitors (who are literal demons) just because they’re powerful and are historic allies, yet they hate any regular monster, Star calls them out on it.

And we see Star make honest efforts to try to fix this. She tried to get a petition signed by the kingdoms, threw a party to help the Mewman/monster relationship, and has spoken with the High Commission and her mom numerous times. It’s nice to see the show bring this up and make it an integral part of not only Star’s character arc but part of the overall plot. Some things make otherwise likable characters look bad and the writers aren’t afraid of that. Characters like Moon and Hekapoo are rather likable, but they treat Eclipsa like she’s pure evil when they admittedly don’t have any reason to aside from her marrying a monster. They even struggled to list of real reasons why she was bad. When Moon met Buff Frog we saw that both monsters and Mewmans have the exact same stories told about each other. To each side they saw the other as baby eating villains, and we get this pointed out in the show. Good characters are allowed to hold very wrong opinions and this is used by the show to create a story.

Then you have the Faunus situation in RWBY. The show starts off telling us that Faunus are mistreated and discriminated against. We know that some have radicalized, some hold protests, and we get a good deal of this through Blake who’s the primary Faunus we see and one of the main characters.

The problem is that almost everything is told and not seen. Blake has spoken numerous times in the show about the crap that she and other Faunus have dealt with, but while the show insists there’s systematic oppression of Faunus we rarely see anything that supports it. We’re told that Menagerie is an absolute pit and Faunus were basically forced to go there if they didn’t want to be mistreated, but we rarely see people truly mistreat Faunus and when the show introduces Menagerie properly it looks like a vacation island with a bustling community. When Sun sees it he comments on how great it is while Blake complains. The show is telling us one thing and showing us another, and it’s clear that’s not supposed to be the case. Menagerie is supposed to be an overcrowded mess of a place and a middle finger to Faunus, but when the place looks like a tropical resort that people would visit on cruise ships that kind of falls flat.

Even worse is that starting in Volume 4 Blake is established to be basically Faunus royalty and lives in the biggest house on Menagerie. She has two loving parents (one of whom used to lead the White Fang) and everything she could want, yet still ran off and makes speeches about how she had a hard life. The show shoots Blake’s character arc in the foot by giving her such a great life, showing that she willingly left it, then having her say she grew up in the White Fang in protests and riots. It doesn’t really work. Now of course a lot of that is due to retcons that really started in Volume 4, but it still really hurts Blake’s own plotline. It makes her come off as entitled and whiny instead of sympathetic. It makes her conflict with Weiss in Volume 1 borderline hypocritical when she also lived a privileged life that she could have not complicated had she stayed on Menagerie while Weiss faced an abusive household and was personally targeted by the White Fang despite having nothing to do with the horrible things her family’s company has done. It was a bad choice and I’d compare it to the out of nowhere revelation in Book 2 of Legend of Korra that Korra is North Water Tribe royalty.

The show has also messed up with portraying the White Fang as just evil monsters. Just like how the Equalists in Legend of Korra were all cast as evil villains despite having a legitimate point about how nonbenders were treated the White Fang don’t really get to be sympathetic. They were built up that way early on in the first couple Volumes by Blake, establishing them as having noble goals but they’re using violence to get to them. Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang (until it was retconned later), was built up as being a complex character who at his core wanted good things but was twisted by hate into becoming a terrorist. Being a character we were familiar with since the early trailers Adam was being set up to show a more sympathetic side of the White Fang. But when he showed up in Volume 3 he was written as nothing more than a cartoonishly evil villain who’s given as many unlikable traits as possible regardless of how much it contradicts his previous characterization. He doesn’t even care about Faunus rights in Volume 3, he just wants to kill people. The White Fang become mustache twirling villains who are simply bad guys. It totally reduces the very gray conflict into a basic black and white one, even though the show will try to act like it is morally gray. They treat it like one side has to be completely good and one side has to be completely bad when that totally ruins the whole thing. The Equalists were shown to have legitimate complaints about how benders treated nonbenders with the triads and the all bender council that didn’t care for them. The Faunus have serious issues with basic human rights in some cases and is very much similar to civil rights issues in the past. But RWBY never properly portrays that and in some cases even tears down its own build up. It doesn’t take the opportunities to really develop the human/Faunus conflict.

Additionally characters who are good almost always support the Faunus and characters who are bad don’t. The only two characters we’ve really seen do something bad with a Faunus is Cardin bullying Velvet (which doesn’t really work since he treats everyone, particularly Jaune in Volume 1, that way) and Roman making a derogatory comment towards the White Fang Faunus that work for him. Cinder kills White Fang members to make Adam work for her, though that wasn’t so much about the Faunus as just being manipulative. But Roman is a villain who you’re not supposed to support so him calling them animals doesn’t have as much of an impact. And Cinder is outright evil so of course she doesn’t care about Faunus. Outside of Weiss for a brief time in Volume 1 no actual good characters were racist at all. Weiss came around in the Volume 1 finale, no teacher at Beacon has said anything that would raise an eyebrow, all 8 main characters are supportive, and we see people and Faunus working together quite well. Team CFVY and RWBY both have a Faunus on their team and we know that Ozpin is quite supportive, even having a private talk with Blake about it. Oobleck openly talks about his support of Faunus and disapproval of how they’re treated, and you’d think that would cause some flak given the supposedly widespread discrimination. I have a feeling that the writers didn’t want to make any of the good guys unlikable by having them not support Faunus rights, which is understandable, but it doesn’t gel with the story they’re trying to tell. If they had a character like Port say something derogatory about Faunus then there would be some support for it, and give Blake more backing when she tells Ozpin she doesn’t want to take her bow off even at Beacon because most humans don’t respect Faunus. But as it stands most of that is hollow when the show itself doesn’t support it.

And it’s really a shame because Blake’s storyline was one of the most interesting parts of the show. Had they gone full out with it the Faunus storyline could have been really interesting. RWBY has at times tried to show discrimination and more aspects of the White Fang, but it’s not enough. The show made this a big deal from the very beginning but failed to really show it in a believable way considering what we were told. Star vs The Forces of Evil, despite not making as big of a deal with the monster discrimination at first, really committed to the monster storyline.

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 6.12.2017

Another short but completely satisfying week for the Roundup! And this time we have something of a theme -- genre stories and, especially, genre stories that have developed from or are directly a part of Japanese storytelling tropes, which is engaging, interesting, and would have been rather ingenious on my part if it had been on purpose. Which... sure! Totally was on purpose. How smart of me. I’m sure anyone who believes me there is very impressed. 

Regardless, let’s get right into the thick of it~

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo, Viz’s Yona of the Dawn

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #77 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Damian Couceiro, Ronda Pattison

I have to really give it up to the ingenuity that goes into IDW’s take on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles once again because I am just so stunned and amazed by how near flawlessly they are able to make something that all fans are most certainly familiar with and turning it not just on its head but providing the familiar in completely surprising and innovative ways to where even I, the Turtle Historian that I am, can’t predict where we’re going with this.

It’s not exactly novel that the Turtles had a relationship with the Triceratons prior to the Invasion forces. That dates back to Eastman and Laird’s original stories in the 80s. But every representation of the Triceratons since then and even then have provided an outsider’s perspective as the turtles were caught up in a conflict completely outside of their personal connections and to which the Triceratons were a slaver, gladitorial, and genuinely unrelatable force of evil from the start. With only one-off exceptions of solitary Triceratons they befriended (or... dated in Mikey’s case because the early 2000s Vol. 4 comics were weird), the perspective of the Triceratons was never something that had shades of gray.

After all, they were such a warring, barbaric race that their original origins had it that they accidentally blew up their own planet which had spawned conflict with forces like the Federation to begin with. 

But in the IDW comics, villains come in layers and dimensions, to the point that even Stockman as the hilariously played straight Mad Scientist antagonist, is someone that the Turtles and April can conceivably work with to meet the same ends. To the point that we’re at odds with Master Splinter, that him working with Bishop’s forces is not shocking even in the gut wrenching feelings of betrayal. 

Everyone has their motivations and everyone has good reasons for those motivations, most especially the Triceratons themselves. They want a home. They were molded by generations of warring and enslavement. They were attacked first. And the camaraderie that they have with the Turtles genuinely makes them not just sympathetic but heartbreakingly backed into a corner. 

This is great storytelling made all the better with solid art and even more solid execution of it all together. I am constantly impressed with this series and that doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. 5/5 stars well earned.  

Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo (1984-present) #164 Stan Sakai

Now that we’re on part two of three of this storyline, and fully progressed in the overarching mystery of what I’m for the time being referring to as the Inspector Ishida Mystery, I’m feeling more and more comfortable in assuring new readers of Usagi Yojimbo that the current arc is just a fantastic jumping on point for new readers. Because, really it’s been one of the most engaging and entertaining storylines arguably since the original “Grasscutter” saga itself.

One of the things that Stan Sakai is a master of is the episodic narrative, and how easy it is for readers to engage at any point that they start picking up issues and in any order. And while that continues to be true -- which is marvelous in the current age of pushing for trade-style storylines -- more and more he’s also presenting the outline of the larger narrative and rewarding readers for engaging on every level.

That’s a difficult balance between two very different forms of storytelling but I find myself further awed by just how well Sakai manages it. He truly is one of the great modern masters of the medium and it’s just a comic that fans of the medium have to eventually read for themselves to get a full appreciation for it all.

Viz’s Yona of the Dawn (2009-present) Vol. 9 Mizuho Kusanagi

One of the fascinating things about the current landscape of media is that we have so many examples of how to not only deconstruct certain genres and storyforms, but we’re really living in a reconstruction of them the likes of which hasn’t had the momentum or tenacity that it has now at least in my lifetime. And I think there’s probably no better example of that right now for fantasy and fairy tales than Yona of the Dawn. Yona has been running since 2009, but it’s pretty clear why it was picked up for an anime in the last few years and also why interest in the original manga has reached the English speaking fandom more and more. I can definitely say that there’s more Yona on my dash here on tumblr this year than there was in previous years and it’s certainly not because I follow different or more blogs!

Yona is a feminist reconstruction of fairy tales, of the roles of princesses, and of the nature of strength. The more our titular protagonist yearns and struggles to prove herself again and again by masculine measures, she is inspiring to those around her. But what makes her endearing and what earns her the faith and love of her newfound family and all the people they have helped throughout her kingdom on their journey, is the strength of her more feminine traits and how she does not lose them but instead yields them even more powerfully as she grows into a woman. 

I feel like, more than any other volume officially translated yet, Vol. 9 does the most to portray this dichotomy directly and because of that, her reverse harem of faithful suitors’ relationship development with her and with each other this time around feels more earned and feels more respectful of the character that Yona already is. And with the setup at the end, with the second son of the Fire Tribe’s general coming to face her once more, it’s clear that there will be even more juxtaposition between the Yona of the past and Yona as she is now with someone who once knew her confronting her again as the more empowered and more protective force that she has become. 

It’s an incredibly exciting read and a fascinating reconstruction of a genre I really love. But it’s still far from perfect. For a feminist work, the fact that no permanent members of the cast are women besides Yona and that, in this volume, no speaking roles are given to anyone but Yona is pretty stunning. And there are some stilted interactions still predicated on the very tropes Yona tries to break down that feel uncomfortable at time, particularly her interactions with Hak and how “innocently sexual” Yona tends to be. I hope like many of the other story elements, these evolve as the story continues but they’re still negatives large enough to drop this volume of Yona of the Dawn from 5 to 4/5 stars.

Hello friends! That’s the end of the Roundup for this week, but fortunately if you enjoyed my takes on the comics of the week, for my Ramble reviews, or more content that I produce, I’m able to continue to do so thanks to the support and backing of my Patrons on Patreon.

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[eddycurrents]

For the week of 2 October 2017

Three favourites for the week: Eugenic #1 by James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan, Punisher: The Platoon #1 by Garth Ennis and Goran Parlov, and Slots #1 by Dan Panosian. Published by BOOM! Studios, Marvel/MAX, and Image/Skybound respectively.

Eugenic #1 is the start of the third of a thematic trilogy of end-world plague fictions (after Memetic and Cognetic) by James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan and it looks like this one might be the most outright horrific. 

Unlike the previous two stories, with Eugenic we start with a main pathogen or vector for the apocalypse already having ravaged the population. Tynion drops us into a society where the Red Cough has already killed or infected a sizable chunk of the population, leaving many still carriers for the virus, and effectively rendering the population sterile as all pregnancies seem to be stillborn. Into this chaos, a geneticist Dr. Cyrus Crane, has promised a vaccine to reverse the effects of the virus and allow people to repopulate.

This is when the real nightmare begins.

The premise for the series and the execution of the first issue is flawless. It makes us question who exactly is the “bad guy”, even when it seems like the monstrous acts are apparent. How far exactly would we go in order to ensure that things like birth defects or proclivity to certain diseases are removed from the genome, and what attachment to certain social stigma from phenotypes are allowed to remain? What happens when the children born from Crane’s vaccine mature is also a fascinating prospect for the rest of the series.

Then there’s Eryk Donovan’s art. He has a style that somewhat reminds me of Phil Hester and Ted McKeever, not quite as heavy on the use of ink and shadow and not quite as extreme in stylization, but still showing a good use of angularity, lines, and lanky features to put the reader somewhat on edge. His designs for the children are particularly effective. We see them as horrors, possibly monsters, but it will be interesting to see what happens when they become the norm, when they achieve adulthood. In a way, their appearance mirrors the classic Twilight Zone episode “Eye of the Beholder” in that in the future we will be the “freaks”.

This is some strong stuff and a good way to start the end of their apocalyptic trilogy on a high note. Highly recommended.

Punisher: The Platoon #1 is the glorious return of Garth Ennis to the Punisher. I’m of the opinion that everyone who loves comics should probably read Garth Ennis’ run on the Punisher. Particularly the “Welcome Back, Frank” storyline under the Marvel Knights banner, but especially his Punisher MAX. His work under the MAX imprint was some of the most mature, most harrowing war and crime comics that have been published. A highlight from that run was the Punisher: Born mini-series that Ennis did with Darick Robertson. It was essentially an original story for Frank, showing the events in the Vietnam War that truly shaped who the Punisher would become. It was basically a perfect melding of Ennis’ Punisher and his love for telling war stories.

Punisher: The Platoon acts as both a sequel and a prequel to Born. When I first read the announcement for this series, I wasn’t sure it was necessary, but having read the first issue, I’m glad it’s here. I’m glad Ennis is back on the Punisher, I’m glad that he’s telling this story, and I’m glad that he’s taken his experience of telling nuanced war stories over the course of the past fourteen years since Born and brought it back to the Punisher.

This first issue frames the narrative as an interview with members of Castle’s first command in Vietnam, by the apparent unseen author of the Valley Forge incident chronicled in Born, and switches back and forth from the present to the events in Vietnam. It’s interesting to see the trust Castle gives to his men, as well as the no-nonsense approach to completing objectives. The story also seeds a mystery as to where the author is getting information and how he knows about activities on the other side of the conflict.

The series reunites Ennis with one of his Punisher MAX collaborators, Goran Parlov, and the work is seamless. Parlov truly is one of the greats working in the medium and it shows in the seemingly effortless way that he makes everything from a simple bar set-up to the tunnels of Vietnam to fatigues interesting visually. I’m also highly impressed in the usually stunning work of Jordie Bellaire as she manages to make the endless amounts of green in the Vietnam war, from those fatigues to the fields and jungles, a veritable verdant variety.

This is a good start, and I’m anxious to see the rest of the story.

Slots #1 is further proof that somewhere over his many years in the industry, Dan Panosian has managed to advance to art god-tier level. I remember Panosian primarily as an inker on many ‘90s X-titles, but he’s come a long way since then. I noticed again on covers from the mid-aughts to present day and he’s developed a beautiful style. There’s hints of Alex Toth, echoes of Jack Kirby, and elements of Darwyn Cooke that result in a highly thought out style that is just a joy to look at.

The series follows Stanley Dance, a one-time boxer turned grifter, who has seemingly run out of luck (represented in story as a cache of keys) and looks like he may be working towards an ultimate checkout, when he’s contacted by an old friend for help. This help involves him returning to Vegas and sinking himself back into a world that’s changed with the times, and may also see some of his past sins catch up with him. The characters that Panosian populates the book with Stanley, Betsy, Mercy, Les, Alex, et al sound and look like they’ve walked out of a Donald Westlake novel and it at once makes them feel familiar and the world comfortable.

Slots is probably as close as we’re ever going to get to a Darwyn Cooke Parker adaptation in comics again. I consider Cooke’s work there to be about as close to a perfect comics as possible, so that’s high praise indeed. Not to put any pressure on Panosian, but I hope this series lives up to the promise in this first issue.

Quick Bits:

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #11 shifts focus back again to the Talons, this time bringing in Richard Rider and the Nova Corps when they discover a distress signal from Rider’s brother. It’s pretty dark, actually. Darker than the usual tone of the series, which gives a fair amount of gravity to the story. It also has some great art from Roland Boschi.

| Published by Marvel

The Archies #1 picks up more or less from where the one-shot left off. It gives a decent recap, though, so you shouldn’t necessarily need to pick it up (although I do recommend it anyway for the story). Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg give us a what happens next after their first successful gig, with the band seemingly drifting apart. It’s fun.

| Published by Archie Comics

Astonisher #1 is the second of the Catalyst Prime series that I’ve sampled and it’s pretty damn good. Where I find Incidentals a little obtuse in its narrative style, Astonisher just gets right into the characters motivations and set-up for the wider premise. Alex de Campi sets up an interesting character in Magnus Attarian, a kind of silver spoon wunderkind that actually seems to have a modicum of genius to back up his arrogance, and makes it more interesting in the powers of travelling into individuals’ minds. Pop Mhan’s energetic art also helps convey the strangeness of the various mental landscapes and how some people are still being effected by things following the Event. All around a good start for this book.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Black Bolt #6 concludes the first story-arc with the cast’s final attempt at a prison break. This series is simply great. Saladin Ahmed is populating the book with interesting and compelling characters, giving them unique voices and attitudes, and even manages to make Crusher Creel likeable, noble even. Added to that, Christian Ward’s artwork is gorgeous, capturing much of the same beauty that he’s employed previously in his ODY-C series with Matt Fraction.

| Published by Marvel

Cannibal #8 is one hell of a gut punch. As the second story-arc comes to a close, resolutions again aren’t necessarily happy or optimistic. Brian Buccellato and Jennifer Young again have the characters display a kind of bleak pragmatism as they deal with the fallout of Danny’s public revelation of cannibalism and Jolene’s return to town.

| Published by Image

Eleanor & The Egret #4 is the penultimate issue in this odd and whimsical series. This issue focuses on Detective Belanger, having been fired from his position due to what they see as gross incompetence, as he encounters the art-eating egret himself. John Layman and Sam Kieth’s story is weird, but highly enjoyable.

| Published by AfterShock

Elsewhere #3 is still as good as the previous issues, but it brings to light its pacing a wee bit more than the first two issues. It’s relatively slow in advancing plot, operating more like ten minute intervals between commercial breaks of a television series. By no means whatsoever does that mean it’s bad, it’s not, Jay Faerber and Sumeyye Kesgin have something wonderful on their hands here, just that it’s a very measured pace.

| Published by Image

Extremity #7 still feels like Ronin-era Frank Miller, when he was highly influenced by Katsuhiro Otomo and Goseki Kojima and it was showing in his work. Though Daniel Warren Johnson also gives a fair bit more depth to the characters and story. 

| Published by Image / Skybound

Giants Days #31 continues Daisy’s war with her (former) roommates over her relationship with Ingrid. It’s disappointing to see her run from her problems at first and not recognize the negative impact that Ingrid has had on Susan and Esther, especially in regards to financial impositions, but I suppose often times a “first love” is blind.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

Hack/Slash vs. Vampirella #1 has some amazing artwork. Rapha Lobosco has a style similar to Eduardo Risso and it perfectly suits the dark, bloody story that Shawn Aldridge is telling here.

| Published by Dynamite

Hawkeye #11 gives us the final confrontation between Kate and Masque!Kate and it’s pretty impressive. Leonardo Romero’s layouts and action choreography for the fights, especially atop the Hollywood Sign, are wonderful. How Kate handles the fight with Madame Masque is also interesting. Instead of just fisticuffs, Kelly Thompson presents her with reason, humour, and compassion towards Masque’s situation, that helps differentiate her from how she perceives her father and villainy in general.

| Published by Marvel

Hillbilly #8 has a nice back-up story illustrated by Simone Di Meo. At its heart it’s a ghost story, but there’s also an interesting bit of comeuppance of one’s “betters” in many morality tales. Like Eric Powell’s main narrative of Rondel, this is good stuff.

| Published by Albatross Funnybooks

Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Star Wars: Captain Phasma #3 further underlines Phasma’s willingness to do or say anything to get what she wants. The pilot compliments Phasma on a rousing speech to the refugees on Luprora, only to discover that it was empty, just words in order to get the people to do Phasma’s bidding. It’s interesting to see when you remember that Phasma’s whole reason for being here is a dogged determination to capture a “traitor” to the First Order to cover her own tracks.

| Published by Marvel

Motor Girl #9 advances both a bit of the alien plot and dealing with Sam’s PTSD, hallucinations, and remaining injuries. Terry Moore presents an interesting argument about the will and determination of wounded soldiers and what can hinder them when reintegrating into society.

| Published by Abstract Studio

Old Man Logan #29 is one tick closer to the finale, featuring the first part of thrilling confrontation between Logan and the Maestro. Much of this issue is dealing with that battle, trying to convince the other Hulk brood of Maestro’s malicious machinations, and dealing with the nuclear bombs being seeded across the world by Maestro’s minions. Ed Brisson and Mike Deodato Jr. have been doing something good with this entire arc, looking forward to what happens in the next issue.

| Published by Marvel

Regression #5 reminds me, amidst the baker’s dozen of other titles that he seems to be writing every month, that Cullen Bunn is a damn good horror writer. Danny Luckert’s artwork, weaving in and out of realism and fantastical horror, certainly helps set the tone for the series and makes it a joy to read, but the concept overall, of the terror potentially lurking in “past lives” unlocked through hypnosis and regression therapy is fascinating. And terrifying.

| Published by Image

Shadowman / Rae Sremmurd #1 is the latest in Valiant’s series of one-shots that give a different take on their properties; this time giving an updating and retelling of the Robert Johnson myth. I don’t know Rae Sremmurd, I’m sure it adds something fun for fans of the group, but knowledge of their work isn’t necessary for enjoyment of the book. Eliot Rahal also plays with the interesting idea that the nature of various afterlives are dependent on interpretation, with this particular devil shaping his according to his musical proclivities. It’s also really nice to see Doctor Mirage again, she’s one Valiant character who I’d love to see get another series. And, of course, Renato Guedes’ art is top shelf.

| Published by Valiant

Star Wars #37 is Jason Aaron’s last on the series, warranting extra pages and a second story. The main story illustrated by Salvador Larroca is told mainly from the perspective of SCAR Trooper Sergeant Kreel and it serves as a brutal counterpoint for why the Empire’s troops serve willingly to what we would consider a despotic regime. The second story, co-written by Dash Aaron and illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino, focuses on the Tusken Raiders and their almost symbiotic relationship with Tatooine’s sands.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Darth Vader #6 brings the series timeline closer to that of the Star Wars: Rebels cartoon, showcasing the first meeting between Vader and the Grand Inquisitor. The battle between the two is wonderfully depicted by Giuseppe Camuncoli. 

| Published by Marvel

Usagi Yojimbo #162 gently reminds you that Stan Sakai is a master storyteller.

| Published by Dark Horse

Venomverse #5 brings this mini-event to a conclusion. Overall, it’s been pretty fun. While I think some of the Edge of Venomverse stories were better, Cullen Bunn and Iban Coello have still crafted an enjoyable story with the main series. There’s also a hint at something more to come.

| Published by Marvel

Warframe #1 is interesting. I never really got into any of the lore behind the video game, but this seems like a good starting point. The artwork from Studio Hive, though, is the main draw. Their artwork has a similar texture and style to Clayton Crain’s and it’s very appealing. Great action scenes and they capture the tone and visual appearance of the game well.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Other Highlights: Ab Irato #6, Astonishing X-Men #4, Avengers #672, Beautiful Canvas #4, Centipede #3, Cinema Purgatorio #12, Elephantmen #78, Iceman #6, Iron Fist #73, Jessica Jones #13, Manifest Destiny #31, Meanwhile #7, Moonstruck #3, Motor Crush #7, Paper Girls #16, Postal #23, Ringside #12, Rocket Girl #10, Royals #9, Spider-Man #21, Spirits of Vengeance #1, Venom #155, War for the Planet of the Apes #4, X-Men Gold #13

Recommended Collections: Hulk: World War Hulk Omnibus, Outcast - Volume Five, Planetoid - Volume Two: Praxis, Rapture, Royals - Volume One: Beyond Inhuman, The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed, William Gibson’s Archangel

d. emerson eddy welcomes you to the jungle. We’ve got fun and games. There’s Yahtzee and Monopoly over there, a row of gaming PCs and network ports are set up in the living room, and a massive D&D campaign should be starting at 6. There’s snacks and drinks in the kitchen.

[totesmccoats]

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Dark Days: The Casting #1

This issue continues The Forge’s storytelling maneuver of throwing DCU canon at the wall to see what sticks, but also helpfully starts putting a few pieces together to the story of Metal.

Carter Hall writes in his journal about his multiple lives’ quest to discover the secret of Nth Metal – the power-source of his wings and weapons, and has traced it back to the beginnings of the universe, a bat-shaped Destroyer, and the “birds” that fought him back. Batman too, quests to discover the secret of the metals, which Wonder Woman tells him was used to make divine weapons, is found in all of the DCU’s most powerful relics, and courses through the blood of Earth’s heroes, including Batman himself. Meanwhile, Hal and Duke try to interrogate Joker about what he knows about the Metal and Batman’s been hiding from them.

This is Snyder going for broke, giving the DCU its biggest event since Flashpoint with Morrison-esque levels of continuity play connecting everything in the DC canon together. I’m expecting this to get incredibly silly, and make absolutely no sense to anyone not already 100% invested. Because it’s Snyder, I am so game for this. There’s still a radical shift in quality when the art goes from Kubrick to Romita Jr, the latter of whose style just does not fit the story as well as it does something like the first arc of All-Star Batman.

  Wonder Woman #26

Considering her previous work, I wasn’t expecting Fontana’s first issue on the series to completely gel with where Rucka left us, but the shift in tone is still something I’m getting used to, even within this one issue.

I like the opening scene, with Wonder Woman breaking up a fight in a refugee camp, although I’m honestly not sure what’s supposed to be happening. She punches out a guy harassing a woman and her kid, but then the whole camp is on fire and explodes for some reason? I’m not sure; but that leads directly to a flashback where Wonder Woman overhears her mother worry that she shouldn’t still be playing with dolls if she’s to become an Amazon – a plot-thread which doesn’t really go anywhere nor even plant seeds for the story to come. After that, Diana debriefs from what’s revealed to be her 43rd mission this year with the US military, and the General offers to be someone she can talk to with any problems regarding what she sees on the missions; there’s a check-up with a Doctor with a mysterious cough; and Diana goes to Etta Candy’s brother’s wedding where she helps a young girl find a missing shoe.

Now, I’m the first person to advocate for more superheroes helping out children in comics, but there’s a tonal inconsistency between that and the beginning of the book which implies Di might be going through some PTSD. And that tonal inconstancy also appears within individual scenes, like when right after the General offers to be someone she can talk to, he bumps his head on a low-hanging light fixture, and then the two are interrupted by a Mark Zuckerberg-looking fellow who invites them to a building-wide softball game. Also, the final page feels like a Batman ’66 type cliffhanger, which I kind of love, but which also feels out of step with the rest of the issue.

  The Flash #26

Eobard shows Barry and Iris a vision of their future where their children, Don and Dawn, grow up to be supervillains because Barry wasn’t around to be a father to them. Deciding that Iris has had enough of his lying to her, and that there is only one way to prevent this bad future from playing out, Barry goes with Eobard to a place where he’d never hurt anyone ever again – the negative Speed Force.

Although it probably happens too quickly, I like how Eobard breaks Barry by mind-judo-ing him into thinking that being the Flash is somehow irresponsible and hurts people. It’s not the most original storyline, god knows it’s happened to Peter Parker too many times, but in this situation, it works. Like Pete, Barry has seen how much his being the Flash hurts those closest to him, so when Eobard offers a way to prevent further harm, he takes it.

Also, it gives the series a great excuse to focus on Iris, who has to come to terms with her best friend being a superhero while fighting off the Reverse-Flash on her own. Hopefully this story will also borrow the ending from Spider-Man 2 and have the girlfriend knock some sense into their “my power = my choice” mindset when it comes to relationships.

  Spider-Men II #1

The cover asks the question “Who is the other Miles?” but, of course we don’t find out this issue – though we do see his face. Instead, we get a cold in medias res open of the two Spider-Men failing to catch a plane with, presumably the other Miles on it, before jumping a week into the past where Peter and Miles meet up at the warehouse where the first Spider-Men story kicked off to investigate another mysterious pink portal flinging stuff through Manhattan.

I stopped picking up Bendis books, including Spider-Man (Miles’ book) because I was getting tired of his style after Civil War II; but reading this issue reminds me of what I like about his writing. All of Bendis’ dialogue is snappy and witty, with everyone knowing exactly how to respond to the last thing said with their own little witticism. So, basically, he’s perfect for Spider-Man (men).

Bendis does tend to be verbose, but the boxes and bubbles are broken up nicely through the spreads, never getting too much in the way except in one moment in particularly where the wordiness is a punchline. And despite each character being recognizably Bendis, they are still recognizably distinct. Peter’s inner monologue and dialogue reads as someone trying – perhaps too hard – to be funny. He repeats words and phrases, doubles back on things he’s thinking/saying to provide his own commentary, and goes out of his way to be self-deprecating while taking others down with his esteem. We don’t get any of Mile’s inner monologue, but his dialogue represents him as more self-conscious, more laconic. He speaks mainly to respond to others, and lets Ganke – oh man did I miss Ganke – do much of the talking for him.

Pichelli’s art also does a lot to define each of the Spider-Men. Peter, like his dialogue, is more comedic. His poses are more exaggerated, with him spreading his limbs away from his body with wide kicks and flips, and leaning and looking down over other characters. Conversely, Miles moves more conservatively, keeping his libs tucked while swinging, and crouching where Peter would stand and lean.

  Amazing Spider-Man #30

We open on Spider-Man organizing a retreat from a Mjolnir wielding Hyrdra-Cap, then go to Peter in Shanghai, trying to rally his employees and prepare them for an attack by Doctor Octopus, who is raiding Parker Industry labs. Pete meets with the employees who remain loyal, warning them that if it comes to it, they’re going to have to destroy their life’s work to keep it out of Hydra’s grasps. And then Otto attacks.

It’s really impressive how Slott manages to weave his ongoing stories with event books without skipping a beat. Even without all the Secret Empire stuff, this arc is just another chapter in the Spider-Man/Doc Ock rivalry he’s set up since his Ends of the Earth storyline in 2012. Otto sees allying with Hydra as a means to the end of claiming all of Peter’s work as the fruits of his labor, and destroying Peter’s legacy as he takes it back.

And what’s scary is that, despite becoming a better CEO and doing his best to prepare for Ock, Peter is still a few steps behind. He still, unknowingly let Otto into his company, giving him the chance to sabotage everything right under his nose. In a way, Parker Industry is just as much Otto’s as it is Pete’s, and Otto’s taking advantage of that while Peter is failing to really comprehend it.

  Black Panther and The Crew #4

In Mississippi in 1964, Ezra and Frank take the Crew to take care of some KKK members who can’t be touched by the law. In the present, Luke Cage escapes the firebombing of his apartment building by Hydra, then joins up with Misty Knight to investigate why he was targeted, and what that might have to do with Ezra’s assassination.

The cold open in Mississippi is one of the strongest scenes in comic books regarding racial violence printed in the Big 2’s comics yet. Not only does it clearly and concisely explain how white people can (and still) get away with murdering black people, but also demonstrates exactly why groups like the Crew, or the real life Black Panthers, were and are necessary in those times and places. It’s its own complete story and statement of purpose in four pages. And it’s echoed through the rest of the comic, as Misty and Luke eventually talk to the CEO of the company behind the Americops, who still gets away with targeting black people with impunity because that’s what benefits the powerful.

It’s weird how the same company that’s publishing Nick Spencer’s half-assed sanitized metaphor for fascism can also publish such clear-eyed commentary on race in America. And that also applies to David F. Walker’s too-short run on Nighthawk, which you should totally pick up.

  Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #22

Doreen and Nancy win a programming contest and an all-expenses paid vacation to the Savage Land! Expect jokes involving: computer programming pun titles for classic literature, how insane Wikipedia articles in the Marvel universe must be, colonial era nomenclature, Jurassic Park, paleontology, Latveria, and more.

Reading this issue, it’s hard not to feel like North has wanted to write a Jurassic Park episode for Squirrel Girl for a while now, and he taps into the seemingly universal human love of dinosaurs. Henderson continues to deliver on art, with some of the best and funniest faces in comics, my favorite of which this issue is Doreen’s reaction to realizing Nancy has a crush on one of the other contest winners.

  Kill or Be Killed #10

The cops, including detective Lily Sharpe find the Russian hitman’s burned-up corpse in the back of the van after learning about Dylan dropping off Rex at the hospital, and begin to postulate why their murderer tried to spare one victim while brutalizing the other. Meanwhile, Dylan, devastated by Rex’s death, move back home with his mom where he gets high, plays video games, and swears off killing, resigned to let the demon kill him. But then the demon reminds him that the Russians are after him, and might target the people he cares about, which complicates things a tad.

For a bit it seemed like Dylan was getting used to his new life, but this issue shows him in a downward spiral stemming from Rex’s death, as it’s the first one that’s actually personal for him. It’s his Uncle Ben moment, and that’s not the only part of this issue reminiscent of Spider-Man. When Dylan goes back to the city, it’s mainly to break up with Daisy and shut out Kira, who just happens to tell him about her feelings for him, just as he’s decided he’s too dangerous and messed up to afford to return her feelings.

This issue doesn’t really feel like the ending to an arc, but somewhere closer to the beginning of one. Continuing the comparison, this is Dylan’s “Spider-Man no more!” moment, which means that the stage is pretty much set for his comeback, whatever that may look like. It certainly won’t be as heroic as Spidey’s; but I wouldn’t rule out the inclusion of a criminal kingpin.

Comic Reviews for 7/12/17 Dark Days: The Casting #1 This issue continues The Forge's storytelling maneuver of throwing DCU canon at the wall to see what sticks, but also helpfully starts putting a few pieces together to the story of Metal.

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Dark Days: The Casting #1

This issue continues The Forge’s storytelling maneuver of throwing DCU canon at the wall to see what sticks, but also helpfully starts putting a few pieces together to the story of Metal.

Carter Hall writes in his journal about his multiple lives’ quest to discover the secret of Nth Metal – the power-source of his wings and weapons, and has traced it back to the beginnings of the universe, a bat-shaped Destroyer, and the “birds” that fought him back. Batman too, quests to discover the secret of the metals, which Wonder Woman tells him was used to make divine weapons, is found in all of the DCU’s most powerful relics, and courses through the blood of Earth’s heroes, including Batman himself. Meanwhile, Hal and Duke try to interrogate Joker about what he knows about the Metal and Batman’s been hiding from them.

This is Snyder going for broke, giving the DCU its biggest event since Flashpoint with Morrison-esque levels of continuity play connecting everything in the DC canon together. I’m expecting this to get incredibly silly, and make absolutely no sense to anyone not already 100% invested. Because it’s Snyder, I am so game for this. There’s still a radical shift in quality when the art goes from Kubrick to Romita Jr, the latter of whose style just does not fit the story as well as it does something like the first arc of All-Star Batman.

  Wonder Woman #26

Considering her previous work, I wasn’t expecting Fontana’s first issue on the series to completely gel with where Rucka left us, but the shift in tone is still something I’m getting used to, even within this one issue.

I like the opening scene, with Wonder Woman breaking up a fight in a refugee camp, although I’m honestly not sure what’s supposed to be happening. She punches out a guy harassing a woman and her kid, but then the whole camp is on fire and explodes for some reason? I’m not sure; but that leads directly to a flashback where Wonder Woman overhears her mother worry that she shouldn’t still be playing with dolls if she’s to become an Amazon – a plot-thread which doesn’t really go anywhere nor even plant seeds for the story to come. After that, Diana debriefs from what’s revealed to be her 43rd mission this year with the US military, and the General offers to be someone she can talk to with any problems regarding what she sees on the missions; there’s a check-up with a Doctor with a mysterious cough; and Diana goes to Etta Candy’s brother’s wedding where she helps a young girl find a missing shoe.

Now, I’m the first person to advocate for more superheroes helping out children in comics, but there’s a tonal inconsistency between that and the beginning of the book which implies Di might be going through some PTSD. And that tonal inconstancy also appears within individual scenes, like when right after the General offers to be someone she can talk to, he bumps his head on a low-hanging light fixture, and then the two are interrupted by a Mark Zuckerberg-looking fellow who invites them to a building-wide softball game. Also, the final page feels like a Batman ’66 type cliffhanger, which I kind of love, but which also feels out of step with the rest of the issue.

  The Flash #26

Eobard shows Barry and Iris a vision of their future where their children, Don and Dawn, grow up to be supervillains because Barry wasn’t around to be a father to them. Deciding that Iris has had enough of his lying to her, and that there is only one way to prevent this bad future from playing out, Barry goes with Eobard to a place where he’d never hurt anyone ever again – the negative Speed Force.

Although it probably happens too quickly, I like how Eobard breaks Barry by mind-judo-ing him into thinking that being the Flash is somehow irresponsible and hurts people. It’s not the most original storyline, god knows it’s happened to Peter Parker too many times, but in this situation, it works. Like Pete, Barry has seen how much his being the Flash hurts those closest to him, so when Eobard offers a way to prevent further harm, he takes it.

Also, it gives the series a great excuse to focus on Iris, who has to come to terms with her best friend being a superhero while fighting off the Reverse-Flash on her own. Hopefully this story will also borrow the ending from Spider-Man 2 and have the girlfriend knock some sense into their “my power = my choice” mindset when it comes to relationships.

  Spider-Men II #1

The cover asks the question “Who is the other Miles?” but, of course we don’t find out this issue – though we do see his face. Instead, we get a cold in medias res open of the two Spider-Men failing to catch a plane with, presumably the other Miles on it, before jumping a week into the past where Peter and Miles meet up at the warehouse where the first Spider-Men story kicked off to investigate another mysterious pink portal flinging stuff through Manhattan.

I stopped picking up Bendis books, including Spider-Man (Miles’ book) because I was getting tired of his style after Civil War II; but reading this issue reminds me of what I like about his writing. All of Bendis’ dialogue is snappy and witty, with everyone knowing exactly how to respond to the last thing said with their own little witticism. So, basically, he’s perfect for Spider-Man (men).

Bendis does tend to be verbose, but the boxes and bubbles are broken up nicely through the spreads, never getting too much in the way except in one moment in particularly where the wordiness is a punchline. And despite each character being recognizably Bendis, they are still recognizably distinct. Peter’s inner monologue and dialogue reads as someone trying – perhaps too hard – to be funny. He repeats words and phrases, doubles back on things he’s thinking/saying to provide his own commentary, and goes out of his way to be self-deprecating while taking others down with his esteem. We don’t get any of Mile’s inner monologue, but his dialogue represents him as more self-conscious, more laconic. He speaks mainly to respond to others, and lets Ganke – oh man did I miss Ganke – do much of the talking for him.

Pichelli’s art also does a lot to define each of the Spider-Men. Peter, like his dialogue, is more comedic. His poses are more exaggerated, with him spreading his limbs away from his body with wide kicks and flips, and leaning and looking down over other characters. Conversely, Miles moves more conservatively, keeping his libs tucked while swinging, and crouching where Peter would stand and lean.

  Amazing Spider-Man #30

We open on Spider-Man organizing a retreat from a Mjolnir wielding Hyrdra-Cap, then go to Peter in Shanghai, trying to rally his employees and prepare them for an attack by Doctor Octopus, who is raiding Parker Industry labs. Pete meets with the employees who remain loyal, warning them that if it comes to it, they’re going to have to destroy their life’s work to keep it out of Hydra’s grasps. And then Otto attacks.

It’s really impressive how Slott manages to weave his ongoing stories with event books without skipping a beat. Even without all the Secret Empire stuff, this arc is just another chapter in the Spider-Man/Doc Ock rivalry he’s set up since his Ends of the Earth storyline in 2012. Otto sees allying with Hydra as a means to the end of claiming all of Peter’s work as the fruits of his labor, and destroying Peter’s legacy as he takes it back.

And what’s scary is that, despite becoming a better CEO and doing his best to prepare for Ock, Peter is still a few steps behind. He still, unknowingly let Otto into his company, giving him the chance to sabotage everything right under his nose. In a way, Parker Industry is just as much Otto’s as it is Pete’s, and Otto’s taking advantage of that while Peter is failing to really comprehend it.

  Black Panther and The Crew #4

In Mississippi in 1964, Ezra and Frank take the Crew to take care of some KKK members who can’t be touched by the law. In the present, Luke Cage escapes the firebombing of his apartment building by Hydra, then joins up with Misty Knight to investigate why he was targeted, and what that might have to do with Ezra’s assassination.

The cold open in Mississippi is one of the strongest scenes in comic books regarding racial violence printed in the Big 2’s comics yet. Not only does it clearly and concisely explain how white people can (and still) get away with murdering black people, but also demonstrates exactly why groups like the Crew, or the real life Black Panthers, were and are necessary in those times and places. It’s its own complete story and statement of purpose in four pages. And it’s echoed through the rest of the comic, as Misty and Luke eventually talk to the CEO of the company behind the Americops, who still gets away with targeting black people with impunity because that’s what benefits the powerful.

It’s weird how the same company that’s publishing Nick Spencer’s half-assed sanitized metaphor for fascism can also publish such clear-eyed commentary on race in America. And that also applies to David F. Walker’s too-short run on Nighthawk, which you should totally pick up.

  Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #22

Doreen and Nancy win a programming contest and an all-expenses paid vacation to the Savage Land! Expect jokes involving: computer programming pun titles for classic literature, how insane Wikipedia articles in the Marvel universe must be, colonial era nomenclature, Jurassic Park, paleontology, Latveria, and more.

Reading this issue, it’s hard not to feel like North has wanted to write a Jurassic Park episode for Squirrel Girl for a while now, and he taps into the seemingly universal human love of dinosaurs. Henderson continues to deliver on art, with some of the best and funniest faces in comics, my favorite of which this issue is Doreen’s reaction to realizing Nancy has a crush on one of the other contest winners.

  Kill or Be Killed #10

The cops, including detective Lily Sharpe find the Russian hitman’s burned-up corpse in the back of the van after learning about Dylan dropping off Rex at the hospital, and begin to postulate why their murderer tried to spare one victim while brutalizing the other. Meanwhile, Dylan, devastated by Rex’s death, move back home with his mom where he gets high, plays video games, and swears off killing, resigned to let the demon kill him. But then the demon reminds him that the Russians are after him, and might target the people he cares about, which complicates things a tad.

For a bit it seemed like Dylan was getting used to his new life, but this issue shows him in a downward spiral stemming from Rex’s death, as it’s the first one that’s actually personal for him. It’s his Uncle Ben moment, and that’s not the only part of this issue reminiscent of Spider-Man. When Dylan goes back to the city, it’s mainly to break up with Daisy and shut out Kira, who just happens to tell him about her feelings for him, just as he’s decided he’s too dangerous and messed up to afford to return her feelings.

This issue doesn’t really feel like the ending to an arc, but somewhere closer to the beginning of one. Continuing the comparison, this is Dylan’s “Spider-Man no more!” moment, which means that the stage is pretty much set for his comeback, whatever that may look like. It certainly won’t be as heroic as Spidey’s; but I wouldn’t rule out the inclusion of a criminal kingpin.

Comic Reviews for 7/12/17 Dark Days: The Casting #1 This issue continues The Forge's storytelling maneuver of throwing DCU canon at the wall to see what sticks, but also helpfully starts putting a few pieces together to the story of Metal.