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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Friday, 15 September 2006 00:00 |
 It's an end-of-series climactic confrontation for Futari wa Pretty Cure - except it's not the end of the series. Go figure. In Irukubo, Nagisa and Honoka finally have an enemy they seem incapable of defeating - is this the end for the dynamic duo? Or will they be able to dig deep and find a way to beat their new adversary. Since it's not the end of the series yet, no prizes for guessing...
24 - Decisive Battle! Pretty Cure vs Irukubo
Summer camp is quickly turning into a nightmare - not only has the camp lost electricity and phones, but Nagisa and Honoka have lost the Guardian and are staring defeat in the face should they have to confront Irukubo again - and they know that since they'll have to get the Guardian and the Prism Stones back, facing him is something they'll have to do. Since they still have the remaining two Prism Stones, if they don't go to him, Irukubo's going to come to them, anyway. When the girls wake up next morning, they find everyone else at the camp has fallen unconscious and simply won't wake up. With possible distractions taken care of, Ikuburo's back to claim the remaining Stones...
25 - Come Now to the Garden of Light, Popo! Us too!?
At Porun's insistence, the girls head for the Garden of Light (and given the tantrus the little critter is capable of throwing, saying "no" really isn't an option). When they get there, they find the Dark Zone has transformed large chunks of the Garden into a wasteland - which is where Pretty Cure comes in. With all seven Prism Stones now gathered, and a little power-up form the Queen of the Garden of Light, it should be able to restore the Garden to its former glory - but the Dark King isn't about to allow that to happen without a fight...
Oh joy, another annoying mascot to drive us crazy. Mipple & Mepple are already top of my list of "mascots that need to die", and Porun joined them there within about 3 seconds of his arrival. Curiously, he looks more like a Nintendo DS in his gadget form than the other two's cellphone guise - I'd be curious to see the sponsor list for PreCure sometime...
Fortunately, shows don't live and die by the quality of their cuddly mascots. All magical girl shows have the occasional major battle thrown into the usual monster-of-the-week mix, and this is PreCure's chance to shine - which it seizes with both hands as it puts on a really good show here. Irukubo's of those bad guys who never really breaks into a sweat while he's fighting, and left to his own devices should really be able to deal with the girls in about 2 seconds flat. His big problem is that he's fully aware of that and doesn't really make the effort against such insignificant foes, and ends up being caught out through lack of attention to the battle. Nice way of showing the girls in the best possible light, there.
The scene changes to the Garden of Light itself during episode 25, but even there there's no rest for the wicked as Irukubo's efforts to save the day for the forces of evil continue. The Garden of Light is everything you'd expect from a show aimed at girls, filled with cute characters, bright colours, and a Queen as tall as the Empire State Building. Shaking hands with one's subjects must be a bitch of a problem. There's a break taken from the main event while we get a guided tour of the place, but before long we're back to the action and back to having the girls in a bad situation - which of course leads to the inevitable cliffhanger.
I still predict a major powerup will be required for the girls to win - power-ups are a fairly key part of any long-running magical girl series, and Nagisa & Honoka haven't had one yet. Beating Irukubo with their current powers also seems to be a non-option. What's unknown is exactly how that'll play out, and I'm certainly having fun watching events unfold. Quality entertainment? In terms of originality, no, of course not - but in terms of being well-presented and enjoyable, it's hard to criticise Pretty Cure. More, please... |
