Folks, it is absolutely time for more Precure. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this journey through one of the modern anime institutions, and am eager to see how the dynamic shifts now that Homare has joined the team. I frankly don’t know how that dynamic is going to shift – Precure is a franchise that has established its own rhythms and assumptions over close to fifteen years now, but as a newcomer to the franchise, I’m basically in your care in terms of getting to know this series. Is there a specific pattern to acquiring team members? Will we experience a few episodes settling the dynamic before filling out the roster? Like with my Nanoha watch series, it’s very fun for me to finally get to experience works that so many of my friends and readers have such a strong attachment to, especially a work so earnest and kindhearted as this one.

So far, Hugtto’s fourth episode has been the clear standout so far, elevated through gorgeous compositions and plentiful fluid animation that all helped bring Homare’s story to life. I’ve been informed that can be credited to Yuuta Tanaka, one of Precure’s premiere directors, but the show in general has demonstrated a compelling aesthetic sensibility and a surprisingly keen eye for composing fight scenes. Hugtto’s manipulation of scale and momentum during its big battles puts a lot of straightforward action shows to shame, and I’m excited to see how these battles shift as our heroes grow into a real team. Let’s see what awaits us in another episode of Hugtto! Precure!

Episode 6

“Now we’re three and as Precure we just get prettier and more stylish every day!” Oh Hana

It makes sense that we’re getting a meaningful recap segment, given we just underwent such a meaningful shift in the team makeup. I’ve learned from Doremi that shows like this have to tread a pretty delicate line between being utterly episodic and possessing some degree of continuity

“This saturday, let’s go on a date!” Yeah, looks like we’re getting at least an episode exploring the “new normal,” much like we did in the third episode after Saaya joined the team. Not only is dedicating an episode to exploring how Homare fits into the team a good way to flesh out her character, but this dynamic of just the three of them is itself a narrative resource that should be embraced before moving on to the next team member. For long-running shows like this, every time you change one major variable, it’s worth asking “what stories does this new dynamic facilitate?”

“There’s supposed to be four of you!” “And once we get a fourth, we’ll celebrate that too.” Good answer, Hana

“Smiles in Full Bloom! Our First Job!” Yep, there’s a perfect venue for this group to get to know each other

They arrive at a store labeled HuGMaN, which is more than a little intimidating

Oh my god Saaya is extremely into power tools, what an incredible source of gap moe. Precure is extremely strong

Meanwhile, Hana just collapses on the beds. “I know you like sleeping on the roof Homare, but beds are good too.” This is a great episode

My god Hugtan just slowly rolling down the bed. I’m sorry guys, this episode is too adorable for me to maintain any sort of critical perspective here

AW SHIT IT’S HANA’S LARGE DAD

Of course Large Dad works at HuGMaN. All is right in the universe

Ahaha he’s so fucking big what is his ridiculous design. He completely dwarfs all of the other characters

And of course, Large Dad is the manager of HuGMaN. HE IS THE HUGMAN

The flower store is understaffed, so Hana wants to help out. “I’ve always wanted to try being a florist!” Even this episode’s side plot is tied into the central theme of moving towards your adult self

And their Mirai Pad allows them to transform into any professional outfit. I’m torn between the smartness of this choice in terms of Hugtto’s themes versus the mercenary nature of it in terms of selling toys

“Getting to try a real job will be a good experience for them.” Yeah, I really appreciate how in spite of most fundamentally being a “Homare integrates into the group” episode, this is also elaborating on the show’s core themes, and presenting work not just as an aspirational thing to look forward to, but something you can actually try out even as a kid. It’s good of the show to not just emphasize holding hope for your future, but actually illustrate steps you can take to make moving towards that future less scary

Mari Sakita is the florist

“You can’t always expect to have a desk or job here.” And that hopeful outlook is immediately contrasted against our villains, who are happy to abandon even their own teammates

This time it’s the chief’s turn, a lady with incredibly fantastic hair

“Flowers should be treated with care. If so, they’ll be sure to bring people smiles.” Reflecting the importance of nurturing young people generally, and also, our heroine’s name is literally Flower

Hana remembers seeing Saaya with a bouquet in her hands at some point, before swiftly falling on her ass

Goddamnit Harry you can’t just put the baby on the shelf

Yep, Harry lost the baby. Wonderful comedic timing to this obvious payoff here

Hana screwing up the mopping ends with Mari getting scolded, but she waves it off with “being criticized can be a good experience, too.” This episode is laudibly dedicated to softening the early experiences of your first job

In this week’s Precure, the gang lose a dang baby

They get a lost child announcement and rush to the desk, but the lost child is actually Harry, being consoled by the other lost children. Amazing

Hugtan flies off a rope, bounces off a trampoline, and ends up flying into the backpack of a man getting on an elevator. This episode is way too good

SAVED BY THE HUGMAN

“Doing this job every day, little by little we can help build a happy future for our customers and their families.” Great moral, Hugman. I appreciate that his job isn’t one you’d imagine as classically “heroic,” but he still takes great pride in his ability to help people through it. This episode has actually been the strongest one so far in terms of directly engaging with what hope for adulthood really means

“We’re talking about your dad’s happiness, too!” Yep. Hugman is an adult success story, as he has found the joy in his work

Ooh, I like this. It looks like Mari’s the one who’s going to be corrupted by the bad guys, as those criticisms from earlier cut deeper than she admitted. Also very good to demonstrate that even sympathetic adults with fulfilling jobs can struggle with deep anxieties regarding their work

I feel like this villain lady is going for a specific visual aesthetic that would be obvious if I were Japanese, but doesn’t really parse as an American. She’s like Cruella de Vil at her hostess side gig

Nice melding of their three transformation sequences here. They smartly cut between each of the transformations throughout, keeping the energy high in spite of this being a pretty lengthy segment of bank footage

“Who are you?” “A Precure, obviously.” “We just told you.” Very good gag

“Why are there even more of you now!?” I appreciate this episode carrying over its generally comedic tone into even the fight sequence

Our villain is Pupple-sama, apparently

“That’s how Criasu Corporation goes to work.” The villains’ choices being defined as a sort of perversion of honest work

“You give working a bad name!” Yep, lol

This fight is a pretty basic affair, because the point here is really just “Homare is working effectively with her teammates now.” There’s no challenge to overcome within this battle, it’s just an illustration of what the episode has already accomplished

Hana’s mom recognizes Saaya as “the Veggie Girl”

Saaya was a friggin’ child star? How many secrets does this girl have!?

And Done

Well, that was wonderful. This was obviously a less emotionally intense episode than the last couple, but it absolutely didn’t need to be. Hana and her friends’ trip to Hugman’s Hugland was funny and endearing from start to finish, while also successfully placing Hugtto’s adulthood-related themes in an immediately relatable context. This episode may actually have done the most work overall for the show thematically, grounding fanciful statements about “striving towards the future” with sequences like Hana working at the flower show and Hugman reflecting on his career. More than just integrating Homare into the team, this episode was a thoughtful exploration of Hugtto’s premise and a great collection of gags all in one. Hugtto continues to be a very good cartoon!

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