Alright folks, let’s get back to Precure Hugtto! The show’s most recent episode was interesting and a little unexpected – instead of either directly advancing the central narrative or introducing us to another Cure, it focused more on fleshing out the context of Hana and her friends’ lives. There was some exposition related to Harry’s past and the nature of their enemies, but the bulk of the episode was simply dedicated to exploring Hana’s home town, meeting new people, and adding texture to her relationship with her friends and family.

I really appreciate that focus, personally. One of the things I like about shows like Ojamajo Doremi, and children’s anime more generally, is that they tend to embrace a communal approach to storytelling that emphasizes how we all live in a larger society, and are all connected to each other in a variety of ways. Anime aimed at teens often tends to adopt the worldview of teens – their perspectives are often narrow, families are barely present or absent entirely, adults are either fools or villains, and the immediate substance of a protagonist’s personal interests reign over all. That’s a fine and appropriate choice for many narratives (and given my love for Monogatari, I’m certainly capable of appreciating the emotional myopia of friggin’ teens), but it’s refreshing to counterbalance that with shows aimed at parents and their children, which in their general positivity and willingness to embrace overt moral lessons tend to actually come off as more mature in their view of society. And authenticity of the perspective aside, it’s simply nice to watch a show that loves its cast, loves its setting, and wants us to love them too.

Given that episode concluded by closing us back in on Homare, I’m guessing this next episode will guide us through her formal introduction to the team. If the hair scheming holds up, Homare will be a yellow cure, which I believe generally slants towards the spunky/sporty member of the team? I know blue cures tend to echo the Sailor Moon “blue is the nerd” approach, but I’m not really all that clear on the general trends beyond that. Regardless, with all this gentle setup behind us, I’m eager to explore more of Hana’s world. Let’s jump right back into Precure Hugtto!

Episode 4

Our cold open again centers us on Homare. Looks like it’s definitely her turn

Apparently Harry actually runs a beauty salon? “Beauty Harry” doesn’t sound like the most appealing salon name, but it is extremely Harry of him to put his name in the title

Also, I’m pretty sure Harry never actually secured the rights to build this treehouse-slash-salon in the middle of a public park, but land ownership and zoning permits rarely figure heavily into children’s animation, so I’ll give them a pass on that one

“And I will be your star saleswoman!” Sure, let’s just rebuild Ojamajo Doremi entirely, I am completely fine with this idea

Harry shuts her down, though. Cold, Harry

Hana blushing over how pretty and cool Homare is will never get old

“I want to fly, just like that…” Pretty standard arc-establishing stuff. Homare likely had some passion in the past that allowed her to “fly” in a metaphorical sense, and Hana’s exuberant cure behavior and literal flight have inspired her to remember them. Hana’s cheerleading motif continues to neatly reflect her actual character – beyond consistently cheering herself into greatness, she also inspires others to strive for their best selves. It’s a graceful way of combining the mechanics of a cheerleader with the needs of a team leader

I figured we’d just sort of bump into new cures naturally, like with Saaya, but it seems the overt plot of this season so far is the quest for more Precures

I’m also still not sure to what extent Precures are a known and accepted concept in this world, or if we’re just operating according to the logic of “the things this show’s audience are used to will also seem normal to its cast.” There’d be an interesting story in a world that knows about Precures, but this story doesn’t have to be that one, and isn’t any lesser if it chooses to just not prioritize that concept

“She’s pretty and stylish… I want to be friends with her so bad!” Cool it down, Hana

Homare enters the class. We get an impactful shot panning along with her into the classroom, as foreground and background classmates emphasize the public nature of this entrance

Oh my god, Hana is so in love with this girl, what the heck. We get an absurd buffet of silly faces as she panics at Homare. It’s clear Homare’s mind is elsewhere, but Hana can only see how stylish she is

I know I’m personally a sucker for expressive faces, but they’re really so useful in conveying personality efficiently. Expressing emotions through dialogue takes an extremely long time to do, and can often come off as clumsy. Shows with expressive character designs and fluid expression work are genuinely working with a far greater palette of dramatic tools than stories which stick to stiff, consistent designs, and can convey feelings far more efficiently

Homare apparently hasn’t filled out some form needed by a teacher in a track suit

Nice layouts so far this episode. This low-angle shot for Homare storming away creates an intentional sense of antagonism between her and this teacher, and the following shots of Hana looking on give this school a sense of physicality

Apparently Homare transferred over from the “sports class,” and used to be a figure skater. I think we’ve discovered how she used to fly

She’s now considered a delinquent, but it’s all rumors

More terrific layouts as Homare is separated from sports practice by this yellow fence. Obvious thematic intent aside, her position far to the left of the frame subtly reinforces the sense of her being an outsider, something that follows through into the following shot of her literally divided from the coach by this fence

And now this great long shot as she walks away. Who the heck directed this one?

“Is being a Precure the kind of thing you have to convince someone to do?” Saaya’s thoughts seem to indicate that they actually will be engaging with the mechanics of how or why Precure are chosen

Saaya’s line also works in an emotional sense though, as it feels like Hana is going about this recruitment all the wrong way. In spite of not believing that Homare is a delinquent, she’s still envisioning a specific image of Homare, and Homare doesn’t really seem comfortable accepting her praise. Homare herself has mostly just been presented as a fan of babies and cute animals, not this Cool Beauty that Hana sees

God, more amazing layouts for Homare’s first meeting with this dog. The show’s often saturated lighting is here used to great effect in building the contrast between the darkness of this tunnel and the light outside, and these low-angle shots continue to add a sense of extreme tension, all while resulting in fundamentally striking compositions

There is such a strong sense of physical space in this episode. I love how we hear the argument on the court below, and then we get this dramatic pan out to give us its physical context relative to our leads

Time for Homare to destroy some punks in basketball

This episode has built up the reveal of Homare’s athletic talent so well

And letting Homare be the actual protagonist means Hana can lean fully into being comic relief, which she is incredibly good at doing

And now the animation suddenly gets incredible, matching the strength of the layouts for some incredibly fluid back-and-forth in this match

Hana’s reaction bubble in this shot of the boys being beaten literally sneaks in behind one of them and shoves him aside. Such a clever and playful use of this show’s generally loose visual imagery

Homare leaps, and then remembers her fall on the ice, and loses her nerve. So that’s the story

Hana still hasn’t noticed Homare’s discomfort, but Saaya has

Homare sees her own old smile in Hana

“I want us to be friends!” Another perfectly chosen layout here. We once again get a long shot creating a significant distance between the two of them, echoing the coach’s previous attempt to engage Homare. Their position at the top of this cement wall creates a sense of implied danger, visually echoing Homare’s insecurity

Even the shots at the corporate headquarters are more dynamically constructed than usual. They’re really swinging for the fences this week

Yep, Homare had a serious fall and a long recovery because of it

Homare turns her coach down again, but this time we actually connect her narrative to the Precure story – her coach is the one who’s now targeted by the bad guys. Smart choice

One thing I like about how the bad guys actually infuse normal people with their power is that it inherently implies our daily “villains” are generally just people having a really bad day and unfortunately taking it out on others. A message that’s essentially baked into its fantasy lore

More fuckin’ amazing layouts, as a low-angle shot conveying the impact of Hana’s punch then becomes the launching pad for Saaya’s big jump. God this episode is good

Such a sense of scale here, too. Saaya gets knocked back and then there’s a significant time delay until she actually hits the riverbank below

Our heroines are getting the crap beaten out of them. This is a far less one-sided battle than any of the previous fights

“How can they… but…” Homare’s thoughts flash back to Hana’s seemingly carefree smile. The intent is clear: “how can she smile like that in spite of risking so much, being in such danger?” Homare clearly lost her ability to innocently love figure skating after suffering her accident, and thus saw that carefree love as an inherent sign of immaturity, but now Hana is demonstrating you don’t have to be naive to be joyful. This episode has done an utterly stunning job of conveying Homare’s entire character arc visually, with as few words as humanly possible

Oh my god, we even get this swelling choral insert song. This episode is so fucking good

“Go! That’s your future!” The magic words, essentially. Man, this show

Oh no, she actually misses it! Her trauma from the accident returns, and she stumbles as she reaches for her crystal. This episode is genuinely devastating, and an extremely well-realized depiction of these feelings

“Hooray, hooray, Homare-chan!” Hana takes the stage at last. This is her moment and her power, the ability to make others believe they can be greater than they are

OH MY GOD THESE CUTS AS SHE DANCES ACROSS THE MONSTER WHAT IS THIS SHOW

And Done

God damn, that was an incredible episode. Genuinely one of the best episodes I’ve seen this year, dazzling in terms of its characterization, economy of storytelling, and truly astonishing visual beauty. From its consistently gorgeous and emotionally resonant layouts to its beautiful cuts of basketball and battle animation, there was something to be swooning at in basically every scene of that episode. And in spite of being packed tightly with drama, it gave Homare’s story all the room it needed, naturally guiding us to the root of her trauma. I was a little worried at the three quarters mark as to how it would gracefully resolve Homare’s turn so soon, and the answer turned out to be perfect: it didn’t resolve Homare’s pain. Homare has some serious emotional baggage, and I’m thrilled to see the show respecting that. This was a stunning episode of Precure, and just a generally phenomenal anime episode all around. I’m starting to see why this show is so beloved!

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