Folks, it has been altogether too long since we checked in with the stars of Hugtto! Precure, and I’m aiming to fix that right now. When last we left off, the gang was enjoying some well-earned time off, as they hosted a classic slumber party over at Harry’s quasi-treehouse. That episode concluded on a menacing cliffhanger, however, as we learned that Criasu Corp’s resident robot had somehow smuggled herself into Hana’s home, and even brainwashed her mother into believing she’s a member of their extended family. Having spent a great deal of time with some of twitter’s preeminent magical girl aficionados, I already know that Lulu the robot is a fan-favorite character – and with her currently disrupting Hana’s home life, I’m eager to see how the team deal with this unprecedented new attack. Let’s get to it!
Episode 13
Hello again Hana, it is great to see you
Hana, why are you trying to perform this introduction in English. Hana, you know speaking louder won’t make someone understand what you’re saying, right? Hana. Hana please
Interesting trick here, where the recap of the previous episode transitions seamlessly into Lulu and Hana’s new introduction. It’s effective, though; I can’t imagine a faster way to lead into the new episode’s action
Oh my god, this is amazing. Hana doesn’t recognize Lulu, but of course she’s Hana, so she assumes she’s just forgotten her, and thus pretends they’re old friends
Getting a lot of good Hana faces out of this introduction
BEEP BOOP, HUGS DO NOT COMPUTE. Oh boy
I really like this beat of Hana trying to remember where she knows Lulu from. Lulu was just doing the standard “oh, we’ve met before” that not-so-sneaky villains tend to indulge in, and which is essentially intended as a wink at the audience more than an actual call to remember their prior meeting. But of course, because Hana is Hana, she doesn’t instantly recognize Lulu, and thus feels like an idiot. It’s a very human take on a generally hokey narrative trope
“The Transfer Student is Fresh and Mysterious.” This is going to be quite an episode
Lulu Amour is her full fake name
We’ve already got an accidental boke and tsukkomi routine developing between Hana and Lulu, where Lulu’s deadpan lack of understanding of human activities takes the place of the usual tsukkomi putdown
More powerful Hana faces as Lulu demonstrates she’s memorized the textbook
Lulu destroys Hana at tennis, then breaks a pillar when some boys try to ask her out. A true icon
Hana’s sister asks Lulu about what hobbies she has, and Lulu just excuses herself. You’d think she’d come up with a bit more of a disguise for this whole operation, considering her robot nature makes her stick out so obviously, but I’m guessing that would somewhat pull against the point they’re making with her character. Lulu is essentially the perfect instrument of Criasu Corp – a worker with no selfhood, whose only sense of fulfillment comes from accomplishing her professional duties. If she’d been programmed to have a lively, convincing personality for the sake of this mission, it would make more “sense” tactically, but it would also undercut how this arc demonstrates that living solely to work makes for a hollow and lonely existence. And when minor worldbuilding nitpicks and major thematic/characterization points come in conflict, it should always be the core, narrative-essential stuff that wins out
Granted, of course, this is also a children’s show that generally works according to “what would children care about” worldbuilding logic. Different shows make different “promises” to different audiences, and try to speak to their intended audience in the languages they understand best. Thus the next scene here is “let’s throw Lulu a welcoming party,” because it’s assumed that “Lulu has no hobbies” is what Hana and the core audience took away from that last scene, not “Lulu’s disguise has some key flaws”
Speaking of emotional/thematic logic, this scene of Lulu commenting on what she’s observed about makes it clear why Lulu ended up in Hana’s house. Along with being the main heroine, Hana is also the one Precure who doesn’t seem exceptional in any of the scholastic or athletic ways Lulu is measuring – she’s all heart, something Lulu doesn’t yet understand
Aw shit, sushi party time
“Why use a baby’s hands in the place of your own? This is inefficient.” Lulu’s already the life of the party
“And why a ‘welcome party?’ We completed all necessary greetings on the first day.” This is uncomfortably close to my own attitude towards social events
Hugtan getting her own “Mechokku!” moment is hilarious
The hostess club villainess is hanging out with a mysterious man, who we only see as a pair of washing hands. My particular brain is broken in such a way that I can’t see a pair of menacing washing hands without thinking “oh shit, Macbeth reference”
Homare has already given up on Lulu, but of course, Hana’s greatest strength is her ability to connect with and cheer up others. She’ll get to Lulu yet!
Lulu notes that other students have stopped trying to talk to her, and even Hana has been talking to her less
Hana wants to suggest an amusement park next, but Large Dad tells her that her persistence might not be the best way to go about this. Some people are like cats – they need their space more than they need persistent attention. I continue to heavily relate to this antisocial robot
♫ Bank footage, it’s footage you bank / Save your cuts for the fight scene, this part’s in the tank ♫
Gonna turn that into a full song one day, I swear
“With the subject having such a poor opinion of us, further research is impossible. We will revert to previous means to measure the Precure’s strength.” They’re cutting a very convincing line here, with Lulu consistently sounding genuinely saddened by how quickly she’s sabotaged her undercover life, but still framing it in terms of Logic and Reason
All the Precures are suitably impressed when this new monster performs a giant robot transformation
“We don’t have time to be messing with you!” Hana is so genuinely pissed off at this particular monster, and I love it. Nice to see her so dedicated to finding Lulu that she doesn’t have the patience to be polite to another damn monster of the week
Oh wow, this sequence is beautiful. Static flower petals in the foreground make for an enclosed, intimate grove, with the spotlight enhancing the sense of Lulu and Hana sharing a private conversation
Hana admits she was putting her own expectations on Lulu. “Lulu, let’s be family”
This is a great speech by Hana, and a perfect demonstration of why she’s such a powerful leader. She doesn’t try to put pressure on her friends and families; she cheers for their triumphs, but also accepts them for who they are even in their darker moments. She is not perpetually evaluating and judging them, something Lulu obviously isn’t used to. An entirely utilitarian, value-oriented corporation cannot comprehend Hana’s power, and moreover could not comprehend what Hana sees in Lulu – something Lulu also could not see herself. But in the face of genuine kindness, who can still worship utility?
Well, a lot of people, actually. But those people generally don’t become magical girls, so that’s where that brings you
Oh my god, Lulu has a cat ear hoodie. She’s becoming far too powerful
And Done
Well, that went about as expected. As the formal introduction to Lulu’s homestay in Hana’s house, this episode had plenty of the gags you tend to see in this precise sitcom setup, with lots of “beep-boop emotions do not compute” and similar stuff. Fortunately, Hugtto’s general thematic conflict aligned very neatly with Lulu’s attempts to integrate into Hana’s life, making this episode’s second half into one of the show’s clearest statements of purpose so far. Culminating in that excellent speech from Hana to Lulu, this episode went a long towards drawing Lulu into the main group, and also emphatically demonstrated the special talents that make Hana such an inspiring figure. I’m eager to see Lulu continue to break out of her Criasu Corp shell!
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