Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re diving right back into Hugtto! Precure, in the wake of Harry finally revealing his troubled past. It turns out Harry was actually a former employee of Criasu Corp, along with his ragtag hamster companions. When confronted by his old friend Bishin, Harry was briefly consumed by Criasu’s negative energy; fortunately, Homare was there to remind him that we are not defined by our regrets, and that he is not alone.
It was an excellent climax for a variety of reasons, as one of Hugtto’s most closely-guarded secrets (Harry’s past) collided with one of its strongest emotional threads (the bond between Harry and Homare). As the unofficial group parents, it’s been delightful watching them support each other in times of trouble, and this served as the most resounding affirmation of their friendship so far. Meanwhile, the reveal of Harry’s former associates promises a whole new host of “villains” to defeat and befriend, as well as more information about Criasu Corp itself. What can you tell us about your old friend George, Harry? Let’s find out!
Episode 26
Oh shit, Saaya’s landed an advertisement for mineral water. First step mineral water, next step the world
Reaaaally not sure about “Get fizzy with me!” as their catchphrase, though. Maybe workshop that one a little
The name of this product serves as a quiet nod to Saaya’s general theming – it’s called “Angel Fizzy Mineral Water,” with the cinematography evoking the sequence where Emiru imagined Saaya as an angel while spying on her acting practice
Apparently it’s not just a TV ad; she’s a genuine poster girl now, with ads up all over town
“I would like to get fizzy with Saaya.” Extremely good payoff for that stupid catchphrase, as Lulu intones it in her usual deadpan manner
And of course, now Harry defaults to sleeping on Homare’s head. It seems like the show has informally separated its lead cast into three close duos: Hana/Saaya, Emiru/Lulu, and Homare/Harry
Bishin now occupying a position of honor in the OP’s villain roundup
“Homare has skating. Emiru has her guitar. Lulu has her android-ness.” Hana, I don’t really think android-ness counts as a career path
“I’m the only one who hasn’t decided on anything.” Unsurprisingly, with Saaya experiencing such a dramatic indication of progress as this poster girl project, Hana returns to her own long-term insecurities
As ever, I appreciate that Hana’s fears about her future are not articulated as episodic conflicts that can be “solved” within twenty minutes. A question as all-encompassing as “what am I going to do with my life” is too massive for simple solutions; as a result, Hana’s fears rise and fall with the daily circumstances of her life, echoing the comfort or insecurities her friends provoke
Of course, there’s a natural tension in that, as the rules of storytelling generally demand clean emotional arcs for the audience to follow. The key is balance, and applying ambiguity only in places where it’s appropriate. Hana’s struggle with self-actualization is Hugtto’s most fundamental and complex emotional conflict, and so her journey through this process is afforded a degree of circuity and ambiguity that the rest of Hugtto’s conflicts generally shy away from
Some lovely soft filters for Saaya acknowledging her own insecurities about acting, helping her character art better integrate with the pastel backgrounds
“I wonder what it’s like to have your child follow in your footsteps?” Saaya’s musing is aligned with some on-the-nose visual echoes, as we look at a row of parent and child animal toys
For the closeup shots, they even use a unique style of shading for Saaya’s hair, using differentiations in shade and texture effects to create a strong sense of volume
“My mother is so busy, we’ve never really had time to talk.” Welp, guess this is a Saaya episode, then!
“Up-Close with the Superstar Actress! Saaya and Her Mother!”
Saaya’s mother is Yakushiji Reira, the star of “The Queen’s Kitchen.” We’re gonna get some excellent show-in-show bits with this, aren’t we?
Saaya’s father meets them with Reira’s packed lunch. Bless this show and its nice dads
We run into Ichijou Ranze, Saaya’s old rival, who’ll be guest starring in her mother’s show
Her ojou laugh terrifies Hugtan
Saaya’s mom gets that same Saaya-filter, but even more interesting to me is Hugtan’s response. Hugtan’s actual face doesn’t get the filter, but they frame her as essentially looking out of a felt window into the world of Saaya’s mother. It’s a neat way of illustrating how this woman’s presence calms her, and another of those ostentatious framing tricks that you generally just see in children’s anime
The show shifts to letterbox formatting for the show-in-show sequence, and then Saaya’s mom actually knocks the letterbox bars off-balance through her dramatic entrance. Excellent stuff
The distinction between her character aura and behind-the-scenes personality is neatly conveyed through her dramatically biting into a leak, and then wincing at the flavor once the shot ends
“There will always be people saying you’re following my coattails, now and forever. Are you prepared for that?” Reira seems far more comfortable expressing herself with her crew than with her daughter. She defaults more towards her on-air persona with Saaya
“Hm, a TV studio. I’m sure we’ll find plenty of asa-power here.” Yep, it’s basically a graveyard of dreams
Given her mother’s cold response, Saaya fears she’s actually just bothering Reira by showing up
She runs into a group of production staff who knew Saaya back when she was a baby, when Reira was attempting to juggle the twin responsibilities of child raising and acting
Hugtto effectively conveys the distant nature of this flashback through its almost crayon-reminiscent background texture, as if this were literally a drawing from Saaya’s childhood
The crew reveal that behind the scenes, Reira actually isn’t any good at cooking, and thus practices her technique during every break. A neat lesson for the audience in that: you don’t have to be naturally great at something for it to be the right choice for you, you just have to be willing to keep working at it
This episode is so stuffed with lovely still illustrations and complex background textures that I wonder if they brought in a particular artist for this one. It looks like Iino Toshinori, who generally just does background art, was also credited for general art on this and three other episodes, so that would be my guess
Even Saaya’s outfit as a toddler has a little angel wings motif on its shoulders
Oh no, they’re using Ranze’s leek trauma to power an Oshimaeda!
One of their cameras transforms into a terrible soul-sucking monster. It must be tough getting any work done in Precure Land, knowing some garbage bin or utility pole or whatnot might at any point grow into an evil colossus
I love this transition directly from the starry-eyed, joyful transformation sequences to Hana just roaring as she punches the shit out of this monster
“TV dramas are just more made-up stories. What’s so great about them?” How DARE you
Saaya acknowledges her true desire to become an actress by beating the shit out of this animated camera-monster
And, as is only appropriate for an episode so stuffed with beautiful still compositions, her victory is conveyed with a lovingly detailed impact still
“Well played, Oonabe Kyouko.” Lulu’s genuine fandom for Reira’s show is adorable
And Done
Saaya continues her journey towards stardom! Actually though, this episode was really more about Reira than Saaya, using her unusual life story to emphasize its consistent focus on chasing your dreams. Meanwhile, this episode’s pronounced focus on textured still compositions over animation resulted in some of the show’s most beautiful images yet, and served as another welcome demonstration of the aesthetic variety you tend to find in these long-running productions. Another fine episode of Hugtto!
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