Hello hello hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce that we are returning to Hugtto! Precure, after far too long away from our unlikely heroes. It’s been several months since we last checked in with Hana and the gang, but I’m hoping to make up for lost time with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. And we’ve certainly got reason to expect greatness; last episode’s exploration of Gelos’ insecurities about aging, interwoven with Hana’s steady demonstration of how heroism need not follow some strict aesthetic template, proved some of Hugtto’s most poignant and insightful material so far. Whether we continue in that vein with the newly punked-up Gelos or counterbalance it with some delightful nonsense, I’m eager to return to this most cheerful and charming of shows. Let’s dive back into Hugtto!

Episode 35

Even before Saaya actually appears, this opening shot of pale blue light obscured by passing feathers marks this as a clear Saaya Episode, highlighting both her color theme and her angel motif

It appears her acting career is going well! We see her kneeling against a great blue pillar in some TV drama, tearfully announcing “mother, I’m home.” The narrative of this drama has a secondary resonance for Saaya’s own personal story, as so much of her drama has related to her chasing her mother’s ambitions

“A girl born from a giant tower, that’s quite the premise.” And yeah, Saaya’s mother could easily be characterized as a giant, implacable tower, more easily fit for admiration than human connection

Emiru states this story is “a modern retelling of the tale of Princess Kagura,” which feels a little ominous. Kagura was a celestial being who only briefly graced the lives of mortal humans, which sorta echoes the way Hana’s insecurities make her think about herself versus friends like Saaya or Sumire – as if they’re angels that are only briefly touching down beside humble old her. This isn’t true, of course, but it is true that the full embracing of some professional route, particularly the routes chosen by Saaya and Sumire, would eventually carry them away from these idle days as a group

Saaya’s next project is Doctor High School: “a regular high school girl by day, a gifted young doctor by night!” Sure, I’d watch that

Saaya requests a favor from Hana’s mother Sumire

“The Light of Life! Doctor Saaya?”

Ahaha, I forgot this show’s absurdly adorable daycare center, with its goofy-ass stork statue on top of the building

“Remember when Uchifuji-sensei’s son was born here?” How could I forget? Lulu repeatedly shushing the villain so as not to disturb the babies was an all-time Precure moment

The gang runs into a young girl, who requests Hana stop with her noisy nonsense, as this is a hospital

The doctor states they can pick their own departments to work with, and Sumire instantly jumps on orthopedics. A clean character-reflective beat there, given both her and Henri’s fears about their ability to continue ice skating

Meanwhile, both Hana and Emiru go for pediatrics, which seems appropriate for the babies of the group

The gang undergoes a montage of hospital training while the camera lingers over that girl from before, clutching her book and isolated within the empty hospital plaza

Saaya at last notices the girl, and introduces herself. Saaya’s good at naturally disarming this child’s defenses, leaning down to meet her eye level and fully introducing herself as a gesture of respect

The girl is Aya Kawakami

Apparently her mother is being taken care of at this facility. Her new baby will require a C-section

The group visits Aya’s mother, while Aya sits in the far corner, staring at her book. A nice detail in Aya’s book actually being upside down, emphasizing how she’s not actually reading it, she just doesn’t want to reveal how concerned she is about her mother’s health

Damn, a surprisingly fluid sequence of character animation as Saaya attempts to tilt her head upside down to read the book, only to be startled and stumble at Lulu’s words. A nice visual expression of the disconnect between Saaya’s graceful affectation and somewhat goofy personality

Meanwhile, the children of pediatrics have claimed Hana as their new horse

Instead of Google, this world possesses Hugoooooo!, of course

Oh jesus. Over at Criasu Corp, Gelos is in the middle of another emotional breakdown. She’s repeating “I can still do it” to herself in a panic, while her disheveled hair and makeup tell the real story, supplemented by an overall soft focus that emphasizes she’s too preoccupied to even clearly see what’s around her

“Today will be the last episode of Hugtto! Precure!” Doctor Traum getting extremely meta in his introductions

Ooh, lovely aerial shot of Aya staring at flowers in the garden. It’s been quite nice returning to this show’s bright, intricate, softly painted backgrounds

Aya’s mother regrets potentially trying too hard to raise Aya right, and thus making mistakes. This is another of the things I love about Hugtto: its willingness to frontline the failings and insecurities of adults, something that’s much more rare in adolescent-aimed anime productions. Young children can accept the fact that adults are just people making mistakes like them; it’s only really the arrogance of adolescence that demands adults be simultaneously incompetent and unquestionable

The doctor assures Aya’s mother that there’s nothing wrong with a C-section. This source of fear has also been handled gracefully throughout this episode – they chose to focus on a procedure that’s fairly safe and routine, and because of this, the emphasis falls not on the skill of conducting the operation, but the importance of acknowledging and respecting the fears of the patient. Aya’s mother might not be in serious jeopardy, but that in no way diminishes the importance of respecting her fears, and attempting to engage with her in the way that makes her most comfortable

Aya’s immediate description of her mother is “she’s always screwing up.” Burning eggs, losing socks, misplacing her wallet – it’s all very relatable stuff, and I love how it emphasizes that you don’t have to be perfect to be a great adult or a great parent. Sort of a continuation of last episode’s Hana material, attesting that greatness comes in all shapes and sizes

“But she takes me to the amusement park, and she loves comics, and she’s a great runner!” Oh no, this scene’s too poignant, you’re gonna have me tearing up here

“I’m going to be a big sister. And she’s not gonna be my mommy anymore. She’s got to be the baby’s mommy! I don’t want a little brother!” No avoiding the true extent of these anxieties for either mother or child. And that’s good – I’m sure many kids in Hugtto’s audience have felt similar fears about losing out to a new sibling, and I’m glad this episode is articulating those fears without softening them, such that those kids in the audience can understand it is okay to feel this way

“You’re working so hard too! But you don’t have to hold back until it hurts.” And Saaya at last embraces the true lesson of professional care embodied by this episode, that the most important thing is to acknowledge and respect your patient’s feelings

And here comes Hugtan with the adorable save, demonstrating that having a new baby around might not be so bad

The reunion between Aya and her mother is so good, with Aya providing just the support her mom needs to feel confident about this procedure. Yep, here are the tears, there we go

But aw shit, here’s Doctor Traum with a traffic cone-themed Oshimaeda! TIME FOR BATTLE

I wonder how many Hugtto battles include that one profile shot of a Cure in mid frame, a Cure in the background, and then a third Cure who steps into the foreground while speaking, all three of them staring up at some new Oshimaeda. It feels almost like a franchise signature

Hah! And Traum actually included noise reduction features this time, in order to respect Lulu’s shushing from last time. Fantastic

More unusually fluid animation for this Oshimaeda, including some personality-rich squash and stretch alongside some nice smears

Traum is defeated, but appears inspired to turn the Precures into babies in order to win their next battle. Oh boy

And Aya affirms that Saaya has earned her medical license

And Done

What a great goddamn episode! I laughed, I cried, and I ended up altogether carried away by the drama of Aya and her mother. Those fears about failing as a parent exemplified Hugtto’s wonderfully far-reaching approach to human drama, wherein the fears of parents and other adults are respected just as much as the troubles of Hana and her friends. It’s that democratic approach to drama that makes characters like Papple and Gelos so engaging; after a few confident exclamations of “I’ll get you next time, Pretty Cures,” we move on to eras of genuine self-doubt, as our ostensible villains begin to question their life choices, and fear they can no longer make up for their mistakes. This episode touched lightly on that thread while simultaneously erecting a contrast of poignant mutual anxiety between Aya and her mother, which was gracefully resolved by that final reunion. Another top quality episode!

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