This week’s episode begins with a small comedy of errors, and I couldn’t be more delighted.
Our episode opens with Hinata encountering Nyatoran. And, consequently, an early contender for the best contiguous five seconds of anime in 2020.
This kicks off a runabout where Nyatoran has to pretend to be the world’s one and only talking cat. Hinata initially tries to ask her older brother (a veterinarian) for help, but runs into Nodoka and Chiyu along the way, thus getting our core cast in one place for the first time. The first half of this episode seriously is just Antics, much of which is an excuse for some truly great faces.
We also formally learn what many will have already intuited about Hinata. Namely; that she’s clumsy and easily gets caught up in the goings-on around her. Often to the extent of forgetting things like personal commitments. The episode sees her overshoot meeting a pair of friends to go shopping by what seems like a few hours.
Personally, I’d say she seems like she has ADHD, but given that this is a cartoon (and a kids’ show at that) it seems unlikely that such a thing would ever be explicitly brought up.
But the episode’s real meat is in the second half. Our heroines end up at the mall where Hinata’s friends are hanging out and, surprise, a Megapathogerm attacks. This time being formed out of a mirror in a clothing shop.
The villain this time around is Guiwaru, the buff one, who seems to be this season’s entry into the “hot blooded one who likes to fight for its own sake” strand of Precure villain.
This is where Hinata makes her debut as a Precure, and–and I realize I’m saying a lot here–it’s possibly the strongest of all three of the current ‘Cures.
See Hinata’s got the kind of huge-heart vibe that is more generally associated with the actual lead in shows like this. The entire second half of the episode brims with so much mahou shoujo energy you can practically feel it on your skin, and what makes it great is that Hinata is as caught up in things as the audience is. It feels exceptional that we get to see a magical girl dive in to the role with this much aplomb. Hinata goes from being scared of this week’s Megapathogerm.
To hearing the word “Precure” for the first time.
To seeing their outfits and fangirling out about them.
To threatening the villain in the span of about an in-universe minute.
There’s 0 to 100 and then there’s this. Some of this of course is the practical consideration of the episode length, but on the other hand, it really does feel like this just is how she’d react. We’ve only gotten to know Hinata for a few episodes (and this is the first that’s actually about her), but she already feels like enough of a fully-realized character that we can say that this just seems “right” in an ephemeral, difficult-to-qualify sense. I hate pulling out this term, but even before her transformation, Hinata just kind of seems badass. Her reaction to getting smacked halfway across the mall by the Megapathogerm?
It is to this ironheaded fashion geek that Nyatoran offers the paw of his heart, in a shot that awesomely, but completely inexplicably, appears to visually reference the opening of Fate/stay night.
Of course, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the franchise knows what happens next.
The Megapathogerm goes down in what is probably the single best-animated fight of the series so far. Cure Sparkle absolutely dominates the thing to the point where you almost feel bad for it. They even get into an absolutely awesome back-and-forth with energy blasts.
The episode basically ends after they beat the thing, but that’s just fine. It’s an A+ note to finish what is almost certainly the series’ strongest episode yet. As for Hinata? As much as I love Cures Grace and Fontaine, I think I might have a new favorite character. Time will tell!
There’s a couple other little details I liked too. What springs most to mind is this bit from the beginning. The Pathogerm King here is not gonna be too happy when he finds out what transpired this episode.
And we get what seems like a hint about that petrified lady in the animal kingdom we got a brief look at back in episode 1.
As for this episode’s Shot Of The Week, despite the abundance of absolutely masterful craftsmanship in the episode’s second half, I think I have to give it to this distance shot from relatively early on, it’s just so charming! Look at Hinata’s face!
Until next time!
The Magic Planet 