mrufrufin

Sort of a weird character arc to have Ellee grow up throughout the series and her learning to walk and getting a first pair of shoes be a big thing and then speed run her growing up but eh, it's nice finally getting her origin story and her being an incarnation kinda sorta of Ellelain (which kinda reminds me of several other franchises there being generational incarnations of the same hero) and I kinda wonder what happens to her after everything. Also pretty interested in seeing what sort of resolution there'll being with Empress and Ellelain's relationship, particularly since the latter is seemingly gone... I liked everybody's big eye faces when Ellee did the gymnastics tumbling routine. Skearhead's mind palace gets another mention! It looks like Ellee also got Magic Hour's End from Ellelain, which is nice because it's my favorite move name of this iteration (although now that I think about it, wouldn't it be a bad thing in general for the magic to end?)

I tend to mix up letters and sometimes letters in acronyms so maybe I would be confused with Skyland words like Strichmas or Tasan and I forget what other words they mixed up or maybe it would be no different to me. Looking at "Futari wa Precure" written in Sora's diary, I vaguely remember there was one ep with a reference or two to the original series back towards the beginning of the season? I guess the Princess comes up with her own ideas now? Anyways, sorta feels like endgame now with all the characters coming back, although the SOLy-ness kinda makes things not feel like endgame, but I guess it's the brief respite from tension before the final climactic push. Also, I guess helping out Tasan is the second time they've done their henshin for non-fight purposes? They even managed to cram two finishers in (I think the Updraft Shining kinda makes a little more thematic sense here though since it's wind related but eh). The lighting was nice with Sora and Mashiro in front of the tree, but the pacing of the cliffhanger was kinda weird but eh.

Magic Hour's End is a pretty awesome name for a move. Was that Yuu Yoshiyama for Sora's ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA (and also I guess throughout the ep)? Also, I guess this is the second time I've seen a magical girl do an ORAORAORAORA (the other time being

). The punk birds were pretty funny. Wait, Princess Elleelain isn't the Empress? Smh, 2 for 2 wrong in this series (I forget what else I was wrong about). The fight between Princess Elleelain and the Emperor was pretty awesome too (and all her yells). The ep got kinda dark for a bit (at least for Precure) with the Empress getting cut. Anyways, pretty awesome episode and pretty hype.

In other news, I finally watched Amagi Brilliant Park and so discovering Mashiro has the same VA as Isuzu is something.

I guess Skyland doesn't look so different from Earth in this series but them riding on chocobos gives it away. Looks like things are cranking up towards the ending if their transformation happens so soon in the episode. Them doing the majestic halation right off the bat kinda feels like trying to throw a pokeball right at the start of a Pokemon encounter, of course it isn't gonna work. The cutoff transformation sequences is a fun gag. The cliff the princess/Cure Noble prays at looks an awful like the cliff where the crew meets Empress Undergu HMMM.

The storyboarding at the beginning was nice with Mashiro's shadow cast over the book-in-progress and lens flare in the Battamonda scene. I guess in the general the framing was nice this ep, from the focus on the fallen leaf drawing to shoes and puddles and outlines of faces and what not. I liked the parallels between the Undergu Empire's valuing of strength and power and Mashiro's struggles (and the whole thing about how you find value in yourself in general). Interesting how they started up with mix palette, which I guess this time didn't mix anybody's powers but just worked as a powerup (or is the pink glow Ageha's power)? Prism Shine was pretty cool although I kinda expected more glowy all-outness (I guess they're saving up for the ending?). The pacing at the end felt kinda cramped with things just happening but eh. Good solid ep, probably one of the stronger eps of the series.

I like how things getting fixed after kyoborgs wreak havoc have an explanation besides anime magic. Wait, ひろがる means spreading or expanding (at least according to my internet searchesbut also sounds like Hero Girl? Sora's VA was fun this ep. I looked her up and I guess she's Charlotte in Princess Principal and Tokime in Fuuto Tantei, which are two characters pretty unlike Sora. Sky Punch was pretty awesome and I guess that was Yuu Yoshiyama again? I like Skearhead getting a bit more depth? and Sora getting a bit more character development from it.

Between this and 16bit this season, I'm appreciative of how squeaky Aoi Koga can get. Obviously Ageha is the best of the Precures this season because she can eat the most. Is Battamonda doing a hot dog/coffee combo? Or is the cup just coffee cup like? Kinda seems dangerous on the stomach. I guess Mashiro is chill with Battamonda even after that last ep with the henshin? Skearhead just happening on Monda and Mashiro kinda makes me wonder what he does when he's not on screen, I guess he just takes walks or something. Was kinda hoping kyoborg would shoot hot dogs and mustard and relish and what not but I guess those coffee cup things are good too. Looks like maybe we're getting hints of things ramping up towards end of series with the direct confrontation of Skearhead and the next ep preview.

Good to have this show back after a week break. Kinda wonder if there were dinosaurs in Skyland. I mean, they have dragons and birds so why not. Life's Journey yahoo! does seem to cover quite the range of topics though, from dinosaurs to weddings (and as we all know, being a dinosaur is such a magical part of one's life journey).

I liked the look of the opening sequence, especially with Mashiro's little glowly light. Are pumpkin ghosts actual things? They look great in their costumes anyways. I guess overall the animation looked a bit more lively than the last couple weeks. The kids are trick-or-treating during the daytime though? Wait, is Pretty Holic a Precure thing in general? Because I remember it from Tropical Rouge i think... Not a big Battamonda fan but I liked his henshin into Cure Pumpkin (also now that I look his VA up, I did like KENN in Uchuu Kyoudai and it looks like he has a main role in iDOLISH which I've been meaning to get to...). Cure Majesty getting the baby treat and having to eat it when she turns back just raises more questions for me in terms of her mental age going back and forth... but also it was a pretty funny gag.

I guess we don't get to see everybody en route to Skyland this time around and just start with everybody there. I really like that "hammoak" pun, I guess that's a subs-only thing? (my Japanese is not great ,.. at all, but I'm hearing "kaze no ue no ki no ha"). I guess Tsubasa is a bird riding on top of a bigger bird huh. What a coincidence that the members of the Dragon Tribe are all kinda the same colors as our main crew huh. I kinda wonder if the Dragon Tribe, namely the purple one, is weirded out by Ellee's age change. Tsubasa and his complexes with flying and the Dragon Tribe and the momentary Chekhov's leaves were a nice little bit. Does Skearhead really have a mind palace or is that just his weird way of saying he'll remember this.

I'm a fan of goats. The last goats I remember seeing in anime were in Gundam shows and movies. I like their tendency to climb on top of things but I guess we didn't get that this ep. That squirrel bit with it posing and having a big smile on its face after Sora sneezed was a little weird lol.

Also a fan of when anime take place in more rural settings like Gin no Saji, Sakura Quest, Non Non Biyori, Hanasaku Iroha, Yuru Camp, etc etc etc etc etc. The shot of the fields reminds me a lot of parts of California, but then again I guess those fields look like a lot of places. Anyways, I liked the backgrounds in this ep with the smudgey leaves.

alright, holding off on the otona precure for now since i haven't seen the prequel series to it but i'm here for hirogaru sky. animation quality seemed to dip a little bit compared to previous eps? characters seem to be drawn a little weirdly, especially when they're a little further away in the scene. Bits of the fight looked pretty good though and felt yuu yoshiyama-ish. Anyways, it was a nice episode. It's nice seeing Ageha in her role as a nursery school teacher and how she engages with the kids.