Star Twinkle Pretty Cure:

41: Shine on, Moon: Madoka's First Step!

I think with how much they only are interested in donuts over saving the universe, Uni should have
ditched Hikaru long ago.

Whose life is Madoka actually living for? This is a major question with the whole plotline that we
finally get an answer to here...though in some ways, I'm a bit frustrated with this episode in that
everything we had with the Madoka plot at the start ends up squandered at the end. The main
conflict is, of course, with her father regarding her future...but we also get a stupid retcon
regarding the alien hunt from the beginning of the series and the last episode: he was removed
from the project since no credible proof was found and he couldn't get what he needed to for the
government. Yeah...this is sort of why I find some of what the Cures in general, not just this
season, ends up doing, in that whenever a stress occurs that the Cures "cure", it isn't just lifting
them out but in some ways maybe rewriting away from their stress to change things; it's a bizarre
element of brainwashing that maybe goes along the same plot aspect from last time that
whenever the Notraiders (or any villain in any Cure season) attacks, the Cures don't seem to
literally fix the problem but potentially mentally manipulate and brainwash it away at the same
manner as the villains make the victim lose consciousness; there's no real cognitive cure, merely
just the Cures magically making problems go away without worry! It just adds way more sinister
concepts to pretty much every season where the victims are humans altered by the villains such as
HeartCatch, Happiness Charge, Go! Princess, HUGtto...or of course, here.

But with that said, with the "alien plot" sadly brushed aside (despite, you know, aliens and rockets
and Starscape madness right in front of you), the main plot and Madoka's final story is more about
her relationship with her father and the whole "you can't choose your own destiny because it's
influenced by those stronger than you". The sad thing here is that they want to make it like that
Madoka is trying to figure out the path to her own destiny, but she's just influenced by others
regardless: she's influenced by her father for how to grow up and live her life, she's influenced by
Hikaru in being a Cure; she's even influenced by Elena in taking the "Moon of Mihoshi" title due to
Elena being "The Sun"! The truth is that finding your own path is about balance, and really it feels
more like it's about Madoka's influence from the likes of Hikaru influencing her more than her
father than any real balance. The only potential idea of Madoka "forging her own path" is in the
end battle with Garouga; I'm not a fan that Garouga gets Madoka considering the two have no
connection other than "a strong influence guiding their decisions" since this is literally the second
time Garouga has even come to Earth, but the truth is it took not just her Cure powers and the
care for her friends to win and "awaken" her Twinkle Imagination, but also the guidance of her
father, with him spiritually becoming the arrow that knocks Garouga away for the finisher! I get
the lesson of the episode being "forge your own path", but the way it was done here just felt less
like that lesson and more "I rather have my life be dominated in being a Cure with Hikaru than my
own father"...and when the battle is over, it isn't like Hikaru's going to matter as much as this fight.

42: Lost Smiles, Confused Elena

I think the only reason Prunce was a translator is to just push out Star Donuts to the entire
universe.

The last episode seemed to give us a resolution of Madoka trying to find her own way and needed
Elena to help her get to that point. So then...what does Elena want out of all this at her endgame
point? She's just sort of happy as is letting things remain as is with her family, friends and her Cure
duties, but the episode suggests she has greater potential that she isn't that interested in
pursuing, particularly when her parent-teacher conference reveals that she has the potential to go
to a better school and make more of herself with her future. Elena sort of never thought of it this
way and is just sort of someone who prefers things to remain stable as is with all of her friends and
obligations and duties, so of course she tries to just keep a smile to it all. Amazingly, though, the
next battle with Tenjou ends up giving us a stark revelation: when Elena's mother is turned into a
Nottorei, she reveals that the smile Elena uses...is a mask, hiding what she wants while trying to
make herself seem like she's alright. Considering that "mask" did so well and how it helped out
with madoka last time, it really isn't completely disingenuine, but at the same time it does show
that not everything she has is necessarily as stable as they want it to be even in someone like
Elena's life. Obviously this is going to lead to a final showdown between Elena and Tenjou
(especially since we get a hint at Tenjou's true nature in this episode and the preview solidifies the
truth), but considering all this and what we know, it at least is better and going more in depth with
things than what we got with Madoka.

43: Emitting Feelings Through Smiles: Tenjo VS Elena!

Why does this all feel like a weird magical girl version of "The Point"?

If there's one good thing about having the Starscape military on the side of the Cures, its' that
there are those who can help you do the heavy lifting in handling things regarding the current
battle without it all just being "random magic of the Cure team solving all the problems." In this
case, they actually have discovered through technology the signature of the warps used by the
Notraiders and, by using further tech, can actually track it back to their headquarters bringing the
threat to the universe to a quicker end. This is the sort of forward thinking I actually like in this
franchise, along the same lines of Ako's grandpa trying to rebuild the pipe organ to fight Noise
throughout Suite (even before we the audience knew Noise was a thing...and there all along) or
the research on Deusmast by the Headmaster and Riko's father in Maho Girls; both of which
becoming key during the endgame. The means to create conflict here is that the tech and the
beacon for tracking down the Notraiders is the planet Guten...and for those who know about the
word puns, that is the reverse of "Tengu"...so yes, this is finally going to get into Tenjo's past and
her final confrontation with Elena. Regarding the Guten connection, it's actually a really hard one
but one you'd sort of expect for Tenjo: she had a small nose and felt betrayed in that people kept
telling her "don't worry about it, you're just like anybody else"; except that the typical Guten
resident is extremely proud and haughty (way better depictions of this compared to certain oujo
wannabes this season) and Tenjo's own lacking confidence and the feeling that she's been
betrayed by her own people who say one thing and do another ended up warping her to the point
of basically abandonment and eventually joining the Notraiders. Its this idea of the inauthenticity
of smiles that made her hate Elena so much and have the rivalry that has persisted through the
second half; I sort of wish this started earlier but it is the strongest of the rivalries we've had in
thematic elements outside Uni and Aiwarn and does continue to make Soleil question why she
smiles and if it's really worth it. We get the typical answer but honestly what I did like is that all of
Elena's episodes seem to actually matter here, in that her character development links back to her
past focal episodes and shows that she got her smile from her family and her mother's interpreter
elements sort of just was key to all of this; heck without her mother being an interpreter, she
wouldn't be who she is or even be here right now anyway. Thus the idea of "I want to get these
smiles across and pass it down to everyone I meet" ends up becoming Elena's new mission; it's
simple and what you'd expect, but considering the plot she's had, it actually makes sense and
works for Elena's story arc and character so I do like that. And while I do like she tries to get Tenjo
on their side and apologize after all she's been through (since it isn't like she's had it easy either),
she runs off of course...and unfortunately Darknest decides to use her for some new plan that
seems to suggest the end is near...then again considering how close the Starscape is to getting the
Cures to the Notraiders, it's now or never for Darknest anyway.

44: Supri~se: Santa Is An Alien!?

If Fuwa runs out of juice over the town, then whose going to tell it that they have to do the whole
world next?

With a season where everything is associated with aliens, obviously the Christmas episode was
going to claim Santa was an alien too...and sure enough, this episode has him as some bizarre
Santa/Rudolph mishmash with reindeer antler hair and a giant penguin robot that helps deliver
presents. But of course the Cures can't be left out of this so the delivery bot gets broken and the
Cures are now replacing it in delivering all the presents throughout the town with the help of
Fuwa's warp. But of course since we're getting closer to the end of the series, Darknest finally has
to stop just standing around on their throne and do something; and sure enough it's Darknest
themselves that fights the Cures this time around. We get the same sort of thing as a season like
Fresh where it's "Fuwa is 'the means of the villains success/no she isn't" between the villains and
the Cures; the sad thing is that I'm more on Darknest's side since at least Chiffon felt like a random
fairy that lived in the Land of Sweets that was sort of there before they realized how important it
was in being "the sentient computer chip of a device that can enslave dimensions!"; whereas
Fuwa...was probably just created by the Star Princesses one day and then thrown out into the
world because the universe had to be saved. (since, as we've seen, the Star Princesses are useless
and really don't want to do anything and choose to be this way!) But of course it turns out it
wasn't even Darknest to begin with; they just infected a Nottorei with their power and an armor
claiming they will do it more with others later; it's really quite late to start doing these sorts of
upgrades unless Darknest just wants to start confusing the entire Cure team with Doombots untl
they control/destroy the universe.

Star Twinkle Pretty Cure:

45: The Twinkling Star: Hikaru's Imagination

I think having a Leonardo Da Vinci expy in a Cure season works wonders to get a concept across.

If you want to know something frustrating when it comes to this franchise, it's that Hikaru was the
first to start "awakening" her Twinkle Imagination, yet the series has to work to make her the last
one to fully awaken it. They don't explain why it took her longer or how, not even an aside of "her
own doubts associated with her friends and her situation has held her back", it just never
happened until now considering she's the one who made all this happen. But in a way, I think the
lesson of this episode is simply that "the world will change but you still have to be the best person
you can be regardless of this". This happens due to seeing how well everything has gotten with the
others gaining their paths in life, from restoring worlds to their schooling future to Lala being
accepted by the Mihoshi Middle students while Hikaru...is just stuck not knowing what to do and
knowing her friends will be gone soon. This is sort of where I really like her encounter with Mr.
Ryou; while he isn't a super-crucial adult mentor like others in this franchise, he sort of has this
bond with Hikaru in telling her what she needs to know considering how they're both obsessed
with stars and space and thus can relate on a similar level. In fact, one thing I do like is that Ryou
admits he sort of is in the same situation: he had friends and acquaitances, they moved on but he
sort of kept going with his own thing and just didn't know what to do with himself. But I think the
element of the "you be you" we get here is that you can't just let your circumstances outside your
interests get you down and you need to pursue what is best for yourself even if it isn't the "normal
life" others are interested in. I think that considering my own situation, it really is powerful words
(long story there) and it just sort of shows that if you want something, then don't be jealous in
others and just do what is best for yourself and you'll still be there and help other along the way.

We also get Kappard holding one more attack to basically make Hikaru realize this and her desires
to bond with everyone including him...then again considering how much Kappard's situation
reminds me of the issues of water rights even now (the battle with many poor and minority areas
whose water is being stolen by massive corporations who make it impossible for them to keep and
protect their own precious resources), it's just a shame that he sort of ended up here...but
whatever that means is gone now since he's basically going to become another of Darknest's
snake-armored minions with his final failure. (and with the Cures all having their Twinkle
Imagination, it isn't like they're sticking around on Earth when there's a universe to save)

46: Darknest Descends! Battle at the Star Palace

Why do I have disturbing images of where Fuwa actually came from considering Taurus Princess
just having it out of nowhere?

With the empowered Fuwa and Twinkle Imagination in hand, it's finally time to save the universe
at the Star Palace. But of course saving the universe from Darknest and the Notraiders isn't an
easy thing, especially now it's sending out a space force to destroy the Star Palace and stop the
ceremony. The first half of the episode is good since we get this war and basically it comes down
to Hikaru realizing that this whole thing is just pointless since the Notraiders are merely just the
cast-off elements of space society, transformed from a bunch of "losers" into an army that is trying
to conquer the universe to maybe make up the inadiquacies. It isn't helped that the Darknest
armor that they all sport basically prevents them from seeing things clearer since they're being
greater brainwashed, but Hikaru is sort of right: the universe doesn't belong to anyone (though I
do like the Starscape alliance showing up to help...despite the fact that their whole "we'll beat
Darknest at their own game and find their HQ first" plot from a few episodes back is worthless if
they're just going to show up at the Star Palace without any warning; I guess you can't plan when
the villains move and you can't stop what they're doing)

But while the first half of the episode is good...the Darknest reveal finally happens...and all of this
season's potential just gets flushed down a literal black hole. It turns out that Darknest was a Star
Princess: the Ophiuchus Princess (the former member of the zodiac that no longer is; the same
inspiration for HebitsukaiSilver back in Kyuranger) and she lied to everyone, including the
Notraiders, about wanting to conquer the universe when she actually wants to erase everything
and maybe start over. Maybe the Cures could have stopped this by doing the ritual to restore the
Star Palace with Fuwa before she attacked...but they waste all their Twinkle Imagination on their
big finisher to save everyone (with a bit of good timing from Aiwarn; who at least her brattiness
got her away before it got this bad) and she just runs off with Fuwa regardless. So...yeah, the
universe is now on a ticking clock to it's end and the Cures wasted their big gun...maybe it will be
restored but we'll see what happens from here.
BTW: I just realized how this whole thing just feels like a similar situation to the Bowzock from
Carranger...only if Exhaus had a completely different plot altogether from the crooks he took in as
opposed to tricking them and being on the same page but with his own bizarre moralities. (I
especially feel sorry for Garouga: I mean the others coming together as a ragtag group of villains
working to conquer the universe to prove yourself is an interesting concept...but Garouga was
basically forced into this by the Ophiuchus Princess destroying his world to begin with!)

47: Save Fuwa! The Universe Disappears Within The Great Darkness!

Seriously, I think this basically confirms that Fuwa was some tile they wanted to replace that
turned into a fairy.

With the show so close to over and the whole mess now of dealing with the Ophiuchus Princess,
this really feels like a tale of two episodes in one this time around. The first half is the good part,
the slow time that leads up to the final battle. We get the heroes regrouping and trying to figure
out that they need to get to the headquarters of the rebellious princess to save Fuwa and the
universe, all while we get a reminder that the Starscape Alliance was able to use their connection
on Guten to pinpoint where she is. We get some slow time with the heroines and the villain they
fought during their final battle as they all just sort of realize they're all on the same side now; even
the aliens brainwashed to being Nottorei rejoining the combat feeling like a massive space armada
getting ready to take down a powerful princess who wants to destroy everything that we know of.

Then after the commercial break...well...we get the annoying part. The first part with the battle
with the Ophilucus Princess isn't bad but once the Cures get to her, it just becomes a massive
infodump regarding the whole status of everything and the origins leading to it all. Turns out when
the universe was created, the Star Princesses decided to give up half their power to create the
imaginations of all sentient life, with only her as the one who was against it seeing that if
imaginations get twisted and tormented, it will cause problems...and the worst part: the 12 Star
Princesses that outnumbered her stating "well we'll create Pretty Cure if that ever happens". In
that way...really it shows the arrogance and the annoyance of the Star Princesses; giving
imagination to sentient life is fine, but the idea of "we'll create Cures if the problem ever becomes
too big" as well as sort of basically turning against the Ophilucus' ideas and basically abandoning
her leading her to the dark side shows that they had literally absolutely no idea what they were
doing! Giving off imagination is fine and obviously there is a "double sided nature" to everything as
they try to push with a lot of these series, but I really don't like the arrogance here and that
basically the Ophilucus Princess just takes advantage of all this crap KNOWING that by
manipulating the downtrodded with twisted imaginations, she's inviting the Cures to fight against
her. And then there's the other issue: the means to create the final power to destroy the universe
is the same that created it: the power of all 13 princesses; and considering that these 12 won't
give up their power on their own, they basically wrote their own doom by creating the Star Color
pens for the Cures and then creating Fuwa (from...a piece of the Star Palace?) so all the power
goes inside the fairy thus allowing all the power to combine together with the Ophilucus Princess
and, well...destroy the universe. I can't say if the Ophilucus Princess is just that much of a
genius...or if the Star Princesses are just the biggest, most idiotic hero mentors of the franchise
this side of Blue! But of course in the end, Fuwa actually defies everyone and decides to save the
universe by sacrificing itself to stop the Ophilucus Princess when the others tell it not to...I wonder
if it dealt anything to her but considering we have one more episode of fighting left...

48: Overlapping Thoughts! The Star of Hope Shines Through The Darkness

And Aiwarn remains a tsundere to the very end. That's the most adorable thing we got out of this.

Not much you can really say about Cure endgames: the universe is destroyed, the Cures save it,
there's a lot of goodbyes and that's basically series other than the final episode and the potential
cameo of our next PInk. And really there's not much to say here either: the Ophiuchus Princess has
a good point of "if you give up imagination then people will screw with it and it will lead to
problems"; it tries to go through the whole element of free will but I sort of don't think it works as
well as what we got with a series like Fresh, where at least the whole endgame went through why
Labyrinth was a bad thing and the power of freedom and the ability to be what you want is better
than a world dictated to you by computer; they try to make it bigger but it just doesn't work
especially with what we got. And the worst part is that when the Ophiuchus Princess revives to
destroy the universe, she states that the Cures Star Twinkle Imagination could have stopped
her...if they were mentally united with Fuwa when it performed the ritual; in other words because
they were so worried about losing Fuwa, they didn't synchronize and we got the whole typical
Cure final battle here instead! It's just pathetic and there's no consequence: we get the typical
"we're all together in this" thing with everyone helping, they stop the final bad guy and the
universe is restored as if nothing had ever happened like it was a bad dream...or a Dragon Ball
wish considering the company.

And of course the finale part...where despite having this power that basically surpasses the Star
Princesses now (that's not a hard task considering how they were all season!), they sacrifice it to
"revive" Fuwa. Heck, the only interesting part is that Uni could have used her power to restore
Rainbow but instead decides to work with Aiwarn to do it the old fashion way: WITH SCIENCE!
(that was a cute bit at least) Oh...and they let the Ophilucus Princess go and her apology to
Gaiouga for destroying his world is...giving him her warping bracelet that's already broken to send
the Cures home. Um...thanks?

Final Ep. (49): Draw It Into The Universe! My Own Imagination

Seriously the whole purpose of the final Cure battle was "dang, we had Akio Ootsuka and never
made him a villain; quick do something in the final episode...ANYTHING!" Random prototype
Nottorei mask...PERFECT!

These epilogue episodes have been weird and just bizarre excuses to try and get one more Cure
battle in, introduce the next Pink and show the Cures in the future. While I think KiraKira of all
seasons did it best (not even having the Cures handling it while introducing Yell alongside the
battle), this one...was bizarre, being a dream of an older Hikaru as she meets up with everyone
(despite Fuwa basically being reduced to an infant again) and the team fighting her dad as a
Nottorei all while she meets with our next Cure, Cure Grace and her fairy, a puppy named Latte
(nothing about them for a bit on my end). But once that's over, we find out...yeah basically it's
what you'd expect: they all got their dreams from Hikaru becoming an astronaut, Elena a
translator, Madoka as the new leader of the space administration (and her dad...PRIME
MINISTER!? AFTER ALL THE GARBAGE HE DID ALL SEASON!?) and so forth. I did like the catch-up
we did get with Lala and Uni more; Lala sort of inspired major key changes to Saman, while Uni
and Aiwarn eventually seemed to make Rainbow a bit more hospitable (though sadly Aiwarn
became a Madonna/Vilbis fusion in her adult form in a really stupid appearance). And the end
seems to hint at Fuwa regaining some of her memories...though I feel really sorry for Hikaru's
rocket partner to basically be clueless on what's happening in that final scene.