#precure meta

[merryfortune]

HikaYuni Meta: Her Fated Star

Yuni chased through multiple universes and galaxies and more, not only to find the lost Rainbownite Treasures and the hope that there was a cure for the petrification her world had come under, but she chased after the hope of Hikaru.

Under the pretence of finding a star, her star, in some obscure universe, the Milky Way, to find her hope but instead, she found Hoshina Hikaru, Cure Star: her star. 

Hikaru seems to be completely unaware that she is Yuni’s fated star. This weighs on her in no way at all, all that she feels unto Yuni and how she acts around her is from the own course of actions that she chooses to take to make Yuni smile, to bring her back to the light and warmth of friendship instead of barricading herself in her misery, despair

Hikaru consistently lights up Yuni’s world. She is the one who clashed against Yuni’s unsavoury methods of procuring the lost treasures of her homeworld but also invited Yuni to watch movies with her and bond with her. Hikaru is also one of the few characters who can discern what Yuni truly means or truly feels during her standoffish or otherwise emotionally guarded moments.

It is difficult to say how much joy Yuni felt as Mao but likely, not all that much. The adoration of her fans is completely different to the adoration of true friendship. Again, it is difficult to discern how much joy Yuni felt as Bakenyan but given that her and Ayewarn’s current arc (which is another post for another day) is that of reconciliation, it’s possible that Yuni felt only rage as Bakenyan. But on Earth, Yuni does feel loved and accepted for who she is.

A major theme of her and Hikaru’s relationship, outside of the grand prophesied element, is one of accepting change. During the climax of Pururun arc, it is Hikaru’s declaration of saying that “Change is fun” which got through to Yuni in her moment of weakness against Ayewarn. This truly wrapped up an arc which featured so much transformation. The Pururun arc first introduced the transformation pearls and in terms of Yuni’s character progression, further embedded symbolism into the power of the Rainbownians and their shapeshifting abilities. Not to mention, the whole transformation aspect of the magical girl genre in general. This moment between Yuni and Hikaru has had long-lasting consequences, both textually through exploration of symbolism but also in their relationships, and to a lesser extent, Yuni’s relationships with other characters, such as the other PreCures and Ayewan.

But it is the element of prophecy which best draws in the (twinkle) imagination. Hoshina Hikaru, Cure Star, is not only the star of the show, and given her status as PreCure, likely star of all universes, but is also Yuni’s personal star, the very one who seems to exists purely to give her hope as per the convention of Hakkenyan. Isn’t that romantic? Yuni certainly seems to think so based on the final, almost pining glance that she gave the oh so oblivious Hikaru at the end of Episode 38.

[stillness-in-green]

A Small Epiphany on Episode 32

We interrupt your irregularly scheduled posts about Gundam IBO to talk about a very, very different kids’ toy commercial: Hugtto Precure, the latest installment of Toei’s fifteen-year behemoth of a magical girl franchise. 

So, I watched the latest episode with The Fam tonight and we agreed that it was a very solid entry in what is shaping up to be a show of uneven focuses but unusual emotional honesty.  There was one thing that initially seemed so weird as to be jarring, though.  Namely, Saaya’s “transformation.”  

When all the girls’ get hit with the toge-power beams and transform into various fairy tale character cosplay, why Cinderella for Saaya?  She’s hardly the wealthiest Blue Cure to ever grace a TV screen, or even the richest Cure in her own show, but there’s nothing to indicate she’s living particularly shabbily.  Her parents (both alive) adore her, and she’s an only child.  Of her two career interests, the only one that has much of an archetypal rags-to-riches story is making it big in acting, but that’s not the narrative you get when you’re a child commercial star and the daughter of a renowned TV actress.  

So why Cinderella?  Is it the story’s general air of classic grace?  Was it just because the best-known iteration of the character is typically pictured in Sayaka’s signature pale blue?  And why were all the stories chosen Western except the one Hana got, Urashima Taro?  

We bandied the topic back and forth a bit before it finally struck me.  There actually are elements all five of the chosen stories have in common: they all involve time, and they all involve a “wonderland” aspect.  

Homare, the center character of the episode, has The Little Mermaid, in which the main character is transformed so that she can pursue her heart’s desire in a world not her own--but that transformation has a time limit, and once it’s up, if she hasn’t met the terms of the deal she struck, she’ll turn into seafoam and lose everything.

Saaya has Cinderella, whose beautiful dress and glass shoes grant her access to the ball, which for the disenfranchised servant girl from the cinders is a dream world wholly separate from her own.  Like the mermaid, though, her ability to stay in this place has a ticking clock attached.  

Emiru has Alice in Wonderland, a story in which a young girl grows bored with her sibling’s tiresomely grown-up book and dozes off, subsequently dreaming up a nonsensical land of anthropomorphized critters that is kicked off by an encounter with a rabbit with a pocketwatch fretting about being late.  

Lulu has Little Red Riding Hood, wherein the protagonist is convinced to wander off the beaten path and tarry in a field of beautiful flowers, wasting the day away while the wolf goes ahead of her.  

You could probably have a reasonably lengthy discussion about the way these story choices tease at elements of the girls’ established characters or don’t--Emiru certainly chased a few rabbits (a pink one called Heroism and a purple one called Friendship) into a topsy-turvy land of magic, but I’m inclined to think she’s the aptest call of the four above.  

But then there’s Hana, and man, Criasu has got her number.  

Urashima Taro is a Japanese fairy tale in the Rip Van Winkle/spirited-away-to-fairyland mode.  While in the episode itself it’s largely played as a joke, as a reflection of who Hana is and what she fears, it’s actually quite cutting.  

Taro was a youth who showed compassion to a creature he had no prior connection to or reason to care about, and for his selflessness, he was brought to an undersea palace where he spent several enjoyable days/months/years being fêted by a beautiful princess.  When he eventually became homesick, the princess tried to dissuade him from leaving, but when he insisted, she relented, gifting him with an ornate jeweled box he was not to open, lest he never be able to return.  Of course, when he gets back home, it’s been several hundred years and everyone he loves is long dead.  In his grief and desperation to find a method to return, he forgets the princess’ warning and opens the box, only to find that it contains all his lost years--he turns instantly into a wizened old man (and, in some variants, immediately dies and falls into dust).  

Harry and Hugtan map pretty clearly as the creatures Hana helps to begin the story, for which aid she becomes a magical girl.  This reward comes with, in very short order, a brand new friend group, and she spends the next several months having a grand magical adventure.  The thread unravels a bit here; Hana’s anxieties are about a future that will steal what she has, certainly not an idyllic past that she's lost.  It’s Criasu Corp that offers her, in their goal of freezing time, the jeweled box that will let her remain forever in her joyful otherworld; rejecting the box is what threatens to load her down with age and grief.  

But then, her transformation is one wrought on her by the monster of the day, not a role she’s chosen to play, and it’s no surprise that said monster spits out stories that all involve idyllic moments that hang right on the brink of age or loss or death, such that if the story’s characters could only halt the hands of time they would never have to face a ‘tomorrow’ that is less happy than their ‘today’.  

That is, after all, literally the Criasu Corp’s entire mission statement.  Well played, Hugtto Precure; well played.  

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[precureficlets]

I can’t believe I’m saying this (actually no that’s a lie, I totally can) but I think the Oedipus Complex would be a good way to predict a Daruizen redemption and/or be a vehicle of. Yeah, yeah, we all know the first part about the young boy desiring his mother’s affections - and Nodoka makes for a vision in white, a virtuous Madonna not allowed to be anything less than a moral role model - but what of the father figure? The boy must usurp his father for the affections of mother and I find it very narratively enticing if Daruizen were to join forces with the Pretty Cures and help fight King Byougen. who, in this reading, is the father figure since his presence activated Daruizen’s. so yes. thoughts? I have them.

[merryfortune]

Hello, it is time to investigate the textual and thematic evidence which supports shipping Hikaru Hoshina with Lala Hagoromo. This will be done by exploring how Star Twinkle PreCure’s unique recurring theme is using elements which align with the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi: the characters from Japanese folklore whose story resulted in the Tanabata holiday. 

Tanabata had an entire StarPre episode devoted to it but hints of its significance is woven far thicker than just there. But, there are two important takeaways from the Tanabata episode, for the sake of this manifesto. The first of which is that Hikaru’s parents are very similar to Orhime and Hikoboshi in that they can only reunite on 7/7 (Tanabata). The second most important takeaway is that Hikaru takes after her father very starkly. They have the same mannerisms, both vocal and bodily, and have similar interests. Hikaru is a true chip off the old block.  This association Hikaru has the masculine becomes relevant later but let’s explore the clearer association between Lala and the feminine; the lady of the Tanabata story, Orihime.

Lala was born on Tanabata and given her self-proclaimed view as “adult”, this isn’t given my significance as the episode focuses elsewhere. However, this is just another piece of the bigger puzzle. Now, Lala and Orihime are clear parallels to each other. Her surname is a reference to the raiments that Orihime would weave on the Amanogawa (the Milky Way), additionally, this fact also relates to Lala’s status as Cure Milky. Furthermore, Episode 12 also draws many elements from the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi as well. This is particularly evident in Lala’s costuming for the film that she and the other girls are participating in.

Now, if Lala is clearly Orihime, then that must make Hikaru Hikoboshi and there is a lot to support this. Returning to earlier, Hikaru very clearly takes after her father. whilst she is close to her mother, she shares more of mannerisms and interests with her father. Similarly, in Episode 12, Hikaru dressed as a ninja and whilst this gave her an androgynous appearance, it could also be interpreted as masculine. Additionally, there are more concrete parallels between her and Hikoboshi. Hikoboshi’s name literally means “Boy Star” or “Male Star”. Hikaru is, of course, Cure Star. Additionally, in the story, Hikoboshi herds cows; Hikaru is the owner of the Taurus Princess Pen and later gains a cow-themed PreCure costume.

Furthermore, there is a sense of transience in Hikaru and Lala’s friendship. One day, Lala’s mission will end and she and Hikaru will have to split up. The fact that these two girls are from different planets will make meeting up extremely difficult despite their status as PreCures. This, of course, neatly fits in line with the star-crossed lovers element of Orihime and Hikoboshi who only have the seventh day of the seventh month to reunite upon.

Therefore, there are a lot of strong elements in the Star Twinkle PreCure canon to suggest a very significant, potentially romantic relationship between.