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precuredaily · 5 years

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Precure Day 101

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 03 - “A Head-On Match! You’re the Ace!” Date watched: 9 December 2018 Original air date: 19 February 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Y3bf3Ey Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

I think there was a Winnie the Pooh short about this...

Do you like sports? Because it’s time for a sports episode! It also runs the risk of being the last sports episode of the series, because the softball team definitely is not in top form.

It’s a fun little episode, for sure. We’ve introduced all our key players and settled into being Pretty Cure so now it’s time to flesh them out a little bit. We see the positive impact they have on each other, as Mai draws the softball team during practice and they make good subjects, and then she later turns around and uses her drawings to sort of coach them when they aren’t doing so hot in the game by showing them how stiff they look in play vs practice. It’s a clever dynamic.

This episode doesn’t really advance the plot any beyond the usual collecting the macguffin, and it doesn’t flesh out the characters a whole lot, but let’s talk about what does happen. There’s a couple of key scenes that play into the nature theme: first, shortly before the match, Saki is seen at the spirit tree giving it a big ol’ hug.

She says it makes her feel relaxed, which I can get behind. It just looks like a nice tree to be around. Being at peace with nature is a bit of an underlying theme in this show.

The second noteworthy part is during the battle with Karehaan and the uzaina. The monster pastes the girls to the wall with balls of goop. I’m not sure exactly what they’re meant to be but they’re sticky and tacky and generally gross. It reminds me of some kind of plant byproduct, which would fit, but I don’t exactly know. To add insult to injury, Karehaan covers the girls in more goop, which in his case I’m interpreting as rotting leaves, because leaves are kind of his whole motif see.

I mean there’s other things it resembles but this is a kids show

I believe this is also supposed to represent pollution but that’s not really touched upon. It would fit the theme though.

I’m going to change gears and talk about the characters a little. Mai is really fun in this episode, and her artistry pays off. By drawing the players during the practice and the game, she is able to show them how their form is different, how they’re too stiff and tight.

top: game, bottom: practice

This helps them recover from a rough start to their game. The opposition scores one run in the first inning and then it’s straight zeros for a while.

Everybody in the stands is worried and that’s when Mai realizes they’re not playing well, so she comes down to offer some advice, and after being interrupted by Karehaan, Yuunagi manages to score two runs in the final inning and take home victory. It reminds me, to an extent, of Max Heart 15 where Hikari was hanging out with Miu and Nao and got roped into a basketball game. Honoka dropped by and dispensed some advice that helped them all get better, despite not knowing much about the game. Something about non-sporty people using their own insights to offer advice for sports just seems wholesome.

Kenta gets a couple of funny scenes in this episode as well, his relationship with Saki is a bit different from the other girls, and we’ll get into that as the series progresses, but he gives her a hard time about winning and she snaps at him.

Also, playing up the Naruto connection, Kenta brags about his twisted headband a little as a good luck charm.

A few other tidbits to highlight: Minori almost sees Flappi as she barges into Saki’s room without knocking while Flappi is eating (and Saki is selling his toy to the audience). Saki hilariously overreacts and closes the door in a rush.

Saki’s dad is sad that he has to stay behind and watch the bakery instead of going to the game with Saki’s mom and sister, so he closes the bakery and goes to the game anyway, shrugging off the question when his wife asks who’s tending shop. It’s cute.

When Karehaan attacks, we are subjected to possibly the greatest pun in Precure (until maybe a particular line in Dokidoki, if I ever get that far). Saki begins her running joke of getting the villains’ names wrong by calling him.... Kare-pan, or curry bread. It’s stupid and it’s funny and it drives him up the wall and it will happen almost every time so get used to it.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was music choice. I haven’t listened to the Splash Star soundtrack outside of the series, though I plan to fix that soon, but there’s a wonderful tense/dramatic march theme that plays during the end of the softball match after the girls beat the Uzaina. It really cements the atmosphere of the scene and has made me seek out the soundtrack to see what other gems are on it that I’ve forgotten about since my first time watching this show.

I want to apologize for the delay in releasing this episode, as I commented on the status blog I was having a hard time finding what to say about it. I meant to work on this when I got home from work last night but just goofed around instead so I woke up early today and said “Sit down and do this” so I did it. It’s probably a bit more eclectic than usual, maybe that will be how it is going forward... but maybe not. I kind of play this project by ear. I do know that I don’t want these reviews to come out a week apart or more, because then I’ll never catch up, so I’ll try to push out 102 tomorrow or Saturday. Stay tuned!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 3 Zekkouchou nari!

Miracle Drop Count: 3

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS03 #PCD101

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