(Where I Watch) Heartcatch Precure!

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Episode 19: Tearful Wedding! A Memorial Photo For father's Day.

Tsubomi is geeking out over the photos taken by Erika's father. There's a lot of good stuff in his scrapbook, and now Tsubomi wants to see a picture of Erika's family.

"No way! Dad's the photographer, so he's missing from every photo!"

"OH MY GOD!" Mister Kurumi is stunned. "I never realized that! Is that my fate as a photographer? Let's go on a family trip, and have Tsubomi be the cameraman!"
The trip is going to the fields of a family to whom Mister Kurumi owes a great debt. When they get there, it's harvest time for part of Tadashi's fields. And as Erika and Tsubomi help with the harvest, Tsubomi can't resist being a Shutterbug.

After a few hours of helping out, they get to taste why freshly grown vegetables make any meal better.

Tadashi's daughter Akiko is getting married, which means leaving her father alone. And when she sees the photos and cries. Her argument with her father is that she wants him to come to city with them. He wants to remain behind and stay on the farm.

And what villain do we get in an episode dealing with cameras? Cobraja, of course. He's looking for a natural locale to frame his natural beauty.

The girls try to get Mister Kurumi to resolve the argument, and feel that his attempts are lacking, so we get the story of how the Kurumi's met. Mister Kurumi's solution is to get a photograph of Akiko and her father.

Cobraja has an encounter with a scarecrow, and then Akiko.

That's your best one yet, Cobraja!

Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 18, Erika 17
Red Seed! A spray to make our moods SPEED UP! It almost works until they try to make the Desertrian dizzy. It only makes them dizzy. They get pinned to the ground by massive straws, and Tadashi and Mister Kurumi arrive in time to hear the moaning of the Desertrian.

"I Can't be a bride if it means leaving father!"

Mister Kurumi stops the Desertrian from attacking by showing a picture he took many years before. "He wants you to get married without reservation. That's the kind of father
I wanted to be!"
The Cures link hands and break free with the Big Explosion. Then it's time for the Blue Forte Wave.
Flashy Finishing move Count: 21

Afterwards, it's time to take the picture allowing father and daughter to make up.

Floral Heraldry: A mandarin flower means "The Joy of a Bride."

Hmm, something's missing. Oh wait...Weren't they supposed to take a picture of the Kurumi family?

The Next Episode is The Third Fairy! Potpourri is a Cute Baby!!

Thoughts on this episode:
I do hope that Mister Kurumi is not a complete idiot. He sees Precure in the field, fighting the monster that Akiko was turned into, and doesn't see his own daughter. He should be able to put two and two together.

Red Seeds give a speed boost, Blue seeds are antidepressants, so what, if any, boost do they get from using the Yellow Seeds?

I actually love episodes where the girls help out on a farm. It's a great way for the animators to show off their style.

 

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Episode 20: The Third fairy! Potpourri is a Cute Baby!

Chypre and Coffret are snoozing in the most comfortable place in the world. Namely, Coupe's torso. They get woken up by a radiance coming from Coupe's chest. No, he's not evolving into a care bear. It's the Heart Seeds, glowing, sending a message of rebirth back to the Heart Tree.

The clouds open, the Heart Treee shakes in the wind, and in a moment, this thing is born...

Down in the Dark Desert, Dark Precure tells Sabark that he's received a call from Dune.
*walks off, digs a large hole and drops in all the "Spice Must Flow" jokes he can find before covering up the hole*

I'm back. Now, the transmission from Dune is kind of fuzzy, but it just looks like Sabark is talking to himself.
Dune is supposed to be the supreme commander of the desert apostles, and got his ass handed to him by Cure Flower. Go Granny! Cure Flower was powerful, but there's an X-factor she possessed that really sealed his fate. Dune wants Sabark to find out what that is and prevent the Precures from discovering it. Dune tells them to go to the Heart Tree to find it.

Down at Fairy Drop, Momoka is asking Tsubomi to take the place of a model who quit, and Erika won't take no for an answer.

The new Baby Faerie is playing around the Heart Tree, and the tree tells it to hide. Dark Precure is there to attack the tree.
I'm getting flashbacks to Porun here. The new fairy shouts, and a golden barrier descends around the Heart Tree.

At the photoshoot, Erika and Momoka are trying everything to get Tsubomi to stop being so stiff. After one set, she sees the old model running away. we have our victim for the day. I'm sure of it.
The third fairy hears a message from the Tree to run, and the shield falls as it escapes. But as it runs, the Heart Tree vanishes to a new location.

Sasorina's going to take a shot at the Precures, so Kumojacky and Cobraja have the task of tracking down the last fairy.

The old model was Karin, who constantly felt upstaged by Momoka. She thought that Momoka had been handed everything on a silver platter because of her parents. And as Karin stalks through the city streets, Sasorina follows her.

And that makes four people who've called Sasorina a weirdo.

Only in Doctor Who does a mannequin make a more terrifying creature. However, the desertrian is rampaging towards the studio.
Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 19, Erika 18

The girls beat down the desertrian and it looks like they're about to end it when Kumojacky and Cobraja show up to attack the cures. The new fairy shows up to defend them from the blast attacks of the other two apostles. This ends with Cobraja getting slashed by one his own kinetically charged glossies, and Kumojacky having to dodge his own Big Bang Special.

The Precures meet Potpourri, the third fairy and Erika finsihes off the Desertrian with the Blue Forte Wave.
Flashy Finishing move Count: 22

Momoka and Karin make up, and our floral heraldry moment is "Browallia means full of charm."

The girls figure out after the fact that a third fairy means a third Precure. And we'll find out who, hopefully, in the next episode: Fairy Adventure! Precure Scout Plan!.

Thoughts for this episode:

A newborn possesses that kind of power? Wow.
Why can't the Desert Apostles work together more often? It almost worked.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 21: Fairy Adventure! Precure Scout Plan.

At the Dark Desert of the Soul, Sasorina says "I think you're making too much of one fairy." and Cobraja goes out...Wow, that is a vicious grin he's got.

At the Botanical Garden, Potpourri introduces himself and immediately falls in love with Coupe and thinks that Grandma is the third Precure. She has to break his newborn heart and say that she's already been a Precure. But the third has to be out there.
Here's the brilliant plan: Dress up as the Blues Brothers and scout the school for the next Precure. See?

First target is the Tsurusaki-Sensei, who is teaching the kids the value of learning. After the faeries scare her, they wind up declaring her unfit.

Next up, Kanae. Remember the photographer? They find her by a flower bed and immediately blab their mission. She realizes that she'd get a scoop every time. When she gets in trouble is by admitting that she doesn't dream of Cure Moonlight. Kanae get a photo of the disguise floating.

Next up, Soccer Star Sayaka. She admits that she's really only interested in soccer, and doesn't dream of the heart tree.

Next up, Ban! He's working out some ideas for his Precure Manga. "A Flower Filled With a Fiery Wind! Cure Fire!" Actually, that would be Cure Rouge, dude. He gives them the glare for being suspicious, and they do reveal that they want to scout a new Precure. So much for the secret mission. When the possibility of him being a Precure is brought up... NIGHTMARE FUEL AHOY!

By now the chase has involved Itsuki, and Kanae has snapped a picture as the faeries fly out. Of course, a Weirdo on school grounds is cause for a full lockdown. Nobody leaves. Tsusuraki-Sensei is out with a butterfly net and she meets up with Cobraja.

Cobraja goes to the roof, brags about how he'll make the third fairy vanish, and uses their disguise to create the desertrian.

Ok, first: Low Blow going for the teacher. Second: That is your scariest one yet. It actually seethes malice.

Tsubomi and Erika burst onto the roof. Apparently, they found the net the teacher was using and drew the appropriate conclusion.

Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 20, Erika 19
Ok, now we're getting into creepy territory as the Desertrian creates fog, attacks with multiple hands and blue fire and phases out as the Precures attack. This isn't a job for the Precures, it's a job for the Ghostbusters/Danny Phantom/ Ghost Rider.

The Desertrian turns into a blue fireball, deflected by Potpourri's shield. And of course we get the teacher moaning about being scared of ghosts, but wanting to look professional.

Flashy Finishing move Count: 23
Floral Power Fortissimo and Tsurusaki Sensei is restored. But for the few minutes we have left, we haven't gotten any closer to finding the third Precure.
Floral Heraldry: Rhododendron means Dignity.

Yuri shows up saying that the scout plan even got attention at the high school. And she turns down Potpourri's offer to be the third.

Next Episode: Finally Found! The 3rd Precure!

Thoughts on this episode:
The ghost coat desertrian was one of the best yet.

Again, I've already been spoiled. Since one of my favorite clips from the show is of the 3rd precure, there's no surprise there.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 22 She's Finally Found! The 3rd Precure!!

Let's get this out of the way first. This is a fake-out. The real third precure is not the focus of this episode.

Tsubomi is supposed to be going to the Gardening Club, and misses one day under Mizushima Aya. This leads to Erika trying not to lose her VP. Considering that Tsubomi splits her time between the two clubs, it's not that much of an issue.
Here's the president.

She's obsessed with flowers, scatterbrained and clumsy. and openly cries though the rest of the club tries to tell her not to. She's probably the worst choice for the president of the gardening club, as by her own admission, "just my touch causes flowers to wilt." She wants to meet Grandma Hanasaki to learn what she's doing wrong. And the introductions are just as stiff as Tsubomi was on her first day.

Grandma asks Aya if it's good for her to be focused on her bad parts. What's important is putting your love into everything you do.

Afterwards, back at the gardening club, Itsuki comes down with a request to try a green curtain plan. For those who don't know, a green curtain is a rope trellis that has ivy growing on it. It can be put up or taken down in a matter of minutes, so the building doesn't get choked by the ivy. They get it set up and growing, but there's a typhoon blowing in.

Kumojacky is loving the typhoon, and comes up with a new finishing move.
Even in the onset of the typhoon, the first thought for the gardening club is protecting the plants. Erika and Tsubomi head to the school to help Aya put a tarpaulin over the curtain. Even Itsuki shows up to help.

Aya notices that the ivy she cared for is wilting and she bolts right towards Kumojacky.
Heart Flower:

Bitter Melon Desertrian:

WHY? Why do you want me to think about Gohyan, show? I haven't put any mind to the melonhead from Splash Star since I ended those reviews.

Itsuki gets the gardening club to run away, and Erika and Tsubomi run towards the Desertrian.
Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 21, Erika 20

Kumojacky sends the Desertrian after Marine and fights Blossom with his Typhoon Punch.
Flashy Finishing move Count: 24

That's probably the quickest that we've gone to to Blue Forte Wave.

The dust settles, leaving Marine holding the crystal with Aya's heart flower and Blossom still standing. The music swells, and Blossom learns a new move.

"I'm going to put my whole Heart Flower into this! BLOSSSOM SCREW PUNCH!

Flashy Finishing Move Count: 25

Against any other being, this would be an instakill move. But Kumojacky is matching her. He smiles! He actually smiled at Blossom! He acknowledged her power. "We'll settle this another time. Things are getting more interesting."

Aya gets restored, and Itsuki shows up. After noting that Aya is passed out, she spots Potpourri lying on the ground. Her Reaction:

Aya wakes under a tree, and they show her that the ivy is still growing strongly. She jsut needs to put a bit more care into it.
Floral Heraldry: Sasanqua means "Not Looking Down."

And Itsuki's still holding Potpourri as they look at the newly blooming flowers on the green curtain.

Our Next Episode is Cure Sunshine is Born!!

Thoughts:
Kumojacky continues to be my favorite Desert Apostle. Though he loses a few points for reminding me of Gohyan.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 23 Cure Sunshine is Born!!
It's actually only been a few hours in show time since the last episode. Itsuki still has Potpourri in her hands, and is busy cleaning up his fur. All this time, Potpourri's had a chance to experience the warmth and kindness that radiates from Itsuki's soul. Potpourri flies off to find her.

Fortunately, they manage to catch up to the little fairy before he can cause too much trouble. While they follow Itsuki, she leads them to a hospital. Her brother's getting worse, and she brings him a basket. He's developed a sensitivity to the light, so she can't open the curtains.

The doctors are certain that the surgery to help him will succeed, but Satsuki's not smiling or enjoying himself, and Itsuki's running herself ragged trying to help him. Apparently it's the surgery itself, and the loss of control that comes from being sedated that has Satsuki terrified.

Potpourri tricks Tsubomi the next day and goes to meet Itsuki. She's ready to become a Precure, until Potpourri comes up with the statement that she has to protect the great heart tree. Due to her imagined inadequacy at protecting her own brother, Itsuki says that she's not qualified to be a Precure.

At this moment, rain clouds start rolling in.
Satsuki's trying to be brave, and he walks over to the window to bask in the sun. All he sees is clouds and Sasorina. All she sees is his ruined Heart Flower.

When the girls arrive in his room, they see a broken window, an orb holding Satsuki's body, and a rampaging wheelchair Desertrian out the window.

While the Cures try to get Itsuki to stay behind, Potpourri drags her outside. And she bears witness to the transformation

Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 22, Erika 21
Itsuki notices that the Desertrian is using Myoudouin style.

"I'm scared of the surgery. Everyone else is so happy about it. My little sister is doing all she can for me. I don't want to show her how pathetic I am for being afraid of the surgery! I don't want to be seen!" Itsuki hears her brother's moans.

The Desertrian channels a boatload of power into an attack on the cures that craters the ground. Seeing her brother's fear and his reckless power breaks Itsuki's heart. She tries to reach her brother and when the fist comes down, Potpourri puts out the golden barrier.

"Why do such a reckless thing?"

"Because we're the same...I want to protect people just like you."
Sasorina lashes out at Itsuki, demanding that she give up the third fairy. And Itsuki rises with the music. "I will protect Potpourri. I will protect my brother! I will defend everyone I love!"

Apparently, Potpourri possesses both the Touch and the Power. The gem on his chest resonates with Itsuki's heart.

Precure Open My Heart Count:
Tsubomi 22
Erika 21
ITSUKI 1

Suffused with a golden light, Itsuki transforms into an outfit of white, gold and orange. She develops bright blond combat hair. The Sun breaks through the clouds in celebration.

Itsuki's got the moves. Between supersonic strikes and skimming over the water, her appearance is a miracle. She deflects a blast from the Desertrian with her golden shield and gets to make her first heroic speech.

"I will restore your heart, Brother. I will become like the sun, shining to protect people's hearts. I am a Flower Bathed in the Sun's Rays! CURE SUNSHINE!"

And that's a cliffhanger. Our next episode is "The Great Heart Tree is in Danger! Precure, Go flying!!"

Thoughts on this episode:
FINALLY! Finally the third precure arrives, and she does so in dramatic fashion.

I like how Sasorina went out with without preamble. No down time in the dark desert, just BAM! at the hospital looking for misery.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 24: The Great Heart Tree is In Danger! Precures, Go Flying!

Cure Sunshine is still fighting the Desertrian on the ground, in the air and under water. She speaks to the soul of her brother that he's braver than he thinks.
Flashy Finishing move Count: 25
Cure Sunshine pulls out her special weapon: The Shiny Tambourine.

The obvious thing here is that Itsuki's power is connected to her desire to be girly. She doesn't have a tact like the others, but it still puts out an incredible amount of power. The Blue and Pink Forte Waves fire one shot, while the Gold Forte Burst fires hundreds.

She saves Satsuki and we get a Floral heraldry moment: chamomile means "Enduring through hardship."
I would have thought the Heart Seed would come from Potpourri. Ah well.

Dark Precure glides through the clouds, and reports that she hasn't found the Heart Tree. Sasorina reports on the third precure, and Sabark sends Dark Precure to go after her.
The faeries sense the presence of the Heart Tree and they create a set of capes that allow the Precures to fly. Well, Itsuki and Erika fly. Tsubomi kind of bobbles in the air because she's scared of heights. Itsuki takes her hand and they fly together towards the Heart Tree. Of course, Dark Precure is following behind.

Flowers are blooming on the Great Heart Tree once more. There's a symbiotic relationship between the Tree and everyone's heart flowers, which is why the leaves shine and the flowers grow. Because of the work the Precures have done, everything is more beautiful.

Dark Precure is there. And it's transformation time.
Precure Open My Heart: Tsubomi 23, Erika 22, Itsuki 2
First Group Pose!

Even the presence of Cure Sunshine doesn't make the fight any easier. But her shields keep her from being taken down by Dark Precure's otherworldy movement.

The Cures take to the skies, but again, beatings continue until morale improves. Dark Precure knocks all the buds off the Heart Tree with one eye blast.

Blossom gets angry and spins up the Pink Forte Wave!

Flashy Finishing move Count: 26...27...28...29!

Dark Precure easily counters the Pink Forte Wave and calls down the Dark Forte Wave. Her attack is blocked by Sunshine's Sunflower Aegis which drives the Dark Forte Wave back at her.
Next up, Gold Forte Burst. Though Dark Precure tries to dodge it, it still hits her, locking her in place for Floral Power Fortissimo.

KABLAM! The attack drives Dark Precure out of the Tree's airspace. Sunshine and Potpourri focus the light into another teleportation shield. Before Dark Precure can attack, the Tree, Fairies and Precures vanish.

And now back to the hospital, as Satsuki wakes up. The surgery was a success and Itsuki's smile is warm like the sun.

Next Episode: Let's Go to the Beach! Itsuki's Cheerful Summer Camp!

Thoughts on this episode:
Do you know why Sunshine has more power than the other Precures? It's a combination of a few factors:
1)Itsuki is a child of the Myoudouin school. She knows how to fight. The other precures have no prior fight training.

2) Her rise to power came from the work of the other precures. When Blossom and Marine were given power, the heart tree was wilted but not yet dead. By the time of Sunshine's arrival, the Heart Tree was strong enough to give birth to a new fairy, and protect itself that way.

3)The other cures have unfortunately limited themselves to ground combat. As we saw in these two episodes, Sunshine battles over land, over water and in the sky.

4) She's able to see angles, much like Nagisa was on the lacrosse field. She finds the best angle of attack. This ties into her Myoudouin training, but also her general intelligence.

5)Marine and Blossom are purely physical attack-based Cures. Sunshine has multiple defensive abilities which she can use to protect herself or the other members of the team.
Because of those shields, fights which would end quickly can last long enough for the others to gain a second wind.

These are all reasons why I love Sunshine, and why I felt the filler fights between Potpourri's birth and Sunshine's rise were taking too long.

Also, the idea that for right now, the Cures aren't strong enough to defeat Dark Precure, but only delay her, works for me. I know that Yuri will return as Cure Moonlight later and the fights will become epic.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 25 Itsuki's Let's Go to the Beach! Itsuki's Cheerful Summer Camp!

Summer Vacation is upon them, and while Itsuki's primarily looking forward to training with Satsuki, the girls have other plans. There's a training camp for the fashion club, and everyone prevails on Itsuki to go have fun.

The opening's been changed to include Cure Sunshine, with the ending showing all four cures posing on the curvature of the earth.
Everyone's staying at a holiday house, but itsuki's afraid that her presence will prevent people from having fun. This is very quickly overruled when they get Itsuki into the outfit she designed.

The major planing underway at the camp is in preparation for the fashion show in the fall festival. the theme will be "A new Me." There seems to be one girl at the camp who's trying to overcome her shyness. So she's going to be in trouble this episode.

The Desert apostles are at their own training camp...And Kumojacky's wearing a speedo with a long red cape. That image is going to be burned in my mind for a while. Cobraja stalks up the beach, and looks up at the crescent moon. He finds himself at the beach house, listening in to Itsuki and Tsubomi talking about their summer plans.

"Maybe I won't. The moon is too lovely tonight." And Cobraja just walks off.

The next day, as the precures train their bodies, they encounter all three Apostles.

Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 24, Erika 23, Itsuki 3
This a full-length trio henshin. It takes almost 2 and a half minutes.

Marine v Kumojacky! Blossom v Cobraja! Sasorina v Sunshine! Marine fights with the Tact, shotting laser blasts. Blossom taps a Red Seed to body slam Cobraja. and Sunshine uses her training to block Sasorina's punches and break free from her stinger hair.

"Though your heart is full of darkness, I will become the light for your heart!"

Flashy Finishing move Count: 30

GOLD FORTE BURST! Sasorina gets caught by the rising sunflower and experiences the blissful sensation. The other two apostles break apart the flower and catch her limp body. This is the first time I've seen that they actually care for one another. It makes them so much more real.
The Apostles leave for now and we get back to summer activities.

There's a new ending here with a gospel flavor that has all four cures dancing in what I'm assuming is a vocaloid style. It ends with all four of them assuming white outfits, which will probably come up later in the show.

Next episode is Be Brave! It's Great to be Friends!!

Thoughts on this episode: Again, I was not expecting the Apostles to care for each other. Doesn't that go against the whole "Universal Desert" thing they're striving for?

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 26: Be Brave! It's Great to be Friends!!
The name of the girl who's having issues at the summer camp is Naomi Sawai. She seems apprehensive about befriending Itsuki. Though I think it might be just a bit more than that. Yeah, she idolizes Itsuki and can't seem to put herself on the same level.
The fashion club seems to be running out of ideas, so they go for a walk to see a rare purple flower. When Erika freaks out at the sight of a spider, the girls all bump backwards and Naomi almost gets knocked over, to be saved by Itsuki.

They finally arrive at the pond to find the rare flower... That is not a natural shape... I get it! Symbolism!

Lunch time and Erika tries to arrange the friendship between Itsuki and Naomi. Obviously, Erika is way too heavy-handed about it and Naomi runs off, with Itsuki in pursuit.
Elsewhere, Kumojacky and his manly speedo are perfecting a new finisher called the Summer Wave Special. He finds a note from his compatriots:

Cobraja finishes it with a "Do your best and Adieu." He looks over to Sasorina who is still high on Precure Finisher. So he heads out and finds Naomi, taking her heart flower and making her into a thermos desertrian. No picture of it, because it's a pretty silly looking one.

Itsuki was running after Naomi and she's the first to see the Desertrian.
Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 24, Erika 23, Itsuki 4

After Sunshine smacks down the Desertrian, Kumojacky sends the Snackies after her. And she opens up a can of Whupass on them, breaking bones and blasting them away. The Desertrain gets its footing again and knocks Sunshine into the air. She gets saved by Blossom and Marine and Naomi's spirit calls out from the Desertrian.

In this situation, I actually find myself agreeing with both Naomi and Kumojacky. Making friends can be a difficult thing for shy people, but Kumojacky is also right. The only way to really do it is to dive in headfirst. And Marine actually agrees with that part of Kumojacky's speech.

Flashy Finishing move Count: 34

Gold Forte Burst! And while the desertrian is restored, Kumojacky shows us his new finisher. which gets intercepted by the Pink Forte Wave. Marine fires the Blue Forte Wave, and Kumojacky dodges it. "I need to power up some more. This is getting fun." And he's gone.
Back at the summer camp, Itsuki and Naomi become friends just in time for fireworks and sparklers!
Floral Heraldry: A Strawberry's Flower means Respect and Love.
Our next episode is: Grandpa was handsome? Cure Flower's First Love!

Thoughts on this episode:
It's been almost a day(week?) since Sasorina was blasted with the Gold Forte Burst, and she's still spaced out. I'm sure it will wear off, but there's something more to it. Sunshine was the first to realize that the Apostles aren't just being villains for villainy's sake. They're just as corrupted as the Heart Flowers they steal.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 27: Grandpa was Handsome? Cure Flower's First Love!

Someone's waiting at a train station with a kendo stick. He'll be important after the intro.

Our three leads are taking the train into Kamakura...oh my god! That's where Splash Star took place! The same sea view, the same train, the same massive hill.
Traveling with them is Grandma Hanasaki, who tells of her youth. Back then, her family name was Godai

No relation, I'm sure. But the name Godai Kaoruku is familiar to Itsuki, who remembers that she was the youngest woman to ever win a national karate championship. Wow. Grannies are awesome in the Precure Metaseries.

They're there for the festival, and they run across our mysterious young man. Not all that mysterious.

His name is Nakano Mitsuru, and he's the first person that seems to intimidate Itsuki. Erika assumes that there's something between Tsubomi and Mitsuru. He always showed up to help her whether she needed it or not. He wasn't there when she left for Kibougahana, so she didn't get to say goodbye.

Tsubomi gets crazy about cleaning and finds pictures from a long time ago. Pictures that identify her mysterious protector not as Urataros, but as her own grandfather.

Kaoruku explains that she was training in the mountains and went near an old cabin to pick lavender. There she met a cello player who preferred having an audience. He was a man who considered the trees and flowers his friends. He gave her a music box as a gift, and she used it as a means to focus her studies. When she got the world record in the karate tournament, she changed her focus to botany. She grew closer to Sora and they were soon married. After the birth of their first child, Sora promised to grow her a field of lavender.

Kaoruku stops the story at that point, and the girls get the message. He passed away. Her son grew up, got married and then Tsubomi was born.
She says that while she aged so much, her memories of Sora are always fresh. Kaoruku still has Sora's cello, but the music box was given to Tsubomi before they moved and she lost it.

Guess who's using that music box to heal his heart? Mitsuru! He shows up to ask Tsubomi if she wants to go see a lavender field he found in the mountains. He goes that way, and of course he gets jealous of Ituski being there to help Tsubomi.
He meets up with Sasorina:

Precure Open My Heart Count: Tsubomi 25, Erika 24, Itsuki 5

The Music box Desertrian has some pretty impressive artillery, and even a sleep effect. While it does get the truth about the music box out, Marine and Blossom fall asleep. But because Sunshine has some kind of protection from mental effects, she pulls out the Gold Forte Burst.

Flashy Finishing Move Count: 36
The Gold Forte Burst cancels the sleep effect and Blossom brings out the Pink Forte Wave to save Mitsuru. And they found the location of the lavender field.

Yes, I believe that is at least three truckloads of lavender, which means "I will wait."
Mitsuru gives over the music box, and it starts playing once it leaves his hands, causing both Tsubomi and Kaoruku to cry. After all, Sora kept his promise.

Next Episode is Sabark's Biggest Plan Yet! Endless Summer Homework! Oh the horror! Better call Honoka...wait, they haven't met their precure counterparts yet, have they?

Thought on this episode:
So, the mysterious Urataros that shows up to help them...Is that Coupe projecting an image of Sora, or is it Sora himself engaging in angelic intervention?

Good to see that Sasorina recovered, though her combat strategy hasn't improved. Though I can't expect her to bring her A Game if she hasn't even shown us her B Game.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Episode 28: Sabark's Biggest Plan yet! Endless Summer Homework!

We start with Cobraja looking down over three young boys who are refusing to do work so they can play video games. The mother tells them that if they don't do their work, they'll become Desertrians. And that's why Cobraja has three Desertrians behind him.

It's not a surprise that Erika hasn't finished her summer homework. Nor am I surprised that Tsubomi and Itsuki are trying to give her a swift kick to get her in gear.
We're going to skim over every one of the moments where Erika says summer's for playing and go right to the part where there's an empty playground covered in Body orbs as dozens of kids get corrupted at once. This is a serious break from magical girl villainy.

Precure Open My Heart: Tsubomi 26, Erika 25, Itsuki 6
Behold: A boatload of Desertrians!

Cobraja reveals his plan and we get a ton of fights. Marine gets dogpiled by Desertrians and flings them off with Marine Dynamite. But because she didn't eat a good breakfast, she's not at full power.
Cobraja sends his homework minions to destroy the elementary school as part of the biggest plan to make a desert planet.

This is probably the preachiest episode I've seen.
But it gets better as all the smaller Desertrians form into one with a pen cannon.

Marine stands up as Blossom and Sunshine get blasted backwards, and she uses a Magenta Seed to give her the energy, and apparently the pink hair to fight back with all her soul.

Flashy finishing move count:39

Blue Forte Wave! but the Desertrian is too big for a single shot! Pink Forte Wave! Still too powerful. Gold Forte Burst!

All the kids get saved, and they get help with their homework from a teacher nearby.

Of course because we're talking dozens of kids, there's dozens of heart seeds being generated.

Next Episode is: Summer, Last Gasp! My New Dress is Ready!
Thoughts on this episode:

26 to 2. We're standing at 26 good episodes to 2 bad. That's still a phenomenal ratio.

Here's a good reason why the villains don't hit more than one person at a time. They're trying to wither the Great Heart Tree, and when you hits dozens of kids, any evil you might have done is hampered when they're all saved.