Episode three of Futari wa Precure was written by Yumi Kageyama.  Although this was the first episode of Precure that she worked on, she has many writing credits to her name, including several episodes of Marmalade Boy and Ojamajo Doremi, just to name a few.  This episode was directed and storyboarded by Takao Iwai in his Precure debut – he has since directed episodes for several Precure seasons and as of this time of writing is, in fact, still directing for the currently airing season, Tropical Rouge! Precure.  Prior to this, he also directed many episodes of Ojamajo Doremi, Ashita no Nadja, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Marmalade Boy, among others.  The result is a more than serviceable little episode complete with a lot of fun bits and memorable moments.  It may not be one of the most standout episodes of the series, but there aren’t really many points to dock from it, either. And, as I’ll talk about shortly, that may be a strength.

Let’s take a deeper look!

EPISODE SYNOPSIS:

The plot begins when Nagisa and Honoka are put in charge of an impending field trip – well, Nagisa is put in charge, and then Honoka is also put in charge to make sure nothing happens, because, you know, Nagisa.  Nagisa heads over to Honoka’s house shortly afterwards, and we learn a little bit about Honoka’s backstory.  She lives alone with her grandma and her dog, Chuutaro, most of the year, as her parents work overseas.  Mipple and Mepple also explain more of themselves here, talking about where they’re from and introducing the Prism Stones.  There are seven Prism Stones in total, and Mipple and Mepple keep two of them in their tails.

The next day, Pissard heads to Verone Academy incognito, where he is mistaken as a student teacher by… well, pretty much everyone.  Nagisa and Honoka’s teacher, Ms. Yoshimi, quickly develops a crush on him.  Aside from a sign that she really needs better taste, this gives Pissard the opportunity to use her to get to Pretty Cure.  She lures them into a gym, where a battle takes place.  Honoka shows off her kung-fu skills and the Precure prevail – not that Ms. Yoshimi had any idea what she’d narrowly escaped!

Overall, although nothing particularly special, this episode did give us quite a bit of backstory about the Kingdom of Light – as well as some of our very first hints that Honoka’s grandma might know a little more than she typically lets on.

ANALYSIS:

I find it hard to say much about this episode by way of specific analysis because nothing about it particularly stood out to me.  I did notice more of the fast zoom that we saw in the first episode.  But other than that, everything seemed pretty standard and straightforward.

That, however, may be a good thing.

At this point in the show, we’ve had two episodes to be introduced to the characters and their idiosyncrasies. Sure, there’s still much about them to discover, but now we can start getting to the real action. And how better to get to the action than to let it speak for itself, without drawing attention to the directing and editing?

There is a popular book on the art of film editing called In The Blink of An Eye by Walter Murch, who edited The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, and many other classic films. Although he touches on several things in the book, one of these things is the way that the best editing remains invisible. Let’s talk about a cut, for example. A cut is a jump from one point of vision to another, and for some reason, we as humans just accept this when we watch visual media. We don’t think about it. And that’s good! It enables us to, you know, watch movies or TV shows or cartoons.

If you noticed the cuts, it would draw you out of your suspension of disbelief. And similarly, if you noticed the editing or direction as opposed to the content of the scene, that would also draw you out of your suspension of disbelief.

Often, the best direction is the direction you don’t notice.

Of course, that’s not to say nothing happened. I liked this shot in particular, showing our two heroines framed by the lights of the gymnasium:

As well as this little sequence showing Honoka’s satisfaction after karate chopping the heck out of some basketballs.

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These shots are basic and allow the characters and story to shine on their own, but also work as a mini piece of art in a frame even on their own. And in the end, that’s all we can really ask for from a good show or film.

ANIMATION:

Although there was no standout animation, per se, there were a lot of really, really good facial expressions this episode.

Mostly thanks to Nagisa. Truly, where would we be without her?

WORTH WATCHING?:

Personally I think that it’s worth watching at least the scene at Honoka’s house to get more backstory on Mepple, Mipple, and why they’ve come to Earth to begin with, as well as an introduction to Honoka’s family and her grandmother, who we will see more of later. The rest of the episode can be safely skipped as it’s standard monster-of-the-week fare, but since you’re already watching, why not continue. Right? I mean, just saying.

ARIENAI COUNT:

We had one “arienai” this time, which brings us to a total of four in the series so far.

Until next time, I’ll see you on twitter!