The fifth episode of Futari wa Pretty Cure was directed and storyboarded by Takenori Kawada, This was his first time directing Pretty Cure, although he would later go on to direct episodes for several future seasons, including Max Heart, Splash Star, Yes Precure 5 and GoGo, Fresh, and Heartcatch. Prior to Precure, he directed multiple episodes of Kinnikuman and storyboarded much of Galaxy Express 999.

The screenplay was written by Daisuke Habara, who I believe largely focuses on live action, but he would contribute scripts to Futari wa Precure, Max Heart, the first Max Heart movie, Splash Star, and Yes Precure 5.

To me, his episode does have a slightly different feel to it than the prior ones, as it seems to be more dialogue heavy and definitely gives Honoka some time to shine. Let’s see what we can find when we dig in:

EPISODE SYNOPSIS:

It’s Sunday, and as such school is not in session. Still, Mepple wants to meet up with Mipple, so he talks Nagisa into meeting up with Honoka. The two of them then go on a date of sorts, going shopping, eating, and heading to a park. A lot of character building occurs here, mostly with Honoka, which I’ll get to in a bit.

Later the two girls part, but Nagisa realizes she’s accidentally kept Honoka’s handkerchief. She heads back to Honoka’s house, but Honoka isn’t there. At Mepple’s insistence, Nagisa checks the library as well, but Honoka is still nowhere to be found. Finally, Nagisa finds Honoka cornered by Pissard in a construction zone. It’s Pissard’s last chance to prove himself to the Dark King, and he’s not happy. Nagisa and Honoka transform into Pretty Cure, have some lengthy dialogue with Pissard about how he’s such a Bad Guy, and finally send him back to the darkness – for good. The episode ends with Cure Black and Cure White finding one of the prism stones, which has been left behind by Pissard.

ANALYSIS:

Character Development: This is a very good episode for character development, particularly for Honoka. This is a girl who is not afraid to speak her mind or stand up to herself – no matter what kind of danger she’s in. We see this twice in the episode, first in a humorous standoff with a couple of troublemaking older boys, and second when she faces Pissard alone and un-transformed before Nagisa’s timely arrival.

We also get some of her dreamy side. While Nagisa still isn’t completely sure about this whole situation, Honoka is very happy to be making friends with Nagisa and is absolutely content just to be spending some time with her. One particularly poignant moment occurs when they head their separate ways for the day and Honoka pauses for just a moment to reflect on this strange new friendship.

This brings us to something which anyone who knows me whatsoever probably figured was going to come up eventually…

The Subtext: Long long ago in the distant time of the 1990s, fans of the show Xena: Warrior Princess had a special phrase for use by those who saw a certain something between the titular character Xena and her best friend Gabrielle. It was called, quite simply, “The Subtext”. There was even a usenet FAQ about it because the subject came up so often.

Certainly, subtext abounds in several pieces of media that aren’t Xena: Warrior Princess, and Futari wa Pretty Cure is no exception. Whether intentional or not, you really cannot argue with the fact that Nagisa and Honoka are going to Verone Academy – named for Verona, the city where Romeo & Juliet takes place – and if you think this is coincidence, well, think again, because the two will literally perform the play as its two title characters later in the show.

This episode is, in many ways, a beginning for this particular subtext, from Honoka insisting that Nagisa getting love letters from girls is a good thing, all the way to Nagisa saying that she found Honoka due to the “power of love” (likely referring to Mepple’s love for Mipple, but it’s certainly left ambiguous).

Of course, this is a kids’ show from 2004, and because of both this and the fact that Nagisa is meant to be a hashtag relatable character for the average young girl, this is also the first episode where much ado is made about Nagisa’s male crush, Fuji-P.

It is interesting to me, but ultimately not surprising, that the episode which gives us the first real hints of, ahem, subtext, is careful to balance it out with plenty of “girl pining over boy” content. The wonders of plausible deniability, indeed.

Anyway, all of this combines to bring us a different sort of episode than ones we’ve seen up to this point – talkier, wordier, and much more focused on character and relationship development. In many ways, it’s the start of the setup to a major turning point in episode eight.

And the characters acting cute is always, well. Cute.

WORTH WATCHING?:

Are you just here for the action and fights? Then probably not. Are you here for the relationship between the two leads, and Honoka being iconic? Then this is absolutely worth watching.

ARIENAI COUNT:

There were two “arienai”s this time, so we’re up to nine.

Until next time, have an excellent new year!