Hugtto! PreCure Episode 33: Expectations and Fulfillment

You all know the drill. When I skip PreCure episodes it means the ones I skipped don’t have much worth discussing and when I DO talk about it it means one of two things:

1: Something super important happened with the characters or the story.

2: Take a wild guess.

All readers need to know about episode 32 are the following:

1: Mermaid Homare. Nuff said. Red Riding Ruru and Emiru Liddell were also lovely.

2: It’s a HomaHarry episode. I’ve said this several times already. While I don’t mind it, I’m not emotionally invested in their relationship either.

3: We not only got to see Bishin’s hamster form but were surprised by the reveal that Listol (The serious secretary guy) was also a space/future hamster and from the looks of it Bishin’s guardian or parental figure. Let’s go with Uncle Listol.

4: The show’s director said Bishin is male.

5: Bishin teased Homare saying that Harry’s one true love is another blonde chick, hinting that he had the hots for Hugtan’s adult self? Eh. We’ll see where that goes. Not going to waste time on it.

Now let’s talk about more important stuff.

EPISODE 33

Homare sexy skating.

While I didn’t praise Homare’s swimsuit choice back at the beach episode I never said she wasn’t attractive.

Emiru and Ruru. Interviewers.

We started the episode with the gang watching Twin Love, EmiRuru’s rock duo name, being praised by fans on TV…until one critic said they sucked. Emiru didn’t take it well. Then Pupple showed up to inform them her talent agency (I guess they eventually accepted her offer) scheduled an interview with the Prince of Skating, Henri. Good for a popularity boost. Unfortunately Emiru’s head wasn’t in the game, obviously worrying her girlfriend. Luckily for her Hana and Saaya gladly offered to temporarily take their place.

Hana the intellectual.

Is it safe to say Hana is by far the funniest Power Ranger? We’ve had plenty of comedic Rangers before but I feel Hana’s brand of comedy has consistently been top notch.

Emiru trying to pump herself up.

While Hana was interviewing Henri there was one question and answer that stood out to Emiru. She asked him what was his next big goal. He said that after winning the junior cup tournament he wanted to “keep on winning” because that’s the only way he would feel complete. That answer motivated Emiru to strive for her own goal of complete fulfillment, which was for her songs to reach everyone across the globe.

#BORDERLESS

Emiru willed herself to step back in and continue the interview. They were about to ask what was Henri’s appeal when Miss Rita answered for them, saying it was his #BORDERLESS charm, meaning he had a perfect blend of masculine and feminine traits and charms. Meanwhile Henri played with Hugtan and as he saw her it reminded him of his youth when he too was adorable and free. More on that in a bit.

Searching for a scandal.

During a break Ruru, still wondering how to best support Emiru asked Henri if it was truly necessary to push one’s self in order to become successful like Emiru forcing herself to smile and be positive despite her not feeling well. Henri said that maybe people just aren’t able to fully understand one another, not helping Ruru at all. To make matters worse when Henri was helping Ruru fix her hair the director and cameraman caught them and immediately saw it as scandal gossip fodder. Emiru and Masato (her brother) were there to stop them. When the director tried to get info from Masato an annoyed Henri was like “Sorry boys. My life story is off limits and I’m not interested in becoming a gossip magnet”. Masato tried supporting him but he wanted to be alone for a while.

Listol trying to recruit Henri.

While Henri was alone trying to piece together his thoughts Listol appeared to try and recruit him into the Dark Corporation. He had an idea what was going through his head and left him to think about it. Henri jokingly hoped it was an invite to become a Power Ranger, surprising an eavesdropping Emiru.

Emiru realizing something important.

Emiru offered to listen to what was troubling Henri. He told her about what I think was an identity crisis. Our good friend Rory speculated it may have something to do with “gender dysphoria” since Henri talked about his voice deepening and him growing taller, changing who he was. This goes back to him thinking about his adorable youth and his #BORDERLESS charms. He wondered if maybe people could be happier living the way they wanted to by themselves without anyone pushing their expectations on what kind of people they wanted them to be. Emiru first responded by thanking him for accepting Masato in his life. Then she said she too felt burdened by people’s expectations and trying to essentially please everyone. But she realized there was only one person she truly wanted her songs to reach above everyone else. Lastly she told him he helped her realize that she had to first love herself.

Emiru thanking Ruru for loving her.

Masato and Ruru arrived to greet their respective lovers (More on that in a bit) with Ruru giving her sweetie a BIIIG HUG! Emiru said that every time she told her she loved her she felt invincible!

Have I mentioned how much I love EmiRuru? “Only a hundred times OG”. WELL YOU’RE HEARING IT AGAIN!

I FUCKING LOVE EMIRURU!

Lewd.

Later before Henri’s big performance Masato finally got to show his support. That pumped the Prince of Skating up some. During his performance however, not only was Henri’s ankle hurting but the director, desperate for ratings, tried to sabotage it.

Twin Love doing what they did best, save the day.

Luckily for him Twin Love were there to save the day as usual.

Henri’s fans blown away by his kiss.

Again, #BORDERLESS. Notice the lilies, machos and Masato’s heart. Viewers all know who Henri’s kiss was actually for.

Henri captured again.

Listor/Risutor used the director’s dark energy to create the MotW. It captured Henri and he was like “Welp. Here we go again.” When the monster had Henri cornered Listor/Risutor asked him about the offer to which he replied “No thanks. I know things will be rough and I’m not the most cooperative guy but…’GO GO ME! GO GO POWER RANGERS!” He remembered Hana’s special cheer that Emiru taught him earlier. The Rangers did their thing and saved the day.

EmiRuru. together forever.

Looks like Henri isn’t out of the woods yet.

While our beloved couple’s love grew stronger Henri X Masato had a ways to go as not only did Henri’s ankle still bother him but the Dark Corporation card was slowly corrupting him.

So yes. Now I can freely say the two couples I’m currently the most invested in EmiRuru (DUH!) and Henri X Masato. For a long while many were shipping them but some like me weren’t 100% sure. That uncertainty is long gone after this episode. My prediction is that despite Henri’s best efforts he’ll be corrupted and it’ll be up to Masato to “repay the debt”. THEN they can openly talk about snuggling.

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY RURU! (September 23rd).