Score: B-

So, we approach what looks to be an interesting direction for the franchise. But I want to mostly focus on the episode we got. It was nice to throw a new character into the mix a bit. And yet Sora’s personality was still at the core of this episode. The good and the bad were right there for everyone to take in. Thankfully with Sora it’s almost all positive. This episode also made me think about how the society of Skyland really must be an interesting one. How the races of birds and humans manage to interact despite clearly humanity getting the better deal out of all this. I mean the King and Queen certainly weren’t birds after all…

Easy there Sora!

Sora was aggressive when it came to Tsubasa at a few points. Yoyo makes a fair point that a huge element of it is feeling like a failure as a hero and creating possibilities for Ellee to be kidnapped. At the same time…that means she was mostly lashing out at Tsubasa because of her own issues and not for a more justified reason. But it does make sense for her. Sora is a great girl, but she isn’t devoid of weakness. Fear is definitely a big thing for Sora. Whether it’s the fear of standing against evil, the fear of losing her friend, or the fear of failing as a hero to protect those in her care. It’s not unbelievable that she’d get so aggressive that she’d make Ellee cry as a result. Being a hero is everything to her. Failing at that must be a powerful fear.

Let’s see what you’ve got bird man!

Tsubasa seems like a decent kid. It’s understandable that after such an experience, he’d want to fly. His father channeled father power or just the power of love to save his son. But while that was enough for him, it lit a fire in his kid. Even if his people had given up the power of flight for some cool abilities, that isn’t a decision made by the current generation. Lot of people want what they don’t have and are less focused on what they do have. It’s a fun concept that he’s leaning on the science of humans on Earth. That does work. Both he and people of Earth can relate in wanting to fly, but not having the natural gifts for it. So, following the path of humanity can take him closer to his dream. No reason to give up on it.

I’ll save discussion on where things are going with Tsubasa for next week. Sure, it is in the preview, but not like everyone watches those. What we can say here is that he wanted to keep Ellee safe, but that kid is determined to put herself in jeopardy. This is why you probably shouldn’t give floating cribs to magical children! They figure out how to stand up a few times and suddenly think it’s a good move to jump into danger. No chance this guy sits back and does nothing while a baby is off taking risks. Hopefully Ageha stays out of danger herself though.

At least this is a step up from kidnapping a baby…

This is one time where precure being a relatively peaceful franchise comes in handy. Can you imagine both the panic and the casualties from Kabaton’s attack otherwise? Good thing villains in this show just make a big mess. Kabaton seems willing to restrain his criminal activities to just property damage, theft, and kidnapping. Not a good list of crimes, but I guess we must take what we can get there. I’m kind of surprised his boss hasn’t lost her temper at him still failing to kidnap Ellee. But I guess she doesn’t have better options right now.

Credit to Ellee. She’s working on the standing thing.

Next week will be interesting. They’ve set up the fight in this episode so they can spend most of the next episode on this next conflict. Ellee is flying right into danger which is great motivation for the main cast to keep her safe. And Tsubasa is charging on in as well. I’m sure we’ll get some mocking from Kabaton regarding Tsubasa’s dreams. That will almost certainly cause him more trouble than it’s worth. It is very much on brand for him to do that after all. For now, though I’ll just look forward to seeing how things play out. It will certainly be an interesting episode to talk about.