Score: A-

I appreciated getting some focus back on Sora. It’s not as if adding Tsubasa and Ageha to the show has been a bad thing. But the show made a strong first impression because the focus was mostly on Sora with some nice support given by Mashiro. The episode still had moments for the whole group, but it still allowed Sora to stand on her own for a bit. Even if she did engage in some interesting training methods, the results still speak for themselves. This episode was a good chance for Sora to get back to redefining what it means for her to be a hero.

Even Kabaton couldn’t believe he survived this

There’s no surprise that Sora made the charge to save Kabaton in the end. She is the type that acts first and thinks later. Much like how Kabaton lured her in with a basic trap earlier in the show. Having him look panicked, afraid, and in need of saving was all the push she needed. Any hesitation and she just wouldn’t have made it in time. It wasn’t about getting intel out of him or making him work to pay for the harm he caused. Sora simply that saving him was the right thing to do. That’s how she defined being a hero and she stuck with it.

No question that an argument can be made about letting Kabaton die. Having Sora fail in her heroics and having to tackle that sense of defeat. But I don’t mind them avoiding that here. Sora is still building herself up as a hero. The addition of other characters has slowed down her focus. If it had just been the Sora and Mashiro show, then maybe she’d be developed enough to have that loss be timed nicely. But at this point she still needs to grow into the hero she wants to be. Saving her enemy was simply part of it this time. And just that the Endergu Empire tried to kill Kabaton still establishes them as a dangerous threat.

Sometimes you need the power of friendship

The versus itself was fine. Honestly Sky lucked out that Kabaton isn’t any smarter than he is. Otherwise, he could have easily won a 1v1 against Sora if he made use of things she wasn’t good at. Just throwing an enemy that can fly would make things incredibly tough. Having him just get bigger and stronger was relatively simple. She just had to stay ahead of his attacks and not take many head on. It’s cute that her training did give any sort of benefit since it was mostly silly stuff. But it all worked out. I’d like to say her daily training and dedication was the major reason she could handle that fight so well.

Sky still needed the power of friendship to win though. I’ll give that win points in this case since Precure are basically just magic anyways. Who is to say that getting cheered on doesn’t give an actual power boost? It might have simply been a psychological thing and she was able to push herself to the limit in that moment though. I am kind of glad that they did have this showdown instead of just a team fight. Sora vs Kabaton was what really started all of this. So having it mostly be a 1v1 between them felt appropriate.

Now to see where this goes next

What’s interesting about the ending here is that there is no clear next step. It seems as if Yoyo is almost done making her tunnel back to Skyland and Kabaton is gone. Obviously, the Empire is out there, but all we’ve got from them so far is a feminine voice. Is that the leader? My guess would be yes and it is also the person that saved Sora in the past. That would work to set up Sora’s struggles as a character and to fulfill the cliché of the villain creating their greatest enemy. But for now the cast is a bit stuck. They could go try and find Kabaton and get information out of him. But while he’s sticking around, I’d presume that he’s going to keep his head low to avoid drawing attention. Considering his former employer might try again to finish him off.

Are the cast going to visit Skyland while on a school break or something? They can’t exactly just take Ellee home if their enemies are going to make another attempt to take her. The soldiers of Skyland couldn’t even handle Kabaton. Either she must stay on Earth or the cast must go with her.

Too bad Sky didn’t get to learn any beam attacks

I had a good time with this one. Honestly it was a nice bounce back after the previous week which left me rather mixed. Ageha was much better in this episode and the focus on Sora was more enjoyable in general. So hopefully the show can continue to find a good balance going forward. Next week might be the first episode where there isn’t a fight unless the new enemy makes their move quickly. The fight against Kabaton had some good moments and overall there was just a good tone to the episode. Even having Sora show her heroics once again in saving even her enemy. Her path forward will have stumbling blocks, but I think Sora will get through them just fine.