Score: B+

The episode after the debut of Cure Kiss and Cure Zukyoon was memorable! We still aren’t spending that much time with them. But instead the episode focused on the impact of their debut, especially their impact on Uta. There was plenty to enjoy here and it leaves things open to get even more interesting going forward. The new Cures are both powerful and a bit mysterious. Less so for the audience who know who they are, but still there’s a lot to unpack with Kiss and Zukyoon.

Kiss is really keeping her distance

I like that the story got right to giving us some answers. The last episode left me with way too much to wonder about. But it’s good to confirm that Kiss definitely remembers things and that Zukyoon definitely does not. The interesting thing is how widespread the memory loss is. It wasn’t simply Uta that was caught up in it. Uta/Idol wasn’t the only thing precious to Purirun. The other Precure and even the town itself had becomes precious to her.

I am curious about Kiss’ mindset in terms of keeping Zukyoon away from the others. It could be jealousy since she knows how much Purirun loved Uta/Idol. But I thought her own feelings were somewhat sealed by making that wish. Or is it because Meroron didn’t really have much of a wish for herself that she didn’t pay as high a price? Regardless, I wonder what she’s thinking. Maybe it’s a technical thing. If Zukyoon is too close to Idol then the truth will be revealed and that might break the wish or something. If Zukyoon isn’t paying the price she sealed her precious thing for then she might lose the benefits. Regardless the whole “I’ll protect Cure Idol” makes me wonder. Is that desire/objective practically installed into Zukyoon? Because she’s there to fulfill Purirun’s wish she must feel that way? How much free will does she have?

Uta is down bad!

And man that was a cheap trick by the show. Even I believed that Zukyoon was in Uta’s bed. Admittedly that made no sense since she’d forgotten about Uta and no longer had that connection. But it was something that was so shocking that I couldn’t help but believe it. Makes sense though that Uta would dream of something like that. She’s very much got Zukyoon on the brain! That girl fell hard and fast! Maybe you can blame the bond she has with Purirun that she instinctively was drawn to her in Precure form, but regardless she really couldn’t help thinking about her! Doesn’t even have Kiss on the brain at all (well not that Kiss). It’s all Zukyoon all the time! Kokoro isn’t the only fangirl on the Precure squad now!

She starts out dreaming about Zukyoon and yet somehow it only escalates from there! Even seeing her in literal cloud formations…that look nothing like her! Completely not paying attention to anything that doesn’t have the word “Zukyoon” in it! Her responses to everything almost devolved into Uta simply saying “Zukyoon” over and over again! Honestly calling it fandom is putting it lightly. That’s all out love there. This was a good excuse for Kokoro to bust out her fandom expertise to help diagnose things.

Kokoro was on her game!

Good to see that the Idol Precure fanclub is doing well. We hadn’t seen much of them as an actual group since Kokoro joined the Precure side. I’m left oddly feeling bad for her own alter-ego here. Since everyone is losing it hard for the new Precure and Kokoro herself is only cheering on Wink and Idol. Who’s left to support Kyun Kyun!? I get it that she feels awkward about cheering on herself. The same goes for Nana and even Uta. It’s easier to be fans of others than yourself. Oh well, guess I’ll keep supporting Kyun Kyun then! She’s definitely still the best character in this show!

One nice thing about this episode is highlighting the good nature of fandom. Once Uta found a way to express her love of Zukyoon she was much better off. Giving her an outlet like the fanclub let her later pour her energy into so many good things. It shows that the passion people have for things can drive them to do better in various ways. Fandom can have downsides for sure, but it’s nice when a series shows the positives of it.

Kiss is absurdly strong!

Fair enough for the victim of the week to be a fan of the new Precure. Kind of glad it was a fan of Kiss since honestly she hadn’t gotten much attention with Uta being 100% in Zukyoon mode. There wasn’t much made of that beyond her being an excuse for the fight. But I suppose with how hard they wanted to focus on Uta and her Zukyoon fandom there wasn’t much time to do more than a basic setup for the victim of the week. At least she kind of got to meet her idol? The fight itself was fine. There wasn’t anything crazy there. It was mostly a good excuse to show off the specific abilities of the new Cures and establish how utterly outclassed their enemies are right now.

The monster of the week did pretty well (maybe a bit too well) against the regular Idol Precure. But once Kiss and Zukyoon showed up her was almost instantly obliterated. Right now those two are so powerful that there isn’t going to be much of a challenge. Honestly I’m curious where things go in that respect. Will the enemies get another power-up or will they get basically canned and replaced with someone more capable? In terms of the powers themselves though I think Kiss easily has the most interesting set. She seems capable of basically doing anything so long as she is throwing a kiss XD. Huge attacks? No problem. Literal footholds? Easy enough. Heck, last episode a kiss turned the camera into something that could broadcast their finisher. She’s got it all!

Purirun evolved her game!

Solid episode. It was very comical in how over the top it made Idol falling for Zukyoon. But it was effective in that respect. And I think it did a good job keeping the main trio in focus. Uta was leading the charge with her crazed love, Nana was showing her concern, and Kokoro was using this as an excuse to explain fandom. I think on a certain level Kokoro was enjoying the chance to share how she views fandom with her friends. She went from fan to ally, but she never lost her fandom. I do think she’s better at managing herself than Uta who is absolutely drowning in it. Another interesting thing is that it appears like Kiss and Zukyoon are locked into their Precure forms. Makes sense since those forms were generated by their wish. But obviously they can’t go through the whole show that way.