Score: A-

So the mystery of Cure Eclair continues. Steadily the main cast are getting a better grasp on the full picture. And I’m sure it will take until the big reveal for them to fully figure it out and chart their course. But they’ve at least started to scratch the surface and begun to get Cure Arcana Shadow to reveal a bit more about what’s going on and what’s motivating her. Without that they simply wouldn’t have a chance. They aren’t bad detectives, but they do need their opponent to straight up tell them enough of the facts.

The mystery deepens

This episode leaves me curious about what will happen. The classic approach to a mystery is that the first guess is going to be wrong. So that would leave Shiruku as less likely to be Cure Eclair. But…it would be a good way to mislead the viewer by having them guess right first and then move on to other suspects. It’s hard to say if the evidence leans to her favor or not.

In fact, I’m going to go back and forth on this. Let’s look at the confrontation with Luluka and Shiruku. Did Luluka use Anna as the disguise because that was the most effective disguise? Maybe. But it’s also the first time she’s disguised herself as a particular person and not herself in a different outfit. That might mean nothing (it was a sensible disguise) but maybe part of her didn’t want to show her face to Shiruku? One could say she was pretty level-headed with Shiruku which would imply it isn’t her. But this is the first candidate she’s talked to this much. Shiruku saw through her disguise which certainly shows her skills. Luluka also knew who Shiruku was and identified her from the prophecy on the spot. Maybe because she’s followed her career even after possible memory loss?

Our girl or just misdirection?

It’s an interesting question. Certainly memories were the name of the game this episode. Memories were what made that earring precious. And memories are what Cure Eclair has lost. It may mean nothing and Shiruku was simply used to introduce this point, or it might be essential and reveal her as the answer to this mystery. At the very least she feels like a far more legitimate option than Eliza.

There was also the weird focus at the end of the scene with Shiruku thanking the girls. The focus was less on them and more on that bouquet and the message card inside. Not sure what that means since I’m not sure any of the candidates here are florists and we don’t see what the message was. It might not even be important and they just had that on the screen for no reason at all!

Arcana Shadow wasn’t messing around

The fight itself might be worth looking at too. Arcana Shadow was fairly aggressive this time around and far more willing to combo with the Hanninder instead of just doing her own thing. Did interacting with Shiruku rattle her? But maybe she was just up for a fight this week. She was rattled by the talk about memories. Which could mean Shiruku’s memories or just memories of Eclair who is someone else. The obvious truth though is that being forgotten has scarred Arcana Shadow deeply. It likely is a major part of why she’s on whatever mission she’s set out for herself. The one point that does push me to Shiruku is how Arcana Shadow looked pissed at them talking about how Shiruku believes in them. Again, that could be trust in general. But if it is Shiruku…then that would piss her off.

I suppose the most noteworthy thing is that clearly not everyone (if anyone) knew that Arcana Shadow worked with Cure Eclair. Well I suppose we don’t really know that for sure. She doesn’t admit to it. It could be that Arcana Shadow herself was the only detective and that Eclair had other interests. That would explain why Arcana Shadow was defeated but then Eclair raced in to crash into the Makoto Jewel. Did they fight together or did she show up later?

Who will join the team?

It’s still too early to decide who Eclair is. But there were a lot of elements in this episode that should be important. It’ll be someone who’s lost memories. Of course if they don’t remember having lost memories…that might not make it easy. If they simply met Luluka at some point and became Precure then it could be anyone. Being a Precure is generally kept a secret so not like anyone around them would have noticed.

Still, I don’t feel it’s Eliza. It could just be me not preferring her though. Eliza talked about reasons she couldn’t become a detective. But if it was Precure related she wouldn’t remember. So the answer there is probably her inability to focus on one thing. If she did work and stay at the Detective Agency that would be caught by her memory loss so…it’s still possible. And certainly if Eliza was always swapping back to focus on her books then…she could’ve been less available as a Precure?

Next season will be a challenge

In the end the mystery is unsolved. Kurea is up next and I think she’s one of the main contenders here. How she interacts with Luluka could really decide everything. Technically there will be one more contender after this. But…I still think it’s either Kurea or Shiruku. There is also the wild card question of…where’s Eclair’s fairy? We’ve seen enough material showing that she does have one of her own. So far…no sign of them. Just one more thing to keep track of during all of this.

On a smaller note, I will have to figure out what I want to do for the Summer anime season, Keeping up with Precure would be ideal. But…there’s a lot of shows I want to talk about. I may just make that choice after getting a few weeks into the season.