You wait ages for a new Maho Girls PreCure! episode, and then seven come along at once. Hopefully this is a sign that the rest of the series will be subbed on a consistent weekly basis up until the end – but for now, we’re back to being up to date.
The previous episode mentioned a festival, and that’s exactly the focus of this episode. A special guest also makes an appearance, too.
What better way to begin the episode than with a hungry Kotoha?
Kotoha made the mistake of skipping lunch.
Mirai, Kotoha and Mofurun are expecting to eat loads of sweets at the festival, but Riko tells them that isn’t exactly what the festival is about. When the girls arrive at the Magic World’s shopping distract, there is a noticeable lack of sweets.
The hostess for the festival is Mayu Watanabe, voiced by Mayu Watanabe of AKB48.
That’s the special guest I mentioned previously. Mirai and Riko recognise her.
Mayu is an idol in the No Magic World – also, here’s a cameo from Mipple and Mepple, the first two PreCure fairies.
Mirai and Riko.
Francoise appears and reveals that Mayu is actually a magician. Mayu tells the girls to keep that secret between themselves. Getting back to the festival, Mayu is joined by a co-commentator.
Of course, it’s the headmaster.
With the commentators ready, it’s about time for the festival to kick off.
The aim is to catch the Pumpkin Bird.
Supposedly only ever one person has caught the Pumpkin Bird previously, and that was the headmaster. It seems that everyone in the Magic World gets involved in this festival, including three familiar faces.
Jun, Kei and Emily show up to join the fun.
There’s a reason that the Pumpkin Bird has only ever been caught once. The reason behind this?
It can change people into sweets.
Whoever catches the Pumpkin Bird is said to receive a golden egg from it, which contains the ‘greatest delight’. Francoise attempts to go after the Pumpkin Bird, but ends up having his hair transformed into a montblanc. After that, Mirai, Riko, Kotoha, Kei, Jun and Emily rise to the challenge. Kotoha conjures up a couple of nets and they go after the Pumpkin Bird.
Chikurun reports to Oruba, and is told to continue spying in the Cures.
Kotoha ends up coming crashing down on Chikurun, and the girls decide that a head-on approach isn’t going to work for catching the Pumpkin Bird. Kei suggests that they make it dizzy with rapid movements, and Emily takes her up on the idea.
She calls this the ‘Emily Spin’.
With the Pumpkin Bird staggered, Kei tries to seize the opportunity to capture it. She manages to grab it, and Mofurun seems to notice something when she does. However…
Things don’t go well.
Emily becomes too dizzy to continue.
Jun, Kei and Emily bow out of the competition, leaving just Mirai, Riko and Kotoha to pursue the Pumpkin Bird into the forest. Kotoha is still hungry, and Mofurun shares her concerns about the Pumpkin Bird with Chikurun. They spot something moving in the forest, and Mirai goes to catch it.
That’s not the Pumpkin Bird…
Kotoha’s far too hungry to put up with Sharkince.
The Pumpkin Bird flies overhead, and Kotoha makes a beeline straight for it. It reacts to her approach.
Kotoha’s hat is transformed into a sundae.
Sharkince blasts the Pumpkin Bird away. Of course the girls are less than impressed, but Sharkince reminds them that they were trying to capture it by force too. The girls suspect the Pumpkin Bird actually hates the festival.
Here’s our monster of the week.
Technically the girls will be fighting Kotoha’s hat, taking into account how events transpired… well, regardless, the girls initiate their standard response towards the appearance of a Donyokubarl: transformation time!
Topaz Style
Whilst the Cures deal with the threat, Chikurun and Mofurun go to check on the Pumpkin Bird.
…I’m just going to interpret this as the Cures attacking the monster sundae with spoons.
Mofurun’s determined to find out what’s causing the Pumpkin Bird pain.
Cure Felice beats herself up over not considering the feelings of the Pumpkin Bird.
The Cures end up captured by the Donyokubarl, but Mofurun and the Pumpkin Bird return and save them. Turns out the Pumpkin Bird had a cavity, so Mofurun removed the tooth.
Mofurun the dentist.
After the Donyokubarl is defeated and Sharkince retreats, the Pumpkin Bird thanks Mofurun for its help.
In the end, it is Mofurun who catches the Pumpkin Bird.
Everyone returns to the shopping district, where Mofurun is crowned as the victor. Mayu shares a few words with Mirai, Riko and Kotoha, too. It looks like almost everyone who was transformed into sweets has changed back, though at least one person hasn’t.
Emily is eating a piece of Kei…
Probably best not to read too much into Emily’s snack… Anyway, there’s the small matter of the golden egg. What is inside it?
It was actually a seed of a Toothbrush Tree.
Yup, this was the whole point of this episode…
So kids, remember to brush your teeth – unless you’re a teddy bear. None of the spirits recognised any Linkle Stones – perhaps in response to Kotoha considering eating them at the beginning of the episode.
There’s a change in closing theme – much like the opening, this is related to the upcoming Maho Girls PreCure! film. Seems all right, I guess.
This episode was definitely on the silly side of things, and I guess it could be considered filler. After all, nothing really happened to advance the overall plot – the Linkle Stone spirits had very little to do this episode. Ultimately it was just a bit of silliness, and included a moral for the young folk.
Now, I’ve got a bit of speculation here. In episode 36, Oruba mentioned how he can detect the presence of several of his comrades who are sealed – we saw at least seven different locations. Now, taking into account we’re roughly three quarters of the way through this series, I very much doubt that we’re going to have seven new enemy generals introduced at this late stage in the game.
If anything, it seems like a set-up for a second season of Maho Girls PreCure!. I’m also aware that the tickets for the Maho Girls PreCure! film sold extremely well, and when it comes down to it PreCure is very much a cash cow for Toei.
Of course that’s just speculation on my part. By this time last year, the trademark for the show had been filed, but it wasn’t officially announced until towards the end of November – I guess we’ll just have to wait a while for any news regarding what’s next for PreCure.
Next time, what else could it be other than a Hallowe’en episode? From the sounds of it, Mirai has something exciting planned for that.
Rory Muses 