Hugtto! PreCure Episode 3: Unhappy Baby

The third episode of Hugtto! PreCure doesn’t introduce the third member of the team – we’ve got to wait for that one. Instead, Hana and Saaya have to look after Hugtan. It’s not the first time the franchise has seen an episode like this, but is it any good? Let’s take a look.

Hana attempts to cheer up Hugtan

The episode begins with Harry having had a sleepless night, due to Hugtan crying. He has tried everything he could think of, but nothing settled her down. Saaya looks it up on her laptop, and comes to the conclusion that Hugtan is unsettled due to being in a new environment.

Saaya uses the Mirai Pad whilst Hana has a go at Harry for not telling them about it earlier

Harry has something that is able to help the girls cheer up Hugtan: the Mirai Pad. Since technology seems to be Saaya’s thing, she is eager to get her hands on it. Taking a look through, she is able to load up an app or something that shows a location they should go to in order to cheer up Hugtan.

That’s quite a reaction Hana has to the location they arrive at

The group ends up stopping at a Japanese garden – though since they are already in Japan, wouldn’t it just be a garden?
Either way, Hugtan doesn’t cheer up when they arrive. Taking another look at the Mirai Pad, they see that the location they need to go to has changed. However, Harry is no longer to maintain his human form, so Hana has to carry Hugtan.

Hana is thrilled about the baby carrier. Hugtan… not so much

Whilst the girls make their way to the next destination, we check in with Criasu Corporation.

Lulu

Lulu tells Charalit that management have requested a report from him. He says he hasn’t submitted it yet due to the appearance of two new PreCure, and has yet to locate the Mirai Crystal White.
After doing some quick data analysis, Lulu determines that there is a very strong chance the new PreCure will hold a clue to the location of the Mirai Crystal White.

Back to Hana and Saaya, and they have arrived at a petting zoo. Once again, Hugtan continues to cry. This time, however, it attracts the ire of a man sitting on a nearby bench.

Homare confronts the angry man

I’m convinced that the man is drunk. There’s another piece of evidence for that a little later on in this episode, too. After drawing the attention of other people, the man decides it isn’t worth arguing with kids.

Homare regularly visits the petting zoo

Homare isn’t the only familiar face who shows up at the petting zoo.

Hana’s Mum and sister show up as well

Hana’s Mum is at the petting zoo as part of her work as a reporter. When she sees Hana with Hugtan, she takes her and the baby settles down. Harry then appears in his human form, and pretty much claims to be Hugtan’s father.
There’s a nearby tower that everyone goes into – in there, Hana’s Mum reveals the secret to calming down babies: hold them to your chest, so they can hear your hearbeat. It was something that she did with both Hana and Kotori.
Turns out the Mirai Pad had been showing the location of Hana’s Mum the whole time.
After that, Hana asks Harry about Hugtan’s Mum. Turns out that Harry’s world fell victim to the Criasu Corporation, and time stopped for it. Harry and Hugtan were able to escape with the power of the Mirai Crystal White. That ended up depleting its power.
If the eight Mirai Crystals can be recovered, time will start moving again. Hana and Saaya already have two.

Here’s this week’s Oshimaida

Charalit uses the toge-power of the angry man from earlier. Here’s the other piece of evidence for that man being drunk: the tie around the Oshimaida’s head.
Regardless, Charalit orders the Oshimaida to attack the tower, and calls out for PreCure to show up.

Saaya catches Hana as the tower tilts

Hana and Saaya pull off a disappearing when the tower tilts. Hana’s Mum, Hugtan, Kotori and Homare remain behind.
Of course, Hana and Saaya stepped outside in order to confront the Oshimaida.

Cure Yell and Cure Ange

Yell and Ange fight the Oshimaida, and the battle pretty much ends in the usual way. Afterwards, Charalit decides to go straight home rather than returning to the office.

After everyone is back together, Hana’s Mum offers to help Harry look after Hugtan. They all go back to Hana’s house – well, everyone besides Homare. When Saaya takes a look at the Mirai Pad, she sees that there are two lights. One is moving away from Hana’s house.

Homare wants to fly again

After having witnessed Cure Yell and Cure Ange fight, Homare feels the desire to fly again.

The episode ends here, and it wasn’t too bad. Not as fun as the first two episodes, but it is hard to beat the Cures’ individual introductions in the earlier parts of the season.
Hugtan could have been more annoying, but I feel that they kept it at a decent level here. At least she wasn’t constantly bawling throughout the entire episode.

It still feels good to have proper fight scenes back after KiraKira, though we will have to wait until PreCure confront the actual villains themselves for the most spectacular ones – probably. We are only at the beginning of the season, so it will be PreCure vs. Oshimaidas for now

She has only had brief appearances so far, but I find myself quite interested in Lulu. I don’t know how much of a role she is going to have in the future, but I certainly look forward to seeing more from her.

All in all, not too bad an episode. It’s not quite as good as the first couple, but I still enjoyed watching it. It also served to set up PreCure’s mission: collect the 8 Mirai Crystals, which sounds just like something taken out of a Zelda game.
It has left me wondering if the Mirai Crystals are like Maho Girls PreCure!‘s Linkle Stones: a few used for transforming, whilst the others grant different abilities.

Next time, Hana and Saaya will attempt to scout out the third member for their team.