KiraKira ☆ PreCure a la Mode: Crisply! The Memory of Mille-feuille! is the 23rd Pretty Cure film produced by Toei Animation. The director for the film is Yutaka Tsuchida, and the screenplay is by Isao Murayama.
Besides the main feature, there is an animated short called Petit ☆ Dream Stars! Let’s・La・Cookin’? Showtime! as well.
I’d recommend watching the film before reading this post, as I want to discuss some events that could be considered spoilers. Though some of these were featured when the TV series’ opening credits were previewing the film, but I figure sticking a spoiler warning here is probably appropriate.So let’s start with a quick look at Petit ☆ Dream Stars! Let’s・La・Cookin’? Showtime!.
Mofurun, Pekorin, Aroma and Pafu
This is a CG short in which the fairies from Go! Princess PreCure, Maho Girls PreCure! and KiraKira ☆ PreCure a la Mode get together to do a spot of baking. A mix-up with the ingredients results in some trouble.
Much like the other animated shorts with prior PreCure films, it’s a cute little distraction, and that’s about it. It does seem a little odd not to pair it up with the Pretty Cure Dream Stars film, but whatever.
Now for the main feature, KiraKira ☆ PreCure a la Mode: Crisply! The Memory of Mille-feuille!
In this film, the patisserie Cures travel to Paris in order to participate in a famous sweets contest. However, Ciel ends up losing her ability to make sweets after an encounter with an evil whisk.
Meanwhile, Ciel’s mentor, Jean-Pierre Zylberstein, is pursuing the creation of the Ultimate Sweet, together with the help of a ghost fairy named Cook.
Cure Parfait is the star of the show here
As you may be able to guess, Ciel is pretty much the star of the show here. Ichika gets to shine a bit as well, but the other Cures are more or less relegated to supporting roles. The patisserie Cures are already a fairly sizeable group, and then you have a cameo appearance as well. Not everyone is going to be able to get equal billing in the film’s runtime.
Let’s talk a little about a couple of important characters. Presumably anyone choosing to watch this film will already be familiar with the patisserie Cures, so I won’t really talk too much about them.
Jean-Pierre Zylberstein
Jean-Pierre is Ciel’s mentor, and who had a brief appearance in the TV series from what I can recall. Here, we get to see exactly what he is like, and it turns out he is eccentric. He can also be quite harsh towards Ciel, especially with her cooking abilities being diminished.
The ghost fairy, Cook
Another important character in this film is Cook. She is a ghost fairy – because apparently we needed more than one of those. Though Chourou insists that he’s not a ghost…
She is very insistent on Jean-Pierre completing the Ultimate Sweet, though it seems she cares little for kira-kiraru.
Before I start sharing my opinions on this film, I also want to highlight a first for the franchise. That is a certain cameo.
The magical Cures appear
Outside of the crossover films, this is the first PreCure film to have a joint cameo appearance of another team. In this case, it is Maho Girls PreCure!. Mirai and Riko are present, as too are Kotoha and Mofurun.
I guess that Petit Dream Stars short is making a little more sense now.
Maho Girls PreCure! is my favourite entry of the franchise, so I was certainly pleased to see Mirai and the others turn up. Though small, they do get a few scenes throughout.
The patisserie Cures end up acquiring animal forms
As tends to be the case for the Pretty Cure films, there is a part where the antagonist is able to get one up on the heroines. That happens in this film, though that whole sequence might just be one of the silliest examples of a villain getting the upper hand.
It begins with the enemy analysing each of the Cures, and using magic to change their forms to make them easier to deal with. Well, they can’t quite get a handle on Yukari, which amused me quite a bit.
Actually, Yukari stole the show for me. She gets some of the best lines, and she just seems to take almost everything in her stride. Yukari was already my favourite character to begin with, so perhaps I’m just biased here.
This is about the closest the film comes to any yuri
Though KiraKira ☆ PreCure a la Mode gave us the prominent pairing of Yukari and Akira, don’t expect to see any of that in this film. In fact, there’s maybe a couple of minor moments between Ichika and Ciel, but you’d have to stick to the TV series for the more prominent yuri.
I didn’t really expect all that much, to be honest. If if Yukari or Akira had been the central character, perhaps the case would have been different. But this is Ciel’s film, and Bibury is nowhere to be seen.
When it comes down to it, KiraKira ☆ PreCure a la Mode: Crisply! The Memory of Mille-feuille! feels like just another good episode of the TV series, but just a bit longer. I enjoyed watching it, though it’s not my favourite PreCure film.
Of course, feeling like a feature-length episode of the TV series does mean that there’s not much in the way of physical combat, not even with the Maho Girls PreCure cameo.
I’ve already mentioned how some Cures only serve a supporting role in this film. Fans of Ciel will certainly find enjoyment here, but don’t expect too much from any of the others.
I will say that it might just be worth checking out for the hilarity of the animal Cures alone, though.
Rory Muses 