Hugtto! PreCure Episode 9: Hidden Hero

The girls go hiking in episode 9 of Hugtto! PreCure. Unfortunately, there won’t be any laid-back camping here. Let’s see if the girls can avoid the perils of the great outdoors.

This girl shows up to make sure Hana and her friends stay safe

The episode begins with Hana very eager to start hiking, but she is soon stopped in her tracks by a young girl. Turns out Hana was about to step on a pebble, which the girl duly removes so she doesn’t trip over it.

Hana approves of the girl

Turns out the girl is a classmate of Kotori (that would be Hana’s younger sister for those who need reminding). The girl’s name is Emiru. Their class also happens to be hiking, and Emiru thought it would be fit to come well-prepared. How prepared? Well, she even brings along an emergency parachute.

Hugtan works her magic on Emiru

Everyone gathered together takes a moment to appreciate the idyllic setting, but that is soon interrupted by Hana’s stomach. Fortunately, she has a snack prepared – a banana. Well, she thinks she brought a banana, but she was half-asleep when packing for the trip…

Hana managed to bring a cucumber instead of a banana…

Emiru is convinced that if they stick around by the river too long, they will be taken away by a kappa. She says that the person taken will turn into a kappa. Seeing Hana pull out a cucumber convinces Emiru that there is a curse of the kappa.

Hana decides she doesn’t want to stick around

Grabbing Emiru, Hana makes a run for it. She tries to cross the river, but slips and falls in. Fortunately, it is shallow so she and Emiru just end up getting wet. Her cucumber ends up being flung away, too. It ends up hitting Pupple, who seems to be trying to relax. She seems pretty excited to have a cucumber appear out of nowhere.

Moving on, we see a couple of examples of Emiru’s diligence. She meticulously examines a bridge before crossing it – turns out that it was ready to collapse, and Emiru’s examination helped it along. She also stops a couple of her classmates from touching a certain flower – a thistle.

Everyone enjoys a spot of singing

Moving on, the group bumps into Hinase who just happens to be playing music. The group joins him for a singsong – except for Emiru, who hangs back. Hana goes over to check up on her, and then a monkey descends from a tree.

The monkey makes a run for it with the tambourine

Hana and Emiru chase the monkey, and end up getting lost in the woods. Emiru had said that could possibly happen at the beginning of the episode. Hugtan then gets a little too close to a hole, but Emiru grabs her. Unfortunately, Hana was rushing over as well, so the three of them end up stumbling into the hole anyway.

Hana calls Emiru a hidden hero

Naturally Emiru is upset about the situation, but Hana cheers her up by telling her that she is a hidden hero. Hana realised that Emiru was just looking out for her friends with all the stuff she was doing. Emiru blushes at the compliment.
However, feeding time for Hugtan draws near, but they have no milk with them. Hugtan starts to cry. Emiru starts singing, however, which settles Hugtan down. It also helps Saaya and Homare to find them and get them out of the hole.

Of course we get a kappa Oshimaidaa this time around

Hana may have escaped from one predicament, but soon another one arrives in the form of an Oshimaidaa. She entrusts Hugtan to Emiru, and then goes to face the monster with Homare and Saaya.

One hero watches another fight

PreCure make short work of their foe with their special attacks. Emiru gets a front-row seat of the action, too.
After that, everyone returns safely.

Hana hugs Emiru

As the day comes to an end, everyone returns to their homes. On the way to hers, Hana bumps into the monkey from earlier again. The monkey returns the tambourine, and it seems that Hana can talk monkey…
Also, Hugtan happens to notice something in the water.

That brings episode 9 to an end, and I felt like it finished really quickly. That surely must have been a sign of me enjoying it, since it made time fly. I don’t really have much to say about, it though.
What I do have to say was that it was a fun episode. Emiru was a pretty decent side character, who had better chemistry with Hana than any of the others from her actual class.

Saaya and Homare have both previously had character development episodes in which new Mirai Crystals were created. It looks very likely that episode 10 will be Hana’s turn for that.