Previously on Star ☆ Twinkle PreCure, Madoka had some doubts about her future. In the forty-second episode, it is Elena’s turn to do the same.
Plenty of Elena & Madoka interactions in this episode
In this episode, Elena wrestles with doubts about her future. Its not something she is able to hide from Madoka, though. Tenjou targeting Elena’s Mum also brings those doubts right to the forefront of Elena’s mind, as she hears what her Mum really thinks about the smile she wears.
Kaede encourages her daughter to spend time with Hikaru, Lala and the others
If there is one thing that can be said about Elena, it is that she is selfless. Ever since her debut as Cure Soleil, she has wanted to protect the smiles of the people she knows. This episode asks if Elena’s own smile is genuine, or just a mask.
You don’t often see Madoka and Hikaru paired up like this
This may be an episode that focuses on Elena, but Madoka plays a key role in it.
Elena helped Madoka overcome her doubts; Madoka intends to do the same for Elena
Seeing Elena and Madoka grow closer over the past couple of episodes has been nice. Glad to see that is a recurring thing, with Madoka telling Elena she will be there for her sake. No doubt the other girls are willing to support Elena as well, but it is Madoka who has the biggest influence on her.
See? Lots of talking between Madoka and Elena in this episode
I am happy to see that both Elena and Madoka are playing important roles in each others’ respective episodes. Hikaru and Lala have had important moments together, there’s definitely something between Yuni and Ayewan and now Elena and Madoka are getting a bit of a boost as we come up towards the end of the season.
Kaede is the victim of the week
Can’t have an episode of PreCure without a villain turning up, and Tenjou is the one who does so this time around. Being an Elena episode, this particular fight has Elena struggle with her doubts; particularly as Kaede reveals what she truly thinks of Elena’s smile.
Cure Soleil overcomes her doubts with a little help from her friends
After the fantastic fight we got against Garuouga last week, this one is pretty much a return to basics. In other words, standard procedure. The only notable thing is Cure Selene being the first to support Cure Soleil when she is down.
As it turns out, though, this was only the first of two Elena-focused episodes. Ask me what I enjoyed most about this episode, and my answer will be all the interactions we got between Elena and Madoka. Fortunately, a good chunk of the episode was spent on that.
Everything else was a bit standard, but we still have more from this Cure Soleil mini-arc. Hopefully the events of this episode (and the one where Tenjou disguised herself as a teacher) will feed into what might just be a climactic confrontation between Soleil and Tenjou next time.
A decent enough episode, but I feel that it might be sandwiched in between two fantastic episodes. Well, I’m hoping the next one will be fantastic; only time well tell.
Rory Muses 