Sorry, I’m supposed to be excited, right? Tell that to Toei. In all the seasons of Precure I’ve seen, Amane (a.k.a. Gentlu) has had the worst buildup to becoming a Sixth Ranger.
After the Cures freed her from the Bundle Gang’s brainwashing — that subplot wasn’t as interesting as it sounds — the writers sidelined her for a month! Why didn’t they use that time to develop her friendship with her future teammates, especially since they barely knew her? Instead, she was “home sick from school” and hardly showed up on screen. Was her voice actress on vacation or something? 😑
Now, presto. She’s a Precure, and we’re supposed to be attached to her already. I’m not — yet. Maybe I’ll warm up to her eventually. But it doesn’t even feel like we need a fourth Precure, since Tuxedo Mask…I mean, Black Pepper has been helping out.
Sigh. Alright, I’ll stop whining. I’ll give Toei this: this transformation sequence is stunning. In case you couldn’t tell, Cure Finale is the dessert Precure. Her outfit is supposed to look like a parfait — “Cure Parfait” was already taken — but is anyone else getting cake vibes from her instead?
Anyway, here’s Amane Kasai, formerly the villain Gentlu, transforming into Cure Finale with her one-of-a-kind trinket, the Heart Fruits Pendant.
“Sweetness in full bloom, gently and gorgeously! Cure Finale!”
The Tokyo Mew Mew reboot, Tokyo Mew Mew New (that’s a tongue twister), premiered a couple days ago! 😆 I thought if I ever got to see my Mew Mews again, it would be if Funimation or Crunchyroll rescued the 2002 anime from 4Kids. Other fans expected that one day, too.
But a reboot? That’s even better! This cute show deserved a fresh coat of paint!
We’re only one episode in, but in one of the many changes to the story, we already have two Mew Mews! Ichigo’s the only one we got to see transform, though. So, here she is, becoming a pink Iriomote cat supergirl because anime! 😄
I also included her transformation from the 2002 anime. How many differences can you find?
New Transformation
UPDATE: Unfortunately, Pony Canyon has been taking down videos of Ichigo’s new transformation. I’ll add a new video when I can.
I’ve been looking for an excuse to talk about Dohalim again ever since I published my Tales of Arise character ranking last year. Spoiler alert if you haven’t read that post: he’s #1. This guy rocks…pun intended. 😁
But I kept telling myself I shouldn’t talk about him here. Why? Not sure. Maybe it’s because I don’t usually talk about the Tales series, even though I’ve been been playing it for 15 years or so. It’s my favorite JRPG series.
Tales of Arise is about a conflict between two worlds: Dahna and Rena. 300 years ago, the Renans invaded Dahna and forced the people into slavery to steal their astral energy, the elemental force inside every living being. Dahna is now divided into five realms, each ruled by a Renan lord.
Dohalim il Qaras, an eccentric Renan noble, wishes for Renans and Dahnans to coexist as equals, so he joins the fight to defeat the lords and liberate Dahna. His fighting style is bōjutsu (staff technique). As another character, Law, puts it: “He swings a long rod around and uses it to stab and smack people from afar.”
He can also use magic, a.k.a. astral artes. So, yes, Winx fans, he’s like Nabu — and that’s not the only thing they have in common. More on that in a future post.
Here’s a video showing off some of Dohalim’s moves — and a little of his personality.
Pretty cool, huh? He’s a lot of fun to play, once you get used to him. One of his artes, Crescent Flash, was a fan favorite in Japan. Also, you might get the ”rock” pun now. 😄
But this is just scratching the surface of how awesome Dohalim is. It’s not just his artes or his gorgeous design that I love, but also how he’s written. He’s the most balanced character in the party. In fact, he’s so well written and so connected to the plot that sometimes, he seems like a protagonist rather than a secondary character.
I’ll talk about that and more in a short series about him. Don’t worry — I’ll try not to spoil too much, since some people still haven’t played Tales of Arise. C’mon! It’s been out almost a year, and it’s on sale until June 23 on Xbox and Playstation. Do it!
By the way, the name of the series, “Praising Dohalim”, is a pun on the name of a skit (static cutscene) in the game: “Raising Dohalim”. Seemed fitting, since I’ll mostly be praising him in these posts. 😁 But I’ll bring up a few criticisms here and there.
With that, I propose a toast. Cheers to not wasting an opportunity to talk about a character I love. To be continued.
Finally, it’s the moment we’ve been waiting for almost two months! Cure Yum-Yum, the third member of the Delicious Party, is here!
Like I said in the hiatus update, her name has a good explanation. Her theme is noodles, and “Yum Yum” is also the name of an instant noodles brand. (Don’t know if they’re a sponsor or something. 😄) As for her shape motif, I thought it’d be squares since instant noodles come in bricks, but nope! It’s lines. Just…lines. Weird, but it makes sense.
I get what they were trying to do with lines and all, but it looks like she snapped her neck. 😅
This is our last Cure introduction…for now. We know a fourth Cure will join the team, and thanks once again to the toys, the fandom already knows who she is, what she looks like, and what her name is. I’ll give you a hint as far as who she is: watch the theme song. It couldn’t be more obvious. 😂
Anyway, here’s Ran Hanamichi transforming into Cure Yum-Yum with her partner Mem-Mem, the Energy Fairy of Noodles. Yep, Yum-Yum and Mem-Mem. Get used to it.
“Sparkling Noodle Emotion! Cure Yum-Yum!”
Those are words, and this show put them together. Precure is something else.
Talk about the greatest show! The Ringmaster is one of the most powerful singers in Masked Singer history. This is the first performance in seven seasons that has almost brought me to tears.
By the way, this is also my favorite costume this season. The big top dress is genius, and I love how it moves. I wonder how they made it. It doesn’t look heavy, but it might be. Is it a giant hoop skirt? 🤔
You may notice a theme with my favorite costumes: Fox (season 2), Frog (season 3), Mallard (season 6), and Prince (season 7). I like outfits that are classy and a little sassy. 😁 (The fact there are two frogs on this list is just a coincidence.)
Anyway, Ringmaster’s performance sent her to the finals, where she’ll compete against “Good” teammate Firefly and a to-be-determined third singer for the Golden Mask trophy. I’m definitely cheering for her. She deserves to win.
Who do you think the Ringmaster is?
(Side note: this feels more like the Whitney Houston version, doesn’t it? Either way, she killed it.)
First Bob Saget, then Louie Anderson, and now we’ve lost another comedian extraordinaire: Gilbert Gottfried, known for his signature loud, raspy voice. You might remember him best as Iago from Aladdin, but what game show nerds like me are talking about is the famous “You Fool!” episode of Hollywood Squares (premiere date: Oct 1, 1999).
In case you don’t remember this show (or you weren’t alive yet), here are the basics. Hollywood Squares was Tic-tac-toe with celebrities. Each contestant picked a celebrity, host Tom Bergeron asked a trivia question, the celebrity answered it, then the contestant agreed or disagreed with that answer. If they chose correctly (agree/disagree), they earned the square. If not, their opponent got it unless it would have given them the win.
There were two ways to win a round: get Tic-tac-toe (obviously) or get five squares. Whenever a contestant picked their winning square, they said, “So-and-So for the win!” Do people still say “FTW” online? Probably not, but that’s where that expression came from.
Back to Gilbert Gottfried. In the “You Fool!” episode, he was the fifth square the contestants needed, and it led to the most hilarious volley in the history of the show.
“You Fool!” (Short Version)
Warning: some adult humor, but I think you can handle it. Click here to watch the fool — I mean, full episode.
In the last episode, the Ghost Gang walked into a trap set by Arukenimon. Gammamon evolved into his dark form, GulusGammamon, for the second time, and killed the giant spider. Thankfully, he didn’t attack his teammates after that.
The Easter Sunday episode will bring back an infamous monster from Digimon Adventure: SkullGreymon, Agumon’s corrupted Ultimate form.
Catch the latest episode of Digimon Ghost Game every weekend on Crunchyroll.
Precure’s 19th season, Delicious Party Precure, finally returns with a new episode on Easter Sunday, April 17! The hiatus came after Toei Animation was hit by a ransomware attack, slowing down production of their anime and films. This is the third Precure season in a row affected by an unscheduled break.
After the last episode, we were a couple weeks away from officially meeting the third member of the “Delicious Party”: Ran Hanamichi, a.k.a. Cure Yum-Yum. Yeah, the name is on the nose, but “Yum Yum” is also an instant noodle brand, and noodles are her thing. Let’s hope the hype for her debut brings fans back to the show.
Catch the latest episode of Delicious Party Precure every weekend on Crunchyroll.
Opening Theme: “Cheers! Delicious Party Precure” by Machico
Toei Animation got hacked, so all their anime are on hiatus. That means no new Precure for the next couple weeks. Bummer. Just when the third Cure was close to joining the team. 😕
Well, Toei gave us some appetizers to snack on until the Delicious Party is back on. Here’s the opening theme. Lyrics below.
VERSE guu guu guu no MERODI YUNISON shichau yo onaka suitara NON-STOP machi kirenai taberu HAPPY to tsukuru nukumori daisuki na anata to saa itadakimasu
shiawase no OOKESUTARA GUTSU GUTSU TON TON HEY LET’S PARTY YEAH atsumare kanpai CHEERS
CHORUS DERISHASU egao kamishimetara kono omoi o wakeaitai te to te burete KOKORO goto tsuyoku nareru arigatou o kasanete
Why is she blue? Why is Cure Spicy blue? 😑 I know blue is the hottest color of fire, but this is a food-themed season. How many spicy foods can you think of that are blue?
Even if you can name a few, you know the majority are red. Cure Spicy should be a red Cure. Or orange. Not the color of something you drink to cool your mouth off. 🤦♀️
That’s the pointiest circle I’ve ever seen.
Also, her motifs are sandwiches and circles. Why circles? Even her bread press attack is two square slices!
Sigh. Oh well. At least her transformation sequence is cool. Here’s Kotone Fuwa turning into Cure Spicy with the help of her partner Pam-Pam, the Energy Fairy of Bread.
“With a dainty sandwich, spice for your heart! Cure Spicy!”
I prefer how the fandom translated her catchphrase — “Spice up your heart with fluffy sandwiches!” — but you do you, Crunchyroll.
UPDATE: Toei made a few changes to Cure Spicy’s transformation. I replaced the video below with the second version of the sequence. Click here to see the two versions next to each other.
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