Hugtto Precure (Series 15)

Hugtto Precure's reputation precedes it. It's the 15th anniversary series, directed by Junichi freaking Sato, took Twitter by storm with its fight scenes, and even won r/anime's Anime Of The Year. But despite all that, the show made a bad first impression on me. Having gotten spoiled on a few of this season's more divisive plot points (and trust me, we'll get to them) and with Hana and Hugtan not really making the best first impression during Kira Kira's finale, I went into Hugtto with a bit of a closed mind (A testament to the fact that, yes, spoilers can negatively influence one's viewing of something). It wasn't until I got a few episodes in when I realized that I wasn't giving Hugtto a proper chance, and that I was going to start over, hear what it actually has to say, and decide what I feel about it then. Besides, Splash Star made a bad first impression too and it ended up being one of my favorites...

Hugtto Precure is about Hana and the other Cures trying to protect a baby from another timeline named Hugtan from getting his Mirai Crystal stolen by the evil Criasu corporation, or else time will be stopped forever. That's right, this is a time travel story, which is quite novel for a Precure show. In most seasons, the fairies and villains are from another world, but this time, they're from another version of our world which gives them more of a connection from the main characters (and especially Hana). Slowly uncovering all those connections is super intriguing, it's like Precure's version of Dark. Speaking of which, something that really struck me about Hugtto is how dark it gets, especially in the first half. Between the implications of the Bad Future timeline, Hugtan going comatose at one point, Ruru getting shut off, and literally everything about George, Hugtto doesn't pull any punches and I kinda like that. The second half does dial things back a bit, Toei probably felt the writers were going a bit too far, but even then the series has a bit of an edge to it that I haven't seen from Precure in a long time. I'll never say a darker show is automatically better, but it is refreshing, and there were countless moments where I was like "how did the writers even get away with this?", especially regarding Criasu. I even like how this show tackled the evil corportation premise, focusing on the more corrupt sides of Criasu compared to Nightmare's soul-crushing bleakness. The villains in general are great, Hugtto really digs into how much abuse they face in Criasu, and like in the previous series, some start to hang out with the Cures upon being purified. However, I have one big issue with Hugtto's plot, though, and that's Hugtan herself. Hugtan is easily my least favorite of the baby characters so far for her high-pitched "Hugggiiii" squeals and the aggressive focus this show has on babies.

Like with most seasons, the characters are definitely the highlight. Hana didn't make the best first impression on me since she starts the show constantly screaming "Hooray! Hooray!", but thankfully the writers realized that got annoying and dropped it quickly for the much more endearing catchphrase "Mechokku!". Once that's resolved, I realized that Hana is actually super fascinating, taking many of the archetypes you'd come to expect from a pink Cure and exploring them just a bit more. So Hana goes through a lot of grief about wanting to be "mature" despite her genki-ish personality, which is a pretty neat arc. And while Hana is super selfless and helpful, it often comes at a cost whether it's being late for class, being let down by someone she trusted, or having to change schools after getting bullied for defending a classmate. Saaya is the least interesting of the Cures, with a pretty standard actress vs doctor arc, but the writers made up for that by giving her a lot of silly quirks like her love for power tools and her child actress role. Homare, on the other hand, gets a super compelling arc about getting over an ice skating accident. There are some pretty neat side characters too. The fairy, Harry, is basically a blend between Coco and Nuts, and a very welcome comic relief (at least until we learn his surprisingly dark backstory). Henri is pretty great too for how comfortable he is dressing up femininely, definitely deserving of being the first male Cure. Hugtto's message of "girls can be heroes and men can be princesses" is for sure one of the series' biggest successes. Also, there's also Masato who starts off aggressively sexist but ends up not only befriending Henri but possibly ending up in a relationship with him, and I'm not too sure if that's the most unrealistic or realistic direction to take that kind of story. My personal favorite side character, though, is Hana's snarky sister Kotori, who's always a highlight whenever she shows up.

But then there's the midseason Cures, Emiru and Ruru, and holy crap, they are far and away two of the best characters Precure has ever given us.  Emiru is a great foil to Hana, who desperately wants to be a Cure and help people but kinda sucks at it, which leads to a lot of hilarity. Seeing as her design is also pink, she could've totally been a great main character in her own right. Also she plays electric guitar, always a plus. Ruru is the season's redemption Cure, and while I liked Ellen and Towa quite a lot, Ruru was the first one since Setsuna to feel like she brought something new to the table by being an android. Seeing her learn what it means to be human is played for both fantastic comedy and drama at the same time, and the moment Ruru starts showing up regularly, the show skyrockets in terms of quality. But even better than these two characters on their own is them together. Emiru and Ruru form an odd friendship pretty early on and it's an absolutely joy to watch. Their polar opposite personalities play off each other so well, and they share so many incredibly heartwarming and wholesome moments together. Sadly, they don't get to do as much after their dedicated arc, but they're still consistent spotlight stealers until the end. They could easily carry a Futari-style two Cure season on their own (though considering their transformation and the several Futari references, this had to be intentional). Emiru and Ruru's storylines gripped me the hardest out of anything since Setsuna's arc, which is high praise considering I still single that out as the emotional high point of the franchise.

However, now that all the praise is out of the way, let's get into some of Hugtto's iffier bits, because it has several of them. Something I was spoiled on was the fact that this series had several age gap relationships and that's... partially true. A lot of it is because of all the time travel fuckery, like Harry having eyes for Hugtan's future self and George creeping on the Hana from this timeline since he was in some sort of relationship with her in the Bad Future (gross but at least he's the villain). It's definitely weird if you think about it too hard, but having seen shit like Dark, it could always be so much worse. There's also Homare's crush on Harry which seems to get the most flack but thankfully, like in Happiness Charge, it stays a crush. I'm usually fine with this because kids having crushes on adults is a perfect normal thing, as long as said adult doesn't reciprocate it. This season still comes incredibly close to crossing the line so many times and I wish it didn't, but it's mostly stuff I can look past. There is one bit I can't forgive, however, and that's Emiru and Ruru's ending. Ruru has to leave to her own future, which is perfectly understandable, but then a few years later, she gets rebuilt as a kid. So not only was her friendship with Emiru pretty irreparably broken, but it makes that episode where they used their difference in species as a metaphor for homosexuality really awkward in hindsight now that they're like 10 years apart in age (just want to clarify, I'm not saying I'm disappointed a ship wasn't confirmed, I'd never do that. Frankly, I was always a bit unsure about Emiru and Ruru considering their nebulous ages, but the signs, parallels, metaphors, and themes were there and if the writers knew this was where the show was going, I think they shouldn't have even bothered including them). That's just the issue with Hugtto, it's super progressive and ambitious but the execution is often... off.

But that's not even it with the finale, because then there's how Hana turned out, which I was also spoiled on. So an adult Hana gives birth to Hugtan (makes sense) and it's implied that the father is... George, aka the main antagonist of the season. I hate that implication. Even if this is a different George, the thought of Hana ending up with the guy who had been creeping on her all through seventh grade is incredibly problematic. Thankfully, when I actually watched the episode, there's a bunch of evidence towards the contrary, like George not having a wedding ring where Hana does or, of course, him not even being there for her birth. If anything, there's more evidence towards Homare being the father since she's actually at Hana's birth and her left hand is covered for the whole epilogue. But that doesn't really fix things, does it? George is still the primary candidate, and I shouldn't have to hyperanalyze the show only to find out I was being misled. Toei should've either not hinted towards any father or just picked someone. Instead they were trying to have their cake and eat it too, and it ends up muddling Huggto's ending and Hana's arc as a whole. 

As far as the presentation goes, it's obviously pretty great since this is the 15th anniversary series. It may not have the more unique and cartoony artstyles that shows like Heartcatch, Doki Doki, and Kira Kira had, but Hugtto just looks super clean and polished, and the fight scenes are consistenly strong throughout. Since this is the anniversary series, Toei decided to one up HapCha by having Cures actually show up in some episodes. While I personally prefer the simpler OP cameos since having Cures cross over throws in a whole bunch of confusing implications, I can't say that those crossover episodes weren't a ton of fun and a heartwarming reflection on how far I've gone with this series. Speaking of HapCha, Hugtto brings back the costume/disguise ability that season had, though I think HapCha uses it quite a bit more often and creatively which does make sense since it's not as big a priority this time around. I also need to give special mention to the background music, which is a pretty noticeable step up over that in Kira Kira (not the vocal tracks though, I'm not sure if those could ever be topped). I'm still not super huge on Yuki Hayashi's style, but I think Hugtto's darker tone suits him quite a bit more. However, there is one thing that baffles me, and that's how nearly every episode ends on a cliffhanger that sets up the next episode. Sometimes the cliffhangers can work, but the sheer overuse of the trope can border on comical, with the highlight being an episode ending on the very dramatic note of Santa falling out of the sky.

Highlights:

Odd Duo...? Emiru and Ruru's Day Out (episode 15): The first twelve episodes of Hugtto are fine though nothing special, but as I said earlier, the moment Ruru infiltrates Hana's family and starts to get a lot more focus, Hugtto becomes genuinely fantastic. Tanaka Yuta goes full Matsumoto Rie in one of the most off-the-wall Precure episodes I've seen in a very long time. It's the first Emiru & Ruru episode and it immediately demonstrates how amazing their pairing is, both in terms of comedy and wholesomeness. The whole episode had me cracking up from Emiru's failed attempts to save people, Ruru racing to get the eggs on sale, the Cures freaking out of Hugtan speaking, and that weird dance thing only to suddenly swerve to being incredibly heartfelt as Ruru discovers what music is and proceeds to defend Emiru to her sexist brother Masato. Now give us Erutto Precure, you cowards!

Everyone's Idol!? Master Homare's Troubles (episode 16): This was a surprisingly well-animated episode about two of Homare's classmates arguing about whether or not she's a good influence, with impressively good action to boot, but then that ending happened. Ruru getting immediately shut down for helping the Cures is one of the bleakest moments in the entire franchise.

Noise of Sorrow...Farewell, Ruru (episode 17): This is a strong ending to what is probably the best arc of the whole season. The final fight with Ruru is so emotional and well-executed, I love how you're led to think Papple is hurting Ruru mid-fight but it's just her emotions and guilt seeping out, culminating in the stunning sight of watching an android cry. Oh, and Emiru learns her friends are Cures, so that's nice.

An Odd Pair! The Melody of the Heart (episode 18): Ruru singing with Emiru made me tear up, I love these two so much!

Cure Macherie and Cure Amour! Hooray hooray! The Pretty Cure of Love! (episode 20): FLAME THROWER GUITAR. FLAME THROWER GUITAR. Oh, and Emiru and Ruru both become Cures by breaking the laws of the universe with the power of love or something, very good episode.

Our Song Of Love! Let It Reach! Twin Love Guitar! (episode 22): Hugtto has a weird midseason arc since Ruru became good in Episode 17, and Ruru and Emiru became Cures in Episode 20, so the last two episodes before the OP change are a crossover with Cure Black & Cure White. I'm not entirely sure how necessary it was, but the parallels between them and Emiru/Ruru is nice, and the "Arienai! Mechokku!" bit made it all worth it. But what I was not expecting at all was Papple's subplot which implies George started cheating on her with Gelos?! Holy shit, Hugtto! Sadly this is it for the Emiru and Ruru arcs, but it was fun while it lasted.

Hooray Hooray! The Big Gathering of the Legendary Pretty Cure!!/To The Future! Pretty Cure All For You! (episodes 36/37): This was just a glorified All-Stars movie, not that it wasn't enjoyable. The first episode of the two had a lot of fun character interactions, especially once the casts split up to look for the other scattered Cures, the highlights being Ruru dancing with Love, Hana and Nozomi headbutting each other, and the Kira Kira chefs cooking for Bunbee. But of course, the real highlight was that amazing crossover fight in Episode 37, not only great on an action standpoint, but also boasting plenty of fun details like Miyuki faceplanting, Cure Honey applauding Ichikia's cakes, and the mid-season Cure band. Of course, Tanaka Yuta directed this one.

One Yell For Another! This Is My Cheer (episode 42): CURE INFINI. ENOUGH SAID.

The Final Battle! Take Back Everyone's Tomorrow! (episodes 47): The final arc was very hit-or-miss. I hate George, Hana shouldn't have forgiven him, and the finale is shaky to say the least, but I liked that scene where everyone became a Cure, and all the other villains got a pretty great sendoff in this episode. Papple, Dr Traum, Charaleet, Gelos, and Daigon are all able to help out in the fight, and Bicine and Listol finally turn back into their fairy forms and reunite with Harry. Bicine in particular is one of the coolest, most interesting, and tragic villains in the franchise, and I'm glad he got a happy ending.

So, was Hugtto as bad as I feared? No, not at all. It's flawed and very clumsy at times, but it's also ambitious, experimental, thoughtful, and full of heart. It's not one of my favorite seasons, but at the very least, I respect the hell out of it. While I'm not huge on the baby theming, the abundance of age gap relationships, or the iffy ending, Hugtto still manages to hold together thanks to a uniquely dark tone, a unique cast, a very polished presentation, and Emiru and Ruru's storyline being one of the best things Precure has ever done.

3/5 Stars