#PCD158

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Precure Day 158

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 10 - “Save Nuts from Starvation!” Date watched: 13 November 2019 Original air date: 8 April 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/L8xVIxB Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

“Nuts hasn’t eaten in two days, Coco!”

“Look, we all have different life experiences-coco. That’s what makes us each special and unique-coco. So forgive me for not knowing that two days is APPARENTLY a long time to not eat food-coco!”

We’ve established Natts House as a base of operations and a store, we’ve got a school journalist with a very questionable sense of ethics and integrity with the hots for Nuts, and now we have a store in desperate need of some business. Time to put the pieces together!

The Plot

Nuts is starving because his shop isn’t getting any business, so the girls try to figure out how to advertise for him. Karen reminds them that they aren’t allowed to bring jewelry to school, meaning they’ll have to work indirectly. Nozomi and Rin try to get Mika to run ads for the shop in the school newspaper, but she insists that this would violate her journalistic integrity. Komachi tries to talk to random girls at school and tell them about the store, but they aren’t very receptive to her. Karen gushes to the student council after a meeting but they seem taken aback by her unusual enthusiasm. Urara even tries wearing a necklace while making an appearance on a local variety show. Unfortunately, she’s just a face in the crowd, and doesn’t appear for long.

for once, “spot the main character” is actually difficult

Having all failed spectacularly, they decide to fall back on the classic approach: handing out fliers! They collectively design one, get a Pinky to duplicate them (I guess it’s cheaper than a photocopier), and hit the streets to hand them out. Nozomi gives one to a man that turns out to be Gamao, who is upset that the girls defeated him and (in his mind) kept him from getting a paycheck, which would have allowed him to buy food. In his anger, he decides to suck all the girls into a chasm in the ground and try to defeat them, whether in an attempt at petty revenge for his own poor life choices, or to try to get the Dream Collet and return to Nightmare. He turns his coin purse into a Kowaina and throws them around a little bit himself, but Urara seriously scolds him for blaming his faults on them, rather than himself. After all, both he and Nuts are in a position where they can’t afford food, but Nuts is actually taking action while Gamao is moping around and shifting blame. Rouge and Aqua defeat the Kowaina while Dream handles the toady bastard.

They escape the chasm and return to handing out fliers. Masuko Mika happens to be passing through the square and absentmindedly takes a flier from Nuts, doing a double take as she recognizes him as the mysterious hottie she devoted the paper to. Next thing we see, Natts House is flooded with students from L’ecole Cinq Lumieres and Nozomi and Rin are talking with Mika about her apparent change of heart. She insists that she isn’t promoting Natts House, she’s reporting on important news to the community. Rin snarks that she’s just fangirling, but regardless, Nuts is making money and he genuinely smiles as the episode closes out.

The Analysis

In the first place, I like the continued world-building in this episode. Natts House doesn’t magically attract customers simply by existing, so they have to advertise for it. It’s a little lesson in business for the audience, and it also makes room for a lesson about the value of Hard Work (and Guts). On the one hand, you have Gamao, who failed at his job, ran away instead of telling his boss that he failed, and as a result, has not been paid and cannot eat. Instead of trying to find another job, he mopes around and blames the girls for his failure. On the other side, you have Nuts, who works with the girls to find customers for his store in order to afford food. I don’t agree with his attitude towards charity, but he’s always been stubborn. You also get to continue Mika’s little story arc from the previous episode, where she claims journalistic integrity but basically just runs a tabloid. Fortunately, her infatuation with Nuts works for the girls’ benefit again, essentially advertising Natts House by reporting on its owner and his place of work. The contrast between her words and actions makes for a fun source of ironic humor.

We also get to see a new side of Urara here. She is almost scary in her conviction to the need for advertising. All the other girls are taken aback by her abrupt change in personality.

Being an actress, who not only has to market herself as a product, but also markets products for other people, it makes sense that she is the most attuned to the importance of advertising. We see this aggressive sincerity again during the fight with Gamao when she scolds him for being lazy, contrasting what he and Nuts have done to alleviate their hunger. She is righteously indignant, and it’s wonderful to see this normally aloof girl take a firm stance. I don’t mean to suggest that her morals have ever been in question, as we saw her strong will in action from her first transformation, but her typical behavior is a bit more quirky and less aggressive than this.

In a related case, this episode has some fantastic facial expressions and reactions from most of the cast. Here’s the group’s reaction to Urara’s sternness:

Karen telling Nozomi that no, she cannot bring even just a few accessories to school to showcase:

The girls’ reaction after Urara’s TV appearance turns out to be miniscule:

Mika declaring she will NEVER allow advertising in her paper:

Mika recognizing Nuts:

And Nozomi and Rin recognizing Nuts in Mika’s paper:

There are a lot of good moments though, and I can’t bog down this post with ALL of them, so check out the gallery link at the top of the post for a better rundown.

This episode also gives us a merchandising opportunity! Nozomi completes work on the flier, but Rin points out that they can’t hand out a single flier, and Nuts and Coco drop two huge stacks of paper in front of her for her to draw on. Her reaction to being told she has to make a few hundred copies by hand is......

in a word, exploitable (feel free to save this and use it as a reaction gif)

However, it turns out that one of the Pinkies they’ve caught can, as Nuts put it, “Call in customers” in such ways as being a photocopier. This involves the very detailed and well-animated process of pulling a Pinkie card out of the storage case, inserting it into the Dream Collet and pulling it out, with accompanying lights and sounds.

It’s a pretty transparent toy plug, and you really kinda wonder how the girls don’t have access to a photocopier anywhere. I mean sure, maybe not IMMEDIATE access, but it would have taken less time to find one and make 500-1000 copies than for Nozomi to hand-draw them all. Oh well, toys.

This is a really good episode in a lot of ways, and even the brief pause to advertise the Dream Collet toy in the middle isn’t that intrusive. We get to see these girls just.... exist, and interact, and it’s fun. I forgot how much I enjoyed this part of the series because it’s been so long since I watched it, and all I really remember in detail are the episode where Urara hosts a stage show at an amusement park, Milk’s introduction, the mid-season climax, and the Christmas episode because I watched it last year. I really enjoy the little episodes that dive into the characters’ lives a little bit and show us how the world works, and they also take the time to give a lesson on personal responsibility and drive without making it too ham-fisted. Side note, since Gamao's last appearance was in episode 3, he hasn’t fought the full assembled team, and he’s surprised that there are five girls now. Also, since he did only appear the one time, Rin barely remembers him, as she turns to Urara to ask who he is. It’s an amusing moment that sells how terrible he’s been at his job so far.

This episode could have been preachy and hamfisted, but they deftly balance all the necessary elements, inject just the right amount of comedy into it, and make good use of their animation tools. It’s solid art and animation for Precure, with some wonderful facial expressions and no noodle people. Even Nuts, eternally the tsundere, cracks a few genuine smiles in this episode. It gives me the warm fuzzies inside. The next one, however, is even better. Next time, on Precure Daily, Nozomi and Coco’s hot air balloon ride. You know the one. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 2 Kettei!