#gaou is subaru

[cardinalcyn]

so there's a theory going around r/precure

what if gaou isn't who he says he is?

it seems pretty unlikely to me.

but then again...

it'd be pretty fucking funny

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 48 Review - The Wolf Pack

This review contains major spoilers--read at your own risk.

I can’t believe I guessed the twist right. It does make sense, though, given that he stands up on two legs despite being a wolf and his mouth doesn’t move. Subaru’s revenge was for the wolf friends he lost due to humans and that he wanted to live with the wolves, but lost his chance when humans started hunting them down. His idea of revenge is to terraform Animal Town into a giant forest and he probably did succeed. It’s crazy how the scenery changed in just one episode.

Despite all the twists and reveals, I still don’t get how Subaru died. Did he die with the wolves or something? Like how did his spirit manifest and manage to merge with what’s supposedly Gaou’s fang? Will that be explained in the next episode? His revenge feels more like a personal vendetta against humans—he’s a hater of his own kind in a way.

Regarding Zakuro, it seemed that she already knew Subaru was Gaou and that the one she loves was actually Subaru who took on Gaou’s name. Though, it does seem that Gaou does like Zakuro, but not romantically. He did talk gently with her and did not get rid of her when she failed. Too bad he’s too focused on revenge to be even thinking about a happy future. Zakuro is fully on the Precure’s side now as she wants to stop Gaou. The way Friendy and Wonderful were hugging her were so adorable. Though, if she loved Subaru all this time, why did she have some sort of ‘thing’ for Satoru back in Episode 35?

The fight with the many GaoGaon wolves was cool. It was nice seeing them use various Kirarin Animal techniques. Poor Kirarin Rabbit, Hamster and Panda—ya’ll are the least used animals of the nine. I did like the creativity especially with how Tire Komugi made her grand return and how Lillian used Lillian Net to trap all of them and flip the tire over so they’re all trapped in the enclosure.

It did feel like Niko was used as a punching bag here, but it was nice to see her actually care about Mey Mey when he decides to go rescue the cat stuck in the tree. I wonder if Niko will try to get the wolves to live in Niko Garden at the end because it’s a paradise where even extinct animals live in.

I wonder how the Precures will stop Gaou’s plans as they’re all trapped. The preview for the next episode shows that the Precures are trapped in the tree while Satoru seems to be safe due to jumping into Niko’s magical portal with Mey Mey at the last minute. There’s speculation that Daifuku and Satoru might transform because the former was staring at a piece of the Mirror Stone. Oh gosh, since these trees are life energy suckers and that Satoru, Daifuku, Niko and Mey Mey are the only ones safe, it could be a good segue to introduce last-minute saviors to rescue the Precures, even if the transformation is brief. It’d be lovely to finally get human Daifuku because it’s definitely a waste to keep him movie-exclusive. I can’t wait for next week! What are your thoughts on this episode?

[kitty-pilled-gamma]

MASSIVE spoilers for Wonderful Precure under the cut

so.... Gaou was a fursuiter all along????

[starry-milkshake-fan]

shittalking Subaru

my man, grow the fuck up

even Gaou moved on

I don’t feel bad for this piece of shit

I wish he died

genuinely I hate Subaru

even Satoru is more likable, and Daifuku isn’t annoying

Subaru though…I genuinely want to put him in a fire

I hate Subaru

FUCK YOU SUBARU AND FUCK YOU WONDERFUL

CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK

on a wholesome side, Mirai Days is good and Hisui reminds me of Vivio, Mirai Days reminds me a lot of Nanoha StrikerS actually :)

[fionnalovesanimeboys]

Whaaaat Gaou is Subaru ?! Gaou is actually a human?! Whaaaat ????

[kasterisk-of-the-void]

OKAY BUT THE FACT THAT GAOU-SAMA WAS SUBARU ALL THIS TIME???? IM ACTUALLY SHOOK. A+ twist, I didn't have a single clue that he was Subaru all this time. I do love myself a human being so mad about the environment that they straight up become a villain to "fix" the world......................

[nijigasakilove]

HOLY SHIT THEY DID IT!!! SATORU AND DAIFUKU CURE TRANSFORMATION!!! And my babies’ new visuals for Subaru’s purification was so good! Somewhat of an anticlimactic final battle, but it’s also in-line with what we’ve come to expect from this series. It’s always been about reaching people’s hearts and saving them from their inner darkness, which they definitely did for Subaru.

In the end, it wasn’t the humans that Subaru had a hard time forgiving, but himself. He’d been holding onto the self hate about “letting” Gaou get killed for so long and that just boiled over and infested his soul and everything around him. Not that we needed the reassurance, but Komugi meeting with Gaou just confirmed that all this time he’d been at peace and only wanted the best for Subaru. He’d never have wanted his friend to turn against the world like this.

More so than the fighting, the big battle was really just an opportunity for them to give us some great animation and visuals lol. Fanservice the wanpre way. I enjoyed it a lot though. I am beyond sad that we only have more episode of Wanpre left. I’m relatively new to the Precure franchise so this is right there at the top for me and even though it’s a different sort of story, I enjoyed it so much. 😞

Kinda worried about those PVs for the finale tho, please tell me Komugi and Yuki don’t lose the ability to speak..

[keep-on-trying]

Just as I expected, Zakuro does have her own motive on helping Gaou. She loves Gaou and would do anything for him. Even if it goes against everything she's known about Gaou. She is clearly in conflict about Gaou wanting to hurt animals the way Garugaruing does, like she doesn't not agree with Gaou being cruel, she knows Gaou loves animals and would protect their closest friends. So when Nyammy tells the opposite is happening... she reacts with ignorance? Excuses? Like she doesn't believe Gaou is doing anything bad, no matter how bad it looks? Gosh, she's so smitten in love with Gaou and is very angry at humans, but also clearly knows deep inside her that this isn't what Gaou would truly want. Man.

Wonderpre really has such, ahem, wonderful way of telling the story and I'm most certainly gonna miss it. Aside from Zakuro stuff, I found the stuff with Mayu very nice, and as someone who has knitted before, it felt quite relatable with the problems the classmates had and teaching tactis Mayu used. And then Mayu the shipper being so happy to help Iroha knit a scarf for Satoru (<333) and then being sooo excited to hear about Zakuro's likes about Gaou. Gosh. Mayu. You're awesome.

Definitely enjoyed how they managed to tie plot to the knitting quest itself, like it was tied to giving a gift to loved one, and then through Zakuro's love, and Satoru's desire to help the Precures, we learn the somewhat obvious reveal that Gaou was Subaru's wolf friend. And that the wolves were attacked by Subaru's village. But we still don't have the full story I think? So I bet we'll learn it soon enough.

[precuregremlin]

Wait...

GAOU'S LITERALLY A FURRY. GAOU IS SUBARU'S FURSUIT. TRULY, THIS WAS FURRY PRECURE.

[megaboy335]

The long runners keep ending so I figured why not write down some thoughts about them I cover the following series: 1. Misson: Yozakura Family 2. Undead Unluck 3. Wonderful Precure 4. Komi Can't Communicate Spoilers below!

1. Misson: Yozakura Family

Misson: Yozakura Family was never among the most popular series in the magazine nor one of the highest sellers, yet against all odds it completed a 5.5 year run in Weekly Shonen Jump. It spent the first year or so doing mostly single chapter stories to introduce the family members and how they play off each other. From there it shifted into battle manga mode for the remainder of the run. Ultimately, I consider it a very "safe" series. It doesn't reinvent the formula and it doesn't push the genre boundaries, but instead carves out its own niche in the magazine for knowing exactly what you would get week to week. Yozakura Family had the classic shonen power ups in the middle of fights which also had the classic 1v1 action sequences. Every character gets the spotlight against someone. Kiyochiro was my favorite character. Futaba was great too. The Momo arc was where the series peaked, but the Asa arc did have many cool moments as well. Yozakura performed a seamless protag switch to the twins Alpha and Hifumi which I thought brought some new life into the late stages of the story. The scene in chapter 257 when Kiyoichiro opens his eyes and acknowledges Taiyo's effort was the exact payoff this series needed. Taiyo earned that level of mutual trust and respect after overcoming everything during the story. It felt extremely earned! I always believed that if Yozakura Family had come out 15 years ago it would have been a long running daytime anime with abundant filler episodes. It's a great all-ages type of manga that was enjoyable to read every week. Gondaira delivered on the potential I saw in his writing from the Poro days. Hope they return again in the future. 2. Undead Unluck

Undead Unluck is another series that really should have been more popular. It's a fantastic series about characters who live life in a world that hates their existence. The negation powers were super creative and you never knew how their abilities would be applied in battle. There were some amazing highs like the battle versus spring and against Language. Undead Unluck also performed a seamless protag switch-up. Fuuko was a great main character to follow in the back half. I think it sufficiently fleshed out a lot of characters between seeing them in the Union and experiencing their power origin stories in the post-loop. However, the pacing is quite uneven across the series. Tozuka always moved the story at a breakneck speed. Billy's betrayal early on is an example of how the story suffers from quick developments. The post-loop arcs were also a mixed bag depending how attached to the star characters I was. However, I also have to give Tozuka credit for switching up the setting in nearly every single arc. From space, cooking, idols, and battle tournaments, it became a different type of manga in basically every volume. Usually I'm on the side of saying final arcs/final battles aren't as rushed as they seem but not in this case. Ouch! I really wanted proper 1v1s against all the master rules. Instead it came down to an all or nothing battle against Soul. The previous fights against Sick, Beast, and especially Language were some of the biggest highlights post-loop. Anyhow, I’m sure Tozuka has learned a lot from this serialization and he’ll come back with a stronger series in the future. He’s got a creative mind that I hope to see more from.

3. Wonderful Precure

This is mostly a continuation of what I said in my 2024 Anime Post. I thought the bonds between animals and humans were shown really well. We get to experience the positives of having a pet through Iroha/Yuki, Mayu/Yuki, and Satoru/Daifuku. While Gaou and Subaru show how loss can mess up someone. It's a theme that doesn't hit particularly hard for me. I thought the strongest aspect of Wonderful was the main cast interacting with each other. They get along really well and constantly have funny moments. The secondary mob cast also added some flavor to the series. Mayu is my favorite character (probably no surprise to anyone). Thankfully Satoru didn't devolve into a Tuxedo Mask type. However, that's about where my praise ends. The lack of battles, the dog main character, and a very razor thin plot makes this different compared to most other Precure seasons. Iroha and Komugu divided the main character space which means both lack sufficient character development. Mayu goes through the “shy character becomes more comfortable with friends” arc that we've seen a few times recently. Satoru and Daifuku transformed should have been mainstays in the series instead of limited appearences.

I wouldn't call it the worst Precure, far from it in fact. This kind of super pacifist writing simply isn't what I watch Precure for. I will add that the Wonderful movie is pretty decent. You get all the best parts of this series in a nice 70 minute package. Luckily I'm already much more optimistic about the 2025 series. Precure is long overdue for an Idol themed series.

4. Komi Can't Communicate

I started Komi later than most people since I waited for the official English release to start. I read chapters by the volumes starting in 2019 up until when Viz started the simulpub and then I caught up to those chapters. So I only spent the final year of the series reading it weekly. However, Komi sure is a long series, no denying that. But I think it's one of the best at covering all 3 years of high school that you'll see in manga. Its got that Sunday pacing of putting characters before story progression. A lot of chapters are just Komi being Komi by reacting to whatever the scenario is. Additionally there are plenty of chapters for the side characters to have their moments. The cast grows in a natural way over Komi’s 3 years of high school. Komi starts as a kouhai and later becomes the senpai to a whole new class. It grows into quite a lively series by her 2nd year and 3rd year. Komi also has the Reiwa rom-com element of going beyond the confession. Overall, I can't say I ever got that bored of it. I think it's a little disingenuous to magazine readers for a good number of the friends to get formalized in the volume extras. Where were the last 2? Getting that 100th friend should have been a big moment. My favorite part of the story was the Rumiko arc in the middle. She really got Komi to be more forward about her feelings and stop being hesitant about taking action. Komi's growth is gradual and the payoffs are so rewarding when they happen. In her 3rd year it can be easy to forget just how timid she was at the start. Komi will finish as a generational title for Weekly Shonen Sunday. It was the much needed international hit that the magazine had been so desperately seeking for years. Frieren has also helped a ton for them. I will be back for whatever Tomohito Oda does next. (It should have ended at chapter 500!)

[cardinalcyn]

wonderful precure major spoilers

one thing i don't think has been said enough is that the minute subaru almost killed komugi, he lost control of his powers.

those hagoromo things tied him up in place and started whipping out blindly at everything

he was just howling and sobbing. too overwhelmed and traumatized to fight of his own free will

but more importantly???

he was so distraught at the thought of harming an animal that his first conscious thought was to try to commit suicide

this guy literally SHOOTS HIMSELF with his own magic out of guilt. AND ON SCREEN NO LESS

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 50 Review + Final Thoughts - Forever Wonderful

And here is to the second Precure series I’ve watched from start to end. To be honest, this series grew on me since it was completely different from Hirogaru Sky, and I do think it’s a solid title despite some issues. I do admit that this finale is actually better than its predecessor’s.

The best thing about this show being a story about talking animals is that the real Gaou was able to convey his true feelings to Subaru thanks to a shard of the Mirror Stone. I think the best part about Wonderful Precure is that they make animals talk, but they still retain the animalistic parts about themselves, so they won’t humanize them too much. Gaou is not angry for dying nor is he angry about Subaru’s actions. Like, animals don’t feels those sorts of emotions, so it makes sense why Subaru’s actions are forgiven. The hugging part was really sweet. It’s a very simple ending, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s nice to see Subaru reuniting with his wolf pals into the afterlife.

Why I think the finale is better than Hirogaru is the fact that like what Niko says, the Precure powers are limited and that once it’s all over, she’ll take them back. The pets turn back into animals and lose their abilities to transform into humans and talk. Life after the Niko animals leave is a little different. Though, there are many changes from the beginning. Satoru and Iroha look at the Mirror Stone, but as a couple this time and they contemplate over wishes. Mayu is now adjusted to Animal Town and is no longer timid and anxious like she was in the beginning. Best of all, Komugi isn’t suffering from separation anxiety now. It’s like her ordeals as a Precure helped her realize that there’s nothing to be scared about when Iroha leaves. With Hirogaru Sky, the group had a sad, tearful farewell with the Skylandians…only for them to show up in front of Mashiro’s house the next day, sort of ruining the emotional aspect of the finale.

I do like that the humans do miss their pets’ human forms and laments over it until the Mirror Stone actually grants their wish. While they cannot turn back into humans, they regain their ability to talk—Daifuku included! I think that’s a nice pay off for all of their hard work. Oh, and Mey Mey is able to visit Animal Town and Satoru once in a while.

Overall, I just really like this ending because there aren’t any loose endings and that the group does get rewarded, which is letting their pets talk. I also loved the little epilogue reel in the credits where it shows what’s happening in Animal Town. The shrine is being rebuilt too! I feel like it’s really good conclusion with a happy ending and that a sequel really isn’t needed.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To be honest, I still have a huge soft spot for Hirogaru Sky because that’s my gateway into Precure, but Wonderful isn’t so bad. It’s not a perfect show, but I can tell that the writers wanted to experiment a lot.

It’s experimental because the fights aren’t as action-packed as before as it mainly focuses on ‘playing’ with animals in order to heal them. There are a lot of firsts for this show too like having a dog as the lead Cure, making a Cure be in a romantic relationship with a supporting character, having a blue Cure who’s mainly white, and a rare green Cure. Not only that, this is also the first instance where the villain is very uninvolved with the story as Gaou only took action in the second half of the show alongside having Torame and Zakuro as his minions.

The character did their part in the story well. I feel like people might think these characters are too simple, but given the tone of the story, it’s to be expected. I feel like the story’s tone focuses a lot on the lead Cure’s story. Cure Wonderful is a dog turned human, so the story focuses on animals and how to help them as she was found when Iroha helped her from the rain. Though, Satoru is my favorite character, so I do wish that there was more introspective for him other than his crush on Iroha, love for animals and his bond with Daifuku and Mey Mey. Why does he live in a big house and where are his parents?

My biggest issue with the show is the pacing. I feel like this story is too slow-paced and that they focus more on cute interactions between the girls rather than have an overarching story. Heck, plot progression with Gaou was practically snails’ pace. I did like the parts where it did get a bit serious like the whole debacle with Yuki and her overprotectiveness with Mayu and the first appearances of Torame and Zakuro. It’s crazy how Gaou only started to get involved towards the last quarter of the story. It’s like he’s non-existent despite being in the beginning.

The transformation sequences were very unbalanced, in all honesty. Like, why is the lead Cure’s transformation the weakest and the cat duo’s transformations are so different? I do feel like there is a bit of bias with the transformation sequence. I still admit that Nyammy’s the best transformation in the show.

The GaruGaru and later GaoGaons are fun to guess about, but I feel like it’s wasted opportunity to not have fish or insects. Maybe it’s because they’re not cute enough? Though, I do admit that having Torame be the ones to use the eggs and then have Zakuro be the ones to use pets to turn into GaoGaons was pretty creative. I was also surprised with how extinct animals were also a part of the enemy roster like a tsuchinoko and a T-Rex.

The Kirarin Animals are a nice gimmick, yet the animals used are super unbalanced. When was the last time Rabbit and Hamster were used? Animal choices were a bit odd like why are there two bears? If you wanted a lazy, sleepy animal, a sloth would’ve been better. Though, I do think that the Fox’s ability is the best because it brings about the craziest stunts. Tire Komugi will always be iconic.

Other than that, I think this is a solid Precure title. For me, it’s below Hirogaru Sky in terms of how much I enjoyed it, but it’s still good. I honestly can’t wait to see what You and Idol Precure has in store. I’ll see you guys next week for the premiere! Let me know your overall thoughts about Wonderful Precure!

[faline-cat444]

Gaou's reveal of being Subaru was a major point of discussion

In some ways the lack of mouth movement the wolf face made kind of makes sense due to it

[baileypie-writes]

~My Thoughts on Wonderful Pretty Cure! - Episodes 46-50~

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

Episode 46 - Meeeerry Christmas!:

This was a pretty typical Christmas episode. I don’t have much to say about it.

We did get some foreshadowing for Zakuro possibly being reformed or purified. I’m really curious if she’s gonna be present for the final battle or not.

I was super happy when we got that adorable moment between Satoru and Iroha. They love each other so much. It would be awesome if Iroha continues to wear that necklace for the rest of the season.

Besides all that, this episode was pretty stale.

My rating for this episode:

6/10 - D-

~~~~

Episode 47 - A Gaou New Year:

And so it begins. The final battle.

To be honest, the only thing I’m expecting is to see a giant wolf. Final battles in Pretty Cure always seem to have some giant monster to defeat. But other than that, I have no idea what’s gonna happen.

I’m glad that Zakuro is starting to come to her senses. Hopefully she can get Gaou to listen to her.

That’s all I have to say for this episode!

My rating for this episode:

7/10 - C-

~~~~

Episode 48 - Gaou’s Friends:

Niko down! Things are just getting worse here. Gaou took her power, and I don’t know what he’s gonna do with it.

But more importantly, that plot twist?! Hello?!

I can always predict the plot twists in Pretty Cure, but I didn’t see this one coming at all! So the whole time, it was just Subaru!

Now everything’s turning into a forest. I hope the Pretty Cure are gonna be okay!

My rating for this episode:

8/10 - B-

~~~~

Episode 49 - Your Voice:

This one was so sad.

Komugi got hurt, and even though I knew she was gonna be okay, I was scared for her. Iroha didn’t help either. She just made me more sad.

Also, Subaru having a whole mental breakdown was hard to watch. I was just waiting for him to be purified, so it would stop.

Next, the abrupt and disappointing transformations of Satoru and Daifuku. It happened so fast, and it didn’t last long either. Like at least give us an actual transformation sequence. But hey, I had convinced myself it wasn’t gonna happen at all. So I guess I should be more grateful.

Now, Subaru’s purified. So all we have to do is wait for the finale. I’m really hoping it’s gonna be a good one!

My rating for this episode:

9/10 - A-

~~~~

Episode 50 - Wonderful Forever!:

Well, it’s over. I still can’t believe it’s been a year already.

As usual for Pretty Cure, the last episode was both heart wrenching and heartwarming. I fully expected that the pets would lose their ability to speak and transform into humans once everything was over. But it was still sad to watch.

Iroha’s pain was so realistic. She felt as though she had lost Komugi, even though she was still there. It just wasn’t the same when she couldn’t talk.

I’m glad the mirror stone granted the animals the ability to speak again. I’m also satisfied that they couldn’t turn human. I feel it’s a good choice, because things still aren’t 100% the same as they used to be.

As for the baton pass, I really liked it! Cure Idol’s little cameo was so cute! Also, I’m assuming that little ribbon Cure Wonderful gave her has something to do with the show. I can’t wait to find out!

Anyways, here’s to the end of yet another season, and the start of a new one!

My rating for this episode:

9/10 - A-

~~~~

Final score for these episodes:

78% - C+

My final thoughts for this season are coming soon!

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

~~baileypie-writes

[darkcloud-kcalifornia]

Thoughts/Jokes on the Wonderful PreCure ep. 48 revelation:

“Okay gang, let’s see who the Ghost Wolf really is!”

*pulls off mask*

“Like, zoinks! It’s Subaru the hunter!”

And to think he might have been able to get away with his scheme to reclaim all the land in Animal Town if it wasn’t for those meddling kids and their dog.

-----

So, is “Gaou-sama” a case of a man having too many wolves or not enough wolves inside of him?

-----

Anyway, I do like this plot twist. Subaru has been a far better “environmental message” villain than Bell was.

On a somewhat more serious note, I wonder how Subaru/Gaou would’ve reacted to the suggestion or attempt to reintroduce wolves into the environment. There’s probably gonna need to be some kind of work to do to prep the area, and figure out how to keep them away from the ranches and farms without hurting them, but if the area used to have wolves supposedly the ecosystem would be able to handle them. Might even help things.

[regallibellbright]

Wonderful Precure thoughts

I think it's not necessarily a controversial opinion that the villain reveal weakens the season as a whole's exploration of human-caused extinctions. Like, it definitely loses some of its bite that Gaou was actually Subaru, and while I SUSPECT it's because the writers couldn't think of a kid-friendly resolution to "humans cause animals' extinctions and this extinct Japanese Wolf is understandably pissed at that" that ultimately rings true, I do think they probably could have managed it by focusing on the purely personal pacification like they did with Torame.

That said, given they DID walk it back that step and drew the focus so purely on Subaru's grief and pain, I do think that was probably the best execution they could have gotten out of it. The Komugi death fake out is JUST enough to get kids worried without feeling drawn out, and it does justify Komugi as our leader to me that she is ultimately the ONLY one who could get through to Subaru (because she can talk to wolves, so obviously a near-death experience lets her talk to Gaou.) Also I'm a sucker for whenever they break the magic name/civilian name barrier so Friendy screaming Komugi's name before she detransforms is great.

Also, the Pyonderful boys get another big moment outside the movie! Good for them. Glad to see it. Do wish Satoru got to keep his glasses as a magical boy the same way I wish that for Minori as Cure Papaya. Nyammy and Lillian get less to do here but since they had a bigger role last episode turning Zakuro, I don't mind it too much.