Anong Gentle, Gentle?! Introducing Cure Finale!

 

In the dawning hours of June 30, 2022, which happens to be the birthday of Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer aka Cure La Mer, Usagi Tsukino aka Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa aka Sailor Chibi Moon as well as MNL48 member Dian Mercado and former member Alyssa Garcia, plus the not-so festive and kinda dully as hell inauguration of the highly controversial 17th Philippines president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the identity of the fourth Delicious Party Pretty Cure has been revealed to the world by Toei Animation and it's none other than Amane Kasai, formerly the Bundoru Gang's food phantom thief Gentle, who was appeared at the beginning of the story. She is going to be transformed into Cure Finale starting from the current Pretty Cure season's 18th episode on July 10. Her birthday is revealed to be on November 24, a day after Doctor Who Day, and the birthdays of Madoka Kaguya aka Cure Selene from Star Twinkle and Scottish actress Michelle Gomez, who played the first female Master named Missy from the aforementioned sci-fi show.

With this announcement therefore, Ai Kayano (Darkness in KonoSuba, Hana Mutou in Captain Earth, Meiko "Menma" Honma in Anohana and Kirika Akatsuki in Senki Zesshou Symphogear) will be taking over from Rina Hidaka, the woman who played the aforementioned fighting mermaid queen in the global action magical girl show's previous season Tropical-Rouge!, as the newest midseason Cure heroine and making the third exclusive in the Reiwa era preceeding the former aforementioned and Suzuko Mimori, who played Asumi Fuurin aka Cure Earth in Healin' Good.

Amane will be the fifth redeemed midseason heroine after Fresh!'s Setsuna Higashi aka Cure Passion (voiced by Yuka Komatsu), Suite's Ellen Kurokawa aka Cure Beat (voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi), Go! Princess' Towa Akagi aka Cure Scarlet (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro) and HUGtto!'s Ruru Amour aka Cure Amour (voiced by Yukari Tamura), and the very first from planet Earth. However, she is also the first midseason Cure from the planet since HUGtto!'s Emiru Aisaki (voiced by Nao Tamura) in 2019 and the fourth to have a sibling (in this case, twin brothers) after HeartCatch!'s Itsuki Myoudouin aka Cure Sunshine (voiced by Houko Kuwashima), Happiness Charge!'s Iona Hikawa aka Cure Fortune (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) and the latter aforementioned. 

In the Cure series' official YouTube channel, Kayano takes on some delicious smiled questions during a video interview that is posted there. 

Q. "How did you feel when you were chosen to play the role of PreCure?" 

Kayano: At first, I was feeling happy slowly, but it hadn't hit me yet, vaguely thinking, "I'm going to play the role now, I'm going to be a part of this family." When I met with the cast and staff and heard their passion for PreCure, I felt more and more like, "This is real!" Amane (who transforms into PreCure after the Phantom Thief Gentle) has a lot of emotional turmoil, so the staff asked me to play that part of her well, and I felt a lot of pressure. But I was very happy to be entrusted with such a role, and I looked forward to receiving the script every week. I also felt that everyone on the staff was supporting me as much as possible, so I have participated in the recording session every week with the hope of responding to their wishes. 

Q. "What is the appeal of the PreCure series?" 

Kayano: Each PreCure series has a strong theme, and I feel a passionate desire "to convey this to children." I think that the charm of the PreCure series lies in the fact that all the staff members share the same passion and are working hard in the same direction. I feel like my heart is ignited by that passion, and I think that "Delicious Party Pretty Cure" in particular is filled with "warm hearts" (on the production site as well). When I was chosen to play Amane-chan, a friend contacted me. A mother with a young child said to me, "You're going to be in PreCure!" I was so happy to hear that. I felt that "PreCure" is a work that is watched by so many people, even people who don't usually watch anime, and it made me feel like I had to work even harder. I want to to love Amane Kasai/Cure Finale myself, and I hope that everyone will love her too. 

Q. "What is the most important meal for you?" 

Kayano: It must be "mother's food." I wouldn't trade it for anything. Ever since I was a child, the "winning meal" in the Kayano family was always "green pepper stuffed with meat." And, what surprised me when I read the scenario of a little future episode this time was the appearance of "Fruit Punch with Shiratama (rice cake ball)" in the story. I felt it was my destiny because I used to make "Fruit Punch with Shiratama" with my mother when I was a child. On a special day, I was eating it, so I felt I had something in common with Amane-chan. I want to make it again, and on special occasions, I think I will be a little selfish to ask my mother to make it for me (laughs). "Delicious" is something important that can be expanded upon. I hope that "Delicious Party Pretty Cure" will provide more opportunities for everyone to enjoy "delicious." 

As always like all the midseason Cure seiyuus that came before, I'm super excited for Kayano to take on the iconic Pretty Cure heroine role and she'll be nailed it as well. I'm also looking forward to see Amane-tan in action as Finale and what things are in store. 

What do you think about Amane-tan as the newest midseason Cure heroine? Are you excited to see her in action? Comment down below, on my Facebook page and Instagram @yonakuromatoki or my Twitter @goddessyona13. 

References:

https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2022/06/29-1/ai-kayano-is-confirmed-as-the-voice-of-cure-finale-in-delicious-party-pretty-cure?utm_source=community_cr&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=news_en&referrer=community_cr_twitter_news

https://youtu.be/oATQ8kNu4qs

My Emiru Aisaki Birthday Special Appreciation Thread

Hello guys and gals, Yona here and welcome to my special appreciation blog post about our birthday girl and forever ma gurl on having fictional heroes as inspirations, Emiru Aisaki aka Cure Macherie from Hugtto! PreCure!

Alright to make this post a bit short, I'm going to do a brief profile for those who are new to the fandom and then the reason I adore this brilliant lad so much, so here I go...

Emiru is third grade schooler that became a Cure after Ako Shirabe/Cure Muse from Suite and Aguri Madoka/Cure Ace from Doki Doki!, and the very first from planet Earth plus the youngest member of the Hugtto Cures. She's also the youngest daughter of the Aisaki conglomerate clan and what's different from the other Cures who're rich kids, she plays the modern electric guitar rather than the classic instruments like the piano and the violin. Emiru has a big bro that's Masato, who I literally despised at first due to being a drop dead misogynist. Fortunately thanks to Henri Wakamiya, he quickly changed his ways and began to open up to others. Phew, I'm glad that we already a very wholesome yaoi couple in the Cure series! But, we also have our lovable Emiru and our wonderful Ruru Amour, or Cure Amour, being brilliant and romantically best friends that stand the tests of time.

Anyways in case you missed my mid-season Cures watchalongs, check out my top 5 Macherie and Amour moments here: https://yonakuromatoki.blogspot.com/2020/07/twinlove-my-top-5-emiru-aisakicure.html?m=1

Now why do I love Emiru so much? Because not only she embodies about what a true hero should be and has a wonderful love for music, but because her perseverance and determination really captures and inspires everyone even in the times of distress and drought. Her friendship with Ruru is so amazing and wholesome, and I do really, really adore them very much, but they also make straight right in my feels (especially in the finale ugh deym feels yo)! 

Okay feels aside, her character songs, again with Ruru, are pretty catchy, energetic and wonderful to the ears and I can't stop listening and singing them for several times on my phone's playlist as in seriously, I would gonna stan Twin Love for life you know? But more than these stuff mentioned, Emiru is one of the characters that I related the most due to similarities in loving various things and being persevered and determined to fight for what's right even in a little way.

Happy birthday to Emiru! Well, I wish all the best to her and keep rocking always, also a big shout out to her seiyuu, Nao Tamura, for bringing us this lovable heroine to life! I'm still pushing to cosplay her and have a con/shoot debut once this godforsaken pandemic will be cleared.

Thanks for reading another special post on my blog! What's your birthday wish for Emiru? What are your favorite moments from her? And if you have a merch of her, please do a share on the comment box below, on my FB page or my Twitter @goddessyk13.

#TwinLove: My Top 5 Emiru Aisaki/Cure Macherie and Ruru Amour/Cure Amour Moments!

Aye yo what's up, guys?! Yona here once again and welcome to the last two weeks of The Road to Cure Earth Watchalongs and also, welcome to the second half of 2020 yeet~! Well, as we all know that Healin' Good PreCure had just resumed last Sunday and the best thing for our mates in the Americas and Oceania, the season will be streamed on Crunchyroll! Plus, the recent scans and text translations (shout out to Cure Wiki's Bikki for the latter) regarding Cure Earth's debut make me sooooo freaking excited for her even more and also, the plot twist is very surprising aye?! Well, that would be on my next post.

Before we're moving on, let's finish these last two pre-watchalong special posts as we travel back to 2018 aka the so advanced 15th anniversary of the PreCure series and we have not one, but two mid-season Cures debuting in the same episode! I'm talking about Emiru Aisaki and Ruru Amour aka Cures Macherie and Amour from Hugtto! PreCure.

Emiru is the third grade schooler that became a Cure after Ako Shirabe/Cure Muse from Suite and Aguri Madoka/Cure Ace from Doki Doki!, the very first to do so from planet Earth, and the third mid-season Cure from the blue planet after Itsuki Myoudouin/Cure Sunshine from Heart Catch! and Iona Hikawa/Cure Fortune from Happiness Charge!

Meanwhile, Ruru is the fourth redeemed Cure after Setsuna Higashi/Cure Passion from Fresh!, Ellen Kurokawa/Cure Beat from Suite and Towa Akagi/Cure Scarlet from Go! Princess, and the very first robotic Cure heroine, in which the latter part has a quite nice call back and tribute to two of the Cure series' classic spiritual mahou shoujo predecessors, Toei Animation's Miracle Shoujo Limit-chan and Cutie Honey.

As always in the past pre-watchalong proper posts, here are my top 5 Macherie and Amour moments!

5. Same misunderstanding, different case

Episode 22 with Cures Black and White as special guests, and it quickly reminded me much of episode 8 of Futari wa having the same software with Emiru and Ruru yet with different cases, and that it's okay to be misunderstood at each other and that makes them stronger even more.

4. Concert in the pool

When Hana was on a blink of crippling depression due to George Kurai, our cutie idols came to the rescue for a mini concert for everyone, and to snapped our cheering leader out of her senses and fought back harder.

3. Friendship never ends

Episode 19 was another wonderful moment from these two and when Emiru learned about Ruru being an android, by in which the latter said that someone like her couldn't be a Cure. However, the two decided to be heroines together then we had a first hear on "Friends With You" as the ending for that episode.

2. A twinning maiden debut full of love

Speaking of which, Macherie and Amour's maiden debut was soooo lit and also we had got a first hear of their signature character song which quite reminded me of the fighting BGMs in Symphogear though. Also, I like how Mother Heart splitting the last PreHeart into two all thanks to their wishing of becoming Cures together with a brilliant miracle and it was amazing to see that way.

1. An emotionally timey wimey reunion

The season finale episode got me a lot of feels and the epilogue was all going wibbly wobbly timey wimey since the future had changed 12 years later! That aside, the grown-up Emiru got an emotional reunion with a little Ruru, though the latter hadn't have any memories of them which made me so sad. Anyway, I got emotionally brink up when they sang "Friends With You" again together and it was so touchable to watch at least.

That concludes my top 5 Macherie and Amour moments! What are your favorite moments from them? Comment here, on FB page or on my Twitter @goddessyk13.

#PhoenixBlaze: My Top 5 Towa Akagi/Cure Scarlet Moments

Gokigenyou! Before anything else, I'd like to greet a very happy birthday to Saaya Yakushiji aka Cure Ange from Hugtto! PreCure! How we are still missing our angel so much but yep, we still love and adore her, so here's another year full of endless hugs to Saaya.

Anyway, welcome to another edition of The Road to Cure Earth Watchalongs and this week, we're relieving the blazing and scorching debut of Towa Akagi aka Cure Scarlet from Go! Princess. Towachi is the third redeemed heroine in the Cure series after Setsuna Higashi/Cure Passion from Fresh! and Ellen Kurokawa/Cure Beat from Suite. She is followed by Ruru Amour/Cure Amour from Hugtto!, who debuted alongside Emiru Aisaki/Cure Macherie.

Without further ado before the watchalong proper, here are my top 5 Scarlet moments!

5. Hydrophobia strikes

Towachi is basically having hydrophobia, or the fear of any body of water especially the ocean, as revealed in the beach episode, which is ironically fitting considered her powers as a Cure.

4. Emotional reunion with an amnesiac Kanata

One of the episodes that hits me so hard emotionally from the season when the gang finally reunited with Kanata, who actually and really survives Dys Dark's wrath, but has amnesia which makes our blazing Towachi sadden so much.

3. Her first debut as the Black Princess

I was struck about Twilight's debut in awe yet somebody told me that she was gonna be a Cure one day. Anyways, very majestic but nerve chilling one and I like how she matches her Black Keys with the Princess Cures' Dress Up Keys, plus her staff is too amazing coz of its design and her melancholic violin tune for me might be used in funerals.

2. Saving Mochizuki-sensei

I love how Scarlet now utilizes about teamwork and fixing mistakes, and uses Mochizuki-sensei's words as a better trigger to save the principal from despair, something which is a return of the favor, with the power of dreams. Later on, she was enrolled in Noble Academy and goes with the surname Akagi which means "red castle" or "red dragon" at the end of the episode, in which made a surprise about Mochizuki-sensei's truth.

1. A scorching hot debut as the fourth Princess Cure

One of the most wonderful mid-season Cure debuts in the franchise, Scarlet's is basically not exempted in that! Her violin duet with Flora is so beautiful, and I like how she bravely faces Dyspear and replies back that she's not Twilight anymore before dragging into despair once more. However, her renewed dream of becoming a Grand Princess and resolution on committing her sins lead to becoming a Cure. Her entrance is so, so hot yet amazing and I love how the Scarlet Violin was born from her lovable bond with Kanata. Scarlet also vows to bringing back her brother in front of her new teammates.

That concludes my top 5 moments featuring Scarlet! What are your favorite moments from her? Comment here, on my FB page or on my Twitter @goddessyk13.

The Goddess' Playlist (Blog Comeback Edition): "Kimi to Tomodachi (Friends With You)" by Nao Tamura and Yukari Tamura

Ruru Amour (left) and Emiru Aisaki (right) singing together outside the Beauty
Harry shop (the Hugtto Cures' secret base), as seen in Hugtto! PreCure
episode 18

After more than two years of absence, guess who's back with a new post?

Welcome to the bigger, bolder and better than ever blog of Yona Kuromatoki and this time, I'm going to do the revamped Goddess' Playlist featuring one of my favorite songs from the currently aired Hugtto! PreCure, "Kimi to Tomodachi (Friends With You)" by Nao Tamura and Yukari Tamura as their characters Emiru Aisaki/Cure Macherie and Ruru Amour/Cure Amour.

First heard as an instrumental-slash-humming version in the 15th episode of the current Cure season, the song was used as an ending theme for the 18th episode aired on June 3, 2018 and included in the season's first vocal album, ~Powerful Yell~, just last July 4 under Marvelous, Inc. Written by Fumi Tsubota, the head writer of Hugtto!, with arrangements and compositions done by Masayuki Fukutomi and Noriko Fujimoto, "Kimi to Tomodachi" reminded us on how the friendship between Emiru and Ruru become very sweet and touching despite their differences (that's right, darlings, Emiru is a human like us and Ruru is an android and a time traveler), and at the same time, one of the relaxed songs I've heard in the anison sub-genre. Surely, you won't get sick and tired of listening and singing this song that in which is perfect while getting stuck on the current traffic jam situation.

Anyway, enjoy this latest blog entry of mine and yep, welcome back to the blog scene!

PS. I'm now writing the Filipino translated version of the song, but boi this is kinda as tough as my winning piece in the Pinoy Otaku Festival's Tagalized Star karaoke contest! But either way, wish me luck.

--XX--

Japanese Romaji

Todoketai koto aru nda
Kimi no koto suki nanda
Futari no hāto ribon de musubu
Tomodachi ni narou yo
Egao
(Egao)
Namida
(Namida) Gyutto suru mune no oku
Soko ni kokoro kirameku
Kimi to watashi dekoboko
Zenzen chigau futari dane
Keredo hāto hagu kasanetara
Māruku okkē dayo
Zutto zutto
(Zutto zutto)
Tomodachi
Hāto wo ribon de musubou

English Translation

I have so many things to say to you
Such as all the things I love about you
Tie our hearts together with a little ribbon
That lets you and I become friends
Your smile
(Your smile)
And tears
(And tears) squeezes something so deep inside
Right there, where our hearts are shining bright

You and I may be a strange pair
As well as completely different people
But maybe if we hug our hearts together
Everything will be okay
We'll forever be
(We'll forever be)
The best of friends
Whose hearts are tied together by a ribbon

Special ending video

Audio version with lyrics