User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage

Return to Episode 6 | Return to the Table of Contents | Advance to Episode 7 Here it is: the movie we’ve all been waiting for! (Or at least I have, anyway.) Once again, this movie contains the characters from all nine Pretty Cure seasons, not just Smile. This means that this movie contains spoilers as to some of the Cures’ identities, which are big reveals in some seasons. This also means that it didn’t get dubbed in English. If you aren’t comfortable with this, skip ahead to Episode 7. This movie is not necessary to understand Smile Pretty Cure!

This movie starts us right off with the conflict. Everyone in Japan is doing their own thing, when a giant metal dinosaur named Fusion wreaks havoc on the city. His goal is to turn everything into pitch black nothingness (Motivation? Well-written goals? Who needs that?) He creates explosions and sets the entire city on fire. Then, magical rainbow lightning temporarily stops the attacks. Turns out Pretty Cure is there: all 23 of them (at least, all 23 that aren’t from Smile! or just this movie)! Somehow, the entire crowd has good enough vision to make them out.

The various fairy companions from the previous movies are cheering the team on. They’re holding Miracle Lights, little glowstick things that have been introduced in every Pretty Cure movie since 2008. The audience in the theater receives a bunch of real-life Miracle Lights, which they’re supposed to use to cheer Pretty Cure on. I find it obnoxious, honestly, but Toei keeps doing it, so I guess it works?

At the beginning of every movie with Miracle Lights, the fairies teach the audience how to use them. The usual spiel involves not swinging them around too hard and not shining it in other people’s eyes. This time, Tart, a ferret-shaped fairy from Fresh Pretty Cure does the job. The crowd below starts cheering Pretty Cure on along with the fairies. I don’t know about you, but the idea that I’m supposed to shout, “Go for it, Pretty Cure!” over and over is simply cringy. We all know they’re going to win anyway.

Then, we have our opening theme: "Pretty Cure ~Forever Friends~". Yes, in the Pretty Cure franchise, even movies have theme songs! The first three movies had the same theme, which was catchy and enjoyable. I’m not sure if I like this one as much. Anyway, the entire team says the mouthful of a title in unison. Look at all of them! That crowd is huge, and it’ll only get bigger from here on out (at least until 2017)!

The intro starts one by displaying all of the past Cures, one by one. It’s cool, even if the song is boring. Then, we get to see all the non-Smile Cures fight Fusion! It’s a pretty cool fight scene, and we get to see how all of them attack together! They end up defeating Fusion with little effort. As everything goes back to normal, all that’s left of him are metallic globs sizzling on the ground.

We cut to a news report of the event, which a new brunette girl is watching. She’s never heard of Pretty Cure before, but now that she has, she wants to be one. Her name is Ayumi, and she’s nervous because she’s going to a new school where she won’t know anyone. Her mom tells her to just talk to people. Ayumi thinks she’ll be able to when she hears other girls talking about Pretty Cure, but before she can talk to them, the bell rings and they leave.

We cut back to a group of fairies celebrating Pretty Cure’s victory. This includes all of the fairies from Fresh to Suite, the 3 most recent seasons before Smile. Due to the huge cast, only the characters from Fresh or later get speaking lines. While I wish I could hear the Cures from before then, in terms of mascots, this is fine by me: the first five seasons had some fairies with particularly annoying voices.

Potpourri, one of the fairies from Heartcatch, wants to eat, but Chypre and Coffret, from the same season, tell him/her not to eat before everyone else. However, a fragment of Fusion eats some of the food and sneaks away, leading the others to accuse Tart of eating before everyone else. They start to get mad at him, but when they notice the fragment, they do their best to chase him out. In this panic, only Chiffon, a baby fairy from Fresh, is able to solve things with her psychic powers, teleporting the fragment into a bottle.

Meanwhile, Ayumi is walking home from school, upset. She sees something squirming under a leaf. At first, she’s grossed out because she thinks it’s a caterpillar, but then, deciding it’s in pain, picks up the leaf, releasing it. It’s a yellow glob that appears to be part of Fusion. The glob happily bounces onto Ayumi’s shoulder, and Ayumi, having become friends with it, names it Fuu-chan.

We then cut to the Smile team, who are trying to find Fusion, even though they didn’t participate in the fight. Miyuki is calling Fusion’s name, hoping he’ll come out, but actually making herself look ridiculous. Reika tells her that if it were that easy, all five of them wouldn’t have to search. Candy leads the group on to think she knows how to find him, then hides in Miyuki’s bag and admits she doesn’t know.

Back to Ayumi and Fuu-chan! Ayumi asks Fuu-chan if it’s all alone, and she tells it that she’s new, too. When Ayumi sees a pretty bracelet and stops to admire it, Fuu-chan turns into a yellow clone of the bracelet. Ayumi is amazed, and Fuu-chan spins around happily. Behind them, Miyuki is looking for Fusion, but since she isn’t looking where she’s going, she bumps into Ayumi. The two make eye contact as Ayumi trips. When Ayumi regains her footing, she apologizes to Miyuki and runs away. Miyuki chases after her. During this scene, we see two minor characters: Momoka from Heartcatch and a character from Fresh who also happens to be named Miyuki.

We then cut to the team from Suite. Hibiki, the team leader and the civilian form of Cure Melody, is looking for Fusion with a magnifying glass. She thinks she sees Fusion, but it’s really Hummy, her cat-shaped fairy companion. The other members of the team make fun of her. Then, Ayumi runs by and bumps into Hibiki. As Ayumi apologizes, Hibiki recognizes Ayumi’s bracelet. Miyuki then runs past them, too, and Hibiki chases after Miyuki.

As Ayumi panics, Hibiki picks up a final burst of speed and gets in front of her. Ayumi stops, but Miyuki keeps running and crashes into Hibiki. As they fall, Miyuki and Hibiki stare at each other, feeling a connection to each other. They don’t know it yet, but this is what happens when two Pretty Cure leaders meet in an All Stars movie.

Ayumi is scared, but it turns out the two were chasing after her in order to apologize. Miyuki is sad that she bumped into her, and Hibiki worries that she damaged her bracelet. Ayumi hides Fuu-chan behind her back and says it’s fine. The three make up, and as Ayumi walks away, she thinks it was weird that they went so far to apologize, but they seem nice. Meanwhile, Hibiki and Miyuki realize they’re lost.

Ayumi walks home, but is spooked by a barking dog. As she cowers in fear, Fuu-chan leaps down to defend her. Fearing for its life, Ayumi grabs Fuu-chan and runs away, telling it that it’s dangerous for someone that small to do that. Fuu-chan inner-monologues that it wants to become bigger, and it summons other pieces of Fusion.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Meanwhile, Hibiki and Miyuki take a break from searching for their friends. Hibiki is sure she’ll bump into her friends, and Miyuki asks how she knows. Meanwhile, Hummy (the cat fairy from Suite) gives Candy a cupcake made by Kanade (one of Hibiki’s friends. She’s really good at cake-making and transforms into Cure Rhythm.) Miyuki then reacts in shock as Hummy talks, and Hibiki is equally shocked that Candy (whom she calls a piglet) talks.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Candy, as usual, protests that she isn’t a piglet, and Hummy explains that she and Candy are good friends. One of the oddities about the All Stars franchise is that while the newest Pretty Cure team has to be introduced to the older ones, all the fairies automatically know each other. It isn’t explained why Candy never mentions Hummy in the actual show. Another oddity is that Cure Beat and Cure Muse, who were introduced in the middle of Suite and thus weren’t in the last All Stars movie, already know the other Cures. It’s the same with other mid-season Cures.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Hibiki and Miyuki start to suspect that they’re fellow Pretty Cures. Suddenly, however, a green blob shoots between them. It’s Fusion. However, Hibiki needs to be with Kanade to transform. As she runs off to find her, Miyuki follows. More fragments of Fusion (which, for some reason, are green; what determines the colors of these things?) unite. As Hibiki is running, her friends catch up with her. Kanade scolds her for running off carelessly, but Hibiki says she thought she’d find them along the way if she kept searching for Fusion. Kanade smiles and blushes, and the two of them, plus Eren and Ako, transform into Cure Melody, Cure Rhythm, Cure Beat, and Cure Muse. Unbeknownst to them, Miyuki is watching.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Also, may I say that looking back at the Suite team’s transformation is awesome? It’s not the best in the franchise, but that’s because it’s got some stiff competition from past seasons like Heartcatch and future seasons like Mahoutsukai (from 2016). But it’s beautiful. The music is awesome, the effects are creative, the transformation is elaborate, and I just smiled when I saw it. It’s better than Smile’s transformations, which, although good, are on the short side and pretty standard, at least for Pretty Cure. The gloves appear, the boots appear, the dress appears, the hair gets styled. It’s still great – almost all Pretty Cure transformations are great – but Suite leaves Smile in the dust.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Also, the subtitles call them “Precure.” That’s probably canon, most likely, but many fans, like me, prefer the term “Pretty Cure." Not only is "Precure" just an abbreviation of "Pretty Cure", but "Pretty Cure" is also the term used in the seasons' official English logos.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Back to the story! Miyuki is amazed. As the Suite team starts to freak out that they were spotted transforming, Miyuki transforms into Cure Happy. The five Cures jump into the sky. Muse (the yellow one) is shocked that Miyuki’s another Cure, but Happy just says it’s nice to meet them.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">As the five go off to fight Fusion, we cut to Ayumi’s house. As Ayumi leaves to help her mom with dinner, Fuu-chan floats toward the ceiling, trying to become bigger.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut back to the action. The pieces of Fusion have conglomerated into four big, green balls. The Suite team goes to take them down in an excellent fight scene. At first, I said that Smile’s fight scenes weren’t that bad, but now I’ve noticed some of the minimalization of punches and kicks there. I worried that this toning-down would seep into New Stage, but I found myself happily surprised. The four Suite Cures are awesome, at least in the movie (it’s not this awesome in the actual series, unfortunately. Still good, though). Watching them punch, kick, dodge, and wall jump is incredible. It’s like I’m watching the first season again!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The discrepancy may be due to style, or it might be due to the Smile team’s inexperience. Generally, in All Stars movies, the newest Cures have to be helped out by the previous season’s team. This is shown in the fight scene. Happy is overwhelmed by the Suite girls’ skill, and as a monster flies towards her, the only thing she can think to do is headbutt it. As she falls over, dizzy, Melody kicks the Fusion ball into the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Happy asks Melody to leave the ball to her. Melody agrees, and she kills it with her Happy Shower. Unfortunately, the other three balls combine into a big, purple one. Fortunately, four are stronger than one. Melody and Rhythm use their Music Rondos, Beat uses Heartful Beat Rock (or Lock; it could be translated either way. Japanese doesn’t have separate “r” and “l” sounds.), and Muse uses Sparkling Shower. I believe that just like the transformations, the attacks are better in Suite. Not only are they more complex, but they cause a freaking explosion. Man, I forgot how much I enjoyed Suite!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">All right, enough blathering around; all seasons of Pretty Cure are awesome, anyway. The other members of the Smile team run over to see what the explosion was. Akane notices Happy on top of a building. The Suite team goes to look for Fusion fragments, and Happy rhapsodizes over how cool they were.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Back at Ayumi’s house, Fuu-chan hasn’t gotten any bigger, causing it to be upset. Ayumi takes her dessert to her room, so Fuu-chan can eat it and grow. While Ayumi is sleeping later that night, Fuu-chan decides to grow bigger by eating more, so it slides through the window, towards the dog from earlier as the screen cuts to black… did Fuu-chan eat a dog? Wow, this movie just got dark.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Meanwhile, back with the fairies, Coffret is yelling that Fusion is getting closer and will eat them all. This gets the other Heartcatch fairies upset, even when Coffret explains it was a joke (I don’t get it, but okay). Potpourri, one of them, bumps into Tart. As Potpourri apologizes, it (Potpourri’s gender hasn’t been confirmed) sees Tart holding a Miracle Light. Tart says he’s getting them ready, because even with Pretty Cure doing their best, Fusion is really tough to defeat.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The next morning, Fuu-chan has finally become bigger. It’s also able to talk. Ayumi is proud of Fuu-chan. Fuu-chan asks if Ayumi is its friend, and Ayumi says she is. They eat ice cream, go back to that market from earlier, and bond. At Ayumi’s house, they play a tennis video game with motion controls (much like the Wii). Interestingly, the background music for this game is an instrumental of the second ending them of Suite Pretty Cure.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ayumi’s mom comes in and scolds her. She’s only allowed to play video games for an hour a day, and she exceeded that. After an argument, Ayumi shouts that she hates her mother and she runs away with Fuu-chan disguised as an armband. They run by the owner of the dog Fuu-chan ate, who is calling out for his pet.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Outside, Fuu-chan asks if she really hates her mom, and Ayumi says she does. She also says she hates school and having to move, and wishes the city would disappear. Fuu-chan seems to get a sinister idea. Then, Miyuki sees Ayumi again, and fully introduces herself, saying it’s fine to just call her Miyuki. Ayumi introduces herself as Sakagami Ayumi, and Miyuki calls her by her personal name, too.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Then, the rest of the Smile team finds Miyuki and scolds her for running off again. Miyuki gets a bit mad, but then goes right back to happy as she explains to the others what happened. Ayumi is jealous that Miyuki has so many friends, and whispers, “Why her?” This causes Fuu-chan to see Miyuki and the others as enemies, and it splits into five parts and starts attacking them. In response, the five of them transform, leaving Ayumi in shock.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Cure Sunny uses Sunny Fire to attack Fuu-chan, but it eats the attack and turns red, having absorbed her power. Nonetheless, the team attacks in an exciting slew of punches and kicks that outdoes anything from the show so far. Cure March then uses March Shoot, but Fuu-chan eats it again, causing it to grow, turn green and gain March’s super speed. The girls try punching and kicking, but it avoids all their attacks, falling only when Cure Happy hits from behind.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Cure Peace takes the opportunity to use Peace Thunder, but it only causes Fuu-chan to grow even more, still possessing super speed. The fight becomes even more challenging, but even so, the Cures still manage to distract Fuu-chan and gain the upper hand. I love the way this fight scene is orchestrated. Fuu-chan is a real challenge, and the girls use pure ingenuity to win the day.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Cure Beauty uses Beauty Blizzard (seriously, these guys should know better), causing Fuu-chan to become absolutely gargantuan. The girls start to panic, wondering what to do to defeat the thing. Just then, however, the Suite team comes in. Melody tells them not to give up hope. The Smile team, realizing the Suite team must be older Pretty Cures, introduce themselves, but Muse says now’s not the time.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ayumi despairs because Pretty Cure are fighting her only friend. The nine girls, not noticing this, leap into the air. Before they can do any more damage, Ayumi runs between Pretty Cure and Fuu-chan, begging them not to hurt her friend. Fuu-chan notices Ayumi’s sadness and shrinks back down, hugging her. Rhythm tells Ayumi that Fuu-chan is part of Fusion, the monster that terrorized the city. When she and Muse ask Ayumi to hand it over for the safety of the city, she refuses and runs away. Happy tries to grab Fuu-chan, but Fuu-chan extends and slaps her away. In the ensuing dust cloud, Ayumi and Fuu-chan make their escape.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">On the way back to her house, Ayumi is distraught to have become any enemy of Pretty Cure. Fuu-chan asks if she’s all right. Ayumi says she is, and that she’ll protect Fuu-chan no matter what. Fuu-chan says that it’ll protect Ayumi, too. Just then, Ayumi’s mom comes in and scolds her for running off. Fuu-chan attacks, and Ayumi’s mom disappears.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ayumi asks Fuu-chan if it knows where her mom went, and it says it killed her. Ayumi realizes that it must have eaten the dog, too. She asks why it would do such a thing, and Fuu-chan says that it was to grow big in order to make her wish come true. It plans to destroy everything that angers of frightens Ayumi, repeating how Ayumi said she hated her school and the city. Ayumi stares in horror as Fuu-chan slides through the door, going to fulfill her “wish.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Fuu-chan summons a bunch of other Fusion fragments to its location. The fragments eat buildings they see along the way. Ayumi runs off, trying to find Fuu-chan, but gets pushed back by a crowd that contains some of the minor characters from past seasons. Muse tries using Sparkling Shower on one of them, but like before, it absorbs it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ayumi finally gets within view of the tower Fuu-chan is on top of. The Smile team finds her and asks if the Fusion fragment on top of the tower was her “little Fusion.” Ayumi cries and starts to run away, but Happy says she knows Ayumi wants to tell them about something. Ayumi breaks and tells them everything, begging them to help her and stop Fuu-chan. She thinks that the entire thing is her fault.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Happy and the others just tell her to go up to Fuu-chan and tell it how she really feels. Ayumi says she can’t because she’s not brave or strong like Pretty Cure. Then, the Suite team comes in, and Muse tells them that they became Pretty Cure not because they were strong, but because they had someone they wanted to protect. Beat and Melody say similar things. This finally convinces Ayumi, and the ten of them go off to talk to Fuu-chan.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Along the way, several more Fusion fragments pop up, and the Cures deal with them. Ayumi worries that Fuu-chan has already forgotten her, but Beauty believes she’s too far away for Fuu-chan to ascertain her identity. When Ayumi wonders if she can really make it, Peace and Sunny explain that the girls of Pretty Cure are really just normal girls. We get a funny scene where Peace gets taken away by monsters, Melody saves her, and Peace repeatedly bows in apology, all while Sunny, March, and Beauty get into an argument. This gets Ayumi in a good mood. As the Smile team and Ayumi set off, Melody says that her group should leave Ayumi in Happy’s hands, while they take care of the fragments.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Further along the way, more pieces of Fusion overpower the six girls. A dog-shaped fragment is about to attack Ayumi, with the Smile Cures incapacitated, when Potpourri comes in and creates a shield, defeating the fragment. The Heartcatch team comes in (hooray!), with Itsuki (the yellow tomboy of the group) lecturing Erika (the blue one) on her navigation. Melody is relieved to see that four more have arrived. Yuri (the purple one) says they should transform, and they agree and do so.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Man, if Suite’s transformation is awesome, Heartcatch’s is even better! I love the music and the ways the costumes appear (Tsubomi (the pink one) and Erika look like they’re having so much fun transforming each other!), the girls take an active role by spraying perfume to make their outfits appear, and the hair is absolutely gorgeous. It’s so shiny and the colors are so bright and dynamic! Tsubomi, Erika, Itsuki, and Yuri transform into Cures Blossom, Marine, Sunshine, and Moonlight respectively. Try remembering all those on top of everyone else!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ayumi is rightfully amazed. As if that weren’t enough Pretty Cures, Tart announces that there’s four more! We then see the Fresh team. Unlike the slight introduction for the Heartcatch team, Love (the leader, and, of course, the pink one) just says, “Let’s go!” an d they transform. The transformation isn’t as good as Heartcatch or Suite, but the music is memorable and it’s fun to watch… okay, maybe I shouldn’t recap every transformation I see. The pink one is Peach, the blue one is Berry, the yellow one is Pine, and the red one is Passion.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Peach is relieved that they made it, and Berry says that it was no thanks to her navigation. Pine tries to calm them down, and Marine says she can relate. Blossom then says that they’ll attack the Fusion fragment, who has been patiently waiting while the Pretty Cures engaged in comedic banter. Happy tells them that Fusion will just eat any attacks they throw at it, but Moonlight has a plan. Blossom, Marine, Sunshine, and Moonlight attack at once, knocking the fragment of Fusion into the water. It just eats the attacks and floats upward, even larger than before. Moonlight says that since the fragments will eat the largest source of power they can find, they can lure them away from Ayumi. The Heartcatch team leads the fragment off, and the Fresh team joins them with their attacks. The Smile team runs off, but before Ayumi goes with them, she shouts, “Thank you!” to the entire group.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">As the six remaining girls move forward, a giant Fusion hand reaches out of the ocean, holding a boat. A bunch of other pieces of Fusion join it. Realizing that they’re gong to launch the boat, the Smile team leaps to help the other Cures stop it, leaving Peace to protect Ayumi. The 16 Cures barely manage to stop the boat. Tart says they won’t be able to hold it much longer, and Hummy begs the audience to wave their Miracle Lights to call out the rest of Pretty Cure.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">A bunch of Fusion arms knock the current teams away from the boat, causing it to slide again. Fortunately, Cure Black, Cure White, and Shiny Luminous from the first two seasons see the light from the Miracle Lights and go to help, stopping the boat by themselves just as it hits the ground. Hummy tells the audience to keep it up and summon even more Pretty Cures. Cure Bloom and Cure Egret from Splash Star arrive, using a magical shield to destroy one of the fragments. Finally, with one last call, Dream, Rouge, Lemonade, Mint, Aqua, and Milky Rose from Yes 5 and GoGo appear. Beauty counts them, finding that there are 28 Cures in total. Peace is excited to have so many friends. The Smile and Suite teams guide Ayumi towards the tower, and everyone else stays to fight.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">As the group runs on, another fragment attacks Happy, but Ayumi pushes her out of the way and the fragment eats her. Inside of it, barely clinging to consciousness, Ayumi thinks that even though she thought she was alone, she now knows that people will understand if she talks about her feelings, and decides she will reach Fuu-chan no matter what. She gets encompassed by a bright light, causing the fragment to fall apart around her and transforming her into Cure Echo. If you notice, her bow and the top of her dress resemble the Smile outfits. Cool, huh? What bugs me, though, is that this was a Deux Ex Machina. They didn’t even use the Miracle Lights!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Everyone is shocked, especially Echo herself. Beat and Muse explain that it was the kindness in her heart and desire to protect that turned her into the 29th Pretty Cure. As Echo and the others go forward, the fairies decide to cheer Echo on with their Miracle Lights.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Suddenly, a wave of darkness engulfs the team. This stops Melody and Happy, but Echo has kept going and is now lost on the darkness, unsure of where to go. Fortunately, the Miracle Lights, which are basically Deus Ex Machina creators at this point, are used to create a path expelling the darkness and leading Echo straight to Fuu-chan. Finally reaching her friend, Echo tells Fuu-chan everything. Realizing that its friend is no longer upset, and that it has fulfilled her wishes just by being her friend, Fuu-chan goes back to normal and hugs Echo. Echo de-transforms, the white Cure Décor involved in her transformation falling to the ground. The Fresh and Heartcatch teams speculate that Fuu-chan is really what Fusion was meant to be: a kind-hearted and gentle being.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Unfortunately, the other fragments don’t share this view. They conglomerate into a black monster. It attacks Ayumi, but Happy, and later the rest of the Smile Cures, block it with magical shields. When their shields start to crack, Fuu-chan turns itself into a yellow powder, powering up the five of them. As the fairies cheer them on, the Smile Cures destroy the giant Fusion monster.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">It seems that Fuu-chan is stuck as a powder, unable to return to its normal form. Fortunately, it’s still alive. It says that it will always be with Ayumi (even in the bathroom!?) and that it will always be her friends.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to what is likely the next day. Ayumi’s mom is back, and she and her daughter have made up. Momo the dog still barks at Ayumi, but instead of running away, Ayumi introduces herself to the dog, and Momo calms down. At school, Ayumi sees the same three girls from the beginning of the movie who were talking about Pretty Cure, and manages to become their friend. We then see the 28 others, walking to school in their uniforms and hanging out with each other.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">And that’s the end… but first, the ending theme! It’s an extended version of the current ending theme, ''Yay! Yay! Yay! It’s a CGI dance that, while mainly focusing on the Smile'' Cures, also has the other Cures… except Echo. Oh, well. While Ayumi was influential, Cure Echo didn’t do anything Ayumi couldn’t have, anyway.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall: I knew beforehand that this movie would focus less on the other Pretty Cures because of Ayumi/Echo. I was worried that she’d be a spotlight-stealing Mary Sue. However, I liked her character, her interactions with Fuu-chan and the other Cures, and her problems with opening up to others. I do wish Cure Echo had done more. As stated last paragraph, the only thing Cure Echo did was talk to Fuu-chan. She did no fighting, not even a magical attack. She could have just been Ayumi the whole time and nothing would have changed. I find this a waste of potential, especially for such an interesting pseudo-Smile design.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">I do wonder, however, if the Cures before Fresh would have gotten lines if Ayumi wasn’t there. However, she was integral to the plot. It wouldn’t be the same movie without her. Even with the Cures that got attention, it was disappointing how little the Smile Cures other than Happy contributed to the movie.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Anyway, the fight scenes were awesome. While the final boss was anticlimactic, everything else was wonderful. I loved seeing my old friends from Fresh onward meet up. Also, I really liked the antagonist this time. While in the last three All Stars movies, the villains were clear-cut and one-dimensional, Fuu-chan was as much a good guy as it was a bad guy. I found the character sympathetic, even when he started eating the city. I hope that even as a fine dust, it can still make further appearances in the All Stars series.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Well, that’s it! We’ll have to wait until somewhere around episode 36 for another Pretty Cure movie, and that will only involve the Smile cast. Until then, back to the show! See you for episode 7!