Dogs have a reputation for being protective, but in my experience, cats are just as keen on keeping their people safe. Although the science, or perhaps pseudoscience, of predicting cats’ personalities based on their fur color has conflicting views of white cats, Yuki is fully in line with my own late Fiona, who demonstrated on more than one occasion that she would turn into eight pounds of terror on three legs when she felt I needed her protection – or would just gently lay a paw on my head when I had a migraine. Yuki is a cat in Fiona’s mold: in her mind, Mayu saved her, and she not only must return the favor, she wants to. As an adult cat, when Mayu finds her, she perhaps sees Mayu as, if not her kitten, then at least her younger sibling, and that view shapes her reactions to Mayu’s friendship with Iroha.
Although the main plot of defeating Garugarus and saving Niko Garden remains the underlying story for this second cours of Wonderful Precure!, the thematic core is Yuki and Mayu’s relationship. Where Iroha and Komugi have an openly affectionate and playful relationship, Yuki and Mayu’s is much quieter. Rather than being because Yuki is a cat, this is predicated on Mayu’s clear anxiety disorder. Mayu is more than shy; the series shows that social interactions are so stressful for her that she avoids them, even as that makes her feel bad about herself. She could initially interact with Yuki not just because Yuki is a cat (and therefore safer than humans) but also because she saw herself in it. Yuki’s desperate struggle for survival mirrored what Mayu experienced, not because there weren’t friends or people available, but because she had a hard time allowing herself to interact with them, her mind unable to allow her to function. As a stray cat, Yuki harbored a similar distrust, having learned that people were just as likely to ignore her or be cruel as they were to help – and Mayu seems to be the first person not to give up on her.
This translates into Yuki imposing her views of most humans onto the people surrounding Mayu. Her clear objective is to keep Mayu safe, and in her mind, if Mayu is anxious around people or afraid to interact with them, then Mayu shouldn’t interact. Both girls are looking at each other through the lenses of their trauma, and as these episodes show, that’s preventing both of them from functioning in the world. Mayu’s rebellion against Yuki’s strictures to stay away from the Cures, Iroha, and Komugi is a step towards her trying to cope with her mental health challenges. It’s important to note that becoming Cure Lillian doesn’t miraculously erase her anxiety, but it does give her a suit of armor to don that makes her feel safe and powerful. Yuki then needs to (and does) realize that Mayu becoming more comfortable in the world is a good thing, even if that means that she needs to relax her iron grip at least a little. It’s a plotline that not only does a good job of understanding what it can be like to cope with anxiety but also touches on what makes the classic magical girl genre so appealing – because sometimes, putting on a costume is a way to start feeling comfortable, until eventually, you don’t need it anymore.
The advent of Cure Lillian also sets Wonderful Pretty Cure! up to having two distinct magical girl teams who work in tandem. While they don’t act fully independently, for the most part, they do function within their pairs – Nyammy and Lillian have different transformation compacts, phrases, and tools that match each other but not Wonderful and Friendly, and their spells use French rather than English, further setting them apart. Their weapons are tambourines instead of wands, which feels like a nod to the bells often found on cat toys as opposed to the well-known affinity of dogs for sticks. The makeup aspect of their transformations is also a nod to both Tropical-Rouge! Precure and Mayu’s mother’s Pretty Holic franchise. To further make this distinction, Lillian and Nyammy call themselves “Nyanderful Pretty Cure,” using the “nya” (meow) sound instead of the “wan” (woof) sound; it’s a bit more of a stretch to use “nyan” for the French “un” than “wan” for “one,” but I still appreciate the effort.
Mayu’s inclusion in the human friend group also brings some interesting changes in her and the group dynamic. Satoru is perfectly willing to accept her (Daifuku’s feelings about Yuki are unclear), and it’s obvious that his easygoing personality helps Mayu to feel comfortable with him quickly. It seems like she’s more comfortable with him than Iroha, and her status as the new kid allows her to see that Satoru has a major crush on Iroha with a rapidity he probably regrets. Mayu is keen to help Satoru with his love life, which sets her apart from Iroha (and Satoru, who seems content to wait it out), which risks creating a rift, although Yuki keeps a sharp eye on things. Most importantly, Mayu doesn’t make Satoru feel unwelcome, and she respects his friendship with Iroha and his role in the Cure team. While I’m still hopeful that Satoru and Daifuku will eventually transform, he remains important as the voice of reason, keeping the dog team in check and the cat team from following Yuki’s inclination to act alone.
We still don’t know much about the main antagonist. There’s a suggestion that the wolf Garugaru, who lives in the old mountain shrine, may be it, or at least strongly allied with it, and that opens up the possibility that its motivation has something to do with extinction. Episode twenty-three specifically mentions that there’s a wolf statue at the shrine and that, relatively speaking, it hasn’t been that long since Japanese wolves were hunted to extinction. If the wolf Garugaru is the orchestrator of events, it would make a lot of sense that they’re attacking humans and Animal Town in particular – because for a town that claims to love animals, it certainly didn’t demonstrate any love for the wolves. Some of the Kirarin Animals are endangered species, but all are still extant, and the wolf may, like Yuki, feel that it is protecting them by keeping them from positive interactions with humans.
That’s something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks. But even if Wonderful Pretty Cure! decides to tackle such a serious topic, Mayu’s arc has proven that it can balance seriousness with joyous adventure. The advent of Niko’s egg (assuming Mey Mey is correct) indicates that things will be kicking up a notch going forward.
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