Delicious Party Precure

Episode 20

Ah, table manners, a thing which in my house means “keep taking the cats off the table” and in one memorable Thanksgiving, “don't let your sister just eat a stick of butter for dinner.” (In her defense, she was five.) But dining etiquette is no joke to a lot of people, and Amane is definitely one of them, so when Kokone says that her parents have invited all of her friends to their high-class restaurant, she immediately realizes that there's a problem: neither Yui nor Ran are particularly well-versed in the art of fine dining.

While watching her panic over the potential horrors of letting her new friends loose in a fancy restaurant makes for some very entertaining moments, what's actually the best part about Miss Amane's Impromptu School of Manners is what it shows us about her as a character. She's not just a fussy person who puts great stock in social norms, she's someone who cares deeply about making sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible and that no one embarrasses themselves in public. That's why she's such a good student body president; she's detail-oriented and wants things to work as well as they possibly can. She doesn't want Ran and Yui to make mistakes because that could be stressful for Kokone or otherwise make it difficult for her to introduce her friends to her parents. She wants to make the evening a success for everyone, not just follow the rules.

I think that's something Kokone picks up on. In many ways, this episode is about Amane and Kokone bonding and getting to know each other better. Kokone is touched that Amane is so keen on making sure that Ran and Yui know how to act at her family's restaurant, and Amane is fascinated by the new sides of Kokone that she sees during their trip to the Rental Dress Studio. Kokone loves Ran and Yui, but she may find it easier, or at least more comfortable, relating to Amane, who's a much quieter, calmer person. Ran can definitely be overwhelming and I could see Yui's mild flakiness being a bit stressful for both Amane and Kokone, so allowing the two of them to bond is both important for the team as a whole and just really nice for the two girls themselves. That there could be something more to their relationship is likely just a tease, but it still feels significant that during the inexplicable dance scene at the end, Amane and Kokone are shown as a final pair in the same way that Yui and Takumi are.

And speaking of Takumi, can we all take a moment to appreciate the silliness of him just popping out of a bush when Narcistoru attacked? There is a good explanation for it – he doesn't want the girls and Mari to know that he's Black Pepper yet, so when he saw something starting to go down, he could easily have just jumped back there – but it really feels like he was already in the bush when Narcistoru showed up. Was he embarrassed by his white tuxedo? Is he the only person who figured out that they were all grossly overdressed for their meal? Or does he just really enjoy shrubbery? At least he got to look cool during the fight, charging in to kick this week's Motto Ubau-zo to wear it down for Cure Finale. It clearly needed that; he, Yum-Yum, and Precious are all exhausted by the time Finale gets that thing taken care of in the end. Narcistoru hasn't succeeded yet, but his monsters do appear to be getting stronger, polite greetings and his (and Secretoru's) hesitancy to perform the Bundoru gesture notwithstanding.

It's too bad that Kokone's parents couldn't actually be there to meet her friends, but at least this episode really did nicely continue to build the team's bonds with each other. Amane's still not sure about Ran and Yui, but maybe next week will help her to become more comfortable with them as Ran's enthusiasm comes to the fore when her favorite sweets shop is endangered.

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Delicious Party♡Precure is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.