Continuing the Mastodon watch-and-comment, it’s time for “The Academy’s Princess! Cure Mermaid Appears!” We learn that the fairy Hope Kingdom is under attack by the forces of Dysdark, led by the Witch of Woe, Dyspear.

We see Haruka doing an early-morning run with Perf and Aroma- she’s working on her strength- one of the qualities a princess needs. Minami, standing on the beach, sees her and calls out “I respect your initiative for taking a morning run.” High praise indeed- she’s beautiful, a flawless student, athlete, ballerina, as well as the daughter of a CEO. “Everyone calls her the academy’s princess!” She’s an ojou for sure!

Something washes up at Minami’s feet. Looks like a dress-up key. The keys and legendary Princess Cures are naturally attracted to each other. Soon it’s time for new student orientation- boys lined up on one side of the auditorium, girls on the other. Haruka slams open the doors, panting. “Bonjour ! ?” This is clearly not acceptable!

She says she got carried away during her morning run, and just got back. Not an acceptable excuse- it sounds like she’s going to be thrown out before before her first class! Minami glides down the aisle and addresses the teacher- “Fostering student independence is one of Noble Academy’s founding principles. Perhaps we should let her decide how to atone for her error.” The principal’s surprised, but agrees. Minami tells Haruka “Your actions have disrupted our ceremony. Reflect on this and decide how you will recompense those you’ve troubled.” This was smart- if she’d asked to forgive Haruka the teacher would have refused. Having her decide her own punishment is a test- if she picks something too easy or doesn’t complete it she’ll be thrown out anyway. She chooses hand-weeding a large area of the Academy’s grounds.

Yui and Haruka hear gasps from a classroom, and sneak a peek through the window. Minami is demonstrating moves in ballet class, the other students frozen in rapture. Haruka would love to have Minami tutor her, but she’s already on Minami’s bad side. Problem is, every girl admires her and wishes she would teach them, but they’re afraid to ask. Haruka? What does she have to lose? She tells Minami she’s finished weeding, and presents her letter of apology. One more thing… “If you have the time, could you please teach me ballet?”

Against all odds, she agrees. Nobody else has ever asked! The girls in the hallway are shocked! Minami won’t go easy on her, but Haruka will put up with the torture if it’ll get her closer to her Princess goal.

Haruka falls while trying a ballet move Minami hasn’t taught her, and Minami bandages her sprained ankle. Haruka tells her that she’s trying so hard because she wants to be perfect like her. Minami says she’s made plenty of mistakes, and is only good at ballet because she’s been studying since she was a child. Haruka tells her that everyone looks up to her because of all her accomplishments, and she’s just a little intimidating.

You can tell this hits Minami hard. The students, student council, and even the staff and teachers have been putting her on a pedestal and maintaining their distance. She tells Haruka that being asked to teach her ballet made her glad because nobody’s ever asked.

Meanwhile Close sees the boys’ soccer team running, and makes a soccer zetsuborg out of a boy’s dream to be the MVP. Minami tells the students to evacuate, notices Haruka running the other way, and sees her transform into Cure Flora. She notices the dress-up key as part of the transformation, and realizes it’s similar to the thing she picked up on the beach.

Haruka charges into action. She kicks the giant soccer ball out of the way, then throws the zetsuborg across the lawn. It fires off a barrage of explosive cleat-rockets from his shoes, and she jumps towards the beach to escape them.

Flora delivers a kick to the zetsuborg with her left leg- the one she just sprained. She lands, injured, and is about to be smashed by the soccer ball when Minami appears and pushes her to safety.

And Minami transforms into Cure Mermaid! As I mentioned on my little series on Heartcatch Precure transformations, they often individualize the transformations to match the character’s style. Minami’s much more graceful and you’ll see some ballet moves here!

Her fighting style includes ballet moves too, and she dives in the sea for an underwater attack.

For her Mode Elegant finishing attack, she gets a mermaid skirt instead of a crinoline. Her first purification attack is a watery Mermaid Ripple. She reminds Haruka to know her limits- no kicking with an injured ankle. The fairies only have one more Princess Precure to find, but they discover they’ve just lost one of the transformation perfumes!

This episode includes a lot of the same action blurs and simulated camera tricks from the first one. The monster attacks have been creative, with balls of paint and rockets fired from athletic shoes. I’m guessing this will be a hallmark of Princess Precure. Minami’s a great addition to the series. She’s definitely in the Nice Ojou category, but she’s realizing how isolated she’s been. She’s also apparently a great teacher- something she’s had no experience with. She’s pushing Haruka just to her limit, but you can see how quickly Haruka’s building up skills with Minami’s guidance. Will she be able to balance her new Cure duties with all her other responsibilities?

Minami’s closer to a stereotypical princess, but she’s gotten there with a lot of hard work. She’s also apparently missed out on a lot of friendship and fun. Just like Haruka, her battle skills put her far out of the traditional role. I think the influence between her and Minami will go both ways!

We know there’s going to be a third Cure, and we’ve seen her in glimpses from the opening and scenes from both these episodes. I think we’ll have to wait to see her because there can’t be a transformation without the missing perfume bottle.