One of the ongoing plot threads in Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure has been the animosity between Asuka and Yuriko, the student body president. It stands out because of how vicious it can be at times – Yuriko, since her entry into the show, has seemed bound and determined to oppose any and every activity Asuka is involved in. Since almost every other even mildly villainous character has been shown to have a driving motivation for their actions (or as driving as someone named the Witch of Delays can have), Yuriko's vendetta has been a persistent off-note. In this set of episodes, however, we finally get an answer to why she's been such a pill, and it's one that works well with some of Minori's backstory, too: Asuka and Yuriko had a falling out over how to handle an incident in a school activity they both participated in.

The full story doesn't come out until episode thirty-one, but those leading up to it give us bits and pieces to help viewers put the story together for themselves. Simply put, Yuriko and Asuka were a talented doubles pair in tennis, to the point where other schools would do anything to keep them from competing. Asuka, when she discovered foul play, took a direct action, which Yuriko disapproved of. Since Yuriko is still very much the kind of girl who doesn't like to rock the boat, this caused a major rift between them, with Asuka angry that most of the team preferred Yuriko's method and Yuriko seeing Asuka as someone who is not a team player. While western (or at least American) viewers may side with Asuka in confronting the perpetrators and then being angry at a markedly unfair solution to what another team did, Yuriko's willingness to take the perpetrators at their word and to disregard Asuka's pride and sense of fairness may indicate more of a selfless approach to conflict resolution. What's interesting is that we're clearly meant to side more with Asuka, and that her being chosen as Cure Flamingo is in part because she's not willing to let things slide in the name of peaceful reconciliation. While things eventually end on a note that suggests that both Asuka and Yuriko were in the wrong (possibly because they didn't try harder to make up), Asuka's determination to stand up for what she feels is right is painted as the more correct choice.

This works with what we learn during the school festival episode about why Minori is no longer part of the literary club. She clearly still loves books, both to read and to write, but she's oddly reticent about letting others into her literary world, particularly when it comes to reading her works. It's not surprising that this boils down to her having had a bad experience with an older student in the literature club who denigrated her work to her face. There is some subtext that the older girl was envious of Midori or felt that the younger girl was getting ahead of herself in her enthusiasm, but the fact is that Midori's self-confidence was decimated. While she was certainly shy before, the degree of timidity that she currently has can be directly linked to that event. And much like Asuka was able to find comfort in being a Pretty Cure who fights for what is right, Minori discovers that she's worth something as both Cure Papaya and as Minori of the Tropical Club.

Sango, too, has the chance to show us how far she's come in this section of the series. When we first met her, she was timid and afraid to admit what she truly liked for fear of her peers' disapprobation. Now, in episode thirty-two, we see that she's finally willing to embrace and admit that she enjoys cute and pretty things, with her expressly stating that she wants to run her mother's makeup store when she grows up, something she might not have been able to admit earlier in the show. Episode thirty-two really is the culmination of this when she's asked to participate in a fashion show and, despite her nerves, manages not only to agree, but to do it with aplomb. Laura and Manatsu may not have needed self-confidence boosts, but that doesn't make them any less important in terms of their character development; instead, it allows them to help the other three girls find the courage to be themselves.

This idea of learning to be proud of what you like and who you are finds expression in the Pretty Cures' new powerup as well. Although it does bring in the typical specter of “the legendary Pretty Cure” who makes an appearance in all iterations of the franchise, in this case the item that they use with her gift isn't something that she gave them: it's a small dresser that the Tropical Club made themselves. That gives it a special meaning, a sign that they're not just getting stronger because Manatsu had a dream about some former Cure, but because they're actively growing and working on improving themselves. It's a lovely way to help drive that particular magical girl message home, showing that it's not about what someone else tells you or gives you; it's about what you yourself can do, which is, for me at least, what makes magical girls so empowering in the first place. That the use of the mirror on the little vanity carries direct links to both Snow White and The Snow Queen, particularly in that the Witch's mirror cracks (which is essentially the Snow Queen's origin story), only makes this more striking – especially since it could indicate that perhaps the Witch of Delays wasn't always a witch…and that maybe Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure is gearing up to take a page from Prétear's book.

With all of these strengths, it is disappointing when the series has its misses. Certainly one of them is potentially the new attack, Land Beat Dynamic, which features what looks vaguely like West African dancing and an otherwise inexplicable elephant. Elements of the Halloween episode are also a little odd, although I have learned that pineapple jack-o'-lanterns are a real thing that you can make; that Minori is the cutest darn jiangshi definitely helps blunt the overdramatic moral and the fact that it uses the body-switching plot point for the third time. Episode thirty-three, which is meant to tie in with the film released on October 23rd, is an odd duck; elements of it are very funny (the references to Urashima Taro and The Crane Wife are spot-on and the cameo by Heart Catch Pretty Cure is fun even if you didn't know they're in the movie), but others, and some of the varied animation styles, are a bit more hit-or-miss. It is interesting to see all of the various art elements, however, although nothing reaches the heights of episode twenty-nine, which is gorgeous.

As it heads into its winter finale, Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure seems to have truly found its stride. With Manatsu toned down a bit from the first twenty-four episodes and its themes developing nicely and giving all of the girls a chance to shine, these are some of the most interesting episodes of the show thus far. Learning what the relationship was between the Witch of Delays and the Legendary Pretty Cure is more than enough to pique our interest, and now that Laura, Manatsu, Sango, Minori, and Asuka have all grown as both people and Pretty Cures, it's looking like the next set of episodes should be strong ones.