HOW PRECURE'S CATGIRL DOES SOMETHING DIFFERENT

WAI KWAN WU - Writer, 3rd Year, Molecular Cell Biology

Or well, how she's just pretty cool.

SPOILERS FOR STAR TWINKLE PRECURE!

The Precure franchise has evolved to be something of a peculiarity in the modern mahou shoujo landscape, having its franchise norms being rather set in stone for the twenty-or-so years of its run. To deem it sterile would be an over exaggeration considering the consistent energy that it brings every year, but it is a toss-up as to how far each series’ producers choose to push the envelope with the material—usually not far enough to step on the showrunners’ toes, ergo safe. As a rule of thumb, Precure protagonists tend to stay largely within what is considered “good” behavior, and while that is not a bad thing at all, it is always interesting to see when Precure produces the odd character that defies those norms.

Yuni from Star Twinkle Precure is a rather unique case, and I am not just talking about her role as a shape-shifting phantom-thief cat-girl who also happens to be a singing idol on the side, although that alone is enough to make her one of the most awesome characters in anything ever. In the story, Yuni starts off as somewhat of a rival and occupies a space that opposes the main villains but parallel to the Precures. She does have an inherent sense of goodness, but she also isn’t above manipulating others or using underhanded techniques to reach her goals. It’s interesting to draw parallels here, because Yuni does come from a similar moral place as the Precures but is influenced by a completely different worldview (fitting, as she doesn’t even come from Earth). Yuni’s moral disconnect from her adversaries becomes a centralizing part of her character, and even as she is granted the power to become a Precure herself, she struggles to understand exactly why someone might care for another person that they’re not directly connected to. The examination of the contrast between Yuni’s heroism and everyone else’s heroism stands out as something unique, pulling more so from the likes of the tokusatsu genre.

Drawing from the line of this difference in morals, Yuni notably also has a different agenda from the gang, something that retains even as she becomes a Precure. While the other Precures are focused on their larger cosmic duty as legendary warriors, Yuni remains single-trackedly focused on her personal goal of reviving her own planet, spending large chunks of an episode away from the cast (usually chilling with the neighborhood cats instead) or even going on solo escapades away from the main plot. The Precure formula can be iterative and it is usually expected for any new additions to the cast to become fully integrated within a couple of episodes, so for Yuni to be kept away like this speaks to the unique approach to her character. The consistency in applying this approach deserves to be applauded in terms of how it informs a large part of her interactions with the rest of the cast. When Yuni is dragged along to the summer festival with the other girls, she struggles to have any fun with them. While this may seem like standard fare for the average tsundere character, Yuni instead has difficulty engaging because of her aforementioned disconnect from others, especially seeing this as wasted time that could be spent otherwise doing world-saving activities, calling back to her goal-oriented mind. The differences in morals also come to a head in a later episode: driven by the anger that she feels from her circumstances, Yuni resorts to her old ways to steal back a treasure that was native to her planet, to the dismay of her teammates. This once again put a spotlight on how the combination of her aloof personality and non-conventional methods serve as a conflict between her and the rest of the cast.

Of course, it stands to reason that Yuni does eventually grow to care for her teammates and see them as friends, but the degree to which Yuni was allowed to retain her personal agenda is just such a refreshing approach that goes a long way in making the relationship between her and the rest of the cast feel that much more organic. Yuni is the sort of rival character that is rare for the franchise and the genre, but she really serves as a testament to the effectiveness of when Precure chooses to push the envelope on what is considered acceptable. It is usually said that the best characters are the ones that are relatable, but the breezy concept and refreshing approach to Yuni’s character, in addition to other aspects like her interactions with the rest of the cast and the dynamic use of shape language in her character design, simply compels me to call her the perfect character.