You and Idol Precure♪ has, I have come to realize, one very specific problem: it plants the seeds of meaningful storylines and then doesn't bother to water them. Nowhere is this better seen than in the case of Kaito. Although he's not a major character in the same way as Satoru from Wonderful Precure!, or even Takumi from Delicious Party Precure, he's still an important figure in the story. It's Kaito who helps Uta find her balance as Cure Idol and who inspires her to pursue singing beyond her Precure persona. It's Kaito's best friend who becomes a villain because of his jealousy. In episode forty-two, he even transforms into Cure Connect because of his strong emotions. But in the end, Cure Connect only appears in that one episode. When the series concludes, Kaito has left Japan entirely, and we see no evidence of him and Uta having any sort of relationship, friendly or otherwise. He's treated as a throwaway character.

This is not to say that he needed to be the next Cure Wing or Black Pepper. But his wasted role is emblematic of how You and Idol Precure♪ treats its plot points and characters up to the end: as if their audience isn't savvy enough to realize that they're being talked down to. Children, even of the age that Precure as a franchise is targeted at, are not stupid. They are capable of recognizing when a work of fiction is playing fast and loose with their attention spans and intelligence. And sadly, You and Idol Precure♪ falls into that trap repeatedly over the course of its entire run and specifically in this final cour. It feels like it never truly engages with its themes and subject matter in favor of presenting a bubbly story that doesn't quite go as far as it ought to.

As has been the case all along with this entry into the franchise, it does have some very good material to work with. Meroron's character and storyline continue to be the mainstay of what this series is at its best. Her fairy form is the only one of the fairies to include black (and her theme color as a Cure is also black), and that turns out to be particularly important as the series comes to a close. All along, the Cures have been fighting the power of darkness, and Meroron has been doing the same internally: her jealousy of anyone who would get close to Purirun defined her early appearances, and her almost unhealthy attachment to her beloved contrasts the mild relationship forming between Uta and Kaito. While Purirun learns to let others in, most specifically Nana, she's still got that darkness within her that she can't – and perhaps doesn't want to – beat. And, as the finale shows, that's okay.

Darkine, as it turns out, is the flip side of Pikarine. If the latter was born of the sparkling dreams of humanity, Darkine was born of their deep darkness and insecurities. It's a plotline that hearkens back to the grandmother of most modern classic magical girl stories, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, specifically the Queen Nehelenia cycle. Just as with that series, the key takeaway is that nothing can be all light or all dark. There needs to be a balance of the two, and many of the smaller moments support that reading. Kazuma is perhaps the strongest evidence outside of Meroron; his light was consumed by his darkness when only Kaito passed the idol audition. He became so lost in his grief that it turned to anger, allowing him to be further corrupted by Darkine and Chokkirine. But by fixating so keenly on Kaito, he, like Meroron, was actually indulging in his love for both singing and his friend; if they hadn't mattered so deeply to him, he wouldn't have been so vulnerable – and he wouldn't have been able to be redeemed.

In any classic magical girl story, redemption is a key component, a moment when the magical girl is able to prove that love and hope are stronger than hate and despair. Having Kaito transform into Cure Connect is important as a piece of that larger genre reading: Kaito is using his similar emotions – hurt, despair – to do something for someone else. He's sad about what happened to his friend, and he's hurt that Kazuma essentially disappeared on him rather than explain his feelings. But Kaito reaches out rather than inward. His willingness to extend a hand and to understand someone else's pain doesn't minimize his own pain; it offers to share the burden. That is what a magical girl (or boy) does. And clearly You and Idol Precure♪ does understand that, which makes it all the more frustrating that it refuses to engage with the theme on any extended or more meaningful level.

Magical girl stories don't have to be dark, but they often are simply by their very nature. They offer a way for children to process difficult issues, like losing a friend or facing a roadblock on the way to a dream, or even the loss of someone who has died, and often a message of finding power within themselves. You and Idol Precure♪ does engage with all of these, but it consistently undercuts itself, apparently eager to do only the bare minimum in its genre. It doesn't need to discuss the seedy underbelly of the idol industry or its social media following (although I wish Kokoro had become a dancer rather than an influencer), but it does need to do more to use it as a backdrop for its discussion of how light and dark must coexist. With its paucity of songs for an idol show and lazy bits and pieces like Cure Idol's power-up just being a recolor, it deprives itself of being a fully realized story. All the sakuga in the final episode can't make up for that, and at the end of the day, You and Idol Precure♪ falls flat. It isn't the worst magical girl show ever, and Meroron's throughline will hopefully be remembered as a strength (and an unabashedly queer storyline), but it is disappointing. Even if the upcoming Star Detective Precure! has Blue's Clues levels of mystery solving, it won't be hard for it to improve upon You and Idol Precure♪.