Delicious Party Precure

Episode 13

Poor Takumi – the cringe is real for him. There are few things more horrifying as a teenager than seeing your parents be all mushy or talk about their adorable love story, and this week Takumi gets to experience both, with the added horror of his dad loudly asking on their zoom call how things are going with Yui, blabbing in that uniquely parental way that Takumi has always had a crush on her…while Yui's standing right there, perfectly visible. Factor in that the Tuxedo Mask (Southern Gentleman Version) costume that he may have inherited from his dad is super embarrassing and he's got a real recipe for a case of freaked out teen.

But that he even has the costume in the first place, along with a magic stone like Rosemary's, is the biggest news of the episode. His parents seem to have met in a similar fashion to how Mari and Yui did, with the major difference that An (Takumi's mom) was significantly older – twenty-three to Yui's thirteen. Interestingly enough, An's also older than Monpei, Takumi's dad; he was nineteen when they met, which isn't a huge age gap but also not one we see represented in this sort of fiction very often, and it continues Pretty Cure's low-key representation of the different forms families take. We've seen a variety of two-parent and single-parent homes in the franchise before, but this may be the first time we've gotten explicit confirmation that a mom is older than a dad. I was admittedly hoping that Amane's twin brothers would be her two dads, but I feel like we may be edging closer, which is important because all children deserve to feel normal about their families.

In any event, Monpei coming from the CooKingdom and Takumi inheriting his dad's powers is another interesting element of the episode, because most Cures appear to be chosen because of an innate power they randomly possess, not because their parents were superheroes. Takumi's inherited powers may be an indication that Yui's grandmother was the inevitable Legendary Pretty Cure, but it also gives him more of a stake in what's going on than he'd otherwise have had. Mari and the girls are carrying out what was originally part of his father's mission, so even if he didn't have that crush on Yui, he might have been drawn into the fight. Yui's in some ways just the catalyst for his involvement.

Not that he seems to want to be involved at all. He's only moved to action because he believes that Mari may be forcing Yui to fight monsters, and he still then only jumps in when Cure Precious is in actual danger. Having his help could be a major bonus, though, because Narcistoru's powers are plainly much stronger than Gentlu's, possibly because he's not just a brainwashed human. (We think.) Narcistoru has sway over the emotions attached to a specific dish, so when he captures Recipepi, he also has the ability to take those hostage as well. That carries a much greater risk because it could wipe out whole cuisines if no one has the memories of eating and liking them, thus erasing the urge to consume the foods. Food and memory are very much entwined, both in the show (An's memory of the first dish she made Monpei) and in real life; no one can ever live up to my Great-Aunt Beck's rolled cabbage in my father's taste-memory because her recipe is inextricably linked to how much he loved her. If it's not hers, it's not good enough. That's a very smart connection for the show to use, because most of us can relate to the idea of a taste-memory link, making Narcistoru a more dangerous threat on a personal level. (Plus, you know, he brainwashed an innocent middle school student.)

Next week we'll get to see Takumi's full transformation (possibly only metaphorically, since he's got it in his closet), which I'm looking forward to. I hope that he doesn't get sidelined once the inevitable fourth Cure comes in, because he's an interesting character and stands to bring a lot to the team. If nothing else, we can make an educated guess that the shadowy figure in the opening theme image of Mari and his friend is Monpei, which hopefully means that Takumi won't be taking a back seat anytime soon.

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Delicious Party♡Precure is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.