LE COMMENCEMENT DU NOIR

Kirakira Precure à la Mode
Episode 46 - My Own Review
LE COMMENCEMENT DU NOIR
(The Start of Darkness)

Happy New Year 2018 (and Akira in a hakama)!

At the KiraPâti, the girls discuss what they are going to do with their futures. They all seem to have something in mind.

Noir and Elysio return to being one

Elsewhere, Noir is about ready to stain the world in darkness. It turns out that Elysio was actually part of him (the id/Mr. Hyde/the dark side), but now they’ll go back to being one.

Later on, the girls end up splitting up into groups. Aoi and Yukari board the same bus, and Aoi asks how long Yukari plans to stay abroad for. Yukari doesn’t have an answer, though she may travel somewhere else (Paris? A Grand Tour of Europe?) after she’s done with Confetto. Yukari also tells Aoi that is cool (kakkoii), which leaves her blushing.

Akira goes to Ciel's place to check out chocolates for Miku. Ciel asks her about her plans for university – Akira knows that she will end up being apart from her sister, but they’ll be together in spirit.

Bilberry helps decorate the KiraPâti

The usual suspects gather to celebrate, and even a few KiraPâti customers join the celebrations as well. Quite unexpectedly, there’s one more visitor – and this one is unwelcome. It appears to be Diaval, who steals the kirakiraru of the customers.When the girls step outside, they discover who it actually is.

Noir/Elysio arrives and stains the world in darkness

The icing on the cake would have been a MORSMORDRE!! 

Unfortunately, Noir has never been a literal Death Eater.

Ciel sticks close by Bilberry

Noir blasts both Bilberry and Giulio/Pikalio, and then it’s PreCure transformation time. We get an abridged version of the transformation sequence, without the usual music. Instead, we have a more ominous theme playing.
PreCures launch an attack on Noir, but ultimately it does nothing. Noir retaliates, but his attack is stopped.

A fragment of Lumière’s soul protects the PreCures

NOIR: You shouldn't have saved me...

Time for a flashback to how Lumière first encountered Noir. She ended up taking that young military man in and looking after him, nursing him back to health, when he suddenly collapsed on the street in Ichigozaka town. She taught him how to make sweets, but the sweets he made didn’t retain their kirakiraru.

NOIR: Why do you make sweets?

LUMIÈRE: To share my happiness with others.

Noir tells Lumière to make sweets only for him. Like Anakin controlling Padmé, this bodes no good...

Noir is never able to make sweets that retain their kirakiraru, so he does the next best thing and demands that Lumière makes sweets only for him. She refuses, so he decides to cover the land in darkness.
Of course, that led to Lumière carrying out her duty as a PreCure, and know how all that ended up.

Noir immediately showed the girls a flashback of how he was brought back to health by Lumière and her love of sweets. Noir wanted Lumière to make sweets only for him; however, she wanted to make sweets for everyone. Which led to Noir turning evil (What? How?!) and turning the world into darkness.
In the present day, Noir gives the typical villain spiel about how feelings are useless. Of course he is told that isn’t the case, and his desire to make sweets was born from selfless love (ai).

Chocolat and Macaron giving it all on the frontline!

Lumière entrusts the current PreCures with her power, and asks them to save Noir. The kirakiraru of the feelings of both sides clash. The PreCures use their Finishing Move. Noir holds it back, but then something utterly unexpected happens.

Elysio emerges, and he turns both Lumière and Noir into cards. He then turns the world into one without love or hatred, without light or darkness – a new, empty world.

Elisio was able to carry out his plan... but what shall happen to the Cures in this drab, grey reality? Now that they are amnesiac and unable to transform...

MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION:
A good start of darkness can make the story of any villain and the villain of any story get more spice. It's the test that makes or breaks any antagonist. And, for a Dark Overlord shrouded (literally) in so much mystery... finding out what lies beneath that mask always keeps us on tenterhooks, right? What lies beneath the mask... Resentment? Thirst for revenge? An inferiority complex, perhaps? Or a broken heart?
Previously, I had posted a series of theories on the relationship between Lumière and Noir... and finally the truth comes out!! It falls somewhere between the Scrooge and Snape theories; Noir being in an abusive relationship with Lumière and wanting to impose his will upon her, which caused them to drift apart and go separate ways... in fact, Noir reminds me more of Anakin than of either Snape or Scrooge. And also of Othello... Elysio playing the corrupter's part of both Iago and Sheev... Noir, like Othello and Anakin, has an inferiority complex, a wounded ego, a broken heart... which makes him a selfish abuser who drove away the one he loved... Also, that military background of Noir's, like Anakin's and Othello's, is responsible for a lot of frontline trauma, and for that inferiority complex...
And that finale with Elysio creating a nihilistic world, completely devoid of both positive and negative emotions, feels like WHAM. Like Iago and the Snow Queen, Elysio is an utter nihilist. I can actually picture myself Elysio's theme song being my own translation of Iago's Creed:

IAGO (turning left, facing the audience, gradually more and more ominous):

Right there!

I see your goal in my mind's eye...

Your evil spirit leads you,

and that evil spirit's me...

And I'm led by my own god,

the dreadful and relentless one I believe in...

I believe in a cruel God,

who made us apes in his own image so odd...

From a filthy infectious 

germ and the soil-dust 

I was created;

I'm reprobate, due to

human affections...

honour's and virtues' striving I mock indeed!

Yes... that's my very own creed!

I believe in the Only Son

who has inherited his Lord Father's penchant for all things wicked...

which means all wickedness I have quietly thought of

ensures my fruit's reached and picked!

And I believe in the Doubtful Ghost,

that strips away delusion;

in righteous' hearts' confusion,

for the righteous are all liars

in laughing, in crying, love's fires,

kisses, and sacrifice the most!

We're playthings in a game, there's no denying,

from cradle to the gravestone,

as long as we can tell...

Then all of us are equalised in dying,

and then? Post death there's nothing,

neither heaven nor hell...

The Good: First thing was the girls greeted the viewers with a Happy New Year message and the girls were planning... Aoi and Yukari were sharing their dreams of what they are planning to do in the future-Aoi with her singing career and Yukari studying overseas. Ciel presenting some chocolates for Miku as Akira is heading for future studies.

On the day of the party, a raven-haired Elysio crashed the party and sucked the kirakiraru energy from some customers. Bilberry and Giulio could sense that it is Noir who is in control of Elysio's body and the two of them also got their kirakiraru energy sucked out (for being traitors).

The girls went into battle when Lumière appeared in spirit form and both her and Noir seem to know each other. Noir immediately showed the girls a flashback of how he was brought back to health by Lumière and her love of sweets. Noir wanted Lumière to make sweets only for him; however, she wanted to make sweets for everyone. 

Which led to Noir turning evil (What? How?!) and turning the world into darkness. In the present, the girls managed to overwhelm Noir and (what a twist!!) Elysio, who was originally a spawn created by Noir, betrayed him and sealed him in his cards. He did the same to Lumière and, with one spell, a bright light flashed before the girls...

The next thing, everything was in grey...

This is where the episode ends, and I believe I mentioned something about Elysio potentially betraying Noir during one of these previous episodics. I’m glad he did, though – Elysio is a more interesting villain than Noir. Well, that’s what I think anyway.
I quite enjoyed this episode, mostly because it is set up for the inevitable final confrontation.
Learning more about the connection between Lumière and Noir was also interesting, and I did enjoy the interactions between characters that we don’t really see too much – Yukari and Aoi, as well as Akira and Ciel. 

The world has changed for the worse, which means that somebody will have to put it right next time.

 I get it that Elysio was created by Noir to be his eyes and ears and when he was defeated in the previous episode, Noir decided to merge him back to become the Raven-Haired Elysio. Although I am wondering did Elysio plan his betrayal to Noir all along? Did he act weak to let Noir absorb him back and when the time was right, Elysio betrayed him? (Yes, that's a ruse de guerre indeed... right?)

I know Elysio is scheming but to do it out of the blue was very shocking to the viewers! (Including me!) But then, this is Precure. Usually the last general before the final boss tend to do something outrageous for shock value. 

Which led me to another question. Noir looked human and from his conversation with Lumière, he seemed to be a military man. What kind of soldier? If based on the timeline, a foreign/enemy soldier during World War 1? If he is only human, muggle, then how did he started using dark energy to attack the town? Did he learn from somewhere? Did he found something or someone that make him like that? Too many questions not enough answers. (Which hopefully it can be explained in the final three episodes!)

The way Lumière rejected him, Noir seemed to take rejection to a whole new level by plunging the world into darkness which basically means this whole story is about a guy who couldn't handle rejections and threw a big tantrum. (Literally) Our Final Boss, everyone! "The Dark Overlord!"

Which brings us back to my own translation of the libretto for Verdi's Othello:

OTHELLO (delirious, back on his chair):

There's no escape alone... Bloodshed!!

Ah... Despicable thought, that... "I don't like this..."

(Even more delirious, getting up from his chair but reeling): To see them clasp each other...

...that silken tissue... that silken tissue... that silken tissue... Ah! Aah! Aaagh!!!

(He falls backwards, struck by another grand mal seizure, then keeps on tossing and writhing on the ground.)

(Fanfares from outside.)

COMMONERS (from offstage):

Long live Othello!!

IAGO (to himself, listening to the crowd):

My poison is effective...

(Looking down on the epileptic, unconscious Othello.) Glorious and victorious,

loudly ring his praises...

(He puts a foot to the nape of Othello's neck, as if to tread on it. Pause. Othello ceases to writhe but is still lying unconscious on the ground, Iago moving to the side Othello is facing... and putting a foot to his commanding officer's face. Silence, Iago frozen in place, as if toying with the idea.)

IAGO (at the end of the pause): Who can stop me from leaving

footprints upon his forehead?

(More, and louder, fanfares and cheers from all over the fortress.)

COMMONERS (from offstage, each time closer and louder):

Long live, long live Othello!

Send our Lion victorious!!

IAGO (defiantly, standing upright, treading on Othello's face with his left foot, pointing down at the general's lifeless form, now more sinister than ever):

LO AND BEHOLD!!!

(SERIOUSLY, I PICTURE MYSELF NOIR AS OTHELLO AND ELYSIO AS IAGO IN THIS SCENE!!!)

Anyway, this episode is a big surprise... with Elysio conquered the world, leaving everyone and everything bereft of feelings, and the girls have lost their memories of being Precures.

NEXT EPISODE (47):

How Elysio betrayed Noir and what will happen next to the girls in this new world?

With everyone trapped in this new world with no memories or emotions, Pekorin decided to do the impossible to restore the girls' feelings and memories back! Thanks Toei for spoiling the preview since Pekorin also become a Precure to save the day!

Glaive resurrected to be in charge of the military, during Elysio's new regime? FOR REAL!!??

And what is that crest on his bracelet...? Looks like an interdiction sign, but interdicting what? Emotions? Sweets?

Cure Pekorin? Shucks, she's ad <3 rable...