Delicious Party Precure

Episode 41

I try to reserve profanity for those moments that really deserve it. That may be why my reaction to the reveal that Fennel has been Godatz all along spurred a whispered, Oh shit. It's not that I haven't been suspicious of him for a while; he's definitely been acting pretty dubious for a few weeks now. It's just that I assumed he was a spy or somehow otherwise working with the Bundoru Gang, not that he was the Bundoru Gang in the sense that he's been running this show all along. But if you think about it, this is a reveal that the show has been building towards for quite some time; we really should have been suspicious of Mari's Delicioustone breaking in the first place. When Cinnamon remarks that someone essentially set the stone up to malfunction, only one person could have done that, which suggests that Fennel has been planning this for a long time.

Once we know his true identity, plenty of little things begin to take on a context that makes a lot of sense. Cinnamon's banishment from the CooKingdom is undoubtedly one of them; we see in a flashback to Fennel's childhood that he was less than thrilled when his master Ginger brought Cinnamon on as an additional student. Since Cinnamon is clearly very skilled and intelligent, we can make the educated guess that Fennel quickly became jealous of his fellow student and saw him as an impediment to his ascension through the ranks of the Cookfighters. He allowed his resentment to fester within him, and presumably, that is what eventually helped to turn him into the villain he was revealed to be to this week. Fennel certainly could not stop the CooKing from sending Mari to Earth to find girls to help fight against the Bundoru Gang. Still, he could ensure that Mari was at least slightly handicapped in his endeavors by ensuring that his Delicioustone would break and be unable to function at total capacity. Even locking Narcistoru up in the CookKingdom's prison makes more sense (or at least takes on a different meaning) when we consider that it is the perfect way for Fennel to keep an eye on his subordinate; he can ensure that Narcistoru does nothing that would go against his plans, whether on purpose or not.

Fennel's true identity is the worst sort of betrayal. Everyone trusted him, and he's been intimately involved with the entire Precure project. It even sheds a different light on the fact that Narcistoru are initially targeted Amane and turned her into Gentlu as well; he may have known that Amane had the potential to become a Pretty Cure and was taking steps to prevent that from happening. All of this combines to make him uniquely dangerous—he's pulling the strings for people on both sides of the conflict, all to further his own goals. The reveal of his true identity could get in the way of the good guys' teamwork or, at the very least, upset the adults on the team to the point where they are somewhat less helpful than they have been. The good news is that Secretoru may be on her way out, becoming increasingly unhinged as this episode's fight scene continues. There's even a pretty good possibility that Fennel will throw her aside, opting to stick with Spiritoru and his mechanical compatriots since they are free of messy human emotion. Hopefully, Cure Precious using Secretoru's electric ropes against her is a sign of things to come, implying that the Pretty Cures will be able to use Fennel's own issues against him.

The final arc begins now. Buckle up, because I think this is going to be a bumpy ride.

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Delicious Party♡Precure is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.