Precure Miracle Universe! is the 26th film in the franchise and the first in which the Star Twinkle cast appears. On this occasion, they are accompanied by the HUGtto and Kira Kira Precure.

Honestly, I have to say that the story is among the worst and least interesting I’ve seen among the films, and the same goes for the original characters. Piton has a sort of arc, at the end of which… I don’t know, he gives more value to things and stops calling the Precure fake? Even the president is useless. The villain Yango—I think I’ll only remember him because he’s voiced by Yuuki Kaji—is yet another empty and charisma-less incarnation of the concept of pure darkness. The fact that he was an infiltrator or why he wanted to be cheered for isn’t even handled well. At least it was kind of nice that a contrast was created between the negative power, generated by his supporters, and the power of light, tied to the Miracle Light. Oh, I didn’t expect to learn the origin of the latter thanks to this film.

Practically speaking, the parts mostly focused on the new characters left me with little. Well, now that I’ve gotten the negative elements out of the way, let’s move on to the positives. Lala cooking food together with the Kira Kira Precure is very cute. I loved the scenes where Akira and Yukari act like a couple, to the point of doing combo attacks and exchanging flirty lines. The scenes involving Ruru’s team were also fantastic—she doesn’t suffer from heat because she’s an android and invites the other girls to hug her. However, as soon as Harry tries to do the same, she’s disgusted and kicks him in the face. The hamster is extremely funny throughout the film and even ends up saving the Precure by riding a motorcycle and smashing the prison. Among my favorite scenes is also the one where Ruru/Emiru and Akira/Yukari teach Madoka/Elena how to coordinate.

Compared to the previous film, the trope is present in which the latest Precure are clearly the most inexperienced. It’s mostly noticeable thanks to Hikaru, who is supported by Hana. I liked that the transformations, except for the ones at the end, are instantaneous, as well as the fact that the attacks are launched in real-time. The settings are rather nice, as is the way they rendered the darkness that prevails over the Precure. The battles in the early part of the film are pretty cool and exciting, but then they drop in quality. All the other past Precure also made cameos, but they had few lines and zero interaction with the main cast. There are really a lot of scenes where the audience is asked for help, but that was to be expected from a film that focuses so much on the Miracle Light. I liked some scenes from a directing standpoint, like Hikaru’s regaining of consciousness or the final transformations.