STPC18

**Grasp the New Serial ☆ My Mom's Manga Way!** (つかめ新連載☆お母さんのまんが道！ *Tsukame Shinrensai☆ Okāsan no Mangadō!*?) is the eighteenth episode of Star Twinkle Pretty Cure.

## Info

* Air Date:June 2,2019
* Next:Episode 19
* Previous:Episode 17
* Opening:Sparkle☆彡Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure
* Ending:PaPePiPu☆Romantic

## Major Events

* It is revealed at the end of the episode that Blue Cat was able to find a Princess Star Color Pen.

## Synopsis

Hikaru's mother, Terumi Hoshina, is drawing a page of manga. She's interrupted by a phone call from Mihoshi Publishing. Terumi is so shocked by what she hears that she trips down the stairs when she runs to tell her family. It turns out that she's been picked to create a manga for the next issue of Monthly Morning Glory. Hikaru's grandfather thinks that Monthly Morning Glory is some sort of traditional magazine for older audiences, but Hikaru tells him that it's an extremely popular manga magazine. Terumi has been trying to get published in it for years. Terumi is excited about the possibility of becoming serialized, so Hikaru offers to help her.
The next day, Hikaru and her friends meet up at school. Lala is reading manga for the first time. Despite unknowingly reading the book upside down, Lala is amazed by it. When Elena and Madoka tell Hikaru that they didn't know her mom was a manga artist, Hikaru says that she's loved her mom's manga since she was little and always thought that she'd become famous someday. Unfortunately, Hikaru doubts that her mom will be able to pull off a serial. She tells the others that the night before, she saw her mother struggling because she couldn't come up with any ideas. What's more, since the publishing company didn't give her mother any assistants, she'll have to do it all by herself. Elena, Madoka, and Lala then offer to help Hikaru's mom out. Hikaru is delighted to have their assistance.

Hikaru is shocked to find that Terumi is lying on the floor in tears. Hikaru tries to cheer her up by telling her that she has three new assistants. Elena, Madoka, and Lala greet Terumi. Terumi notices that Lala said "~lun" at the end of her sentence when she greeted her. This gives Terumi a flash of inspiration, and she comes up with a brand new manga character: Starscape Girl Lun. Terumi plans to write a story in which the titular character, an alien girl, makes friends at a school on Earth. Elena, Madoka, and Lala marvel at how perceptive Terumi is.

Suddenly, a man comes in and shouts that the readers of Monthly Morning Glory are not into sci-fic and fantasy. Madoka asks who he is, and he introduces himself as an editor for Monthly Morning Glory, Yumeo Oikawa. Lala asks what an editor is and Hikaru explains that an editor gives orders to a manga artist to draw more manga. Yumeo asks Terumi where her storyboard is, as she promised to give him one today. Lala asks what a storyboard is and Hikaru says that it's a blueprint for a manga. Unfortunately for Yumeo, Terumi doesn't have a good idea yet. Yumeo asks to see any storyboard she has, even if it isn't good. Terumi nervously shows Yumeo her drawings of Starscape Girl Lun. Yumeo looks at the drawings for a bit and then tells Terumi that they just aren't good enough. He says that he thought Terumi was good at drawing manga quickly. Terumi admits that although she's quick at drawing sci-fic and fantasy, she isn't as good at other genres. Yumeo reminds Terumi that sci-fi and fantasy won't sell and tells her to write something that will. More specifically, he tells her the three things that sell most in Monthly Morning Glory: hot men, love stories, and stories about doctors. Elena and Madoka offer to help Terumi out by modeling as characters who fit these three categories. From this, Terumi starts planning out a brand new story about the forbidden love between a handsome doctor and a nurse. There's a twist: the doctor is secretly an alien who has come to Earth to fight a deadly virus. Yumeo butts in and says that that won't do for a love story. Instead, there should be an inpatient who is a rival to the nurse for the doctor's heart. Hikaru is unsure that such a story will sell, but Terumi sternly agrees to write it and make it sell.

The creation of the manga begins. Terumi does the legwork of drawing the manga out, while the others help by inking, erasing, and hanging finished pages up to dry. That night, after Lala, Elena, and Madoka leave, Hikaru tells Fuwa that she wishes her dad could see her mom's work. Fuwa asks where Hikaru's dad is and Hikaru says that he travels due to his work and thus can only meet with the family once a year. Hikaru then leaps off her bed and pulls one of her mom's old manga books out of her bookcase. She tells Fuwa that this manga was written just for her and that there's only one copy in the entire world. She then goes on to tell about how she was once bullied when she was little for reading the manga. The three boys who bullied her told her that such a manga was for babies. This made Hikaru cry. Shortly afterward, Terumi met her and comforted her by saying that Hikaru was allowed to like different things than anyone else. In fact, the things Hikaru liked were precious to her. Terumi then asked what manga she was reading and Hikaru showed her that it was Terumi's very own. Hearing that Hikaru liked her manga made Terumi happy.

After telling Fuwa this, Hikaru brings her mom tea. She asks Terumi if she can make the manga before the deadline. Terumi says that she can thanks to the help of Hikaru and her friends. However, Hikaru is still worried.

Eventually, the big day comes. The latest issue of Monthly Morning Glory is published and Terumi's manga is inside. While Hikaru and the others are reading it, Terumi solemly comes home and tells the others bad news. At the publishing building, she overheard an editor saying that Terumi was not fit for the magazine because her manga had no subtlety or artistry. Terumi is clearly upset by this, but she puts on a happy face and says that she needs to go outside for some fresh air.

When Hikaru finds Terumi, she's sitting on the same swingset that Hikaru was when she got bullied all those years ago. Terumi tells Hikaru that she's not fit to be a manga artist. Hikaru tells Terumi that she loves the fantasy manga that Terumi draws, but Terumi says that it isn't good enough.

Just then, Tenjo and several Knot Rays enter the scene. The Knot Rays surround Terumi and turn her into a Knot Ray. Tenjo then uses her fan to make Terumi gigantic. Just then, Lala, Elena, and Madoka arrive. Together, the team transforms.

The fight begins with Terumi and the other Knot Rays charging at once. Cure Selene throws Cure Soleil at the Nottorei, enabling her to take a swath of them out. Cure Milky then unleashes an electric shock from her antennae, taking out even more. Meanwhile, Terumi uses a giant pen to blast ink at Cure Star. Star tries using Taurus Star Punch. Although this does block the ink, it doesn't hit Terumi because Terumi draws up a manga speech bubble and uses it as a shield. Terumi shoots more ink. This time, the ink hits Star and knocks her down, causing her to drop the manga Terumi made for her. Terumi is about to take out Star and the manga with a direct hit from her pen, but Star gets up and holds up the pen, preventing it from crushing either. The other Pretty Cures see Star struggling under the pen's weight, but when they try to go help her, they're blocked by Knot Rays whom they have to fight through.

Star tells Terumi that she loves her manga because it's filled with imagination, excitement and thrills. The protagonist of the manga that Terumi made just for her won every time despite facing adversity, and this gave Hikaru courage. Tenjo mocks Star for liking the manga and says that she's like a little kid. This reminds Star of the bullies, who told her the exact same thing. This time, Star refuses to let the taunt make her cry. She tells Tenjo that no matter what other people think, she likes what she likes. Tenjo doesn't understand, so she uses her fan to make Terumi push the pen down harder. Fortunately, the other Pretty Cures join in to help Star just in time. Together, they fling the pen away, knocking Terumi and Tenjo over. The group takes the opportunity to purify Terumi using Southern Cross Shot.

Tenjo and the Knot Rays teleport away. Later, Terumi wakes up and finds her manga lying on the grass. She flips through it and remembers that she kept on drawing it because she wanted Hikaru to read it. Hikaru then surprises Terumi from behind and thanks her for that special book. Terumi remembers Hikaru saying that she loved her manga all those years ago. This gives Terumi the inspiration to keep on trying to get published. She's sure that the message that it's okay to like anything you want will carry to her audience. Hikaru is delighted to see her mother happy again. While Hikaru and Terumi come up with a plot for the next manga, Prunce marvels at their familial love.

That night, Hikaru continues to help Terumi by posing for her. Then, one day, Yumeo comes back. Terumi shows him her latest project: a fantasy manga. Despite it being fantasy, Yumeo is amazed by the manga's quality. He asks why she didn't make a manga like this earlier. Terumi gets upset and says that he was the one who said no to fantasy manga. Yumeo admits to having been wrong about that; he was so focused on making a hit that he forgot to focus on how enjoyable the manga was. He's excited to help Terumi get serialized. In joy, Hikaru hugs her mother, and the three celebrate Terumi's breakthrough.

Meanwhile, on the incredibly far away land of Planet Rainbow, Blue Cat enters a cave. There, she finds a treasure all her own: a previously undiscovered Star Color Pen.

## Characters

* Hikaru Hoshina/Cure Star
* Lala Hagoromo/Cure Milky
* Elena Amamiya/Cure Soleil
* Madoka Kaguya/Cure Selene
* Fuwa
* Prunce
* Tenjo
* Knot Ray
* Terumi Hoshina
* Yoko Hoshina
* Harukichi Hoshina
* Yeti
* Blue Cat
* Yumeo Ogawa

## Trivia

* The group transformation sequence focuses more on Hikaru due to this episode focusing on her.
	+ Unlike previous episodes that focused on a single character, the whole group doesn't speak/sing together at all times. Hikaru is the only one to say, "Star Color Pendant!" Plus, when only her own transformation is playing, Hikaru's voice is heard over the other three.
* Each episode ends with a horoscope fortune telling for people with their respective astrological signs Aquarius, Libra and Aries.
	+ The horoscope for Aquarius is "A week to enjoy what you do". The lucky item is "A donut that feels you excited".
	+ The horoscope for Libra is "When everything looks so bright". The lucky item is "A telescope that you can look nice in the future".
	+ The horoscope for Aries is "I can start what I like". The lucky item is "A notebook that seems to draw a dream".