WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 9 of Tropical-Rouge! Precure, "Makeup is Magic? Get Tropical with Movie!" now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Episode 9 of Tropical-Rouge! Precure, "Makeup is Magic? Get Tropical with Movie!" marks a few of the series' firsts: the first episode focused on a non-Cure side character, the first time that the girls are shown learning from prior battles -- and hints of the series' first major shake-up to its formula. With the main characters finally fully settled into their double lives, easily jumping into action to defeat the Yarane-da, the Witch of Delays finally decides to send something a little more troublesome their way: the Zenzen Yarane-da. While this doesn't sound especially threatening, the name reveals a lot more about the new monster than one might think.
With the girls spending the majority of Episode 9 helping an actress become a villainess for the screen, one could be forgiven for thinking the distraction would hamper their abilities to fight even a regular Yarane-da. While it is true that the girls falter for a moment under the camera monster's light attacks, Coral's blocking ability gives the girls time to use their experience and get mirrors to reflect the monster's attack back at itself. It is this overwhelming and decisive victory that convinces the Witch of Delays to bestow the Zenzen Yarane-da on her followers since, clearly, the regular Yarane-da are ineffective at best.
As a pun on the Japanese word, "yaranai," roughly translating to "I don't want to/won't do this," it only makes sense that the Yarane-da's powered-up form would be just as punny, albeit slightly more direct. "Zenzen," emphasizes the negativity of the phrase, turning it from "I don't want to do this" to "I don't want to do this at all," or, in other words, "I absolutely, in no way, want to do this."
The importance of the emphasis is shown in the Episode 10 preview, "Combined Motivation! Pretty Cure Mix Tropical!" where it's revealed that a large portion of the plot will revolve around Mantasu's motivation being stolen. Given that, across the franchise, the Pretty Cure are usually immune to whatever power the villains hold unless they're having a really bad day, the fact that the villains could potentially take Mantasu's motivation this early in the series speaks to the Zenzen Yarane-da's overwhelming power.
It also creates a sense of fear not only for the girls but for the viewer as well, wondering which Cure's motivation will get stolen next. We currently don't know how, or if, they'll manage to return Manatsu's motivation, but it's clear that having the Zenzen Yarane-da around will split the Cures' attention as they try to protect themselves and those around them. This fractured attention could easily create tension between the girls both on and off the battlefield, or, it could draw them closer together as they work not to protect each other.
The Zenzen Yarane-da promises to bring some real stakes to the girls' weekly fights, while also introducing unique comedy as we see how each girl deals with a loss of motivation and the reactions of those around them. In keeping with the show's theme, the Zenzen Yarane-da may even lead the girls to a lesson on persistence, doing what needs doing -- even when it's hard, and even one doesn't feel like doing it in the first place.
