Wednesday, August 16, 2023

A decade of PriPara! From the beginning to Idol Land!

After years of delays, the Idol Land PriPara app game finally lands tomorrow, welcoming fans back to the world of PriPara like they've never been before. In honor of the return of PriPara in the newest app game, it's time for a quick trip back memory lane for a journey to the decade of PriPara.

Known as the second generation of the Pretty series, PriPara aired on TV Tokyo in the Summer of 2014 and lasted for three seasons, four if you count Idol Time PriPara of course. This anime series centers on the life and times of Laala Manaka, a little girl who wants to be the best PriPara idol.

A decade of PriPara...How did Laala and her friends go from there? Ready for a quick dive through the decade of PriPara? (Although spoilery, it's still recommended for those who don't know PriPara in case those who used to know PriPara got completely forgotten following...the incident)

Idol Land PriPara

Laala Manaka is your typical elementary school student living a typical life in the city of Parajuku, until her life changed forever when she emerged to the world of PriPara, a fantasy world where every girl can be an idol. She made a fateful encounter with an idol named Mirei, a sweet-looking PriPara idol who, in reality, is a strict middle-schooler with a knack for slapping violation tickets. 

Later, she met a wide variety of characters such as Sophy Hojo, the laid-back girl with a secret cool self, Dorothy and Reona West, twins with different attitudes, and Sion Todo, an idol girl whose everyday life is a battle. With that, Laala, Mirei, and Sophy formed the unit SoLaMi Smile while Dorothy, Reona, and Sion formed Dressing Pafe.

As the girls perform on PriPara in the hopes to become victors of the Idol Grand Prix, they've uncovered the secret of a mysterious vocal doll named Falulu, and thanks to their efforts, Falulu found freedom outside PriPara.

The SoLaMi Smile girls faced new competition such as the arrival of Aroma Kurosu, Mikan Shiratama, Gaaruru, Hibiki Shikyoin, Fuwari Midorikaze, and others.

With the advent of the mysterious PriPara goddess Jewlie, Laala and her friends faced the ultimate challenge; the road to becoming Divine Idols. Unknown to her; Laala's sister Non joined the fray in the form of the TRIANGLE unit consisting of Kanon, Junon, and Pinon. Sadly, the TRIANGLE unit is nothing but a scam busted, and looks like Non starts over at PriPara...by finding proper friends worthy of creating her own unit. 

With odd faces like Chili Tsukikawa and Pepper Taiyou became Non's friends, not to mention an unlikely help from someone named Janis, a PriPara goddess in the middle of sibling strife with Jewlie, Non Sugar was born.

The road to becoming Divine Idols is a fierce bout as many units will enter but only one unit will emerge. SoLaMi Smile fought through the ranks and ultimately defeated Dressing Pafe to become divine idols. However, all that victory came with a hefty price; the destruction of PriPara. Racing against time, the idols go all-out to save PriPara.

With Parajuku's PriPara saved and the goddess siblings' loose ends sorted, the journey continues for Laala Manaka as she became a transfer student to Paparajuku's Avocado Academy. This is where we meet Yui Yumekawa, a little girl who dreams to become the best idol in the hopes to surpass her brother Shogo, who belongs to a famous DanPri (PriPara for boys) unit named WITH alongside Asahi and Koyoi.

When Yui heard of a recently opened PriPara shop near her school, Yui expressed excitement until her fateful encounter with Laala. The two girls check it out for themselves except for one major problem; following an accidental encounter, Laala can't PriPara change!

Paparajuku's PriPara feels like an empty place for them but it's up to Yui and Laala to reshape this place by getting the word to the girls of Paparajuku in order for this place to grow. Their efforts attracted new PriPara idols such as Nino Nijiiro, the can-do athlete, and Michiru Kouda, the unlucky middle-schooler girl.

As the girls' Idol Time adventure progressed, they uncovered a mysterious secret regarding this place. It was actually the ancient PriPara that was shaped by the mysterious girl named Falala A Larm, only to be destroyed by someone named Garara S Leep and her critter Pakku just by eating girls' dreams. There's also a prophecy surrounding it.

Tasked to form a unit that will save Paparajuku's PriPara, Yui must convince Nino and Michiru to form themselves as a team. It wasn't an easy task but with everything they know about Nino and Michiru came full circle, they joined forces with Yui and together, they are MY DREAM. The trio defeated Shuka Hanazono and emerged as winners of the Idol Time Grand Prix. What's more, Falala appears and she managed to bring back Laala's PriPara form. Although Falala's time in PriPara was cut short, she did mention the mysterious glasses that can uncover the mysterious prophecy.

As the girls search for the mysterious glasses, Shuka suddenly joined forces with Garara but their friendship was nothing more than a ploy to steal girls' dreams. Shuka ended up becoming Garara's puppet just to fulfill her evil deeds. Shuka felt devastated following Garara's performance but her sister, the legendary idol Mia, stepped in to save the day. After Mia's legendary performance, the last piece of the mysterious glasses was found at the hands of the Abominable Snowman (Woman), and the prophecy's uncovered.

The prophecy says that they must use the key to unlock the door to the past, use the powers of the time dresses, and recover the mysterious jewel. With Nino and Michiru sorted out their loose ends for the mysterious time dresses, Yui's locked in a duel against Shuka in the Idol Time Grand Prix for the final time dress, and thanks to Yui's true purpose to build a true PriPara where everybody can be happy, she defeated Shuka and win the Idol Time Grand Prix, winning the final time dress needed for the prophecy.

With the three mysterious time dresses obtained as well as the key after Shuka spent most of her savings to the Shoebill who has the key, the MY DREAM girls travel back in time and obtained the mysterious jewel from a turtle named Kai. Thanks to the jewel, Falala, and Garara's loose ends were mended and Paparajuku's PriPara is freed from time restrictions, however Pakku's unhappy about Garara's new purpose. Expressing anger over Garara dumping him, he ate the newly-united clock tower and became a kaiju wreaking havoc all over Paparajuku PriPara. Falala and Garara used their powers to calm Pakku down but because of Yui's, Pakku is still on an emotional rampage and he's going to eat Yui alive. Laala committed a selfless sacrifice to save Yui and the PriPara they've worked so hard to form it.

Following Laala's sacrifice, the entire PriPara idols come together to perform in order to move the clock forward, but despite their best efforts, it's not enough. They need something powerful to break through Pakku's sadness. This is where the Dressing Pafe steps in, committing the ultimate gamble to become god idols. With Dressing Pafe's all-or-nothing performance gamble being a success, they've become god idols and broke the barrier, giving MY DREAM the chance to save Laala.

With Laala saved, Pakku's sadness went out of control, trapping MY DREAM into it. But thanks to the all-out efforts of the PriPara idols, Paparajuku's PriPara is saved and Pakku's back to normal.

Hardly moments have passed since the events at Parajuku and Paparajuku's PriPara, but for Laala and the other PriPara idols, the adventure continues as they return to PriPara for one major event; the transition to Idol Land. Harnessing the powers of the multiverse, the whole PriPara world witnessed the beginning of the new era...until...

Thanks to an unknown threat, the transition caused most of the Prism Stone shops worldwide to disappear completely and what's worse; PriPara idols outside PriPara lost their memories regarding it during the transition! Shuka was one of them!

Despite SoLaMi Smile's efforts to save the transition, that wasn't enough until Yui Yumekawa committed a sacrifice.

With the physical pathway to PriPara no longer in existence, with only a mysterious wormhole and a mysterious smartphone app that can grant you access to it, PriPara's last hope lies in one high-school girl who has no idea what that is...Amari Katasumi.


That is the journey to the decade of PriPara. With a hilarious cast of characters, unforgettable songs for all kids, and an endless array of outfits, the world would be a boring place without PriPara. With the portal to Idol Land PriPara set to open, what does PriPara mean to you? Idols? Costumes? Music? Live shows? Adventure?

A new kind of PriPara adventure awaits and your favorite idols are waiting for you.

LET'S ¡GO!

No comments: