u/Murozaki_II

We're just two episodes away from Eclair being revealed, and still, zero mention of Shushutan. With how much more importance the Fairies have had in this series (With fairy lore even being the focus of the upcoming movie), it's a very weird omission.

I wouldn't have come to this conclusion however, if Episode 23 hadn't had the most blatant Eclair identity tease we've had yet. To the point that at this point if it ISN'T Kurea it'll be a twist. Obviously you want your twists to have proper foreshadowing, but at the same time, you also want to keep audiences on your toes, not make things too predictable.

Which is why I think that there'll be two reveals, the predictable Cure Eclair reveal, then a crazy unexpected Shushutan reveal. Especially for the audience of little girls, they will be all too focused on wondering who is Cure Eclair only for the Shushutan twist to completely blindside them.

Two things I feel help this case is that Shushutan is the only character other than Eclair whose VA we don't know. As well as some actual Shushutan foreshadowing here and there that, compared to the Cure Eclair foreshadowing, is much less in-your-face about it. (Like Eriza's detective outfit in Episode 21 or Shiruku doing the same pose as her in Episode 9)

With all of this in mind, I think it would be really anti-climatic if it just turned out that Shushutan was some lowkey acessory who just "comes" with Eclair. Like the theory she's Kurea's hair scrunchie. Like hey here's Cure Eclair, by the way she comes with her own fairy.

Some say they doubt there'll be this crazy twist because Shushutan is very small and looks almost baby-like, that she'll probably just be that, a tiny wee baby that likely has no transformed form. But I need to remind you all: Shushutan is a tanuki, she should be a natural shapeshifter. Hell, she could have a transformed form that looks absolutely nothing like her fairy form because of this (Unlike the case with say, Jett).

So, in general. I do think at this point that Kurea is Cure Eclair. But that the actually unexpected part of the reveal will be how Shushutan fits into all of this.

Shiruku:

• Resembles what a stereotypical "Shushutan but human" design would look like the most;
• Her ponytail looks a bit like Shushutan's tail, especially with a big bow on it like Episode 22;
• The general wit and confidence she displayed in Episode 22 would make sense for a Fairy that had a partner experienced in detective work;
• Has a diamond earring, Shushutan has a bow with a diamond brooch;
• Jett's crush on her could be retroactively explained as him subconsciously being attracted to someone else of the same species.

Eriza:

• Wears a big blue outfit with a pink bow in Episode 21, emulating Shushutan's color and accessory;
• Interest in detectives and detective stories makes sense for a Fairy that used to be partnered up with a Detective Precure;
• Looks at the butterfly photo in the office in Episode 21 with attention, which could be because she's aware of what it is;
• Elements like her being the one to get Anna to wonder about her room in the Office, and her focus on profiling in Episode 16 could potentially be retroactively shown to be her deliberately giving hints to Anna, and her displaying a mindset befitting of a shapeshifting Tanuki Fairy respectively;
• Has the eye color closest to green;
• In case Kurea, as many are predicting, ends up being Eclair, but another girl ends up being Shushutan, Eriza is the one that makes the most sense to connect her to: Both have butterfly decorations while Rei and Shiruku have diamond ones; Both appear in the same scene in the Opening animation; Eriza is a regular at the bakery Kurea works in; And meta-wise, Eriza is named after the author (Agatha Christie) who created the character Kurea is named after (Hercule Poirot).

Usonoir:

• Literally absolutely nothing hinting at this, but there was for a moment on the Meitantei Precure website an error where Usonoir's portrait in his icon was layered over an image of Shushutan, which led to this theory to pop up as a joke;
• If this somehow against the odds ended up being the case. The explanation would probably be "Shushutan is corrupted into Usonoir -> Immediately seeks out Makoto Jewel -> Eclair with the last of her strength before her transformation runs out due to the connection with her fairy partner being cut off, shatters the Jewel";

Kurea's scrunchie or just not important at all:

• Tanuki can shapeshift into anything, including clothes. So if they decide to not make Shushutan have a twist related to her at all, they could do this, or just have her have been off-screen this whole time as some other mundane thing.

• Akechi Anna - Kogoro Akechi, the most obvious one, the most famous detective in Japanese literature;
• Kobayashi Mikuru - Kobayashi Yoshio, Akechi's apprentice;
• Nijee - The Fiend with Twenty Faces, one of Kogoro Akechi's most famous enemies. Nijee's name is the "Twenty" part (Nijuu) but with the character in the Furigana that makes it "juu" removed, turning it into "Nijee" (Nijii);
• Ageseine - Arsene Lupin, the famous gentleman thief. The character's name is literally how "Arsene" is written in Japanese with the "Ar" changed into an "Age";
• Goemon - Ishikawa Goemon, the Japanese thief whose story was the inspiration for many stories. Another obvious one;
• Moria Ruruka - Professor Moriarty, Holmes' most iconic enemy. This one is pretty clear, Moriarty -> Moria;
• Kurusu Eriza - Agatha Christie, one of the best-selling authors in history and one of the biggest influences in the mystery genre. Eriza's surname is essentially the "Chris" (Kurisu) part changed into Kurusu;
• Kaneda Rei - Kosuke Kindaichi, another famous detective from Japanese literature. Her surname is literally the "Kindaichi" with the Kanji for "Ichi" removed;
• Ieiri Shiruku - Sherlock Holmes, the most famous fictional detective ever. The "Ie" in her surname means "Home" (Home -> Holmes), and "Shiruku" is close to the Japanese pronunciation of Sherlock (Shaaroku);
• Howa Kurea - Hercule Poirot, the most famous detective character created by Agatha Christie. This one might sound strange, but "Poirot" in Japanese is written as "Poaro", and in Japanese, "Po" and "Ho" use the same character, so it goes from "Poaro" to "Howa".

None of the fairies, nor Usonoir, have Mystery genre-based names.