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YMMV / Pretty Cure

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YMMV tropes appearing throughout Pretty Cure.

Works with their own YMMV pages:

Main series

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YMMVs that apply to the franchise as a whole:

  • Americans Hate Tingle:
    • Pretty Cure isn't exactly hated internationally but it's not half as popular of a magical girl franchise as it is in Japan. In Japan it is an absolute powerhouse of a Cash-Cow Franchise and the most iconic magical girl series out there being even more popular than the likes of Sailor Moon. Outside of Japan it has a fairly devoted and sizable following amongst magical girl fans but is seen by mainstream anime fans as "just another magical girl anime". The series suffers from Girl-Show Ghetto (ironically, one of the franchise's main goals is to avert this trope) as well as most of the series being unavailable outside of Japan, thus English speakers are more likely to have seen Tokyo Mew Mew or Sailor Moon than most Pretty Cure series. There are exceptions though. For example, Italy absolutely adores the franchise. English speaking audiences did have some dubbed experiences of Pretty Cure (the original series (not aired in US), and Smile and Doki Doki (under the title Glitter Force), but they weren't very well received for various reasons, unlike America's attempt with Toei's other Tokusatsu franchise.
    • Possibly one of the regions where the hatedom is somewhat more notable is Latin America, due to a combination of many factors, including being broadcasted at school hours, the premise of the franchisenote  and above all, the atrocious voice acting work of the sole three series brought to Latin America, despite being dubbed in three different countries (Mexico for Futari, Miami, FL in the States for Smile and Colombia for Doki Doki, albeit this one received a better reception, not that helped much). The Mexican dub is infamous thanks to the bad direction and voice acting that was in that dubbing. The Miami dub of Smile is infamous, partly due to some of the actresses forcing their voices to avoid their native accents note  and the changes to the terms with the titular Glitter Force being translated as El Ejercito Brillante (The Sparkling Army) among many other unnecessary changes to the English translation. The DokiDoki! dub in contrast just left the English terms intact but the acting is noticeably stale and lacks enthusiasm at times, but is still considered superior by many.
    • For a more specific example, Yes! Pretty Cure 5 is a well-liked season in Japan, as it introduced the modern Pretty Cure formula and was successful enough to earn a sequel season; for western fans, it falls into the gap between the classic Futari wa Pretty Cure and the Newbie Boom HeartCatch Pretty Cure!, and neither of these series' fans especially care for it (the former for abandoning the distinctive Wonder Twin Powers, and the latter for it being rougher around the edges than Heartcatch). Neither side enjoys the pseudo-Teacher/Student Romance of Coco and Nozomi, either. To wit, Yes! 5's English subs weren't completed until 2014, a good five years after the series had finished in Japan. In the west, it also gained a reputation of being a Presumed Flop, due to westerners citing falling viewership during its original run and the lower-than-average sales of its merchandise causing many to misattribute the season and its immediate sequel as near-Franchise Killers, while overplaying how Fresh was a Win Back the Crowd case.
    • KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode is another season-specific example of this, while it is a generally contentious season, it was commercially successful compared to Maho Girls and especially Go! Princess and has an active fanbase in Japan compared to its detractors there, but in the West, it has received mixed to negative reactions, mainly due to the story and writing being seen as lackluster, questionable treatment for the characters (particularly the fan-favorite ones), and especially the near-total lack of physical violence and Good Old Fisticuffs in the action scenes which this franchise has been famous for.
    • While they at the very least understand why the Miracle Lights exist, that doesn't mean people on the western side are particularly thrilled about their existence, mainly in the sense that they feel the Lights runs on Deus ex Machina logic that promotes situations where Only the Author Can Save Them Now. By contrast, they're a very popular aspect in Japan even among older fans, likely because it's just cool to see them in a theater. The Miracle Lights and their alternatives were temporarily abandoned following the Healin' Good movie, though more out of practicality due to COVID-19 rather than as a creative decision, since they were eventually brought back for All-Stars F.
  • Archive Panic: The show's already run for twenty years with the same amount of seasons, and airs continuously an episode per week. If you plan to watch all of it, see to it that you have a lot of spare time.note 
  • Audience-Alienating Era: Everyone's got their seasons that they can't stand. From the romance of Happiness Charge to the plot of Doki Doki to the filler of Smile, every single season is decried as the franchise's Audience Alienating Era by somebody. That said, there is a perception that the series dropped in quality after HeartCatch Pretty Cure!, and again after Go! Princess Pretty Cure which, along with Heartcatch, was seen as a Tough Act to Follow.
  • Broken Base:
    • Want to incite a long debate between fans? Go ahead and ask what are the definitive colors for each of the existing Pretty Cures. Go on. Ask. It doesn't help that Toei themselves flip-flops on them at a moment's notice between seasons, as a Cure that was classified as one color will suddenly become labeled under another for seemingly no reason. This goes double if a Cure's color palette contains more than one major color, as it can make people double-guess their answers on where to place that Cure on a color wheel, especially once official sources get involved.
    • The whole "male Cure" topic, which was kickstarted by Pikario/Rio's possibility of becoming a Cure (which ended up being completely ignored within the story and the plans for that were scrapped for unknown reasons, with fans suspecting that the producers rejected the idea), is pretty divisive. Some fans like the idea and feel that it would add some variety to the Cures, while others find it strange and unnecessary, considering that there are already recurring male allies like Seiji, Kanata, Rosemary and Takumi/Black Pepper who can fight on their own without being Cures. And then we have Cure Wing, the first official male Cure (without including Cure Infini who appeared just for 2 episodes), and while the character was well-received, whether he needed to be a male character at all is a bit contentious; some feel that he doesn't look or act very masculine (even compared to the tomboyish Cure Sky) and wouldn't be any different if he was female, while others don't mind that and feel that there are little boys who would find him relatable. Such debates have raged on in a similar vein to the "female red ranger"/"female main character" of Tokusatsu fandom. That being said, the explicitly all-male Dancing Star was well received by stage audiences, but it broke into further debates about whether or not a male Cure should only be on a male team, or only relegated to minor roles and spinoffs.
  • Complete Monster: See here.
  • Contested Sequel: While there are some exceptions, a lot of seasons fall into this trope for one reason or another.
    • Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star is strictly divided between those who can get past (or avoid if they haven't watched the first season) how this season felt like a weaker copy of Futari wa Pretty Cure and those who cannot (some of whom actually find it superior to its predecessor).
    • Any season that messes with the fights-to-frills ratio (usually lowering the former or upping the latter) will inevitably invite this epithet.
  • Creator Worship: Despite their contribution to the franchise being solely creating manga tie-ins, a lot of fans consider the twin duo Jitsuna and Kizuna Kamikita (known collectively as Futago Kamikita) to be an integral part of the franchise, and their takes on some seasons were seen by some as superior to how these seasons actually turned out. but much to the Western fans’ annoyance, only a few mangas from the twins were translated into English while the rest were left untranslated and are hard to find.
  • Cult Classic: Currently, two series hold true for Western fans: HeartCatch Pretty Cure! for being the first series to be widely subbed and being an amazing series story and action-wise, and Go! Princess Pretty Cure for pulling the series out of its terrible slump after Heartcatch.
  • Die for Our Ship: Male love interests to the Cures are regarded rather poorly by some shippers who pair the Cures with their fellow teammates. Some examples are Daisuke, Fujipi and Nikaidou. That being said, there are some exceptions from this treatment, like Syrup, Seiji, and Takumi.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
    • Mika Masuko, to the point where fans have devised theories about her.
    • Ikuyo Hoshizora probably has more fanart on pixiv than any other Precure mother in the entire franchise.
    • The International Cures such as the American team, the Bomber Girl Pretty Cure, have plenty of artwork despite only being seen for less than ten minutes tops. In fact, on the Pretty Cure Wiki, there was a poll to choose your favorite international team, and guess what? Bomber Girls beat them all by a land slide.
  • Fan Nickname: Has its own page here.
  • Friendly Fandoms:
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  • Girl-Show Ghetto: While many seasons tend to avoid both this trope and Animation Age Ghetto thanks to the intense action scenes and stories, some seasons, particularly the lighthearted and less action-oriented ones, have a chance of being dismissed by some viewers as just another magical girl series for little kids regardless of their quality
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The series' hand-to-hand and animation pedigrees had fans saying that with just a little tweaking and some blood, Precure could become a shoujo Dragon Ball. Come Dragon Ball Super, and there's an entire universe (mixed with elements of Sailor Moon) dedicated to showing exactly what that would look like.
  • Ho Yay: Has its own page.
  • Improved Second Attempt: The full transformation sequence of Yes Pretty Cure 5 GO!GO! is needlessly long and tedious (sometimes taking five to six good minutes). From Fresh on, the transformation sequences have been considerably shortened and they are not as boring.
  • It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: The franchise has gotten flak for reusing story elements.
  • LGBT Fanbase:
    • The Pretty Cure franchise is well-liked among bi and lesbian anime fans due to the frequent Ho Yay apparent from the Pseudo-Romantic Friendship dynamics. KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode in particular has Yukari (Cure Macaron) and Akira (Cure Chocolat), the closest to genuine relationship between two teammates, including a Love Confession between the two. This was well-received among the LGBT fanbase, and even those who hated Kira Kira have praised the relationship.
    • The series also has a number of transgender fans as well. Henri from HuGtto! Pretty Cure was praised for being a positive example of a gender-nonconforming character; he is a male character who likes to wear dresses and present femininely, and other characters support him for expressing himself. It is very easy to read Henri as trans or nonbinary, and he later becomes Cure Infini, officially the first male Pretty Cure.
  • Misblamed: Whenever a following season's combat becomes toned down, fans are usually quick to blame Moral Guardians as the reason why the action sequences become less intense. In actuality, the only major complaint that was documented by the BPO regarding the franchise involves only HeartCatch and its lax use of the Butt Punch attack and the Toilet Humour-esque nature of how the Heart Seeds produced. Regardless, the Butt Punch was still referenced in future seasons, so even then, the complaint had no overall effect on the series.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Own page here.
  • No Problem with Licensed Games: The original Futari wa Pretty Cure tie-in game for GBA is a charming puzzle platformer that focuses on controlling Cure Black and Cure White independently, similar to The Lost Vikings. The following Max Heart and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! games for DS are also fun, well-made beat-'em-ups.
  • Older Than They Think: Precure is most notable for being a Tokusatsu series in anime form and having magical girls beat the crap out of the Monster of the Week before finishing it off with a magical attack, but the first magical girl to beat up her enemies with her bare hands (or kicks, as it happened) was Minako Aino/Sailor V in the one-shot pilot for Codename: Sailor V (the starting point for Sailor Moon) a full 13 years before the first episode of Futari wa Pretty Cure was aired, and the first Tokusatsu-based magical girl was Toei's own Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine (also the most direct inspiration for Codename Sailor V and thus Sailor Moon).
  • Old Guard Versus New Blood: At least for a while, there were lines drawn strictly between Heartcatch (the season associated with the Newbie Boom) and Futari wa (with many older fans adoring Nagisa for the same selfishness and whining that the Heartcatch fans find so grating). It seems to have cooled off over time, however, and is a non-issue in Japan, where fans of both series are common. When a second Newbie Boom happened with official simulcasts starting with Healin' Good, the fandom was mostly just happy to have more people.
  • Periphery Demographic: Adult males, at least in the beginning. Given that there was a "marketing" paper that listed the "main target" as 4-to-12-year-old girls and 16-to-35-year-old men, no doubt they are now one of the main demographics.
  • Pop Culture Holiday: Both fans and official sources acknowledge Precure Day (February 1), the anniversary of the day Futari wa Pretty Cure went on air.
  • The Problem with Licensed Games: Starting with the games for Fresh! the games mostly abandon the action genre in favor of bland mini-game collections, only to dip out of the gaming industry entirely after Nari Kids Park: HUGtto! Pretty Cure came and went and Pretty Cure Connection Puzzlun shut down; fans especially express disappointment since both the franchise and the systems they were released on (DS, 3DS, Wii, and the Switch) were capable of so much more. Many are holding out for the day when Bandai Namco (who holds the Pretty Cure game license) partners with Koei to make a Pretty Cure-themed Warriors game, or at the very least, a fighting game.To clarify...
  • Questionable Casting: Some Cures get hit with this during a series' initial previews and first few episodes, though the Pink Cures are hit with this the most when fans expect a high-pitched Moe-esque voice like Tsubomi from HeartCatch Pretty Cure!. This is in-spite of the fact that the pitch of the lead Cure is rarely consistent between series.
  • Replacement Scrappy: The most common complaint about Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star. In just about every Precure poll, Saki and Mai rank amongst the lowest. They got better though, thanks to Divergent Character Evolution.
  • Romantic Plot Tumor: Many a fan considers the various seasons’ attempts at romance to be rather clumsy and at times disproportional to the screentime spent on them, and the fact that almost none of them were resolved and mostly just Left Hanging by the end of the series doesn't help. The biggest offender is probably HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!, where the romance plot took over the second half of the season… to its detriment, according to many fans. And of course, Yuri fans disliked them because F/F ships were kept to subtext and straight ones weren't.
  • The Scrappy:
    • Considering other Cures, Shiny Luminous is disliked among a group of fans for "not being a Cure"Technically. and/or having "a flat personality" and not fighting. However, when Laura of Tropical-Rouge filled the "Shiny Luminous" role as a noncombatant who helps with the finishing move, she was wildly popular due to her bold and troublesome personality and eventually became a full Precure, fighting with the others anyway.
    • Cure Echo from the All-Stars movies is disliked for taking away focus from the other cures for the majority of the movie and doing even less than Shiny Luminous. It's made worse by the fact that she doesn't even become a Cure until the final 10 minutes of New Stage 1, and doesn't even fight; all she does is give Fuu-chan a cooldown hug then de-transforms.
    • Fairies have these as well. Futari wa had Pollun, who is hated for his whiny and bratty personality and for only contributing by giving the Cures the items needed for their ultimate finisher, Rainbow Storm. He gets better in Max Heart when he becomes Shiny Luminous's partner, but the same season also introduces Lulun, who's even worse than him.
      • Milk from Yes Precure 5 is the most hated fairy in the franchise. She's a gigantic hypocrite who deliberately makes things difficult for the Cures and constantly insults Nozomi. Not helping is that she's needed for their ultimate finisher and ends up gaining a human form and becoming Milky Rose in Go!Go!. Though people agreed that she's a lot more tolerable as Milky Rose, her merchandise didn't sell well, and the franchise nearly sunk there.
    • Out of the franchise's plethora of Big Goods, Blue from HappinessCharge is by far the most hated one. due to him being seen as useless despite his position as the god/spirit of Earth, and the fact that he was responsible for the "Cures can't fall in love" rule that caused the entire plot of the season to happen in the first place, not helping that all of that was because of his Commitment Issues.
  • Spiritual Successor: The franchise on the whole appears to be this to the Magical Girl entries of Toei Fushigi Comedy Series, Sailor Moon, and most apparently Ojamajo Doremi (Heartcatch has the same character designer as Ojamajo). It may also be one to Dragon Ball, especially the first few seasons.
  • Testosterone Brigade: Despite being marketed to girls and having plenty of fangirls in both its native Japan and in the West, the franchise has lots of male fans because of its long-standing reputation for in-your-face fist fights and No Holds Barred Beat Down to a degree that is uncommon in other magical girl shows, since the tone-setting director for the first installments of the franchise is best known for Dragon Ball Z.
  • Tough Act to Follow:
  • Vanilla Protagonist: Most of them anyway. Someone can even say that some are literally stereotypes. Most of the time, their friends (or even the villains) get actual development. There are exceptions of course but still...
  • Win Back the Crowd: Doki Doki was an attempt by Toei to win back the fanbase. This one has quite a story behind it. Three years before Doki Doki, the Pretty Cure season of the year was Heartcatch, which was almost completely different from its predecessors. It was both Darker and Edgier and at the same time Denser and Wackier, and the main characters are just plain b***. The change enticed a lot of people, mostly from the Periphery Demographic. The next two seasons after that adhered to the older formula (read: made for little girls), and this put off the new fans. Doki Doki is an attempt to create something that replicates the success of HCPC while still keeping the primary audience. The result is something that can be described as either Made Of Win or a total Cliché Storm. Because of that, Happiness Charge is attempting to try again, this time mixing elements of the older ways and the ways pioneered by HCPC while adding some new ideas of its own (like deliberately trying to make the blue Pretty Cure be the main character instead of the pink one)... at least, at first, because it ended up crashing and burning in its second half even worse than Doki Doki did. This has since lead to a major change in the higher-ups that produce the series, leading then-current producer Hiroaki Shibata to be Kicked Upstairs to Toei's Tokusatsu department. This has ironically made Go! Princess take this mantle instead, to a much more degree of success than the past two seasons.

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