Pretty Cure general thread

Why so? I guess for me, Kira Kira is just overall bland as an experience with nothing standing out. So the wimper was expected. Doesn't make it good, but it's just overall mehish. I definitely wouldn't pick it to watch anytime soon.

STPC is frustrating but it has a little TINY bit more than Kira Kira. I'll give it so credit that a space theme is just more interesting and has more going for it than sweets/animals/whatevers.

I guess depends on your view. Which is worse, a show that tried and failed or a show that never bothered to begin with? For me it's the latter.

Edited by Ducolamia on Jan 27th 2020 at 7:26:32 AM

I think it's the Yukari/Akira relationship that was the highlight of Kira Kira. I think with Star Twinkle I really ended up having high hopes for great plots, great expectations, and also a great look at a dark skinned cure, but everything about the writing was half assed and left be unsatisfied. Also the Big Bad was left off without even a slap on the wrist.

I feel like you guys aren't being fair to Kirakira but that's nothing new for this fandom. It's not as good as the greats like Splash Star, Fresh, and Go! Princess but that doesn't mean it's not good.

And it does have something to stand out. I haven't watched the original duo/trio's seasons but compared to Splash Star and everyrhing else that came after it Kirakira is the only series that didn't have an overarching villain from the start. It took until episode 18, over a third of a way through the show for our main villain to be introduced and until 21 which is just three episodes short of halfway through the show for us to actually meet our main villain. No other season has made us wait that long.

Even ignoring that, the cast is very loved by the fanbanse. With the exception of Ichika most of the cast are popular characters. Not only that, but it introduced the first rainbow Cure to the franchise in Ciel/Parfait and established the idea that guys could be Precure, paving the way for Henri to become one in Hugtto (Even if it was temporary.).

Kirakira Precure A la Mode may not be one of the best Precure series but it's still a very good one in its own right.

As for Star Twinkle, I can't properly judge it because I stopped watching literally the episode Cosmo debuted in. That being said, this thread has been way too negative about it as a series to the point that reading the thread isn't even fun anymore. I can only hope that Healin' Good won't inspire as much negativity in the fandom as Star Twinkle seems to have done.

Unless you think every season is equally good, half the seasons have to be in well, the bottom half. Doesn't mean the bottom seasons are necessarily bad, and I still don't think there's been an outright bad season.

While I'm not a big fan of Star Twinkle, it's easily stronger than KiraKira. They've both got a heavyweight character that gets the best stuff (Yukari/Lala), but ST is overall better at making the rest of its cast compelling. Also space > cooking, though that's my bias. Kira somehow had the stronger finale though, so points there?

I know people have spoke negatively a lot in this thread, but that is more having to do with lackluster seasons that sometimes comes our way.

I liked Star Twinkle a lot, personally. I especially liked Hikaru, and she might even beat out Ichika for my favorite pink Cure (Kirakira is still my top favorite Pretty Cure series in general, though). I think what I like most about Hikaru is her curiosity, open-mindedness, and desire to learn. I also found it interesting and surprising that she was alone a lot when she was younger, because she otherwise seems very extroverted and eager to make friends. (I also like that Hikaru has a very similar personality to my beloved dog Luna, probably the most of all the Cures so far)

As for the series in general, what I like most about Star Twinkle is the emphasis on diversity and being different as being good things. Not only with Elena and Lala, but also the various planets and also Tenjo's story. I also liked the astronomy theme in general, since that's one of my favorite subjects.

However, I do agree that letting the Ophiuchus princess go free probably wasn't a good idea, at least not without some way of monitoring her to make sure she doesn't go evil again.

Edited by Rainbow on Jan 28th 2020 at 7:08:46 AM

Here's hoping Healin Good turns out better.

For what it's worth, I think someone wrote their own Precure fan series with a star motif that supposedly handled Star Twinkle's themes a lot better and took more risks. I know it has a trope page, Starshine! Pretty ✰ Cure. I haven't read it, but someone wrote it before Star Twinkle ever became a thing. There's always that.

I am glad you liked it, but I kind of disagree mostly because when it came to Elena they really didn't handle issues with her biracial status that well. And again they began developing the characters only in the final episodes of the series, instead of throughout. There were many elements there to make a great and memorable show, but it ended up floundering in the end.

What you said about Hikaru there sums up why I eventually decided to put her as the trope image for The Xenophile. It even had unanimous consensus in the Image Pickin forum.

Let's be fair. Being negative =/= being critical for no reason EVERY single time something comes up. Just as being critical of a show you like doesn't mean you hate it entirely. (There is bad criticism/good criticism however as well). You can acknowledge a show that has flaws and still like it. A lot of people are frustrated not to just be "negative" but because this show had potential and it felt like the writers never really fulfilled on any of it. While I am critical of STPC it's because other seasons have done better, so seeing this season take so little risks and be so mediocre is frustrating to say the least, because with better pacing/writing, things could've been different.

Sadly, I'm not really here to judge a show on what I WISH it had though. I can only really judge what we GOT. And what we got were lackluster characters, good worldbuilding, great music, okay-ish villains and a bland story.

Besides that...

x8 That's fair. I did like Yukari/Akira's relationship being the highlight of the show, but I did wish they did something else with their characters individually.

I do hope Healing Good is well, Good lol. I'm looking forward to it. After seeing the first few trailers, I think it's funny the girls still have to fight with the sticks in their hands. A part of me just wants them to have a pouch or something. I'm so not used to it yet. lolol.

EDIT:

Thanks for reminding me of that fanfiction. I used to read a lot of Precure fanfics as a kid. One of them was called Perfume Preppy I believe? If I have the time, I'm definitely checking that one out! Thanks for the recommendation!

Edited by Ducolamia on Jan 28th 2020 at 4:47:11 AM

I think Hikaru never grew on me as a character, due to how lacking in perspective she was.

Star Twinkle Precure Final Thoughts

After Hugtto was surprisingly strong with fun characters balanced by a powerful theme, it was inevitable that Star Twinkle was going to have a hard time measuring up. But if you can't match it in one area, go for another. Space is always awesome, and there aren't enough sci-fi magical girls, so if we could get some good spectacle that would make up for some lesser writing substance. At least ideally. To the show's credit it embraced the space stuff with glee both in its imagery and the actual story. It did seem the writers knew what to focus on, and there's less obvious executive meddling, which means we should've been in for a good time. Which ended up being the case... with a lot of caveats.

Hikaru feels like the biggest victim of Precure's traditions. The lead must be a normal genki girl who meets all sorts of more interesting people. The archetype can work, as seen by Hana last year, but it requires skilled writers that care about her. I'm not convinced they did. Beyond the obligatory traits the most standout parts of her were her fascination with space/cryptids (a no-brainer in a sci-fi series) and her peculiarities/interests driving others away leaving her alone. That second part seems like it could help make her a compelling character, but it was only paid lip-service to. That sums her up in a nutshell really. She's the leader of the team, but pays no real thought to the mission and dodges the sort of burden that comes with the position as much as possible. She has a bright imagination, but she doesn't really do anything imaginative. The most compelling part of her ends up being her trying to understand both the viewpoints of people she doesn't agree with and the universe as a whole. There is some good stuff here that tries to justify her status as the lead, but when her character avoids what could be compelling character bits it ends up being difficult to call her interesting.

Star Twinkle could screw up just about everything, but ultimately to be a success all it truly needed was a cute alien that says lun. They nailed Lala's concept perfectly, so mission success? Maybe if she was the lead like the writers clearly wanted her to be, but alas it was not to be. As the primary alien of the team she was always going to be the highlight, and what a highlight she was. Beyond the antennas she probably blended into humanity a little too well, but whenever you couldn't ignore that she grew up in a totally different planet and culture you just had to smile. Like when she couldn't do math. As an adult her sense of responsibility was certainly there, but getting caught up in Hikaru's pace didn't do her much favor. Whenever she was given the chance to shine, and she got plenty of chances, she could form a sweet bond with basically anyone. Especially the humans as she strove to understand them, and in turn be understood by them. Her planet and viewpoint could have used a lot more fleshing out, and since she went though the most growth I'm not sure her ways were as validated as they could have been. She grew from a stubborn garbage lady to someone who could bring out the good both in individuals and her people. On the whole she was an extremely fun character to follow, and the movie making her the lead showed just how strong the series could've been if she had been even more prominent.

Yellows tend to be among the best or the worst, and the coin flip was not favorable to Elena this round. Since she's half-Mexican and the first dark-skinned Cure she had the potential for a ton of fascinating stories that resonated both with the actual aliens and the real world implications of her living situation. And they did that... kind of. Because this is Precure we didn't see her or her family suffer much or any actual discrimination, but the sense of being an outsider who was unsure of what to think of herself was there. I don't know whether to commend the writers for going there at all or to call them cowards who should've really gone farther with what they created. Without that external conflict her arc was entirely inner-focused without any look at how Japan treats foreigners. She wasn't helped by having essentially no development in the first half, as she was rarely the focus in her focus episodes. She got better in the second half with her arc actually existing, yet so much of it was about smiles, and frankly it was the least interesting part of her arc. Not the worst misfire a yellow has had in this series, but a misfire it was.

Meduka, you need to Meguca. Whoops, wrong Madoka. She wasn't a pink or an alien, so she was destined to make do with table scraps. With what she got she showed that it's not how much screen-time you get. It's what you do with it. She started off with a fascinating premise of being connected with the government being opposed to outsiders, in this case aliens. While that gave way to a more typical rich ojou wanting to be free, it nevertheless shaped her character. She adored her father, and seeing her attempt to square being a good daughter with her more exciting superhero activities was always interesting. Two contradicting viewpoints meant she had to choose what she valued more, and while she obviously sided with protecting the universe part of her growth was understanding that she could reconcile both sides. She didn't reject her family legacy, but instead reinterpreted it to fit herself and her situation. Unfortunately the government hunting aliens subplot stalled and didn't really go anywhere, so like Elena she didn't reach her potential. But her episodes did manage to flesh her out as a character without losing her core concept, so while she might not be a standout Cure, she was solid overall.

Oh no, Precure is going after the furry demographic now. Yuni I'm a bit mixed on. When she's good she's really good. But at the same time she felt a bit out of place. She is the only Cure in the franchise to not go to school, which may not be a bad thing inherently, but it did hamper her development on Earth. I don't think the show ever figured out whether her stint as a Notrayder/Blue Cat was justified in order to get her people back or a bad thing because spying on villains and stealing from the rich is wrong(?). Personally I'd rather her remain unrepentant even while changing her ways, and to a degree she was. But I guess a kids show can't glorify a thief too much, so she still has to apologize a little bit. Yuni isn't the only Cure with a tragic backstory, but hers really stings as it shows how uncaring the universe can be when nobody cared, and she never had 100% assurance that she could bring her people back. Being a victim for so long gave her quite justified trust issues, but she still managed to grow and learn when not to tackle her massive problems alone. Of course as a catgirl she had a bunch of fun quirks that never grew old. There were some weird bumps in her story, especially with how forgiving she was to those who harmed her. Still, she was a wild character who did lots of interesting stuff, so she's solidly the second best of the team.

Prunce was great. He was useful for information, consistently physically helpful in a pinch, and was just fun in general. Fuwa got way too much focus for being an empty plush doll who only started getting a slight bit of character near the end. Felt like the Cures were more motivated to protect her than the entire universe even though she was a glorified MacGuffin. We're here for the superheroes Toei. Don't center around an uncharismatic mascot. I know Mofurun sold a lot, but Mofurun had a character. AI didn't get enough. The families were all good, each providing something important to their Cure. The rest of the human cast was lackluster. The old geezer did a couple mentor things and then was forgotten about, Sakurako struggled to go beyond fun ham, and everyone else was forgettable. The aliens were a bit more memorable on account of being aliens, but too few stuck around. At least Prunce got a girlfriend, and Topper provided an important viewpoint. Abraham especially could've been used more as a liaison to the wider context. Actually what happened to him in the end? Dude should still be on Earth. The lack of a more solid reoccurring alien cast was probably inevitable, but there still could've been something more to them.

I get that it's hard to make threatening villains when they lose each week, but the show practically went out of the way to make the Notrayders a joke, to the point where I don't understand how these losers were a threat to the universe. As physical threats they were barely competent, and far too often they literally threw away their victory. As characters they were better, but only just. Kappard was the best of the bunch, proving to be an effective foil to Hikaru to the point where he was where her character shined the most. Even before his sob story he was a joy to watch, and for the most part he was the toughest opponent in a direct confrontation. Tenjou was pretty terrible, especially since her characteristic as the cunning commander barely came up. At least her rivalry with Elena wasn't terrible. Ayewon was incredibly annoying and the second most villainous character in the show, having petrified an entire planet, stealing their stuff, and not feeling bad about it. And this is the person they redeemed first? Really? She ended up developing into something okay, especially once she separated from the main villains, but her development should've come before forgiveness. Galogre was just there. Decent sob story and that's about it.

The Star Princesses were the big good of the series, and eventually revealed to be essentially gods who created the universe and gave people free will. Too bad they had no character and did nothing but sit in their palace waiting for the Cures to save the day. Oh wait they did do something, mold Fuwa, technically a living and thinking creature, into a vessel to reshape the universe and then discard. Also string along Yuni with empty promises of fixing her planet. At least Blue was called out for his mistakes. These Princesses were awful, and yet no one called them out for their problems. It's only fitting that the true villain was one of their own. To her credit Ophiuchus was genuinely threatening once she finally started doing something. She even gets her own basic philosophy that the people of the universe have used their imagination for terrible things, so it's all worthless and needs resetting. She needed more screen-time, but she used what little she got very well. Maybe a little too well, because they kind of failed to prove the omnicidal maniac who could and did kill everyone in the universe wrong.

Imagination was the theme of the show. At least it thought it was. The word was said a lot. Maybe the connotation is different in Japanese, but I have no idea what imagination is in the context of this show. It seems to be free will or something? It was barely elaborated, making it feel empty and worthless. Barely there just like the supposed art motif. That does not mean there wasn't a central theme however. This show had the same writer as Maho, and thus tackles a similar theme. While Maho was about cultural integration, Star Twinkle was about culture clash. There's lots of different societies in the world/universe, and sometimes they can't easily get along, or even might be completely incompatible. But that doesn't mean they can't learn from each other and grow from their shared experiences. Elena, Lala, and Yuni are all outsiders in some way, coming to terms with their differences from the local culture while still seeing the value in who they are. Lala in particular realized some of the flaws in her own way of thinking, and even if it was incidental, her actions did lead to her society trying to improve itself without discarding who they were. Madoka is naturally inclined to oppose outsiders and follow traditions, but she proved that way of thinking wrong and became a better person when she embraced outsiders. And of course Hikaru loves aliens because they're different, but also doesn't let it stop her from seeing everyone as people.

That's all well and good, but what should we do when society is flawed, and cultures don't get along? Kappard's people were kind to all visitors, and their kindness was exploited to harvest all their resources. Tenjou suffered from discrimination all her life. Rich assholes and the space mafia do whatever they want with little to no opposition. Yuni's people were chased around the universe till they found a new home, and when they suffered near genocide nobody cared. Ophiuchus used these sorts of events to justify her rampage. Yes people can be kind to each other, but they also do terrible things with their imagination. Normally I'd be okay with the usual Precure platitudes. People are more inherently good than bad, and the Cures themselves serve as a shining example of what to do. But they let Ophiuchus go free even as she promised to start it all over again if she doesn't see improvement in the universe. To make it even worse the Precure lose their powers five minutes later, so they're extremely limited in what they can do now. They can't even stop her when she changes her mind. So there needs to be a slightly more concrete answer as to how to stop what happened to Yuni and Kappard from happening again. If there is no answer, and I don't see one, then too many people across the universe will continue to suffer until the crazy snake lady decides to end it all.

Aside from that, I've got several other problems. The Cures each had distinct fighting styles, which is great, but all too often the fights felt incredibly stiff and were filled with stock footage spam. A few fights were good, but so many weeks were disappointing in that aspect. The space adventures were kind of undercooked. At best we got a glance at one place before it's tossed aside, never to be seen again. Some were still inherently interesting, like the rich assholes planet, or Lala's home. Or the water planet, where we saw a guy made of fire had made his new home there because it expanded his horizons. Too often though we only met a couple inhabitants, and those planets were pretty uninteresting even if their visual designs were neat. The show couldn't decide if it wanted to be a cutesy magical girl show an epic space opera. What we got was characters from a cute magical girl show getting tossed into a conflict with such an incredible scale that they never really understood it, instead focusing more on growing their plush doll. Which backfired when the universe died for a bit. Whoops. Ayewon was forgiven too easily, though that was overshadowed by Ophiuchus getting perhaps the worst case of easily forgiven I've ever seen.

In the end, I did enjoy Star Twinkle. The characters were generally fun both on Earth and in space, even with their inconsistent at best development. The space adventures themselves were great whenever they really went all out, and for a few moments here and there the world building was on point. Thankfully the show didn't suffer from having to cram in unnecessary cross overs, and the obligatory music ad (Yuni's idol persona) was understated all things considered. The problems were very glaring however, from lackluster villains to a central theme that made me think they're all doomed. This could have been great, but a lack of overall cohesion puts Star Twinkle in the bottom half of the franchise. It's still worth a watch if you want lighthearted space magical girls, but Precure can be so much better. I don't know what to think of Healin' Good yet, but I hope it understands itself better than Star Twinkle did.

VIDEO: 13 PreCure Girls Show Off Miracle Leap Film's ED Dance on Stage

There is an official stream going on right now! I dont feel comfortable posting it here though. Can I?

In these dark times we need to heal our hearts with Healin' Good Precure. Back to something more grounded. A health-focused season is definitely something worth tackling. Not sure if the timing is good or bad. Nodoka definitely shows some potential as a lead. She's cheerful, but she's also clearly trying to have a positive outlook after going through some currently unspecified illness. We'll see how they go with her condition, both past and present, but I do have hopes for her. Everything else though, eh. Aside from Nodoka the episode was really basic. The fairies took up too much screen-time, which I hope isn't a sign. Not looking forward to yet another baby fairy to raise. I have to question why middle school girls are the only ones that help old people in magical girl anime. Short transformation for Cure Grace, but not bad. The fairies being more involved in fighting, could be annoying or redeeming for them. I do like the look of the villains. Weaker start than Hugtto and Star Twinkle, but there's plenty of time for the show to find its footing.

Edited by Sterok on Feb 2nd 2020 at 12:41:19 PM

As someone who checked Star Twinkle over the past year (I decided to try at least one Precure season so why not the one that was airing). Il'e just give my simple thoughts. Solid first half, very weak second half.

I can't say I would recommend the show to people, but if this is really amongst the worst of Precure, then frankly you don't have much to complain about with this franchise.

Edited by Gaogaigar54 on Feb 2nd 2020 at 3:41:18 AM

My thoughts on healin good's first episode: despite having the typical pink cure genkiness Nodoka feels a bit more subdued, probably due to her back story as someone who had a serious illness. I think I might enjoy her more than i did Hikaru. The fairies are okay despite being more than usual so even if theyre repeating the "taking care of a baby" thing for the 3rd time in a row I think I'll be okay with them. First encounter fight wasn't particularly remarkable animation wise, neither was the henshin, though I admittedly hold most precures visually to go pri's standards which is a bit unfair. I'm interested in the villain for all the wrong reasons but I'm interested in the implied rivalry he seems he'll be having with Nodoka in the future as well

Op and end were nice both visually and audio wise. Hope the series is able to hold up. Now, let's see how many episodes before hearing the villains name stops making me laugh this season

Edit: I'll also be keeping up with the 4chan threads cause they have more activity than any other discussion site, and horny on main posts aside they're pretty fun. I found the theorising of the cures suffering a mid season loss, Nodoka getting super weak due to her past illness, and ikemen bad boy potentially saving her since his types typically undergo face heel turns is normal particularly fun to imagine

Edited by Mami on Feb 2nd 2020 at 2:56:40 PM

Toei Streams 1st Episode of Healin' Good Precure Anime on YouTube

EDIT: Healin' Good Precure Anime Reveals 4 More Cast Members

Edited by WolfThunder on Feb 2nd 2020 at 6:34:24 AM

Unrelated, except for a surprise at the end.

Upon rewatching it, I change my assessment on the transformation. Sure its not cure flora level but its quick, fluid and visually exciting, no wasted movement or over lingering. Its at least a vast improvement over Hikaru's and most of the hugtto.

With her respiratory problems, does this mean we have our first disabled lead?As someone said, this season couldn't have come at a better time, due to the outbreak that has happened. And again, the main character is more like Tsubomi in personality, due to her past illness. We will probably see a lot of tear jerking flashback concerning overcoming her illness.

Assuming they don't pull a Hana and rush through the culmination of her past trauma

I think this is a solid first episode. Builds up a lot of things that it has to go through but enough to keep me interested. Nodoka being happy she's Grace and that she can move around more is what's the most interesting to me. Most Precure leads just take it as is because it's part of the starting formula (with exceptions), but Nodoka really seems to enjoy it because she can move without being tired. I think that's a nice touch to show how she desires to be healthy but really isn't. Subtle, but sweet.

Wouldn't say it's an illness in itself but most likely her not having the healthiest body. One of friends was like that when we were growing up. Always seemed to get sick really easily and wasn't the most active. Can definitely see that here.

As for the fairies, I think they have decent chemistry with one another. Nothing too annoying (yet) but I like how the fairies this time around seem to be taking their roles a bit more seriously. I know some people don't like the fairy antics, but as long as the chemistry is good with the cures, I'm fine with it.

Overall, a decent episode to start with! Let's see how it goes!

Edited by Ducolamia on Feb 2nd 2020 at 3:26:16 PM

I also got a feeling this is going to be one of the darker seasons of this franchise. I don't know if it will reach Huggto or even Heartcatch levels, but with the lead having a major health problem it will probably be brought up a lot. Not to mention as some have pointed out this season might have times when Latte is at risk of being severely ill.

Call me a bit cruel, but I actually like the fact that Latte will mostly be sick due to the attacks each episode. I just expected her to be a homing beacon for new MOT Ws to fight. But seeing her ACTUALLY suffer due to the MOT Ws each attack becomes a decent source of tension for this show. And it at least solves one of my complaints with STPC in that Fuwa didn't have much consequences using her warp powers easily until the very end of the show. I will say that I don't want to see the fairy pup suffer.

That being said it does help Latte can't talk (though that could be subject to change) so Healing her through other methods is more viable.

Edit: Calling it now, the big finale is going to have the entire town catch a virus and become sick for the climax.

Edited by Ducolamia on Feb 2nd 2020 at 9:42:18 AM