Pretty Cure general thread

21. Another farming propaganda episode. I'm onto you anime. I'm glad they addressed the whole Tsubasa suddenly accomplished his flying dream thing, cause now he doesn't know where to go from here. He probably still wants to fly on his own, but all the older people around him are making him think that he needs to have his life together already. Neat message about how you never know how learning may benefit you eventually. Also nice to get some Yoyo focus. Sky and Prism need some sort of buff, because Wing and especially Butterfly are feeling overpowered in comparison.

This episode did a good job of painlessly teaching kids random useful facts. And as expected by me, Tsubasa moves into The Smart Guy territory. Looks like we're moving into Battamonda's endgame, and a possible return to Skyland for a couple of episodes..

22. Been awhile since we got a Sora episode. So now Battamonda is weaponizing ptsd. Dude has some of the biggest swings from absolute joke to genuinely threatening. Tying Shalala's life to a Ranborg is actually clever. Didn't expect Sora to break down this much, but she has taken in a lot on herself. Props to Ageha for coming up with possible solutions, from just purifying the Ranborg to attacking Batta himself to healing Shalala right after beating the Ranborg. Helps make them not look dumb. I like the new ed more than the first. Though several shots look like they're missing a person.

I really hope this will be the next Healing Good and not the next Hugtto. Keep it going darker and darker from here. And not chickening out of it. I dont even care about the animation anymore this is EPIC.

Edited by AegisP on Jul 1st 2023 at 7:45:29 AM

This episode caught me by surprise. I was legit expecting Battamonda to be killed off here ever since we got the title for this episode a few weeks back. I guess I should've seen this ending coming though since this was a Sora episode (Sort of...) and he's more Ageha's rival/villain to fight. I was spoiled that Shalala was the Ranborg thanks to Discord though frankly I would've preferred it if Shalala really was dead and he'd be impersonating her. Next episode has big shoes to try and fill though. It's going to take a lot to trump Go! Princess episode 30 39.

Edited by Chariot on Jul 2nd 2023 at 3:56:47 PM

I dont because otherwise just purifying the Ranborg would be a simple enough thing.

Weird detail I saw throughout the episode that I didn't notice before. Cures Sky, Prism, and Wing are all wearing gloves with visible borders to show where the cloth ends and their skin begins. But Cure Butterfly's arms at the bicep area turn purple. Is Ageha okay? Also very dramatic episode putting the Blue Cure through a Heroic B So D. It really is a shame that most villains come to their full potential before they are defeated by the heroes.

Its been a while since a precure villain used Psychological warfare like this.

Battamonda is basically ep 30 onwards Close from Go Princess, but somehow even more vile.

Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on Jul 2nd 2023 at 9:57:49 AM

This might sound like an odd detail to appreciate, but I like how the Cures don't get knocked out of their transformations so easily in Hirogaru Sky.

I never really liked how in later seasons, the Cures would detransform as a cheap way to try and get across that they are losing. It just made the transformation seem flimsy, when it could be undone so easily.

I've heard people make the argument that there is no tension if they can't get detransformed and that the Precure would be unbeatable otherwise, but I disagree. Sora getting knocked out and injured in her Precure form, this episode, get's across that they aren't invincible and I would actually say seeing the supposedly super powerful Precure form in such a state is far more effective in regards to dramatic tension than, her just getting knocked down and detransforming would have been.

Also a fun little recurring theme with Hirogaru Sky's villains seems to be a might makes right mindset. But more specifically using that mind set to define themselves by their strength and those they seek to victimize by their weakness, while refusing to see their own weakness or the strength of those they seek to victimize.

So when they lose, rather than realize that they aren't as mighty as they thought and that their foes are mightier. They instead double down and think "how dare these weaklings beat me". Which is actually the attitude a lot of real life might makes right types have.

Edited by Gaogaigar54 on Jul 2nd 2023 at 9:24:02 AM

This post is so awesome and I totally agree with it.

I have a question about something I read on the YMMV page for Hirogaru Sky. It says that the reason the villains haven't been shown interacting with each other is that there were complaints that it frightened children too much when that was shown in earlier seasons. However, it doesn't give any citation of that, and I'm skeptical about that reason because if that was the case (that the scenes of the villains interacting were too scary to kids), then why didn't someone complain about it earlier in the history of the Pretty Cure series, given that this is the first series to not include scenes like that? I actually had thought that it makes the villains in this series seem more mysterious and threatening by not showing their personal lives outside of Kabaton visiting that oden stand. So I wondered whether or not that was actually true, or if it was just someone assuming that was why Hirogaru Sky hasn't shown as much of the villains' lives outside of when they directly attack. Because I thought that maybe it was just how the writers wanted to portray them, such as to make them seem more mysterious or maybe there's a secret about them that showing their personal lives would reveal it too soon.

So I just wondered if anyone knew where that idea came from, if it is something that was ever mentioned in an interview or something similar.

Edited by Rainbow on Jul 2nd 2023 at 1:04:42 PM

Well, I won't lie the show did catch me off guard. I expected [redacted] to not be dead, but they did it was in the most sadistic way possible. I have a theory that [redacted] might actually be playing both sides here, but if they go with this plotpoint, I'm more than happy with it.

I also give props to the show confirming that the normal purification process won't work as [redacted]'s wounds didn't heal naturally. It's like rubbing salt into the wound. Maybe 5th cure/power up will change that? We'll see.

I dont think so either. Tropical Rouge was a really cute and fun season and none of the scenes with the villains interacting was even remotely scary.

I haven't seen anything like that, so I'd remove it until a source is confirmed to have that.

What I'd heard is the lack of villain lair scenes is simply because the director wanted to have more screentime for the Cures instead.

That makes more sense as a reason rather than those scenes being too scary for children now, particularly compared to the scenes of the villains actually attacking (like what Battamonda did in the latest episode).

Also, I went ahead and edited that YMMV example to take out the part about it supposedly scaring kids, since that doesn't seem to be the actual reason.

Edited by Rainbow on Jul 2nd 2023 at 5:31:02 AM

Fingers crossed that Battamonda gets splattered next episode. Cures have killed major villains in the past, right? Let Sora break him in half.

The Cures might be able to pull of a miracle here, but something tells me that Shalala's toast. They're on an indeterminate but short time limit to collect enough Kira Kira Energy, the Ranborg will have gotten stronger next episode (probably resulting in a bigger Kira Kira yield), and it would kinda neuter that difficult choice Sora's faced with if Ageha's plan to heal Shalala right after purifying her worked. Guessing that the lead-up to next episode's resolution will be Sora accepting that being a hero doesn't mean you always get clean victories.

On a different note: the second ED is blatantly hinting at Cure Majesty's debut (multiple shots with five streaks of colour and the Cures being weirdly off-center). We're just about halfway through the season now, so—hopefully, that's not too much farther off?

This is Pretty Cure, its for little kids, I know we all loved the drama and so on but this as far as it gets.

Hrm... possibly? My money's still on the events as described above, but that miracle might happen after all. (Plus, the Cures are visiting the zoo in a couple episodes... be kinda awkward if it didn't. :U)

I've seen some people suggest that the Cures could save Shalala with a group finisher; hell, maybe Cure Sky's renewed strength is what will allow them to pull one off when they're still one Cure (Majesty) short.

Would really rather not talk about stuff that hasn't aired so openly. Especially if leaks are involved.

23. Hold on, you can't just drop one of the franchise's best episodes on us like that. I don't think we've ever had a Cure just go home after a failing and talk about what actually happened with her parents. Feels good for Sora to have parents who believe in her and a younger brother who looks up to her. They gave her space to let out her feelings while not telling her what to do one way or the other. Tsubasa reminded us that he looks up to her as well with how he wanted to bring her back. And bless Mashiro for knowing how best to comfort Sora without being demanding of her. Which of course makes Sora's return all the better. Guess we're getting a new villain soon since Battamonda is completely defanged as a threat now.

Hey Cure Dream, nice to see you. Wonder if you'll be doing anything soon.

I thought this episode was kind of disappointing but, well, how could it not be when Go! Princess 39 exist? No cool song, no awesome transformation. I definitely wouldn't consider it one of the franchise's best episodes. Best part of it was the ending to the fight but it lacks the impact that Go! Princess 39's had. It doesn't help that Shalala lived when she should've died. So combined with last episode it undermines the ending of episode 15. If anything last episode was better in my opinion.

Edited by Chariot on Jul 8th 2023 at 2:33:57 PM

She "shouldnt have died." People say that a lot when complaining kids media should kill characters and I have never bought it. Oh but Dairuizen does make the "Should have died" crowd scream "TOEI YOU MONSTERS" for killing him off.

So looks like we are getting another movie exclusive Cure in All Stars, called Cure Supreme. Being anniversary Cure made for a crossover, I wonder if they will do for her what they did for Kamen Rider Zi-O and have her be the canon strongest Precure. While her design is by noe means unpretty, it does seem that she's designed less to be cute and looks a bit creep and offputing.

Seems like fairly random collection of Cures are getting the spotlight in the movie. Manatsu and Yui are no surprise, but Laura is the only other Tropical Rouge Cure in such a role dito for Amane in regard to Delish Party. Lala, Yukari and Saaya, with none of their shows leads to be found are certainly surprises.

Edited by Gaogaigar54 on Jul 9th 2023 at 2:42:01 AM

After watching this episode, yeah there's literally no thematic positive to Shalala dying. While in surprised we didn't get a new group attack rewarding Sora managing to push through her fear and reclaim her dream with her hero dying by her own hands would just feel unhinged especially when ultimately this is still directed at young children

Noted wrt: not discussing leaks openly.

1) Welp, my prediction for episode 23 didn't bear out, but I'm not disappointed with what we got. Sora solo-purifying Shalala was a great conclusion to her realization/second wind.

2) Weird alien Precure with an unusual colour scheme? Hell yes. I hope she doesn't get left in the dust merch-wise like Echo did.