Pretty Cure general thread

I always felt that Yuri would fit in Puella Magi Madoka Magica's cast just fine, somehow.

edited 26th Feb '14 4:17:11 AM by DemonGodOfChaos2

Agreed.

Eh, I'm not sure about that. Assuming you merely transplant her into that verse, what the heck would she wish for in the first place? Only thing I can think of is for her missing dad to return. I suppose once she is a magical girl there she'd probably be a quieter Mami. Tsubomi and Itsuki would be more likely since they have actual things they may want to wish for. And Erika's crazy, so she can do whatever.

You know, I said a lot about Yuri, but I still forgot a few things about her. For one, I suspect her mom knew she was a Cure, even though the show never confirmed it. I just got that feeling. The only All Stars movie she played a prominent role in was DX 3, where she was one of the leaders of Team Fun and Games. She's still been treated well overall, though New Stage 2 was an embarrassment. Then again, it was an embarrassment for everyone.

I think Heart will show up last. Feels appropriate for last year's protagonist to close things off.

Episode 5. Megumi and Hime going around helping people.

As expected, Cure Happy opens the episode with her Ultra Happy, though the first time I heard her congratulation, I misheard many of her words.

As the title says, Megumi and Hime are helping people anywhere anytime using the Precards. Police to stop people from littering, doctor to heal a dog, and rollerskate to look for a kid's mom. And Megumi rolling a cart of flower to encouraging a man to ask a woman to be his wife. Also, we find out Hime's parents are captured by the Phantom Empire inside a mirror world (got Saiark'd?). Hime wants to use the wish to help her parents, while (I might be misheard it again) Meg wants her mom to be healthy.

Hoshiwaa disguises as a damsel in distress harrassed by the Choi and we see the Hip Hop (YO! YO!) goes off. Lovely Beam is an eye beam; why these girls pull moves out of their asses worst than the Heartcatch? Hoshiwaa then taunts the Cures that they only want to save people because they want the self-satisfaction of doing good. And we actually see Lovely goes into a small denial at this, but Princess tells her to put herself together. Lovely purifies the Saiark, while Fortune looking out at them and growls(!).

An average episode, semi-fillerish. Though, in this episode I noticed things like how the girls' art in their profile decays to a very similar one to Doki. Also, I didn't notice previously, but there's something artificial in Yuyu's mannerism. It doesn't mean she's faking it; more like she hold herself back of something. Fortune at the end of the episode making me slightly worried. Are the Precards a form of competition or no? If yes, then only one wish can be granted.

Next episode, Ribbon and Hime have a fight over cooking. Egret will do her turn the next.

A random though, but I saw a concept art of Passion that turns out she wears a leotard and Absolute Territory combination, not a pantyhose like people always thought. Everything I knew is a lie!

Curses! Though I sorta figured it out because Atsuko Enomoto tweeted something about working alongside other Precure seiyuus. Maybe that's for NS3?

Oh and speaking of NS3, who has been confirmed to get speaking roles this time? Every Pinks, Mai, Yes 5s, Smiles, Echo, Dokis, and HaChas?

Seeing that Smile team bonded with Ayumi the most in NS1, maybe after this Echo will be considered as one of them?

edited 2nd Mar '14 8:43:45 PM by IrueruPunch

I like to think that Echo is an honorary member of both the Smile! and Suite teams. Smile! because she uses a decor but Suite because her outfit mostly takes hints from it as well as her Cure name. So depending on how important she is (probably very since she seems to be playing a major role) I hope the Suite Cures also play a large role.

I do consider Echo an honorary Smile. I doubt we'll get that many though.

To open Happiness Charge we start happily with the happy Cure of Happiness, Cure Happy. Happy. Yuuko is still just candy girl who spoils Hime. I hope we learn something about her soon. Megumi drags Hime into her madness, and unlike Mana's group, Hime really can't manage it all that well. Nice to see the costumes get used to good effect. Hime meets Megumi's mom. Their wishes are standard, but perfectly fine. The number of wishes they're allowed is a concern though. Hosshiwa puts up a poor performance that only fools Megumi. Lots of lectures this time, and the fight was meh. Lovely's new attack was kind of weird. However, she now has eye-beams, making everything perfectly okay. Fortune is planning to be antagonistic to them. Next episode Ribbon gets some focus.

5 episodes in and Hime is still the main character. Is Pretty Cure actually not making pink the main character this time? Sure looks like it. Also, I'm batting Diamond next episode.

edited 2nd Mar '14 9:48:10 PM by Sterok

Starting with Happy the official website has been spoiling which Cure shows up. I hate to break it to you but for episode six we're getting Cure Egret.

Interview with Splash Star's writer, regarding the setting and why Michiru and Kaoru are not Cures.

Highlights:

- Because the director changed from Nishio to Komura, the writer (Washio) wants to bring change similar to that in the way, if Futari and Max Heart have a pretty fantastic theme, then Splash Star is going to be more down to earth, in this the kachoufuugetsu.

- The town is indeed named Yuunagi. It based on Kamakura city of Kanagawa prefecture, a seaside town with hill and forest. Most of the season's spirit mythology came from Norse mythology, with the certain green alien as the Nidhoggr.

- There were children crying when Black and White fight in Max Heart movie 2, thus the Moral Guardian issued the barrier fights (I think this one pretty obvious).

- Michiru and Kaoru are not Cures because the Cures are girls that have the same lives as the audience. So, they are not Cures because we don't know how and where they live, even after their Heel–Face Turn. They're too aloof for the children to relate with them.

- Decision of making the Kiryuu sisters as Bright and Windy was already there since the beginning, but the previous point prevented them from being full-time Cures. So, their position is that those who help but still not truly leaving their "enemy" root (kinda like Westar and Soular or Regina).

Overall, I understand such decision. But it still makes me sad and in denial.

edited 3rd Mar '14 12:50:07 AM by AlaAlba

Interesting. So that's why Shiny Luminous and Milky Rose don't have "Cure" on their name?

But if it's what make them "Cures", let's see how the ones who shouldn't have it justified their "Cure" status, shall we?

• Passion: Eas died and reborn as her human disguise, stripped her power as Labyrinth's agent in process.
• Beat: Seiren used up all of her power to shape-shift to human in order to save Hummy.
• Muse: when she got her Module, she's been already living as a normal girl in Kanon.
• Ace: all of Ange's power went to Regina and Ai-chan, and the last of what's inside Aguri was used to save Mari and grew her up.
• Princess: same deal as Muse...probably?

Am I forgetting someone?

edited 3rd Mar '14 2:20:25 AM by IrueruPunch

I still say they only got away with Bright and Windy because they were never formally named a Cure in show, despite the fact they clearly were. It may have been intentional, but then again it wasn't until the Gogo special that it became relevant.

And now it's time to look at a Cure I thought we looked at three weeks ago. And didn't we do the Cure of Happiness two weeks ago? I hope we don't get Sunshine and Sunny back to back. Give it up for the girl who loves fairy tales, Cure Happy.

I've criticized Miyuki before for being my least favorite lead. While she faces competition from Mana in that regard, I'm more or less standing by that choice. That doesn't mean I hate her, but she really has nothing to help her stand out amongst the others. She is an archetypal magical girl lead, energetic, clumsy, dumb, cheery, and somehow brings everyone to her because she's just so nice. She's been accused of being a Nozomi rip off, and while partially true, the two have a couple noticeable differences. Miyuki is shyer, has a greater curiosity, and is more caught up in the now.

There isn't much to say about Miyuki's role in the plot, since Smile had no plot. I do think Smile gets a bad rep for that, since it's not like Yes 5 or Max Heart were much better. Smile was more formulaic however, which led to more repetition. As such, a common episode of the week was Miyuki doing or picking up something stupid, and now they have a problem. Since there were only four regular villains, she got screwed in the awesome stuff department during mid-season, stuck fighting an Akanbe. Then there was when they were stuck in the Bad End, and she had to save her friends from the illusion. It was her nicest moment probably, though the impact was diluted due to lack of build up. Then comes the finale, where she hugs the villains to good, blows up her evil clone, cries forever, and hugs Pierrot to death. It's nice to have someone that's lighter on plot to talk about.

If there was one thing she was good at, it was being a Butt-Monkey. The show took no shame on smacking her in the face at every opportunity, often literally. She took a lot of abuse, from switching bodies with Candy, getting lost in the big city with Yayoi, getting turned invisible with Akane, getting scared by the school with Nao, and everyone's favorite, becoming a giant robot. She always got caught up in hilarious circumstances, and between the variety and the acceptance that the show was a comedy, it was fine. Even the movie was her fault somehow, even though she did nothing wrong. I don't really remember ever feeling sorry for her, or at least not in the same way you might for Tsubomi or Hime. She got smacked around, and we loved her for it.

The one thing that should've made her stand out was her love of fairy tales. These stories could've been the backbone of many episodes, allowing for more wacky adventures and pre-built morals that she could speechify about because she knows these stories. They didn't have to happen every episode, but they could've shown up semi-frequently, and some episodes could merely have some sort of parallel. For example, a young girl has needs to deliver groceries to her grandma, and Wolfrun hunts her because he lost his toothbrush in her bag or something. Sadly, this did not happen, and while we got plenty of wacky adventures, few of them involved fairy tales at all. She got to reenact Cinderella twice, in one of which she married Reika, and that was about it. The one thing that was reasonable to copy from Gogo, and they blew it. She has a similar problem to Hikari actually. The show was custom built to be perfect for her, but the writers decided to focus on other things instead. The Mother's Day episode was probably my favorite that focused on her.

Those other things were of course, the other characters, and they tended to outshine Miyuki. Candy was her close confidant, and they became very close as the main character is obligated to do. So close that she almost let the world die because she didn't want to say goodbye. While everyone else supported Miyuki, she supported Candy. Akane was theoretically her closest friend, and the one who most tried to keep Miyuki in check. Akane wasn't very good at it, but she tried. I actually felt she was closer to Yayoi, Smile's actual star, as they were often together, had similar reactions, and were overall really close. Miyuki looked up to Nao for her kindness and Reika for her smarts, and they supported her whenever they could. Wolfrun was the closest she had to a main rival, but that was mostly lost and only kept around because there was no one better to fall back on.

As Cure Happy, she is the Cure of Happiness rather obviously. In this case, their names mostly matched their traits. She was meant to spread happiness and bring joy to people's lives, which was appropriate given Japan's circumstances. Not the most awe-inspiring, but it wasn't bad. When it came to fighting she wasn't that impressive. I'm sure she did some good stuff, but not much comes to mind. She does have plenty of spirit, as indicated by her early chants. Beam spam seemed to be her most effective method, even allowing her temporary flight. Her stock footage was boring compared to her teammates due to the lack of elements. Too bad her last episode had a lame fight compared to what came before. Her Princess form had her hair go from poofy to even more poofy. Not much to say there.

Miyuki was what happens when you take Nozomi, give her Tsubomi's traits, and then let her be out shined by the rest of her team, not allowing her to make a name for herself. She was treated as weak, and she didn't get Tsubomi's development to make up for it. The show kept her simple and static, making her the perfect poster girl for Smile. She was the first lead I followed on a weekly basis, but that wasn't enough to endear her to me. I never had much hope for her, though in hindsight I can see where she had potential. Still, she was consistently fun and enjoyable, and I don't mind seeing her again. A Smile sequel would've been nice, but she can be ultra happy for her name being in the current season's title.

You know who I really want to see again? Bad End Happy. So great, and an excellent chance to examine what it meant to be happy and whether it's a good thing. She needed half a season, not a fifth of an episode.

Actually, Happy's Elemental Powers is "holy light", as written in her early profile. In practice, she's more of Light 'em Up, though.

Food for thought: I've seen some people accused Miyuki as a hypocrite for being exactly like BE Happy in the final episode. Probably all those brain damages she suffered throught the series finally caught her.

edited 3rd Mar '14 8:00:54 PM by IrueruPunch

So the full versions of the OP and ED for Hachapre are out now.

About time! I love the opening like I love my Precious Puppy, and now the song is even more amazing.

edited 6th Mar '14 11:42:14 AM by aNinjaWithAIDS

I was wondering. If 4kids had managed to get the TV deal for the first season, even if it was butchered, would this franchise have gotten more noteriety more quickly in the west then it does now?

Probably. It wouldn't even have had to be that butchered, as the action is all Bloodless Carnage in the first place, and the humor is light-toned for a Japanese show. They tried to push Doremi, as i remember.

Did Mipple and Mepple die in the last episode of Futari wa? That came right the hell out of nowhere.

Is the second season better? Futari wa was okay, but if there's less improvement, i see no reason to keep investing my time...

They went to sleep because they couldn't sustain themselves in the world or something. It really only existed to give a more dramatic opening for Max Heart.

As for if you should watch Max Heart now, depends. Do you want more Nagisa and Honoka? If so, then watch it. Otherwise, it's trickier. There's a new main character that joins the two that manages to be both simultaneously fascinating and dull. Action is marginally better, plot is slower, villains aren't as good, but the theme is great. Due to various problems though, it's considered one of the weakest seasons by most.

If you want something different, then Yes 5, Fresh, and Heartcatch are my recommendations. Yes 5 is more of a sentai with amazing character development. Fresh is fascinating conceptually and has the most interesting characters. Heartcatch is well put together and is very memorable overall.

4Kids made Tokyo Mew Mew and Doremi unbearable to watch,I'm sure they would have found a way to destroy Pretty Cure as well had they gone all the way with the license...

Well, bad publicity would still be publicity, though...

Thanks Sterok. I'm still going to watch something different in between, though. Monster is long overdue, i think (and will serve as an immense change of pace in any case)

Happiness Charge Episode 6, Hime and Ribbon have a fight because of cooking. Well, that's fast; we don't need to wait for the 8th episode for that. Egret opens the episode with both of her intro pose. Again like Dream, I think her seiyuu is a little rusty. She also might be the most polite yet of the cameo.

Ribbon is preparing breakfast for Hime, which she doesn't happy of because she wants pancake (I blame Meg's mom here). Hime runs away from home and got "kidnapped" by Yuyu. In this episode, I guess Yuyu has the spotlight; we see her family (Yuyu's mom is even more babyfaced than Yuyu herself! That's amazing!) and their business, we see her passion for sharing happiness through their service, and we finally see that food selling service is not a glorified patissier-kind of Kanade like Hime had first thought and instead full of potatoes peeling. We can see the gap between mid (Ribbon, sort of, and Yuyu) and high class citizens; a nice Reality Ensues, if I have to say.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. There's something artificial in Yuyu's mannerism, but we see the mask melts when speaking of what she's particularly passionate of (that is, making food, eating food, and sharing food). Now everyone (including Ribbon) is pulling shield out from their arsenal, I have to say this is getting ridiculous. Though I'm sure that the fight might not get shield reliant like those specialized Cures, my Willing Suspension of Disbelief is straining.

The opening is New Stage 3 trailer. From the look of it, many will have their speaking role; Precure5 with Smile, Max Heart with Splash Star, and I know Toei will still milk 7 Mizuki out of her fangirlism. Next episode, Hime making a surprise cake. Aqua is the Cure of the week.

And according to the leak, Honey is in episode 10, while in episode 8-9 show that Fortune is named so because she's a fortune teller, the one who speaks an ill fate to Meg in episode 8.

edited 9th Mar '14 10:36:19 AM by AlaAlba

Re: Fortune's name

Sounds like they're planning on going the Setsuna route with her. Well, in some ways.

Re: Honey

I'm guessing she's cameoing in New Stage 3 then. That or New Stage 3 takes place after episode ten unlike other All Stars movies which seem to take place within the first ten episodes.

edited 9th Mar '14 11:50:56 AM by Chariot

@ Honey

Maybe. In the trailer, only her skirt and legs that got revealed. She also absents from the "Great Leap" while Lovely and Princess are there.

Also, there's something strange in the leak. Episode 8 and 9 is mostly about the implication of Fortune's civilian identity, and episode 10 is suddenly directs the attention toward Honey's fame; no transition that makes the gap needed for Yuyu to be a Cure. My theory, Yuyu is a Cure before the duo, but hides her identity better then them. Honey comes to the Great Gathering as cameo like you said. Or she will become a Cure in All Stars. I dislike both options for variety of reasons, though the first is not that bad.

edited 9th Mar '14 1:38:48 PM by AlaAlba

Hello Egret. At least I got the color right. I forgot how high-pitched her voice was. Movie time, and with Ace, Lovely, Princess, and Honey, we've got 36 Cures now. Yay, Ayumi again. So I guess it's 37. Looks like we'll get some Lemonade/Peace. Excellent. Hime is a terrible person. It's like they made her the anti-Mana. Alas, it's about time someone stopped spoiling her. Yuuko is finally becoming more than candy girl. Ribbon seems to regret being so harsh. Seiji gets to use his phone. Hime learns the value of hard work in cooking while peeling potatoes. Good reality lesson for her. I'm honestly feeling Yuuko more now. She was certainly brave at least. Everyone has shields now. Considering the ridiculous number of attacks they have, it's not an issue by this point. Hime's Hawaiian dance was just weird at first, but became funny when turned out it was affecting everyone. Lovely's eyebeams are still the best attack though. Hime and Ribbon make up, and it's back to the status quo. Megumi mostly sat this one out, with the focus on Hime (again) and Yuuko.

Is it fair to call Megumi a Decoy Protagonist? She's billed as the lead, but Hime is easily the main character, and I can't see that changing with how things are going.

I think that it's still too early to say Megumi is a Decoy Protagonist, at least where this episode is concerned. Seiji pretty much said it himself when he told Megumi "to consider Hime's feelings and not to force herself upon her" i.e. let Hime sort out her problem on her own. Still, I would like an episode dedicated to Megumi and her mother sometime soon.

edited 9th Mar '14 11:47:19 PM by aNinjaWithAIDS