As of this writing, I've seen a bunch of Pretty Cure seasons, and out of all of them, I feel that Heartcatch is the best one. It has very sleek, expressive animation, well rounded characters who are all wonderfully flawed, three-dimensional, well developed, and very fleshed out, the stories, while cliche, are surprisingly well written and well executed even by Precure's Strictly Formula standards, and it goes out of its way to subvert and play with a lot of standard Magical Girl tropes, breaking a lot of boundaries that even current seasons didn't dare try to step out of.
It helps that the characters, while looking like common stereotypes on the surface, go against a lot of established tropes by Precure standards. Tsubomi/Cure Blossom is a shy, smart Shrinking Violet who has to come out of her shell, in a franchise that prides itself on having overly spunky, happy protags who are loud and always cheery (That's not a bad thing, but again, it depends on the execution, and reusing the same personality over and over again gets really old). Yuri is the cool, stoic older girl but isn't made into a standoffish jerk like most characters of her archetype. Itsuki is an insecure Student Council President but has a surprising amount of depth to her, so she doesn't come off as being obnoxiously perfect, and Erika's pushiness and over the top zanyness is portrayed as both being endearing and obnoxious, and she actually has to come to terms with her flaws and know when to back off when needed. Why can't more shows actually go out of their way to make their heroes have actual personality flaws that have consequences for themselves and those around them?
Even the villains, who are normally portrayed as just a bunch of goofy saturday morning cartoon mooks serving the Big Bad, are given a lot of personality, depth, and charm. The zany animation style and character designs really help in this aspect, really bringing everyone in this series to life and bringing out the best in the characters. They really get fleshed out near the end, and the payoff is amazing IMHO. I won't spoil it, but few kids shows have the balls that Heartcatch does.
While Heartcatch is a chipper season, it's not afraid to get dark and serious when it needs to, and it does so believably, keeping the stakes high and consequences dire, with some characters losing people they love permanently (Yes, characters can and do die in this series, no Disney Death here!), showing that even heroes can't always save the day. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't continue trying to do so anyway, because people's lives are at stake. The series still has a hopeful, optimistic tone, and while it doesn't shy away from the downsides of fighting an evil dominion, it never loses sight of what it is: a fun, adventurous, engaging Magical Girl anime.
There are reasons Heartcatch is so beloved by the Precure fandom, and current seasons, while having their own strengths and flaws, just can't hold a candle to it. That's not to say they're bad because they're not Heartcatch, but it's just that Heartcatch was just plain good and dared to break boundaries set by the show's formula. I only wish we had more shows like this in general. If you want to watch any season of Precure at all, make it this one. It's a favorite of mine, and maybe it'll be your favorite too.
This Is What Pretty Cure Should Be!
As of this writing, I've seen a bunch of Pretty Cure seasons, and out of all of them, I feel that Heartcatch is the best one. It has very sleek, expressive animation, well rounded characters who are all wonderfully flawed, three-dimensional, well developed, and very fleshed out, the stories, while cliche, are surprisingly well written and well executed even by Precure's Strictly Formula standards, and it goes out of its way to subvert and play with a lot of standard Magical Girl tropes, breaking a lot of boundaries that even current seasons didn't dare try to step out of.
It helps that the characters, while looking like common stereotypes on the surface, go against a lot of established tropes by Precure standards. Tsubomi/Cure Blossom is a shy, smart Shrinking Violet who has to come out of her shell, in a franchise that prides itself on having overly spunky, happy protags who are loud and always cheery (That's not a bad thing, but again, it depends on the execution, and reusing the same personality over and over again gets really old). Yuri is the cool, stoic older girl but isn't made into a standoffish jerk like most characters of her archetype. Itsuki is an insecure Student Council President but has a surprising amount of depth to her, so she doesn't come off as being obnoxiously perfect, and Erika's pushiness and over the top zanyness is portrayed as both being endearing and obnoxious, and she actually has to come to terms with her flaws and know when to back off when needed. Why can't more shows actually go out of their way to make their heroes have actual personality flaws that have consequences for themselves and those around them?
Even the villains, who are normally portrayed as just a bunch of goofy saturday morning cartoon mooks serving the Big Bad, are given a lot of personality, depth, and charm. The zany animation style and character designs really help in this aspect, really bringing everyone in this series to life and bringing out the best in the characters. They really get fleshed out near the end, and the payoff is amazing IMHO. I won't spoil it, but few kids shows have the balls that Heartcatch does.
While Heartcatch is a chipper season, it's not afraid to get dark and serious when it needs to, and it does so believably, keeping the stakes high and consequences dire, with some characters losing people they love permanently (Yes, characters can and do die in this series, no Disney Death here!), showing that even heroes can't always save the day. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't continue trying to do so anyway, because people's lives are at stake. The series still has a hopeful, optimistic tone, and while it doesn't shy away from the downsides of fighting an evil dominion, it never loses sight of what it is: a fun, adventurous, engaging Magical Girl anime.
There are reasons Heartcatch is so beloved by the Precure fandom, and current seasons, while having their own strengths and flaws, just can't hold a candle to it. That's not to say they're bad because they're not Heartcatch, but it's just that Heartcatch was just plain good and dared to break boundaries set by the show's formula. I only wish we had more shows like this in general. If you want to watch any season of Precure at all, make it this one. It's a favorite of mine, and maybe it'll be your favorite too.