Pretty Cure

[big bad birtha]

I'm sure anyone who has been reading my posts in my suggestion box for the past few months could tell I've been addicted to the Pretty Cure series. Each show brings a well developed cast of characters, and despite being magical girl and appealing to young girls, isn't some lame shoujo. So instead of watered down romance, we get strong themes of friendship and never giving up. I orignally wasn't gonna bother making a topic until someone else joined me in my addiction.

It's kind of weird that this addiction started just from a few pieces of fanart. Most of the fanart I saw of Kurumi Erika from Heartcatch Precure had her with a confident grin. I don't know why, but that just told me that she was awesome and I had to watch the show she came from. I started watching Heartcatch Precure, and despite being skeptical, ended up loving Heartcatch Precure. I watched the second All Stars movie in order to get more of Tsubomi and Erika, and ended up catching an interest in the Fresh Precure crew. I watched all of the episodes of Fresh Precure that was subbed. I watched the first All Stars movie, which featured the Fresh crew, and ended up being curious about the rest of the Precure series, and decided to watch all the others to boost my experience when rewatching All Stars. Then you have me now. I have watched all of the subbed episodes from each Precure except for Splash Star, and am loyally following Suite Precure, despite it being lame as hell. It's hard to think about any anime that isn't Precure or Doremi. Precure is that addicting.

I'll give a brief overview of all the Precure shows, and tell the themes and Precures introduced in them. I'll even bother to provide pictures! I'm such a nice guy.

Futari wa Precure
Cure Black/Cure White (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/MnT_Pretty_Cure_-_01_6D078F89avi-00000.jpg)
This is where Precure all started. This show started really strongly with probably the best duo of the entire Precure series. Nagisa and Honoka go for the whole opposites attract thing, with Nagisa being sporty, and Honoka being a genius. Since this is the first Precure, it doesn't go for any specific themes other than maybe friendship, which is a large focus of every Precure anyway.

Futari wa Precure Max Heart
Shiny Luminous (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Arienai_Pretty_Cure_Max_Heart_-_06DD3B0B01mp4-00000.jpg)
Max Heart is simply a sequel to Futari wa Precure. Nagisa and Honoka are still the main characters, but Hikari, or Shiny Luminous, has the most focus. Once again, this has no theme.

Precure Splash Star
Cure Bloom/Cure Egret (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/PCSSPrettyCureSplashStar01DVD012996D3mkv-00000.jpg) Cure Bright/Cure Windy (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/PCSSPrettyCureSplashStar30DVD604F1377mkv-00000.jpg)
Splash Star's theme seems to be nature. For the most part, everything I have seen in this show has pretty much been used in the previous show. With a few minor tweaks of course. So instead of a genius and a sporty girl, we have Saki, who is a sporty girl, and Mai, who is artistic. So the only real difference is instead of being a genius, Mai is only above average intelligence.

Yes! Precure 5!
Cure Mint/Cure Rouge/Cure Dream/Cure Lemonade/Cure Aqua (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Zabi-HaixiePretty_Cure_All_Stars_DXmp4-00001.jpg)
Precure 5's theme seems to be dreams, and something about people having differences between one another. Anyway, as you can tell by the large list of Precures and theme, we have a Power Rangers-like team of Precures. Even though this was said to be the worst Precure, I still think it's very entertaining. Watching the 5 girls and 2 mascots interact with each other is very very entertaining.

Yes! Precure 5! Go Go!
Milky Rose (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Zabi-HaixiePretty_Cure_All_Stars_DXmp4-00000.jpg)
I haven't watched this yet, and it'll probably be a long time before I get to, since Yes Precure 5 is only halfway subbed.

Fresh Precure
Cure Peach (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/CureComFreshPrettyCure-01v4HDD5F14B26mkv-00000.jpg) Cure Berry (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/CureComFreshPrettyCure-02v2HD753E6E1Amkv-00000.jpg) Cure Pine (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/CureComFreshPrettyCure-03v2HD5CE7A580mkv-00000.jpg) Cure Passion (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/CureComFreshPrettyCure-24SDB30DE366avi-00000.jpg)
Fresh's themes are clovers and happiness. I think Fresh Precure is where alot of change came to Precure. The character designers and directors started changing each series starting with Fresh, Fresh started the 3D endings, and the All Stars movies started at Fresh's generation. The budget started sharply increasing at Fresh's generation as well. Fresh has a very eccentric and interesting cast of characters. While some might think it's a bad thing, I think it's a good thing.

Heartcatch Precure
Cure Marine/Cure Blossom (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DoremiHeartCatchPreCure041280x7207D83D9DBmkv-00000.jpg) Cure Sunshine (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DoremiHeartCatchPreCure231280x7201B1D7A45mkv-00000.jpg) Cure Moonlight (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DoremiHeartCatchPreCure341280x720ACE9C01Bmkv-00001.jpg)
Heartcatch Precure's theme is flowers. As far as my opinion goes, Heartcatch is the cream of the crop! The best of the best! It has a well in depth cast, great animation, great music, excellent character designs, and turns the monster of the week into something meant to teach the viewers some kind of lesson. I like saying that Heartcatch Precure is a good example of what would come out if Ojamajo Doremi had a good budget. I still want my Cure Moonlight OVA god damnit!

Suite Precure
Cure Melody/Cure Rhythm (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Doremi-CureComSuitePreCure011280x720979152CBmkv-00000.jpg) Cure Muse (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Doremi-CureComSuitePreCure361280x720A14197B0mkv_snapshot_ 1636_20111025_172429.jpg) Cure Beat (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Doremi-CureComSuitePreCure211280x720C17B17F3mkv-00001.jpg?t=1310704608)
Suite Precure's theme is music. The duo of Hibiki and Kanade are similar to the first Precure. Hibiki is sporty, and Kanade is above average intelligence, but she mainly cooks. For the most part, this is all style and no substance. Suite has the same, if not more budget than Heartcatch did, but hardly any flavor to back it up. It's getting better, so maybe this show just had a slow start.

Smile Precure
Cure Happy (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Zero-RawsSmilePrecure-01ABC1280x720x264AACmp4_snapshot_1643_20120205_022 015.jpg) Cure Sunny (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DoremiSmilePrecure021280x720DD5F360Amkv_snapshot_1 807_20120213_133035.jpg) Cure Peace (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Chihiro_Smile_Precure_-_03_1280x720_H264_AAC4474A4F0mkv_snapshot_1747_201 20219_153539.jpg) Cure March (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DoremiSmilePrecure041280x720D68312B2mkv_snapshot_1 854_20120227_010635.jpg) Cure Beauty (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DoremiSmilePrecure051280x720A685CB81mkv_snapshot_1 910_20120304_032144.jpg)
The show has just started.

Anyway, since I have a fellow victim to discuss Precure with, I'll talk about my Precure adventures in this topic, and I'll also talk about the ongoing Suite Precure as I see fit.

[Doppleganger]

How I spent most of today -

-working
-watching baseball
-listening to Heartcatch music

I didn't even watch any anime or play any visual novels! Well, I did play TDA, and now know a lot of random stuff I'll have to share. But I'm correcting everything else now, first with what I've been putting off. Then it'll be an episode of Suite and Futari wa.

And I must reiterate that SUITE SUCKS!

[big bad birtha]

Eh, I still intend on giving Suite a chance. It has been getting a better these last few episodes. Those episodes might be flukes, but you never know. One thing I think is nice is the fact that the two main characters are actually wising up to the enemy's tricks. I was afraid they'd be stupidly falling for Siren turning into people and causing them to fight for the entire show.

I've watched through episode 30 of Precure Splash Star. Unfortunately, the only thing this show has that isn't ripping off the original is a side character named Kenta that brightens everything up. The villains are more interesting than the original, which is a good thing. While Michiru and Kaoru's arc ended up being pretty good and better than Kiriya's (Doppel should be close to his arc), it's still a copy of Kiriya's arc. The villains are smarter than the villains in the original as well. They actively try to either separate the two, or take away their mascots, which allow them to transform. Though, they end up doing something stupid, and ruin their own plan. So I guess if it wasn't for Kenta and the improved villains, I probably wouldn't have been able to trudge through this.

[big bad birtha]

I have finished watching Suite 20, and the last episode of Splash Star. I'll talk about each.

This was pretty much an episode showing that Hummy is the dumbest mascot in Precure. Nothing much else other than that, though. Next episode should be more exciting though. Cure Berry....err...Cure Beat shall be revealed!

Now for Precure Splash Star....I take back all the negative things I said about this show. Sure, it starts off as a dull copy of Futari wa, but as it goes on, unlike Futari wa, it keeps getting better. Futari wa started off strong, but then became dull as hell. Splash Star starts off meh, but slowly becomes awesome. The villains in Splash Star are the best in the Precure series, and they make the monster of the week portion bearable. It also makes their defeat saddening in a way. Like I said in my last post, Michiru and Kaoru's arc is pretty good, and gets better later on. The fight scenes eventually greatly improve as well. At first, they were lazily animated "Precure gets knocked down, the Precure punches the enemy, then the Precure uses their ultimate move and wins." After a certain point, they became full on brawls with midbosses. Hell, at that point, they completely do away with the monster of the week. The final battle itself, which was 3 episodes long, was downright glorious, even though it was really DBZ-like.

So here's a small chart-like thing to show episode quality as the show goes on. Episode 1-10: Meh Episode 11-25: Alright Episode 26-38: Awesome Episode 39-49 Glorious

In my opinion, Splash Star easily takes the seat for second best Precure. Still not near Heartcatch level, but if it was more consistent, it could have been. One thing I'm disappointed in is that Saki and Mai never develop into more than dull Nagisa and Honoka clones.

After watching this, I'm also upset at the All Stars movies. Precure Splash Star episode 38 spoiler The Precure All Stars movies never have Michiru and Kaoru fighting alongside the Precure! Those two worked so damn well with Saki and Mai in the last 10 episodes, and especially the last three, but they were snuffed in the All Stars movies. Sure, they're not Precure, but neither is Milky Rose and Shiny Luminous!

[big bad birtha]

Triple post, but this is important.

Ahahahahahaha finally! What feels like I've been waiting a century for has arrived! Raws for the third Precure All Stars movie are out, and it's only a matter of weeks before it's subbed. I'm downloading the RAW just for the hell of it! From the previews in the Suite Precure opening, I expect this to be glorious! If not, oh well, I get to see Erika and Tsubomi again!

Oh, also, it seems that every movie from the other Precure titles have been subbed, so I'll check them out as well. I hear they aren't very good though.

[Doppleganger]

I spent like five days on one Futari wa PreCure episode and I finally got through it. One of these days, I'm going to impulsively marathon the entire series - just watch me! I gotta carry this momentum through until I get to Splash Star!

[big bad birtha]

Sunday mornings (Saturday night for me) are always a treat on my Pixiv page. Every time, I get treated to a nice batch of fanart from my subscriptions about the Suite Precure episode that has aired. Since Cure Beat premiered this morning/last night, there's a bunch about her.

Anyway, I went and watched all of the Precure movies, since the villains and areas from the third all stars movie are from the movies. After I watched them, I watched the RAW All Stars 3 because I didn't feel like waiting. Anyway, I'll ramble about all of what I've watched.

Max Heart movie 1- This movie was mostly raw action. Well, that, and one guy pissing everyone off. Anyway, this is one of the better movies I watched, since one of the best parts in some of the Precure movies is the fight scenes. There wasn't much else to this movie though.

Max Heart movie 2- Good god was this movie over-dramatic. They befriend a baby chicken, and during the same day when they have to say goodbye to it, they all start bawling like they've been best friends for years. I thought that was just downright silly. Other than that, the movie was pretty good. This movie is probably the only case where two Precure fight each other, and it was surprisingly brutal.

Splash Star movie- UGH! This was probably the worst one. Saki and Mai suddenly turn into bratty crybabies in this movie. Most of this movie was Saki being a brat to Mai, and then them crying most of the movie. What the hell? Those two never acted like that in the show. They ended up having two random mascots to tell them off before they did anything.

Yes Precure 5 movie- Everyone Fights an Evil Version of Themselves the Movie. Nothing more, nothing less. Oh, and we got to see Rie voicing a villain, and nothing's more evil than an evil tsundere. The best part about this movie was Milk beating up two other mascots and telling them off. This movie also started the Miracle Lights thing in Precure movies.

Yes Precure 5 Go Go movie- This one wasn't too bad overall. They also tried to give the villain of the movie a motive other than "I'm evil and I want to destroy the world!" Though, a lonely old man who wants to can't eat delicious sweets because no-one's with him to enjoy them, is a really silly motive. One thing about this movie that really disappointed me was the fact that Tarte (the Fresh Precure mascot) didn't appear. They traveled to the Land of Sweets, which is where he is supposed to come from. I also wanted to see Milky Rose do more than just hold off the villain for a while. She won me over in the first movie god damnit!

So overall, like the series, none of the movies come close to the Heartcatch movie. If I rated the Heartcatch movie, it'd be a 9.2 or something. If I rated the second best Precure movie, it's be about a 6.5. That's a pretty large margin.

I'll probably go into more detail when the movie's actually subbed, but I'll talk a bit about the third all stars movie as well. I thought it was awesome. Unlike the first two, get got to see a good bit of the Precures from different series all interacting with each other. The first was a nice massive brawl, but we never got to see much of them interacting with someone from a different show. Also, having them all split up based on color/role was interesting as well. Sadly, I could only understand about 25% of what was being said.

I loved this scene. (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/DWF-RawPrecureAll-StarsDX3MirainiTodokeSekaioTsunaguNiji-IronoHanah264ac3mkv-00001.jpg) Every Precure from team 3 runs away from the large enemies attacking, but Cure Moonlight stands firm!

[Doppleganger]

Yes, but did you see Infinity Silhouette?

[big bad birtha]

Negative. I honestly didn't expect Infinity Silhouette to show up, since it's really over-the-top compared to the other Precure last episode finishers (which didn't show up either.) I was just glad they used Super Silhouettes. None of the other Precure can summon a giant lady with a spiked knuckle of doom/love!

[big bad birtha]

The latest episode of Suite was subbed. Of course, I jumped right on it. This is the episode Cure Beat premiered, so I was looking forward to it like every other 9 year old girl watching it. Anyway, the episode itself actually wasn't bad at all. Hummy's quote "Even if the world falls into sorrow, we can cry together!" was sweet.

One thing I also appreciated. Even though Cure Beat premiered, she did absolutely nothing. I honestly appreciate that, because even though the new Precure appeared, she wasn't needed! It's a nice fresh change compared to the usual "A brand new (insert hero name here) appears and saves the day!" Instead, we got "Cure Beat showed up, but Cure Melody and Cure Rhythm finished off the enemy on their own! Cure Beat ran away after she showed up as well!" It was kinda funny.

I also updated the picture I had for Cure Beat in my opening post. Now I just need one for Cure Muse, which hopefully has her looking like something other than a robber.

[Doppleganger]

I just got to the episode in Futari wa where Kiryu blew his top.

Great stuff!

[big bad birtha]

It's a few months overdue, but I guess I'll pick back up and talk about the All Stars DX3 movie since I watched it RAW the last time I posted about it.

For the most part, the movie was pretty enjoyable. It did a better job of showing off all the characters' individual personalities than the previous two movies. It even included everyone's catchphrases, with the exception of Nozomi's "It's decided!" I like how it separated all the Precure by color/role and had them get out of the worlds they were trapped in.

Team 1 was the leaders, so it consisted of : Cure Black, Cure Bloom/Cure Bright, Cure Dream, Cure Peach, Cure Blossom, and Cure Melody. The leaders were pretty much just stuck in a giant desert. The leaders are generally the dumbest in each show, so they spent most of the time confusing themselves and running away. They only found out how to escape the world they were trapped in by chance after they decided to just start fighting.

Team 2 were the secondary Precures/Blues, so it consisted of: Cure White, Cure Egret/Cure Windy, Cure Mint, Cure Aqua, Cure Berry, Cure Marine, and Cure Rhythm. Of course, they're the more intelligent Precure, so they quickly found out how to get out of the world, but without their impulsive and proactive leaders (even though that describes Cure Marine very well) they couldn't exactly do what was required to get out. Also, their biggest obstacle was the fact that they were fighting on platforms in the ocean, so they couldn't fight that well. They eventually solved that problem though.

Team 3 consisted of...everyone else! If you wanna say colors, yellow and purple seem to be the main colors of them. It consists of : Shiny Luminous, Cure Rouge, Cure Lemonaid, Milky Rose, Cure Pine, Cure Passion, Cure Sunshine, and Cure Moonlight. How to get out of their world was pretty straightforward, since they just had to complete a human sized board game....with monsters. This team consisted of the most powerful Precure of 3 different shows, and was generally balanced, this one had a pretty easy time getting out of the world. I also thought it was nice how Shiny Luminous did something useful, rather than the usual running away and getting the shit beat out of her!

One other part I thought was really cool was the reanimated semi-ultimate moves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a2NdlSuPS4&feature=player_detailpage#t=118s). The first one was especially awesome. Suite's attack really sucked compared to everyone else's though.

If I were to have a complaint about the movie, it would be how they spent too much time explaining stuff/bawling over the lost mascots. This is where this movie lost to the first one, since it was a nonstop brawl, which is the best part of most of the movies. Of course, logic-wise, none of the explanations make sense. Actually, all of the Precure being in the same world wouldn't make sense, but this movie isn't supposed to make sense!

_________________________________________

Now to talk about the latest few episodes of Suite Precure. Sadly, right when I was complementing the show for improving, it goes back to crappy. Right after Cure Beat premiered, we had a full episode of her going emo, which just irritated the piss out of me. It went like this:

Ellen: I'm all alone in the world!
Hibiki, Kanade, & Hummy: We love you Ellen!
Ellen: Stay the hell away from me!
Ellen: OH WOE IS ME! Will I ever gain a friend?!

Actually, the latest episode was especially terrible. Every cliche in the book was spouted this episode. I expect "Never give up" and friendship speeches in every show this genre (there were none in Heartcatch!) but this episode was nothing but cliche speeches. We had "Never give up!" speeches and friendship speeches for an entire episode.

Sure, I'm an idiot for still watching this, but I intend on staying faithful until I'm truly fed up!

EDIT: I forgot to mention. One cool thing about watching Precure weekly is the fact that every week in the show represents that week in real time. Since it's a yearly show and all. I thought it was neat how when the summer started, we had a two month long summer vacation arc, and they just recently returned to school.

[big bad birtha]

Yo Doppel. Remember a few months ago when I mentioned something about a 9 minute All Stars dance clip? Well I was browsing site for the Precure community and found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToU2uJoKSrA). The sound and video quality are pretty bad, but otherwise, it's pretty awesome. I look forward to when a non-camrip version of this will release, and so should you!

I think it's funny how the Heartcatch ones stand out. Blossom/Marine are alot shorter than everyone while Moonlight is much taller than everyone.

[Doppleganger]

That's a private video. I don't have a YT login anymore.

[big bad birtha]

Bah! What a pile of pony shit! It seems that the uploader got tired of all the "gaijin trash" comments and decided to make his video private.

EDIT: I need to be hip too.

[Doppleganger]

I don't know what you did, but it's Working!!.

[big bad birtha]

Time to make a Suite Precure update post, because October is when another new Precure will be revealed! Well, not new, more like Cure Muse joining the ranks. She also gets a cute new form!

The latest Suite had villains dressed in drag and talk about Cure Muse taking off her mask. They heavily hinted at a certain character being her as well. This could just be a bluff Toei is putting on to make you think Cure Muse is that character. I personally think it's a double-bluff, so I'm probably better off thinking the obvious answer.

Well, atleast I'll have Cure Muse's picture updated at the end of the month. I kinda don't like looking at that pictureless name of hers.

[big bad birtha]

Awesome, that Cure Muse name in my opening post finally has a picture on it.

The past few weeks have been very hnnnng-tacular. If you see Cure Muse, you'll see why. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or bad thing, but it's been cute atleast.

They've also started advertising the Suite Precure movie in the opening. It looks good, but a trailer wouldn't be effective if it didn't make something look good. One plus is that instead of going to some random fantasy world original to the movie, they're going somewhere that's part of the series. Also, the villain is a good guy from the series! Well, English viewer like myself won't be able to watch it until March of next year.

[Doppleganger]

I'm making slow progress in Splash Star because I can't freaking stay awake long enough to watch a full episode. Not that the episodes are driving enough to keep me up.

Emotional connection to cast → essential for maintaining interest, especially when plot is weak. I find myself more interested in the battles of Splash Star than the drama, the exact opposite of Futari wa where an interesting slice-of-life adventure got interrupted by very bad stuff.

I don't have that because Saki pisses me off. I see her embarrassed/dismissive of her parents because they're not super famous. I'm no father, but I feel I can empathize with parents who feel inferior that they're not of higher social status in "traditional" respects. I love it when my parents feed me, she should value them highly simply because of that. Her bratty, naive approach and merciless berating of that boy who likes her in the previous episode really, really needs to be ironed out.

If Splash Star is setting up Saki as flawed but will correct that flaw, I'm fine with it. But I can't predict this show's course, so who knows what'll happen?

[big bad birtha]

The side characters in Splash Star develop a bit more, and they help the slice-of-life scenes become a bit more interesting, but it's still weak compared to the other Precure. I know the show's dull as hell now, but it becomes alot better when Ms. Shitataare appears. Though, I have to say, the actual plot in Splash Star isn't half bad. It's just that the characters (other than the villains) are pretty bad.

Suite Precure has been alright lately. Despite not liking it when I started out, I've warmed up to the cast, and have learned that it's not something I should take seriously....at all. The show's heading into its final arc, so it's not long before Suite ends and it'll have to give way for the new Precure show.

Smile Precure (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-12-01/smile-precure-1st-anime-art-february-5-debut-revealed) is the show that will replace Suite. There's not enough information for me to really judge. I think information about the show will come out in this week's Newtype. The last picture in the article is the first leaked picture for Smile that came out about a month ago. It looked generic as hell, so I'm glad they improved on it.

[Doppleganger]

I see what you mean. I get smiles from some of the background characters (Minori!) but Saki is such a bleach, she is intent on NO FUN.

[Doppleganger]

Like what BBB says, I get the impression that Splash Star has good ideas, but the episodes are kind of inconsistent, and the fusion of the magical girl bits and the slice-of-life makes me think I'm watching two different shows.

Episode 38 now, only 11 more to go!

[big bad birtha]

Suite Precure
The last episode of this has finally aired. This show is sort of half-and-half with me. I enjoyed the characters and art/music. However, everything else was pretty dull and watered down, along with plot holes everywhere. Honestly, of all the Precure, this is probably the second weakest one I've seen (second to Max Heart.) This show would have just been better as a slice-of-life, because those were the moments I enjoyed the most. I had a fun when watching it, but only when my brain was turned off. Suite Precure scores maybe a 6 with me.

Next is Yes! Precure 5 season 3 Smile Precure! The visuals look great (Promotional video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L77ucu7GxHo)). I just don't really know what to expect. While I'm not going to be over-optimistic and hope it's as good as Heartcatch, I do hope they don't fudge the writing as much as they did with Suite. I can ignore bad plotholes on a kid's show, but that doesn't mean I like having to ignore them. Also, with Chopper/Pikachu voicing the Smile mascot, that guarantees her being pretty nice in the voice department for once.

[Doppleganger]

Eat your fruits and vegetables - Fresh
And brush your teeth after every meal - Smile

[big bad birtha]

The first episode of Smile Precure aired. While I'm usually patient enough to wait for subs, I figured I'd go ahead and hit the RAW, since I can atleast understand 30% of what's said in Precure. For the most part, the first episode was ADHD as fuck. The main character spent most of the episode spazzing out. Also, the introduction to the main 5 characters was a little too convenient. Like, the main girl moves into a class, she tries to introduce herself, but is nervous, then one of the Precure comes up, and conveniently introduces the rest of the Precure to her. ALSO! This episode taught the kids 3 bad lessons.

Bad Lesson 1 (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Zero-RawsSmilePrecure-01ABC1280x720x264AACmp4_snapshot_2039_20120205_022 523.jpg)) It's fine to use the restroom in public:
I'm sorry kids, but it is NOT fine to use the restroom in public. You have to use the restroom in a restroom, or else you'll make the streets smelly. DO NOT FOLLOW HER EXAMPLE!

Bad lesson 2 (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Zero-RawsSmilePrecure-01ABC1280x720x264AACmp4_snapshot_1950_20120205_022 338.jpg)) Take hostages if the battle isn't going your way:
Taking hostages is a cowardly way of fighting, and anyone should be ashamed of themselves for even considering doing something like that. Kids, you should face your problems head on, instead of doing what the Precure is doing and involving innocent civilians in your fights.

Bad Lesson 3 (http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj20/bigbadbirtha/Zero-RawsSmilePrecure-01ABC1280x720x264AACmp4_snapshot_0839_20120205_023 100.jpg)) Do not put the chair back when you leave the room:
This is the most insolent crime you can ever commit. Children, DO NOT FOLLOW HER EXAMPLE! PUT YOUR GOD DAMN CHAIR BACK WHERE IT BELONGS WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR DESK! IF YOU FOLLOW HER EXAMPLE, MR T WILL COME BACK FROM THE DEAD AND SHOVE A CACTUS UP YOUR ASS!

Joking aside, I'm afraid this show will be on Suite's level of intelligence. I hope otherwise, but that doesn't seem to be the case, judging from this episode. Actually, this might end up being worse than Suite. The show will be great eyecandy atleast.

[Doppleganger]

I just watched the first episode myself.

I guess this is what it's like to watch Turn A Gundam after seeing all of UC. I saw references all over the place to prior shows, especially Fresh, HeartCatch and a little of Splash Star.

Like BBB, I fear this show could easily fall into brain-killing territory. It wasn't so bad until Candy started wailing about - she's easily the worst mascot since Futari wa's Porun, if not a series low. Even Chiffon, a baby mascot, expressed a higher IQ than Candy, who acts a lot like OP's Chopper (same CV).

I like the personality of Hoshizawa. She's genre savvy and energetic. A nice mix if she can maintain that level of excitement (I doubt it).

Some parts were lame, like the shameless re-iteration of the episode lesson ("stand up for yourself"!).

Where I'd rank Smile:

HeartCatch >> Fresh > Yes 5 > Futari wa > Splash Star > Smile >>> Suite

[big bad birtha]

After rewatching the episode with subs, I realized something I forgot to mention last post. I spent so much time poking fun at Smile that I forgot to complement some of the things I appreciated.

I really liked the first transformation in the episode. While some of it was overly hyperactive attempts at humor, I still thought it was pretty good for a first transformation. This was done better in Heartcatch, but I liked how Miyuki was absolutely clueless as to how to do anything as a Precure. She spent the entire time trying to figure out what to do. I forget how most of the first transformations go, but the Precure usually magically know what to do when they first transform, and their personality changes when they transform. I think they're more likely to actually grow as people if the Precure keep their civilian personality after transforming, or maybe it's just my bias towards Heartcatch, since they kept their usual personality.

It was a nice change when the villain actually threatened to kill the main girl and the mascot, instead of, you know, trying to make them depressed. Atleast the villain's villainy isn't dumbed down. Too bad the villain's goal is just like the ones in Fresh. "Collect the sorrow of the civilians so we can revive our big bad boss!"

Finally, the ending dance animation was gorgeous (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auxYVIT6Xm8). Well atleast I thought it was. The song's pretty crappy, but I think it's amazing visually.

[Doppleganger]

Occasionally PreCure has an episode I'd call a "ball-buster". Really high quality drama. The trend seems to be they happen late in the series, but are otherwise totally unexpected.

In Futari wa, this was the Fujipi's birthday episode.

Now, in Fresh, it's #40, the one with Love's mother.

My gosh!

[big bad birtha]

Smile episode 2 was a pretty big improvement over the previous episode. The characters' personalities when they're transformed are surprisingly good, and Cure Sunny had a pretty good awakening. Also Miyuki seemed to calm down, so that's a huge plus for my only real complaint in the previous episode.

Oh, also, I didn't mention this, but I'll update the character images as each Precure makes their debut. I just added Cure Sunny to my opening post. I need to improve on the small bits of series information as well.

[Doppleganger]

Wait, the yellow haired girl became a Pretty Cure?

I never saw it coming. :doh:

[Doppleganger]

I'm all caught up with Fresh. Will watch the new Smile in a bit.

Episode 43 was Awesome Cake. Great fights, atmospheric pressure and comedy. Wester had to go full-on retarded to make it funny, but he's been on a down-hill slide for a while, and has now embraced Team Rocket-level buffoonery.

Dang, next episodes, please come out!

[big bad birtha]

Cure Peace's debut has been watched. I would normally have no problem waiting for Doremi, but people have been flipping the fuck out about this episode, and there has been a flood of Yayaoi art on Pixiv and Danbooru.

The episode itself was a pretty good introduction to Yayaoi. It takes a nice approach to her skills at drawing, and like Akane, instead of her instantly winning over experts, she loses. Her first transformation wasn't as "HNNNNG" as everyone made it out to be, but it was pretty funny how she tried to imitate a super hero, but ended up running away scared after staring the villain down.

Also, the background characters looked very Heartcatch to me. Like one girl's drawing a character that's clearly Umakoshi's style (http://oi39.tinypic.com/xc45l.jpg), and the girl drawing the picture (http://oi44.tinypic.com/255j1jl.jpg) looks very Heartcatch as well. I'm not complaining, it's just something I figured I'd point out.

So far, I have a pretty good impression of Smile Precure. While the fight scenes have been a bit bland, the first few episodes had some really nice touches to them, while for the first episode, I think they simply rushed it. Hopefully this show will keep it up.

[Doppleganger]

This MissCure March episode amused me. It was mostly dull, retreading the same attitude from the previous episodes, but what was funny was Nao is Cure March.

March and April are known as among the more "fertile" months, since more children are born and conceived during late Winter/Spring than any other time of the year. Nao has a huge family, and her identity is Cure March. Unintentionally hilarious, or deviously suggestive?

The actual fight sucked, less interesting than last week's episode. And Candy was once again a narcissistic moron. The Smile Pacts seem to serve no purpose other than to soothe Candy's vanity. I didn't watch a ton of Suite but from what I remember, Candy is the most obnoxious mascot in a looooong time.

[big bad birtha]

Watched Smile 5. For the most part, it was a copy-paste of the last few episodes with a different character unfortunately. I don't like how Miyuki goes up to whoever she suddenly finds an interest in and asks them to be a Precure. I think the "searching for the 5 Precure" thing was executed quite a bit better in Yes 5, with Nozomi going around and searching with a pretty good reason, and Coco being onto her to find the rest of the team.

Candy didn't bug me at first, but it seems like it's turned into nothing but a markething scheme. Candy gets a segment at the first of each episode to show off the "sumile pacto!" and what it can do to cuten up Candy (for only $99.99!)

I just hope they step up the fight scenes. The two Precure before it had some good ones, so it would be a massive letdown to see every fight scene like the ones in these past 5 episodes.

I do like how the characters poke fun at the genre (mostly Akane.) While the joke will likely get old if they keep it up, I still find it amusing.

Finally, for the most part, I like the 5 main characters. Miyuki's less ADHD with people to accompany her, Akane's....just like Rin with an Osaka accent, but still pretty cool, Yayaoi can be funny when she goes on about her fantasies, Nao's also pretty cool, and Reika's just lovely.

Some neat VA connection fanart: Kana from Minami-ke cosplaying as Cure March (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/1110565/1girl-brown_eyes-brown_hair-cosplay-cure_march-cur), Cure Peace done by the Ika Musume artist (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/1101066/-d-anbe_masahiro-blush-bow-cure_peace-earrings-hai)

[big bad birtha]

I've watched the Suite Precure movie. Unlike the other Precure movies, this one ties in directly to the show, and explains some things that weren't explained in the television show. I would have to say that this was one of the better Precure movies. The characters weren't thrown in some random fairy land, and instead taken somewhere that's in the show. The humor in this movie's probably the best of the Precure movies, where it even started with a character getting arrested for knocking on one of the girl's bedroom window. Actually, this character had some really cool moments in the movie. As far as problems go, the movie feels kinda rushed during some of the fights at the end, but other than that, I enjoyed it.

Also, Doppel, a friendly reminder, Fresh 44 is out.

Finally, I've decided to watch Yes Precure 5 Gogo RAW. This is the only Precure I don't have on my plate, and I might as well watch it where I only understand 30% of it as opposed to not watching it at all.

[big bad birtha]

Smile 06 watched (several days ago). This one explained what was generally going on, and had a good new character (too bad he left at the end of the episode). It was an enjoyable episode, and the humor was excellent.

I'm 5 episodes into Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! I'm at the general reintroduction of characters, but there's one thing I've noticed, and that's the gratuitous amounts of QUALITY. Like, holy shit there's so many fudge-ups it's unreal. I'll give 5 examples, because I'm nice: 1 (http://oi42.tinypic.com/9zpty.jpg) 2 (http://oi43.tinypic.com/ebeu0h.jpg) 3 (http://oi43.tinypic.com/5lperl.jpg) 4 (http://oi39.tinypic.com/15ofiue.jpg) 5 (http://oi44.tinypic.com/a4qzx3.jpg). Other than that, it's not bad. The new character is developing pretty nicely, and there's nothing better than a male tsundere with spunk!

[Doppleganger]

The Fresh episode was pretty bad too. I guess we all know when the Koreans were called in!

[big bad birtha]

Doppel, you should watch Fresh 45 as soon as possible. It's an amazing episode.

I'm at episode 20 in Yes! Precure 5! GoGo! I'm mostly posting to talk about episode 17. The end to that episode shocked the fuck out of me. In a way, it's like the Fresh episode that featured actual comedians, but this comedian's part in the show was actually good! Like, he was searching for his dragon head prop, and it went over his unnatural relationship with it, and he talked about how it's an important partner to him. He starts hoping the girls would know who he is, but of course a bunch of middle school girls won't know who a strange comedian like him is! Well...Urara vaguely knows about him, but that's because of her job. Then at the end of the episode, when the girls watch his show...holy fuck! It was amazing in so many ways. His stand-up routine is weird as hell, and the girls were shocked when they saw him on stage. I'll give some screen-shots:
They start watching his show (http://oi44.tinypic.com/2d0zwpv.jpg)
His appearance on stage (http://oi42.tinypic.com/ac8oz9.jpg)
Shock! (http://oi42.tinypic.com/eur7si.jpg)(Coco's expression is especially awesome)
I rewatched so many moments from this episode. At the end of that scene, it has a freaking close-up of the guy like that, and they were surprisingly detailed with his belly and man-titties. The humor of some moments in GoGo are even above Fresh quality. Actually, this show has been pretty great for the most part. Sure, there's a bunch of crooked eye shots, but the show has been very entertaining.

Milky Rose's debut was fantastic! Everyone's getting beat up by two cadres, and they've kidnapped the mascots. They try their hardest, but end up getting beat up, then Milky Rose mercilessly destroys them, and as she hands the mascots to Cure Dream, she looks at her with disgust and says something along the lines of "If they were really so precious to you, you would have been able to protect them." Too bad she hasn't shown that level of arrogance or raw power since her debut.

Time to stop fanboying over this freaking show. God damn I wish I could show this much enthusiasm over other stuff.

[big bad birtha]

I forgot to talk about Smile 7. It was an entertaining episode. Not much happened, nor did anyone really develop, but it was amusing atleast. Judging from the episode titles next month, it doesn't look like much of anything is really gonna happen in this show, unfortunately.

Finally, I've finished Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! For the most part, I really really enjoyed watching this. Everyone was well developed, and the actual plot of the show was actually pretty decent (atleast from what I could understand). By the time the show ended, I got really attached to everyone, actually, moreso than the first season of Yes 5!. It's just a shame they didn't do much with Kurumi/Milky Rose. She was really cool, and it's a shame she never really got to shine that much. Syrup was really well developed, though. Actually, there were more episodes about him than any of the girls.

The show rarely got repetitive, and there was a nice variety in alot of the fights. Some of them, like one where they all played a gameshow, were amazing. The villains themselves were pretty entertaining as well.

As far as problems go, I didn't have many. I made fun of some of the QUALITY earlier, but what was me simply poking fun at it. I just wish Kurumi and Nuts had some development.

All in all, I'm glad I decided to watch this show RAW instead of waiting for subs that'll never happen. I understood much more of the plot and everything that happened than I thought I would. If I were to rate Yes! Precure 5 GoGo, I'd probably give it an 8.8. I really think this show was near HC quality. I spent a large majority of the time watching it smiling at the god damn screen. If I were to rank the Precure shows, it'd be like this: Heartcatch > GoGo > Splash Star > Fresh > Futari Wa > Yes 5! > Smile > Suite > Max Heart

[Doppleganger]

Smile 08 is dumber than anything I've ever seen in Fresh.

What am I watching?

[Talon87]

A show meant for little girls but with a huge demographic of men ages 20-40, a.k.a. the My Little Pony of Japan.

If it's bad, quit watching. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Even if what you're after is little girls' television, there are lots of old school options you've yet to check out. Pretty much anything by Ribbon magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribon) that got a TV show would be worth investigating if it's little girls' television you're after. Hell, they even did a manga serialization of Splash Star so you know I'm right. :lol:

[Doppleganger]

A show meant for little girls but with a huge demographic of men ages 20-40, a.k.a. the My Little Pony of Japan.

I don't think MLP started out appealing to young adult/adolescent males, it was solidly for little girls until the internet got a hold of it. Then it morphed into a sort of Conker's Bad Fur Day, where the the main content (vulgarity/little girl) became a front for parody or adult humour.

I've seen people say PreCure is written with males in mind. I disagree. It pokes fun at the genre and archetypes and it's unlikely little girls would be savvy toward meta-humour, but that's not necessarily "male oriented".


If it's bad, quit watching. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Even if what you're after is little girls' television, there are lots of old school options you've yet to check out. Pretty much anything by Ribbon magazine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribon) that got a TV show would be worth investigating if it's little girls' television you're after. Hell, they even did a manga serialization of Splash Star so you know I'm right. :lol:

Need subs! I see some familiar titles there. I'm horrified Jeanne was a manga at some point.

[YUKI.N]

Need subs! I see some familiar titles there. I'm horrified Jeanne was a manga at some point.

Don't let Jeanne put you off giving Full Moon a try. The beginning is mostly fluffy generic Shoujo (even in the manga, though the animé has a lot more filler), but the ending is worth it. Still to date the most emotionally impacting experience I've had.

[big bad birtha]

Rude butt-in aside, yeah, Smile 8 was pretty bad. During Miyuki's big dramatic speech before transforming, I couldn't help but go "haaaaaaah?!" at everything she said, because ALL OF IT WAS A LIE! Candy worked hard? Pffffffff!

Obligatory Cure Candy screenshot (http://oi44.tinypic.com/23ijaet.jpg)

[Doppleganger]

The new episode started off really great (and some awesome screencap material!) but it went retarded really quickly.

Whyyyyy?!

[big bad birtha]

Really? Other than maybe the lame April Fool's joke everyone played on Yayoi at the end, and the lame fight scene, I thought it was pretty entertaining. I thought most of the things that happened during the episode were pretty standard of April Fool's/fibbing episodes.

For the lame fight scenes lately, I think Smile might end up staying like that. It seems the show has decided to lessen the Precure part of the show and go for more slice-of-life events.

[Doppleganger]

The title spoiled the entire episode, once I knew where they were going with the plot it became really predictable. It wasn't funny because the moral - lying is bad - was deflated by the issue of Miyuki's hyper-activity and inability to keep matters confidential spiraled the entire matter into a gross misunderstanding. It wasn't even Cure Peace's fault, that idiot!

Funny stuff (http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/9613/yayoiwhat.png).

[big bad birtha]

An awesome clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNAgBPERkFc) I found, and here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y052VBjn9bc&feature=related) another related one.

[Talon87]

Second one was not bad. First one was amazing. Loved it, bbb. Thanks for sharing it with us. There are so many good parts to it, but I think my favorite part is when he's saying how he doesn't want to die, how he wants to live, and then one of the girls says "He's crying!"

[Doppleganger]

First one was amazing.

Yes.

Yes it was.