Nagisa – Pinkie's Paradise

Precure Pinkie (Part 2) Futari Wa Precure Midway Review

Hello Island Guests, last week I finally managed to reach the halfway point of Futari Wa Precure, the first series of the Precure Franchise. It took me waaaay longer than I expected to get through 26 episodes. Does that mean I think the series is bad? Not Really… However it’s one of those shows I have to watch leisurely or else it does come crashing down hard.

A Cure Best taken in Moderation

While the first episode and the subsequent four, thoroughly entertained me I began to struggle enjoying this show at around the sixth episode. Mind you that Episode 2 through 6 I watched in one long haul. The show starts with VERY low stakes and that Edgy Guy I described in my first review was called Pisard. He is not the main villain of the series instead he is one of five henchman of the Dark King. He summons this demon called the Zakenna which possesses an object each episode for about 8 episodes I think creating your standard monster of the week. At the end Pretty Cure holds hands to do their ultimate technique the “Pretty Cure Marble Screw” and Pisard is either blown away.. like team rocket.. or flees the seen as his new monster is destroyed.

In itself this is perfectly fine and to an extend I do enjoy this trope. I loved Power Rangers when was young and this basically is the same. Like Sailor Moon even.. yet feeling somewhat more “mundane”. The biggest issue I had with the show stemmed from binging the first 12 to 15 episodes or so. PreCure is very self away and uses the tropes of the genre to a maximum. However when consuming 10 episodes a day… seeing that same transformation sequence 10 times.. and seeing that exact same opening, that exact same special attack animation for that many times in a span of a few hours something breaks.

The transformation sequence is fun.. but it’s not special enough to be fun 10 times in a row. The Pretty Cure Marble Screw.. which follows the exact same animation and dialogue doesn’t have enough oomph to it to justify it seeing it on repeat so many times within a few hours.However when I started watching 2 episodes at lunch , 2 at dinner.. my troubles vanished and I got to enjoy the show a whole lot more.

**Once or Twice every episode.. even if they do it twice.. the animation and dramatic posing repeats!**

A cure with the sweetest after taste

Medicine usually has a bitter after taste, however with this season, the bitterness comes around the time the first henchman is defeated. The second and third antagonist suffer from a lot of weird speed ups. A few episodes feel like they just happen because they happen.
While the episodes with Pisard function as a sort of tutorial for Precure with enough exposition, the dumb ogre that is next.. and poisonny.. the vampiric looking woman just function as “episode instigators” It results in a hit or miss kind of scenario when it comes to episodes. The Dumb Ogre guys episodes , I can’t even remember his name .. all are sorta meh. With 2 nice episodes to his name, and a few stinkers I cared for him the least.

Poisony has a few amazing monster of the week scenarios but that happens because of the fourth antagonist actually forming bond with precure. It’s a slow build up to something very nice.All in all Poisony had a few nice episodes and challenges to her name.. but her coolest one.. where she traps Pretty cure in a dark dimension and eventually a mirror .. when she is about to shatter them gets completely Deus Ex Machinad.Pretty Cure faces certain death and suddenly.. they are not.. it’s never explained.. we just see a the good guy bad guy shown from behind making a smiling hmph! ish noise and we are supposed to be… “oh he saved them”. Even Poisony doesn’t bring it up anymore the episode just ends on a whimper.

**Is it weird that I really like her?!**

This stuff happens a lot in the middle part of the show. For some reason PreCure decides not to hold hands and beam their enemies to death until they noticed kicking doesn’t work…which it never did…the middle part has a LOT of stuff happening because it needs to happen and I almost gave up hope… and than I reached episode 18.

Boy does the quality of this show skyrocket after that episode. We get so much great stuff. We get to see the build up of the fourth antagonist story. I was wrong about Honoka possibly being a lesbian character because she shows chemistry with fourth Dark Zone member, Kiriya. It was done quite well, with him becoming more human and trough their final fight being able to grasp what the side of light was all about and choosing to believe in them. I wonder if he will be back, we never saw him die. So anything can happen there and I am actually curious to find out.

The fifth warrior the face Illkubo is truly menacing and he actually has a plan. There is shift in the status quo multiple times and it feels great. The way he is defeated makes a lot more sense than how they did it with.. Gekidrago.. that’s the ogre guys name I remember now! Where they just “hold hands harder” We get introduced to the Garden of Light… which is kinda like any other magical girl series world of goodness thing.. which is fun and charming and it just fits the tone of the show so well with all the cute creatures yelling something-po. I even started to binge a bit again.

**Clearly that black orb thing.. sucking in this light did not know Skittles are a thing! Way easier!**

A Cure that works fast

Episode 25 , the official midway point is…. a bit mediocre due to the same speed up, deus ex machina mechanics the middle of the show uses.. albeit at least a bit more cleverly. It felt kinda rushed. In one episode the Pretty Cure wipe out the Dark King… using the same normal attack they always do…although boosted by an ally this time. It took takes them 5 episodes per villain (on average) to defeat the others.. but the Dark King is one shot?
I kinda like it… it felt anticlimactic but it was that type of villain they could not do a lot with.So in PreCure style it is dispatched and replaced.

**Pisard and the Dark King…. I spoiled myself looking for this image!**

I cried when Nagisa and Honoka had to say goodbye to Mepple and Mipple their adorable companion creatures.. even though I knew there were going to be like 50 more episodes with them or so…(counting other seasons to follow as well) so I did form some bonds. I had this same experience in caring for Honoka’s grandmother.. or feeling bad for her when here parents had to work on her birthday and even though she got kept a hostage.. did not get to see her parents that much and was in life peril .. it was her best birthday ever. Even simple stories as a classmate loving a painting or a science club friend of Honoka discovering their invention was named after her managed to touch me! So it does play on the heart strings.

Still I can not escape the fact that a lot of stuff is glossed over. We never get explanation what that Zakenna actually is.. what those cute apologetic star guys are..it’s just a cute exit animation? It’s a show where stuff happens because it needs to happen for the majority of what I watched so far. The Garden of Light and the hero side gets highlighted pretty well and feels pretty fleshed out but the counter part.. kinda is just there to have some semblance of a plot. It’s something I hope to see improved in the future. Having watched episode 26 .. the first one into a new story arc.. it seems hopeful, it was much better paced even though it was still fast. This enemy also seemed a bit more menacing. Still the show skips a lot of time and in doing so it often misses a lot of details.

***Mepple and Mipple with the True Love Doctor..a device they made a big thing out of.. but then..it’s gone!***

A Pretty Cure

Overall I definitely had a pleasant experience.. but it’s one that will not necessarily stick with me. I like the cute elements, which in later series seem to have been boosted and I like the visuals even if there is a lot of repetition. While the transformation scenes are static.. any condition is transferred over to them… like if they are held by tentacles..(hue hue) that carries over in that samesie transformation scene any damage and such will show.

I like how transformation scenes come over as cute and don’t emphasis the “naked” body growing clothes as much as some of their peers. There is a fluidity in this show I really like and a certain type of retroness..that makes it more sailor moon like to me. Except for Geki-Drago I really enjoy the character design. Everyone feels unique and the monsters have that “power ranger campiness” to them that makes me really enjoy them. The evil vaccuum cleaner, the possessed legendary armors, the museum coming to live. As forced as the plot progress goes, so natural feel the situations. (with the exception of both accidentally going to the same summer camp). The choice of monsters and situations.. even if very trope like is done well. The way characters fit into these tropes really worked for me and their transformation gimmick is unique and caters to those tropes.

Honoka and Nagisa can only transform ..and do ultimate attacks by holding hands and with a tricky set up like that, you are going to have to make some weird leaps.. to actually separate them… as well as get them back to being together. Setting wise… episodic wise they do this fine. However it also means this show feels more like Power Rangers.. as Sailor Moon.. as in “half of the fight” can feel pointless because we all know the monsters is going to grow and they need the megazord to finish things. Pretty Cure..always goes in kicking and tossing their way ..getting hit a few times before firing a beam. Would it have been explained that they have to “weaken” a monster first before finishing it off with the signature attack.. I would have been perfectly fine with it…but as you may expect by now this has been glossed over.

It’s a pretty show that I might be just a bit to old for, but just because it is made for younger people doesn’t mean your writing doesn’t have to make sense. There is a deep love for the genre in this show though that keeps it quite infectious. I’d say the first 17 kinda feel like as if the show is being told to me by an adoring fan.

“Have you Seen Pretty Cure it’s amazing.. in the second Episode Honoka and Nagisa have to fight Pisard again.. oh yes he is revealed to be Pisard by an evil guy named the Dark King..and he uses a Zakenna to possess a vacuum cleaner that sucks up all the electricity in the town! It’s amazing!.. so they kick it and punch it but it has a really long neck and goes woosh..and swwwwwwwsh and then he tries to suck Nagisa up.. but Bam Honoka saves her with some weird throwing technique .. but than she is in trouble and Babaf.. Nagisa Kicks th vacuum right in the mouth”

It feels like the show is that kind of story telling turned into a show, which means it is full of energy and flavor, but it takes a nosedive in cohesion. Great for a leisurely watch, but if you are not drunk, fourteen or younger or for some reason have only access to half of your brain, I would not recommend binging it. I was thinking of dropping this one and moving three series ahead to see if it picks up… but the last 7 episodes or so got me back supporting this squad. I will back with you in 24 episodes! Go Go Pretty Cure!

Remember that I love you all, keep smiling and stay positive! I will see you all for more PreCure when I get to it! Despite it’s flaws I am still excited!

XO
Pinkie!

**Pinkie hates WordPress newest Block Editor!**

Previously on Precure Pinkie

Futari Wa Precure: First Impressions!

Next time:
Futari Wa Precure: Full Season Review!

Precure Pinkie (Part 1): Futari wa Precure! First Impressions

If you could name one anime that fitted me like a glove, you’d probably say Pokémon. You’d be right .. though the anime is always something I had a bit of a meh experience with.. the good episodes are amazing… the filler in between.. meh! Another good guess of an anime that is very on brand with me would be Pretty Cure. I love it’s art so much.. yet until today I had not seen a single episode of it! Shame on me! Yet now I can take you on my journey through this franchise!

How to be Pretty?!

With 16ish seasons and the first one already having 50 episodes, it might be a bit too much to take you through every single episode. So how will our journey through Pretty Cure look like?! I will have about three to four episodes per series. Which follow a certain trend.

-The first part of a series will discuss the first episode of a series. My first impressions and expectations. Analysing the main character(s) and the general set up. I will review an episode in detail which means spoilers.

– The second part will come out after I reached the midway point of a series. A hype check of sorts, because I am mostly talking about my experience there will be spoilers. Why do I dislike or like characters.. what did I like and what did I not like. I won’t spoil the entire plot or details but the story in big lines will be discussed.

-The third part will talk about the second half of the show. Did I like the ending and the show in general. This one like the others will contain spoilers

-A possible fourth part will happen when I am really impressed with a season. Where I talk more in depth on why I love it, which characters I like and maybe something about cute Pretty Cure objects and such… call it a bonus episode. These might be replaced with episodes of Pinkie looking for a Waifu.. as after only 1 episode I can already tell the Yuri suggestions are real! With that said.. it is time to review the first episode of Pretty Cure ever!

The Negatives will all blow away

It only took me as long as reaching the opening to know I would like this show! While I do not think the transformations shown in this opening look as Pretty as some of the later Cure Girl’s I have seen the message is loud and clear. “Smile your troubles away” “All the Negatives will blow away” When we conquer a problem we get stronger! Such nice positive messages in this show’s opening alone. Really on brand with me as well. Especially about negativity blowing away. It’s a pretty cute opening as well. It feels a bit too rhythmic talky for me in the beginning but I like the budududududu thing’s showing Mepple and Mipple.. the cute companion creatures of the show. It’s timed nicely. Bududududu things… sometimes I am such a wordsmith. This opening had some pretty nineties vibes to me, despite only earing in 2005.. It also is very spoiler free which is a good thing so woop!

Instead of Screencaps of the opening how about I just show you the opening!

The first episode.. and assuming by the intro the rest of the series as well. Follows Nagisa , who is a Lacrosse playing jock and Honoka who has a very big brain for her age. They are in the 8th grade.. which puts them around the age of 13 or 14. Since that now is 14 year ago.. that would make them 28 right now.. so they might even be date material! Which is good because Honoka looks super cute! Nagisa is a bit tomboyish which she wears well. It’s not my style to date but the character does feel like her own thing rather than just another Orange headed tomboy girl.. What’s with Orange haired females being kind of hot heated? Could it be that hair color tells something about personality? Honoka is depicted as a cute but somewhat conventional looking girl with dark hair (like most studious girls in anime have) in a fairly traditional cut. I do like the creatures design as well. They feel unique and they feel precious something that needs protecting.. which works well in the first episode.

Oh it’s going to be THAT type of show?!

Don’t ask me why I have seen Cute Earth Defence Club Love before this show.. but what I loved best in that show was how aware the characters were in that show .. about how odd things where that were going on. It turns out that the PreCure or Pretty Cure series was the first magical “person” franchise who did this. Which already made me love it more! I figured this would just be one of those Sailor Moon Clones that focussed more on cuteness and less on dating boys. Yet for now I think there will be more to it than that. We see Nagisa getting a bunch of love letters, but they are all form girls. Yet she glanced at a boy in this episode so that must mean she is straight. Since Honoka is very popular with boys though and she rejected a popular one, I am gonna say she isn’t straight. Maybe that is just me hoping her 28 year old self would be available! Throughout the episode the characters both seem rather aware of having unreal abilities and odd things going on which makes the cuteness somehow more adorable. I really hope this will shine on through throughout the series as well as it would allow them to get away with such cute things by just saying… yeah well it is that trope!

The episode begins with two characters of different environments doing their thing. The Jock plays sports and the nerd pours two liquids into a beaker and it goes poof…with success though! Both are not really on each others level yet but we know that will soon change because after their looks cross we get that opening. There is some slight exposition about a meteor shower where Nagisa’s friends see it as ill omens Honoka sees it as a good sign. Superstition versus science and all. I guess that will be an element as well. No sure though. Of course it won’t just be meteors we all already know something will land in front of our two heroes. Both heroes get some flippy phone like thing with a bearish.. bunny look or a bunnyish bear look, that can talk .. and walk. Obviously that is the transforming mcguffin.
We see them transform into full bunnyish bears and bearish bunnies later on so I bet there is more to them. They also seem like a couple.. but with names like Mipple and Mepple they could also be brother and sister still, I mean Japan spells that one particular word in the english language with a silent W in the beginning. You know when your brother wrinkles your sheets. That one.

***I’ll have you know I don’t day dream! I hallucinate!***

Four Cuties and an Edgelord

Nagisa is scared for the the phone creature at first. I mean I would be as well if a meteor came at me and then released a talking flippy phone. She shows her little brother who can’t see a thing about it. Moments after he walks out it begins walking again. So I assume Nagisa was chosen.. yet it still feels odd. Honoka got her flippy phone neatly gift wrapped in a neat little box. Her dog barked at the shed it was hidden in.. so she for some reason feels more chosen. Also random observation. Cats are often drawn very distinguishable from one another even black cats amongst each other. Yet everyone in anime seems to have the same labrador/ golden retriever dog! I guess that if they are not the main character .. they are just plain..but no matter what art style I look at the dog always feels the same.
Mepple.. the creature in Nagisa’s… thing.. I am sure it will get a name soon, begins to cry and tells it needs to go somewhere. Which leads to my favorite seen of the episode. In her lacrosse stick thing Nagisa carries Mepple around to where it wants to go.. still scared of it. It knows where it needs to go but only in a straight line. So we see Nagisa walking around with an alien phone thing trough restaurants and scaling walls just to be able to walk in a straight line as much as she can. That just makes sense to me as this little alien dude she is carrying would probably not know the street plan of her town.

Eventually they reach a theme park.. where some edgy as fudge guy is walking around. I mean he feels like a lead singer for an anime heavy metal band. He steals Mepple but gets distracted when Mipple and Honoka arrive at the scene. Using that scoopy net thing Nagisa has she whacks Mepple out of his hand and then the guy uses telekinesis to throw trash cans at them.. oh and road signs.. so maybe it is magnetism powers.. Not sure! Regardless this makes the situation so dire that the girls can transform. I really liked this transformation sequence because of now lewd it is… unless hand holding is lewd like the meme.. than it is really lewd. I do like the metallic look the girls get when transforming.. for some reason I do expect them to be more durable now. The transformation music was pretty cute as well.
The transformation prompts the bad guy to summon a demon ,which might just be a pokémon because it keeps shouting it’s name, that possesses a rollercoaster. It chases after the girls and shoots spikey stuff at them. Cure Black.. Nagisa’s alter ego clearly performs better in battle saving Honoka from a spiked wheel. Since she tries to pull Honaka up at the intro sequence as well I guess this will be a thing where Nagisa will punch things real hard and Honoka will help her fight more tactically. Which is a solid way to make a cast of two work well with each other without invalidating one or the other.

Like I stated earlier, both girls notice how they make some weird quotes about the light and how they are the Pretty Cure which I always find very amusing. It isn’t as silly as in Earth Defence Club Love though but instead cleverly works as a little bit of exposition. Do Mipple and Mepple possess them in some way or another.. because they also referred to themselves as Pretty cure later on and Mepple seems very similar to Nagisa so far. Mipple sounds a lot like Honoka. both have a very squeaky voice that while Kawaii kinda sounds like stepping on mice as well. The good guys defeat the roller coaster through the power of handholding and the demon transforms into a bunch of apologetic black stars.The edgie guy flies into space or at least high into the sky..surely to create a new monster of the week next episode. Leaving behind four cute things wondering what will happen next as we cut to the end. A beginning like any other but with a higher level of cuteness than average. Perfect! I am very interested in seeing this show progress. I think the tones of positivity and just the right amount of Meta and cuteness make this a great product for me. Now to watch tons and tons of episodes! Will I think it’s pretty from beginning to end or will i be cured by my insane curiosity of it?!