It’s that time of year again, when I dutifully sit down and scan the new PreCure series before I wander off again. ^_^ This incarnation, Dokidoki! PreCure (ドキドキ！プリキュア), is playing-card suit themed: Cure Heart, Cure Diamond, Cure Rosetta and Cure Sword. (You know the Spades of playing cards are the Swords of Tarot, right? Cards turned swords into plowshares. ^_^)
Mana, Cure Heart, is the president of her school’s Student Council. I approve, but not for the reason you might presume. ^_^ Instead of being clumsy and sweet, or full of love and a moron, Mana is a hard-working, intelligent lead character who has earned her rank as leader.
Rikka, Cure Diamond, is Mana’s best friend, her right-hand and she immediately pings the ole Yuridar. You just know she worships Mana, and if you are one of us, you can easily see more.
Alice, Cure Rosetta, is a nice switch around. Usually the Yellow PreCure is the loli-bait and initially it seems that Alice might be cast in that role, but along with being hyper-cute, she’s rich (that’s going to solve a lot of problems up front) and is actually a skilled martial artist. I like that she’s got a tragic back story that was basically she beat people up too much. ^_^
We’ve seen Cure Sword and we’re not 4 years old, so we know who she is right from the get-go, MakoPi the famous idol. She’ll be our resident tsundere. I forsee some light crushiness by Mana.
PreCure has returned to the standard formula – color-coded, themed characters, tons of goods, and bad guys that make you sad with their ineffectiveness. ^_^
The only downside to this series is, well, the preachiness factor is through the roof. Monsters of the Day are created by minor acts of selfishness. Really minor – disagreements, playing one’s music in earphones too loud (really?)…I look forward to the one that represents taking the seats reserved for older or disabled folks and pregnant women on the train. Of course The PreCure will rescue Trump World, but by god if the final boss isn’t a parody of Donald Trump, I’m gonna be pissed.
Ratings:
Art – 7
Character – 8
Story – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 1 on principle
Overall – A solid 7
I don’t see this series blowing me away, but I don’t hate it. ^_^
I actually liked Smile Pretty Cure better due to the comedy and great character designs.
are there any situations where you feel being preachy is warranted in an anime? or has it gotten too old a cliche in magical girl sentai stuff?
These shows are for children. I am not a fan of shows with lessons at all for myself, but I found this one to be a bit much even for four-year olds.
YOU’RE FIRED!!!!!
/snerk/
This season is actually better than I was expecting (not that I ever expect all that much out of precure to begin with, being a kiddy show and all). It’s still too early to say that it won’t devolve into too much filler like Smile did (obviously there’s going to be filler, but I felt like Smile had way too much between episodes that actually advanced the plot), but what I’ve seen of the plot is pretty okay, and also Princess Marie Ange is a total bad ass. Although the monsters-of-the-day in this one do seem especially silly.