Sorry no fairies this week. And maybe not even next week, either. Due to some new pursuits, I am reducing the number of updates to this blog. And changing the name as well, as I’m not sure how much actual recapping I will be doing in the future. So, yeah. Not updated every Friday anymore. But in the meantime, here’s something light for your reading pleasure.
It’s pretty hard to determine the quality of a Precure season right from the first episode. This is because most Precure pilots are so similar in nature that the only thing one can really do is try and determine how the characters that are introduced are going to develop. And so of course, the first thing to talk about for first impressions is our main character, Haruka Haruno, AKA Cure Flora.
So far, Haruka’s most defining trait is her strong desire to become a princess. Naturally, this is really because princesses are this season’s motif, and in this case the princess motif is a pretty thinly-veiled allegory for the overall theme of dreams in general. Although it appears at first that Haruka’s dream is a purely superficial one (not helped when her childhood self questions whether or not she can be “cute and sparkly”), her many small gestures throughout the episode, such as her pictured practice curtsy, and her attempting to ingratiate herself to the habit of greeting everyone formally display attempts to adopt mannerisms that are traditionally seen as “princess-y”. This being Precure, I am thinking that in the future this image of the princess that Haruka has constructed in her mind will be broken somehow, which could potentially lead to some interesting underlying conflict. Speaking of princesses:
Yeah, apparently in this season, “Pretty Cure” and “Princess” are more or less synonymous. Because screw being born into or marrying into royalty! What the heck is a title, anyway? Actually, in this sense, this season could be seen as dethroning the traditional view of what a princess is already. Of course, the subsequent ass-kicking that Cure Flora delivers to the Zetsuborg certainly helps that along. But I think the key here is the fact that, technically, in the very first episode, Haruka has already attained her dream of becoming a princess. However, her immediate reaction is not one of joy or excitement, but one of confusion. Her first view of the world as a “princess” is one involving a conflict with a powerful adversary. And sure, she gets her first big heroic moment and everything, but even when Haruka has everything she has always wanted, she finds a path of punching, kicking, and giant explosions ahead. Clearly, Haruka’s desire to be a princess goes beyond mere labels and appearances. It will be interesting to see where the show goes with this in upcoming episodes.
Next up is Yui Nanase, Haruka’s roommate. She wears glasses, which automatically brings up her cool points by 50,000. This brings us to the thing that Toei Animation has been shoving down our throats the past few weeks. This is the first season of Precure to be set in a boarding school, so our main characters will actually be living together instead of just hanging out often. Since Haruka is new to Noble Academy, this will also be a season in which the Cures will have to meet and develop friendships, rather than having friendships be pre-established. As it turns out, Yui will not be one of the three main Cures, which is a damn shame. Come to think of it, we need some Cures who wear glasses. Or maybe even one who fights in a wheelchair! But I digress… What’s interesting about Yui is that she instantly bonds with Haruka, and a considerable amount of time is spent with the two… and yet Yui is listed as a “minor” character on Pretty Cure Wiki. On the other hand, the two characters who will eventually become Cures in the coming episodes barely appear for 5 seconds, and have like, 2 lines each. Significantly, one of these two future Cures is Minami Kaido, this season’s Ace character who is referred to as the “Academy’s Princess”. And since we already know that Kirara Amanogawa will become a Cure, thanks to the magic of anime opening title sequences, she could be labelled as a “princess”, too. What I’m saying is, Haruka could interact with these two more, but instead the one who she naturally bonds with first is an “ordinary” person, Yui. Yeah, plot-wise it’s because the two are roommates, but thematically they bond over their dreams. Yui’s dream is to become a children’s picture book author, an occupation which implies an interest in fairy tales, not at all unlike Haruka’s own fairy tale like fantasies. Going back to the boarding school thing, the fact that the series is set in a remote location away from the familiar faces of one’s parents also leaves a fairy tale like feeling as well, bolstered by the castle-like imagery of Noble Academy.
However, this bond is threatened by Haruka’s reluctance to share her own dream with Yui. The one who is closer to Haruka’s goal of being a princess is Minami, who is the one who Haruka should be with if she is to get closer to her dream. If Yui is seen as someone to share fantasy with (represented by her picture book author dream), Minami can be seen as said fantasy becoming a reality. This possibility causes a break in completely revealing the fantasy to Yui. According to the next episode preview, next week Haruka WILL actually meet and interact with Minami to a significant extent, so then we can see how Haruka reacts to facing the reality of her dream for the first time.
So far, the only villain we have seen so far is Close, a guy who looks… well… like that. I don’t really have anything else to say, other than apparently he thinks dreams are pointless, and so that obviously gives him the right to lock up people’s dreams in hideous monsters and have them attack cute little animals. Obviously, right now he (and Dys Dark in general) is the biggest obstacle to Haruka’s desire of becoming a princess, as seen by her being forced to act decidedly un-princesslike to overcome him and his Zetsuborg. Who knows, maybe this is an undercurrent that could show up again. Again, there’s not much else to say, other than KISS fans trying to destroy everyone’s dreams is not something completely out of the realm of reality.
Remember the text at the bottom reminding you to buy Bandai’s merchandise! Anyway, Kanata. He’s this season’s Big Good, and so far what we know is that he is extremely effeminate-looking (as usual), and that he is a prince of the Hope Kingdom. Yeah… if Precure runs long enough, pretty soon we’re going to get mascots coming from the Diabetes Kingdom. Anyway, he first appears when Haruka is a child, encouraging her to never forget her dream. This makes him the first person of royal status that Haruka meets, although she doesn’t know this until after the events of this episode. The next person she meets of such status, Minami, is not a “real” princess, but Haruka clearly looks up to her as someone to admire and emulate. In keeping with what was said earlier, when she meets Kanata again, and finds out that he is a prince, her reaction is not excitement at the revelation that she actually met a real prince, but one of shock and confusion. When she first saw Kanata as a child, she does not see a prince, but rather an imaginary friend (except not imaginary), not unlike what Yui is now. Even as a child, Haruka’s perception of what a princess should be shows hints of being something more than a cute sparkly girl in a picture book. When she sees fantasy creatures like the mascots Pafu and Aroma, her mind first sees them as a puppy and a parrot, rather ordinary creatures compared to what her imagination desires. Outside of the flashback sequence, Kanata has yet to really make himself known, so we’ll have to wait to really see how Kanata affects Haruka now that they can interact beyond a brief childhood encounter.
But enough about characters, let’s get to what we really came for, the fighting! Basically, in short, the fighting was awesome. As always, it was over-the-top, ridiculous, and overall glorious. Though I’m fairly easy to please in this department, so I won’t say much else. This season does appear to be a bit less special move spammy as Happiness Charge last year. Which is nice, because to be perfectly honest, the first special finisher, Floral Tourbillon, is okay, I guess. She shoots some flowers at the monster, which isn’t quite as spectacularly overblown as I’d like. I dig the big poofy Elegant Mode dress, though.
Actually, right before the fight, there is this one moment I find notable, in which one of the mascots, Aroma, instructs Haruka to fight however she wants, “like a princess”. This implies that there are in fact no real “rules” for being a princess, and that being one is something comes naturally from being yourself. Quite a contrast to Haruka’s practiced curtsies and greetings. This is something that I hope the most to see explored in the future.
Wow. That was a whole lot of words for “Pretty cool episode, can’t wait for more.” I guess this is what happens when my mind wanders trying to come up with material for this blog. Anyway, pretty much all of this post was spent on speculation of the directions that the show could go with its themes and motifs. Or more likely, a madman spewing incomprehensible nonsense that no one should listen to. But the things that I can definitively talk about right now are the opening and ending.
The opening is pretty good, if a bit overshadowed by some earlier ones. It is certainly a more “traditional” theme than last year’s, but it never quite reaches the energy of some of the classic ones, like Smile or Splash Star‘s themes. But it does a decent enough job as a power ballad, and in getting me excited for the show, even if it doesn’t exactly live up to the “epic” intro.
As for the ending. Two words. Love it. How long has it been since a Precure ending dance theme has been this good? IMO the last truly great one was way back in 2011 with Suite Precure‘s first ending. I feel old now. This is the first ending in a while that really feels like it is something more than a pop song; it’s more like an event, with buildup, payoff, and a rousing conclusion. It’s like there’s a story in there, albeit a pretty sugar-coated one, but not every song that was obviously meant to sell CD’s and make Billboard rankings (or, you know, featured in an anime) can feel so uniquely satisfying. You should have seen the big smile on my face after it was done. Actually, no you shouldn’t have, because if you had, your eyes would have melted.
There’s a whole other multitude of things I could talk about, such as the art style, Cure Flora’s outfit, her henshin sequence, etc., but I’m so aesthetically challenged that I rarely find the need to comment on these things anyway. And besides, this post has more than outstayed its welcome.
So, those are my disjointed and incoherent thoughts. Will Haruka become the princess that she desires to be? What new things could Toei Animation do with the boarding school setting? Will Kirara ever find her room? Was I high when I wrote this post? The answers to all these questions will be found out in the coming year, except for one. No, I wasn’t. This is how I am all the time. See you next time, and have a nice day!
Update: Darn, those italics! I must have been high after all!
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