Futari wa Precure: Splash☆Star

People often judge this series without watching it and believe that it was just a copy and pasted Futari Wa. I strongly disagree. This cast is one of the best. Mai and Saki, at first glance, seem like Nagisa and Honoka but there are key differences. The tone of this installment is much lighter with villains more often used for comedic relief. Mai and Saki are also more optimistic and much faster friends compared to their predecessors.

The side cast were also more memorable. Kenta with his comedy and his family. Hitomi and Yuuko who were similarly high energy like Saki.

I also found Minori ... much more tolerable compared to Ryouta

The villains were funny and their designs were so unique and fun. The twist with Akudaikan and Gohyaan was out of nowhere and very interesting.

Finally, Michiru and Kaoru. Their gradual redemption and their relationship with Dark Fall was so awesome to see. Their characters had so much depth.

I started watching Precure in its release order, avoiding the trouble of looking in thousands of threads to see which entry is the best one to start the series with. Thus, Splash Star is my second dive (third, if you count Max Heart separately) in this huge sea that I still have left to explore.
First of all, I’ve read some people pointing out the similarities between the OG Futari wa and Splash Star. At first sight, it may seem impossible not to look at the two Splash Star protagonists and see our old friends Nagisa and Honoka, but as the episodes progressed different dynamics can ... be seen between them that distinguish this instalment from its predecessor. With that said, I’ll try not to remark on any parallelism between both of them (even though I couldn’t stop doing comparisons between the two shows during my viewing lol).

Story
I think the story is the most remarkable thing about Splash Star and it’s all thanks to two characters. No, not Saki and Mai, but Kaoru and Michiru. These two managed to sustain and raise what at first seemed like the typical story about legendary warriors who need to save the Earth from dark villains. I got really invested in the bonds both Kaoru and Michiru created with the protagonists, as well as their whole character arc. The pacing is great, all the villains come and go at the right moment, and maybe when it can start to get a little tiresome, Kaoru and Michiru step in and refresh the story. Lastly, I’d like to point out how the anime conveys emotions in different situations very well through drawings, making Saki and Mai characters evolve.

Characters
Saki and Mai, both with their different personalities, balance each other nicely, giving some powerful and emotional moments. Regarding the side characters, I think Splash Star is capable of the best and worst. Ok, maybe not the worst, but there are a bunch of forgettable characters, like their girl friends and overall their families. Aside from Kaoru and Michiru, Kenta and Minori are the other two that I liked the most, bringing the first one a lot of funny moments and the last one extremely cute ones. The spirits or mascots were meh, I didn't particularly like or hate them. The villains were great though. I couldn’t stop laughing everytime Moerumba danced or teased Gooyaan, same with Mizu Shitatare getting mad at Saki for always saying her name wrong, and I liked how Kintoleski always made sure his opponents were fighting full strength.

Art
Not gonna talk much about the art, mainly cause I don’t really know what to say. Being a coastal city, there are some nice sea visuals, plus the giant tree of life that’s inside the town. The characters designs are good, it’s nice to see the protagonists have more than one battle outfit. Also, some fights are very well done, combining action with super powers, but overall I think they all looked pretty much the same.

Sound
The OP and the two EDs were energetic and catchy. The soundtrack was good as well, but, even though I said I wouldn't compare the two anime, I gotta say that there aren’t any cool insert songs like “Shining Star” or “Heart to Heart” in the OG Futari wa. Same as in Max Heart, where they repeat the instrumental version of the OP/EDs quite a lot.

In conclusion, Splash Star is an enjoyable anime that’s worth recommending to anyone that loves mahou shoujo and has liked any other Precure entries. Don't be reluctant to watch this anime only because it may seem the same as the previous Futari wa, since Saki and Mai (and Kaoru and Michiru) will make sure to prove you wrong.

Now I’d read lots of praise about this Precure series, but for me it really didn't live up to it.

tl;dr: Episodes without Kaoru and Michiru = average. Episodes with Kaoru and Michiru = good.

I found the story was too slow paced with little happening and not interesting enough. Apart from Kaoru and Michiru of course, their part of the story was the best. Unfortunately it doesn't focus on them all of the time. Precure stories aren't the fastest pasted in anime, but this series seemed especially slow and dull compared to others. The main story itself is generic - a big bad guy with various ... minions trying to destroy the universe/worlds. There's only one plot twist right at the end. I feel other Precure series handled this better, especially Fresh.
I also felt like there was too much filler which wasn't the most entertaining. I think how there are only two main girls lets the filler down as there is only so much you can do with 49 episodes of the same two characters all the time. The filler wasn't up to the standard of other series.

The animation was pretty bad. Lots of derpy faces and poor drawings, but what can you expect.
The designs themselves are awful. Again, apart from Michiru and Kaoru. I really liked Michiru's as she reminds me of Will from W.I.T.C.H.
Saki and Mai character wise are a bit different from Nagisa and Honoka, but that doesn't stop them from looking like poorly done rip off fan designs. The first outfits you can put up with, Saki's second outfit however is terrible! The colour is greeny-yellow! Who thought that looked good!?

Another thing I disliked was that Saki and Mai just got beat up most of the time instead of getting stronger until the last few episodes. In other series the Cures actually get evidently stronger and beat enimies faster as time goes on. Saki and Mai just get punched down until the last moment of a fight when they fire their main big finishing attack. The fight scenes lacked compared to other series, but they seemed to be stronger cures in terms of their magical powers, they just didn’t use their fists enough.

The writing is very good. No main character gets more unnecessary screen time than another.

The characters themselves are good. I liked all of the fairies, Saki and Mai are likable (far from my favourite Cures though). The first villan is kind of dull and I hated Moerumba he was so annoying. I liked the rest of the villains. Ms. Shitataare is the best, she was really entertaining and added in good comedy. The series itself did make me laugh quite a few times.
Kaoru and Michiru however are by far the best characters, their development is wonderful and they are really interesting. I like them a lot more than Saki and Mai.

I know this review seems pretty negative, but this isn't a bad show itself. I just found the other Precure series I have watched to be better. (and no I haven't seen Doki Doki!)