Report MahouS's Profile

what do you think of Hugtto Precure?

It's so nice to meet a fellow Marimite fan! If you don't mind me asking, how did you discover the show?

Nice to meet a fellow magical girl fan. ^^

How did you get into watching anime?
I technically started watching anime when I was a kid. I watched Pokemon and Yugioh, among other things, on TV. A couple of years later, I found more episodes of Yugioh and other cartoons online. I realized that some of those episodes are only available in Japanese, and wondered why... it took me a while to realize that some cartoons originated in Japan, and those are called anime. D: That's how I discovered anime. It's been five years since I "officially" became an anime fan. xD

Hello. Would you like to chat?

Yeah, there are quite a few mahou shoujo this season. I hadn't planned to watch any but which ones were you going to check out?

Also I haven't watched Maho Precure in months and it feels kinda weird not having a weekly Precure ep to watch. The odd thing is I don't really have too much of a desire to catch up (also doesn't help that subs for it are dead).

Hey, nice to hear from you again! Hope you're doing well!

I'm actually really behind on Maho Precure. I don't know why exactly, since I've enjoyed everything up until now but I guess missing a few weeks coupled with the slow pace of subbing has kinda affected me. This is the first time since Smile that I've actually been behind on Precure, which is weird.

Anyway, I agree with most of your complaints on the series so far. It's a really high-energy season with a likable duo but it's tough to get around the lackluster fights/animation quality and the uninteresting villain trio. I heard they changed up some things after the midseason climax so when I've caught up I'll give you more of my thoughts.

I'm also enjoyed Diamond is Unbreakable quite a bit so far. The production is an improvement from Stardust Crusaders and I feel the Stand powers are much more creative as well. I also like how most of the enemy Stand users end up becoming regular members or the cast or "befriended" rather than outright killed. It's a very fun Jojo season and I especially like Rohan and Koichi.

Ooooh, nice. Kinda reminds me of what they ended up doing with Ojamajo Doremi. I'm glad Smile of all seasons is receiving a follow-up in some form.

Heya! Nice to hear from you again!

Regarding the latest development in Maho Precure, I've personally been enjoying them a lot. I'm in favour of the decision to spend some time in the human world again, because I think it showcases each of the Cures' respective worlds. The first 10 eps were meant to give Mirai a taste of the magical world, and during that time she got to understand Riko better (her inferiority complex, her desire to become a great magician because of her older sister). So I think it's really great now that they've returned to Mirai's home and Riko has been welcomed into her family and is slowly adjusting to life there.

There's no question Maho Precure's production is a step down from GoPri (it's pretty par for the course for a Toei long-runner tho) and the villains aren't the most amusing or threatening (they feel like a weird mix between gen 1 Precure villains and a couple of the newer ones), but aside from that I've had few complaints with the season. I just hope they can keep this level of energy, fun and writing up for the remainder of the season (and not crash like HapCha did).

Cool. I'll check your Fresh review out later and let you know my thoughts on it.

Jojo Part 4's anime has been really good so far. David has stepped up the production since Stardust Crusaders with the crazy colors and smooth scene transitions. I've enjoyed the first few eps a lot so far and I've heard from many people that the best stuff is yet to come (I never read the manga). A lot of Jojo fans rank Part 4 on par with Part 2 or even above it, which is a good sign since I looked Part 2 a lot.

Also, just wondering if you've checked out Aikatsu Stars yet. I still need to finish seasons 3 & 4 of the original series but I've been pleased with what Stars has shown so far. I'm not sure how to describe it but Stars feels different enough from the original that it's a nice breath of fresh air. I think Stars will have more drama than Aikatsu did but I guess I'll see where it goes in the coming weeks.

Oh right, and I need to watch the GoPri movie sometime.

Hi there!
I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog. I really like your deep analysis of the Precure franchise and I'm always looking foward to your next one.

Yeah, I get what you mean about Dyspear in GoPri. I kinda miss having a big bad that is actually threatening and comes up with their own schemes. Gohyaan was definitely the best instance of that in Precure since he was legitimately terrifying and cunning.

You're definitely not alone in feeling that Precure has been on a downward slope for the past 3 years after Smile. Myself and a bunch of other Precure fans I talk with on a regular basis feel that the franchise has been lacking since then. Each season has had its moment but none of them have been as consistently fun or had standout episodes like Smile.

But thankfully Maho Precure seems like it's off to a really strong start. It has the energy, the character dynamics and a fun setting to go along with it too! While a magic academy/witch world is nothing new to the genre, it's still something new for Precure and I'll look forward to seeing Mirai and Riko explore it as Precure usually just takes place in a setting based off or in Japan.

Ruby form henshins were crazy good and it's nice to see Maho Pri is actually letting the girls fight in their alternate forms like in Splash Star. HapCha disappointed me in that aspect since the form changes were essentially glorified finishers. The most recent ep (5) also reminded me a lot of the early Suite eps since...well, you'll see. :)

Considering how apathetic I felt towards the majority of GoPri, I ended up really enjoying the ending, specifically the final episode. While the final battle ultimately came down to the Pink Cure vs. Close, I liked how it played out with both of them reaching a standstill and going their separate ways. Although many other Precure seasons usually end with the defeat of the big bad like this, what made GoPri's special was that Close never accepted Haruka's ideals as being correct - he's still the embodiment of despair, he couldn't defeat the princess and he will always persist. Something about that resolution just came across as pretty mature for Precure, because far too often the Cures defeat the villains and they readily accept their ideals.

I also liked that for the first time in Precure we received an extended epilogue and got to see the girls as adults. It was a really sweet way of drawing closure on the princess motif; the girls went their separate paths in life, but still kept the image of the princess in their hearts. A fitting fairy-tale ending, especially with the scene involving Yui's storybook.

Aside from the final episode, Kirara's eps and Minami's arc, the season was very mediocre and by the books - which was a shame considering the production it got in comparison to other seasons (I expected a bit more creativity from Yuta Tanaka as series director, considering the insane stuff he did during his Smile eps). I also wish Haruka wasn't such a spotlight hog as she prevented the other girls from shining and her development was circular and unconvincing until the very end of the show. If Kirara had been the Pink Cure the season would've easily been 10/10.

Moving on, I assume you've had the chance to check out Maho Precure by now? What are your thoughts on it so far? I really enjoyed the first two episodes as it's been silly and "high energy" so far (which is refreshing after the relatively sedate GoPri)! I like that we finally got a true duo to start after so long - Mirai and Riko already have pretty good chemistry together and it reminds me a lot of Futari wa/Splash Star in that sense.

First of all, a belated Happy New Year! Hope 2016 is a good one!

I caught up with your blog and read your Yes! 5 through Sailor Moon posts so I'll drop a few quick thoughts on those.

Sailor Moon S & SuperS: S is definitely my favourite season in the franchise, as it's the one where Ikuhara had the most freedom and as a result there was no shortage of clever visual gags, theatrics and even a touch of allegorical storytelling. Sailor Moon had always tickled my funny bone since the first season, but S was the instalment where I found myself laughing the most. Some moments, such as when Venus pretended to be Sailor Moon to throw off the villains or Professor Tomoe (best villain) watching the Witches 5 play twister were downright hysterical - and I don't think anything else in the franchise compares to the sheer absurdity of S' "fillers". On the other hand, I do agree that the finale was much weaker than the character and comedy eps, but at the very least the art quality got a noticeable bump for many of those eps.

SuperS, on the other hand, I've come to appreciate more over time than when I first watched it, but it definitely has its issues (a weak and directionless 1st half, a handful of uninspired victim eps, the removal of the Outer Senshi, Amazon Trio mirror rape, some stuff about Pegasus). As a result, it's kind of hard to defend what SuperS did wrong, because it committed offences that the franchise never really recovered from (Stars tried to retcon a bunch of things in its first arc but it ended up just making things worse). That said, I do feel that SuperS improved tremendously in the 2nd half, as the inclusion of the Amazoness Quartet, the dream motif receiving proper attention and a handful of really strong, well-written character eps saved it in my eyes. I also agree with you that the finale was fantastic, and I'd place it up there with the 1st season's. But yeah, definitely a mixed season with the greatest high and low points of the franchise.

Smile/Glitter Force: I never got around to watching Glitter Force since I don't have a Netflix account (and I don't want Glitter Force to show up on my family's account), but the response that I've seen from both you and a lot of other Precure fans on Twitter seems to be, for the most part, positive. I'm just glad to hear, more than anything, that some of the charm and energy of Smile was preserved (though it's a real shame Saban cut a bunch of eps because "oh no we can't have our kids exposed to Japanese culture!"). Additionally, it's never a bad thing if Glitter Force brings in new Precure fans, whether young or old.

Yes! 5: On Yes! 5, while I agree with a lot of your assessments of that season, I probably enjoyed it more because of the focus on the characters - meaning I could overlook many of the structural/production shortcomings that were present (iffy romance, bunch of lame monsters/villains, barely any memorable fights, Despiriah not being established well enough to make her turnaround in the finale carry weight). I still believe that Yes! 5 has the strongest Cure cast in the entire franchise, as the girls' different personalities just bounce off one another so well and the season explores their growth in a much subtler and realistic manner (Komachi's eps especially) than something like Go! Princess (which is really stumbling with how its handling Haruka's dream). I also really like how Yes! 5 characterizes specific relationships. For example, Karen acts like a stern older sister when she's in the presence of the group, but she butts heads with Rin a lot and only shows her more vulnerable side when she's around Komachi (who understands her the best). You don't always see Precure seasons tackle these kinds of one-on-one relationships within the group, so Yes! 5 holds a special place in my heart for that.

Yes! 5's movie is also quite possibly my favourite Precure thing. I've watched it at least 10 times by now. I love the stylized, yet sorrowful fights, the thematic retelling of the girls' interpersonal issues, the ojousama laugh scene at the start and of course, Dark Dream. I could probably talk about this movie for days, heh.

Finally, there's a decent chance I'll end up writing a review for Go! Princess. I'm not sure where your stance lies on the season but I haven't been too pleased with it (aside from Kirara and Minami's character arcs, which were fantastic). I think the biggest problem with the season has to do with how Haruka's dream is being handled. Time after time she clings to this naive fantasy of wanting to be a princess, characters admonish her for this, she trains and supposedly gains more confidence, but then by the next ep she's back to square one. I honestly feel that Haruka hasn't changed at all from the start of the season, yet the writers always push her into the spotlight to recycle her conflict. As a result, a lot of GoPri revolves around Haruka, even when she's not the character in focus. The problem with this is the other Cures end up acting as nothing more than her cheerleaders, which ends up creating a similar effect as what happened with DokiDoki. Yes, GoPri is nowhere near as problematic because its lead isn't a flawless demi-goddess, but Haruka has definitely prevented the other characters from shining as much as they could have. I wish we could've had more scenes like the one in ep 44 where Kirara and Minami quietly talked about the uncertainty surrounding their futures - a scene like that made me realize that this could've been a really good season had Haruka's princess obsession been pushed to the background more often. GoPri has had some really good eps, like the aforementioned Kirara and Minami ones, along with its few comedy eps, but by large the season is filled with safe, uninspired content that is neither groundbreaking nor entertaining for a mahou shoujo show.

Nice. If more of the older villains return I hope they do something with them akin to DX3. I can't say I was fond of Haru no Carnival at all.

Also, Shiki is pretty great. I haven't had this much fun with anime for a while now.

Finally got around to reading your Splash Star review. Yes, I actually read the entire thing because I love that season. Anyway, good read. It was definitely wordy and had a couple of sections that repeated but it was nice reliving each episode again and hearing your commentary. I always liked Splash Star's clearly defined villain arcs and your review drew a lot of attention towards how well-constructed the series was. It's true that Splash Star spent an inordinate amount of time (at least compared to other seasons) establishing its heroines, their families, the classmate characters and even the physical setting - which went a long way in giving the later conflicts some weight. I find that the past few Precure seasons haven't done a very good job in making adult viewers want to care about conflicts or the victim characters, so that's major points for Splash Star.

While we're on the topic of Precure, one of my co-bloggers wrote an article about the redemption arcs in the Precure franchise (ie. Eas, Siren, Twilight), and I was wondering if you wanted to take a look. In her article she talked about the problems regarding the Twilight arc and why she felt it was unsuccessful compared to previous characters (I know both of us felt underwhelmed by it as well). I'll link it here if you're interested: http://moe-alternative.net/?p=9149

Also, how do you find the new MAL profile design? It's definitely going to take me a while to get used to it.

So, uh, yeah, Glitter Force is a thing. This is going to be "interesting"