HeartCatch PreCure! 01

Oto. How many men? How many men know the ending dance?

Pon. Do you want to know?

Oto. So … we’re gonna learn it, right?

Pon. No. So, there’s that cliche of making fun of anime as cartoons for girls, but the ones explicitly made for girls are sometimes the best ones. There’s more stylistic freedom in the sense that there’s no pressure … well, not as much pressure to appeal to the usual young man demographic. And Toei actually seems to understand that these things are cartoons, not manga stills in color, so interesting animation things happen. The characters are allowed to be animated.

Oto. That was refreshing. Felt good. Like I was young again. It even has that part where the characters say the name of the episode. Haven’t seen that in a while. It’s got that crazy animation and over-the-top acting that you hate when you go through that awkward teenage phase where everything has to be “serious.” I love that style. It’s goofy, but why shouldn’t it be? Take advantage of your medium. Anime can be successfully goofy. Especially if you’re marketing to kids.

Pon. Yeah, I was thinking that, if this was on American TV when I was 11 or 12 or 13, I would’ve been embarrassed to watch it. I didn’t watch Sakura for that reason, though it turns out that’s a good thing too. The show, I mean. Not my being too insecure to watch it.

Oto. I totally needed a show like this. Something bright and actiony and kid-friendly at the same time. I haven’t been watching any sentai shows lately. That’s a gap that needs filling. Also, this makes me want to finish Sailor Moon.

Pon. It turns out that the team associated with Precure is straight-up co-credited for writing the Kyousougiga TV run. So we can confirm that the reason that show was so good is because it was made by a staff with girl cartoon credentials.

Oto. Before I forget, there’s some subtle visual humor where Tsubomi is running but she’s not moving any faster than the background characters and you’re like, “Oh, well that’s just to save on costs.” Then the camera zooms out and she was totally just running really slowly and she’s out of breath cause she’s just not in great shape. Thumbs up animation team. I like a team that will use every aspect of a scene to its fullest. Say something. I need a transition. Hold on, I got it.

Oto. Hey, look, I’m Pon. I’m so dumb.

Oto. I have a strong urge to yuri it up, but this is Precure. I must keep my gross nerd side in check.

Pon. Can’t you at least wait until ships form naturally? Jesus. You’re too excitable. Why does everything need to be romance? Can’t there just be a show about friendship?

Oto. Exactly! Okay, one last thing. I’ve never watched a Precure before this, but you see parodies of this kind of stuff all the time. It’s good to see these characters in their natural habitat. You’d think the parodies are over the top for the sake of parody, but dark precure lady with one yellow eye is just that one villain.

Pon. Yeah, she’s in every way the parody character, just totally sincere.

Oto. It’s awesome.

Pon. The villains are always the best thing about shows like this.