Now, with all that build-up, this episode had better be worth it: we finally see the entrance of Cure Sunshine! And indeed, the animators were at their finest, and they really made sure to give the third Precure an adorable entrance. The entire episode was really well directed, with some top-notch jokes, instant chemistry between Potpourri and Itsuki and gorgeous transformation scenes.
Seriously, Sunshine’s transformation scene completely blew that of Cure Blossom and Cure Marin out of the water. Talk about fluid animation here, this looked even better than some of the best animated scenes of the Precure DX movie! The rest of the visual direction of this episode perhaps was nowhere as fluent as that, but there were a ton of interesting shots and angles, without going over the top.
What’s also interesting is the following: since Cure Blossom and Cure Marin were the two weakest Precure ever, this addition of Cure Sunshine is bound to throw the plot into a new direction. After all, Itsuki isn’t just great at martial arts, she also contains a shield. She was easily able to beat something that Blossom and Marin had a ton of trouble with. Now, there is no way that the creators are going to have nothing happen at the villains’ side: they need to include some sort of a reason to give Itsuki a challenge. Whether this means that Dark Precure will come more into action, or that it’s going to be something else, I really sense that something is going to happen that will turn this series a lot less linear now.
As for Itsuki’s brother, I can understand his fears of going into surgery, which make him forget to be that cool brother that Itsuki always looks up. His angst was well delivered… and why did this episode end before he was turned back?
Rating: *** (Awesome)
The fact that Cure Sunshine is the counterpart of Cure Moonlight has to amount to something, too.
I just went hyper about that fluid animation of the henshin scene.
Hi! Long-time lurker, first-time poster.
Pretty much everything in this episode starting from Itsuki’s transformation sequence was really trying and succeeding to be epic. Sunshine gliding on water in the middle of that fight was almost an afterthought.
WOW!that episode was indeed awesome!I think Heartcatch consistently have the best fight sequences among all the series currently running and the past season too.And it seems the fight carries on to the next episode..
btw,anyone hopes the show will pull a big twist of having Dark Precure joining the team instead of Cure Moonlight?
man, this episode was pretty awesome and the fact that itsuki would be included more in the show makes me grin so much my jaw going to drop