Category: Heartcatch Precure

Ah, of course: this episode still had the final moment of our bad guy left: the point at which he increases in size and… holy crap is he huge!

In terms of physics it obviously made no sense whatsoever, but it really looked cool here. The finale mostly stands out in its eye candy, in terms of what actually happens, it pretty much ends like you think it would, including a bit of a deus ex machina that allows the four precures to grow huge enough themselves in order to be able to beat it. Not really a great ending, but it still was a very good one, simply due to the execution and the aftermath that followed afterwards, wrapping up the rest of the story quite nicely, plus we actually got to see Tsubomi’s new sister. I would have liked to see how Cobraja and Sarosina ended up as, but this episode gave enough hints that the two of them also ended up fine.

Now, Suite Precure. This episode indeed ended with a preview. One thing is for sure at this point: it is not going to be the visual orgasm that Heartcatch Precure was. To start, you should know the following:
– Heartcatch Precure’s characters were designed by the guy who also did the character designs of Casshern Sins.
– Suite Precure’s characters were designed by the guy who also did the character designs of Kaidan Restaurant. And this guy is also going to be the chief animation director!

Get what I mean? The result is…. ugh. The animation also doesn’t look as polished as Heartcatch Precure either, nor does the editing look any good.

The only thing we can hope for now is that the mysterious series composition guy actually knows what he’s doing, and that the director is up to the job. He did direct the One Piece Strong World Movie, but I have no clue whether he’d also work for a long series as Suite Precure. He was the episode director of three Heartcatch Precure episodes before, which were all pretty good and especially in the way that they focused on the characters. I really hope that he’s going to take that over to Suite Precure, because there still is some potential.

In any case, to get back to Heartcatch, it has definitely been fun following this series for the past year. It ahd a lot of mahou shoujo tropes, but had such a solid execution that those didn’t matter at all.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

There are some series that leave their climax for the final episode. There are others that put the climax in the penultimate episode so that they can use the final one for an epilogue. Heartcatch Precure… to be honest I’m not sure into what category it falls. This episode ends at the exact point where Dune gets pummeled by the ultimate Precure attack. At this point it’s not yet certain whether the creators intend the final episode to be the aftermath of that battle, or whether he still manages to pull some sort of trick out of his sleeve.

Either way, whichever case it may be, this episode was just awesome. The first half was entirely dedicated to Yuri, her father and Dark Precure. And I mean, Christ: people actually died in a kids’ show! The creators didn’t chicken out from this controversial topic, in which most kids’ show refuse to show anything in that direction thanks to censors. It’s awesome to see how much screentime Yuri has actually gotten in this finale: I mean, she really was the main character of the final few episodes of this series. That is just awesome. I know that this series’ fault is that it adheres to a ton of mahou shoujo cliches and all, but for every cliche it follows, it also excellently subverts one.

The creators here really set up the perfect prototype for the mahou shoujo of the new decade and I really hope that it inspires many more mahou shoujo to really put effort in its visuals, characters and stories, because it was really a genre that was about to die out before Heartcatch Precure aired (and this is coming from someone who at one point used to be a big fan of the mahou shoujo genre, and this series definitely reminded me again why).

The second half of the episode was the battle against Dune. It’s not like it got a better budget than usual, but dear god, the animation really was gorgeous, and the action was worthy of this series climax. The action was over the top, and yet not too crazy, and the art too was gorgeous during the busy parts (I love it when the creators sacrifice their character models in favor of fluidity and dynamics).

I do have one point of criticism here though: Dune. The next episode may prove me wrong, but unfortunately he remains a flat final villain who is just evil for the sake of being evil. I really would have loved to see the creators gave the same kind of depth to him that they gave to the other characters, but alas. The final fight against him also made him much weaker than what he once used to be, but I’ve seen much worse in this area.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Okay. That was awesome.

I mean, Cure moonlight once again proves here that she’s my favourite character of this series. An entire episode devoted to her fight with Sabaaku and Dark Precure, only being helped by Cure Blossom. In just about any other mahou shoujo, characters like her often take up the role of a supporter in the background: creators would have put priority on the real main character, in this case Cure Blossom. Here instead we get an epic fight between her and Dark Precure, worthy of the climax of this series.

On top of that: Professor Sabaaku. Dear lord, he’s Yuri’s father. I always wondered what happened to Yuri’s father, but somehow it only occurred to me that he might be also part of Sabaku when his mask fell down. That really was an awesome plot twist, to think that he created Dark Precure, entirely because he wanted to beat his own daughter. That Dune is one bastard here. If he somehow found out what Cure Moonlight would become later (presumably because he got some sort of similar radar like the one that the mascots have), he really could have pulled it off by brainwashing her father.

And the best part is that things aren’t even over yet. This episode ended at the exact point where Cure Moonlight beat Dark Precure. Like, immediately after that. No aftermath. Heck, not even a “curing scene”. This really convinced me that the creators are trying to save the most heartwarming moments for last, which is also why we haven’t gotten to see Kumojacky and Cobraja’s real forms yet. I mean, pretty much the only bad guy left at this point is Dune. With two episodes left, the creators can really pull off an amazing finale at this point.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Ah, it’s just as I hoped: this episode was entirely devoted to the final fights with Cobraja and Kumojacky. They’ve consistently used Desatorians during the series when they fought with the Precures, so what is the final tactic that they choose to go all out with? One on one fights! Awesome!

The animation strangely had its ups and downs here, where some parts were really good, while others were surprisingly off model in a way that seems strangely sloppy for this series, but the fights themselves totally made up for it, and it was a worthy ending for the two of them. I’d just wish that we got to see what their human forms looked like, but perhaps the creators are saving that for the ending. Either way, I really like that both of them got their final bit of development here: this episode really made use of the fact that they’re just simple desatorians: Kumojacky is someone who loves fighting, while Cobraja was more about the dark side of beauty. They weren’t really fighting for a reason though, which fits this kind of shoujo series pretty nicely.

Also, next week: Dark Precure vs Cure Moonlight! This episode did a great job of hyping it up, especially in the way that it kept hinting towards Professor Sabaaku, and the way in which the episode closed off with Grandma begging Cure Blossom not to fight them. With three episodes left, the creators have enough time for a smashing finale that can give plenty of time to the remaining three villains, so I really hope that they make use of this opportunity.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

The previous episodes were surprisingly light for a show that’s so close to its end, so I figures that it was using these quiet moments in order to build up to something. And dear God was it building up to something!

I mean, talk about overkill: Dune easily beats just about every main character, he easily takes back his old powers, nearly destroys the Heart Tree and all of the hard work that Tsubomi and Erika put into it, turns the entire world into a desert and its entire population into crystals. All in about five minutes.

And I mean, at the end of the series there will probably be some sort of magical power that can restore everything back the way it was once Dune dies (though interestingly Tsubomi and Itsuki did destroy a building in this episode), and there were a number of survivors, but the only people who survived were the ones who were previously turned into a Desatorian: everyone’s parents are completely gone, despite being a HUGE theme of this series. Only Itsuki and Erika got lucky that their respective sister and brother managed avoid being turned into a crystal.

Also, this pretty much puts an end to the episodic nature of this series: there’s no way that Kumojacky and Cobraja are going to be able to turn anymore people into Desatorians. With four episodes left, there is plenty of time to give all of the villains a worthy conclusion, and I really hope that the creators use that opportunity.

On a side-note: Koppei was bad-ass.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Up until episode forty, nearly all of the random stories for this series were focused on kids of Tsubomi’s age. And then suddenly, this series started focusing on kids of kindergarten age. It definitely added an extra cuteness factor to this series, but at the same time it’s also become a lot more childish than it already was, since it focuses on the sentiments of little kids after all. I definitely think that the creators are using that as a build up for the finale of this series and while these stories indeed are far from the best that this series has shown, they still are really charming.

This episode was about this little girl who wants to see the Precures, but her biggest part was in order to support the main cast. First of all it was so Tsubomi could relate to how she was when she was a little kid (also not good at making friends). But just about everything in this episode was overshadowed by grandmother being awesome. It’s taken forty-four episodes, but finally we get to see what she looked like as Cure Flower. Even at a fraction of her powers, she still completely kicks ass.Not to mention that Dune finally makes his appearance.Everything is pointing towards things heating up next week.

As for the Desatorian, it was a nice idea to have the girls battle a giant snowman. I also like the little jab at otaku that the creators put in with the rather creepy guy who confuses Precures with girlfriends.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

The start of this episode showed Tsubomi rushing into the hospital for her mother. My first thought was “ah damn, here we have the sick mother trope again, along with the tendency of series to put random characters in a hospital near the end of the series for some extra tension”. However, when it turned out that Tsubomi’s mother was pregnant, it completely made my day. What an awesome twist.

Of course the idea that Tsubomi is going to get a little sister is adorable beyond belief, but it also completely ties in with the major themes of this series: family. The entire series has been establishing the importance and warmth of a healthy family, and this really is a great time for the main family of this series, Tsubomi’s, to get expanded. And not to mention Tsubomi’s character development! You could really see that this episode changed her into an even more responsible girl. A lot of this episode was spent on Tsubomi filling in for her mother at the flower shop, exactly for that reason. And to make things even better, you always see Tsubomi blossom up when she gets to talk about her passion: flowers.

I could get worried that there is little time left for this series to spend on un-plot-related episodes, but with episodes like this I just can’t fault the creators. Nevertheless, I do want to poke this show and remind it that it does have a cast of villains that it needs to take care of. At the same time though, the way in which these past episodes have been so down to earth at this stage in the series could be a hint that the creators have planned something very interesting for the finale. Since Suite Precure starts at February 6th, and this series will probably have one more hiatus (the infamous new year hiatus that every show has), that means that we’ve got six episodes left. Enough for a smashing ending.

And on a side-note: it’s also great that we learned how Tsubomi got her name. Could that perhaps be a shout-out to how moronic some of the parents of the previous Precures must have been? “Yes, when I looked at your mother and realized how much I loved the English language, I decided to name you Love. Deal with it.”
Rating: *** (Awesome)