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madohomu on a parfait date ~ for @/nyanisms on twitter

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really love dynamics that are like 'it honestly doesn't matter if you view them as romantic or platonic, the point is that they love each other. the type of love is inconsequential, all that matters is that it's there'. gotta be one of my favorite genders.

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I'm just gonna leave this here.

I read the manga so I knew what was gonna happen but boy did I cry like a little baby

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Futari wa Pretty Cure

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Looks like bunnies like getting headpats too

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it’s ok Homura, you can try again

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kero-chan the peoples princess

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Magical girls✨

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thinking again about lone trail gang

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🖤 FUTARI WA PRETTY CURE 🤍

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My favourite thing about NagiHono is that they didn't immediately "click". They were complete strangers, from completely different backgrounds and social circles, put into A Situation together by complete chance. For the first 7 episodes they're in this weird "Work Colleague" limbo where Nagisa tentatively looks for something they have in common, while Honoka desperately tries to make this friendship happen because she's just that starved for connection.

This fickle dynamic implodes in episode 8, when Honoka crosses a boundary out of a desire to be useful and Nagisa, furious, yells that they're not actually friends (and then immediately regrets it and runs away in shame). They spend the episode feeling awful about the fight because they both tried so hard to make things work. And of course everything works out in the end, but only because at the end of the episode they talk things out-- Well, it's because their things get mixed up in the middle of a fight against Gekidrago and they accidentally grab and read each other's journals, but the important part is that they communicate. And they apologise to each other, and they become friends. Genuinely, this time.

They're really different. This is a friendship that requires a lot of effort by both parties, and what makes it so wonderful is that they both know that and are willing to put in the effort to make it happen, and it takes time but it gets easier, slowly, and they get stronger together because of that. And that's how the show earns that one scene in episode 40 where Nagisa promises to be by Honoka's side no matter what the future holds for them (notably the first episode where they manage to defeat Belzei with a simple Marble Screw, as opposed to needing the powered up Rainbow Storm).

Anyway watch Futari Wa

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FIRMLY of the belief that the only reason (aside from marketing) that they don't age up the previous generations of pretty cure as vessels of wisdom for the new ones is that truly the only way nagisa and honoka's lives were going to go is they moved in together and turned into absolutely sappy and adoring wives. Imagine some baby magical girl(s) making the trek to their home to ask how the fuck the big bad of the year is supposed to get taken down and all we see is nauseating levels of domesticity. Nagisa telling a story and Honoka from somewhere else just fondly going, "That's not quite how that went." Nagisa fretting after the company leaves and Honoka kissing her temple because it'll be okay--they're a testament to that.

Wow I really just laid the groundwork to write a self-indulgent fic. Yeesh.

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So you loved Kira Kira Precure a la Mode, and/or some of the other seasons of the past 10 or so years. So you go to watch the season that started it all, and its probably not what your expecting. And there's a good chance you don't like it. That's fair. The two could not be more different. Now, Kira Kira Precure A la Mode is not a bad magical girl anime. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It has charming characters and creative battles. But is it a good Precure show? It is Futari wa Precure's antithesis. At least as much of an antithesis as it can possibly be while still being a show targeted towards young girls. Kira Kira Precure A La Mode is a colorful show, with 6-8 larger than life characters as they battle against hatred. They fight in confection themed outfits while wearing heels and being unabashedly cutesy. It's main protagonist always saving the day with an energetic "Whip Step Jump" or a "Bright Idea". To be fair, many modern Precure series are more similar to Kira Kira. Girls who are role models. Girls who chase after their dreams with everything they have. Who even without being Precure live extraordinary lives. There is only one Whip, there are many like her. There is no Cure like Black.

Now excuse me while I get really emotional and overdramatic about Futari wa Precure.

Futari wa Precure is not modern Precure, Modern Precure wouldn't really start until Fresh. Splash Star took the first steps, and Precure continues to evolve, but the first seasons of Precure, particularly the first 3 are not the Modern Cure. Futari wa Precure is not a story about Extraordinary girls, doing extraordinary things. It's not loud, nor bright spectacle. A show is not wrong for being these things. But these things are not Futari wa. It is a story about ordinary girls, who live ordinary lives, who fight against eternal forces that seek to destroy the normal things they hold dear, with only each other to count on. There are two sides to Nagisa and Honoka's lives. Their day to day lives, filled with people they love. Takoyaki and Chocolate and Dogs and Lacrosse and a million other simple things. Slice of life filled with unapologetically ordinary vibes. The world they seek to protect. And the things they do to protect it. The lonely brutal battles. The interruptions to their day to day. The threats on those they love. The villains dismissal of their important feelings and things in a battle that feels bigger than them. There are only the two of them. And 2 fairies who, themselves, only have each other, desperate refugees stuck in a world that makes them so tired that they cannot navigate it on their own.

And when I say there's no Cure like Black, I'm not exaggerating. There aren't many sporty lead cures anymore. But even when there were. There was no one like black. Melody, Rouge and Bloom are closest. But even then. Cure Black is not an optimist. She is not confident. Nagisa does not want to be a Cure. She does not want things to change. She bullies her little brother, she argues with her fairy. She is irresponsible and struggles to do things she dislikes. She hates fighting. But she fights anyway. She is not hope. She is courage. Because if she's going to die, she will die fighting. Bitterly.

When I say there hardly any Cures like Black, I mean there are also no Cures like White. We have cures into Science, though even now not many. And when we do, they are mostly into biology. (Doctors, Nurses, Marine Biologists, Botany). The closest we have is Himari, and her way of connecting sweets to science. We do have two cures who want to be astronauts (Tsubomi and Hikaru), but even then their primary interests are Botany and Cryptids respectively. Not that these are bad goals. But they are not White's more nebulous interest in science, that extends beyond the life sciences. Beyond domesticity. She loves learning, pure and simple. Honoka is well off, but gets her hands dirty. She is a woman of science, but takes the supernatural in stride. She is kind, but does things her way. She is graceful and polite, but temperamental and bold. In this way, Rhythm and Egret perhaps resemble her though not each other. Egret shares her independent nature, and mild obliviousness. Rhythm shares her temper and hands-onness. Honoka is hope. But she is not the loud Hope, like so many pinks, burning towards a dream. Burning with the possibilities. She is the quiet hope. The stubborn hope. She is the hope born of sorrow and things that cannot be. The hope that hears "This is the way it is" and says "No".

Cure Black and Cure White are not merciful. They do not redeem their enemies. A general hurts Black's brother and laughs. She kills him in rage. He was desperate. But she was vengeful. The enemies they fight are not all encompassing evil. They are darkness, and a threat that needs to be eliminated. But for many they merely want to survive. But so do Black and White. Cure Black and White fight, pitting the survival of their world against the survival of their enemies. It's them or her, and she chooses her and she loses. Her brother is vengeful and angry, and its him or them. And he chooses them. They lose a friend to this pointless struggle. But they continue on. The battle continues on. Honoka cries and cries for him. Did it have to be this way? It doesn't matter because it is. And there is no one she can talk to aside from Nagisa, and Mipple.

There is no one shouting to cheer on the Precure, no miracle lights. Those wouldn't come until Yes 5! They are merely rumors. A half seen fight. A figure seemingly out of a dream. Are they even real? Their imitators on the playground are more real than they are. Bring more smiles than they do. The universe is more vast than any of them could comprehend. There are entire other worlds with people who laugh and cry.

And there is no setting quite like Futari wa's setting. The setting in Futari wa, which I don't believe is named in show, is based on the Tokyo area. Not a made up city. A real one. Sure their school is fictional, as are the stores they visit. But the amusement park they visit is directly inspired by a real one. Nagisa lives in an Apartment building I believe to be modeled off a real one. They travel busy trains. Honoka's grandmother lived through war and tells stories of bombings. This is the Tokyo of a world not quite unlike our own. And perhaps most notably, this world is melancholic. Not bright.

Nagisa does not have pink hair. She does not have blond hair. She has orange hair. Not bright orange. Orangish brown. Though not one common in Japan, a real color. Honoka has black hair. Some might say blue. Although with its darkness its otherwise indistinguishable. It might as well be black. Shiho has red hair. And later Hikari will have blond. Kirya's will be green, but like Honoka so green it might as well be black. These may not be real hair colors, exactly. But they're close. Their muted. In the same way this is Tokyo but not.

With all of this said, there is still one core tenant Kira Kira holds to. It is still a story about girls, different kinds of girls, protecting the things they love. In Kira Kira, it is sweets. In Futari wa... its sweets.

Sweets. Precure was always about sweets go home.

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A few notes/headcanons about nagisa and honoka in my Watashi Wa Pretty Cure Seed universe bc tbh its a fanfic why shouldnt i just talk abt it randomly. Why should i care about spoiling my plans? (Has no plans)

-Nagisa and Honoka decided to go to college together, and by that i mean they decided they wanted to go to college nearby each other so they could live in the same apartment. It was pretty lucky that they ended up going to the same college so they could room together in the dorms.

-They started dating a few months post canon, and kept it kind of secretive until a few months later when Nagisa came out to her family. They were very accepting, ofc, and invited Honoka over for dinner once a week at least. I think they actually do this thing my mom and my dads mom do where she basically calls my mom all the time. Like, Nagisa's mom likes hearing about how Nagisa is doing from Honoka, and also getting to know her daughter's girlfriend. I think Nagisa's mom is also the one both go to for common sense advice, like how to use the washing machines at the college.

-Honoka is double majoring in physics and chemistry. She runs the colleges science club already, and is getting offered a TA position next semester, along with presenting a research subject to a professor for them to work on. She works at the colleges library right now, though isnt the best at it. She just... cant remember where everything is all the time. Shes excited to switch to a TA job.

-Nagisa is a currently undeclared major in on a sports scholarship (do not talk to me about realism). She can get kind of overwhelmed thinking about majors sometimes, but is leaning towards trying to get a degree in physical therapy. Shes in the colleges lacrosse team, and is one of the best team members, though its a very small team and league. She also considering participqting in boxing. She's actually ended up a bit involved in womens sports advocacy, and is a huge proponet of not just gender segregating sports, but is a bit mystified at how to go about change.

-Both are in their second year of college. During their first semester, they tended to come home every weekend to spend time with their families, but now only come home for breaks and holidays really. Nagisa found it hardest to adjust at first, and had trouble sleeping after arriving at college, but shes gotten used to it as the new normal and settled into life there.

-mepple and mipple are both still around. Theyve gotten a bit better at shutting up while their in class, but people definitely think Nagisa talks on her "phone" in the weirdest fucking way

-they rarely transform anymore. They havent used Marble Screw or Rainbow Storm in ages. Sometimes theyll still slip up and Honoka will think of herself as Cure White, or Nagisa will think she can jump further than she can.

-Nagisa has worked in the school cafeteria. Sorry maam. Idk if a line in the fic contradicts this bc no it doesnt. I say so now

-Nagisa likes listening to audiobooks and podcasts and will sometimes put one on in the background while she and honoka are cooking or something.

-they have a weekly documentary movie night

-honokas professors keep asking her to study abroad but she doesnt want to. She hasnt told nagisa because shes worried nagisa will think shes holding honoka back, when its honokas choice to stay.

-they are looking for an apartment to move into next year, as the dorms fucking suck.

-honoka has learned how to fix basic appliances after someone on her floor broke their toaster.

-they dont go on dates often, to the surprise of some of their friends given how stupidly in love with each other they are, but every so often theyll go hiking or picnicking specifically just to spend time outside with each other

-people think nagisa is the jock girlfriend until they watch honoka sling nagisa ober her shoulder like she weighs nothing after falling asleep on a sofa in the common room.

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I’m watching the original pretty cure for the first time and I’m only on the third episode but it feels like most of the side characters who’ve seen their “matching keychains” think Nagisa and Honoka are secretly dating, especially when Honoka’s grandma noticed and almost immediately told Nagisa to “take good care of Honoka” like wow

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It's incredible how gay Pretty Cure manages to be despite Nagisa's best efforts

Like, sorry ma'am, I know you wished on a star for a boyfriend, but you do project a rainbow force field when you hold hands with another girl

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what if toei had the balls to make kiriya a midseason instead of pretending to kill him off halfway through the show design notes: — his title, "shadow of destiny", draws a contrast between "shadow" (kage) and "darkness" (yami) as a way to show he is something in between light and dark. "destiny" is what he was talking about all through episode 21. it's only natural he'd make that his calling card as a cure — "shade" refers to shadows and also colors, as in all the shades in between (cure) black and (cure) white — because of this, cure shade's design goes from dark at the top to light at the bottom — he's a green cure. nagisa is pink, honoka is blue, and hikari is yellow, so green works really well if he joins the existing trio — his hair spikes up really high as a reference to poisony's hair in episode 20 — the tunic skirt thing, epaulettes, and the little cape are based on the elite four from max heart (circulas, uraganos, viblis, baldes) — the cape wraps around him like a toga because i didn't know what to do for the top half of his outfit. it's kinda like illkubo's monk robe thing — he wears a light grey version of the dotsuku zone guys' skin-tight body suits, but only as an undershirt. who says nagisa has to be the only one? — gauntlets snake around his arms like belzei's do, only with hearts on them — his belt has smiling yellow zakenna eyes and jagged lines to reference a zakenna's mouth. the diamond-shaped belt buckle is like the prism stone necklaces the dark five all wear, only much larger and with the zakenna's "angry veins" — "itamenna" comes from "itameru", "to hurt". the zakennas come from "fuzakeru na", "don't mess with me", so "itamenna" sounds like "don't hurt me". — itamennas are dark green and have smiling eyes. zakennas are dark purple and have angry eyes. — when i was watching max heart i noticed that hikari's special attack, "heartiel action", leaves the monsters in horrible pain and freezes them in place. it was super aggressive for a "light" move. so i wanted to give kiriya a "dark" move that was surprisingly defensive. itamenna barrier works like the seeds of darkness's freaky shadow shield from episode 42, basically a dark force field that blocks incoming attacks, except (for obvious reasons) it won't make you turn into a freaky ghost thing if you stay behind it for too long — his boots are a lot like honoka's, but with green accents instead of blue. this is because he's in love. the only valid cishet guy in this series besides satoru ngl

i kinda suck at art so lmk how i can improve for next time! i use krita and have no idea what i'm doing