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hapuriainen · 4 years ago

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Hapuriainen's Animation & Comics & Games of 2020

It is again time for the annual compilation!

Manga:

Attack on Titan

I'm so sad this is so close to end... It's been my main thing for a few years now. Eren definitely didn't take the route I expected but I still find this consistent with his character and a bold and interesting move from the author.

(My notes say I also finished the jr high spin-off manga but it's not worth talking about)

Awards given: Best Side Girl (I still like Gabi, haters gonna hate), Best Boy (ditto Eren)

One Piece, My Hero Academia My interest in OP is still at an all-time low and I'm just waiting for the arc to end. There are so many characters and I have little idea what their deal is, Carrot hasn't been interesting in ages and currently Yamato is the only character I care for. Same for HeroAca; at least the excruciatingly long action scene is finally over.

Undead Unluck New Jump series! I think the main duo have a really good dynamic, but they're pretty much the only thing I care about and I'm very lost with what the plot is actually supposed to be about.

Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

I like detective stories so here's one from the Assassination Classroom creator! The detective stuff itself could get rather nonsensical and as the story progressed more and more fantasy elements were added, but the titular character was entertaining enough to keep me interested. The viewpoint character was refreshingly (for a Jump series) a girl and her dynamic with Neuro (an ordinary schoolgirl and an arrogant amoral troll demon) was great.

Awards given: Best non-romantic relationship (Neuro & Yako)

Spy x Family

Super fun and the characters are cute! The main couple has such great chemistry and in general I enjoy following characters who are really competent at their job. Not surprised that this has become hugely popular.

Awards given: Best romance (it is rare to get me to ship anything but the main couple here is just so cute)

Delicious in Dungeon

This manga has amazing character design and the author clearly loves to play around with it, like by drawing each character as each other's races, or making clones of everyone but each clone is a little different so you can guess which is the real one with the characters, and there's so much thought put to the outfits too. And then there's of course all the worldbuilding around how an RPG dungeon and the creatures in it could work, but it's presented simply enough that the story is still easy to follow. I also like the upbeat atmosphere; maybe I could get a bit more emotionally involved if there was more drama, but I still really like this as it is.

Awards given: Best character designs

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Reread one of my favourite manga ever and it's still just as good. I love how the manga still has a positive vibe to it, under it there is the quiet melancholy of a world that is close to ending. And it's wonderful how uninterested the story is answering any of the worldbuilding questions it sets up.

Beastars

This was incredibly interesting in how it presented an animal society where the carnivore-herbivore differences couldn't be just explained away with "the differences don't really exist", and the story looks at this from so many different angles. Pairs really well with Zootopia for a completely different approach. Louis was a really interesting character with how he publicly managed to appear as if he was a good candidate to be the next ambassador for the peace between the animals but was actually very cold and broken inside, and I really liked his breakdown moment. The ending was pretty meh though.

Awards given: Best Side Boy (Louis)

Kannagi

This one has really cute character designs but apart from that it's a pretty generic harem story. Except for the twist that the main girl already had been involved with a boy which caused otaku to shred their manga or whatever. I believe I would have enjoyed this more if it finished back when it went to hiatus since at this point it didn't do much for me.

Witch Hat Atelier

The main girl is the kind of heroic, friendly, plucky goody-two-shoes protagonist I really don't like but apart from that this is a great manga. I love the art, and the way the magic works is really well set up but also easy to understand. Great outfits too!

Anime:

This year I learned that in order to clear stuff from your anime watch list you need to actually watch anime. So unexpectedly I think I watched a lot more different series than usual.

Attack on Titan

It was my plan to watch seasons 1-3 before jumping on board with the last one, and of course I dragged my feet for the entire year and had to marathon the whole thing in autumn. I still prefer the manga, but the anime does have great colours, soundtrack and voice acting and some of the action scenes were amazing. But I really hate what they did to Historia in season 3... The final season has been excellent so far and I can't wait for the big scene in the next episode.

Awards given: Best OP (all the Linked Horizon ones)

Ouran High School Host Club

Haruhi continues to be one of the best girls in the anime and manga industry ever with her confident and no-nonsense attitude, and Tamaki's oblivious and overflowing friendliness makes for a great counterpart to her. And the opening theme is so darn catchy.

Awards given: Best Girl (Haruhi)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Finally managed to watch this. I love the iconic character designs and all the chaotic energy. Kamina for best bro. I've never cared for mecha, the girls were nice but the writing around them sucked and the second half wasn't as strong as the first one, but still a good package overall.

Awards given: Best ED (don't care for the song that much but Simon looks somehow really cool in the second ending)

Haibane Renmei

Another one that had been on the watch list for years. A lovely quiet and contemplative show. Visuals were rather dull though but maybe it's better for a show like this that the characters didn't have bubblegum pink hair.

Digimon Adventure 2020

This started promising but has since lost steam. I really like how different the story is from the original Digimon Adventure, and compared to Precure it's super nice how not every episode has the exact same structure, and the cast has different roles and regularly gets split up instead of shoehorning everyone into every conflict. But on the other hand the characters feel way more samey and flat, and the original "kids want to return to their home from the Digital World" plot was a lot more personal than the current one about global crises and prophecy jargon. And some of the action scenes last way too long.

Awards given: Worst side boy (Agumon and his evolutions, it is of course expected that he'd get a lot of screen time but I'm so over how much he's constantly pushed in your face in the franchise)

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii Desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii Desu ka?

This wasn't afwul but still left me kind of cold. I think the character designs were a problem here, in general I'm used to brightly coloured anime characters but this was trying to be a very serious story about child soldiers who know they're going to die young. But when they were colour-coded and always wore the same clothes (and mostly had pretty generic animu girl personalities) they felt so artificial which made it harder to get into the drama. Nice OP song.

Yashahime

Inuyasha was my first show after really getting into anime so I was super hyped for any kind of new content. So far this has unfortunately been rather dull since I'm not particularly interested in either of Sesshoumaru's daughters, and the way the show treats the absence of the old cast is annoying. Just either show them or make it clear we're not supposed to care about them, now it's just annoying how their disappearance is treated as a mystery but the three heroines know barely anything about their heritage and don't even seem interested in learning either. But I'll watch this to the end for Moroha.

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angels, Twin Angel Break, Pretear, Happy Seven, Healin' Good Precure

Watched a lot of magical girl stuff this year too, these being shows that play the tropes straight. The Twin Angel seasons had different flaws but were otherwise watchable aside from the awful Twin Angel Break heroine. Pretear had surprisingly nice character writing and I feel I would really have liked this if I saw it at an earlier part of my anime hobby experience but now it doesn't feel so special any more. Healin' Good Precure has been rather dull.

I also watched a bunch of Precure movies, out of which only the Star Twinkle Precure one was actually good, and the Spring Carnival crossover movie was also good in an absurd way, while the rest ranged from awful to somewhat decent.

Awards given: Worst girl (Meguru - Twin Angel Break), Biggest WTF (Happy Seven suddenly going from monster of the week shenaningans to alien mass destruction weapons)

Concrete Revolutio, Myriad Colors Phantom World, Re:Creators

Also some anime where the magical girl was a side character. Concrete Revolutio was an unpleasant mess with nice visuals, Myriad Colors was a pretty boring otaku high school harem thing and the magical girl episode was also rather bland, and Re:Creators had a lot of potential with the "anime characters come to our world" setting but the result was somewhat uneven. Re:Creators had the best magical girl out of these three.

Awards given: Worst non-romantic relationship, Worst side girl (Setsuna from Re:creators, with the main boy) not really an awful character on her own, but the writing around her was pretty bad, let's also give Worst Boy for the said main boy

Nausicaa

I watched the first half of the movie over a decade ago and didn't manage to finish until now. After seeing so many other Ghibli movies this didn't do much for me, but the animation and nature were still beautiful.

Western:

Most Popular Girls in School

The newer seasons didn't reach the heights of the earlier ones but there's still something entertaining about a very raunchy Barbie doll stop motion show. Also pairs well with the Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse for a fun but more child friendly Barbie experience.

Frozen 2

I'm wondering if these really are the only Western piece of media I consumed this year? I certainly didn't go to movies after March. Anyway, like the previous film I had major problems with the plot and characters (I don't think Elsa's story was set up properly, Kristoff's sub-plot feels like an afterthought when he doesn't factor to Anna's sub-plot at all, Olaf is annoying, too much Lore) but ultimately I still had a good time. I like the costume design, the idea for Elsa's arc is fine, the songs are great and there were plenty of good scenes too, and the lullaby was beautiful. I'd say that like the original Frozen this was patched together from perfectly serviceable pieces that didn't quite work combined.

Awards given: Worst romance (not the pairing itself but the way Kristoff x Anna was written)

Games:

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp

Early this year I just decided not to open this app for the daily money-grubbing grind and haven't touched it since. I'm free!

Animal Crossing New Horizons

However the daily grind continues here! It's been way more enjoyable, primarily due to lacking the microtransactions/limited time item angle and also for being so much more customisable. And the nature is so pretty... But I've reached a point where even this has started to feel kind of stale.

Super Mario Odyssey

My first Mario game since Super Mario World so of course I'm blown away by everything. I like how colourful and welcoming the worlds were, Cappy was a surprisingly enjoyable sidekick/mascot and also the game was easy enough and had a simple linear plot so it was far easier to approach than Zelda BotW which is still on hold.

Plans for 2021

Actually play Zelda BotW

Maybe finally Evangelion?

Finally finish the mostly disappointing Digimon Adventure tri

Various magical girl sequels and remakes

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tsunflowers · 4 years ago

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I know it's early but any hopes for next season of Precure Also, did you watch the Aikatsu planet pv?

a team with age differences between the cures, like kiramo with ichika+aoi+himari and akiyuka or suite/hugpre where one girl is just younger than the rest. I know there’s an age difference between the main three and asumi but I still dont understand why that is and it’s not like she goes to a different school or is friends with their siblings more than them at first or something

cures who are the same age but go to different schools like fresh? hard to do a lot of good school scenes that way I guess but I liked it

scifi vibes like starpre. I love when things are cute and sparkly and magical but they’re also in space or the future

underwater/ocean theme! I know they already used up wave and mermaid but there are still a lot of cute underwater names to use. cure anemone would be cute. the mascot could be a seal

a black cure... maybe... they did finally manage to put in a cure with brown skin so I’m waiting

I haven’t seen the aikatsu planet pv yet but I’ve seen a lot of gifs from it. I’m liking the artstyle a lot

#my nyasks

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muthaz-rapapa · 5 years ago

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Rewatch: Mahou Tsukai Precure Ep 2

For the record, I am always going to be that little girl excited to go magic school for the first time.

You won’t take that away from me, EVAH!

Hello, hello again and welcome to episode 2 of our rewatch marathon!

Unfortunately (or fortunately, hahaha), I couldn’t make it shorter since I have to talk about everything but I did finish it by Sunday so yay~!

Oh, and I’m going to switch to using the terms “witch/wizard” in place of “mage” from now on. The rough translation of “魔法使い” (mahoutsukai) is literally “magic user” but it can also be exchanged with words like “mage”, “sorcerer”, “magician” so technically, it’s not wrong. “Witch” and “wizard” can also have more specific translations ( (魔女, majo & 魔道士, madoushi, respectively) but I still feel they’re more appropriate for MahoPre’s setting. It just depends how you interpret the context, I guess.

Starting with the Snailiner.

I mean, it’s a giant snail train transporting you between worlds.

That’s so friggin’ awesome!! *squees* xDD

And here are our Muggle newbies, taking in the inter-realm sights for all its worth.

But that’s not as important as OMGERD, Mofurun’s lil’ tail twitching in wonder and curiosity! KYAAAAA~!!!

Mofurun smooshing her nose to the glass to get a closer look~!!

SO BABEY, IT HURTS!!!!

(੭ु ›ω‹ )੭ु⁾⁾♡

Riko, however, is eager to get down to business and tries to get an answer on how Mofu-chan came to life...

But these two are just too happy that they can talk to each other now that they don’t really care about the whys or the whats of the hows and UGH!

My heart! *clutches chest*

♡(｡>ˇ艸<)

God, we know Mirai has probably been talking to Mofurun since she could first utter words (and likely baby gabbled to her before that, too) but imagine how long that wait must have been for Mofurun! Never knowing if there will ever be chance for her to tell Mirai know how much she loves her and everything!

I’m so happy Mofu-baby got her wish in the end! <3

Oh, Riko...

You’re in for a lot of these non-answers, I’m afraid. (^ ^ ;;)

Next is Mirai’s turn to ask the questions and of course, she wants to know what Precure is.

We already know how this goes as a yearly tradition but it’s interesting how centuries/extensively long periods of time can embellish a legend so much that it differs significantly from how it was originally told or what it actually means.

The way Riko explains it, it’s as if Precure has appeared in the world before when in reality, Mirai and Riko are in fact the very first Precure (in this universe).

The conditions match up because (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD):

1) The “magic” (Precure) Mother Rapapa mentioned before her passing will occur when the two worlds come together again. Cue a person from the Mundane World (Mirai) meeting and teaming up with a person from the Magic World (Riko) to fulfill that prophecy. Also note that before these two, no pair like them has ever showed up since Mother Rapapa’s death even though the Magic World has already found ways to travel to the Mundane World and back long ago.

2) Mother Rapapa’s powers are implied to take on the form of Linkle Stones. That said, they disappeared when she did...until they reappeared with the arrival of Precure. We can take that to mean that Precure are the inheritors of Rapapa’s will, to reunite the separate worlds.

3) The birth of Ha-chan, Mother Rapapa’s reincarnation, happened after Mirai and Riko became Precure together.

So really, if I’m getting this right, we might have three versions of this legend: the one that is the most commonly known but not exactly correct [Riko’s version]; the one which is told by the oldest fairies/magical beings who lived in the time when Mother Rapapa was still alive and the world was still one [the original]; finally, the one that’s happening before our eyes where the connection and bond forged between Mirai and Riko can bring about miracles, such as the return of Mother Rapapa through Ha-chan [the true version].

The fact that Deusmast’s revival coincides with these events are anything but coincidental. Mother Rapapa knew she was going to have to face it again so it’s not a stretch to say she might have planned for her own rebirth in the present day to prepare for that.

Two girls who can bring the two worlds together will become Precure, wielders of Mother Rapapa’s powers. Said two girls will also raise and look after her future self, Kotoha, before she’s ready to face her true purpose. When the two worlds are in sync again and Kotoha accepts her role as a divine existence, then, combined with the gathered Linkle Stones and the extra support of Precure and every living being on planet earth, the reborn Mother Rapapa can finally be summoned in her full might to confront and defeat Chaos once and for all.

......or at least, that’s how I’m interpreting it as of this moment. I may have gotten few details wrong but see, this is why I need to do a rewatch. To find out how on or far off the mark I am.

I’m really liking this theory, though, cuz it just makes too much sense! compared to the crazy ones I normally make anyways, lol xD;

Erhem, alright a break from the wall of text.

Mirai is like “Wow, that’s pretty cool!” because it’s not every day you’ve acquired abilities only found in stories and tales while Riko is like...

“Wait...wut?” *PROCESSING*

And then...

Proceeds to probably have one of the biggest revelations of her life and goes all creepy smiley about it.

lol, oh, Riko. You’re scaring me, darling. (^ ^ ;;)

But jokes and laughs aside, you can see the differences between their personalities in these few seconds.

Riko wants to be recognized and respected so badly as a proper witch that she’ll even settle for using a shortcut through the Emerald or simply bearing the title of Precure to get there. Despite the fact that neither of those are synonymous with the credit and skill earned from hard work. In other words, she’d only be a witch in name and nothing more. It’s not truly her magic.

However, from Riko’s standpoint, you have to understand why she’s desperate. She’s got poor marks in the most essential subject for magic users and thinks something’s wrong with her because of that. She can’t handle her embarrassment from that ineptitude and if she’s tried everything already and nothing works, then she’s going to have to resort to more outrageous methods to get out of the dilemma she’s in.

This logic is filled with flaws and it’s terribly worrisome but Riko, if anything, is determined to make something of herself. She may have fallen down more times than she can count but she always made herself stand up.

It’s hard not to cheer for her and want her to succeed.

Mirai, in comparison, seems more naive and simple-minded.

Riko’s excitement is not something she can comprehend right now because for one thing, she’s never had to shoulder the angst that comes with not being able to fulfill expectations that is, until the epilogue.

But rather than see this as a bland aspect of her character, we should appreciate that Mirai is a very stable, positive and warm person.

When Riko couldn’t deal with the frustration over her own perceived failures, Mirai never judged her for what she could or couldn’t do. She still wholeheartedly accepted Riko, unfailingly believed that Riko can achieve great things and still saw Riko as the most amazing witch she’s ever come across. Yes, even though there were more accomplished magic users she’s met since coming over to the Magic World, the one Mirai continued to admire and wanted to get close to the most was Riko.

It’s true that for a majority of the season, Mirai played more of supporting role to Riko at times and didn’t have any personal wish other than wanting to stay together with her beloved friends. Nevertheless, she’s always immensely cherished by the people around her for who she is. Especially Riko, who really needed someone like Mirai in her life. That Mirai places those she loves above any great ambition and later goes on to chase a dream of rejoining the two worlds so everyone can be happy together, it really proves how purely wonderful she is as a person.

That’s cute. 8D

I’d be lying if I wasn’t reminded of Harry Potter when I saw this because it did.

But this is a magical girl anime where almost everything is cutesy-fied so I’m obliged to scream when I see something I think is cute! xD;

This time, it’s Riko’s turn to treat Mirai to food!

Awesome! I like to believe they do this all the time. Riko takes care of everything when they visit the Magic World and Mirai provides when they’re in the Mundane World.

A part of their relationship that’s always balanced no matter what.

Ha-chan and Mofurun don’t have to pay, though, cuz they babies and it’s okay for their mommies to spoil them~ <3

Shivery Mofu-baby~

lol, she even goes to touch it a second time like “Brrr~, this is chilly, but one more cuz it’s gives me the tingles, bRrRrRr~!!”

xDDD

That looks sooooo cool!

I love mandarin oranges and I’ve ate them slightly chilled before. They’re great.

But eating one in this manner? I wanna try, I wanna try!

FEED DA TINY BEAR

( ☉ω⊙)

(๑ˊ͈ ॢꇴ ˋ͈)〜♡॰ॱ

Mirai’s so enjoying every moment of this impromptu trip and Riko’s quite satisfied that she can impress someone for once.

But then there’s that dreaded crunching noise and, well...

The mouth can’t lie while eating, after all, lol.

Ok, Riko’s faces are the best.

She went from “Are you serious, don’t make me look bad, plz” to “Shoot, these are hard as rocks, oh no, how do I protect my vulnerable image in front of this Muggle?! *sweats*”

In the end, she dodged it with tsun, hahaha

So they finally arrive in the Magic World and frankly, it’s a beautiful place. Is every piece of land a floating island?! I want to live there! :D

Also, yes, while StarPre did take extra steps in worldbuilding, there are few things you gotta remember:

1) MahoPre aired before StarPre did, so it should be expected for later seasons to improve on what their predecessors brought to the table. Seeing as MahoPre and StarPre had the same series coordinator, Isao Murayama, I’d say he definitely got better when it came to this topic.

2) MahoPre only had one foreign world in its setting while StarPre had many planets since it dealt with space.

3) MahoPre still did what a lot of other Precure seasons opted not to do: give the main characters free access to explore and learn about other worlds.

Seriously, the “fantasy land seized by darkness/evil and needs to be saved by girls from another dimension” plot is present in almost every installation of this tv franchise that it’s just refreshing to not be restricted by those limits for once.

I could go on but I think I’ve made my point. :P

Riko said the Magic Academy is at the center of the Magic World. So does that mean it’s the highest authority on all matters regarding magic? Because I don’t recall anything about the Magic World having an actual government.

Well, anyways, I suspect that all the students’ wands are registered with the school otherwise that’d be a huge security risk if anyone can just open the gate with a simple spell. (o_o ;;)

Oh, and look, it’s the kitty from Riko’s metro pass! :D

Same, Mirai.

SAAAAAAAMMMMMMMEEEEEE

SUUUUURRRREEE, WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT

Here’s MahoPre’s version of McGonagall. Strangely enough, we never got a name for her. Same for the Headmaster. They were always addressed as just their faculty names.

Anyways, she’s as stern and strict as you’d expect of any teacher but even so, I don’t find her disapproval towards Riko’s actions to be too unfair or too harsh.

I mean, c’mon, if you were in her position and found out that one of your students broke a bunch of rules overnight only for them to come back with an outsider and this explanation, wouldn’t you react the same way she did?

The lady’s just doing her job.

Plus, her anger is justified because not only did Riko break the rules and exposed their kind but she could’ve really gotten hurt out there all by herself as well. Riko didn’t even bring any money with her for food, for crying out loud.

I’m sorry, Riko, as much as I’d like to give in to those puppy dog eyes (aaaahhhh, don’t look at me like that, you cutie~!), the professor’s right about this one.

Still, all things considered, she doesn’t outright expel Riko. Not because she doesn’t have that authority, I don’t think (that lies with the Headmaster), but it seems to me she might’ve wanted to find an alternative punishment as expulsion might be too cruel.

She even gave Riko fair warning not to leave the room until she found the Headmaster to discuss what to do next and when she saw Riko running around campus later despite that order, she freaked out in concern.

“Do you want to be expelled, Riko-san?!”

So yea, I’'d like to believe the Deputy Headmistress, at least, didn’t want to send Riko packing for home if it could be helped.

That done and said, it probably hit Mirai just how much trouble Riko’s in right now. Sure, Riko leaving school at night without permission is her own responsibility to bear and the same goes for bringing Mirai back to the Magic World with her when she shouldn’t have.

But still, Mirai being here is a violation of the Magic World at large. If she were aware of that, maybe she wouldn’t have gone with Riko in the first place (noooo!) so that Riko wouldn’t have to face possible expulsion.

Fortunately, Riko’s a sensible girl and knows Mirai isn’t in the wrong. It was she who wanted to prove herself, after all. She was just too blinded by her hopes to think about the consequences.

And so she revealed to Mirai that she’s actually a remedial student.

Like, Riko’s quite upset about the circumstances as it is but she still has it in her to be decent and honest with Mirai on her reasons for going to the Mundane World. It’s the least she could do for getting Mirai involved in magical affairs and taking her all the way here.

The search for the Emerald, suddenly becoming Precure, all these things were to show everyone that she can use magic effectively.

Riko’s pretty much reiterating what I said earlier in the post but I don’t think she really understood the full extent of it. At least, not yet.

She still wants the Emerald, of course, because her wish to be a great witch hasn’t changed.

She just realizes that yea, she broke the rules and no Emerald is going to excuse her out of the scolding she’s in for.

Then Mofurun decides to rolypoly on over to poor, depressed Riko and goes “SO WHAT? LOOK AT ME, I’M ADORABLE!!”

lol, j/k, j/k, she really said “I smell something sweet!” which was followed be this...

Riko and Mirai’s Diamond pendants glowing~

...honestly, they should’ve just let Mofurun do the explaining to the Deputy Head cuz it seems that every time Mofurun is within range of a Linkle Stone and announces its presence (“A sweet smell!”), they automatically start shining and voila~, the legend is real!

Ah, but really, Mofurun seems to be telling the girls to not sweat the small stuff.

Why? Cuz...

DESTINY!!!

......lol, yea, Mofurun knows Mirai and Riko are in for something greater than this little snag in the road and just wants to let them know to cheer them up.

And hey, she’s right. :)

It got Mirai motivated, at least, to go and explain things to the Headmaster herself. Maybe if a Muggle can prove she performed magic as Precure, they’d let Miko off the hook because then they’d realize she was telling the truth.

Again, Riko is surprised by the lengths Mirai’s willing to go for her. They can’t really be called strangers anymore after all that’s happened but they haven’t known each other long enough (it hasn’t even been 24 hrs yet!) that they can call each other friends yet either.

So why Mirai’s doing this, when there aren’t a lot benefits for her, simply baffles Riko.

*whispers* That’s what a best friend is, Riko-chan~

Meanwhile, Mirai, of course, doesn’t know her way around the school, much less who the Headmaster is or what he looks like, but that’s okay because she’s sooooo cute! x3

And maybe it’s a good thing this happened during spring break? Otherwise, she’d be catching the attention of the other students and faculty and she’d have a hard time getting to where she needed to go.

Like this when a breeze just drifted through the air and she suddenly got a feeling that she’s gotta go THAT way.

Humuhumu...yea, I don’t think it’s just the Precure powers that’s at work here. Mirai does have innate magical abilities of her own.

I’ve got a theory on that based on some MahoPre trivia I read, about the scratched concept of her having magical ancestors, but I’ll save that for another time.

Right, where were we? Oh, yes, the wind led her to a tree.

It looks like any ordinary tree but by judging by the way Mirai gazes up at it, something tells her it’s really more than that.

See? That’s her intuition. The magical side of it, anyways.

And whaddaya know, the wind led her to the person she wanted to find, too!

‘Course she doesn’t think he’s the Headmaster at first glance and who can blame her when he’s wearing a face that young.

But she’s not even thinking about the Headmaster at that point because did he just say wands? He said wands, right?

Yep, she’s got her priorities sorted out, haha~

Back in the classroom, Riko’s lost in her thoughts and can’t really forget how Mirai’s been nothing but friendly to her since the moment they met.

So even though Riko finds this devotion weird, she still can’t help but worry about her and decides it’s not good to just let Mirai wander off by herself when she doesn’t even know her way around.

Kyuuu~, I love it when Riko shows her soft side, especially when it’s about Mirai. She’s always like “まったく ...” in an exasperated way but gives in because she knows she can’t win against Mirai’s niceness and that just brings out her own niceness, d’aww~ <3

Now back to Mirai where she’s getting quite a fascinating lesson about wands. How every time someone is born in the Magic World, a Wand Tree immediately grows one out to give to that baby, how that’s the wand they use for life, etc.

That’s such a cool birth certificate! Can I trade mine in for a wand of my own?!

xD;

I’d hold that thought, Gramps.

A Muggle isn’t just drawn to a specific Wand Tree for no reason.

Maybe the reason why it hasn’t generated any new wand for ages is because it was waiting for someone like Mirai, a resident of the other world, to show up.

But as expected of the Headmaster, he could immediately tell Mirai’s not from their world and asks what she’s doing here.

Mirai tells him she needs to find the Headmaster and the way she holds Mofurun tighter to her (KYAAAAA~!!!) when the subject turns over to Riko says a lot about how she can’t let Riko’s life get ruined just because she broke a few rules.

Not when Riko saved what was most important to her. To the world, it might have been nothing but a small gesture of kindness but that same gesture is what meant the world to Mirai.

That’s why she has to return the favor to Riko. Riko helped her and now it’s her turn and that means...

PAUSE.

Please take a moment to squee at rolypoly Mofurun part 2 first.

........

We good? Okay, back to regular programming...

DEUS EX MACH-I’M KIDDING~

These are Wand Trees so I’m sure they’re sentient and can sense the sincerity in Mirai’s words along with her magic potential.

For that...

She gets her very own wand!

*gasp* And oh my, what a pretty wand it is! It suits my baby very well!

I am very pleased! 8D

Not only is Mirai sincere, she’s well-mannered as well.

And Mofurun, too. What good children they are. :D

The magic tree just granted her something meant to conjure magic with.

What do you think she’s going to do with it if not that? Use it as a back scratcher?!

That aside, I forgot about this. So it was the supernatural forces that dictated Mirai should be allowed into the magic realm and not because of the Headmaster’s decision.

I like that.

Then Batty shows up and starts destroying everything in search for them and Mirai immediately leaves to go find Riko.

I’m not sure if it’s because she knows she needs to be with Riko in order to transform into Precure or if she’s simply worried about Riko or both or what. But Mirai doesn’t even think twice about the dangers of facing Batty alone when a person she cares about is somewhere in the crossfire.

And it’s so clear that Mirai cares about the world Riko comes from. Not just because it’s Riko’s school and home but also because she has great respect for magic users in general.

She’s dreamed of meeting them for a long time and though they’re hesitant to welcome her because she’s a normal human (aka not like them), that doesn’t stop her from doing what’s right. When Batty tries to order her around, she defiantly (and G-ratedly) flips him off for all the havoc he’s making.

Yep, she’s not afraid of the bad guys, my brave little girl~ <3

Riko’s timing and aim are impeccable as always, lol

She’s almost like a human missile! xD;

That’s right you did, Riko! And you did a splendid job, bravo! *clapclapclap*

Mirai’s just relieved that Riko’s unharmed.

I mean, if Riko’s still giving tsundere service, then she’s definitely alright, ahahaha~

See?

Riko can’t win against Mirai when she smiles at her like that~

Blushy Riko is so...too...adorable for words! x3

Then they hold hands and yea, you know what happens afterwards.

Frankly, the fight in this ep wasn’t any better or different than the first one and only a few short moments are worth mentioning.

Like Miracle trying her best to not let any more damage come to the school and crashing to the ground because of it.

Even though things will go back to normal, with no signs of a battle ever happening there, after they get rid of the Yokubaru and all (but then again, they didn’t know that...did they??)

She’s too nice, jeez...

Magical checking if her partner is okay and Miracle brushing it off like “Whoopsie!”

And Magical getting irritated again but whup, no time for that, gotta protect Miracle!

Haha~!! xDD

Anyways, the biggest moment that needs to be discussed is this one when Magical’s almost doubting whether saving the school’s worth it since she’s in for expulsion anyway because she disobeyed the Deputy Headmistress.

Hmmm, I’m not criticizing her or calling her self-centered or anything. It’s just that it’s obvious Riko has weighed herself down with too many negative thoughts that it’s hard for her to see there’s still something she can do.

She’s Precure now so regardless of whether she gets expelled or not, she’s one of the only people there who can stand up to that monster.

And like Miracle said, nothing has been decided yet. They can still persuade the Headmaster to let Riko stay at school.

If they don’t at least try, then it’s guaranteed they’ll only get nothing out of it.

And that’s hardly the ending anyone wants, right?

Whatever the outcome may be, Mirai’s determined to do her best for Riko. If it’s too much for Riko to bear alone, Mirai will be there to support her.

Riko calls Mirai a busybody for this but you can tell by her expression that she’s really grateful Mirai talked her out of giving up.

Even Mofurun’s happy, perched up on high~

Then they get their Linkle Sticks and perform Diamond Eternal for the first time and blow the monster away, yay, all’s well that ends well.

Well, almost.

Thankfully, the Headmaster witnessed everything that transpired, sparing them from any need to explain.

And not only does Riko get to stay at school (whoohoo~!) but now Mirai will be attending classes with her as well!

I guess there are endings where all’s well that ends better, after all, huh? Hehehe~

And that’s all for this week. Will try to get ep 3 by next Sunday. Bye for now~

#mahou tsukai precure #asahina mirai #izayoi riko #mofurun #cure miracle #cure magical

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precuredaily · 5 years ago

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Precure Day 189

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 40 - “Seek Out the Principal’s Identity!” Date watched: 24 May 2020 Original air date: 18 November 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/7GSsNLa Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Why principal, what bright hair you have!

How do you follow up an episode in which the main antagonist of the show appears to challenge the heroes? If you’re not going to continue that plot thread, then I think the only good way to do it is to go in the complete opposite direction and have a lighthearted episode (see the dichotomy of episodes 24 and 25). This episode does neither, instead choosing just to go back to the status quo, which makes an average episode somehow mildly disappointing.

The Plot

In the latest edition of the Cinq Lumieres Times, Masuko Mika has chosen the mystery of the principal’s identity as her headlining article, and includes an interview with Karen where the student council president says she’s dissatisfied with never seeing the principal and believes that this leads to distrust by the students. She reiterates that she’d like to sit down with the principal to discuss school matters face-to-face.

Extra extra, read all about it! The producer said we needed to resolve this plot thread!

Otaka the lunch lady (and unbeknownst to the characters, the principal) passes by and comments that the principal probably has her reasons for staying hidden. Over at Nightmare HQ, Bunbee decides to ask Hadenya if she’s ever seen Despariah’s face, which she denies. Kawarino appears and confesses that he’s never seen his boss’s face, nor does he have any interest in it. Hadenya remarks that people in authority like to stay hidden because it makes them seem more dignified, and she heads off to try to get the Dream Collet.

Back at school, the girls are eating lunch and Rin remarks that the brick wall by the old school building (last seen in episode 27, the ghost hunt) is falling apart. Otaka overhears this. Two students named Kanako and Mayu approach Karen with a lost shoe that was apparently found in the rear garden. Once again, Otaka can’t help but to overhear. The girls and Coco go to investigate, only to find.... the vice principal, holding a dog which had apparently been stealing personal items and leaving them in the garden. He says the principal advised him to look into the matter.

The next day, the girls are wandering by the old school building and see that the worn-down wall is being repaired. The VP tells them that the dog apparently got in through a hole in the wall, and the principal decided to have it repaired right away. Karen asks if he’s met the principal, and what kind of person she is, to which he simply responds that she’s “a wonderful person.” Karen starts to feel guilty about her negative words in the interview. That afternoon, they’re all hanging out at Natts House, and her sadness doesn’t go unnoticed, so she explains her guilt to the others. Coco remarks that he’s never even met the principal himself, despite being a teacher, so Nozomi decides that this settles it and they should all go see the principal first thing tomorrow, so that Karen can apologize.

Sure enough the following morning, they go to the office, but Hadenya has made it there first, somehow wise to their plan but having waited a few days to lay her trap. (The timeline of this episode makes no sense.) They don’t recognize her at first until she starts insulting them, and then she turns the room into a ruin before turning the brick wall into a kowaina, which takes the shape of a centipede.

it’s so weird I can’t even make a witty caption

The girls transform into Precure and take on the nonsensical creature. Rouge and Aqua do a combo kick that separates it into bricks, but it quickly reassembles. It surrounds the quintet and tries to squeeze the life out of them, but Rouge, Lemonade, Mint, and Aqua keep Dream in the middle of them as they each push the sides just enough to give her room to escape, and then she frees the rest of them. Aqua Tornado and Crystal Shoot make quick work of the kowaina as Hadenya flees, and the girls find themselves back in the principal’s office.

They discover the vice principal and principal unconscious behind the VP’s desk and they recognize Otaka, but they don’t all manage to put two and two together. As they come to, Otaka realizes her ruse is up, thanking the girls for coming to her rescue (if she only knew...). She invites them into her office where it finally sinks in for Nozomi and Urara that Otaka-san the lunch lady is, in fact, the school’s mysterious principal.

She explains how she used to be a teacher and students would come to her with their concerns, but when she became the principal, she lost her opportunities to be around students, and she wanted to always be on top of any troubles at the school, so she took on the guise of Otaka the kindly old lunch lady so she could get close to students to hear their concerns. Karen apologizes for being dissatisfied when the principal actually does so much to help the school, and the principal turns it around and says she has a wonderful student council president, with a good group of friends. Then she asks them to keep her identity a secret from the rest of the student body.

Later that day, or perhaps another day, Mika comes up to the circle of friends, exasperated and exhausted as she hasn’t been able to uncover any information about the principal’s identity. Nozomi starts to spill the beans but Rin stops her, and Karen suggests they stop pursing this subject. Mika knows Karen is right, but she doesn’t have another topic to write about, but that’s when Otaka brings over a bowl of her new sweetbread for them to try out, and Nozomi suggests that Mika write about Otaka’s new menu.

The Analysis

The pacing of this episode is a bit unusual compared to a normal one. Due to the extended conclusion, the conversation in the principal’s office, the fight is abbreviated and everything else before it is a little rushed. The flow of time isn’t conveyed very well through editing, with scenes flowing together that are implied to take place on separate days. Hadenya in particular seems to just disappear for a few days between leaving Nightmare and posing as the principal. It adds up to a somewhat confusing mish-mash of scenes and that reduces investment in the story.

Additionally, one of Karen’s big regrets in this episode is that she said unkind things about the principal, but it’s not explicitly shown what she said. I had to pause the video and manually translate the newspaper article to get a sense of her comments, because all her spoken remarks are along the lines of “I wish I could meet the principal in person to discuss school and student matters, and thank her for all that she does,” and from that perspective it looks like she’s beating herself up a bit too much. Here is my painstaking edit of the newspaper that was on screen for 3 seconds.

I think they should have made Karen’s negative sentiment a bit more clear in the dialog of the episode, perhaps by having one of the girls read that section of the interview aloud for the audience, and then her internal conflict would have made MUCH more sense, because in the text of the episode she essentially transitions from “I’d like to meet the principal,” to “I’m so sorry for what I said, I’d like to meet the principal and apologize.” It just doesn’t track without reading the paper, which would be impossible in real time.

Hadenya’s plot also makes very little sense (not that that’s unusual). She knocks out the principal and vice principal, and then threatens the precures that she won’t tell them where they are unless they give her the Dream Collet. But, it turns out, they were just laying unconscious behind the VP’s desk the whole time, not a hard place to find. Also you’d think by this point the villains would realize that extortion doesn’t work on these girls, but I guess not. The kowaina she creates doesn’t really make much sense to me either. I would have expected a pretty literal wall monster, and we’ll see something similar to that in a few episodes, but no it takes the form of a centipede for some reason. The only benefit that being made of brick gave it was that it could rebuild when Rouge and Aqua kicked it. I did like how it tried to constrict the team, and the supporting cures each pushed on a side to give Dream enough wiggle room to squeeze out, though. That’s about the only interesting part of the battle. There is cross-talk about how Hadenya thinks the principal is useless and the girls are angry because of how much she does for the school but that’s par for the course, it doesn’t elevate this episode or anything.

I do appreciate the girls finally learning the principal’s true identity at least. It’s not really a mystery that they’ve focused on, but ever since they revealed her dual life in episode 14 it’s been fun for the audience to be in on the secret, and watch how she continues to offer sage advice from her seemingly humble station. Now the girls are implicitly rewarded for their efforts of helping out the school both as students and as heroines by learning its best-kept secret. Otaka’s reasons for being secretive are pretty much exactly as I speculated the first time around, trying to keep her ear to the ground but being somewhat prohibited by her position. Unfortunately I don’t believe she shows up much for the rest of this season, as they’re moving into Christmas time and then the endgame, so there’s not a lot of school shenanigans left to cover. We’ll see what GoGo has in store for us.

There’s some nice comedy moments and callbacks in this episode, aside from the implicit ones I’ve mentioned above. The biggest one is that the girls remember that the old school building is where they visited in episode 27, and Rin seems to fondly recall her meeting with Count Rosen.

Rin is a little embarrassed that she’s been figured out, which is cute.

Another fun gag is when they finally uncover the truth that Otaka is actually the principal, Nozomi takes a while to catch on, and she tells Otaka not to sit in the principal’s chair or she’ll get in trouble. Rin has to explain that Otaka IS the principal and both Nozomi AND Urara are surprised.

Rin is questioning her friendship real hard.

And another Rin-centric gag is her reaction to the puppy in the woods. She goes back and forth between trying to pet it and being afraid of it and this goes completely unacknowledged by the dialog of the episode, you have to actually be watching to see it.

She’s so cute when she’s nervous. (as always, better copies are in the gallery)

The sudden introduction of Kanako and Mayu, who we have never seen before and never see again, may seem jarring if you don’t get the joke. They seem a little over-designed for one-off characters, after all.

If you look at the credits, you’ll see that they are played by... themselves.

So yes, Kudou Mayu (right) and Miyamoto Kanako (left) are real people. Respectively, they are the singers of the opening and ending themes of this very show, and this is their cameo. Kudou Mayu will also do songs for GoGo, Heartcatch, Suite, and every All Stars movie from DX1 to New Stage 3, as well as voicing another cameo in Heartcatch and playing the Fairy Tones in Suite Precure. Kanako Miyamoto will do themes for GoGo, Kirakira, HUGtto, DX3, Super Stars, and Miracle Universe, as well as playing Makoto/Cure Sword in Dokidoki Precure. This is them in real life, from about this point in time.

source: Miaymoto Kanako’s blog https://miyamotokanako.exblog.jp/d2007-09-20/

I noticed they gave them different color crests on their uniforms: Mayu has a second year badge while Kanako has a first year badge, reflective of their real-life age difference of about a year, and I think that’s a clever detail they didn’t have to do.

The art in this episode is fine. It never gets above fine. There’s some bad art, but it’s mostly fine. Except this coloring error on Karen’s sleeve.

And really, that sums up the whole episode. It’s mostly fine, with some bad thrown in. It’s not a good episode, it’s just alright, kind of forgettable in the scheme of things. And that made it harder to write about than if it were actually good or bad, so if this is a bit nonsensical and rambling, that’s why.

Next episode, Komachi and Urara bond. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 kettei!

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Yes! Precure 5 #YPC540 #PCD189

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venus-says · 5 years ago

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Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo Episodes 38-48 + Movie

Bloom, flowers of life.

And we reach the end of another season! Wow, it has been a while since I could say this for precure. But we're finally here again.

The GoGo ending was a pretty interesting one, I quite enjoyed it, but before talking about it I wanna comment on the movie of the season because I wanna end this post on a positive note and if I leave this to the end I won't achieve that.

Y!PC5GG: Happy Birthday in the Land of Sweets♪

So, this movie was a choice. I feel like if you're someone who likes Nozomi and Coco you will probably like this movie, but if, like me, you're someone who sees this relationship as problematic then you will probably not care or hate this movie. To be honest, I think that even if you do like this pairing you may not like this movie as much, because even though this movie is very Nozomi focused and a huge part of that focus is on her relationship with Coco, the everything around it isn't much interesting so in the end, it's nothing really special.

I personally didn't enjoy this movie, but it wasn't even because of the Nozomi and Coco stuff. To begin I don't like that they introduced another character that is used to instigate jealousy in both Nozomi and Milk, thankfully they don't do much with that. I don't like how the other cures are useless here, like yeah, Aqua & Rouge and Mint & Lemonade fought against the minions but they didn't really impact the outcome of the movie, and they just forget Milk has powers up until the end where she's beaten down by the villain. And I also don't like how in the call to action scene they start to cheer for Dream only and not for the Precure and I don't know this kinda sounds disrespectful, it makes it look like the only important cure here is Dream and the other ones are just backup dancers, though Shining Dream is a pretty beautiful form, I can't deny that. But the thing I hate the most about this movie is one specific scene, while Coco is being controlled by Mushiban, and he corners Dream against a pillar or a wall and he gets close to her in a very predatory way and he says "Make me feel satisfied" and the way they frame the scene looks like it's something sexual and it's just very gross, and it gets grosser when you think it's a much older man behind Coco saying those words. I get that by the context of the movie he was just talking about turning Nozomi into chocolate and eating her like a snack, but the movie frames it like Coco is going to kiss Nozomi by force and it's not cool to see. I'll probably never watch this movie again.

While I'm still here in this gloomy mood let's talk about what I didn't enjoy in the actual season?

So my fears came true, we had almost like a boss rush in this final quarter which made those defeats a little less impactful, in fact, the first episode of this section we had the defeat of that pair of villains and I can't remember much about it. Mucardia's end was also kinda lame, first because we had a fake-out death and second because he was just killed away by the Director in the blandest way possible and it was pretty lame.

And speaking of lame endings, poor Anacondy. They really went to the "I'm in love with this man route" for her and in the end, she was just used and discarded by the man she loved like if she was the wrapping paper of candy, it was pretty sad. It was impactful, and it made me hate the Director more than I already did, but I wish she could have gone in a glorious way rather than by the hands of a crap man. And since we're talking about him, gosh I hate this dude. He's like those guys that get obsessed with a girl and just can't accept when they say no and instead of looking at themselves to try to find out why they don't want anything to him he just keeps forcing himself like if this is gonna change something. The Director is the concept of thrash man impersonated in a cartoon character. It was very cathartic seeing the cures whoop his ass with that giant rose.

The last thing I didn't like was the resolution for the mystery of Syrup's past. Like, seeing how this was a big thing throughout the whole season you would think his past would be more than just "he was born in the Cure Rose Garden, he was raised by Flora, and he was attacked while he was doing a delivery from Flora to the Director and that's probably what made him lose his memory". I don't know, for the amount of build-up this had I expected them to do something bigger with this. And it feels like that was the plan at some point because in the middle of the season we see Syrup meeting the Director and recognizing him from somewhere, it seemed like there was more to uncover there, but no, we just got some lame past stuff.

Before moving to the positives, I wanna quickly mention the Christmas episode that wasn't anything exceptional, but that there was some cool stuff in it, like Syrup being a fan of Santa since, when you think about it, Santa IS a delivery boy. To be honest, I was just glad they didn't have any sort of world-threatening invasion in this episode, it was very refreshing. XD

In any case, as it's usual for any precure season we get episodes for each cure's closing arc as an integral part of the final quarter. Being completely honest, I feel like Kurumi and Karen got the short-end of the stick here because while they had good episodes it didn't really give me the impression that they were concluding anything for them, different from Urara, Rin, and Komachi who got episodes where the conflicts had conclusions that tied-in more with their future aspirations and the path they've been walking through this season and also the previous one.

I think the reason why Kurumi and Karen's endings didn't feel as conclusive is that other things in their episodes stole my attention more than their conflicts. For example, in Kurumi's case, we see her feeling pressured because of her mission, which is very in tune with her whole thing as a caretaker, but this episode also shared space with working her relationship with Nozomi and that's what I was more focused in rather than Kurumi's personal thing that felt like it was more in the background. In Karen's case, the conflict was she doubting that she had what it takes to follow a career in medicine, but the show was putting more importance in King Montblanc being sick and again Karen's plot was kinda in the background. This is not to say that their endings were bad, it just seems a bit forgettable when you put that in comparison with the other episodes for the other girls.

For example, Urara's final episode was about her doing an audition to get in the same musical her mom performed before she passed, we also have a MOTW plot that works in a way to directly affect her negatively in this audition by making a Little Mermaid plot where Shibiretta steals her singing voice. This is a combination that works with Urara both in her precure life and in her civilian life. It concludes her arc and it feels rewarding to see her finally pass that audition. Kurumi and Karen didn't really have that. Actually, Rin and Komachi didn't have a conclusion that was so well rounded as Urara, but it was more centered on them, they were still in the center and able to shine in their episodes, though I wish Komachi had done more in her episode, it didn't really feel like she had much agency in that episode.

The Nozomi episode is a bit unfair to put in this comparison because while it is an episode that dwelled with her efforts in studying in order to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher, this episode was more to show the difference of power between them and the Director while Nozomi's conclusion comes around in the end during the final fight and the aftermath of the battle.

And about this finale, this was very enjoyable. I like that we had the final conflict happening through 3~4 episodes but it didn't feel like they were stretching a plotline or maybe dragging the finale for more than it needed to. It was pretty solid, it was well built, and despite the problems, I mentioned it was pretty good. I think my favorite moment of this ending was when Syrup was giving his speech to the petrified cures, and we could see that the things he was talking about was pretty much related to his growth and his development through the whole season and it was pretty moving, I also think it was hella cute when he mentioned that letter the cures sent was the first letter he ever received in his life and that he was really happy about it, and my heart just melted and all I wanted was to hug him and say "you're a good boy, my son T-T" to him.

I also liked that whole seed of life and how seeds have infinite potential discourse at the end, yeah it was a bit of a stretch after all depending on the case seeds are pretty predictable, but it was a good message for the end, it hit the points it had to hit so I count it as a win. I also like how in the end Flora turned into a seed in hopes to bloom into a new life in the future, it was a pretty optimistic and happy way to end the show and it was a good way to wrap-up this pretty good season.

And that's it for Yes! Precure 5! I gotta be honest, I didn't think I'd enjoy this season as much as I did because I wasn't the biggest fan of its predecessor and I didn't have high hopes for the sequel, but I found myself enjoying the show more and more as I would go, even with its flaws and the elements I don't like. It was truly a joy to find a new love for this season, a new love for this world, and a new love for these characters. While the original season is at the bottom of my list of favorites during this series of rewatches, this sequel sits more close to the top, and that makes me very happy. So, what are your thoughts on GoGo? Let me know in the comments down below. Next, we're finally getting to Fresh which is one of my favorite seasons and I'M VERY EXCITED!!! I can't wait to watch this season again. But that's for another day, for now, stay healthy, stay safe, never stop resisting, thank you so much for reading, and until the next time. See-ya~

#Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo #Yes! PreCure 5 GoGo #precure

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ashitomarisu · 5 years ago

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Maho Tsukai Precure / Kirakira Precure: Final Thoughts

Alas, the final two rewatches have been complete. You’ve waited long enough to know if either of these seasons were worth looking back at.

(WARNING: Due to watching Love Live! Sunshine!!, my thoughts for both have changed dramatically. I blame H-A-N-A-M-A-R-U.)

First, I’ll start with Maho Tsukai.

To be frank and short, it isn’t as weak as I first imagined but falls short of being a top tier season. I will give it one thing, though:

WHERE DOES MIRAI FIT INTO THIS PROPHECY AND WHY WAS IT NEVER DISCUSSED ANY FURTHER?! Then again, Mirai’s grandmother did meet Kouchou in the past...which might be a reason.

Oh, and that ending could never be any more perfect to conclude the story. I mean...

...STICK A FORK IN ME WHY MUST YOU!?

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Now, for the many Love Live! references that just made watching it even crazier:

Dia and Ruby (SELF-EXPLANATORY)

Frozen mikans (CHIKA WOULD LOVE MIRAI AND START ANOTHER CRACKSHIP WE DON’T NEED)

Riko and Riko...plz no

Flower Circle Equation needs to be heard to believe in the Hanamaru

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In the case of Kirakira...

This was more enjoyable and heartwarming the second time, maybe because I love food and the dynamic between the six was infectious. YES, AOI’S IMAGE SONGS ARE STILL BADASS.

The only downfall for this season was its pacing and the damn final episode as a crossover. Near the middle of the season, it just...slowed down a bit and I felt like it was at a standstill for an episode or two. Other than that, this was too much fun not to relive!!

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IchiDia crackship was born somehow from watching this.

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Where do they end up on my list?

Maho Tsukai barely misses the A rank while Kirakira barely edges into A tier. Both seasons were decent with their own flaws. I really cannot recommend one more than the other. You are better off seeing for yourselves and be your own judge.

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With that, this concludes all the rewatches, but the party isn’t over yet. Starting next month, I finally...FINALLY reach the season directed by Junichi Sato and had been praised for a strange formula. Join me then for my first impression on:

HUGTTO! PRECURE!!!

Til then, here’s hoping senpai notices you and please don’t there be any more Love Live references!!

#precure #final thoughts #mahou tsukai precure #kirakira precure a la mode

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starlight-ascension · 5 years ago

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1 point for everything you’ve done, comment your score

Inspired by BuzzFeed checklist quizzes.

❃ cancelled plans in order to watch precure

❃ binge-watched an entire season in under a week

❃ watched precure on your phone

❃ ...at school or work

❃ watched more precure than any other show

❃ memorized exactly which episodes of your fave season have which events, so now when someone mentions a specific episode you don’t need to look it up to tell them everything that happens in it

❃ fired up the anime website and ended up watching way more episodes of precure than you planned to

❃ got into the fandom in the mid to late 2010s, watched episodes of precure you hadn’t seen yet almost every day, and now you are no longer able to watch shows with a weekly gap between episodes

❃ felt a stab of pain like you were being betrayed when the anime website froze or stuttered

❃ finished a season and went through the five stages of grief

❃ watched all of Futari Wa Pretty Cure Max Heart

❃ watched all of Yes Pretty Cure 5 GoGo

❃ watched all of Fresh Pretty Cure

❃ watched all of Suite PreCure

❃ watched all of DokiDoki PreCure

❃ watched all of Happiness Charge PreCure

❃ watched all of MahouTsukai PreCure

❃ watched all of KiraKira PreCure A La Mode

❃ watched every All Stars New Stage movie

❃ wouldn’t shut up to friends about how awesome precure is

❃ watched precure at least a couple times a week

❃ watched precure every day over the course of a month

❃ felt empty inside when you didn’t have access to an anime website with precure

❃ overused your internet allowance by watching precure

❃ watched precure while on the toilet

❃ desperately waited for the next episode of whatever season was airing

❃ caught a glimpse of your reflection in the screen and wondered “what the hell am i doing with my life”

❃ defended precure’s honor in a verbal fight

❃ defended precure’s honor in a physical fight

❃ challenged someone to a duel for dissing precure

❃ completely lost track of all sense of time while watching precure

❃ imagined a life without precure and cried

❃ measured time in episodes

❃ found yourself unable to last a weekend without watching at least one episode

❃ also found yourself unable to watch just ONE episode at a time

❃ been late to something because you were watching precure

❃ stayed up past midnight watching precure

❃ marked the date for the release of an episode on your calendar

❃ quoted precure characters in everyday conversation

❃ ...when talking to someone who hasn’t seen precure

❃ dressed up as a precure

❃ convinced someone to watch precure

❃ actually watched Glitter Force and/or the Futari Wa Pretty Cure dub

❃ left your house when the wifi was down so you could watch precure somewhere else

❃ annoyed your friends by talking about precure all the time

❃ written about precure for school

❃ are fictionkin with a precure

❃ screamed out loud when the anime website repeatedly stopped to buffer

❃ spent an entire day just binge-watching precure

❃ spent an entire weekend just binge-watching precure

❃ watched something in english and instinctively looked at the bottom where the subtitles would normally be

❃ tried to sing along to the opening theme song despite not knowing enough Japanese to do so

#precure #pretty cure #shitpost #i will delete this later

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twigstarpikachutroll22 · 5 years ago

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A friend of mine got me to watch Fresh Pretty Cure awhile ago, and I’ve been sending her my reactions by tumblr message as I watch every episode. Recently she posted my extreme reactions to the insanity that was episodes 19 through 23 (and also 24) for other Precure fans to see.

I happened to get this friend to watch Camp Camp awhile ago, and while she hasn’t sent me reactions every episode, she DID message me while recovering from Parents Day, and she DID send me reactions during Camp Corp, not to mention The Forest. So I decided, why not share those just for the heck of it.

I’m putting them under the cut because this gets long fast and the way I ended up formatting the recap of the conversation we had after Parents Day is kinda weird.

Recap of the conversation after Parents Day

Side note, she’d messaged me not long before this about the episode where the Flower Scouts became drug dealers. She loved it. I sent several messages relating to that episode and others from season 2, while trying to contain my excitement as I anticipated what was coming next. Soon enough, she sent...

Update:

asdfghjkl

so i watched another episode

I practically vibrated and sent back:

HFDSLJFHDLJFHDSLKGFHSLH

I’ve been waiting for this *-*

Her response:

i cant right now

i can’t even type with punctuation

ruvcfoua4rygtoc4tyufvnoaryuvct9oaqycvtn9yaertcv5f9rybfxgryto345qyutncvgf9b4toqa4yncb9fq4yb9734qyfgn9c57ygvbrufvctoqy4cfvnoufbtoycouqfy4cb9oq47ycfgtoayfgvb34ehfulah4ryhl

I was really excited and I felt like I had to say something so that we could continue talking about this and, okay, so that I could continue to enjoy watching her suffer. So after a bit of thought I sent back:

He did say way back in the first episode that camp is where parents send their kids when they don't want to deal with them. None of us knew just how serious he was about that.

She said:

okay you just caused my mind to be 20% more [F Word]ed With

(yeah, I’m censoring out any curses.) I was pretty much delighted to hear/read this.

I found a post I’d seen awhile back analyzing the season 1 and 2 finales, which was very interesting and took the feels further, and sent that post to her with a message asking if it was too soon to send this. I also sent a post with a screenshot pinpointing what the person who posted it described as “the literal second Max started looking up to David.“ I was starting to feel slightly guilty at this point for enjoying and milking this, so I decided to balance it out slightly with a funny screenshot from earlier in the episode and a gif of Ered with her Cool Gay Dads. And because I wasn’t sure if she knew about the concept of Dadvid yet, I also told her: This episode is one more reason a lot of Camp Camp fans are screaming for David to adopt Max. (Seriously, Dadvid NEEDS to be endgame)

And received this:

i am going to collapse and lie facedown on the floor for like 10 minutes

As it happened, that message came just as I was about to message her again to point out a moment of foreshadowing that was a certain interaction between Max and Space Kid earlier in the episode. But as much as I was being entertained by her misfortune and could barely keep myself from laughing hysterically with each message she’d sent so far, I figured I probably should give her a little time to lie facedown on the floor before I kept going.

I sent: ...I was gonna mention one more feels-y thing but...I guess I'll give you a little time to do that first. <3

Several minutes later:

what was the thing

Well, then I sent her a message quoting back the entire dialogue exchange. Followed by:

he showed some genuine empathy there for a second.

wonder why...

I pretty much wheezed out loud at her response:

i just collapsed backwards, slid off the couch and onto the ground, and didn't move until my brother stepped on me and yelled "SHE'S DEAD"

at which point i promptly yelled "I WISH"

Then I remembered a really amazing and honestly kind of tearjerking song somecreature had written and posted, from David’s POV, inspired by the events of this episode. I went ahead and sent that to her as well.

Then:

*crying my eyes out*

this is one h[*]ll of a way to kick off Christmas break

Remorse was once again kicking in a little. So I tried sending her a couple things to make her laugh: the results of somecreature plugging all the Camp Camp episodes into an AI and having it write its own episode, and the results of the creators doing the same and having the cast actually read it aloud at the 2019 panel.

She said she didn’t feel ready for happiness again, which was fair.

(NOTE: Okay, that was the only episode I’m gonna be putting here where we talked through the feels after the episode. The rest are just gonna be live reactions and I won’t format them as weirdly. So, just...we’re over the hump. That’s all.)

Camp Corp reaction

[Before this, she had a pretty entertaining reaction to the Wham Line and cliffhanger at the end of the previous episode:]

[The following are her reactions she sent me during the episode after it started working. I’m censoring out the curses but otherwise it’s all copied and pasted.]

Mr and Mrs Campwell look like they’ll turn out to be villains. I smell ulterior motives

SPLIT UP?!?!?!

And now Nikki and Neal are p[bleep]ed off at Max and DITCHING HIM

Oh snap it’s Campbell... OH SH[BLEEP] OH F[BLEEP]

Wait what

Suddenly he’s being all... this

OH F[BLEEP] is he gonna team up with Max?

THE HUG 😃🥰

[at this point I sent a few heart emoticons, followed by: "It's not like I like it here!" Baka because we all know Max is a total tsundere]

I cannot believe you just said that

Causing chaos... this is gonna be awesome

I read on tvtropes that the camp campbell kids are unified in design by all wearing yellow. Harrison at the magic camp isn’t wearing yellow.

1 down, 8 to go

6 down. The 2 most important ones to go.

...Super Guantanamo has a yearbook party with superlatives?

“Chaos? That’s a regular day at Camp Campbell” YES

F[bleep]in’ da[bleep]... Campbell is up to some serious sh[bleep] again

T_T SEPARATION MAKES ME CRY

😭 😭

I’m crying and screaming on the inside

...OMG

“Space Kid’s an inanimate object at best” “Don’t forget expendable”

HE CONFESSED

AND GOT COMMUNITY SERVICE

AND WOULD RATHER GO TO JAIL

...and THAT happened

HA SUCKER

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[i sent back a block of exclamation points almost as long as that scream.]

I CANT EVEN

[i sent back “RIGHT?!?!” and some letter mashing. Then we both keyshmashed a LOT. Then we both screamed a LOT. And I sent her a bunch more posts relating to this and other season 3 episodes.]

The Forest reaction

[Side note, this was the only emotionally devastating episode that I warned her about beforehand. Up until this point I’d been intentionally keeping her in the dark about these things so the emotional impact would be worse and therefore all the more entertaining to watch. But with this episode, I decided I really had to tell her in advance that it would be pretty...intense. Though I gave no spoilers. The following is, of course, her reactions, with the curse words censored out by me.]

Oh sh[bleep]

Where is David headed... OH MAN A WATERFALL

I wonder how the kids are going with just Gwen to deal with them...

The sky is bisexual confirmed

BEES

What did Max do with the money? And do I want to find out?

Wow David is a great survivalist

OH F[BLEEP]

P[BLEEP]ED WOLF P[BLEEP]ED WOLF

FU[BLEEP]ITY FU[BLEEP] IT GETS WORSE AND WORSE

Oh god is he gonna KILL it

I sense that rabbit is doomed.

Oh my god

How long has he been out there

T_T

BEARS

YEAH!!! WOLF VS BEAR!!!!!

I am clasping my hand over my mouth and barely breathing right now

😭😭😭😭😭😭

Can we get an F in the chat for the wolf

*collapses on the floor sobbing*

Dnahwidjabagbcsfnkjvsgbcsgjoqndoabhkqofmahenfknqhzndjahnfkzlanjnajfnavajnckqksnhenahjsfnsjanjdmakfkqbhakkfbaybao

#camp camp #reactions #aftermath conversation

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queensparklekitten · 5 years ago

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3 episodes

And I'll be caught up.

I'll be watching precure at a forced rate of one episode a week.

What will I do with all that time... I've been watching this so long that it's become the biggest part of my life and I've forgotten how to spend my time when I don't have anything to watch...

I don't know... and right before the several-part season finale... waiting a week between episodes to know what happens next is going to be torture.

Then again, I did the full year-long wait for Endgame. I can manage a week.

...but that was when I had precure to watch. I will have nothing to watch while waiting soon.

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miscellaneousfurbies · 7 years ago

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Previous years: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 It is again time for the annual roundup! It feels this was not a particularly good animanga year in terms of amount of series consumed, but when it comes to enthusiasm Attack on Titan has single handedly offered more excitement than anything else in the past... I dunno, 3 or 4 years. Attack on Titan

Finally ended up giving this a proper chance, mostly by accident, and I'm still in that hole. I'd say that a sizeable amount of my appreciation for this manga comes from how it stands out from all the other action shounen I've read in terms of how it deals with common shounen characters, themes and tropes, but as of late I've learnt to appreciate more how it stands on its own as well. Also as upset as I am that I'm so late to the party at least catching up to happened at a relatively good spot, since I found it was easier for me to get into the new arc without the main cast when I just had gotten some 50 chapters worth of material with my favourites. And with the new developments the wait was definitely worth it, even if I'm as thirsty as everyone else for the rest of the main cast's new designs.

Awards given: Best manga, Best boy (Eren), Best OP that I didn't actually see (didn't watch the anime outside listening to some music), Best friendship (Eren and Historia), Best mentor (Levi)

Made in Abyss

Heard this got a lot of praise so I decided to check it out too, knowing only that it's supposedly pretty grim. At first it seemed like just a "plucky kids go on an adventure" kind of show, even if the darker elements were always there (like how the main characters embarked on their journey fully aware that they won't be coming back). The upper layers of the titular Abyss felt pretty easy for their rumoured danger level, but when things finally went south they did so spectacularly. Very bad things happen to children in this show! Overall I really liked the Abyss as a location, the characters were great and especially the female characters were way above average (as in, pretty much got treated equally with the dudes).

Awards given: Best anime, Best OP I actually saw

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

This one I watched just because it looked cute. Which it was I guess, KyoAni's animation is always a pleasure to watch, but I got little else out of it. Kanna teeters between actually cute and manipulative-and-kinda-disgusting.

Awards given: Best cute animation, Best side boy (Fafnir)

Spirit Circle

Finally bothered to get into another manga from one of my favourite authors, and it was definitely worth it. The story revolving around the two protagonists reincarnating in different periods and often ending up killing one another was definitely something more unique than usual, the plot was well thought out, and the character work was just as great as I had learned to expect from the author (plus the female characters don't suck). On top of it all there is the strange calm and positive atmosphere despite sometimes grim subject matter that Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer also had. The art still isn't that amazing and sometimes the space-time talk gets way over my head but otherwise an excellent read.

Awards given: Best girl (Kouko (and iterations)), Best laughs, Best romance

One Piece

Not sure if it's because of the quality of the manga itself or because Attack on Titan dethroned One Piece from the top spot, but my interest in OP has waned a little in the past year. I haven't been able to get into Sanji's family drama, and the stuff with Big Mom has raised some good expectations but so far hasn't quite managed to live up to them. However my interest has only decreased in relation to the series itself, and compared to everything else I've consumed OP still stands tall, and Best Bunny Carrot even got to do something so I'm good I guess?

Awards given: Best side girl (Carrot)

The magical girl corner:

Doki Doki! Precure

I thought this was from last year but apparently no. So here it is, my least favourite magical girl series of all time! Might also be the least favourite anime in general (judgement pending)! Those interested can find a long rant here, but the tl;dr is that the show revolves around glorifying the main character who has no flaws, has no character development since she's amazing from the start, gets all the other characters' personal storylines be about her too, gets the story to bend so that she's always right in the end, and so on. Ugh! Though I must say that at least that in a way the series was interesting in how blindly and confidently it assumes everyone in the audience has the default assumption that the main character is the most amazing thing to ever grace this earth with her presence.

Awards given: Worst anime, Worst girl (Mana), Worst “romance"(whatever it is when everyone proclaims their 'love' for Mana), Worst friendship (Mana being the center of everyone's universe)

Kira Kira Precure a la Mode

Tried watching an ongoing Precure series this time, and while I'm still some episodes behind it could be a lot worse. Overall a really lackluster season and suffers from the same problems as the other Precure seasons I've seen: generic, unambitious, noncommittal, repetitive... There's very little going on with the plot, and while I do like some of the characters it's hard to care when the show is so adamant at doing nothing interesting with them. However it's still the best out of the Precure seasons I've seen so far properly, which probably says more about the other two's (HapiCha and DokiDoki) quality. And I do have to commend KiraKira for sticking to the sweets theme; at least it's clearly about something.

I've also watched some Go! Princess Precure which blows the other three Precure I've seen out of the water, but I haven't made very far. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it next year.

Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero: Washio Sumi chapter / Hero chapter

Why is it always the dark magical girl shows that try anything new and interesting!? I find that the new YuYuYu stuff has had some really clunky and awkward direction, stock characters, limited animation and ham-fisted drama, but I still appreciate what it's doing with its plot. Also gotta love the veteran magical girl's reaction to the new magic system which allows them to trade defence barriers for +1000% power: "lol back in my day we didn't have any shields in the first place!"

Awards given: Best magical girl outfits

Also finished Flip Flappers (final verdict: cool premise and looks interesting, execution a little uneven but still worth watching), Punchline (an uneven but still interesting little thing with great character designs), Uta Kata (a slow moving dark magical girl show with some nice ideas, good outfit designs, poor animation and awkward fanservice) and Pop in Q (mostly forgettable upbeat magical girl thing; though it did manage to hold interest for its short length).

Awards given: Biggest WTF (Uta Kata's poorly implemented fanservice), Best character designs (Punchline)

I also watched the second season of Hibike Euphonium, but I can't remember if it was at the end of 2016 but either way I don't have a lot to say about it.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp

Good old Animal Crossing in mobile form, there's not much else to it and there's very little to do, but I'm a sucker for collecting and the leisurely and friendly atmosphere is worth it. Seeing Tom Nook ask for real money this time was definitely the highlight even if I'd never pay for a mobile game myself.

Awards given: Biggest Time-Waster (but I still keep playing it)

I've also kept playing Pokemon Go but there's not a lot to say about it, like can you add some new gameplay stuff to it please? Also did not get Ultra Sun/Moon. I didn't care too much for Alola and most of the new content seems to be about the Ultra stuff which is unlikable to me by default; I've never been into the legendary/mythical/ultra/save the world from apocalypse aspect of the games, like just let me train my pets to become the very best like no on ever was.

Not a lot of negative awards this year it seems. The bad stuff I read was just forgettable instead of bad in a funny way or so bad it's fun to hate it.

Plans for 2018:

Finally watch the Attack on Titan anime to catch up with the rest of the fandom and prepare for my favourite arc getting adapted

Finish with the mostly disappointing Digimon Adventure Tri.

Watch the newest Precure as it airs, finish Go! Princess and at least one of the earlier seasons

More magical girls! Maybe finally check out Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card arc, finish Matoi the Sacred Slayer (which has been on my list since 2016...), Pretear, series where the magical girl is a side character (Concrete Revoutio, Samurai Flamenco, re:Creators, Invaders of the Rokujyoma!?)

Finally watch Neon Genesis Evangelion (been working on it since 2005) and finish Gurren Lagann

Finish reading Neuro

Read Sengoku Youko, NaruTaru and Rozen Maiden

maybe get a Switch and the new Zelda and Mario games for it

Maybe I'll get to at least a fourth of these...?

#my stuff

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ladyloveandjustice · 7 years ago

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Summer 2017 Anime Overview: My Hero Academia Season 2 and KiraKira Precure a la Mode

We return to our look at the summer 2017 anime. I’ve been reviewing the seven anime I watched from worst to best. Previously I talked about the two weakest anime I watched and an anime that was kind of mixed and middling. Now we’re going to talk about too anime I watched that I consider to be Very Good and would overall recommend (with some warnings and caveats regarding some stuff for one of them). Let’s dig in!

My Hero Academia Season 2

I found the first season of My Hero Academia to be pretty good but nothing to get excited about- but damn, this season officially sucked me in. I am now a Fan. Very unwillingly, I might add, but the show wrestled my doubting heart into submission with its endearing characters. fight-y fun and surprisingly good handling of growth and relationships (for the most part).

The basic concept behind My Hero Academia is that in a world where most people have some form of superpower, superheroism is considered a legit profession. Nerdy teenager Izuku Midoriya really wants to be a hero, but he’s one of the few people born without superpowers. However, when he encounters his idol, the number one hero All Might, everything changes and he soon finds himself enrolled in the top-ranked superhero academy.

MHA sparked my interest by being a superhero show (I’m a huge comics nerd) and kept me interested by having a legit adorable and sympathetic protagonist (Midoriya is very earnest and also cries a lot, both things I find intensely cute and relatable), good animation and generally solid fights and storytelling. But it wasn’t really until this season that it came into it’s own as an impressive ensemble show. It subverted quite a few expectations I had, in a really good way and delivered on some pretty incredible character work and interesting world building. Also, it has a great soundtrack.

The season opened with a tournament arc, and I usually find those pretty boring in shonen (though still good, they were easily my least fave parts of HXH, for instance) but this one really mixed things up by weaving in some really good emotional hooks for the one-on-one fights and actually *gasp* developing characters and rivalries that WEREN’T focused on the protagonist.

Rather than going the safe and expected route of having a big match-up be between Midoriya and his intimidating, violent explosion-happy rival, the series showed us a fight between explosion dude and the adorable, sweet main female character (whose superpowers were NOT well-suited for fighting his explosions) and used it to showcase her determination even against incredible odds and further her story along.

It also explored her motive for being a hero- her family isn’t well off and she wants to make some serious cash so they can live in comfort. She worried this motive was “unheroic” but was reassured it was admirable, which was nice to see, especially considering how female characters are generally discouraged from being ambitious.

But the biggest highlight of the arc was the exploration of one character’s trauma and abuse. An arc revolved around a characrer (Todoroki Shouto) having difficulty using the powers he inherited from his abusive father. The story was heartbreaking and well-done and addressed in a very moving way with a very emotional “you are not your parents, it’s your power and body, not theirs” core- but what really impressed me was that the arc’s acknowledgement that this kid’s recovery would not be instantaneous and it was going to be a long and difficult process involving many other steps.

In most shows, once Todoroki had gotten his weird therapy session courtesy of the protagonist, Midoriya, and had been able to use his powers once, it would have been over, done, he’s fixed and he can totally use them now. But instead, the show acknowledged that being able to overcome his trauma enough to use them for a few minutes didn’t mean he’s now so recovered he can just use them whenever he wants. Todoroki realized that he had a lot of unresolved issues he needed to work through and a lot of steps he needed to take before he could recover enough to be truly comfortable with using his powers all the time. “It’s not that I’ve accepted anything, it’s just that, for a moment, I was able to forget about [my dad]”, as he put it. And the show showed us that it had every intention of following him through that recovery process.

Seeing this over-the-top show about superpowers and fights where people suffer ridiculous injuries actually approach trauma recovery in a realistic and nuanced way really shocked me and also majorly tugged by heartstrings. The whole conflict also added some depth to the show’s world building- Todoroki’s scumbag dad is one of the top superheroes out there, despite being a totally horrible person. When being a superhero is a competitive profession rather than a calling you get people who aren’t necessarily “good” or into “saving people” as much as they are in it to make a profit and show off their powers. Which went nicely with the themes of the arc that followed the tournament arc.

The way the show plays around with typical shonen tropes is also great- the show has the highly gifted, arrogant once-upon-a-time-they-were-friends rival for our main character, but he doesn’t become insufferable like most of those characters because the show makes fun of him constantly. None of the other characters put up with his bullshit or take him seriously, he’s constantly called out and made fun of for his asshole attitude and the main character finds him genuinely unpleasant to be around and tried to avoid him socially. This allows his ANGRY EDGELORD nature to be funny rather than annoying, because the show’s in on it too.

And while Todoroki also could have also been a brooding asshole rival character, he’s pretty quickly to be revealed as a nice, kinda dorky guy who’s just quiet, awkward and introverted due to trauma and lack of social interaction. The show’s really self aware in how if plays with these character archetypes for the most part, and that makes it a pleasure to watch.

The show continued its solid character work, punctuated by dramatic and well done fight scenes, through the next arc. Almost every single kid on the show got a moment to shine this season, and you got to know them as characters and heroes and I came to realize- hey, I REALLY LIKE most of these characters.They’re being developed in a fun and interesting way, and they have lives and motivations that don’t just revolve around the main character. And the relationships and dynamics between the various characters are fun and heartwarming too.

And this includes the girls, who, while definitely outnumbered by the boys and underutilized compared to them, are really competent, interesting and have some great moments and arcs going. I especially enjoyed the mini-arc where one of the girls lost confidence in her ability to lead and thought a dude would be better at it, only for him to assure her she’s way better suited for it than him. Always nice to see ladies in command being respected by the dudes with them.

But that does bring us to the fact that while it has some good female characters, the show also has some pretty big sexism issues. All the older female heroes we’ve seen so far are basically walking sex jokes/fanservice dispensers and even some of the younger female characters are uncomfortably sexualized (Momo’s got the classic “oh she has to wear a ridiculously impractical costume because her powers require it” aka “I gave this teenage female character these powers specifically so I could sexualize her”). The fanservice gets to the point of distracting from the plot at times.

There’s a huge absence of female mentors so far (I hear that gets better later) and out of the entire teaching staff of the school, only one is a woman (and her character boils down to “bondage joke”) What’s more, while the girls are good fighters, their powers tend to be less offensive and "powerful” than the boys (this is especially obvs if you look at their official stats). Oh and there’s this fucker:

...who routinely sexually harasses and assaults his female classmates and it’s supposed to be funny and harmless. Every single time this asshole comes on screen u have to put up with a deluge of gross-ass comments and seeing the female characters repeatedly be objectified and have their space invaded. And no, them hitting him or other characters saying it’s gross does not make it okay. It’s still allowed, it’s still clearly there to be “funny” and “titillating” and it still uses girls being abused as a “fun” interlude. That’s NOT okay. It’s not funny. He adds nothing to the show, he just grinds everything to a halt and makes everything uncomfortable. It’s jarring, and takes you out of an otherwise well done story. I really want him and this type of “humor” to be ejected from the show.

But yeah, with those major issues in mind (and god I wish they weren’t there), I still really enjoyed MHA and can’t wait until the next season. The plot’s ramping up and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

KiraKira Precure a la Mode

Kira Kira Precura a La Mode follows a group of magical girls with superpowers based on both sweets and animals. They run a pastry shop together and protect their city from monsters who want to suck the energy of people who are happily enjoying their favorite confections.

Okay, this is still ongoing, but I think it’s safe for me to say at this point that KiraKira is well on its way to being one of my favorite Precure shows, which considering how I’m a pretty big Precure fan, says a lot.

The writing is solid, the characters are fun and well-developed and the animation and art design is well-done and adorable.

This season added a few fun new touches to the Precure formula, including having two older girls on the team- a pair of 17 year olds hanging with the 14 yr olds (14 is the typical age for Precure protagonists). This pair is a butch and femme couple pretty clearly patterned after Haruka and Michiru- and yes, that also means they are fairly blatantly a lesbian couple.

There is in fact an entire episode revolving around Yukari (femme cat magical girl) trying to make Akira (butch dog magical girl) jealous by threatening to marry a prince and making Akira compete with him for her love. All the while, Akira struggles with whether she should share her true feelings with Yukari. This culminates in a big love confession scene that added ten years to my life. Seeing the younger girls aggressively encourage and support their relationship is great too.

So yeah, about as blatant as S-season Haruka and Michiru- which, if you understand that reference, means there ARE some scenes that try to cast ambiguity on the relationship. This one, for instance, where Akira acts flustered in response to the prince’s suppositions about her relationship with Yukari (and his incorrect assumption about her gender), makes sense in the context of a just forming relationship, but also didn’t add much to show and was likely included so the show could make it seem ambiguous if Yukari and Akira will truly enter a relationship.

However, it has been a long time since we’ve gotten lesbians this blatant in a magical girl show aimed at young girls. Ever since the days of Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon, gay subtext and text in magical girl shows has been much lighter (and heck, even fanservicey aimed-at-guys magical girl shows don’t seem to have the guts to have girls kiss).

So the fact Precure is now deliberately homaging and emulating Haruka and Michiru and doing blatant love triangle/confession scenes IS a big deal and a step in the right direction. It’s sad we haven’t progressed since the days of Sailor Moon, but it’s good we’re at least not regressing anymore. And while Akira and Yukari haven’t gotten the word of god “Yes they are lesbians” confirmation Naoko Takeuchi gave Haruka and Michiru, (at least, not any we’ve heard of in the West), I wouldn’t say it’s outside the realm of possibility that could happen. (I really doubt the “lol we’re having sex” lines similar to what we got in Sailor Moon Stars will happen though, just because Precure doesn’t do sexual innuendo).

And it’s worth mentioning, we do have an official duet song for Yukari and Akira that’s VERY blatantly romantic. “Koi” is even in the title.

Yukari and Akira are a censored relationship for sure, and it’s obnoxious and wrong those censors are still in place (though not surprising, considering this is a big corporate studio running Precure). They should be able to kiss, they should be openly dating. However, they are obvious enough that if they were a straight couple, we’d be calling them canon at this point, so I’m gonna. Also, I have to shout out that they’ve poured on Utena references GALORE with these two, and I’m super into that.

It should also be noted that Akira is allowed to maintain her butchness even after transforming into a magical girl- she gets a frilly PRINCE outfit. That’s a first for a magical girl show aimed at girls (unless you count Utena, which I don’t for various reasons). She’s never derided for her lack of femininity either (in fact she’s considered cool and attractive) which is a very good affirming message for young girls. There’s also another episode that frames rebellion against enforced traditional femininity as a good thing and has women standing up for and supporting other women who don’t follow gender roles.

To state the obvious, Precure is a show that exists in a capitalist society. So it’s focused on selling toys to little girls and those toys are often stereotypically hyper-feminine. However, it’s still valuable and positive that this show is casting non-gender conforming heroes in a positive light- if a little girl wants to play as Akira, she might have a pink compact, but she can use it to become a dashing butch prince. The lines are blurring in a good way.

Yukari is also notable as a great character- she’s not the genki girl archetype, but messy, petty and a bit cynical. She’s complex. The episodes where she struggles with whether she’s a “good girl” are pretty inspiring and carry the message girls can be heroes even if they’re not all sunshine and daisies.

In fact, all the characters in the season are ALL pretty solid. Their relationships are fleshed out and so are their arcs. The dynamic the whole team has is great. The villains redemption arcs are strong as well. And as always, it’s cute as heck and bursting with lady friendship feels.

My biggest problem with this show would be pacing- it suffers from being two rushed a lot of the time, and often tries to cram way too much in one episode rather than giving conflicts and arcs room to breathe. But that’s my only big issue.

It’s possible KiraPre could have a disappointing finale, but I at least feel confident it won’t end in total disaster. It shows none of the warning signs shows like Hachepre did- there’ve been no love triangles, bland male love interests or anything of the sort shoehorned in, so I don’t feel I have to worry about the worst happening (the “worst” being “the finale revolves around soothing a dude’s wounded ego, with the bond between the magical girls and their power being sidelined for the sake of really uncomfortable and contrived het romance”, if you haven’t seen HachaPre).

Let’s hope KiraPre’s finish is as strong as the rest of it has been!

#my hero academia #kirakira precure a la mode #kira kira precure a la mode #anime overview #summer 2017 anime

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wild-blue-sonder · 8 years ago

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Kat Recommends Anime

Hello anime fans who are younger than me! I know a lot of you are probably watching stuff like Attack on Titan and Yuri on Ice and Naruto Next Gen and Madoka Magica or whatever else on platforms like Hulu, Netflix and Crunchyroll. Back in my time we had to stay up late on school days to get our dosage of anime from Toonami. It’s so awesome that we live in an age where you can just binge-watch an entire series instead of waiting for new episodes to air, and sometimes you didn’t even get to see them because your parents made you go to bed! Since I was born in 1990 I fully experienced the anime boom that took place between then and 2005. I’m here to recommend some older anime you might not have seen or heard of, stuff that I still hold in high regard to this day for its characters, plot, style or any combination of the three... actually, usually all three. Let’s go!

1: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (1992, 5 seasons, 200 episodes) Real talk: Sailor Moon Crystal was only produced so Bandai and Toei could capitalize on the nostalgia factor that a lot of companies are taking advantage of these days because my generation is coming into money. Sailor Moon began airing in the USA in 1995 and ended in 2002, though the fifth and final season Stars was never dubbed in English. I recommend watching this in Japanese because the English voice acting is atrocious. Sailor Moon is quintessential magical girl anime. It might not be as shiny and pretty as newer stuff like Madoka and Precure, but if you haven’t seen it then you definitely should because it will give you a better appreciation for the genre.

2: Trigun (1998, 26 episodes) Trigun is awesome. If you watch it in English you’ll probably recognize the voice talents of Johnny Yong Bosch, Lia Sargent and Jeff Nimoy, who did a lot of work in anime from this time period. Trigun is in the space western genre and follows the same premise as Rurouni Kenshin: goofy main character with a serious side is on a mission to stop the bad guy he’s emotionally attached to, with a host of side characters he also gets attached to even though he’d be better off alone and brooding. If you like good character development and lots of action, this is the retro anime for you.

3: Cowboy Bebop (1998, 26 episodes) Another space western with some noir flavoring, Cowboy Bebop features really likeable characters engaging in shenanigans with occasional bouts of seriousness. The intro theme is an awesome composition by Yoko Kanno. This anime requires reasonable suspension of disbelief- humans have colonized planets and moons throughout the solar system and seldom delves into the technology behind it. The English dub is really good thanks to veteran voice actors Steve Blum and Wendee Lee. Definitely a must-see if you haven’t.

4: Cardcaptor Sakura (1998, 3 seasons, 70 episodes) The American adaption “Cardcaptors” is just awful compared to the original version, so don’t bother with it. This is another magical girl anime that differs from most because the protagonist is in elementary school instead of junior high or high school. Despite her age she’s extremely relatable and displays all-important magical girl traits of appreciating her friends and remaining optimistic in the face of impending doom. It is worth noting that every single transformation scene, which are not drawn-out and flashy like Sailor Moon’s, is individually animated, and the quality really shines through. The premise behind Sakura’s magic is also explained quite well. This series is in my top five fave anime of all time.

5: FLCL/Fooly Cooly (2001, 6 episodes) This anime is interesting and off-the-wall in ways I’ve never seen replicated. It’s essentially a comedic coming-of-age story with dashes of sci-fi. The characters are all really interesting, the plot seems incoherent until the very end, and Kari Wahlgren makes the English dub worthwhile (the other voice actors are good too). Super short, super unconventional, super hilarious.

6: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002, 2 seasons, 52 episodes) A rich, complex cyberpunk/sci-fi world of cyborgs, robots and hackers. The animation was way ahead of its time. Inner Universe is one of the greatest anime themes ever and a great track in its own right. SAC appeals to a mature audience who can appreciate the themes and nuances. Really great main character design with a bevy of useful and interesting side characters. There is never a dull or sluggish moment with this series.

7: Wolf’s Rain (2003, 30 episodes) I haven’t encountered very many people who are familiar with this anime either in-person or online, and honestly that makes me sad because it’s freakin’ beautiful. Just listen to these two songs from the soundtrack. Yeah, that’s what you have to look forward to. Do you like wolves? Of course you do. Do you like wolves who project themselves as humans to avoid persecution in a post-apocalyptic world and go on a quest fraught with danger? Watch it and find out.

8: Samurai Champloo (2004, 26 episodes) This anime is #3 on my top favorites list. Stop watching shows that are full of bullshit filler and obnoxious side characters and pointless plot avoidance and just watch this. There are three main characters and their dynamic is perfect. The characters themselves are perfect. The plot progression is perfect. The resolution is pretty perfect too. It makes you want more but you’re not gonna get more, so go read some awesome fanfiction when you’re done. SamCham takes place in the Edo period and is fairly historically accurate, which contributes to the hilarity of certain scenes. It also has really good intro and outro themes; I hum the chorus of Shiki no Uta all the time.

9: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (2004, 4 series, 64 episodes) Another anime not many people seem to be familiar with probably because it was never dubbed in English. Lyrical Nanoha is a magical girl/sci-fi anime that deals with some darker subjects than most, but it handles them quite well. Strikers is my favorite “arc” of the series because it’s full of kick-ass ladies. The way this show handles magic is a bit more technical; the weapon designs are awesome and change form several times, but not to the point of being stupidly overpowered. The character designs themselves are also really cool because they’re actually suited for combat and not just looking pretty.

10: Paranoia Agent (2004, 13 episodes) This series is a really great psychological drama in which average people who are all a little fucked up in some way get attacked by a boy on roller blades with a baseball bat. A pair of detectives are assigned to track him down, but no one is certain he even exists. The animation is pretty standard for the time but the characters are where the focus lies. If you don’t mind something a bit more adult, give this a watch.

Bonus: IGPX- Immortal Grand Prix (2005, 26 episodes) IGPX is unique in that it was actually produced by the Toonami branch of Cartoon Network with help from a Japanese studio. If mechs and racing are up your alley then this is a fun, simple, fairly light-hearted series to watch if you’ve seen everything else.

There you have it, my favorite anime that might be older than you. If you decide to watch anything from this list, let me know what you thought of it!

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