#love you chikurun

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Hope your enjoying Mahoutsukai Precure its a rough but enjoyable series. And arguably has a brilliant film. After Healin Good whats your next planned series?

Well I just finished the final episode yesterday, and I felt this last third was really good, though still a little flawed at times.

There’s a good balance of episodes in both worlds, which does help one of my earlier complaints that there wasn’t enough time spent in the Magic World.

We also meet Riko’s parents, Lian (who I thought was a reincarnated Dokurokushe, so that’s on me) and Lilia (voiced by Junko Iwao of Cardcaptor Sakura fame), who are pretty enjoyable characters who contrast, as Lien is more stoic while Lilia is far more emotional, showing what Riko got her personality from.

It’s also really satisfying to see Jun, Emily, and Kei’s subtle development in other episodes. I like how earlier on, Emily was afraid to fly on a broom, but by Episode 38, she’s a far more skilled flyer, and how Kei went from someone who constantly forgot everything to someone who made it a habit to write everything down and become more attentive, and how Jun went from a lazy bum who had no motivation to come to class to someone with more of an interest in fashion in the No-Magic World. It’s subtle, but I like how the writers took the time to develop these side characters. Part of me wonders if they were meant to be part of the team originally, but the idea was scrapped with how much focus she got.

There’s also some really clever worldbuilding and foreshadowing. There are two episodes focusing on some crop shortages, but it turns out both of them are connected to the villains, and are a hint things are going to go south. We also learn that Haa-chan is actually meant to be the successor to Mother Rapapa, essentially the goddess of magic, giving her more focus and more of a role in the endgame, which was good, because I was worried the Emerald would get shelved in favor of the Rainbow Carriage.

The new villain faction Labut was a part is called Never Ending Chaos, a group of otherworldly beings who try to revive their master, Deusmast, an eldritch god who seeks to drown the world in chaos, and unfortunately, Maxwell Smart is nowhere to be seen.

The main villains themselves are alright, as they’re characters with more fantasy elements as opposed to anthropomorphic animal servants, but like the Dark Magicians, don’t really get a lot of development or screentime.

Shakince is a tengu who... uh... is stoic? Yeah, like Stop and Freeze, he really doesn’t get a lot of personality, and he gets killed in an episode focusing on another character with a connection to a different villain entirely.

Benigyo is a demon who has a little more sass, but much like Sparda, she doesn’t really get a lot of standout moments.

The only member of this faction who is actually an interesting character is Orba, an cold and calculating angel who actually kicked off the events of the series by scattering the hints to dark magic all over the world, and even brought back the Dark Magicians for a couple episodes.

Even though their screentime was short, I loved how their personalities had drastically changed. While Gamettsu was opposed to fighting again after dying a glorious death against Miracle and Magical, he was more interested in fighting Felice because she got her powers from the Emerald. Batty was more depressed at the loss of his master, so he didn’t really want to do much until he was the only one left (and he ended up helping the team towards the end), so Sparda of all people had to take charge, and showed a lot more personality and leadership skills she really needed earlier in the series. I really wish these guys got more screentime after their revivals, and played more of a part in the final battle. It was still nice to see Batty enroll at the Magical Academy though at the end. Good for you, magical man bat.

Another semi-villain is Chikurun, a bee fairy who was blackmailed by Orba into serving Never Ending Chaos after being caught slacking off on the job and acted as a spy to gain information on Team Mahoutskai, but grew to like them, and eventually betrayed his masters. Yeah, that’s right. It’s entirely possible to write a selfish bee-themed character and give them a redemption arc. The writers didn’t just condemn him to eternal suffering or write him off as a lost cause, and neither do the Cures.

Deusmast himself is just an awesome villain, and is my favorite of the four main villains of the four seasons I’ve seen conceptually. Rather than give him a stereotypical gravely or deep voice, he actually speaks through Labut, Shakince, Benigyo, and Orba because they’re all actually extensions of him, a really clever twist that I didn’t see coming. Even his design is just so inhuman compared to Dune, Darknest, or Dyspear, towering the Earth itself which adds to the scare factor

While the final battle with Deusmast is relatively short (clocking in at around five minutes), it’s clear the more powerful conflict is Mirai having to say goodbye to Riko and Haa-chan. Deusmast pulls a Star Butterfly and blends the worlds together, so defeating him would essentially separate them, leading to an emotional goodbye scene. There’s a lot of drama in this scene and excellent performances and animation in what happened, arguably more powerful than Hikaru saying goodbye to Lala. Admittedly, the reunion five years later was a little confusing (as well as them all aging back to thirteen year old girls for some reason, but given Haa-chan essentially became God, I’m guessing she did it), but it was still a satisfying finale.

The final episode is more of an epilogue where they fight one last monster and meet up with the next Cure, Ichika/Cure Whip, who seems pretty fun with how energetic her baking skills are, even though I’m pretty sure she’s doing this without supervision, much less a vendor’s license. Maybe I’ll check out her show later on.

I had a lot more problems with this show than the last three, and I think it’s my least favorite of the four I’ve seen so far, but I still thought it was a fun watch.

As for my next series after Healin’ Good Precure, I might check out either Fresh or Hugtto, as I’ve heard good things about them. Hopefully Healin’ Good will be less like Kamen Rider Zero-One and more like Mashin Sentai Kiramager with COVID screwing up the production.

[kdotan]

uhhhh precure for the ask meme??

YEAH BABY!!

my blorbo is Miyuki/Happy from Smile! she just make me hapy to think about :)

skrunkly is Hana absolutely no questions asked she’s Tiny and yet she could drop kick me

scrimblo bimblo is Mirai!! I love her relationship with Riko and Mofurun and i wish more people liked her

Idk if anyone remembers Chikurun from mahou tsukai but he is my glub shitto

my poor meow meows are Yukari and Yuni because they both are Gay and gaslight gatekeep girlbossing their way through their respective seasons

horse plinko is also hana because i love watching her suffer :)

And I would send the OG black/white duo to superhell

thank you all for listening

[karmamiakat]

Toei, why do you hate your best villains so much? I mean, you killed off the villains in Sailor Moon Crystal and the first series (though technically that was Naoko’s fault but they agreed!). You gave Shut a shitty ending by not having him be with Towa and you gave Orba and the other Chaos generals the shaft and not have them at least be reborn somewhere to live a full life?!?

And then of course, you decide to give the lizard guy a chance but not the other generals?  I mean granted, yeah they’re a part of Deusmast, but Deustmast doesn’t need a brain or body now since he’s a galaxy and it’s sorta established that the Chaos generals have some sort of will of their own, why couldn’t they be reborn? Did you see how Orba looked when he realize that he was just a part of Deusmast??? 

 Have them be humans or magic users!  I would loved to see Orba in that costume instead of Batty! Orba would have been so much cuter since hello? Blue is his color! He’s beautiful especially in blue! Don’t believe me? Here! See for yourself!

Look how adorable he is! Image found here.

I was hoping to at least see Orba one more time before the end of Mahou Tsukai... Shoot, does this ending even need to exist? I was hoping they would show how everyone was doing but it only shows the Idiot Trio and what Reiko would have turned out to be. Granted I am happy that the cures get to be together and be all magical now and I like Mahou Tsukai better than most people do, but even I’m like “WTF” with this episode!  It really doesn’t need to exist. The last episode when Deusmast was turned into a galaxy, would have been a fine episode to end it. Least it wouldn’t have gotten my hopes up of seeing Orba and the other generals once again...

Poor Orba....I love you, Orba. Don’t worry! You and the Chaos group can be Sailor Soldiers in my fanfic. You’ll live a full establish life fighting evil, while living as professor at the Magic School and Chikurun can be your guardian mascot. 

What? Sailor Moon and Precure are from the same studio. It could happen! They made this episode happen somehow!

[karmatechfiction]

Sailor Magicians of Deusmast Galaxy

Little idea that same to me when Deusmast became a galaxy, instead of killed off. What if the four general orbs became planets and each general became a guardian of that planet? Since Toei owns Sailor Moon, it wouldn’t be too far fetch for Sailor Soldiers to also exist in the Precure World. Least I can picture Sailor Scouts ending up in the Precure Universe, somehow. So here are the four generals as Sailor Guardians. 

I even gave them civilian names as if they were reborn on earth or the Magic World and have their original names be the names of the planets they guard in the Deusmast Galaxy.

Sailor Orba (Leader of the Deusmast Soldiers)

Civilian name: Marino Nunzio (Name Origin: Italian; “Marino” means “Sailor of the sea” and “Nunzio” means “messenger”)

Element: Water and ice

Sailor of: Intuition and Intelligence

Personality/Bio: Kind and a little shy. He’s the glue that holds everyone together, since he’s the most reasonable. He’s confident but does have moments of insecurity from time to time. Marino/Orba can be very strict as a fighter but very calm and can be a little snarky sometimes. Naturally he’s the brainy one of the bunch and can usually be found reading a good book when relaxing.

Trivia: I picked Orba as a leader naturally because he’s the most intelligent and the most developed of the four Deusmast generals. I also kinda made him slightly the crush of Benigyo, because she kinda grew on me and I think the two could have good chemistry together. I picked the name “Marino” because Orba is kinda similar to my character “Marittimo”, in both being really smart and yes, if Orba was reborn on earth, I kinda picture him to be of Italian origin, since Orba is Italian name or word. I picture Marino/Orba to be a teacher or professor of some sort and be a wizard type magician. I also added Chikurun because, again, I picture them to be good friends and Chikurun could be the mascot/familiar of them.

Sailor Benigyo (The Sexy Sailor of Passion)

Civilian name: Akasuki "Akako" Kohana (Akasuki means "fond of red" "akako" means "red" and "Kohana" "flower child")

Element: Fire (of course)

Sailor of: Passion and Love

Personality/Bio: She’s still very similar to her old self, except, not as cruel or mean of course. Akako works as a beautician mostly and fashion designer. She loves to give people advice on beauty and when she gives people a look they’re happy with, it makes her happy. She’s hot tempered a little bit but can be nurturing, especially towards Marino/Orba as she has a slight crush on him.

Trivia: Benigyo was a little bit challenging on the design part. I didn’t know what to do at first and eventually decided to make her outfit similar to power up. She’s of Japanese origin. Her sailor aura and gem is a reddish pink color. A witch type magician.

Sailor Shakince (Strongman of the Soldiers)

Civilian Name: Kamau Ziyad (Kamau "Quiet Warrior" Ziyad "To become greater")

Element: Earth

Sailor of: Strength and Improvement/Growth

Personality/Bio: Much like his original self, Kamau/Shakince is very much a muscle head. He does everything he can to become stronger physically and occasionally mentally. He’s the most strict of the bunch. Often clashing with Labut. He gets a long a little better with Orba, but often thinks that Orba should work out more than just his mind. He’s also a bit kinder than his usual self and doesn’t believe in picking in others weaker than him He has a bit more honor to him. Kamau is good in many sports but his favorite towards Javelin Throwing (which is throwing a spear like stick the farthest) and Discus Throwing. (throwing a disc in a great distance).

Trivia: A bit challenging thinking about what he would be like as a human. I looked and studied Shakince’s design and decided that he should be of African descent, since his clothing, especially in boss form is slightly similar to African culture designs. I kept his markings and colors similar to make him recognizable. Shakince is a Shaman type Magician which is why doesn’t have a Witch/Wizard hat.

Sailor Labut (Free Spirit of the Soldiers)

 Civilian Name: Jaya Dipaka (Jaya "Victorious" Dipaka "Little Lamp")

Element: Wind

Sailor of: Happiness and Luck

Personality/Bio: Very laid back and happy of the bunch. Labut/Jaya is very optimistic and hardly anything gets him down. He’s often found lazing around, eating something but enjoys cooking a lot. His favorite foods are cury and strawberry sweets such as strawberry short cake. He loves to cook because it’s something both himself and others can enjoy.

Trivia: I had a hard time imagining him as a sailor and still be, well heavy set. (That and the doll maker doesn’t have other body types. I know I could draw him fat too but...again hard to imagine him being a soldier and be like that.) I know that sounds so rude but when fighting villains, you kinda have to be fit. That’s sorta why there aren’t any soldiers in Sailor Moon or Precure that are “of different body types”. Labut in the anime only fights because he relies so much on his power in the series and being a genie, he doesn’t have to move on his legs that much. It would be a bit different story if he had to fight physically all the time. Please don’t attack me for that. I’m not trying to make fun of anyone or say anyone fat is ugly or bad. It’s just fact. Why you think there aren’t any athletes that of “different body types”? Any comments regarding this will be ignored and the person blocked. I ain’t your mama for your drama.

Anyway, Labut I made of Indian descent. He is a monk type magician (which again explains lack of the witch/wizard hat). Another thing I had trouble with was the design. I had to go back and redo it, since Labut is very plain (I mean all he wore was a red shirt and overalls), so that’s one of the reasons why Labut is a little less extravagant.

These were done in the Sailor Senshi Maker 3 but edited in the Pixlr to do things such as pants and added details such as hats and wands.

[kihocrystal]

Mahou Tsukai Precure - Final Impressions

It’s that time of year again; another Precure series has finished its run! You can find my thoughts about Mahou Tsukai Precure under the cut!

Mahou Tsukai Precure! - 7.5 - 8.0 / 10 (B-)

This season was on the weaker side (in comparison to past Precure seasons), but I still had a good time with it and found aspects that I really enjoyed~

art/animation:

Toei did a fine job overall here! everything looks very bright and colorful~

there’s also good use of highlights & sparkles, giving characters lots of shine!

I really liked the art-style in general, as I liked how the rounded eyes & fluffy hair were drawn!

Edit: I forgot about the form changes the Precure have this time around (Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, and Topaz)!

I liked their implementation much better than in Happiness Charge (since they’re actually used outside of attack animations this time!)

That being said, the extra forms don’t change their style of battle *that* much

Their designs though range from cool to... weird (I’m looking at you, Topaz)

Animation-wise, it had its ups and downs (as most long-running shows do)

In other words, some episodes look great! and others have some off-models shots going on…

Action/fight scenes were also kinda lacking, since there wasn’t much fluidity in their movements

The fights in general were pretty short overall and relied a lot on stock sequences

Those stock sequences (transformations, finishers, etc.) though looked pretty good!

Every other type of scene had pretty standard animation overall (though that art style does help)

CGI is used for the endings again, which doesn’t bother me at all since it looks great!

characters:

The cast was fun overall, but the standouts are definitely the main girls & mascot!

Mirai and Riko are such a good duo! I liked seeing their bonds grow over time, plus they have a good dynamic together!

I also liked how both girls had to adapt to being in a new world! plus both girls reacted differently to their new surroundings!

Mirai was full of wonder, while Riko learned to appreciate the non-magic world (& her family!!!) over time!

Mofurun is definitely one of the best mascots Precure’s had in quite a while!

She’s just super caring, and is basically Mirai’s childhood friend brought to life! What a good idea!

Kotoha/Haa-chan is fun, super bubbly, and had her share of life lessons too! And of course, she develops a strong bond w/ Mirai and Riko too~

(she’s also a nice nod to Hana-chan from Ojamajo Doremi :P)

Plus, I love how all three Precure girls have great seiyuus behind them! Rie Takahashi, Yui Horie, and Saori Hayami! :D

The villains this season were just… okay overall.

The first half minions had some fun personalities at least! They just didn’t get to do much

Also it’s worth noting that Batty actually turned good by the end! (+ the rest came back to fight during the 2nd half too!)

Plus Dokuroxy himself being a former friend of the Headmaster was a nice touch

The second half minions weren’t that exciting either…

There is one exception to this though: Orba’s definitely the best minion of the bunch!

I just really liked how he was super analytical and scheming… he even blackmailed Chikurun into working for him

Plus his seiyuu’s performance (by Noriaki Sugiyama) really helped here too

While i’m talking about seiyuu’s, can I just mention how there’s at least *three* seiyuus from the F/SN series in this???

Kirei’s VA played Gamettsu, Tokiomi’s VA played Shakince, and Shirou’s VA played Orba! it’s like a reunion in here!

The rest of the supporting cast isn’t anything to write home about, but they were good, well, *support* to the Procure girls!

I liked how the adults got some spotlight time too! Including the headmaster, Riko’s family, and even Mirai’s grandma!

The Magic world adults even helped the Precure w/ actual plot stuff!!! I love it when shows do that!

Even the classmates from the Magic world got some focus too!

Can’t really say the same for the non-magic world classmates though (besides the girl who kept saying she saw witch stuff)

I can’t forget Chikurun either! He had a simple yet nice character arc that was good to see~

story:

The premise follows two girls from different worlds that become friends and help bridge the gap between those worlds!

Of course, there’s also the transforming and fighting evil part, as is tradition :P

The main aspect of this show that I think goes unappreciated by many is the slice-of-life aspects!

There’s some focus on world-building for both worlds, ranging from different landscapes to culture and traditions!

Just seeing how these worlds contrasted each other (and in some ways cross paths) was cool to see!

I also liked learning about the worlds’ lore, which also tied into the “fighting evil” plot!

The character stories were also one of this show’s strong suits!

Whether it was giving them good development, or simply them just having a good time, I thought it was executed quite well!

These were definitely the best source of this show’s heartwarming moments~

Honestly, I felt like this show was worth watching for this aspect alone!

As for the “fighting-evil” part of the story, this show fell a little flat in comparison to prior entries

While both halves of the show had different villains behind them, both story arcs kinda had the same problems

The plot beats themselves were fine, but its execution felt pretty basic overall

The villains not being as memorable and the two big climax fights feeling rushed didn’t help either

The story overall almost seemed more concerned w/ the “bridging the two worlds” aspect vs. the “defeating the calamity” aspect (focus on the latter aspect definitely lessened over time)

That being said, I did like certain aspects of the story (including adults being involved and the world’s lore tying into the plot)

I don’t even have a problem w/ Haa-chan being a successor to Mother Rapapa! It makes sense w/ the given foreshadowing!

Also Orba’s involvement later on improved the plot progression a bit w/ his actions (including Chikurun’s character arc)

The finale in particular irked me, though…

There was no reason they couldn’t of just made all of episode 49 the final fight, and episode 50 be the timeskip epilogue...

Instead, the final fight lasts only ~10 minutes and the actual final episode just feels like a OVA instead of a proper finale :T

that being said, the epilogue part in episode 49 *was* pretty dang good~

they even included a KiraPre cameo in episode 50… I’m not sure how I feel about this

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Mahou Tsukai Precure! It’s far from perfect, but its worldbuilding and character arcs helped bring up this show higher for me than it would’ve been otherwise. If you’re a fan of Precure or other monster-of-the-week magical girl shows, I suggest checking it out!