Forum - View topicREVIEW: Wonderful Precure! Episodes 1-12 Anime Review
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Mikan-box Glasses-kun
 Posts: 88 |
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I've been really enjoying the series so far! I definitely can see where the complaints of it not having much physical fighting come from, considering what are typically older viewers favorite Precure series, but I really love how they handle the Garugaru conflicts thematically with the whole animal rescue angle. Plus, it's just been really funny and entertaining the whole way. I'm also super curious to see where they go with Cure Nyammy's story, it seems like a really fun and interesting direction for the series to go.
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juaifan
Posts: 154 |
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I guess I'm one of those old people who isn't a fan of the 'fights' this season and prefer it when the series is more in its "DBZ for girls" side. But I guess kudos for them for trying something new even if it's not for me.
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q_3
Posts: 173 |
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I appreciate the dog facts in the article, nice to see some thematic depth I would have missed otherwise.
Iroha and Komugi are both a bit much for me, especially when they're the sole focus, but the surrounding cast have been solid. I'm eager to see how Mayu and Yuki develop, and really hope we eventually get to hear Daifuku's unvarnished thoughts. |
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Juno016
 Posts: 2436 |
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I still need to catch up, but the first few episodes had me laughing with Komugi every cute moment of doggy joy and "crying in adorable" when she hugged the monsters. I'm certainly appreciative of PreCure not shying away from needed violence after it spent a few early years avoiding it, and I don't necessarily want to go back to that, but the calming and hugging method is an absolute treat that works so well here. I'm more a cat person than a dog person, but Komugi is a strong favorite for recent PreCure protagonists, so our resident cat will have big shoes to fill to surpass her. <3
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YagamiBlackstone255
Posts: 210 |
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Rebecca has become one of my favorite reviewers on ANN. Not only because she reviews cute shows like Precure which is my fave anime franchise, one who most reviewers would say "Its a vapid little toy commercial aimed at little girls" but also because of her great insight and reviews that pretty much are extremely accurate to any given show's worth.
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encrypted12345
Posts: 728 |
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As much as I do like Precure, I end up preferring to marathon relatively slow paced shows like this. I'll probably wait until at least the midseason climax or so to try it out. I have a feeling it probably won't be one of my favorites, but I'm still curious enough to try it out.
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5518 |
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You know it just dawned on me. Whenever the Wonderful cast ends up in an upcoming Precure crossover movie, how the heck are they going to contribute in battle against the big bad for the movie? They could write around that it can only be defeated by being hugged by them. But then what will happen afterwards in the next crossover movie?
You know what? It is rather fascinating point you made because when Precure was first conceived and premiered, it was really novel to have a magical girl aimed for younger audiences be the "DBZ for girls" back then. Now with the franchise going little over 20 years it essentially became THE ONLY action-oriented magical girl show to last this long. Yeah, there were other magical girl shows during Precure's time like Shugo Chara or that Takashi Miike's Girls × Heroine series, but those series ended, and there hasn't been any other magical girl show to compete against Precure in a similar caliber for now. So with Precure essentially controlling the majority of that space and making the "DBZ for girls" moniker such a norm, the relatively non-combative take for this series is considered novel. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2317 Location: Online Terminal |
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After mulling a bit about how Miraculous Ladybug and Sailor Moon are theoretically non-combative heroes in that their problems are not solved with punching the baddie, having a true de-escalation hero is indeed quite novel. It also sounds like a lot of thought went into crafting the moveset, which is always welcome.
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Essedess
Posts: 115 |
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Easy. Have them be defense specialists. Since in these crossover movies the characters are usually split into teams, have the Wonderful character block everything and leave the fighting to the others. Also, as we saw in the most recent episode, they CAN fight. So far though, they've chosen not to, but they have the ability. |
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Saeryen
 Posts: 1010 |
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If Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure was kind to me in the way a dip in the ocean or a cold, refreshing drink under the warm summer sun is, this one is kind to me like a cuddle with my cat (who is almost always sitting on me when I watch it).
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YackDe
 Posts: 216 |
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Precure has had a problem going on 5 years now. Toei has so many other projects to juggle, and there's nobody in the space of young girl's programming meaningfully competing, so they've become incentivized to place their emphasis (and their talented animators) elsewhere. And that's really shown in the fight scenes, where a well choreographed and animated fight outside of Yuta Tanaka doing his thing in a movie is a rarity. So as much as it annoys people who see Precure solely as the incredibly condescending "DBZ for girls", I think it's great that they reevaluated what they can do with the show moving forward and have come up with a compelling reason to narratively contextualize a lack of traditional fighting.
And I think Yoshimi Narita has done a great job of spearheading that. Toei have known she's a tremendous asset ever since the very beginning when they put her in charge of the big mid-season finale of Futari wa. People can take issue with slow burns all they want, but I think Narita so far has demonstrated a great deal of confidence and has given the show a forward momentum that has been missing for years (by this point in Hirogaru Sky we'd already settled in to the lull where we aren't actually learning anything about what's going on that would last for another 30 episodes). |
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TandooriJones
 Posts: 42 |
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I don't fully understand the comments about it being "slow paced" or "moving slowly" to be honest, just because they haven't spoken to the bad guy yet? Is the bad guy not introducing himself really making the show worse, because they already have motivation to save the animals. Another Cure taking a long time to show up also seems like a weird reason to consider the pace slow, like take away comparing it to other seasons, isn't that only bad if you don't like the main characters? Well I mean, I really enjoy Komugi, she feels like an actual dog being turned into a character. Not like a lame American cartoon way where it'd be like a human drinking out a toilet bowel or any of that but like an actual real dog if suddenly given human intelligence. Iroha is a good foil to this and one of the most normal girls we've had in Precure in a long time, so far she doesn't have a weird quirk, but I can see how that could be a turn off for anyone not in the target demographic. Anyway, I don't get the slow paced comment at all.
Like let's look at this episode by episode. Episode 1: Wonderful Transformation. Episode 2: Friendly Transformation. Episode 3: World view explanation. Episode 4: Proper introduction of Mayu Yuki. Episode 5: Leading the bond becomes friendly tact. Episode 6: Fights based on that tact. Episode 7: From reconciliation to decisive move. Episode 8: First day of school Mayu interacts with everyone. Episode 9: Dog in the class. Episode 10: Yuki Mayu backstory. Episode 11: Arguably the first kinda filler episode? But it adds to everyone's character and there is no filler in Precure objectively. Episode 12: Conflict of morals with a new Cure that doesn't play by the same rules. That's something different every episode. Naritas composition so far is so perfect that I'm trembling, people think this is slow paced? The progression is better than Futaris and that killed a main general like five episodes in. Maybe I'm just completely misunderstanding. However I still consider Rebecca to be the best reviewer on the site and is very suited for Precure and am enjoying things like the dog facts, like a Papillons bite strength, something I would have never known otherwise if I had not read this review. I also appreciate acknowledging that despite the lack of fighting this is the most Precure has felt like, say, the first 10 seasons in a long time. Saying it fits the classic mold is something I've been saying for awhile. Also not putting "NO FIGHTING" as a negative already puts this at the top of every single Wonderful review period, so whatever when it comes to my complaints. Also, while I think there have been good, if not great fights the last 5 years beyond Yuta Tanaka, I otherwise agree with YackDe as well. |
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onpufan
 Posts: 166 |
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Sadly it's not even action-focused shows that have gone by the wayside. All that is to say I really miss Jewelpet and wish it wasn't dead. That was where I went for my softer, more comedic stuff outside the occasional random crazy episode or plotline about death, human existentialism or tragic forbidden incest romance or something and Precure was the action series. At least we have Himitsu no Aipri this season. I know a lot of people on the English side first got into Precure with Heartcatch so it's interesting to see how people have been reacting to this year's series. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor
 Posts: 2659 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I probably should have clarified that I don't personally find the pacing too slow - I like it, honestly. But I can also see how that might be a deal breaker for some viewers and I wanted to acknowledge that.
I'm glad people enjoyed the dog information! I may or may not have checked out a dog breed encyclopedia every week from the school library in middle school and basically memorized it... 
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Mikan-box Glasses-kun
Posts: 88 |
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Heh, yeah, I actually first got into Precure with Tropical-Rouge, so I'm definitely pretty open to the lighter Precures (even if I did watch Heartcatch after, lol). Even considering my current fave is Hugtto, the comedy of Precure, even in the darker ones, is one of my favorite parts of the franchise. It's just so nice (most the time, some stuff in Heartcatch really didn't age well) and fun and cartoony in a way you don't usually get from anime anymore.
I definitely got what you meant! Also I just realized I haven't said this yet, but great review Rebecca! I really appreciate the knowledge and research and love and care you bring to all these Precure reviews. |
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