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REVIEW: Pretty Cure Episodes 1-14 Streaming

Pretty Cure is a fun show. Would be nice if Hero TV showed the sequel series instead of just rerunning the first one, though.

Given all the old magical girl shows in reruns on local TV (albeit the dubs are only a year or two old), Sailor Moon ought to be a shoo-in, but I guess there are licensing issues.

I think Pretty Cure is particularly notable in that it helped re-popularize the Magical Girl genre in Japan, as in, not an excuse for pervs to ogle at underage girls changing into mini-skirts, but good, fun family fare with a strong "girl power" message. With anime quickly dropping out of mainstream favor even abroad, the Pretty Cure empire has done much to invigorate a young fan base. Its a shame 4Kids didn't do more with the license, one imagines if handled correctly, the same thing could be accomplished stateside.

Also, with six seasons and six movies on-top of countless toys and accessories, its a pretty robust license - putting most other magical girl properties to shame. It deserves some respect even if it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Although an English dub has been made by Ocean Group for the current broadcast of the series on Canada's YTV, it was not available for review. (Notably, the dub changes “Nagisa” and “Honoka” to “Natalie” and “Hannah,” respectively, and “Marble Screw” to “Marble Twister,” but otherwise leaves the names intact.)

fuuma_monou wrote:

Pretty Cure is a fun show. Would be nice if Hero TV showed the sequel series instead of just rerunning the first one, though.

Kind of ironic, considering that 70% of the current (and past) Pretty Cure is animated IN the Philippines at Toei's animation studio there.

I was hoping to see a bit of coverage on the technical side of Toei's streams. I honestly tried watching them on Funi's website, but mostly abandoned that route due to:

* audio that sounds like it's being played on an old record
* subtitle timing that was apparently done "on-the-fly," as in the VHS fansub days. Lines appear well after characters start speaking, disappear before they finish speaking, or have ridiculous lead-outs
* random use of honorifics, and wonky translation or non-translation of series-specific terms. "Jyaku-King" might not mean "Dark King," but I know it means something.

If nothing else, it's free of the fetishistic overtones (intentional or unintentional) of other entries like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Nanoha.

Quote:

If nothing else, it's free of the fetishistic overtones (intentional or unintentional) of other entries like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Nanoha.

Careful! You'll wake them up!

Zac wrote:

Quote: If nothing else, it's free of the fetishistic overtones (intentional or unintentional) of other entries like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Nanoha. Careful! You'll wake them up!

There was actually a significant "yuri" subcontext to the show, but it was all in people's heads. Pretty Cure always has at least one girl/girl pairing that plays to that crowd, somewhat.

I was hoping to see a bit of coverage on the technical side of Toei's streams. I honestly tried watching them on Funi's website, but mostly abandoned that route due to:

* audio that sounds like it's being played on an old record
* subtitle timing that was apparently done "on-the-fly," as in the VHS fansub days. Lines appear well after characters start speaking, disappear before they finish speaking, or have ridiculous lead-outs
* random use of honorifics, and wonky translation or non-translation of series-specific terms. "Jyaku-King" might not mean "Dark King," but I know it means something.

Whoever said "Inuyasha is DBZ for girls" clearly hadn't seen Pretty Cure. As a longtime fan of Magical Girl anime, it was inevitable that I'd watch Pretty Cure at some point, after I realized that it was too big a franchise to fail ignore. True, it is very formulaic so far, but I do enjoy the more "violent" aspects, as compared to other series like Wedding Peach. The review is right, if you hate Magical Girl anime, you won't like PC, but it's worth a look if you can tolerate it. If nothing else, it's free of the fetishistic overtones (intentional or unintentional) of other entries like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Nanoha.

Zalis116 wrote:

Whoever said "Inuyasha is DBZ for girls" clearly hadn't seen Pretty Cure. As a longtime fan of Magical Girl anime, it was inevitable that I'd watch Pretty Cure at some point, after I realized that it was too big a franchise to fail ignore. True, it is very formulaic so far, but I do enjoy the more "violent" aspects, as compared to other series like Wedding Peach. The review is right, if you hate Magical Girl anime, you won't like PC, but it's worth a look if you can tolerate it. If nothing else, it's free of the fetishistic overtones (intentional or unintentional) of other entries like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Nanoha.

So it has all the "Yay, girl power!" aspects of magical girl shows without the "Ack! I don't want to see that!" parts? I'll definitely have to check this out, then.

Yeah, that sums up the Pretty Cure series pretty well.
Plenty of Girl Power and zero sexuality.

Actually, in season 2 there's even something you almost never see in Magical girl anime, leadership. The characters grow up into 3rd year middle school and actually start being in charge of their school clubs, and a lot of episodes address them maturing into those roles (sort of applying what they learned from being superheros? ).

Actually I have some friends who are like, funadmentalist Christians, and refuse to watch (or so they say) anything with any ecchi content whatsoever, that are huge fans of the series.

Pretty Cure is a fun show. Would be nice if Hero TV showed the sequel series instead of just rerunning the first one, though.

Given all the old magical girl shows in reruns on local TV (albeit the dubs are only a year or two old), Sailor Moon ought to be a shoo-in, but I guess there are licensing issues.