After the disappointment that was Pretty Cure MaxHeart, it's a relief and a delight to see that the third series, comprising the second team of Cures, in the franchise is a step in the right direction. Pretty Cure Splash Star introduces us to Saki and Mai, two middle schoolers in a mountainous seaside town. At first glance, they look like knock-offs of the original Cure team: Saki is athletic and boisterous with short orange hair, while Mai is quiet and artistic, sporting long purplish locks. But those similarities prove superficial as the series gets going, and Splash Star's first twenty-three episodes are a return to form for the franchise, even as it still relies on elements that later series will reject.

Among the improvements to the basic format established by the first two seasons is the way that the series' villains function. They're still ridiculous, especially the flamboyant Moerumba, but most of them realize that the most effective way to combat the Cures is by separating them. Karehan, the first emissary of Dark Fall, does this as early as episode four, while the third villain Dorodoron realizes that they need to be holding hands to attack with any force. Michiru and Kaoru, the final foes of this set of episodes, go a step further and understand that Cures Bloom and Egret need to be in emotional harmony, attacking their friendship in episode nineteen. This is a sort of evolution and intelligence that we didn't see in Cures Black and White's adventures, and it makes Splash Star feel like a more cohesive story because it feels like there are real stakes for them personally rather than a more nebulous “save the fairyland” plotline.

One of the major ways this is accomplished is through Saki's younger sister Minori. Although the girls aren't incredibly close, it's still clear that they love each other and get along, and Minori is proud of her big sister and wants to be a part of anything she does. This leads to Minori meeting Kaoru. Michiru and Kaoru take a different tack than most of Dark Fall; they look more or less like regular humans, although it's worth mentioning that their skin is pasty in complexion, and they often move like they're not quite used to human bodies. The two join Saki and Mai's class at school and try to form a relationship with them, which succeeds better than they seem to have anticipated. When this leads to the sisters helping out at the Hyuga family bakery (the alliteratively named Pan Paka Pastry), Kaoru finds herself in charge of the younger Hyuga sister. Minori immediately attaches herself to the older girl, and with a very believable little kid energy, decides that Kaoru is one of her favorite people in the world. Minori, almost more than Saki and Mai themselves, has a profound effect on Kaoru – through her unadulterated adoration, Kaoru can see what human love can be like. It's one thing for her to see it secondhand by observing Saki and Mai's friendship; Minori allows her to experience it for herself. She already has a fairly strong sense of self, more than most of the other Dark Fall flunkies so Minori's attention simply adds to that, contributing to what she and Michiru eventually decide to do in episode twenty-three.

It all adds up to one of the more powerful messages in Splash Star: that the little things in life do matter. Something simple like holding an umbrella or picking up a fallen snail contributes to the greater good. This mirrors the way that the Cures are rebuilding the Land of Fountains a single fountain at a time – with each new fountain rescued and revived, they and the fairies' homeland grow a little stronger. Everything builds on what came before, which is why it's significant that the girls had a five-year break in their relationship: both Mai and Saki had different experiences in the years before the Mishos moved back to town, and that allowed them to form complementary skills. As Cures, Bloom draws upon the powers of the earth, while Egret uses the powers of the sky, making it clear that their differences make them stronger as a team. If they were copies of each other, nothing would have gone as smoothly because it would have been easy to spot the big gaps in their defenses.

The way that this is demonstrated as we move from Karehan to Michiru and Kaoru is interesting. Each successive bad guy has their strengths (Moerumba's might just be that he's always having a ton of fun), and learning how to work around them is key to the Cures' attacks. Michiru and Kaoru, with their more human appearances, are also the most difficult villains to fight, in no small part because of the relationship they've all formed as classmates and friends. (Even they can't shake the feeling of being friends with Saki and Mai, although that's part and parcel of their self-awareness.) Although this is unquestionably a magical girl show formed around flashy battles every episode, the quieter moments are more important because it's there that Mai and Saki can come up with ways to fight as Egret and Bloom, even if they aren't fully aware of it. The fights are fun, but the everyday elements are key.

Splash Star still retains a lot of the look of its predecessors, although it's worth noting that their official colors are more like silver and gold than blue and pink. The character designs have a very 1990s feel but the transformation sequences are worlds above Max Heart. Flappy and Choppy are ear-splittingly annoying at times (though I do love Flappy's ears), but the rest of the voices are well done, with calabash-headed Goyan sneaking in some very good delivery that seems to belie his role. The opening song is impressively catchy, while the ending leans very hard into the hand-holding element of the girls' transformation, making it easy to see why some older viewers would want to view them in a romantic light, even if Power of Hope: Precure Full Bloom took that off the table. Despite its clear borrowing from its mother series, Splash Star can establish itself as its own story, creating sympathetic heroines and villains (well, two villains), and reminding us that everything makes a difference.