Dororthy's Precure recs!

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I love Precure. the color coordinated outfits, the physical fights, the way every season is standalone with a new team every year, it all makes my brain go brrr. That means I'm passionate about this so this page is where I organize my thoughts on each season as I go on a journey to finish every season past GoPri. Though while I'm at it, I'll also include what kind people I think would like it in case anyone reading this is on the fence because there's too many seasons to choose.

Some things to keep in mind!

I remember back at 2015 when Go! Princess Precure somehow made it to the front page of a certain anime site and left outsiders to magical girls either wonder how it got popular enough for the front page, or roast it for the crime of being for little girls. But most who gave it a chance can agree it has a well focused overarching plot that works great with every characters' arcs that also gives the supporting cast plenty of moments to shine and grow, some amazingly animated and brutal fights, but it also has a very prominent princess theme with a heroine who wanted to be a princess that makes it look goofy at first, but goes hard when you understand what being a princess means to Haruka. This is what Precure is all about!

Though, one minor gripe I have with this season is how uneven the intro calls this "The tale of the four who aim to become true princesses". How true is that, really? only Haruka actually struggles and works towards being a princess. Minami and Kirara are already skilled, elegant, and widely admired by start of the series, and Towa is actual royalty! This makes them more like experienced supporters to Haruka's journey than her fellow princesses in training, which seperates her from them as the true one and only protagonist of the series.

I recommend this to...Just about anyone willing to dip their toes into magical girls and open their heart to the path of princesshood.

Mahotsukai Precure is another pretty solid season that unfortunately was in GoPri's shadow back when it first aired. Obviously, the bond between Mirai and Riko and their relationship with Haa-Chan and Mofurun is the main core of the show and it is STRONG! You can really feel the love they have for each other! Everything else around is good enough too. Though it kinda drags around the second half with it's lackluster villains. Though, Haa-chan carries it with how darn cute she and her familial bond with the duo is and it picks up again around the end.

Overall, this was a refreshing back to basics season that makes me wish Precure could do duos and trios more often.

I recommend this to...People who like older magical girl anime, but could do without the heteronormativity, and yuri fans.

Kirakira Precure A La Mode trades it's iconic kicks and punches with fluffy and sweet whipped cream and almost everyone hated it. It was just average in my opinion. Introducing 5 Cures at once spreads the characterization a bit thin and it doesn't help that the 6th Ranger is just kinda there outside her debut and is just as thin as the rest of them. (Though, I hear she has a central role in the movie.)

Though, one aspect that shines is the theme. The theme is baking obviously. The Precure are themed after various sweets, and they run a patissiere together. That alone would've been fine but then they go in detail about various baking techniques and even the science behind it! And on top of that some episodes have little recipe videos at the end! I would've liked it a lot more if it was a standalone cooking anime. It felt like watching what people not familiar with magical girls think non-grimdark magical girl anime is like: Very sweet, cute, and fun, but would bore outside the target demographic. I can easily imagine this in another anime as a little background detail.

I recommend this to...People just looking for a cute anime to unwind to and/or really dig cute girls eating.

Man, what is it with tropical themed anime seasons and being more comedy-focused? Anyway, Tropical Rouge Precure is just that: A more laid back and comedic series themed after beaches, the sea, and the shining sun above. It knows what it is and owns it.

Even the cures this time are a little more varied. Other seasons' main cure team tend to just be different flavors of girly girl, which is great don't get me wrong, but it is nice to not only have a full on glasses wearing nerd on the team, but also an athletic girl who works out. This kind of direction brings us Laura: A haughty little mermaid who starts off as a self centered brat who is also a cure herself. The Precure are meant to be role models to little girls so it makes sense that they shouldn't be too flawed. This makes Laura not only a perfect fit for the season, but a very welcome change of pace.

However, this also makes her a spotlight hogger; becoming a cure at episode 17, playing big roles in other cures' development episodes, etc. It really doesn't help that the spotlight hogging begins after she becomes a cure early on and in a 5-cure team, that someone's gotta get the short end of the stick. (#SangoDeservedBetter)

If you're a stickler for storytelling, this show is rather loose with it's plot threads and the finale tries to build up to something epic, but gets severely undercut by it's comedy. However, if you don't mind all that, then you'd likely have a nice time.

I recommend this to...Magical girl fans looking for something a little different. Not necessarily good, just something refreshing.

No, just, no.

Delicious Party Precure has nothing worth watching for. The characters do the bare minimum to fill out the Precure archetype checklist and feel more like side characters in their own show, the writing is so rushed it takes a deux ex machina planted by one of the side characters to save the world and corner it wrote itself into, it doesn't do much with it's theme, the "romance" if you can call it that is the most generic "will they or won't they" bs, There is nothing. Well, ok, the character designs are pretty good, but that alone can't save the show.

The worst part about the Precure being sidelined is that the show focuses on the male cook fighters. I repeat. A magical girl anime that focuses on male side characters. This is low.

I recommend this to...Fangirls who like watching pretty boys duke it out? But magical boy anime exists. Maaybe if they've never seen a magical girl anime, but there are lots of other Precure seasons that would be far better for newcomers.