SMILE PRECURE!

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE FantasySmile Precure! Ehon no Naka wa Minna Chiguhagu!
ANIME ActionFutari wa Precure
ANIME ActionHUGtto! Precure
ANIME ActionYes! Precure 5
ANIME ActionFresh Precure!
ANIME ActionHeartcatch Precure!
ANIME ActionFutari wa Precure: Splash☆Star
ANIME ActionSuite Precure♪
ANIME ActionMahoutsukai Precure!
ANIME FantasyHappinessCharge Precure!
ANIME FantasyDokidoki! Precure
ANIME ComedyKirakira☆Precure a la Mode
ANIME ActionGo! Princess Precure
MOVIE Mahou ShoujoPrecure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi
MOVIE Mahou ShoujoPrecure All Stars New Stage 2: Kokoro no Tomodachi
MOVIE Mahou ShoujoPrecure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien no Tomodachi
MOVIE FantasyPrecure All Stars: Haru no Carnival♪
MOVIE ActionPrecure All Stars: Minna de Utau♪ Kiseki no Mahou!
MOVIE ActionHUGtto! Precure ♡ Futari wa Precure All Stars Memories
MANGA FantasySmile Precure!
ANIME ActionHealin' Good♥Precure
ANIME ActionTropical-Rouge! Precure
ANIME AdventureStar☆Twinkle Precure
ANIME ActionDelicious Party♡Precure
ANIME ActionHirogaru Sky! Precure
MOVIE Mahou ShoujoPrecure All Stars F
ANIME FantasyWonderful Precure!
ANIME Mahou ShoujoKimi to Idol Precure♪

REVIEWS

• 

  MetaThPr4h

  100/100
  Outstanding comedy with a very lighthearted tone, yet so impactful when it goes for the emotional moments.

  Just as a warning, this is a review of Smile Precure and not from the dubbed version of the same series called Glitter Force, which I haven't watched (and for what I know isn't exactly loved by the fans, in any case I recommend this one).

  After having watched and loved some of the more serious Precure when it comes to tone (Heartcatch, Hugtto and Princess) I was curious and somewhat worried about how I would feel for one that goes more for the comedic aspects of the franchise, well, there was nothing to fear because this one delivered hard!

  Smile Precure uses the theme of fairy tales for its story, with the elements that the series plays around being based on picture books, including the villains who are looking for a "bad end" to the world and its all up to the Precures to stop them, the series provides a lot of variety and fun situations with this idea.

  Unlike other series from the franchise, Smile introduces the main cast from the start instead of giving a new addition to the group later on, with one episode after the other bringing a new character until they form the group of five that will stay until the end of the series. This is somewhat of a risky move since that means that there is no new character to keep things fresh and give some focus on for a good amount of episodes later on, but the idea paid off thanks to how lovable they are, the character interactions between them are so solid and consistently funny, all while also giving each the needed amount of spotlight to shine and develop as a character, making me so attached to the cast not only for the character who got the focus, but also for the group as a whole, they are such great friends. I will still mention that I can definitely see some people disliking Miyuki (the adorkable and really clumsy protagonist of the series) and the mascot of the series, Candy, for their way to be, but I personally liked their interactions with the rest a lot, and even then the others can make the series really enjoyable nonetheless.

  The villain side of Smile is so, so goofy, yet scary at the same time due to a single character being there: Joker. While most episodes will be focused on one (or rarely more than one) of the other three baddies going to fight the Precure with the help of the monster of the week character, failing miserably and more often than not adding to the comedy Team Rocket style with their stupidness and weird strategies (special mention goes to Majorina, who creates devices that lead to really interesting episodes when the characters have to deal with whatever situation is created by them), things are very different whenever he decides to strike, be by giving upgrades to the enemies or being the one who attacks, leading to way more serious episodes that together with some of the character focused ones were the highlights of an already really consistently nice anime.

  If I have to be honest, the story was far from amazing, and while I still absolutely loved the final stretch there are things that the ending could have handled better, but I personally don't think that this was an issue at all as it could have been with the other Precure I mentioned at the start, this anime was to me what a cute girls doing cute things comedy anime has to be (with the bonus of also having awesome fights!) And despite its lightheartedness, Smile delivers as hard as the other Precure entries whenever it goes for emotional episodes.

  The animation of the series is solid, always looking good and shining whenever it's needed for the fights and important moments, the music of the series is nice as well, with a good amount of memorable songs that I loved to listen to, it also reminded me a good amount to Heartcatch Precure with some of its themes if that interests you. I also want to mention that I love the opening and endings of the series, they are so catchy, and the endings also feature fantastic CG dances while providing some fun interactions with the cast, with the most important Precure of the episode having extra moments in them.

  In conclusion, Smile Precure is a fantastic comedy with great interactions and emotional moments for each character, pretty much every episode was a blast to watch, one of the most consistently nice series I have watched so far.

  Oh, and you can play rock-paper-scissors with Cure Peace whenever she transforms, isn't that amazing? She stomped me by the way.

  
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• 

  Juliko25

  77/100
  Smile Pretty Cure is cute and funny, but its too episodic for its own good and doesn't have enough conflict.

  (This review was originally written on February 26th, 2016)

  Starting from the 70s and 80s, kids shows, especially in America, cared more about selling toys than allowing animators to create the stories they wanted and develop characters. The more toys that sold, the more money went into the cartoons. But characters would be given the shaft in favor of new ones, and the stories were very basic, the characters being boring and flat, and being aimed mostly at children. However, nowadays, even shows that come off as toy commercials are putting in more effort to just tell a story and create characters that audiences can care about, rather than just making a show just for the sake of selling toys. Anime has been doing this for a while now, probably since Pokemon, so it's no slouch in the animation and storytelling department. Some examples of good kids shows that are made to sell toys are Pokemon, Jewelpet, Digimon (some of the time), Sailor Moon, and Pretty Cure. In Japan, Pretty Cure still reigns supreme as the number one show for girls, and has done so for decades since its inception, even if it does have its drawbacks. However, even big franchises aren't immune to having their duds. Smile Pretty Cure is a good show that can appeal to a lot of people, but it unfortunately is being held back by a lot of flaws that prevent it from being truly great, although it's definitely not the worst I've seen.

  Miyuki Hoshizora is a happy, friendly, amiable girl who just moved into a new town, and is excited to start a new chapter of her life. One day, a cute fairy named Candy appears before her, telling her that she and four other girls have to become legendary warriors called Pretty Cure, in order to save her world, Marchenland, from villains from the Bad End Kingdom and ressurrect her queen. Miyuki accepts and becomes Cure Happy. She and four other girls have to defeat the villains, collect Cure Decor, and ressurrect the queen of Marchenland before Wolfrun, Akaoni, and Majorina ressurrect their own master, King Pierrot, and save the world from heading towards a bad end. They are determined to make sure their story has a happy ending, just like the fairytales Miyuki loves and cherishes.

  For the most part, the animation is pretty good. Nothing stellar, but the colors are bright, the transformation sequences are well animated, everything is smooth, there's lots of energy put into it, and the sparkles and the brightness adds to the show's goofy, light-hearted tone, even if it can be rather hard to look at sometimes. Yeah, this show is VERY bright and riddled with bright colors that'll hurt your eyes if you're sensitive to light. The music, while also nothing stellar, does its job well. Then again, Yasuharu Takanashi is well known for making good music and making sure they fit the show in every way, whether it be in tone and atmosphere. I hear this series used a lot of music from Fresh Pretty Cure, but I haven't seen that series so I won't comment on that.

  The characters...well, I'm not gonna lie, most of them are pretty bland. They stay the same throughout the entire show, not really changing much. Miyuki is the happy-go-lucky friendly girl who loves being kind to people, Akane is the hotblooded sporty girl, Yayoi is the shy artist, etc. I will admit, the show does care about wanting the audience to see what the characters are like outside of fighting, showing that they have actual lives outside of being superheroes. I feel that so many shows nowadays forget that while people can be superheroes, they're still human. Smile Precure does a great job at showing that outside of their superhero business, the girls are just that. Young girls who have their own problems and worries to deal with in their lives, and yet...even with that, they barely develop in any meaningful way. What little development they do have is so predictable that anyone can see it coming, and as a result, they still come off as bland. The only character I can think of who actually got good development was Yayoi, the yellow Cure. Seriously, I love this girl. She is basically me in a nutshell: shy, cries a lot, loves to draw, loves cartoons (though she likes robot shows and I don't), has trouble making friends, tries to do whatever she can for others and herself, etc. She's pretty much the best thing about Smile. I like Miyuki and all, but I do kinda wish Yayoi was the main character. The others...stay the same, Reika especially. I like her, but she's pretty much a blank slate, and rather static, suffering from the worst of the show's characterization problems. She starts off and ends the show being the same calm, smart girl who doesn't know what she wants to do in life. Also, Candy is annoying and always causes trouble for the girls, almost ruining Miyuki's social life in one episode where they switch bodies. The villains are pretty goofy and not very intimidating except for one, but that's a spoiler.

  The story, well...there is no story. There is, but its extremely basic: all the girls really have to do is collect decor, save Marchenland and the queen, and deal with the Bad End Kingdom. That's seriously it. 85% of the show is filler, 10% character development, and 5% storytelling. While I appreciate the show's attempts to get us to care about the characters, in doing so, it completely hurt the story. The worst thing about the story and the show in general? There's basically ZERO sense of urgency. The villains sans Joker and Pierrot are all goofy goofballs, the series is very episodic in nature, the girls battle a bunch of monsters, and because the show chose to favor just showing the characters having fun, villains included, and because of this, there is still little reason for us to care about what the characters go through. My problem with slice-of-life shows or most kids shows nowadays aren't that they're kiddy or marketed at kids or giant toy commercials. It’s the fact that nothing happens. I want to sympathize with the characters, but for that, they need to be put in danger. I don’t really care about characters who spend their time eating cakes at a summer festival, or something. Same with romances. I want to see the different characters face challenges, put their lives on the line, that’ll make me care about them, if done well. Smile attempts this, but unfortunately, it falls flat on its face in doing so. There's also a lot of melodrama, over-acting from the actors, and cheesiness. Still, I don't hate Smile. In fact, I like it. I'd definitely take Smile over Happiness Charge any day.

  Smile isn't the best Precure series, but it's a perfectly safe, carefree show for kids that your daughter, sister, niece, or that kid you're babysitting can definitely enjoy. I do feel Smile could have done a heck of a lot better though. I haven't seen the English dub, Glitter Force, and I have no interest in doing so.

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• 

  MC45436G

  100/100
  The Magical Girl genre's brightest light of pure joy.

  A story that brings out unapologetic happiness is one that often gets undermined the more one grows up. Usually, we want to stay away from such juvenile ideas and themes and instead invest into tales that dig deep into the human condition and works that are bold artistic expressions of emotions. However, the value of a piece of media that expresses pure joy through simplicity is one that is equally valuable than the darker and highly sophisticated works. Happiness, optimism and pure heartedness are still aspects of human emotions after all. When done right, these kinds of straightforward yet emotionally charged stories can resonate on an equal level to some of the most complex works of art.

  This commitment to telling simple stories that have a great amount of heart put into them is why I fell in love with the Magical Girl genre. No other group of shows tells these types of narratives with such conviction and passion behind them. It is for this reason why the Precure franchise has become one of my favorites in the whole medium. There are elements that it does really well when it comes to the genre as a whole. The tokusatsu elements from Sailor Moon are refined to perfection, it has some of the best written characters and specific plot lines and elements in the whole genre, the long running nature offers a wide variety of shows with each having their own quirk, etc. These aspects of the franchise are great and all, but they aren't the main reason as to why I love it so much and continue to follow it. They are simply elements that are built on the foundational trait of the Magical Genre itself. It is the simplicity and pure hearted nature shared among most mahou shoujos that Precure does immaculately. This element is shared across the entire franchise and it is what makes it so special to me.

  In the eternity of its multiple decade run, no season has best portrayed this aspect of the series and Magical Girls as a whole than my second favorite: Smile Precure.

  

  Smile is often regarded as the most simple and straightforward season in the franchise. It is the most episodic series next to the very first season, Futari Wa, with the least amount of plot progression in favor of stand-alone episodes. In terms of tone, it is the most light-hearted and comedic season. Yet despite having almost no plot or overarching stories, minimal character development, it perfectly showcases why the franchise works so well. The quintessential Precure elements that define the series are present louder than ever. What makes or breaks a season will always be the characters and how it executes the core themes of the specific season and the franchise as a whole.

  

  The show is carried by its characters first and foremost. Other seasons may have better individual characters or teams in terms of complexity, development and overall depth, but Smile’s cast has them all beat in terms of likeability and goofiness. Smile’s cures is made up of a bunch of idiots that are some of the most endearing in the franchise. Since the show is centered all around them, it’ll be best to cover them all individually first.

  Hoshizora Miyuki/Cure Happy is the first and primary cure of the series. Among all the pink lead cures in the franchise she is by far the dumbest but one of the most charming as well. She carries usual traits of a pink cure being energetic, bubbly, full of optimism and clumsy, with that last factor being amped up more. Miyuki is just a ball of sunshine and always entertaining to watch. The mix of her stupidity with her pure kindness makes her a great personification of what the season is all about. A good main cure should embody the main themes of the season and Happy accomplishes that task flawlessly. Smile shares a lot of similarities with Yes Precure 5 but I think it does a way better job at balancing its core cast. Whereas Nozomi/Cure Dream is a great character and is even better than Miyuki, she takes up too much of the spotlight from the other cures, and this is one area where Smile definitely improves upon. Happy is much more balanced in relation to her teammates than Dream was.

  Hino Akane/Cure Sunny is the most energetic of all the cures this season, even surpassing Miyuki. She is the most inherently comedic character of the group with comedy being her passion alongside volleyball. Sunny is more often the butt of the jokes than the other cures reflecting her nature as the troll of the group. While all the cures are passionate in their own ways, Akane is the most outwardly one of them all. She is great on her own, but a sun can only shine bright with others around. Sunny’s relationships and interactions with the other cures is where her fire gets to burn the brightest. She has the best interactions out of the whole cast.

  Kise Yayoi/Cure Peace is the shyest and most soft spoken of the group, but the one with the biggest heart. She is a full blown anime and manga fan through and through and a very passionate one at that. Peace may be a crybaby at times but that is contrasted by the strongest resolve in the group. When push comes to shove, she will stand braver than any other cure of this season. Yayoi is by far one of the most likable, endearing and relatable characters not just in Smile, but in all of Precure. Her love and passion for fiction and her friends is adorably infectious and probably relatable to most of the people watching the show. The courage she has goes a long way to make her much more than your regularly nerdy character. She has one of the most apparent character arcs of the team which only adds to her being such a loveable character. Watching her gain more confidence in herself as she grows closer to her friends and becomes more brave, is a recipe for one of the best characters in the franchise. (She also has the unique quality of being my most relatable and favorite character, not just in Smile, Precure, or anime, but in all of fiction. So there is definitely no bias here ;p).

  Midorikawa Nao/Cure March shares a lot of similarities with Akane on the surface being both sporty cures, but has enough unique traits that make her stand on her own. For one, she is probably the most grounded character in the whole show. Nao has a good sense of responsibility and is often the one the team relies on for support and advice. She helps keep the group together being the bravest of them all. Although this is contrasted with her having some quite natural fears that are exaggerated to comedic effect. Besides that fact, March is the most like a normal down to earth person compared to the rest of the cures which have more exaggerated personalities.

  Aoki Reika/Cure Beauty stands a lot compared to her peers as the most soft-spoken and having more brain cells than the rest of the team combined. Despite her intelligence and how she conducts herself, she is more than eager to partake in the wacky hijinks that her friends get up to. Instead of coming off like the pretentious and uptight archetype, Reika proudly partakes into whatever crazy situations happen to the cures. She has a desire to learn more about her friends and the world making for a quite captivating character. Her intelligence and maturity is also used for comedic effect but also makes for some of the best scenes in the whole. Like Peace, Beauty has a more defined character journey over the course of the series. Her spotlight episodes are written in the whole show as she has to make much tougher decisions than the rest of the cures.

  Candy is the primary fairy mascot character of Smile and one of the better fairies in the franchise. She may come off as annoying as most Precure fairies but thanks to the amount of character focus this season, she gets to have a good amount of depth. A number of episodes in the first half have Candy as a prominent element. Her increased attention allows candy to be well-fleshed and receive character development that isn’t common among most Precure fairies. The childish nature serves as a way to tell the moral of those earlier episodes with great effect.

  Like the cures, the villains are a lot more idiotic and eccentric compared to other seasons. Each one is fleshed out with a unique personality and are effectively used to contrast either a certain cure or theme of a given episode. They have great dynamics among themselves and the cures. While Wolfrun, Akaoni and Majorina are wacky comedic treats, when a serious villain comes, their presence is much more impactful. Joker is that taste of pure sadistic evil needed to stand in as the greatest contrast to the main themes of the show.

  Smile Precure states its main intent and theme in the name of the show itself. This is a series that will make you smile no matter what. The theme of this season is fairy tales which are generally filled with wonder and joy. It may be an episodic show with barely any plot even for Precure standard, but it is one of the most fun rides in all of anime. Every episode is filled with so many happy vibes and excitement that you will grin all the way through. This comes in the form of well written character moments, comedy and overall wacky hijinks. The number of weird and crazy situations the cures end up in is astronomical. Smile goes through so many anime and general stereotypical story tropes making for the most varied season in terms of content.

  However, the true beauty of the show comes in how it balances the joy with everything else. From my descriptions, it may seem like the episodes are non-stop roller coaster rides of happiness but that isn’t actually the case. In reality almost all the wacky episodes have a small touch of seriousness to them. Each one tells their self-contained story in which the theme of joy is expanded upon with more nuance. The true beauty of the series comes from the context behind the smiles themselves. Even if it varies from episode to episode there is complexity when it comes to how happiness is portrayed. There is always a message behind them and the emotional core of the show becomes apparent.

  

  This aspect is further accentuated when the plot does kick during the middle and end parts of the show. Compared to the majority of the series these episodes are much more serious in tone and carry much more weight to them. While this is nothing new for Precure the contrast to the rest of the show is a brilliant move to make them much more impactful than in any other season. There can’t be light without the dark and those small serious moments are not only more poignant, but they even help the light shine even brighter.

  

  The Precure franchise can be expressed on a sliding scale. With the more plot heavy and serious seasons on one end and the lighthearted and more episodic ones on the other. Smile falls on the far end of the latter. It has the stupidest cast and the highest concentration of pure fun energy. Yet I believe it to be the season that best encapsulates why I love this franchise. Precure to me, is a series that will always bring pure unadulterated happiness. This being Smile’s main objective. Through some of the most endearing characters in the whole franchise to the added layers behind the happiness, there isn’t a season that best illustrates why Precure is my all time favorite Magical Girl franchise than Smile Precure. It teaches you the joys of life better than most anime in the medium.

  

  Oh and there is no Glitter Force in Ba Sing Se.

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