HIROGARU SKY! PRECURE

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionFresh Precure!
ANIME ActionSuite Precure♪
ANIME ActionHeartcatch Precure!
ANIME ActionFutari wa Precure
ANIME ActionHUGtto! Precure
ANIME ActionFutari wa Precure: Splash☆Star
ANIME AdventureStar☆Twinkle Precure
ANIME ActionYes! Precure 5
ANIME FantasyDokidoki! Precure
ANIME ActionGo! Princess Precure
ANIME ActionHealin' Good♥Precure
ANIME ActionTropical-Rouge! Precure
ANIME ActionDelicious Party♡Precure
ANIME ComedyKirakira☆Precure a la Mode
ANIME FantasyHappinessCharge Precure!
ANIME FantasySmile Precure!
ANIME ActionMahoutsukai Precure!
MANGA FantasyHirogaru Sky! Precure
MOVIE Mahou ShoujoPrecure All Stars F
ANIME FantasyWonderful Precure!
MOVIE Mahou ShoujoWonderful Precure! The Movie! Dokidoki♡Game no Sekai de Daibouken!
ANIME Mahou ShoujoKimi to Idol Precure♪

REVIEWS

• 

  CallMeAi

  60/100
  Started off strong but in the end becomes wasted potential.

  _This review is not spoiler-free so read at your own risk._ Hirogaru Sky Precure. When this was first announced, it was followed by excitement from everyone for various reasons. A blue cure leader, an (official) adult cure, and finally a male cure. Pretty exciting, big changes for the 20th anniversary season. And safe to say the excitement continued when the show started airing. It started out pretty strong, establishing a strong bond between all the main characters. And having Sora (and Tsubasa and Elle) come from another world is one of the things I looked forward to because it's one of the aspects I loved about Mahoutsukai Precure. However, as much as I liked this in the beginning, it slowly went downhill the further we got. As I said, it started off strong. They took time to introduce and establish the characters which I initially thought was a smart move. The first half was therefore enjoyable. I can't say the same thing about the second half. My first issue with this season, is the pacing. It's kinda all over the place. They opted for a more slice-of-life approach which isn't a problem by any means. But when said slice-of-life is the same over and over again and doesn't really expand on anything, it quickly becomes boring. The bad pacing also hurts the finale which was a mess in my opinion. I hate how recent Precure seasons don't have a proper buildup and longer execution for the finale like the older seasons used to have. Not only does it make the ending feel rushed but also very anti-climactic. Especially here, where Dark Head was defeated in 5 minutes, episode ends, and whoops, there's one more enemy for the last episode and it's a giant....snake. They used their strongest finale group attack against an enemy that was common trope throughout the show. It felt forced and unessecary. The "emotional" farewell as the finale was absolutely ruined too. Even Tsubasa pointed out how unessecary it was because they'd just visit them whenever they want. They literally stopped by the morning after to have breakfast together. All the crying and the goodbyes felt so forced because of that. Another issue I have is the abandonment of several plot points they introduced. Througout the season, they kept adding new things to the table, even hinting at a certain plot point several times. They never took it further, making it seem like 1) they had no idea where to go with it, and 2) lazy writing. Even the season's core theme, hereos, wasn't incorporated that well. It was all about Sora wanting to become a hero and her catchphrase "It's hero time!", and no emphasis on how the others' heroes came to be through their own ways - Tsubasa being Elle's (and Skyland's?) knight, Ageha as a kindergarten teacher, Mashiro with her natural generosity and will to protect others. And even Elle who took up the mantle from Ellelain. They could have easily used these missed plot points they introduced and expanded on them to incorporate it into the worldbuilding. Which brings me to the next issue. The worldbuilding. Or rather, the utter lack of it. As I mentioned, I was looking forward to the fact that Sora and the others came from another world, Skyland, because I thought that would give us some interesting dynamics and perspectives on the two worlds. Like Sora adjusting to our world and a deepdive into Skyland and how it's like. But we got almost none of that. Despite this season being very slice-of-life, instead of opting for a larger perspective on the two worlds and the characters' interactions as a result of being from different worlds, they gave us the same kind of slice-of-life for half the show. It felt repetitive and boring. Not to mention the absolute lack of character interactions not just amog the main characters and recurring characters but also with everyone else. Interactions with, for example, classmates are almost non-existent. Even between the cures, there was a lack of dynamic interactions between them. We kept getting Sora/Mashiro and Tsubasa/Ageha which is fine the first time or two but when the show doesn't wanna expand further, it gets boring. It doesn't make sense that they limited it to just those. And it makes even less sense that Tsubasa and Ageha kept being pushed to the side; when they visited Ellelain, when they stayed behind to fight enemies in the finale. The focus was always on just Sora and Mashiro. Another problem I know many also had a problem with are the villains. The director himself said that he'd rather focus on the cures and their fights than on the villains, because he doesn't think kids are interested in "villain meetings". And I am fully aware who the target audience is. That doesn't excuse a bunch of villains where almost all of them have no real motivation for fighting other than "cause my boss will scold me". It adds to making them feel more cartoonish and childish compared to past villains, and yes, it seems like that's what they were trying to go for. But then they decide to say "no, our main villain is actually pretty dark" but he's not. I like the fact that Empress Undergu had been manipulated by Skearhead all the while, making him the true boss. It was very predictable from early on but I still liked it. What I didn't like was him as the big villain. He was defeated way too easily, again the final fight only lasting 5 minutes. And then they throw that snake in which makes him look even weaker and more pathetic. The only good part about the ending was Dark Sky but even that felt really rushed. I won't go into character designs and visuals too much cause those are just about personal preferences. One thing I will say is that I hate the obvious difference in quality of Prism's transformation and the rest. And I may be the only one who thinks this but I hate how inconsistent the group transformation is. Depending on who the focus is on, the transformation sequence changes and I hate that it's not just consistent. To end it on a more positive note, my favorite part about this season is ironically enough Mashiro's character development. She, by far, had the best development. It was so nice to see her change throughout the show but still remain herself. Her newfound interest in making picture books, her lacking determination turned into courage and will to take action. Even her relationship with Battamonda was actually enjoyable and was the little character development you got for a villain. So I liked that a lot. But all in all, Hirogary Sky Precure is a show that had a strong start but eventually fell off. This whole season can be described in two words - wasted potential.
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• 

  Ayaya

  85/100
  An untapped potential that delivers a promising future for Precure Series

  

  The 20th installment in Precure Series presented and introduced new features, promising a new future for Precure franchise. In an era where the mahou shoujo genre is experiencing a stagnation/decline, the great classic of the genre continues to uphold its strong reputation in the market, actively seeking and exploring new ideas to rejuvenate the series. Each Precure offers a different theme... this time, it invite us now on a journey through a boundless sky, with the aspiration of becoming a hero.

  For being such a fan of the franchise (I've consumed at least half of Precure series), after many years I came back to it again, and received such a positive surprise, as Hirogaru Sky partially met my expectations. Honestly, I'm not a fan of all Precures, there are several that I don't like or find it mid, so I was happy and satisfied that this twentieth title responded well.
  Firstly, I wanted to share those new features, and a future that may be different from the series, of everything that it had shown so far.

  

  Hirogaru Sky was the first Precure that oficially presented a male Precure character as part of the main character cast.
  After already several interests of Precure Series since few years ago in wanting to finally bring men (as many spectators as active characters to the plot), it's finally story happening;

  

  A more dynamic narrative, in which our pretty cures even suffered a defeat (!), cliffhanger episodes that are not part of the final stretch, but rather a character arc, instead of a structured, systematic narrative that Precure is used to having, in be too episodic as a series;

  After goddamnit 20 years, we once again have a Pretty Cure main character (protagonist) who does not use the color pink. This is also worth considering for me.

  Personally, Hirogaru Sky also had the best debut in the franchise, having an extremely strong and promising beginning.
  Moving on to discuss its narrative and central story, the beginning of Hirogaru Sky is truly fantastic, leaving me with high expectations that were sustained for dozens of episodes. The cast is well-assembled, featuring characters with intriguing characteristics - finally it's not an average pink pretty cure protagonist who is what we know (or if you don't, an energetic altruist who wants to help and save everyone). This time, we talk about Sora Harewataaru, different and with unique aspects among the protagonists of this series, with her own personality compared to the others. And Mashiro, Sora's best friend, forming a very nice duo.

  On the other hand, although it initially showed an extremely promising and creative world, it is really unfortunate that its building wasn't thoroughly explored. This is a common flaw in the Precure series, which, being primarily targeted towards children, sometimes lacks ambition in its WB. It's frustrating because Hirogaru Sky had the potential to be so much more if the writers had shown greater ambition in expanding upon the universe they introduced. Although the story begins on the sky island, in the first episode we will be already on japanese soil, where 90% of the story takes place. Seriously, just using common sense, we know this is a waste, right?
  But I repeat, all the possibilities that existed in the initial episodes were very elusive. I say with confidence that Hirogaru Sky had everything to be the BEST entry in the series, if it really wanted to be.

  

  Sometimes surprises, sometimes not, the Precure series presents its soundtracks. This time, it was really good! In this aspect, yes, Hirogaru is among the tops. Songs that bring a vibrant fairytale clarity, we truly feel like we are in the vast blue sky. Congratulations to the composer, being one of the new promises of this new era. Hirogaru is the most consistent in soundtrack, presenting the most solid compositions. It just isn't capable of being the best, as it doesn't have the most impactful and memorable tracks.

  In terms of the cast of characters, I was quite pleased with what I saw, as it's rare for me to enjoy all the Pretty Cures, but this time, they all left a positive impression. They are well-developed characters, and I particularly very liked the MC.
  On the contrary, the antagonist cast and villains are where the series falls short. While they possess charisma, they lack depth and fail to convey any sense of seriousness. They feel almost non-existent and serve merely as tools to advance the plot of each episode. There was no investment in these characters and it was clearly not the focus, the final villain only appeared with almost 5 episodes to go before the anime ended. This is a significant drawback of Hirogaru Sky. A strong villain cast is crucial for a compelling plot, as we've seen in series like Hugtto Precure, where the villains are as compelling as, if not more than, some of the Pretty Cures themselves. This enriches the overall cast of characters, a quality that Hirogaru Sky unfortunately lacks due to its poor handling of antagonists.

  

  Someone wasn't in rhythm with the story.
  Precure is a series that uses several writers at the same time because it is a 1-year long journey without any pause. It bothered me that some episodes were weird in character development or simply unnecessary. If I add, I felt that some parts where it was overdramatic and for a story with such an adventurous and magical atmosphere as Hirogaru Sky there was not a shred of need (another example is that the ending had very good ideas, but I felt it was rushed and information was thrown out dry. I wish it had been better designed with better constructed scenes). Enhancing consistency in this regard wouldn't only enhance overall pacing but also cultivate a more captivating narrative with fewer minor setbacks.

  

  For all that, it was an interesting and unique entry in the Precure franchise. Hirogaru Sky opens the door to a new promise, a new phase in which we will have more and more news on how Precure is slowly trying to be more creative and invent more ideas.
  Receiving both criticism and praise, Hirogaru Sky Precure became one of the most consistent entries in the franchise. It delivers numerous excellent episodes, far outweighing any occasional missteps, making it a highly recommended choice for both newcomers and seasoned veterans fans alike. It's 20 years of Precure, here's to the enduring legacy of the mahou shoujo genre, long Live!

  Never falter, Hero Girl!

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• 

  Juliko25

  82/100
  Struggles with balancing its plot, but Soaring Sky is an admirable celebration of everything that makes Precure great.

  The Reiwa era Pretty Cure seasons have been...pretty hit or miss so far. I really didn't care for both Tropical Rouge and Delicious Party, I haven't seen Star Twinkle and Hikaru's screechy voice puts me off of watching it, but Healin Good and 2023's Hirogaru Sky Pretty Cure were really strong. Pretty Cure as a franchise celebrated its 20th anniversary recently, and Hirogaru Sky was billed as a series that would break a lot of long established trends, especially with the news that it would have the first canon male main Pretty Cure. Of course, Toei wasn't satisfied with that, as another Pretty Cure series—a shorter sequel to an older season—would air alongside it during the fall, and a stage play starring all male Cures ran for a short while. I kinda wish I could see that stage play, as it honestly sounds really interesting from what little I've heard about its plot. Thankfully, after the massive disappointments that were both Tropical Rouge and Delicious Party, Hirogaru Sky definitely proved to be one of the better seasons and a much better anniversary season than Happiness Charge was a decade prior. That's not to say Hirogaru Sky doesn't have its issues, but compared to its two predecessors, I enjoyed my time with it far more.

  Sora Harewataru is a young girl hailing from the magical world of Skyland, and she's dreamed of becoming a hero ever since a mysterious savior rescued her from monsters while out in the woods. But just as she's about to make her way to the castle to start formal training, she witnesses an evil pig-like individual kidnapping a baby, with said baby being Princess Elle of Skyland (I absolutely refuse to spell her name as Ellee. It just looks stupid to me). Not one to ignore someone in need, Sora does all she can to save Elle, and in the process, she winds herself not only magically transported to planet Earth, but unlocking the power to become one of the fabled legendary warriors called Pretty Cure. While on Earth, she finds friends in kind-hearted Mashiro Nijigaoka and her Skyland-born grandmother Yoyo, dependable yet energetic Ageha Hijiri, and the level-headed, flight-loving Tsubasa Yuunagi. Together, the four of them must fight against the Undergu Empire and keep Elle out of their hands.

  From an animation standpoint, for the most part its consistent, clean, and polished, with bright colors and mostly fluid movement, with some exceptions. I say for the most part because it does start to get uneven and off-model at times near the end, but that tends to happen a lot with shows that go on for a long time. I will say that I really like the character designs for all the Cures, as they don't look too busy or fussy, or even over-designed like some previous Cures could be. Speaking of the character designs, did you know the person who designed the characters for Hirogaru Sky also did the designs for Love Live Superstar? I thought that was a neat little tidbit. The fight scenes still manage to do their job and still look amazing. I don't have as much to say about the soundtrack, but it also does its job nicely, and the songs are all nice, too. By the way, I find it really funny that every single Cures' seiyuu's first names begin with the letter A. I don't think that was intentional on the creators' part, but it makes me snicker every time I recall it.

  Admittedly, Pretty Cure as a series has always had a problem with balancing its characters and their screentime. Tropical Rouge focused so much on Manatsu and Laura that it completely forgot to give its other characters any development or time in the limelight, with Sango getting it the worst. Delicious Party tried to remedy this, but made the mistake of making Yui, the lead Cure, not do much and as a result, she came off as extremely bland and milquetoast. Doki Doki is infamous for shilling Mana to the Nth degree. Thankfully, Hirogaru Sky manages to mostly avoid this problem. Every single member of the main cast gets their time in the spotlight and receive the appropriate amount of development to make sure they don't feel completely one-note or one-dimensional. Since this series wasn't plagued by delays, whether because of COVID or extenuating circumstances like the hacking incident that put Delicious Party on hold for a bit, Hirogaru Sky was able to have a full run, so it was able to make use of its time and give this cast of characters the development they needed. For the most part, I think Toei succeeded on this front.

  Yet again, I say for the most part because just like Healin Good three years before, Toei fleshed out its Cures at the expense of doing the same for the villains. Yeah, once again, the villains are the weakest part of the series. This seems to be a recurring problem in the current Reiwa era Pretty Cure series. None of the villains are in any way remotely interesting, compelling, or fun to follow in any way, and what little of an arc two particular villains have feel truncated, so any development they get doesn't really leave much of an impact whatsoever. Actually, speaking of the villains, the show doesn't explain just what the hell the Undergu Empire is until the last quarter of the show. Not only that, most of the villains barely interact with one another, making them feel even more one-note and milquetoast. I heard this is the result of Toei receiving complaints from parents claiming that seeing the villains interact scared their kids, but I have no idea how true this is, and I honestly think its kinda stupid. Many of Toei's shows featured their villain characters talking to one another previously, so why are people complaining about it now?

  But the woefully underutilized villains aren't Hirogaru Sky's only issue. At first, it seemed like Hirogaru Sky would do more with its story than Delicious Party did, and actually did a pretty good job at establishing a credible threat and having some tangible stakes at first. But after a while, it seemed like the show just didn't know what to do with itself, especially after Elle became Cure Majesty, until it decided to jam a lot of its most important plot beats in the final eight episodes with barely anything resembling build-up. I think Hirogaru Sky would have been better off had it spread these out over a larger time frame rather than just shoehorning them into the last ten or so episodes. Also, there are some characters who are made out to be really important, but the show doesn't really do anything with them anymore, and there are times when the show takes the cheap way out rather than actually have certain characters go through actual moral dilemmas that would really help their growth. For a show that was touted as Pretty Cure's 20th anniversary seasons, Hirogaru Sky really could have stood to take more risks.

  However, even with its issues holding it back from true greatness, it still managed to be better than its two predecessors. Yeah, it has issues with balancing its important plot beats and villains, but the animation and music are still good, I actually cared about the main characters and enjoyed watching them every week, and it actually put some thought into fleshing out its setting and themes. While there are seasons I like better than it, Hirogaru Sky is a worthy celebration of what makes the Pretty Cure franchise so great. I'm gonna skip out on Wonderful Pretty Cure for the time being because I've been watching the current seasons of Pretty Cure non-stop since Healin Good and I don't wanna burn myself out, along with wanting to focus on other shows in my backlog. So yeah, if you like magical girls, give Hirogaru Sky Pretty Cure a shot if you want some feel-good fun and cute girls kicking ass. Now if only someone would fansub that all-male Pretty Cure stage play.

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