12 Days 2020, Day 3: Milky Rose

December 16, 2020 HainiryunGoGo!, I don't actually dislike Pekorin but she's pretty underwhelming compared to some of the other mascots in recent years and it felt like she was just sort of there most of the time., I'm a sucker for mascot Cures OK, Mascots, Milk is a terrible obnoxious child and I love her, Precure, The most damning thing I can say about GoGo is its best villan is the guy who's still here from the previous season, Yes Precure 5Leave a comment

I continue to be a sucker for mascot Cures apparently. Continuing my long long trip through the 12 years worth of Precure that aired before I got into the franchise, this year I got to Yes Precure 5 and it’s sequel series GoGo! Yes5 is probably my favourite of the early entries to date, while I definitely have some issues with it (that the series insists on shipping Nozomi and Komachi with Coco and Nuts is very firmly Not Great) but for the most part it has a really strong cast, some fun villains and is generally super solid all around. GoGo is fine. Most of the time it just feels like more of the same, but it doesn’t have the momentum of the previous series and often feels like it’s running back the same ideas its predecessor had. It does have Milky Rose though so it’s clearly good actually.

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12 Days 2019, Day 9: Michiru and Kaoru

December 22, 2019December 22, 2019 Hainiryun12 days of anime, It was cool that they got a power up for the final battle but they should absolutely have let Michiru and Kaoru become Precure as well. They earned it., It's very funny that Michiru and Kaoru's menacing dark fall forms are just them wearing turtlenecks. Evil turtlenecks., Precure, Precure is a very itterative franchise, Splash StarLeave a comment

My many rambling trip through the early Precure entries continued this year (I really need to start getting through more than one per year or I won’t be caught up till 2028) with the third series, Splash Star. Which is my favourite yet. A lot of that rests on the strength of its villains, in particular the two we’ll be looking at today.

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12 Days of Anime 2018, Day 10: Precure All For You

December 23, 2018 Hainiryun12 days of anime, Cure Mofurun deserves better, Hugtto Precure, I don't actually dislike Pekorin but she's pretty underwhelming compared to some of the other mascots in recent years and it felt like she was just sort of there most of the time., Precure, Pretty Cure, Ridiculous nonsense crossoversLeave a comment

Having only been following Precure for a few years now I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the franchise at times. At my current rate of one older series per year It’s going to take me a full decade more to be caught up. With so much of the series history still outside my experience I wasn’t really sure how well Hugtto’s giant 15th anniversary crossover episodes were going to work for me. As it turns out they were fantastic.

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12 Days of Anime 2018, Day 7: Porun Defence Squad Assemble!

December 20, 2018 Hainiryun12 days of anime, Futari Wa Precure, Magical Girls, Mascots, Max Heart, Mepple is significantly less good, Porun is good actually, PrecureLeave a comment

Continuing my slow and meandering trip through older Precure series this year I watched the franchise’s second entry, Max Heart. A rare direct sequel (I believe there’s one more a few entries on) Max Heart has something of a mixed reputation, with most of what I’d heard about it beforehand leaning towards the negative. Honestly though I liked it a fair bit, while it dragged a bit early on it more than redeemed itself in the second half. I liked Hikari, I liked (most of, Baldez sucks) the new villains, and I particularly liked what it did with Porun. Continue reading “12 Days of Anime 2018, Day 7: Porun Defence Squad Assemble!” →

12 Days of Anime 2017, Day 9: Cure Mofurun

December 22, 2017 Hainiryun12 days of anime, Derpy Dragons that are definitely not Digimon, Magical Girls, Mascots, Precure, This one's shorter than usual because I'm super heckin tiredLeave a comment

Mahoutsukai Precure’s Mofurun was a damn good mascot. Where many Magical Girl mascot characters can feel like side characters, Mofurun absolutely felt like a major part of the team. And then the movie took this one step further. Continue reading “12 Days of Anime 2017, Day 9: Cure Mofurun” →

12 Days of Anime 2017, Day 4: Honoka’s Unusual Birthday

December 17, 2017December 18, 2017 Hainiryun12 days of anime, Even Speedwagon would be proud, Magical Girls, Precure1 Comment

As part of my ill-fated project to watch a bunch of older Magical Girl series this year (I managed a whole two shows). I watched the original Futari Wa Precure. Which is pretty great actually, it’s definitely a strong start to the franchise. It also has some pretty odd episode conceits. Continue reading “12 Days of Anime 2017, Day 4: Honoka’s Unusual Birthday” →

12 Days of Anime 2017, Day 2: Cure Not So Parfait After All.

December 15, 2017 Hainiryun12 days of anime, Adding new characters is hard, Cure Parfait is a screwup and that's a good thing, PrecureLeave a comment

Adding a new character to an existing team can be a hard sell. They need to bring something new to the table to justify their inclusion, whilst not being so overpowered as to completely steal the spotlight. For a show with a roster that at the time already felt a little over full, Kirakira Precure A La Mode handled this surprisingly well with Cure Parfait; by making her a massive screwup. Continue reading “12 Days of Anime 2017, Day 2: Cure Not So Parfait After All.” →

Magical Girl Raising Project: Genre Destruction.

February 14, 2017July 28, 2017 HainiryunDaybreak Illusion, Genre Destruction, Good things can come from bad things, I coin a needlessly pretentious term for something, Madoka Magica, Magical Girl Raising Project, Magical Girls, Mahoiku, Mahoiku is bad, Nemurin is a treasure and desrved better, Precure, Tama did nothing wrong, This show doesn't even have any ducks, Wish upon the PleiadesLeave a comment

Magical Girl Raising Project is not a Magical Girl anime. It’s an anime which happens to have Magical Girls in it. But that’s an important distinction. It’s just too hateful to qualify.

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