[DreamSword]

Fighting Your Future VS Embracing Your Future

or

How the End of an Era Got Toei to Prepare Kids for their Futures

I'm sensing a trend here.

This all started with me watching Kamen Rider Wizard and Blassreiter at the same time, then it happened again with me seeing Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Ghost, and SSSS.Dynazenon all within the same time frame. The common link between these two groups of shows was that they contained stories that all had common themes and ideas between the group they were in, making it a really interesting thought exercise for me when comparing these shows against one another.

And now here we are again with me having just finished both Kamen Rider Zi-O as well as Hug! Pretty Cure! within the same week. And more than either of the other groups before this one, these two shows made for children share alot in common, perhaps purposefully so.

Both shows serve as anniversary seasons for their respective franchises(Kamen Rider for Zi-O; Pretty Cure for Hug), and both also close out the Heisei Era of Japan, which, of course, is a huge thing for the people of the country, and very obviously had alot of people talking about the future of the country as a whole. From how the ruler would turn out to how the people would evolve, these ideas and questions are heavily reflected in both works, and it seems very clear that Toei felt the need to talk to and prepare children and their parents for the start of a new era.

With all of that in mind, I felt that it'd make for a fun thought exercise(for me atleast) to compare and contrast these two shows handled by the same company, with very much alot of the same subject matter throughout them. Let's begin.

Action and Visual Flair

I could easily see people arguing that this isn't a really fair comparison to make. Afterall, one show is live-action whereas the other is animated, and as such, the animated show has the clear edge, right?

Well, yes and no. Me personally, I prefer to think of how both mediums go about their action sequences as different flavors, rather than one being inherently better than the other. Bad choreography can exist regardless, afterall.

For example, with Hug, while the show in general is very beautifully animated, and has many an action sequence that wouldn't be out of place in Dragon Ball Z, there were definitely a handful of episodes that were definitely working with a lower budget, with obvious signs such as obscured visuals or stills being used for action/attacks. Not to mention the use of stock footage for signature attacks(which is the norm for many a Magical Girl show).

Meanwhile with Zi-O, while the action is never out and out bad, and a good handful of sequences definitely stand out(especially in the movies), there's most certainly alot of fights that simply feel like the show is just going through the motions; Something I never felt that Hug was doing. The episodes which very blatantly forget/ignore the abilities of various super modes are especially guilty of this(looking at you, Zi-O II and Grand Zi-O).

But there's another aspect to visual flair outside of just fights and special effects when it comes to shows like these, and that's the transformation sequences.

Let's compare what I feel is the best of both shows:

What can I say? The Grand Zi-O Henshin is my favorite in the entire franchise. The use of all the various sounds from previous seasons, the effects, the resulting suit... It's got absolutely everything to make it great.

Yeah that's right. The very first transformation we see in Hug, Cure Yell's', is magnificent. Wonderful animation, great sound effects, and fully embraces its magical girl glory and heritage.

So which show did it better? Well, here's how I see it. The Grand Zi-O Henshin absolutely blows every Transformation sequence in Hug out of the water. However, the thing is, every single Transformation sequence in Hug is consistently just as good as Cure Yell's', which are all in turn far better than every other Henshin in Zi-O.

In which case, it all comes down to this: Would you rather have escalation; Wherein transformation sequences start basic(but still good), and culminate in the utter greatness of Grand Zi-O? Or would you rather have every sequence be consistently top tier, but just not as top tier as what Grand Zi-O is?

It's a toss up all across the board for both shows, but I think that, ultimately, I'm gonna give the point to Hug. Zi-O's' visual flair is nothing to outright dismiss, but Hug is just far more consistently good with theirs.

Music and Atmosphere

Right out the gate, both of these shows have absolutely banger soundtracks. Like, just listen to their openings for crying out loud!

And that's not even getting into all of the really good background tracks that both shows have. Both of these shows have soundtracks that I would happily buy! I really can't pick a winner here.

Atmosphere, though? That's another story. Both shows really do gun hard in trying to drawn you into the worlds that they're trying to build. From appropriate music tracks, to good acting, to some surprisingly really funny comedic beats, it was very clear that there was an effort on both sides.

The thing that ends up being the deciding factor though, is the context of those moments. I'll get more into it once the appropriate section is reached, but let's just say that while there was very few moments that took me out of a given episode in Hug, Zi-O is a very different story, where many a dramatic beat felt forced or unearned, and took me totally out of the story.

As such, point yet again goes to Hug.

Plot, Messages, and Themes

Both shows are very much designed to get kids and their parents to think about the future. Whether it being trials and tribulations they might face while growing up, or how society might come to change with the dawn of a new era, both stories have their own ideas on how to face an uncertain future and fight for a better tomorrow.

In Zi-O, the main emphasis appears to be the shift in rule of Japan, with Sogo serving as a stand-in for the new Emperor of Japan, and showcasing how the new rule could very much go either way, and how there will always be those who stand in opposition due to having their own ideas of what ideal rule looks like as shown in Geiz, Tsukuyomi, the Time Jackers and Woz.

There's of course some more personal stories sprinkled about, especially given how Zi-O took on the task of having tributes and tales dedicated to characters from past seasons, but Zi-O very much ends up focusing on its overarching plot more often than not.

And while that in and of itself is perfectly fine, the issue is that, well, with a plot that becomes as complex and confusing as it does, Zi-O also drops the ball alot of times in regards to its execution, such as the ever (in)famous Ryuki tributes:

On the flip side, with Hug, it kinda doesn't even really have a plot, per se? There's the ever looming threat of the bad guys, sure, but Hug is a much more episodic affair that focuses almost exclusively on character arcs and the connections built between the cast. And while that might seem rather basic or bare bones to some viewers, I found it actually worked out for the better more often than not.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the thing that alot of people seem to misunderstand about being simplistic is that, well, there's alot less to fumble on. Sure, Hug might not have much of a plot to speak of, but in turn, almost nothing in what plot is there feels like it comes out of left field or is otherwise executed poorly as was many times the case in Zi-O(for me, atleast).

But of course, this is also going off an assumption that everything Hug presents and talks about is basic or of non-substance.

When it comes to its stance on how to look towards the future, Hug, rather than looking at the change in leadership, instead focuses in on people in general, and how their lives change as time goes on. This in turn makes every story alot more personal for everyone involved. The show talks about things such as technology, gender roles, aging, depression, anxiety, divorce, and a bunch of other subjects that I was incredibly surprised to see a show of its kind tackle. Heck, I'd argue that makes it way more mature and complex than Zi-O by comparison.

That's not to say that Zi-O doesn't have various subject matters that it also talks about. One of my favorite things it brought up was the lesson that the hero of one story can be the villain of another. It's just that Hug, in my opinion, is alot more direct and alot smarter about how it handles its lessons than what Zi-O is.

So as you might've guessed, point once again goes to Hug.

Characters

And now for the biggest part of any story for me. How do the characters measure up? I've already touched upon the roles they serve in the grand scheme of each show in previous sections, so here, I'm just gonna focus on the casts and their arcs in and of themselves.

Let's start by saying that I do like the core cast of Zi-O. Yes, there are some major fumbles in regards to nearly every character's' arc, but I overall came out of the show with more positives for the core characters than not. From Sogo's' derpy personality to Geiz's' being on guard the point that he always wears a collar; The dynamics between the main handful of characters was almost always a delight to watch. Heck, most surprisingly, a few of my favorite characters ended up being total side characters in Rento and Uncle, who delivered some of my favorite moments in the show.

But... that's kinda where it stops. To give an example from a previous season of Kamen Rider, OOO was a season where I felt that the overall plot was really dumb, but almost every character was so strong that it didn't matter. This is not the case with Zi-O, where, yeah, I do like the core cast, but the other issues it has(especially in terms of plot) really do detract from the overall experience of being around these people. The villains were really weak in characterization, and heck, I basically remember almost none of the side characters at all.

Meanwhile, Hug? Not only did I feel that the fumbles were few and far between, but I remember a ton of the supporting cast and absolutely loved the villains. Hana's' parents, the kids at school who make a fan club for Cure Yell, Emiru's' brother, the Takoyaki seller, and almost the entirety of the villain cast... These are all characters who I grew to really like and even if I'm terrible with names, do remember their various quirks and stories. And then of course there was the biggest surprise in Henri the crossdresser.

Henri was a character with a subject matter that I was incredibly impressed by in how the anime handled him. He's a fully fledged character with an arc of his own who is handled incredibly respectfully, and to see a kid's' show handle him in such a way was a great breath of fresh air.

Zi-O has something similar with the arc of Heure in the Zi-O VS Decade special, which I did like! But on the other hand, it also has the absolute bungling of how Tezuka was handled in Rider Time Ryuki, which very much did not sit right with me.

And lastly, I wasn't entirely sure whether to put it in this section or put it under the previous one, as it has to do with both, so I'll just settle for cramming it in right now: Zi-O seemed much more focused on fighting against the bad future; Cutting off the head to provide for the many, so to speak. Meanwhile Hug instead focuses on getting to the root of people's' problems; Embracing them and showing them that they can always work to better themselves and their future. Every villain gets a solid look into their backstory and motivations, and ends up redeemed by the end. Not so much for Zi-O. There's certainly an argument to made about which is more appealing, to be sure, but for me, I generally dug Hug's' approach alot more.

With Zi-O I really only like the "important" characters, whereas with Hug, I love damn near every one of them, main character or not. Final point of course goes to Hug.

Final Thoughts

If it seemed as though all I did throughout this review was dunk on Zi-O, then I apologize, as that was very much not my intent. I do overall think the show is fine. It's one with very big highs and really steep lows, and based on other posts I've seen, I can kinda get why some might find that to be a more interesting experience. But for me, the two hands clash far too hard for me to consider the show one of the greats. As such, I score Kamen Rider Zi-O with a 3/6. It's not anywhere near as bad as what some might want you to believe, but it's nothing to absolutely rave over either.

Likewise, I am also not trying to say that Hug is in all ways perfect. The last episode especially has some serious fumbles in terms of narrative, and there are definitely some aspects here and there than don't pan out optimally. But the thing is, I find all of those fumbles to be incredibly minor in the grand scheme of things. So no, it's not perfect, but I had an incredible time with it, and I'd highly recommend it to just about anyone. I give Hug! Pretty Cure! a very solid 5/6. Absolutely wonderful show.