[DreamSword]

Together we are Pretty Cure!

I've always said that one should keep the time period that a show was made in in mind when watching it.

Because if you go into a show from, say, the 30s and expect it to be built the same as a show from the modern era, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. And I feel like Futari wa Pretty Cure serves as a good example.

Make no mistake, the original Pretty Cure show became immensely popular and spawned a franchise that continues over 20 years later for a reason. But, if someone comes in with the latest installment of the franchise and expects the first to hit the exact same beats, well, it's just not gonna happen.

For example, despite the Precure franchise having a big reputation for its Dragon Ball-esque fight scenes, the first entry in the series only delivers on that roughly half the time. Many fights are more akin to that of Sailor Moon, wherein our heroes spend the entire time dodging out of harm's' way until they can find an opening to get their finishing attack off.

The animation is pretty standard for the time period too, and as such will almost look lacking or slow when compared to the stuff found in later seasons. And in terms of storytelling everything is kept rather simple for the most part, with maybe only an episode or two going a bit deeper than a baseline moral of the week. If we're talking technicals alone, then Futari would easily be considered one of if not the weakest season in the franchise.

But that all being said, there is a very positive flipside to all of this. The more simplistic storytelling means that the more dramatic or involved episodes stand out all the more. Likewise, when a fight scene is well animated, it too very much stands out. And keeping in mind that this originally aired in 2004, such fights existing in a Magical Girl anime was unheard of, and given the back and forth the franchise has had with parents over the years, it's a bit of a miracle that Together was able to get away with them in the first place. And that's not even going into various other subversions it'd make to the genre, big or small.

In the end though what matters most to me is the characters, and despite how simplistic they all are, I did enjoy most of the cast. Most characters play off one another rather well ontop of being likable in their own right. And true to how the show is advertised, the most likable of the bunch are our two leads: Nagisa and Honoka. While Nagisa definitely gets more focus than Honoka, the two's' dynamic really is the show's' main highlight, with the episodes specifically focusing on that dynamic being among the show's' best. It's the classic tale of polar opposites finding a way to come together, and Pretty Cure pulls it off wonderfully.

Is it perfect? Not by a long shot, and the short of it is that there are various aspects that very much wouldn't become refined until later seasons. But one definite advantage to its age is just how unique it is compared to what came after it. So for what the show is, and especially for the time it came out in, I can definitely see why it became such a big hit. It can be rough, but it also has a lot of heart put into it, and that's apparent nearly all the way through.

In the end, I give "Together we are Pretty Cure!" a 4/6. Yes, there are many aspects to it that I personally would've liked to have seen done differently, but it's still a rather enjoyable entry into a franchise I've grown to really appreciate all the same.