[SideswipePrime]

Heartcatch Precure episodes 1 and 2:

I liked 1, some of the visuals in then opening really makes it look like a more "girly" (for lack of a better term) Kamen Rider show. My only other experience with magical girl genre is some Sailor Moon as a kid, and a bit of Madoka Magica. I can say that I like this show's art style more than Madoka Magica (I don't know the squarish faces kind of bother me a bit.) Though Precure does cheap out in some spots, but what show doesn't? A lot of the scenes were just bursting with energy, and cool to watch. Tsubomi reminds me quite a bit of Ryotarou from Den-O. It bothered me a bit that she needed to be rescued by a man in her first fight, though. Her outfit looks very similar to Madoka's which is kind of funny, thought I really like how her hair glows when she transforms, I've never seen a magical girl show do that. I love Cure Moonlight's look. If I ever really get into Precure, I would love an SHF of her, because she looks really cool! Chypre and Coffret are cute. I like them a lot better than either Kyubei or Luna in terms of cuteness. Talking about this...it seems like the cute creature that gives the girl her powers, and mysterious guys are common in these types of shows. (Though, Madoka lacks the latter...and the former since I find Kyuubei to be creepy looking with his beady eyes.) I felt that episode 2 was a bit weaker, but seeing Cure Blossom fist fight was awesome, not like from what I remember of Sailor Moon where Sailor Moon herself just ever finished villians off and let the other scouts do all the fighting. I find the lack of weapons interesting as well, since every character in Madoka Magica has a signature weapon.

Some things that I'm not so hot on. The heart flower thing is a bit weird, and the CG used during her transformation sequence was rather jarring. It makes it super obvious that Bandai is trying to sell toys here. Erika was rather abrasive, and I hope she develops. It does bother me a bit that the opening spoils that she becomes a Precure.

Anyway, I am interested in checking more out, since from the beginning of episode 1, it seems like we'll get some really good drama, but won't go Madoka levels of dark.