[Locke]

Pretty Cure 01.

Cure Black for the win, who knew that playing lacrosse would be a more translatable skill for superheroing than being a genius? I guess Scott McCall...

Honestly the choice to focus on characters, in a world that isn't nearly as forced with its girliness, made this opening episode a lot more enjoyable than Charge and Heartcatch. And sure there still IS girliness before someone goes "But...", but here it feels naturalistic, and they didn't drown every second in it. There was even princessiness to the fighting in the other shows, but here it feels like they're focusing on a cohesive story, rather than trying to appeal to a demographic they know nothing about. I guess this one actually has women working on it, or at least a female test audience.

The opening battle was really great too. Pissard seems threatening, which makes a change for the villains I've met in these shows so far, even with his silly appearance and even sillier name. Hell even the Precure were more awesome this time, from the transformation to that combined attack. Damn.