[DreamSword]

Healin' Good Pretty Cure!

When you think of a "gateway" into a franchise, what qualifications come to mind?

It's a topic that comes up alot in tokusatsu, and one I imagine is also discussed fairly often in any franchise that's been running a long time.

Some say to always start where everything began, some say to start with what they think is the best entry, and some say to start at the point said franchise started to get its "modern" elements.

Me? Well, most of the time I say to start at the start, because hey, there's a reason this franchise became a franchise, right? It's slightly hypocritical of a suggestion coming from me though, since there are a number of different franchises where I started at different points in its run.

I bring all of this up not because Healin' Good is my first foray into the Pretty Cure franchise(that would be Hug!), but because I feel like, if one isn't going to just gun for the season that sounds the most interesting to them or the very first, HG stands as a perfect example of what I feel a gateway entry into any long runner should be.

And by that, I mean that this show, while I wouldn't call it the best the franchise has to offer(again, Hugtto!), it takes alot of the standard elements of your average Precure season and does them very well, without feeling the need to reinvent the wheel in any sort of sense. It's about Magical Girls fighting COVID, and the life lessons they learn along the way. No more, no less. But yet, it almost never drops the ball, and remains very entertaining throughout.

The actions scenes, animation, and music are as stellar as always. The characters and their arcs are very likable in the way they interact and play out. The plot is simple, but fun. And in a nice little twist, the show actually offers a rather realistic take on moral obligations that I don't think I've ever seen any other kids show do period, let alone an anime aimed at young girls. The episode where the moral is that you are not infact obligated to help out everyone you meet, especially if they treat you horribly, is one I won't soon forget.

This is also the first Cure show inwhich my favorite character wasn't actually one of the Cures, but rather the mascot character, Princess Latte. Not only is her name one I could actually see someone naming their dog(trust me, that's less common in media than you think), but despite her just being for all intents and purposes a normal puppy, she has a well done arc about not wanting everyone to be burdened by you all the time. Sure, it's the shortest arc out of everyone in the cast, and both it and her are very straightforward, but that's the beauty of it all. It's there, it's done well, it's over.

And I think that's how I'd describe Healin' Good Precure overall. The phrase "beauty in simplicity" might as well be the tagline they put on the DVD set. It's an all around fun, simple show that I had a fun time watching. Is it something super stellar that totally blew me away? No, but it didn't need to be. It was what it was, and I dare not demand it be anything else.

I give this entry in the franchise a 4/6.