[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.

[algo448]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

That's a good description.

Quote:

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.

I love Umakoshi's character designs, here, in Omega and in Casshern Sins, they look great in motion.

Quote:

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.

Requisite handsome guy I guess. And agreed! The hair change is clever and Cure Moonlight looks great, her SHF is one of the best Cure Figuarts according to what I have read.
Chyphre and Coffret are a fun duo.

Quote:

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.

Magical Girl tropes to the rescue! But yeah that's pretty much the norm.
It's all about the punch and kick action here, plus the requisite finisher move.

Quote:

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.

The CG is really weird, but in the grand scheme of things a minor detail, it's not as jarring as it is in Happiness Charge, where the alternate forms of the Cures are exclusively one in CG for no reason at all.

Erika does improve a lot, she quickly becomes one of the best things in the show, and iirc she's the most popular character of the show in japan.

Quote:

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.

Good to hear!
And yeah, while it has it's moments, from what I've seen it hasn't gotten anywhere near Madoka levels, and I doubt it will.

[ZeoRangerV]

Decided to drop HappinessCharge Precure since it really wasn't my thing, although I still have an interest in checking out the franchise properly. Can anyone recommend a good alternative or am I unlikely to enjoy the others if I didn't enjoy HapCharge?

[Den-O]

Man oh man. Samurai Flamenco continues to dump baskets of crazy every episode. The abrupt shift from Kamen Rider theme to Super Sentai was gloriously campy. Loved every bit of it. Just got up to episode 14 with the whole history of televised heroes showing up as apparently real heroes to save the day. Now that's some awesome stuff. 65,000+ bad guys to defeat? Insane. But still awesome.

[Shin Henshin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoRangerV

Decided to drop HappinessCharge Precure since it really wasn't my thing, although I still have an interest in checking out the franchise properly. Can anyone recommend a good alternative or am I unlikely to enjoy the others if I didn't enjoy HapCharge?

HeartCatch is still considered the best installment. I've also seen gifs from the first Pretty Cure series that were surprisingly action-packed. If neither of those hold your interest then Precure as a whole probably isn't a thing for you.

At the end of the day, it is pretty much tokusatsu made for a young female audience. It's gonna be brightly-colored and fluffy in most parts, so it really depends on if it can grab you from an early point. For instance, HeartCatch Precure doesn't really start showing its serious side until around episode 10.

[SideswipePrime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by algo448

That's a good description.



I love Umakoshi's character designs, here, in Omega and in Casshern Sins, they look great in motion.



Requisite handsome guy I guess. And agreed! The hair change is clever and Cure Moonlight looks great, her SHF is one of the best Cure Figuarts according to what I have read.
Chyphre and Coffret are a fun duo.



Magical Girl tropes to the rescue! But yeah that's pretty much the norm.
It's all about the punch and kick action here, plus the requisite finisher move.



The CG is really weird, but in the grand scheme of things a minor detail, it's not as jarring as it is in Happiness Charge, where the alternate forms of the Cures are exclusively one in CG for no reason at all.

Erika does improve a lot, she quickly becomes one of the best things in the show, and iirc she's the most popular character of the show in japan.



Good to hear!
And yeah, while it has it's moments, from what I've seen it hasn't gotten anywhere near Madoka levels, and I doubt it will.

I see. I was thinking of dropping it in favor of Happiness Charge, since that's the current one...or do you guys think I should just stick with HeartCatch?

[algo448]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoRangerV

Decided to drop HappinessCharge Precure since it really wasn't my thing, although I still have an interest in checking out the franchise properly. Can anyone recommend a good alternative or am I unlikely to enjoy the others if I didn't enjoy HapCharge?

I have only seen half of HeartCatch and it follows the same exact format and style, the thing to Precure is if the characters manage to grab you.

That said Futari Wa looks pretty awesome action-wise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shin Henshin

HeartCatch is still considered the best installment. I've also seen gifs from the first Pretty Cure series that were surprisingly action-packed. If neither of those hold your interest then Precure as a whole probably isn't a thing for you.

At the end of the day, it is pretty much tokusatsu made for a young female audience. It's gonna be brightly-colored and fluffy in most parts, so it really depends on if it can grab you from an early point. For instance, HeartCatch Precure doesn't really start showing its serious side until around episode 10.

What he said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideswipePrime

I see. I was thinking of dropping it in favor of Happiness Charge, since that's the current one...or do you guys think I should just stick with HeartCatch?

At only 6 episodes it's hard to tell.
Happiness so far feels very similar to HeartCatch, but it hasn't shown hints of a serious side yet, I have enjoyed it and reaction to it seems to have been good, but at this point it can go either way.

[Locke]

Kill La Kill 06. Another awesome episode!

I'm still impressed that this show seems to keep such a tight handle on so much ridiculousness. For a show which is primarily about a scantily clad women beating the shit out of everyone, it has some really solid writing. I can really see this becoming my favourite anime if this keeps up, smashingly all my favourite shows together in such a tightly written package.

Ryuuko is also a pretty great protagonist as well, due to solid implementation. In such a generally crazy world, where insanity has become the norm, it's entertaining to follow around a protagonist in this world who doesn't just lie down and accept it and instead asks all the important questions the audience wants to know.

The best part of the episode was definitely Sanageyama though. Minus Trigger - who is pretty much a good guy - this show has had some impressively unimpressive villains. Minus maybe Satsuki they've all basically been all flash, no punch. So for one of the Four Devas to come right into the frame, revealing himself to be a total badarse - sewing his eyes shut to become closer to his three star uniform that can turn into a mech fencing suit?! Who is genuinely an awesome guy with a fascinating entwined history?! Just YES. Where is his Figma?!

[losondro]

I've been watching Oh! Edo Rocket! for a while and this show loves to break the 4th wall a lot

[Locke]

Kill La Kill 07. This show continues to impress.

What started as a silly, and pretty poorly animated entry into the series, turned out to be incredibly deep and thoughtful, even if the ultimate message was somewhat muddled. If nothing else, for such a crazy world, it really does tell a great story with great characters. Loving this show.