I know I said I was going to wait until closer to the end of the show to elaborate on what’s been bugging me all this time…. But after watching these two episodes, and seeing the preview for next week’s, I no longer have the motivation to cover this show.
In the recent weeks, every single character (with the exception of the villains) have been starting to annoy me. It also incredibly frustrating to see we have entered yet another “stall out” period where no progress or decent character growth is made whatsoever, so you might as well just call it filler episodes.
As I mentioned back in Episode 32, I felt like something was missing. But after reflecting on this, I realized that wasn’t quite right. A better way to explain it is that there is something amiss with Star Twinkle Precure. And the culprit? The main characters.
For the last few weeks, it has become more and more apparent of just how ignorant the girls are of not just their responsibility of fighting for the universe as a whole, but also the looming threat of the Notraiders and its leader, Master Darknest. It is beyond me why the writer completely glossed over their first encounter with Master Darknest. Even though he appeared as a hologram, the girls were so indifference about it, that it was almost as though he never appeared! It is also incredibly frustrating that in these recent episodes since, there has been no further discussion about him (hello Yuni, mind sharing more about him?), or the fact he regarded Fuwa as a vessel. It’s as though nobody seems to truly recognize the gravity of the recent developments, or at least paying as much mind as they should. Instead it’s either one of two things: “Fuwa” (Hikaru, Lala, Elena and Madoka) and “Planet Rainbow” (Yuni).
And was also one of the reasons why reason why episode 33 was incredibly frustrating to watch. One it gave me the impression that the girls have this idea in their head that everything will magically be resolved once Fuwa attains her true form. Ummmmm, you guys know you gotta fight Master Darknest next, right? And two: look I get it, the girls have their own lives, and they most definitely cannot skip classes! But you know who isn’t at school?! YUNI! Seriously, she has no excuses except for sheer laziness. If research doesn’t get her anywhere, she’s not going to bother— and that really ticked me off. Not to mention, perhaps this episode could have been used for more pragmatic developments as well.
Another major problem is the fact I am not particularly attached to any of the characters. And as time goes by, and they fail to undergo meaningful development or have interesting interactions, the less I care about them. Right now, you know they are in a pretty bad situation if you find yourselves caring more and being way more intersted in the villains than the heroines. In fact, if it weren’t for solid villains, I probably would have gotten this far!
Unfortunately the poorly written protagonists aren’t the only thing wrong with this show. I also have a lot of problems with the execution of the theme “Imagination”.
Maybe it’s just me, I have always felt there has been a huge disconnect between the writer’s intent and how it’s being portrayed/executed. When I think about what imagination means, I think about creativity, dreams, passion, unlimited possibilities, and thinking outside of the box. But so far, the themes I felt that has been presented to us are more along the lines of: Courage, Diversity, think big not small, and being open-minded, and the differences of various societies/worlds. We see that through Elena’s family, we see that through Samaanian’s society, we see that with Yuni, all of these things. As result, it feels as though there are two very different themes being presented to us, and they aren’t exactly working hand in hand with each other. That isn’t to say the message isn’t good,in fact, on the contrary, it has been fantastic! I am really happy to see Precure tackle this subject! But sadly the whole magic of “imagination” is missing the mark for me.
That’s all I really got to say, I didn’t want to end my coverage without at least giving an explanation for it. It’s too bad that I am not enjoying this show as much I would like, but it’s because it has gotten to that point I know it’s in my best interest to drop it. I am also not entirely surprised this ended up happening since I didn’t get far with the last show the writer had written Mahoutsukai Precure. So at this point I am probably just going to wait until the final episode and then binge-watch the rest of it just to see how it ends. At this time, I have no plan on writing an Overall Review, so please don’t hold you breath for it.
Thanks for tuning in every week, and hopefully I will be able to enjoy the next Precure series!
Status: Dropped
Reason: Loss of Interest
Ah, I get you! I totally get where you’re coming from! Knowing that it is the same writer as Mahoprecure, I suddenly understood… I, too, kind of disliked that season for the same reason: stall and bland heroines. I suppose this writer’s style isn’t my cup of tea. Which is sad, because I was truly over the moon (hahah) with the whole space theme.
At least, if something good could be said from the show, it was that the transformation music was on point again. Precure was kind of losing its touch in that regard lately.
What’s going on with PreCure? It seems like we have to deal with a pattern of lackluster seasons and a few bad apples here and there before we get another of the same caliber as Go! Princess or Heartcatch. If we think about it, there has never been consecutive seasons done well.
Like I said before, there’s a limit to how many times the same concepts and themes can be used over and over again and the franchise badly needs a new direction and fresh ideas. On top of that, I’m not liking the outfits lately and the transformation music is disappointing, too.
Maybe PreCure should start doing 3 year seasons, like Yu-Gi-Oh! Lately with lack of proper character development and excellent ideas that went down the drain, the one-year time limit isn’t enough.
I have been wondering the same thing. 🙁
Hmmmm, I’m not sure how I feel about Precure having 3 years seasons. I don’t think it’s about not having enough time, it’s more about wasting it on pointless activities/side-quests that doesn’t do anything to move the plot forward, or offer substantial character growth. Speaking of which, the friendships have been feeling are so shallow or non-existant lately! The girls don’t feel close at all! Where is that special bond between them? They really need to get back to that.
Awww I’m actually adoring Star Twinkle! I can understand your point of view though and hope you’ll end up enjoying the 2020 season more ^^