Heartcatch Precure Episode 1 [First Impression]

With Healin’ Good Precure, and just about every other show I am covering postponed due to COVID-19, I am going to take this opportunity to pick up: Heartcatch Precure!

So you are probably wondering: How did I end up choosing this one? Well to be honest, I was originally going to pick up Kirakira. However when I finally watched the first episode and tried writing a first impression for it, I realized, “Crap, it’s not tickling my muse.” And it’s not that I didn’t like it, I thought it was cute (definitely different, but it wasn’t bad…). However the first episode didn’t resonate with me as strongly as I had hoped, and I found myself struggling to express my muddled thoughts.

Since I wasn’t sure if was because I am exhausted, I decided to watch and write up Heartcatch’s first impression to see if it stirred up a different response, and sure enough as you are about to see, I am a lot more passionate about it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact I have regretted not picking up this show when it first came out, so naturally this is where my heart is at! And without any further ado! Let’s get started!

First Impression

Ah man, I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH! I wasn’t even two minutes into it and I knew this had to be the one I would pick up. It has been one of my biggest regrets of passing up on the series back when I first started blogging, so I am ecstatic I have the chance to cover it. Just to be clear, it’s been at least 8 years since I last watched this show (I legit I can’t remember the last time I watched it), so believe me when I say I don’t remember much or anything at all. But coming back into this brought back the rush of excitement I had felt the first time I watched it, and I happy I will be able to share it with you all for the first time!

And really, what better way to get you enamoured into a series with an epic hook of Cure Moonlight falling in battle against the Deserters as she tries to protect the Heart Tree, and top it off with two polar opposites protagonists who are each so adorable, relatable and best of all, a perfect match to balance each other out? Simply put, the premiere is brilliant. (Also can be just take a moment to appreciate how cute Tsubomi is with her glasses? I know they are going to take away the glasses down the line, can we just appreciate them? KEEP THEM DARN IT. She is even cuter with them on!!!!)

Our dear protagonist Hanasaki Tsubomi, she and her family has recently moved to town with her grandmother to run a flower shop. Tsubomi wishes to become more assertive and confident around others, but it’s a little tough for her when she has drawn the attention of a loud and energetic classmate Erika. Being shy and an introvert makes it hard for her to be in the center of attention, but make no mistake she isn’t a timid character. If there is injustice, she will find that courage and stand up to it.

Speaking of, while Tsubomi obtained the Heart Perfume and became Cure Blossom today, we didn’t actually see her fight, which is not that common. I don’t particularly mind this because they gave us some fun content to enjoy in the beginning of the episode between Cure Moonlight and the Deserters, but I have always enjoyed precure more when there is more at stake for the victims. We have learned when their Heart Flowers are taken away from them. If they aren’t saved, they will never be recovered. So it adds that much desired urgency (much like what Healin’ Good has been successfully doing) to the battles.

The transformation was a lot more basic than I remember it to be, but gosh it’s just as pretty as ever. Let’s just put it this way, it aged well.

And then there is Erika, our friendly character who is so full of energy, has a big heart and speaks whatever on her mind, but it can come across as obnoxious to some, (and to some extent, it is– such as putting Tsubomi on the spot during her introduction.) However it is the part of her that makes her endearing to me. She was so happy to have Tsubomi as a neighbour, and was excited to help her “change” (albeit, neglected to ask what she meant by that) by offering her some adorable fashion advice and even gifted her a dress she had made herself.

However her excessive enthusiasm can be a bit much for people like Tsubomi who can quickly become overwhelmed by such personalities. While she means no harm, Erika has a bad habit of dragging people into her pace. Like her sister said, she needs to dial it back a bit, otherwise it will scare people off, or get herself in trouble. She learned the hard way about both today, the first instance was when Tsubomi told her to stop deciding things on her own when they aren’t even friends- and I am proud of her for standing up for herself. It was something that needed to be said, especially since it was giving her a hard time. The other instance was when she straight up called Sasorina (one of the desert messengers) a weird person. While she wasn’t wrong (because of stranger danger), that wasn’t polite of her either, and her thoughtlessness can and certainly will hurt someone’s feelings.

Of course while Erika’s loud and impulsive personality leaves the impression that she is a confident person, she of course has her own share of insecurities, such as she is jealous of her sister Momo, or how she is now fighting to keep the Fashion Club alive now that the last of her members have left. That said, it was funny when she spotted Tsubomi. I was thinking to myself, “RUN GIRL RUN”, but Erika got hawk eyes and once she latches to her target, she’s not letting them go haha!

As for the fairies, we have Shypre and Coffret. They were entrusted the task to entrust the Heart Perfume the new Precure warrior to fight in Cure Moonlight’s steed, who has fallen in battle against the Deserters while fighting to protect the Heart Tree.

I would probably say these fairies are the bests or will soon fall second to Healin’ Good’s trainees because they are an absolute riot. I lost it when they went into her shirt and disguised themselves as breasts, or how they yelled at Tsubomi to “TRANSFORM ALREADY!” Precure fairies are always way more entertaining when they have such distinct personalities.

Overall, I am absolutely elated that I finally have the opportunity to cover this gem. If you haven’t watched this series yet, I hope you join us because Heartcatch is considered among Precure’s top tier titles for a very good reason!  I suppose one of the biggest things about the first episode that left such a positive and memorable first impression for me was the energetic and totally relatable character dynamics. This episode also reminded me how strong of a soundtrack this series had, along with the gorgeous animation and fights. I am a huge fan of this art-style, and I have always loved it how Precure is willing to take a different art direction for each of their series (not all, but enough to stand out). Not to mention, I still love the OP and ED songs to this day. Ah, so good!

You might have noticed in this entry how I kind of flipped back and forth between my feelings I have harboured all these years, and how I feel now as I rewatch it. As always, it is tricky to cover shows I have previously watched or read, however there’s one benefit that I hardly remember much (with a few exceptions). So from here on out, I am just going to focus on writing my thoughts as though it’s the first time I am experiencing this title. In general this is a better approach so that I don’t get too caught up in my own head of trying to think about the things that happen down the line, and keep true to how I am feeling in the moment. This adventure will certainly be one where I will be reliving what made me fall in love in this series in the first place (a similar feeling I had when I rewatched Chihayafuru from the first season since I needed a refresh!), and I absolutely cannot wait!

Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed 😉

NOTICE: RELEASE SCHEDULE

As of May 5th, I hope to begin releasing two episodes a week for Heartcatch Precure. I haven’t decided yet if I want to do it as double-posts or not.. I’ll let you know once I sort that out. The reason why I am not starting with two episodes this week is because I want to take the opportunity to catch up on much needed rest since I am still burned out from the server migration fiasco.

The whole purpose of doing this strategy is so that I can get as far as I can in half the time it would usually take. At some point or another, Healin Good and the other shows are going to resume on air, and if I can help it, I don’t want to be stuck with covering 6 or 7 shows and burn myself out.

However: if YGO SEVENS gets postponed, and I decide to pick up one of its older series, I will likely be adjusting the release schedule.

As for the situation where Healin’ Good Precure  and the others resumes earlier than anticipated, I will switch to releasing the entries on a day different day of the week because I already have two, and sometimes 3 since YGO SEVENS’ is dependent on fansubs again.
When that time comes, I’ll let you know how I plan to tweak the schedule.

Until then, I’ll see you next week with more Heartcatch goodness!