Ask John: Is Suite Precure Going to Become Good?

Question:
In regards to Suite Precure — I think one of the things that made this show seem “inferior” was the fact we just had one amazing season with HeartCatch Precure!, which set a standard for storytelling excellence I haven’t seen since Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star several years ago. Of course, HeartCatch Precure! started with an almost literal “bang” with the first episode, which promptly erased all the notions that the season was going to be a “dumbed down” Pretty Cure season.

As for Suite Precure, it’s the general consensus that the series started to “click” with episode 5, “Dotabota! The TV Reporter Challange–nya!” I felt that the character development really took off since then, and I think it’s going to get better over the next few months.

Answer:
Particularly in 2004 & 2005, I was widely known as one of America’s few and most outspoken fans of the, at the time, new Pretty Cure franchise. Although I tried to remain interested in the series as it continued, I found that Toei Animation’s continued efforts to tweak and re-imagine the franchise to hit different demographics drained some of the charm and personality from the franchise that made the original two seasons so good. Splash Star skewed younger and felt safer, less progressive and dynamic. The first Yes! Precure 5 series took inspiration from earlier magical girl team shows including Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, and Tokyo Mew Mew. As a result, it felt uninspired. The sequel series, Yes! Precure 5 Go Go, injected some welcome vitality into the franchise but still felt anchored to the conventions of earlier magical girl team anime, which made it feel highly redundant. Fresh Precure, sadly, wasn’t especially fresh, choosing to continue the exact same, tired format as the previous series, simply introducing a new cast. The series did innovate a bit with its introduction of Cure Passion, but the earlier Yes! Precure 5 Go Go had already introduced the concept of a new Pretty Cure with an unconventional origin. 2010’s Heartcatch Precure was literally a breath of fresh air after three long years of rather conventional and uninspired Pretty Cure anime.

Heartcatch premiered with an attention-grabbing prologue that evoked memories of the groundbreaking action from the original series. Heartcatch quickly introduced charming characters with diverse personalities and vibrant energy that had been largely lacking in the immediately prior series. And the Heartcatch series continued to innovate the Pretty Cure franchise by introducing new concepts like multi-generational Precure warriors – an idea only hinted at in previous series – fighting fairies and the possibility that fairies can die, an evil Pretty Cure warrior, the concept that Pretty Cure warriors have to earn their power-ups, and increasingly exaggerated battles that eventually reach Gurren Lagann levels of spectacle and scale.

Rather than continue Heartcatch Precure with a second series, Toei revamped the franchise again, introducing Suite Precure, a series that immediately felt like a half-step backwards. Suite Precure visually and stylistically seemed like a reinvisioning of Fresh Precure. While protagonists Hibiki Hojo and Kanade Minamino immediately had slightly more engaging personalities than the heroines of Fresh Precure, they weren’t as cute nor as sympathetic as Heartcatch’s Erica and Tsubomi. For the first time in a Pretty Cure television series, Suite Precure introduced an alternate world populated by humans. However, through the series first 14 episodes, Suite Precure hasn’t especially done anything unique with its alternate world of human beings. The Suite Precure series revolves around dual themes: music and the harmony between Hibiki and Kanade. As a result, especially the series’ early episodes feel shackled to those themes. At least six out of the series’ first ten episodes prominently involve Hibiki and Kanade arguing. Villainess Siren tries multiple times to break up Hibiki and Kanade’s friendship in the series’ early episodes. In effect, the obligation to include a music theme and include some narrative element about Hibiki and Kanade’s rocky friendship makes the series’ early episodes feel repetitive and redundant.

However, particularly starting with episode 9, the Suite Precure series has stopped dredging up the are-they-friends-or-aren’t-they dilemma and has made the reliance on a musical theme less prominent. The series also promises to introduce a new innovation to the Pretty Cure franchise with the revelation of the identity of new character Cure Muse. Already, a direct recreation of the origins of Milky Rose or Cure Passion seems unlikely, if not impossible.

My fond affection for Futari wa Precure, Futari wa Precure Max Heart, and Heartcatch Precure cause me to extend good will toward the other Pretty Cure installments. Despite it being weaker than its prior series, Suite Precure is quickly improving by breaking out of its early self-imposed narrative limitations and giving its main characters more personality and expressiveness – particularly in the case of Kanade. I do want Suite Precure to be good. I want to like and enjoy it. Its present story direction is a positive direction. I find that since episode 9 I’ve been watching the series because I’m actually interested in it, not just because of obligation motivated by loyalty to the Pretty Cure franchise. However, I’m not so anxious to predict that Suite Precure is going to develop into a legitimately great series like its predecessor. Pretty Cure series are always long, but even at only 14 episodes in, I’m afraid that Suite Precure has had too slow and weak of a start to turn into a fully satisfying series. The best Pretty Cure series have always been engrossing and exciting from their very first episode.