Smile PreCure! Episode 15: Mama and Me

Miyuki and her mom share a nice little moment at the end of the Mother’s Day episode.

This week’s episode of Smile PreCure was a damn fine piece of work. It made use of its air date to create a topical episode surrounding Mother’s Day, much like it previously did with its April Fool’s Day episode, as well as Heartcatch PreCure’s Mother’s Day episode back in 2010. Not only was the warm relationship between Miyuki and her mother in show, but Toei’s great fight choreography as well.

Synopsis

Miyuki notices the other girls making presents for their mothers and realizes that she forgot that today is Mother’s Day. She discovers that she has no money to buy a present, so she tries to help her mother with chores around the house, but fails at most of her tasks. Later, she tries to make a necklace back at the secret base, but the end product turns out to be too plain, by her own standards. She visits a card store with the girls, only to run into Wolfrun, who casts Bad End on customers at a flower shop. He turns a carnation into a red-nosed akanbe, and the girls transform and fight it. Cure Happy saves Candy from an attack, but drops her mother’s present. Wolfrun takes Happy’s necklace and berates her for doing a crappy job in creating it. Cures Sunny and March come to her defence, engaging in combat with Wolfrun. Sunny knocks the necklace away, and Candy retrieves it. The rest of the PreCure go on the offensive after Happy comes to a realization about her feelings regarding her mother and Mother’s day. She uses Happy Shower to vanquish the Akanbe. After the battle, Miyuki gives the present to her mom, and they walk home together happily.

This week introduced us to Miyuki’s mom, who, like most other PreCure parents, are noticeably present in the girls’ lives as they grow and mature as PreCure. Let’s take a look at 4 other notable moms in the PreCure franchise.

Smile PreCure! Episode 14: Divide and Conquer!

The PreCure settle into a nice serving of Takoyaki, and have settled into a groove in their own show.

After 14 episodes, we’re well past the first quarter of Smile PreCure’s televised run, and settled into what to expect from the show. With a wave of introductory character episodes, a cycle of spotlight episodes, and a recently wrapped-up vacation arc, we’ve come to know quite a bit about what this show can and cannot do. At times, it lacks punch, quite literally, in the action scenes, but the cast has a lot of personality and is well-balanced, as seen in this week’s foray intoOsaka.

Synopsis

The girls arrive atOsakafor the final half of their class trip. They begin their day with a self-guided tour ofOsakaCastle, but the group is separated during the visit. Nao, Akane, and Reika continue onwards while Yayoi and Miyuki are left behind. Yayoi and Miyuki try to continue on with the tour plans and hope to catch up at Tennouji Zoo, but are constantly sidetracked by their interactions with a number of local Osakan women who give them candy.  While the two girls visitTsuutenkakuTowerin order to get a beter view of the city, the other three continue their exhaustive search and are stricken by hunger. Majorina appears inOsaka, looking for candy, and when she is unable to obtain the local delicacy, she casts Bad End on the city and transforms Tsuutenkaku into a blue-nosed Akanbe, trapping Miyuki and Yayoi inside. All five girls transform separately, and Cures Sunny, March, and Beauty break out Cures Happy and Peace after using the Butterfly décor, granting them the ability to fly. They disorient the Akanbe and force it to spit out the two trapped Cures. Finally together, they vanquish it with Rainbow Healing.

As mentioned above, we are already a quarter of the way through Smile PreCure, so let’s take a look at each of the girls and their contribution to this episode as well as how they’ve progressed throughout the series so far.

Smile PreCure! Episode 13: TERRIBLE LUCK

This week was bad luck for Miyuki, but we are the ones who were blessed with good luck and a great episode.

This week’s episode of Smile PreCure brings us to the ancient capital of Kyoto, where the girls are on an adventurous field trip. This type of episode is hardly new, as other PreCure shows have field trip episodes  of their own, including Max Heart (Kyoto, in episode 34), Fresh (Okinawa, in episode 39) and Heartcatch PreCure (France, in the movie). Smile brings a special spin to their version of the field trip, which is executed with resounding success. Healing Prayer has actually grown on me a bit since its somewhat anticlimactic introducion, but that’s the least of my praises for this week’s episode.

Synopsis

Miyuki and her friends arrive at Kyoto for a class field trip, but after accidentally falling into a koi pond, Miyuki suspects that she might have bad luck. Her fears are realized when she picks out a fortune that indicates that she will have terrible luck. She is befallen with misfortune throughout the first day of the trip, but after curfew, she connects with the others and is reassured that things will brighen up. Unfortunately, Miyuki’s luck gets even worse the next day, which is topped off by the appearance of Aka Oni, who comes to Kyoto after reading about the storied connection between demons and the ancient capital. He casts bad end on the PreCure’s classmates and summons a blue Akanbe in the form of Miyuki’s fortune reading. Its attacks are thwarted by the other PreCure, but end up indirectly hitting Cure Happy anyway. Cure Happy becomes fed up with her bad luck after dropping her smile pact into a nearby river. She jumps in to protect her friends, and the PreCure’s desire to support Cure Happy activates her missing pact. They ward off the Akanbe’s finishing blow and vanquish it with Rainbow Healing. After the battle, Miyuki comes to terms with her bad luck, and the girls are rewarded by having their picture taken with a pair of maiko.

Here are my thoughts on this simply fantastic episode!

Smile PreCure! Episode 12: Double Rainbow (Healing)!

Reika and Candy have a heart-to-heart talk, probably about sharing screentime.

This week’s episode saw the introduction of a new Akanbe, a new PreCure finishing move, and a little bit of spotlight shared between Reika and Candy. It was also the first episode in this year’s continuity that chronologically leads directly into the next episode. All that aside, however, I found this week’s installment of Smile PreCure quite disappointing in several regards. It’s mostly due to the absence of the antics that fans are used to seeing, which makes me wonder if this show is capable of being serious when it wants to be, and not come off as overly corny. It’ll have to try a few times throughout the show’s run to get it right.

Synopsis

The girls begin to make preparations to go on a class field trip toKyotoandOsaka. Candy is excited to join, but is told to stay home, much to her disappointment. She confides in her Pop in a conversation via the Cure Décor. When the girls continue to prepare for the class trip, Candy accidentally spills coffee on the guidebooks that they were assembling, further increasing tension between her and the other girls. She runs away and is sought after by Reika, who has a heart-to-heart talk with her. Afterward, Candy separates from the group, but is captured by Wolfrun who traps her inside a cage. Wolfrun appears in front of the girls, casts Bad End on nearby townsfolk, and summons a new blue-nosed Akanbe that is invulnerable to the girls’ finishing moves on it. They get trapped by the Akanbe’s bubble attacks, and Reika is forced to fight for her survival. Candy escapes her cage and meets with the cornered PreCure, who defend her from Wolfrun’s verbal attack. Candy’s feelings bring out a new power that allows the PreCure to escape from their bubble traps and use a new finishing move called Rainbow Healing to defeat the blue Akanbe.

As eventful as the above synopsis may be, there are a few nitpicks that I want to discuss.

Smile PreCure! Episode 11: Nao or Never!

That spider is pretty huge. I really don't blame Nao for freaking out.

At 12:11am on Monday, this is easily the latest I’ve ever started on writing for a Smile PreCure post. However, don’t let the tardiness of this post be an indicator of the quality of this episode. It was remarkably fun, and despite a lot of silly nonsense that would shatter most people’s suspension of disbelief, there’s enough laughs and Fuck Yeahs to not make it a big deal. Nao fans were treated to a delightful show this week.

Synopsis

Nao trips over a tiny hammer that resembles that from the fairy tale, the Inch-High Samurai. Candy plays with it, but the hammer causes the girls to become tiny. Candy runs around the school looking for the girls, and they follow her to try to get her attention. The girls face several gigantic obstacles that obstruct them from catching up with Candy. The girls also discover Nao’s fear of insects, which are found everywhere. Nao is overcome with fear and faints. When she comes to, she notices the community of insects and bugs around her. Majorina appears, who has been looking for her hammer that makes things small. She discovers the girls in the grass, casts Bad End on the bugs, and summons a flower-shaped Akanbe. After transforming, the PreCure get roughed up by the Akanbe, but March defends the bugs and leads a counterattack against the Akanbe, finishing it off with March Shoot.

It’s late night right now, but not too late to post! Five quick thoughts on episode 11!

Smile PreCure! Episode 10: You Go, Grill!

Okonomiyaki tastes sooo gooooood!

I apologize for the delay in this post, as well as what I suspect will be the shoddy quality of the post itself. I’ve been sick for the latter half of the week, which, combined with the onslaught of some very enjoyable Spring season anime, have made me put off the writing of this post. However, do not let that be an indicator of my impression of this week’s Smile PreCure; it was pretty damn great, and Akane had a lot to do with it.

Synopsis

Akane takes over her dad’s Okonomiyaki shop after he injures his back. She invites the other girls over to sample her cooking, and while they are enamoured by her cooking abilities, Akane’s brother, Genki, points out that her Okonomiyaki is not the same as her dad’s. Akane vows to try to find the secret to her dad’s cooking so that she can make a good impression on the neighbourhood association when they visit during an upcoming weekend. With the help of the other girls, she experiments with different recipes. When the Hino family sets up shop outdoors during a neighbourhood event, Wolfrun attacks and casts the Bad End aura. He summons an Akanbe that snares most of the PreCure with glue-like projectiles. Wolfrun puts down Akane’s cooking efforts by saying that food is meaningless. Cure Happy retorts that Akane put her feelings into her cooking, which makes Akane realize the secret to her father’s cooking. She breaks out of her trap with Cure Beauty’s Beauty Blizzard. She lays a beatdown on the Akanbe and destroys it with Sunny Fire. Akane uses her new cooking knowledge to cook a wonderful Okonomiyaki feast for her neighbourhood association.

Because of the timing of this post this week, I’ll only have a few brief thoughts on the subject.

Smile PreCure! Episode 9: A Piece of Peace

Doushiooouuuuuuuu!?!?!?!?

This episode was simply terrible. Nothing great ever happened, and it makes me sick to my stomach as a PreCure fan. I pretty much dropped the entire show, and will just go back to watching PreCure back in the good old days when Yes! Pretty Cure 5 was airing.

I lied! April Fools! This episode was quite entertaining, and Yes 5 has the most annoying mascots ever. It’s still a pretty good show, though. I’d definitely recommend it.

Synopsis

Yayoi is swept up by April Fools Day at home, and when she decides to play a trick on Miyuki by telling her that she’s transferring schools, the lie spirals out of control. Miyuki tells Akane, and the two of them each tell Nao and Reika, who in turn tell the entire class. Yayoi is unable to find an opportunity to clear the misunderstanding and tries to draw a manga to communicate her message. It gets blown away by the wind, and while Yayoi is panicked, Miyuki invites her to her own class celebration of her transfer. Yayoi, emotionally unable to handle her situation, runs off crying. The girls find her, but Aka Oni appears and spreads Bad End throughout the school. He summons an Akanbe and reveals the stray manga depicting Peace lying about transferring schools. Peace’s apologizes to her companions, and their returned kindness empowers her to defeat the Akanbe with Peace Lightning.

 Once again, here are my five thoughts on the episode.

Smile PreCure! Episode 8: A Fresh Freaky Friday Flip!

Cure Candy, Kuru!

The freaky friday flip is a commonly done trope in fictional media, where two characters of reasonably different personality swap bodies due to some freak incident; the two characters for the most part retain their personality and mental processes, but taking over the other person’s body has major ramifications, and hilarity almost always ensues.

This is especially true for the PreCure franchise, and with this week’s episode of Smile PreCure in the books, the trope has been done twice in two different continuities: Fresh in episode 10, and Smile in episode 8. When I watched Fresh’s take before, it was immediately my favourite episode in the entire series; the same is certainly true for Smile.

Synopsis

On the way to school, Miyuki and Candy discover a pair of rings. After curiously looking through them, the rings clamp on to their respective fingers and the two swap bodies. The other girls are puzzled by the occurrence, and they try to go through the school day with Candy attending class in Miyuki’s body. Hilarity ensues, with Candy failing to act like Miyuki during all of her classes. Miyuki admonishes Candy after school for messing everything up, and the latter runs away, distraught. While Miyuki and the others try to look for her, Candy plays with little kids at a playground. She is discovered by Majorina, who notices the switch, and casts Bad End on the playground. The other cures show up and transform except for Miyuki, but are handily dispatched by a nimble Akanbe. Miyuki stands up for Candy, and her smile pact activates. She transforms while in Candy’s body, turning into Cure Candy, and defeats the Akanbe with Happy Shower.

As I’ve mentioned already, the freaky Friday flip happened twice in the Pretty Cure franchise, and there are some differences between the two with regards to the trope’s execution, resulting in two distinct, yet equally memorable episodes. The freaky Friday flip has a number of recognizable elements: the cause of the flip itself, the contrasting characters involved, lifestyle adjustments, realization of perspective leading to the flip back.  Let’s compare the different elements:

Smile PreCure! Episode 7: Home is Where the Heart is

It's not too comfortable, but it's home.

With seven episodes under our belt, we have an initial idea of what kind of show Smile PreCure is all about, particularly in relation to the other cure shows. While each continuity follows a strict formula, the exact formula differs from series to series. With Smile PreCure, the identity falls upon the cast itself, with all five girls going about their lives as PreCure, with the bare minimum in monster-of-the-week shennanigans. This means reduced emphasis on combat, which seems to go against the grain of the identity of PreCure as a whole. However, the increased focus on the characters themselves is very rewarding; with such fantastic voice acting, we get to know the characters more each day, despite barely scratching the surface of the show’s overall plot. Smile has become the magical girl equivalent of K-ON, and I’m quite fine with that.

Synopsis

Unable to find a private place in school to discuss PreCure-related matters, the girls go on a mission to find their secret base. They meet up at the mysterious library, but due to the somewhat hazardous environment, they try to search elsewhere for their ideal base. Reika takes the team to the top of Mount Fuji and gives a speech about the PreCure journey, which goes over the heads of the others. Yayoi takes the team to a futuristic command centre, but the place is revealed to be the set for a superhero film. Nao finds a nice comfy little room with stuffed animals, but it turns out to be a display for a stuffed animal store. Akane leads her friends to a gorilla exhibit at a zoo, and they get chased away by a zookeeper. Miyuki proposes a secret base in the woods  that she used as a child growing up, but upon arrival, she discovers that the secret base has since been occupied by two little girls playing house. Wolfrun appears and casts his Bad End aura over the kids, transforming a tree into an Akanbe. Miyuki and the others transform into Smile PreCure and defeat the Akanbe using Cure Happy’s Happy Shower finisher. Resuming their search, the Precure settle for the mysterious library as their home base.

This episode was interesting in that it showcased the five girls selecting places that they would deem fit for a secret base. These settings act like an extension of the characters themselves because of their attraction to it. Here are my thoughts on each character and their secret base choices after watching this episode.

Smile PreCure! Episode 6: Catchphrases are Serious Business

Don't forget to add the spirit fingers!

Watching episodes like this week’s PreCure makes me undeniably ecstatic about blogging Smile as I have so far. There was a little bit of everything, from new characters to the good old antics that we’ve come to expect after 6 installments. This is the first episode that puts all five characters in an equal position of exposure, and there are lots of things to like when they’re together. With a new, fabulous villain, and a pretty great one-off side character, Smile still has a long way to go with regards to introducing its full cast, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

Synopsis:

Despite celebrating the formation of the new PreCure team, the five members are still curious about their role as legendary warriors. Candy’s older brother, a lion-like samurai fairy named Pop, appears before the girls, and after taking them to the mysterious library back in episode 1, he explains the story of Marchenland, Bad End Kingdom, and the PreCure’s mission. Meanwhile, Joker makes his first appearance in front of the Bad End Trio, and Majorina wins a game of cards, as well as an opportunity to gather Bad Energy from the townsfolk. The PreCure’s plans to come up with a transformation catchphrase are interrupted by Majorina’s presence elsewhere, and use the bookshelf portal to stop her. Miyuki gets distracted in her concentration and accidentally teleports to the South Pole. With the help of Pop, she finds her way back to Majorina and the other girls, who are being chased by an Akanbe. They transform and come up with a catchphrase, but are attacked by Akanbe at the end of their pose. Pop saves them by transforming into a giant pressing machine, and Miyuki finishes the monster off with a Happy Shower. Pop leaves for Marchenland again after leaving a few words of encouragement for his little sister, Candy.

I wanted to use a catchphrase here as a cute transition to my five thoughts this week, but I clearly fail at coming up with something. Here they are: