I've been waiting for this. The one-two punch of Fresh and Heartcatch Precure make for the most widely beloved era of Precure, and I was very excited to see if they'd live up to the hype. So far, it's looking really good, Fresh Precure is fantastic. It takes the groundwork Splash Star laid and expands on it, while also throwing in some of Yes 5's best ideas to make for easily the best Precure series so far.
Fresh Precure continues the trend of having more than two Precures, but it limits the amount from Yes 5's five to a slightly more manageable three (eventually four). This is because Fresh's Cures are based on an idol trio, so they fight by dancing and take dance lessons with an actual idol group as training. It's a neat concept that's explored really well here, which is something I could really say about the whole show. I like how the Cures were chosen right after sacrificing themselves for someone else, you can pinpoint the moment they were decided. It's really cool to see the three Cures go to different schools, and the split leads to some unique dynamics (For example, Inori goes to a Christian school, so we see her in church at points). And the villains at Labyrinth having to fill up a gauge to achieve their goal of awakening Infinity actually gives purpose to the random Monsters Of The Week, and allows more creative villain designs than ever. The MotWs aren't just there to make some random bits of destruction, they're specifically designed to be as harmful to the average person as possible to increase the amount of sorrow they let out. As far as the actual Cures themselves go, they're pretty great. Love is yet another lovable ditzy but pure-hearted pink Cure (I particularly like how everyone thinks she has more selfish intentions but is always proven wrong), Inori's growth is really well-done, and Miki is a brilliant subversion of the "dark hair means aloof" trope.
It's fascinating just how many ideas Fresh took from other Precure series but just... executed better. Similarly to Splash Star, Fresh Precure puts a stronger emphasis on slow slice of life bits where you truly get familiar with the central town and its population. However, unlike Splash Star, Fresh also makes sure to not rush its start, giving each of its Cures a "day in the life" episode so you can become truly invested in them. And even more, I feel like the fights are a bit shorter than in prior series so you can spend more time with the characters. In addition, Fresh took the animal fairies idea from Yes 5 even further by making its core fairy an actual ferret, and he's hands down the best one yet. Tarte is literally just your average Osakan dude who happens to look like a ferret, and the bromances he gets himself into are so funny. And I'm glad Tarte is so great because the other fairy, Chiffon, got pretty annoying at points. She's inoffensive most of the time, but there was one stretch where the plot demanded Chiffon repeat the most obnoxious phrase imaginable. But back to the positives, another thing Fresh does well is that it takes that increased focus on secret identities that Yes 5 had and pushes it even further. Because of the nature of the villain's plans, the monster events actually happen and affect the town's citizens rather than always knocking people out or happening out of view. It really expands the amount of potential storyline ideas, and for the first time, it truly feels like the side characters are actively getting involved with the main overarching plot. It also helps that some characters even learn about the Cures' real identities (particularly the aforementioned idol group), culminating in even the parents learning. It's something I've hardly ever seen in a magical girl show but the drama mined from it is so juicy.
So all of that sounds fantastic, but I haven't even gotten to the best part yet: Setsuna. Remember Michiru & Kaoru from Splash Star and their top-notch redemption arc? Well, Setsuna/Eas is that but so much better. Eas starts trying to fake-befriend the Cures all the way in Episode 7, which gives us way more time to develop her relationship with them (and especially Love) before the inevitable mid-season fight and redemption. Even more, Setsuna doesn't die immediately after being redeemed and instead becomes a Cure herself, which leads to a second half where Setsuna learns to be part of a family with the Cures as well as deal with regret towards the things she's done in her past. The increased screentime given to Setsuna really helps flesh out her arc, it's great. It helps that Setsuna herself is a very fun character to follow. Even when she's a villain, her bewildered reactions to the Cures' antics are very entertaining. And while I would've been more than satisfied if she spent most of her time with Love, she develops interesting dynamics with all the Cures! Hell, her interactions with her "brothers" Soular and Westar are great too.
As far as the presentation goes, Fresh looks incredibly... well... fresh for a Precure show. The character proportions look a lot more realistic, but the actual animation style is far more cartoony and experimental. It's a weird combination that strangely really works. The realistic designs mean the Cures look like actual people, but the cartoony style allows the show to go off-model without it looking awful like in Yes 5. Characters can have simplified and silly expressions be used for comedy, and you can tell the animators knew that because this is hands down the funniest Precure show so far. The music is also pretty great this time, a big step up from Yes 5's soundtrack mostly for just being different. It's the first Precure anime to change composers, and this leads to a vast shift in style from orchestral to rock. It's great, especially in the fight scenes, with some of the music even giving me Sonic Adventure or Puyo Puyo vibes with their combination of sparkly synth and roaring guitar riffs. I especially have to give credit to the first ending theme, which is not only a banger as a song but comes with a 3D-animated dance number way before the style was actually perfected. There's a charm to its crudeness, definitely helped by the ending's slick editing and the fact that it very much resembles similar CGI anime music videos of the time.
Highlights:
The Missing Hamburger! Protect Your Favorite Things (episode 6): Fresh has some of the best standalone episodes so far for their creative premises and just how far they take them. Case in point, The Missing Hamburger starts off with Soular just deciding to remove items kids like from the world, which ends up leading to him deciding to just remove mothers entirely. It's naturally the farthest you could possibly take this idea, but I didn't think Fresh would actually go there, and I definitely didn't think they'd have poor Love walk in on her mom the moment she disappears. That ought to have been very traumatic.
Tarte Is Inori, Inori Is Tarte (episode 10): The Soular episodes are so good. Leave it to Fresh to take a stale trope and... well... make it feel fresh. See, usually in a body swap episode, just two characters would get swapped. But in this episode, like half the goddamn town gets body-swapped so the whole place gets overrun by talking animals. It's so absurd yet so brilliant, and it leads to so many neat twists and memorable moments. Like the Cure Tarte transformation sequence (and then Tarte actually getting to play Cure), the Kaoru fakeout, and Tarte having to be quiet because at this point humans talking would seem weird. And despite all the craziness, the episode still has a strong core in Inori, both with her arc about getting over her fear of ferrets, and also the development of her vet family since she can actually tell them she's been body-swapped, rather than being forced to keep it a secret like in every other episode of its ilk. To put it simply, this is up there with Farscape and Buffy as one of the best body swap episodes I've ever seen because it actually does something unique with the concept, and is all the better for it.
Let's Transform! The Big Fringy Tactic (episode 12): Ever since Gogo's Five De Chance episode, Matsumoto Rie has solidifed herself as a director to watch. And her style isn't just all over this one, but I genuinely don't think it would've worked without the stellar animation. The Big Fringy Tactic is basically just a parody of a standard Fresh Precure plot where, out of ideas, Westar comes up with the evil plan of giving everyone wigs. It's very tongue-in-cheek, and the unnecessarily fluid animation and fight scenes really heighten the comedy. Rie is so good at depicting characters losing their minds and it really shows here, and I also have to highlight all the easter egg wigs of past Precures like Mai and Nozomi.
Dance And Pretty Cure... Which To Choose?/The Fourth Pretty Cure Is You! (episodes 20/21): Just like in Splash Star, pretty much the entire middle section of the season is fantastic. The mini-arc about the Cures overworking themselves is unprecedented for the franchise, we hardly ever see the Cures physically affected by any of the fights they're in but in these two episodes, they repeatedly faint of exhaustion to the point where they get hospitalized. Not to mention Tarte's great character arc, Miyuki actually learning about the Precure's identities, and the parallels in Setsuna pushing herself with her Nakisakebe Card as well.
Setsuna And Love: You're Eas?! (episode 22): Matsumoto Rie got to direct a plot-driven episode for once, and it's sooooo good! You're Eas manages to do so much in so little time, it's funny (Love trying to be a bodyguard), it's heartfelt (The hospital bed scene), it's shocking (Miki seeing the card), and ends on a hell of a gut punch. But best of all, it's a fantastic character story of Eas/Setsuna, really delving into why she's so devoted to Moebius as well as her conflicting feelings. That dream sequence where she's begging for Moebius's attention was shockingly intense and bleak even by the standards of these last few episodes.
The End Of Eas! Cure Passion Is Born! (episode 23): When the rain falls, that's how you know things are getting real. Seriously, though, this episode is phenomenal, a perfect climax to the Eas/Setsuna arc, with a stellar second half. I love the fight choreography between the two, Love spends the entire fight solely blocking, she never lands a single hit. All of her punches are meant to counter Eas's punches, it's so well done. Setsuna's speech at the end of the fight is great, that shot of her and Love lying on the ground out of exhaustion, Setsuna dropping dead suddenly was a massive gut punch, and of course, Cure Passion's transformation was god-like.
Setsuna's Anguish: I Can't Become Your Comrade! (episode 24): This episode made me feel things. Setsuna is such a treausre, Love is such a treasure, Love's mother is the best, they all deserve the world. Seeing Setsuna experience what it's like to be cared for and happy is the most heartwarming thing imaginable. That ending left me in absolute shambles, what a masterful episode. It shows that it's directed by the guy responsible for the infamous Futari Episode 42, Splash Star's finale, and several other of Fresh's best episodes (6 and 40 especially).
Eas Vs Passion?! I Am Reborn (episode 25): This is a great way to do a redemption arc. Even if Setsuna is a Cure now and has been accepted by Love's family, she's still very much haunted by the things she's done and running into the dog she once transformed definitely didn't help matters. Her fighting a dark version of Eas may have been a bit on the nose, but you can't say it's not effective.
What Miki And Setsuna Are Afraid Of (episode 33): This one was just cute. Miki and Setsuna rarely interacted so it was nice to see a bonding episode between the two of them. Miki desperately finding something to talk to Setsuna about was quite relatable.
Setsuna And Love: Mom Is In Danger (episode 40): WHAT IS WITH THIS SHOW AND MOTHERS?! Mom Is In Danger is quite possibly the creepiest episode of Precure to date, with Northa replacing Love's mother with a evil version of her with a single goal to find Chiffon. Creepy slasher smiles, mirror dimensions, and gaslighting ensue. I like how smart the characters are through all this, Setsuna picks up on the difference immediately, Miki and Inori immediately help without needing proof, and Love makes one of her smartest plays in the whole show. But beyond the horror premise, this episode boasts an ending so heartwarming and wholesome that it rivals that of Episode 24.
The Invitation From Labyrinth (episode 42): I think it says something that nearly every episode focused on Setsuna, she is that good of a character and her redemption arc is just that well-written. Even if this isn't the first time a redeemed Cure decides to secretly go and defeat the bad guy themselves, Setsuna's version of this storyline hit way harder than Michiru and Kaoru did because it plays into her continued struggle with atonement and the insecurity of whether she's even worthy of being a Cure. Setsuna turns good by Episode 23, but this is the episode where she completes her redemption, and she does so in spectacular fashion.
Save The World! Pretty Cure Vs Labyrinth (episode 43): The Cures living out their worst nightmares isn't a necessarily new premise, but it's always great. It was especially crushing to see Setsuna's "sorrow world" where all of her friends disappeared, since we learned that's her worst fear quite a few episodes. There's just so many great jaw-drop moments in this episode too, like Tarte and Chiffon fighting Northa and winning, Northa turning the sorrow gauge itself into a monster, and somehow, Toei managing to get past its own rules to let the Cures fight each other again.
We Are Four Pretty Cures! Separation In Christmas (episode 45): I already raved about this one earlier on in the review. The Cures actually reveal their identities to their family and friends, and as you'd expect, they immediately try to stop them from leaving to Labyrinth. It's a great emotional episode that sets the stage for the finale excellently.
Soular And Westar: The Last Battle (episode 46): The point at which Precure goes full sci-fi. Seriously, Moebius's tower is such a unique and weird setting for a Precure show, I kinda love it. Anyway, this was the episode where Soular and Westar die just after realizing Moebius hates them. That whole black hole sequence was intense, definitely one of the best moments throughout this final arc.
The Final Battle! Cure Angels Are Born (episode 48): The Northa-Klein vs Precure fight really made this episode. It's short, but super fluid and fun. Maybe not quite as novel considering its similarities to the Splash Star finale, but it's a pretty great fight to take cues from. Wester and Soular's return and the Cure Angel transformation are also great moments.
Full Of Smiles! Everyone Will Get Their Happiness (episode 50): As much as I loved almost everything about Fresh, I will say the ending wasn't the best. It's a fine final arc with a neat setting and some standout moments and twists, but the sheer length got pretty exhausting and the denouement felt a bit rushed (why didn't we see Setsuna return after the time jump?). However, the final battle with Moebius was pretty damn cool, especially getting to see literally everyone involved, and I very much liked to see Love troll Daisuke about his confession. As a whole, seeing the main cast unenthusiastically humor the male love interests this season made for some surprisingly fun moments.
Overall, Fresh Precure is phenomenal, hands down the best one yet. It takes all the best bits and pieces from Splash Star and Yes 5 and makes something truly special out of them. From the strong central cast, to the great villains, to Setsuna's entire character arc, to the way the townspeople actually get involved in the monster events, to the brilliant and creative standalones, to the hilarious comedy, to the expressive animation, Fresh gets almost everything right and feels like everything I'd want from a magical girl. It fully fleshes out its ideas, takes them as far as they can go, is rarely ever willing to take the easy way out, and really makes it feel like everything matters. Its second half is a bit shakier than the nearly perfect first half (though it also has the meat of Setsuna's arc so that's not saying much), but otherwise, this is a truly fantastic entry in the series and a very tough act to follow.
5/5 Stars
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