Well, we're halfway through the Precure franchise, and Doki Doki is... frustrating. It's so close to being one of the best seasons in the series, and nails quite a lot. However, it's dragged down by one of the worst writing decisions in the entire franchise.
Compared to its predecessor, Doki Doki Precure has a much stronger focus on plot, which itself is way more complex and developed. The Trump Kingdom has been destroyed and taken over by the evil Selfish King, and its sole Cure defender Cure Sword has fled to Earth with its princess only to lose her on the way there. The plot continues from there like you'd expect. Some fairies from the Trump Kingdom turn protagonist Mana and her friends into Cures, and they have to work together with Cure Sword to find the princess and stop the Selfish King. Unlike other Precure shows, however, there's more of a mystery box element to it, as the main cast spend a large portion of the show learning more about the lore of the Trump Kingdom. Who's that mysterious salesman? What's with the baby Ai-Chan who suddenly appeared? Where is the princess? Who is the Selfish King? It's a pretty unique approach to a Precure show, but it works pretty well. Most of the resolutions are satisfying, and the show has a constant sense of forward momentum as it slowly unveils new information.
Seemingly as an overcorrection of Smile Precure, Toei decided to go all in on the plot for Doki Doki. Every single episode contributes to the overarching story this time around, with no standalones or "filler" to be seen. I was kind of worried about this since I usually love the slice of life elements of Precure, but Doki Doki actually does a really good job of balancing its plot and comedy. While yes, every episode is important to the plot, the mystery box format means many episodes still have their own individual stories, and only really just reveal one bit of information at the end. As a matter of fact, I think Doki Doki is at its best when it's being lighthearted and comedic. There's a great blend of dry humor, slapstick, and absurdity in Doki Doki's comedy, and the season is still filled with creative one-offs. The show even fixes my biggest issue with Heartcatch by using the similar Victim Of The Week structure but not focusing too much on the victims unless it's absolutely necessary. Doki Doki definitely could've crossed the line into too serialized, but I think Toei struck a pretty perfect balance here.
As for the characters, I really like them. This is a damn solid lineup of Cures, all of whom are interesting and have strong chemistry with one another. Cure Rosetta is the easy highlight though for her unique fighting style, great character arc, and the fact that she's basically anime girl Batman. And I even liked Mana a lot, despite her being kind of a divisive character. I've seen her called a Mary Sue and, as usual, that feels unfair and inaccurate. Yes, Mana is a central focus and is well liked by a lot of characters, but she's by no means perfect and the show knows this. She has a real case of chronic hero syndrome where she's so selfless that she feels she needs to help everyone, even if it makes her exhausted or causes her to butt in where she's not needed. And Mana gets called out for this, several times in fact. Rikka grills her for putting too much on her plate literally. every. episode. She ends the series by admitting she's selfish and stepping down from being student council president to clear her plate. By definition, Mary Sues have no flaws or character arc, and Mana pretty blatantly has both! She's not even that much of a spotlight hog, there's a lot of episodes focused on other characters (including the fairies and even Alice's butler), at least whenever the plot isn't at full force.
The side characters is where things get a bit more mixed for me. The initial villain trio is fantastic, super fun and varied, and it's always a joy to watch them hang out in their little bowling alley. Similarly, I really like the main fairies. It's a bit tough to tell them apart since there's one for each Cure this time, but they're charming and fun in their own right and get some really great individual episodes. However, Doki Doki eventually introduces yet another baby fairy in Ai-chan. She's less intrusive than Chiffon got but she also feels really unnecessary here, to the point where I kinda forget she exists. She's just yet another MacGuffin for the heroes to deal with, which to be fair, I'd much rather have over an actively annoying baby character. I'm fine with her existence. I also really don't like Joe. He's a Kaoru-chan wannabe who comes off as creepy rather than quirky and fun, his backstory is boring, and Makoto's whole jealousy shtick about his relationship with the princess is really dumb, but at least he doesn't show up too often once Cure Ace appears. But then there's Regina, Cure Ace, and Levi and Gula, and boy do I have a lot to say about all of them.
So, while Doki Doki's first and last thirds are both pretty great, the middle section is a bit rough compared to the rest of the show, and I'd say that's mostly because of these three characters. Regina is the daughter of the Selfish King who thinks she's entitled to being Mana's friend due to being selfish and spoiled, but over time she genuinely comes to like Mana. Cool concept, but the problem here is that she's brain-washed, and even more, we don't know that she's being brain-washed, so not only does she not actually have that much agency but it instead seems like she's being written super inconsistently. If you've seen my Farscape reviews, you should know that I'm not a huge fan of this writing trope because it led me to think we were getting one storyline when it turned out to be something completely different. It's especially frustrating because once we do learn Regina was being brainwashed, her arc in the second half where the Cures try to bring her back after she gets captured again is genuinely really good. I came around on Regina so hard in the second half. I'm sure Regina's early episodes will fare a bit better on rewatch, but that's not really an excuse.
Then there's Cure Ace. Similarly to Regina, she makes a pretty poor first impression, showing up out of nowhere to become the mid-season Cure in Regina's place. It's a pretty cruel bait-and-switch especially since Regina got brainwashed again immediately before but it's fine, I've accepted it. My real problem is with Ace's opening arc which has two major issues: First, Ace spends the whole arc scolding the other Cures and feeling like a stick in the mud. Second, the fantastic villain trio gets replaced by the black voids of charisma that are Levi and Gula. However, once the arc ends and Levi and Gula go away, Cure Ace chills out a bit and becomes a genuinely stellar character? Aguri's backstory is incredibly fascinating and the storyline where she slowly uncovers more and more of her origins is easily the emotional high point of the entire season. It's a real shame she made such a bad first impression because Aguri is a great character, and her storyline intertwines with Regina's in a super great way. All the pieces were there for an easy Top 5 season in the franchise if Toei had only pulled off that middle section with a bit more grace.
At the very least, I can say Doki Doki looks and sounds amazing. Doki Doki is yet another really super well-animated Precure show with some of the best production values I've seen so far. It feels like a blend between the bright colors and cartoonish vibes of Fresh, the stellar character and clothing designs of Suite (that season's character designer even returned), the fun object-themed Monsters Of The Week of Futari, and the fluid and energetic fights of Heartcatch. I really can't understate just how great the action is in Doki Doki, it's so fast and exciting, constantly using the environment in creative ways, and it's really frequent too. This is easily the most action-packed Precure to date, with several standard episodes even having multiple fights within them. And the music is so good. We got a new composer this time and as much as I liked Takanashi's rock style, he really started to reuse his music a lot in Suite and Smile, so having a wholly original soundtrack is such a breath of fresh air. And Takaki Hiroshi was more than up to the task, his uplifting orchestral score for Doki Doki reminds me of Splash Star's music in the best way possible, it's peak Precure. The ED themes are also some of the best in the franchise, genuinely an all out success in terms of production.
Highlights:
The Earth Is In Big Trouble! The Last Remaining Pretty Cure/Yipes! Cure Heart's Secret Identity Has Been Blown (episode 1/2): This is easily one of the best pilots in a Precure show to date, if not the best. The opening shot is perfect, the setting of Clover Tower is such a fresh location and it way it's used to naturally bring the whole cast together to the same place is brilliant, Mana's first fight atop the tower roof is fun and kinetic, Alice's snark throughout the episode is a perfect introduction to Doki Doki's unique brand of humor, and the Mana/Rikka drama is great. No complaints here!
I Must Refuse! I Cannot Become A Pretty Cure (episode 4): As I said, Alice is easily the highlight of Doki Doki Precure, and one reason why is her great backstory. This episode reveals that she had anger issues that would lead her to get violent whenever someone would insult Mana or Rikka, which in turn caused her to not want to be a Cure. It's a theme I didn't think Precure would tackle but I'm so glad it did, and having Alice be the defensive Cure was a brilliant move.
Close Battle! Farewell, Pretty Cure (episode 7): I loved how bleak and vague that opening shot of Doki Doki was, Cure Sword looking down on the wreckage of the Trump Kingdom, but I definitely didn't expect it to get paid off this fast. Episode 7 was intense, between learning about Cure Sword's pretty grim backstory, the Cures exploring the utter hellscape that is the Trump Kingdom, and the surprisingly tense encounter with Bel.
Nonsense! Ai-Chan Goes To School (episode 9): Imagine my shock when I found out that we'd get a fairy-centric episode nine episodes in. And it's a blast too, just nonstop slapstick as the fairies try to keep Ai-Chan in check without getting spotted.
To The Trump Kingdom! Save The Princess (episode 21): This episode makes me so sad because it's like the only Regina episode in the season's first half that really feels like it reached the potential of the character. That entire second half was so good, from Regina screaming out her love for Mana, to her bursting out of a volcano to find hordes of baddies, to her final decision to break off from the king, it felt like the perfect resolution to a character arc we never actually got. This would probably have been one of the best episodes of the series if everything around it supported it a lot more.
Brilliant Transformation! Appearance Of A New Heroine? (episode 25): CURE BATMAN.
For Mana's Sake! Sharuru's Big Transformation! (episode 29): This is yet another amazing fairy episode, and a really heartwarming one at that. The human forms for Sharuru, Lance, and Raquel are so cute, and seeing them try to help out the Cures is really sweet.
Mana Collapses! A Stormy Cultural Festival (episode 32): Seriously, I don't understand why people call Mana a Mary Sue when this episode exists. Mana actually exhausts herself here, and all of the students are initially super helpless without her because they've come to rely on her. I had gotten pretty sick of Aguri's scolding by this point, but she was absolutely in the right here, and watching her run around and insult the student body was way funnier than it had any right to be.
Alice's Father Appears! Sleepover At The Yotsuba's House (episode 33): I remember reading that Makoto was meant to be the midseason Cure and Ace was only added so that Makoto could be introduced before the movie, and yeah, that kinda tracks. This episode really shows that the trio of Mana, Rikka, and Alice is incredibly strong and fun to watch even on their own. The flashback of how Alice met her friends is really sweet, the booby trap montage was super creative, and man, that helicopter fight was so good. Should it come as a surprise that Tanaka Yuta made this one?
Raquel's Enthusiasm! The Power Of First Love At Full Throttle (episode 36): I didn't think that a romance involving a fairy would give me these many feels but man, Doki Doki is the gift that keeps on giving.
To My Most Important Person! Aguri's Class Visit (episode 43): This was the first time since Fresh that a parent/parental figure learned that their kid is a Cure and man, it hits just as hard. Aguri's reaction to her grandmother witnessing her transform is so realistic. Even if Mari never gave off the impression she was mad at her, Aguri wanting to run away and stay with the other Cures made sense. And that bit when she was frantically begging Alice to invent time travel just hit so hard, I've been there, I really have.
The Destined Showdown! Ace Vs Regina (episode 45): The big fight between Cure Ace and Regina was absolutely fantastic, super fun and destructive. And the big reveal at the end about their true identity was really well done and puts a lot of stuff into context.
Cure Heart's Determination! A Promise I Want To Protect/Heart-Pounding Full Throttle! Pretty Cure Vs Selfish King (episodes 47/48): Heart-pounding indeed. This final battle was kind of ridiculous but in all the best ways. Mana reveals her identity to the town to get them to fight alongside her, Regina finally gets snapped out of her brainwashing, Lance turns into a kaiju, and half the Cures get Sailor Moon final battle sacrifices, it's wild. The actual final episode was kind of just okay, yet another tacked-on final battle, but overall, I did quite enjoy Doki Doki's final arc.
Doki Doki Precure is weird. I'm well aware of its flaws, especially the botched introductions of Regina and Cure Ace, but I kinda don't care? Like I came away from the series loving Doki Doki wholeheartedly regardless. It does so much right, from its ambitious and compelling plot, to its strong cast of likable characters, to its impeccable production values, to its great balance between comedy and drama. I was originally considering giving it a 3/5 stars but it doesn't feel like a 3/5 to me. I think back on Doki Doki and the brief bits of frustration it gave me don't even register. So instead, I'm giving this season...
4/5 Stars
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