Kira Kira Precure was fighting a losing battle from the very start. A light-hearted slice of life six-Precure series about sweets and replacing the series' token hand-to-hand fight scenes with projectile-based combat? It's like it was destined to have as bad a reputation as it does. However, this is yet another season of Precure that I think has been done way too dirty. Kira Kira is a genuinely fantastic season that's more than meets the eye, and continues to expand and improve on the formula Yes 5 and Smile established.
Kira Kira Precure is about a group of sweet enthusiasts banding together to start a patisserie to create this essence called Kirakiraru, all the while turning into Cures to stop a band of thieves from stealing that essence. That's actually kinda it for the plot actually. Instead of Kira Kira having much of a big overarching narrative, the plot feels more like a premise that makes way for a variety of different kinds of episodes, ranging from comedic to dramatic to flat-out weird. Personally, I'm fine with this. For a light-on-plot Precure show, I'd argue it's preferable to the excuse plots that seasons like Max Heart and Smile had. I've seen many confused on what Kirakiraru is but I thought it was pretty obvious, it's the love one puts into their cooking. It's why Ichika in particular can generate so much of it despite her food not being the best. One of the more interesting things about Kira Kira is how it tackles its villains. Early on in the series, we get a lot of comedic one-off kirakiraru thieves with neat designs and little personality, a neat way to ease the Cures into action. Eventually, we get the actual villains who are mostly pretty great, particularly Julio, Bibury, and Elisio. Noir's main motive is kinda lame and Diable is just bad, but otherwise, it's a solid lineup. But the coolest thing is that two of the villains (Rio and Bibury) reform remarkably early on in the season and actually join the patisserie! It's everything I wanted but didn't get from Regina. I do think Pikario probably could've been a good Cure given the build-up but I'm glad he and Bibury were at the very least able to help fight which is more than I could say about the actual last-minute Cure we got.
At its core, though, Kira Kira Precure is a character-over-plot show, and holy crap is this season's character drama phenomenal. Don't let their cuter-than-usual designs fool you, these Cures are dealing with some truly personal, grounded, and mature issues. Ichika's mom is constantly away at work and she's bottling up her sadness to keep a happy front for her, Himari starts the series shy and friendless because everyone thinks she's weird for her sweets hyperfixation, Aoi is the textbook definition of a rebellious teen who wants to be a rock star against her parents' wishes, Ciel is struggling with guilt from a falling out with her brother, and Yukari is dealing with hardcore perfectionism issues and is struggling to figure out what she's interested in. This series goes into some surprisingly dark places with its characters, which often make for some of the show's best episodes. And as a follow-up to Yes 5 and Smile which both tried to really prioritize character development, Kira Kira manages to surpass both due to its willingness to really delve into the issues its characters are struggling with, especially Yukari. The only exception is Akira who is kinda just Nao again. Don't get me wrong, Nao is great, and Akira is a fun character, but she stands out as the least developed of the Cures by a decent margin. However, with a cast of six Cures that only gets larger as more people join the patisserie, it's a wonder that Kira Kira is able to pull off as many successful arcs as it does, and I'm sure that anyone can find a character they relate to hard.
But even outside of the more dramatic elements, these are just fun characters to hang out with, a necessity for a Precure season as episodic as this one. Between Himari's adorable shyness, Aoi's fun punk attitude, Yukari's trollishness, and Ciel's frequent posing, this is a really enjoyable cast with strong chemistry to the point where simply watching them try to cook is entertaining. The comedy is pretty great too, a bit more slapsticky than the dry humor of Doki Doki or the subversive humor of Smile, but it still had me laughing quite a lot. Kira Kira definitely has that Splash Star vibe where everyone is so genuine in their friendship with each other, and seeing the Cures hang out at the patisserie, support each other through their problems, and generally just goofing around is wholesome and sweet. And of course, I also need to highlight the elephant in the room here: Yukari and Akira. The extreme levels of gay that Precure often exudes is not lost on me, I'm already a pretty avid shipper of LoveSetsu, but Toei already started to kick things up a notch by letting Mirai and Riko kiss in the manga. And in Kira Kira, we just flat-out have Precure's version of Haruka and Michiru from Sailor Moon, in which Yukari and Akira confess their love for each other halfway through the season and basically spend the rest of it in as explicit of a couple as you can get without them kissing. Either way, it's a big step forward for the franchise and definitely another point in Kira Kira's favor.
As for the presentation, Kira Kira is deceptively clean-looking. It takes the watercolor backgrounds that Yes 5 and Smile had and pushes them into the forefront, going for an incredibly visually-appealing storybook look. There's a lot of fun comedic expressions, perspective shifts, and weird directorial choices that give the impression that the crew had a lot of fun storyboarding this season in particular. When I saw a cooking montage complete with live-action hands in the premiere, I knew this season was going to be something special visually. And then there are the fight scenes which have gotten a lot of flack for not having any hand-to-hand combat. Instead, the Cures mostly dodge their enemies' blows and use ranged attacks instead. But here's the thing, while they're not the brutal hand-to-hand that many other seasons employ, they're still well-animated and can be really fun if you accept how different they are. I'd take these over the choppy and uninteresting Maho Girls fights any day of the week. I also want to give some praise to the vocal tracks this time around, the openings, endings, and character songs that pop up in every episode are easily some of the best we've had since maybe Doki Doki? The second ending especially is a full-on electroswing banger and it goes unnecessarily hard. But then I learned the endings are sung by Cure Sword's voice actress and yeah, that tracks.
Oh yeah, and just because I have to mention it, it is weird how similar the Cures look to the cast of Tokyo Mew Mew this season.
Highlights:
The Small Genius Is Cure Custard! (episode 2): Himari had easily the best character introduction of the bunch. Her flashback in this episode was the first "holy shit, they went there" moments in Kira Kira, and it would not be the last.
The Decisive Battle! Pretty Cure VS Gummy's Group! (episode 11): A pretty great end to that opening arc, as all the Kirakiraru thieves the Cures had been fighting band together to hijack a sweets festival. The subplot about Ichika's relationship with her father is really well-done (as all Ichika-related family drama is), and Julio makes his debut.
The Dangerous Fast Approach! Yukari and Rio! (episode 16): Everything in Kira Kira is used to facilitate character development, including the villains. So Julio's main story arc as villain comprises of him testing each of the Cures one by one to see why they produce so much kirakiraru. Most of these episodes were great, but Yukari's is a highlight for not only delving into her perfectionism and how she can't find anything she's interested in because she's mastered everything already, but also for having Yukari leverage her own issues to piece together that Julio and Rio are the same person.
The Final Experiment! Cure Whip Can't Transform (episode 17): Ichika has quickly shot up the list of my favorite pink Cures and a big part of that is her family struggles, and while this episode isn't the apex of that arc, it does do a lot of the heavy-lifting. Her confrontation with Julio in this episode is one of the most strikingly memorable scenes in the season, with how the camera tilts and the lighting darkens as Julio shows his true colors.
Fly! Rainbow Pegasus, Cure Parfait! (episode 23): While it got off to a bit of a slow start, Kira Kira's mid-season arc ended on a strong note, with an episode that perfectly balances character drama (the Ciel and Rio drama) and action (the fight with Bibury). Rio teaming up with Ichika and slowly showing that he still cares for Ciel is great stuff, culminating in a dramatic mid-season sacrifice.
Lightning Fast Wedding!? Princess Yukari (episode 25): In most Precure seasons, the third cour would probably be the weakest part, but in Kira Kira, it contains some of the best character episodes in the franchise. First off, the iconic Yukari X Akira episode. This episode truly has everything, from the hilarious first third where the prince keeps cheating, to the series finally tackling the negative consequences of Yukari's trollish nature, to Ciel being the best wingwoman ever, to Yukari finally opening up about her weakness to Akira, to, of course, Akira screaming out to Yukari that she loves her. It's not just a great episode because it's gay, it's a great episode because it encapsulates everything I love about Kira Kira.
Big Trouble! Cure Macaron Is Stained By Darkness! (episode 29): Not too long after that, we get yet another Yukari-focused episode where she finally faces her inner demons. The whole sequence inside the mirror is haunting and shockingly dark, but seeing Yukari embrace her darkness and imperfections before dance-fighting with Akira is incredibly heartwarming.
Holding Back The Tears! The Reason Ichika Smiles (episode 31): Well, Ichika's mom is finally back. Ichika's arc in this episode is brilliant in so many ways. For starters, it's just well-executed, seeing Ichika repeatedly stop herself from crying even if it's physically pain is hard to watch, making her finally breaking down incredibly cathartic. It's a conflict that I find kinda relatable, feeling that you always have to put on a strong face. But what's especially unique is how this episode deconstructs the pink Cure archetype. Ichika is far from the first upbeat genki pink Cure, but she's the only one for which that constant chipperness kinda comes at a cost.
A Small Yet Big Fight! The Cat Yukari vs The Fairy Kirarin (episode 34): There isn't much I can say about this one other than it's very silly and fun, borderline Smile levels of off-the-wall. Yukari becoming a cat and not having any reaction to it will never not be hilarious.
An Odd Match! Himari and Aoi! (episode 35): Kira Kira had a batch of episodes where it would toss the cast into unique pairings (and thank goodness too because they more than make up for Diable being kind of a crap villain), but Aoi and Himari was the most inspired. They're such a cute duo, and Himari struggling to adjust to Aoi's upper class world takes her social anxiety in some interesting directions.
Farewell Yukari! Exciting Sweets Christmas! (episode 45): Precure shows have a habit of breaking up their casts, but I think Kira Kira handled it the best. Rather than leaving it as a plot twist in the finale, Kira Kira has an entire arc where each character progressively finds a new path in life, so that by the time Yukari reveals that she's leaving to study sweets, it really hits you that the show is ending. This is such a bittersweet episode, starting off with an adorable christmas party that brings together the whole cast only for Yukari to drop that bombshell on everyone. The ending where Ichika, Aoi, and Himari break into tears really hits. And while it's slightly dragged down by Noir sucking, the Ichika birthday episode hits similarly melancholic notes in its first half.
Beyond Love! Whip Step Jump! (episode 49): Kira Kira's final arc isn't anything amazing, mostly because it devotes an entire episode to Pekorin becoming a Cure. The final episode, on the other hand, is pretty much perfect. It's a time jump not unlike Maho Girls' finale, but better in every single way. The plot is less contrived, the Cures are actually allowed to age, future Cure Hana's cameo is more natural and she even gets a sick fight in, Ichika's arc about struggling whether or not to close the patisserie is super compelling, and the final epilogue ends the series on the perfect note. However, unlike Maho Girls' finale where Ichika was the best part, I don't think I was entirely sold on Hana and Hugtan yet, which doesn't bode too well for Hugtto...
Overall, if you can look past the fights not being ideal, Kira Kira is a genuinely phenomenal season. Character-driven at its core, Kira Kira boasts a fun and endearing cast with strong chemistry, lovable personalities, and compelling character arcs that tackle some surprisingly mature and personal themes. Add in some of great villains, strong comedy, beautiful visuals, and fun direction and you get a series with so much love put into it you can practically see the kirakiraru overflowing from every frame.
5/5 Stars
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