The latest entry in the Pretty Cure series, Delicious Party Precure, is now streaming in select markets on Crunchyroll. I gave it a look, and because I’m me, this was my favorite part.
In fact, there’s even a link between these two seasons on staff! Akira Inagami did the character design for Futari wa Pretty Cure, and did the animation direction on this first episode of Delicious Party Precure.
There’s no way this isn’t a deliberate shoutout and I love it.
The fifth episode of Futari wa Pretty Cure was directed and storyboarded by Takenori Kawada, This was his first time directing Pretty Cure, although he would later go on to direct episodes for several future seasons, including Max Heart, Splash Star, Yes Precure 5 and GoGo, Fresh, and Heartcatch. Prior to Precure, he directed multiple episodes of Kinnikuman and storyboarded much of Galaxy Express 999.
The screenplay was written by Daisuke Habara, who I believe largely focuses on live action, but he would contribute scripts to Futari wa Precure, Max Heart, the first Max Heart movie, Splash Star, and Yes Precure 5.
To me, his episode does have a slightly different feel to it than the prior ones, as it seems to be more dialogue heavy and definitely gives Honoka some time to shine. Let’s see what we can find when we dig in:
Continue reading Futari wa Pretty Cure Episode 5: That’s the Power of LoveEpisode four of Futari wa Pretty Cure was directed and storyboarded by Akinori Yabe and written by Higashi Shimizu. This was the first Pretty Cure episode worked on by either of them. Yabe already had directing experience in a variety of classic titles, such as Ojamajo Doremi, Kinnikuman, and Marmalade Boy. Shimizu, meanwhile, wrote multiple episodes for Fist of the North Star 2. Both would later go on to contribute to Max Heart, Splash Star, and Yes Precure 5 and GoGo, so it’s neat to see their Pretty Cure debut.
As far as I’m concerned it was a more than serviceable start for them, serving up some backstory to the fairies and giving us more than a few delightful bits of comedy. Let’s dig right in!
Continue reading Futari wa Pretty Cure Episode 4: InterstellarEpisode three of Futari wa Precure was written by Yumi Kageyama. Although this was the first episode of Precure that she worked on, she has many writing credits to her name, including several episodes of Marmalade Boy and Ojamajo Doremi, just to name a few. This episode was directed and storyboarded by Takao Iwai in his Precure debut – he has since directed episodes for several Precure seasons and as of this time of writing is, in fact, still directing for the currently airing season, Tropical Rouge! Precure. Prior to this, he also directed many episodes of Ojamajo Doremi, Ashita no Nadja, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Marmalade Boy, among others. The result is a more than serviceable little episode complete with a lot of fun bits and memorable moments. It may not be one of the most standout episodes of the series, but there aren’t really many points to dock from it, either. And, as I’ll talk about shortly, that may be a strength.
Let’s take a deeper look!
Continue reading Futari wa Pretty Cure Episode 3: If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
