Futari Wa Precure Review
It is Finale week, which means recap time and to finally start ranking Precure! So obviously we start with the one where it all began!
On the whole, ground breaking for its time I imagine, which would have gave it some momentum and the fight scenes could be good (As this came up alot during Wonderful, to those people who say Precure isn't about the fights, I highlight Precure's original duo! These two were more fighters than magical! Which may explain why they are hinted to be physically stronger than most other Cures when they get together.) On the other hand, I don't think it holds up too well, yes it had consequences and stakes (and the unfortunate magic reset button), however there were times it felt like it just dragged and nothing was actually happening. Time was wasted on side characters, whole entire eps over B plots. I was surprised at the nod to WW2 being thrown in via Honoka's Grandma, considering this was early 00's. The power scaling was super inconsistent, fights got repetitive, you could tell how it was going to go, depending on how much time was left in the ep, come the second half, the fights became almost non existent, as did Black and White actually defeating the villains. Dyaku King was ok, too inactive really to be remotely interesting, he never really got involved, just sent minions, so he had no actual impact on the story, standing there barking orders is hardly scary, despite how you make the minions react. (Not that Queen was anymore pro-active). The development of Black and White as a team and learning to lean on each other and trust each other more, was done well, they had their up and downs but had become quite solid by the time the EB rolled round. Meanwhile the villains were either pointless/boring or actually good.
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Cure Black/ Nagisa Misumi
Nagisa being that tomboy figure, you'd think it'd be a character I'd click with but nope. I was very much wrong on my first ep assumptions, Nagisa is very much the central focus of the pair, she has more side stories connected to her, Fuji-P and the Lacrosse team and the story is more so told from her perspective but you do see gradual changes in her via her monologues usually at the start of each ep. Nagisa was fine on the whole, she got annoyed at her routine constantly being interrupted, which was relatable and she had a lot of determination and grit, she was the driving force of the duo; while her, was well intentioned, rash, hot-headedness is balanced out through White.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Cure White/ Honoka Yukishiro
Easy part as there are only two of them but White is definitely still my fave of the two. Honoka I think got the short straw, the more the show went on, the more side-lined she became, in the second half, she didn't really get any arcs or B plots of her own, outside her grief for Kiriya (it is super bittersweet). The pair unfortunately stopped being treated as equals and White is treated as the weaker of the two but I would have said, instinctively, she seems to be the better of the two, at least as a fighter. The often calmer, logical one of the pair, she balances out Black well, however, is not beyond rash, hot-headed moments of her own and when she she boils over, it is a delight to watch XD
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Mepple Perhaps because there was less focus on him and his attention was divided between Nagisa and Pollun, he wasn't anywhere near as annoying in the second half as he was the first half and if he it wasn't for a certain trio of villains, he'd definitely be the worst character in the show. One ep does not resolve his long list of faults and overall lack of redeeming qualities.
Mipple Mipple is only marginally better then Mepple, her saving grace being that she seems to give a damn about the whole team and not just herself and with Pollun about, she does have that maternal side to flesh her out a bit more but the constant Mepple/Mipple moments are grating not cute.
Pollun I shall admit, his spoiled brat, constant crying behaviour was annoying at first but as he is suggested to be a flat out child with a lot on his shoulders, his actions are more understandable and he does see some maturity while he's with the Precure team and he literally shine during the final battle. Pollun design wise is quite adorable (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) (If the actual doesn't count, I will say Pollun is best fairy but the bar is low.)
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗Wisdom/ Stone Keeper ✨ He's very much part of the team, he was there go to for information before the Field of Light opened up to them and had a even more significant role in the second half, even if it was also a side-lined one (that's a skill really). I'm a sucka for the deadpan snarky characters and Wisdom is very much it, a snazzy design, helpful even though he's quite the coward and wonderfully snarky who got a chuckle out of me more than once. I'd go as far to say, Wisdom is not only my fave fairy but my fave character from the whole show.
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I will give an honoury mention to her brother though. Poisony, the best disguises, with probably the best track record out of all of them and a lot of her losses, felt almost due to plot armour of the Precure aren't allowed to lose. Meanwhile Kiriya, who never really did anything as a villain nor really as an antagonist to the Cures themselves; his overall arc and over all impact it has later down the line, it carries on all the way to the finale ep, which is a lot more than most other villains can say (I was getting behind Kiriya/Honoka, so it's extra bittersweet).
Worst:
These three having no saving grace to them are as good as cardboard and we were stuck with them for the whole second half of the show. They are just so forgettable, I couldn't even tell you their names but considering these were the fragments of the Dyaku King, so much more could have been done with them, especially considering all the wild claims they started making near the end.
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Can't really say I had a fave attack as there were none, just two finishers but I suppose, just for its iconic-ness, it has to be the Marble Screw.