Post #3065479

Finished watching Star Twinkle Precure, the 2019-2020 16th installment of Pretty Cure. Had not watched any Precure for a few years, but am glad I took the time to watch, this has to be my favorite. Gorgeous and dreamy as it should, Star Twinkle Precure succeeds in many different ways, and with choosing the favorite Cure quite difficult. The aliens and space theme has hardly been done better. Lala/Cure Milky (second from left) is immediately winning. Hailing from the planet Saman, she is 13, the normal Precure age—but that is already considered an adult on her home world, and as such is able to travel on and maintain a space ship by herself (can we set that as a goal, say for the 24th century, space travel so easy a teenage girl can casually rocket about and take friends along?). Released a few years before ChatGPT, Lala relies on a personal AI to tell her everything, and like other Samanians, never went to school. She is shocked when a peer can add double digits! On a visit to her home world, she finds it unremarkable that everyone lives in one dense community, because it’s more efficient. But unlike the morally superior self-insert aliens in many media, she is never preachy, and is interested in learning about earthlings and making friends. It’s adorable, the way Samanians greet one another is by touching the ends of their antennas. Elena Amamiya/Cure Soleil (rightmost) is another favorite. A Hispanic Precure? Her mom met her dad while working as a translator in Mexico, and Elena is the eldest of a large brood. They run and live above the Sonrisa florist. The “sun” of Mihoshi Middle School, she is always smiling and positive, and is beloved by fellow students. Beyond the five Cures, there are also twelve gorgeous Star Princesses, representing the zodiac constellations, to get to know. Or thirteen, if my favorite, Gemini, a pair of twins, is taken as two princesses. The opening and both ending themes are fantastic, and critically, so are the transformations and most of the attacks. Most of the villain designs aren’t particularly appealing, it’s interesting learning their backstories. Adept and creative use is made of a variety of tropes. For instance, a haughty classmate who does the Noblewoman’s Laugh turns out to be genuinely dedicated to her school, and be the best candidate to lead the student council. There is as good “fight dialogue” as you could want in a children’s series, when villains challenge the Cures about whether smiles are genuine, or just mask inner malice. The series includes visits to a number of nicely-rendered, creative and pretty planets. If there is any fault, it is that too few episodes were set at school. The series’s accompanying movie, Wish Upon a Song of Stars, is also inspired, gorgeous, and highly recommended. #StarTwinklePrecure #Precure #PrettyCure #mahoshojo #anime