Score: A-

This was a strong start for a new Precure series. I think they really nailed the first impression for the main character. With this series getting off to a strong start is so essential. It’s a franchise that always covers an entire year and requires investment to settle in for that long ride. Some series really have just lost me right out of the gate. Thankfully this one at least starts off well and seems to have a good pair of lead characters. Even the baby has both a decent character and a good role in the story. There’s usually some mascot to define the show, but at least this one seems likeable to start. Just a poor kid with crazy powers that gets kidnapped. It was even nice to see that people besides the main character tried to save her.

Sora is a gutsy girl

Sora feels like one of the better Precure protagonists we’ve gotten in a while. Not that there haven’t been any good ones the past several years. Nodoka was well handled in Healin’ Good. But a lot of them have either been too dumb or hard to enjoy. If I’m going to contrast her to anyone it probably would be Star Twinkle’s Hotaru. Early on, they both take action to basically save someone in need. Hotaru thoughtlessly throws herself into the vacuum of space while Sora stops, thinks, and acts. She had less reason to think jumping in there would be deadly. There’s no point in that guy kidnapping a kid if she’d die inside that space. And not abandoning a kid fits her focus on being a hero.

I don’t want to throw mud at too many characters here, but it just feels like Sora has a good head on her shoulders. There’s a difference between bravery and stupidity. She still took risks, but there was enough reasonableness to her that I felt good about watching her try to save the Princess. But she still feels human. There’s hesitation to jumping into that space and nerves about passing through the opening. She doesn’t know for sure things will be ok. She’s pushing herself for the sake of her ideals. I’d say she’s already proven her heroism just within a single episode in that sense.

Sometimes you have to make sure it isn’t a dream

Mashiro seems nice. She didn’t get nearly as much focus in the first episode, but there’s nothing overly problematic about her. The girl understandably was weirded out by someone falling from the sky. And it was cute having both trying to treat the situation like a dream. I’m curious to find out more about her though. Is there something about Sora’s hero dream that resonates with her in particular? Does she have her own dream? At the very least she’s a generally kind person that tried to protect the princess and hated having someone’s dreams demeaned. She didn’t leave a big mark, but will say that Ai Kakuma voices her well. Goes from voicing Rabirin in Healin’ Good to a main Precure in this series.

Kidnapping children is one way to announce that you’re evil.

Antagonist was perfectly fine for the first episode. He managed to walk the line between a comedic element and an actual villain. Will be interesting to see how the comedy plays out in the show. This guy reflects the range it has. I certainly hope he holds off on more fart attacks, but we’ll see how that goes. Kabaton will likely fall to the background a bit as more villains are introduced, but he did pose a good threat to Sora before she actually gained her powers.

It’s hero time!

If the focus of this series is going to be heroes, then that’ll be pretty fun. The series might have tapped into the media hero craze a few years earlier, but it’s still a good move. The precure themselves naturally align with the concept since they are just magical heroes at the end of the day. But it’ll be interesting to see Sora chasing her goal of being a legitimate hero. While one can argue that she’s already reached that point, it’s fair enough to keep pushing until she herself acknowledges it.

Credit as well to Cure Sky. Thank goodness it’s an English word that the voice cast can presumably handle just fine. There have been some Precure that have had an awful time pronouncing their own names. Cure Sky seems safe though and has a great design. Nice to make the blue cure the main girl for once. And not simply because she overshadowed the main pink cure too much XD. The transformation was great as well. It doesn’t touch the show that I think has the best transformations of all time (Symphogear XV), but it’s definitely good. There’s an energy and build up throughout the transformation. You can just feel her powering up through it. The transformation music itself can be a powerful force and this transformation understood that.

Even Princess Ellee was likeable

This was great. The past few Precure seasons have been almost immediate drops for me. Tastes are going to vary and some casts will resonate more than others. But Sora feels like a good lead character and no one in the cast so far has thrown me off. Fingers crossed that this show can really take full advantage of a strong start. This could be a strong member of the winter anime cast. Will be interesting to see more of the cast. I know there will be some firsts for the franchise and hopefully that lands strong too.