Flim Festival Week: Fresh Precure film- Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai!?

I’ve talked about the Precure franchise many times. Fresh Precure being the most recent series I reviewed and one of the best. So, this film festival week we’re going to look at the film based off of that series. Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai!? It came out in 2009 while the series was still airing. Is it a good addition? Let’s check it out.

Story:

We open with the girls planning to have three nights worth of pyjama parties. Unbeknownst to them, toys are disappearing around the city while they’re playing around. Naturally, when they find out they assume it’s Labyrinth only to find out that they have nothing to do with it. That’s when Love’s old stuffed rabbit, Usapyon, emerges from the closet to tell them that the trouble originates from the kingdom of toys and a being called Toymajin.

The big issue with the film is that the twists are all way too obvious. I understand that the Precure franchise is intended for a young audience but there’s a point where things are so obvious that you’re actively insulting that audience. And this doesn’t quite cross that point but it comes very close.

On the positive side, the film does have a strong sense of fun to it. The antagonist also has a legitimate grievance which does make things more interesting. I also appreciate the overall message of appreciating what you have. I also like the way each of our main protagonists has her own challenge to overcome. It’s kind of reminiscent of the X-men story where they get taken to different challenges in Arcade’s Murder World.

Characters:

Our main cast are as endearing as ever and all four of them get a chance to showcase the personality aspects that make them such. The two major characters who get added in for the sake of the film are Usapyon & Toymajin. Usapyon is quite a likeable character. Toymajin is more compelling than the antagonists we usually get in Precure films since he actually has a genuine complaint unlike, say, the antagonist of the Gogo film.

Art:

The artwork and animation are really good. It looks very much like the series. The only real issue would be the length of time spent on the stock footage scenes. The film doesn’t condense or combine the transformation sequences. So, we get to see all four one after the other with their full lengths.

Sound:

The acting is really good. Oki Kanae, Komatsu Yuka, Nakagawa Akiko & Kitamura Eri are all really strong in their roles. The film adds Sakamoto Chika and Tsuru Hiromi who are both solid in their roles. The film uses the same music as the series proper and it’s still fantastic.

Ho-yay:

The girls in this continue to read as a polyamorous lesbian grouping. There’s about as much les-yay in the film as there is in a standard episode after Cure Passion joins the roster.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Combining the transformation sequences would have allowed for extra time for more important content.
2. The film would have benefited from being less obvious with its plot line.
3. I would have liked to see more of the girls just interacting with each other.

Final Thoughts:

This film is pretty enjoyable. If you’re a fan of Fresh Precure, you’ll most likely enjoy it. It’s basically a long, stand alone episode. I’m going to give it an 8/10.

Fresh PreCure: The First Team Precure to do it right

The Precure franchise is one I’ve talked about pretty frequently. I started with Doki Doki and then I went back to the beginning with Futari Wa and I’ve been going in order since. So far about half of the franchise has been really good (Futari wa, Splash Star & Doki Doki) and half has been mediocre (Max Heart, Yes Precure 5 & Yes Precure 5 Go Go). When I talked about Go Go, the topic came up about how it nearly killed the franchise and I speculated that the likely cause was that the characters in Yes Precure 5 weren’t strong enough to carry a second series. Hell, they couldn’t carry a single series and have it be good. Well, Fresh Precure was the series that revitalised the franchise and ensured that it could keep going even to this day. So, I’m pretty excited to see this one.

Story:

Tart and Chiffon are two denizens of the Sweets kingdom. Tart is given two important tasks, find the legendary warriors, Precure and look after Chiffon. The pair wind up in Clover Town where they meet up with Momozono Love, a girl who loves dancing and her very close friends, Miki and Buki. Obviously, all three of them are Precure. The three of them have to defend Clover Town from the denizens of the shadowy, mysterious labyrinth who are trying to fill the sorrow gauge to locate Infinity, while also seeking out the fourth Precure.

The only real criticism I have for the narrative of this one is that I think the fourth Precure’s integration into the group and redemption are a bit too easy. I don’t want to go deep into spoiler territory, but this girl starts out more in the lawful evil alignment and just transitions to lawful good really quickly and immediately redeems herself. I get that it’s a series for a younger audience and they don’t want to be too fixated on a long redemption arc but I also think even Splash Star had a more gradual, stronger redemption story for Kaoru & Michiru and that a couple episodes where she has to really prove herself and work for that redemption would have done wonders.

With that said, the series has a lot of strong twists and turns. The whole theme about cooperating as a group but still being individuals versus complete conformity is an interesting one and the series handles it well. The series even takes digs at being overly individualistic when our heroines decide that they’re going to hone their own individual strengths only to realise that they’re stronger when they work as a unit. I also do love the whole ending sequence. Again, I don’t want to spoil anything, but what happens with the girls and their families as well as the way they affect Labyrinth once they go there and the truth about Moebius are all pretty brilliant. This series also has a strong subplot where there are some boys who are romantically interested in our heroines and we see them look for ways to let them down kindly without anyone being treated like “the bad guy” in that situation. The series also possesses a great sense of humour. There are a lot of strong comedic moments. The writers also knew how to pace things so that there’s a steady progression but there’s also plenty of time for the girls to face various monsters of the week, have light-hearted fun moments and build their relationships with each other.

Characters:

The Precure are all fantastic. Peach, Berry, Pine and Passion. They have strong personalities with plenty of information and build up for their back stories that help craft characters that are surprisingly complex. Fresh also does a really good job of building up their parents as characters. We get to meet Love’s, Buki’s and Miki’s families, see how they interact with each other and get a strong sense of the parents’ personalities. Which really pays off during the ending stretch when we get that excellent scene with the parents. This is also the first Precure series where all the heroines seem to be in a polyamorous grouping with each other. They have strong interactions and they’re very yuririffic. We saw the same thing with everyone except Ace in Doki Doki but this is clearly the instalment that started it.

I also do appreciate the antagonists. The whole Eas, Wester & Soular trio is really strong. Wester is actually kind of a delightful goofball. Moebius has a compelling back story and motivation once the series gets into it and stops having him as a shadowy villain figure. Northa and Klein are kind of the weaknesses there since they’re both a bit boring but the series actually explains why the pair of them aren’t complex and it’s in a way that works.

Art:

The character designs are fantastic. I especially like Cure Passion’s costuming though they did an excellent job of giving all the Precure costumes that are kind of similar but have their own individual touches. The monster designs and action sequences continue to be strong. The dance choreography we get in various episodes and with the ending theme tune is really good. The one criticism I can offer is that the series might spend a little too much time on the stock footage. Though this one spends a lot less on that stuff than Go Go did.

Sound:

The acting is excellent. Oki Kanae, Kitamura Eri, Nakagawa Akiko, Komatsu Yuka, Matsumoto Yasunori and the rest of the cast do a really good job and they all play off of each other like they’re performing a stage production instead of voice acting. The music is amazing too.

Ho-yay:

There’s a lot in this series. Every member of Precure seems to be romantically interested in every other member. It’s especially true with the other three and Love but they get their moments with each other as well.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Cure Passion’s redemption arc could have used a few episodes that explored the whole thing more deeply.
2. The series could have benefited from abridging the stock footage a bit more.
3. Maybe a bit longer for the epilogue.

Final Thoughts:

It’s pretty obvious why this series brought the franchise back. It’s excellent. The characterisation, action, sense of fun, just about everything in the series works really well. Yes Precure 5 may have been the first instalment in the franchise to put the focus on a group dynamic but this was definitely the first instalment that did it well. My final rating is going to be a 9/10. If you’re a fan of magical girl stuff, especially when they’re heavy on les-yay, this is one for you.