Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am absolutely delighted to be returning to HeartCatch Precure!, as we storm through the fallout of Tsubomi’s transformation into Cure Blossom. Having more or less failed in her initial attempts to shrug off her shy, introverted personality, she nonetheless found herself forcibly befriended by the lamprey-like Erika, who clung to her all through her first day in Kibougahana. Yet in spite of her misgivings about this new relationship, she was swift to jump to Erika’s defense upon the appearance of the devious Sasorina, prompting her sudden debut as Cure Blossom.
All that description really can’t do much to convey the actual experience of watching this remarkable production. With direction by Toei’s reliable Tatsuya Nagamine and character designs by the legendary Yoshiko Umakoshi, HeartCatch’s debut was a visual feast, echoing both the cartoonish flexibility of Doremi and the operatic drama of Casshern Sins. Beyond Umakoshi’s character designs, the show’s overall visual philosophy embraces an evocative, angular looseness that makes sequences like its opening battle into dynamic visual theater, as beautiful as they are exciting. Combine that with the clear visual comedic and dramatic potential of our initial Precure pair, and you end up with a premiere that dazzles on every metric, offering much and promising even more. Let’s see how the battle unfolds as we return to HeartCatch Precure!
Episode 2
This remains a very solid OP in general, though I will say I miss Hana just directly running at the camera and eagerly greeting the audience. Still, “Hana-chan isn’t there” isn’t really a fair critique to level at a different Precure
I like how the use of slight white outlines around the background characters enhances the sense that they’re cut-paper figures in a pop-up book. The angularity of Umakoshi’s designs already grants a sense of cut-paper sharpness, and leaning into that makes the compositions seem all the more voluminous, like there are layers of paper characters stacked on top of the background
Only realizing this time that they appear to be fighting an army of evil monkeys
Those annoying bunnies immediately slot in as Tsubomi’s hype men, starting up a Precure chant as she admires her transformation
And Tsubomi embraces her new title with a dramatic Precure Pose. Feels like she’s a lot more comfortable with being a superhero than being a middle schooler
Incredible slew of faces as Tsubomi leaps into the sky and then plummets back to earth. I like how they use thinner line weight to convey a sense of panic, like her form is getting demonstrably less solid to match her feelings
She actually makes a crater when she lands. An extremely Coyote-coded Precure
“Don’t Tell Me I’m History’s Weakest Precure??” Oh my god, even the episode title is dunking on her
She picks herself up, runs screaming in a circle, and then immediately slams into a tree. Incredible work, folks
And there’s those good old-fashioned X eyes, a sure sign of a quality cartoon
I mean, this reaction to a first Precure transformation actually makes total sense. Her body is now extremely fast and strong, but her mind isn’t actually used to using such a body, and so it’s like every tap on the gas sends her flying through a wall
Some solid use of low-animation gags, with Tsubomi’s barely-moving form just swerving all across the background
And then a strong fisheye composition, presenting Sasorina as distant and imperious atop this slide
Suddenly a mysterious man in a kimono and red scarf appears! It seems we have some sort of Tuxedo Mask character
He is accompanied by a storm of cherry blossoms, perhaps implying a connection to the Heart Tree
And Tsubomi awakens in a greenhouse, further emphasizing that nature theme
Oh shit, her grandmother is Cure Flower! I’d love to dig into some “lineage of Precure” drama – as I said regarding the first episode, the vaguely understood yet generally accepted knowledge of Precures’ existence has always been a fun quirk of the franchise
We then meet the “legendary fairy Coupe-sama,” the weird-looking tree dude from the OP
“Coupe-sama is what all us fairies aspire to be! I don’t want to hear anything from history’s weakest Precure.” These fairies are little assholes, and I love it. Feels like the staff are intentionally leaning into Navi-style fairy obnoxiousness
Cure Flower explains how our Heart Flowers are essentially like souls, and when they wither, the Heart Tree that connects us all is weakened as well
More sturdy multilayered compositions as Sasorina and the Desertian return; the low angle layouts and layers of smoke really help grant a kaiju-like aura to this massive doll
These Desertians are actually a pretty convenient device for pushing emotional narratives forward, given their apparent tendency to shout out all the most private, painful feelings of their creators
Erika’s Heart Flower is a cyclamen – its white form represents purity, but its red form evokes jealousy. I assume I’ll be getting a full flower language education through this Precure!
Ooh, another excellent fisheye shot as Tsubomi at last squares off – one of those quintessential “showdown at high noon” compositions
Seems like Umakoshi himself handled Tsubomi’s transformation sequence. It embodies both the fluidity and the angularity of his design philosophy – morphing shapes that eventually converge into stylized, almost Kaneda-adjacent sharp still frames
Tsubomi at last gets serious when she sees this Desertian trample over the nearby flowers. Like with her initial rush to defend Erika, it seems she’s strongest when she gets out of her own head, when she sees something worth protecting and acts before thinking
Oh man, these action cuts are so good! Tsubomi’s skinny frame is reduced to almost a bolt of lightning as she dive-kicks the Desertian, with her long trail of hair like the banner attached to a spear. Her simplified, lightly shaded design facilitates lots of coherent yet slightly larger-than-life choreography, a mix of sturdy martial arts and wuxia embellishments
“Your conviction to save the flowers and your friend increased your Precure powers.” She is as strong as she believes she has to be
Sasorina’s scorpion tail braid is a nice distinctive weapon
Flinging Sasorina into the distance, Tsubomi then summons her “Blossom Tact,” her apparent initial weapon. Love the faeries shouting out all these complicated attack names for her to repeat. Precure sorcery is a delicate art!
Unsurprisingly, monsters in this Precure do not signal defeat by announcing their retirement
Thus Sasorina is defeated (for now), and Erika regains her Heart Flower
Erika swiftly apologizes for forcing her own feelings on Tsubomi, and Tsubomi reveals she’s now grown strong enough to accept Erika’s feelings in turn. We’ve got our duo!
The faeries… poop heart crystals? Curse these abominable mascot creatures
So the heart seeds are basically our vaguely defined way of setting a victory condition, an ambiguous number of rescues that will eventually restore the Heart Tree. I suppose it really dates me that my immediate response is “ah yes, Shikon Jewel Shards”
Grandma urges Tsubomi to be careful with her incredible destructive power
I like this slight hint of menace offered by the ending, as Grandma reflects that she won’t be able to protect Tsubomi from everything that’s coming
And Done
Thus the weakest Precure in history manages to defeat her first opponent, and solidify her friendship with Erika in the bargain. HeartCatch’s action sequences unsurprisingly proved themselves just as impressive as its comedy and character drama, offering a generous array of pratfall-heavy Looney Tunes nonsense before Tsubomi got her shit together, and thereafter dazzling with plenty of energetically animated and smartly choreographed sparring. This episode also offered some intriguing new threads, with both our Tuxedo Mask-esque mysterious stranger and the revelation of Tsubomi’s grandmother’s identity giving us plenty more to dig into. Plus there’s the staff’s unexpected yet extremely welcome choice to make our mascot characters a pair of needling garbage gremlins – a whole lot to love here, and all of it realized in absolutely glorious visual style. HeartCatch continues to soar (and then plummet to the earth)!
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