This review is not spoiler-free so read at your own risk.
Hirogaru Sky Precure. When this was first announced, it was followed by excitement from everyone for various reasons. A blue cure leader, an (official) adult cure, and finally a male cure. Pretty exciting, big changes for the 20th anniversary season.
And safe to say the excitement continued when the show started airing. It started out pretty strong, establishing a strong bond between all the main characters. And having Sora (and Tsubasa and Elle) come from another world is one of the things I looked forward to because it's one of the aspects I loved about Mahoutsukai Precure.
However, as much as I liked this in the beginning, it slowly went downhill the further we got. As I said, it started off strong. They took time to introduce and establish the characters which I initially thought was a smart move. The first half was therefore enjoyable. I can't say the same thing about the second half.
My first issue with this season, is the pacing. It's kinda all over the place. They opted for a more slice-of-life approach which isn't a problem by any means. But when said slice-of-life is the same over and over again and doesn't really expand on anything, it quickly becomes boring. The bad pacing also hurts the finale which was a mess in my opinion. I hate how recent Precure seasons don't have a proper buildup and longer execution for the finale like the older seasons used to have. Not only does it make the ending feel rushed but also very anti-climactic. Especially here, where Dark Head was defeated in 5 minutes, episode ends, and whoops, there's one more enemy for the last episode and it's a giant....snake. They used their strongest finale group attack against an enemy that was common trope throughout the show. It felt forced and unessecary.
The "emotional" farewell as the finale was absolutely ruined too. Even Tsubasa pointed out how unessecary it was because they'd just visit them whenever they want. They literally stopped by the morning after to have breakfast together. All the crying and the goodbyes felt so forced because of that.
Another issue I have is the abandonment of several plot points they introduced. Througout the season, they kept adding new things to the table, even hinting at a certain plot point several times. They never took it further, making it seem like 1) they had no idea where to go with it, and 2) lazy writing. Even the season's core theme, hereos, wasn't incorporated that well. It was all about Sora wanting to become a hero and her catchphrase "It's hero time!", and no emphasis on how the others' heroes came to be through their own ways - Tsubasa being Elle's (and Skyland's?) knight, Ageha as a kindergarten teacher, Mashiro with her natural generosity and will to protect others. And even Elle who took up the mantle from Ellelain.
They could have easily used these missed plot points they introduced and expanded on them to incorporate it into the worldbuilding. Which brings me to the next issue. The worldbuilding. Or rather, the utter lack of it. As I mentioned, I was looking forward to the fact that Sora and the others came from another world, Skyland, because I thought that would give us some interesting dynamics and perspectives on the two worlds. Like Sora adjusting to our world and a deepdive into Skyland and how it's like. But we got almost none of that. Despite this season being very slice-of-life, instead of opting for a larger perspective on the two worlds and the characters' interactions as a result of being from different worlds, they gave us the same kind of slice-of-life for half the show. It felt repetitive and boring. Not to mention the absolute lack of character interactions not just amog the main characters and recurring characters but also with everyone else. Interactions with, for example, classmates are almost non-existent. Even between the cures, there was a lack of dynamic interactions between them. We kept getting Sora/Mashiro and Tsubasa/Ageha which is fine the first time or two but when the show doesn't wanna expand further, it gets boring. It doesn't make sense that they limited it to just those. And it makes even less sense that Tsubasa and Ageha kept being pushed to the side; when they visited Ellelain, when they stayed behind to fight enemies in the finale. The focus was always on just Sora and Mashiro.
Another problem I know many also had a problem with are the villains. The director himself said that he'd rather focus on the cures and their fights than on the villains, because he doesn't think kids are interested in "villain meetings". And I am fully aware who the target audience is. That doesn't excuse a bunch of villains where almost all of them have no real motivation for fighting other than "cause my boss will scold me". It adds to making them feel more cartoonish and childish compared to past villains, and yes, it seems like that's what they were trying to go for. But then they decide to say "no, our main villain is actually pretty dark" but he's not. I like the fact that Empress Undergu had been manipulated by Skearhead all the while, making him the true boss. It was very predictable from early on but I still liked it. What I didn't like was him as the big villain. He was defeated way too easily, again the final fight only lasting 5 minutes. And then they throw that snake in which makes him look even weaker and more pathetic. The only good part about the ending was Dark Sky but even that felt really rushed.
I won't go into character designs and visuals too much cause those are just about personal preferences. One thing I will say is that I hate the obvious difference in quality of Prism's transformation and the rest. And I may be the only one who thinks this but I hate how inconsistent the group transformation is. Depending on who the focus is on, the transformation sequence changes and I hate that it's not just consistent.
To end it on a more positive note, my favorite part about this season is ironically enough Mashiro's character development. She, by far, had the best development. It was so nice to see her change throughout the show but still remain herself. Her newfound interest in making picture books, her lacking determination turned into courage and will to take action. Even her relationship with Battamonda was actually enjoyable and was the little character development you got for a villain. So I liked that a lot.
But all in all, Hirogary Sky Precure is a show that had a strong start but eventually fell off. This whole season can be described in two words - wasted potential. 
