Suite Precure is the 8th Precure series. I don’t think it’s among the best Precure series, but it’s not even bad. One of the biggest weak points is the opening part, which corresponds to the first 8 (?) episodes: it was really hard to bear. The premise that the two protagonists are two childhood friends who need to reconnect is interesting; however, the first problem I have is that they fight for reasons that I find too badly written to be taken seriously. At the beginning, the series also makes them far too 'negative' as characters to be Precures: they don't transform, like the others, to protect something, but they do it because they are meant to and, in the second episode, they show disinterest in others. The episode dedicated to Kanade and her brother I found quite questionable even on a teaching level: the former behaved very badly with Souta the whole time, but is overruled because 'I scold you because I care', when there should clearly be a limit. I would take into account even Hibiki's father, who is made out to be a visionary, when he is a father who traumatised his daughter for years and drove her away from her dream, due to the fact that he expressed himself in an incomprehensible manner and, all that time, never tried to explain himself. Even around episode #30, she still suffers from this trauma.

Then, both Hibiki (who was already acceptable at the beginning anyway) and Kanade improve a lot both as characters and in their interactions with each other, becoming particularly wholesome. The third Precure is Ellen, who, internally in the series, starts out as the antagonist and former friend of the mascot Hummy. In reality, she turns out to be controlled by Mephisto. Hers is a good redemption arc, albeit inferior to Setsuna's. Her shapeshifting abilities as a villain made her actions interesting to follow, I just don't see the point in making her lose this ability once she became Precure, considering also that she was a cat and not a human. Also, after the episodes in which she integrates with the duo, she isn't developed much and that's a shame.

As for Muse, I have to compliment her for the mystery created around her identity in the first part: she left me in doubt for quite a while, it was believable that Seiren was her (also given the colours) and, because of the difference in height, Ako was not so suspicious; for a few episodes I was even suspicious of Seika and Waon. As for Ako herself, I liked her well enough, although I would have liked to know her more, especially I would have wanted to know more about her past. The inner drama she is going through, due to the fact that she is up against her mentally-controlled father, makes it easy to empathise with her though. The ship with Souta is cute too. Also nice was her relationship with Otokichi, who played a special role within the story: he was practically an ante-litteram male Precure, so without henshin, but who fought against evil and is considered a hero.

Hummy was off to a good start and also seemed to be quite a multifaceted character: she was naive, but capable of making Hibiki and Kanade do what she wanted. I saw her as a bit flanderized over time, but I liked her role in the final battle and her dream sequence was touching. The other mascots are the Fairy Tone, who are never annoying and many times tried to save the day - I like them.

For most of the story, apart from Seiren, the role of antagonists is taken over by the Trio de Minor, who also turn out to be manipulated. When the cat was still on their side, they seemed to be more intelligent opponents, but in the second part of the story, they take on a much more comic role, with the exception of Falsetto from the third quarter of the series: this is not a bad thing, since they made me laugh efficiently, but I think this is part of the rewriting that the series has admittedly undergone following the 2011 earthquake in Japan. The twist about Mephisto was also quite good and well executed.

Next, I liked Noise as the final villain. He is a narratively constructed antagonist, foreshadowed from the beginning and who has an actual backstory shown. Making him a bird who comes into contact with the protagonists and tricks them is also an interesting idea. I like the fact that his motivations connect directly to his origin: he is born out of human sadness, he lives in constant pain that everyone hates and rejects him, and he wants everything to become silent and empty, so that only he himself exists, which, together with the rest of the world, will gradually disappear. He basically wishes for a collective suicide because of his own nature and the fact that he does not believe in hope. Hibiki will be the one who will try to understand his motivations and, together with the others, manage to make him smile. In this respect, I find it a Desparaia of Yes! 5 done better.

I liked the dark elements the series presented, such as the sacrifices of Otokichi, Mephisto and the citizens of Major Land, mind control, Noise's attempt to kill his arch-enemy and others. Perhaps one flaw is that the power of friendship is a little too overused in this series as a method of resolution, even compared to Precure's others.

I don't recall any instances of excellent animation, but neither do I recall any really bad moments from a production point of view. The henshin are very beautiful, certainly among the best up to Suite. The various finishers are also appreciable. Opening and ending are not among my favourites from Precure, but I like them. A final flaw is that I find the secondary characters quite forgettable, which I find a shame, since they came from Fresh and Heartcatch.

In summary, I found Suite a good series qualitatively: I don't consider it among Precure's best, it's more in the middle.