A story that brings out unapologetic happiness is one that often gets undermined the more one grows up. Usually, we want to stay away from such juvenile ideas and themes and instead invest into tales that dig deep into the human condition and works that are bold artistic expressions of emotions. However, the value of a piece of media that expresses pure joy through simplicity is one that is equally valuable than the darker and highly sophisticated works. Happiness, optimism and pure heartedness are still aspects of human emotions after all. When done right, these kinds of straightforward yet emotionally charged stories can resonate on an equal level to some of the most complex works of art.

This commitment to telling simple stories that have a great amount of heart put into them is why I fell in love with the Magical Girl genre. No other group of shows tells these types of narratives with such conviction and passion behind them. It is for this reason why the Precure franchise has become one of my favorites in the whole medium. There are elements that it does really well when it comes to the genre as a whole. The tokusatsu elements from Sailor Moon are refined to perfection, it has some of the best written characters and specific plot lines and elements in the whole genre, the long running nature offers a wide variety of shows with each having their own quirk, etc. These aspects of the franchise are great and all, but they aren't the main reason as to why I love it so much and continue to follow it. They are simply elements that are built on the foundational trait of the Magical Genre itself. It is the simplicity and pure hearted nature shared among most mahou shoujos that Precure does immaculately. This element is shared across the entire franchise and it is what makes it so special to me.

In the eternity of its multiple decade run, no season has best portrayed this aspect of the series and Magical Girls as a whole than my second favorite: Smile Precure.

Smile is often regarded as the most simple and straightforward season in the franchise. It is the most episodic series next to the very first season, Futari Wa, with the least amount of plot progression in favor of stand-alone episodes. In terms of tone, it is the most light-hearted and comedic season. Yet despite having almost no plot or overarching stories, minimal character development, it perfectly showcases why the franchise works so well. The quintessential Precure elements that define the series are present louder than ever. What makes or breaks a season will always be the characters and how it executes the core themes of the specific season and the franchise as a whole.

The show is carried by its characters first and foremost. Other seasons may have better individual characters or teams in terms of complexity, development and overall depth, but Smile’s cast has them all beat in terms of likeability and goofiness. Smile’s cures is made up of a bunch of idiots that are some of the most endearing in the franchise. Since the show is centered all around them, it’ll be best to cover them all individually first.

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Hoshizora Miyuki/Cure Happy is the first and primary cure of the series. Among all the pink lead cures in the franchise she is by far the dumbest but one of the most charming as well. She carries usual traits of a pink cure being energetic, bubbly, full of optimism and clumsy, with that last factor being amped up more. Miyuki is just a ball of sunshine and always entertaining to watch. The mix of her stupidity with her pure kindness makes her a great personification of what the season is all about. A good main cure should embody the main themes of the season and Happy accomplishes that task flawlessly. Smile shares a lot of similarities with Yes Precure 5 but I think it does a way better job at balancing its core cast. Whereas Nozomi/Cure Dream is a great character and is even better than Miyuki, she takes up too much of the spotlight from the other cures, and this is one area where Smile definitely improves upon. Happy is much more balanced in relation to her teammates than Dream was.

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Hino Akane/Cure Sunny is the most energetic of all the cures this season, even surpassing Miyuki. She is the most inherently comedic character of the group with comedy being her passion alongside volleyball. Sunny is more often the butt of the jokes than the other cures reflecting her nature as the troll of the group. While all the cures are passionate in their own ways, Akane is the most outwardly one of them all. She is great on her own, but a sun can only shine bright with others around. Sunny’s relationships and interactions with the other cures is where her fire gets to burn the brightest. She has the best interactions out of the whole cast.

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Kise Yayoi/Cure Peace is the shyest and most soft spoken of the group, but the one with the biggest heart. She is a full blown anime and manga fan through and through and a very passionate one at that. Peace may be a crybaby at times but that is contrasted by the strongest resolve in the group. When push comes to shove, she will stand braver than any other cure of this season. Yayoi is by far one of the most likable, endearing and relatable characters not just in Smile, but in all of Precure. Her love and passion for fiction and her friends is adorably infectious and probably relatable to most of the people watching the show. The courage she has goes a long way to make her much more than your regularly nerdy character. She has one of the most apparent character arcs of the team which only adds to her being such a loveable character. Watching her gain more confidence in herself as she grows closer to her friends and becomes more brave, is a recipe for one of the best characters in the franchise. (She also has the unique quality of being my most relatable and favorite character, not just in Smile, Precure, or anime, but in all of fiction. So there is definitely no bias here ;p).

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Midorikawa Nao/Cure March shares a lot of similarities with Akane on the surface being both sporty cures, but has enough unique traits that make her stand on her own. For one, she is probably the most grounded character in the whole show. Nao has a good sense of responsibility and is often the one the team relies on for support and advice. She helps keep the group together being the bravest of them all. Although this is contrasted with her having some quite natural fears that are exaggerated to comedic effect. Besides that fact, March is the most like a normal down to earth person compared to the rest of the cures which have more exaggerated personalities.

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Aoki Reika/Cure Beauty stands a lot compared to her peers as the most soft-spoken and having more brain cells than the rest of the team combined. Despite her intelligence and how she conducts herself, she is more than eager to partake in the wacky hijinks that her friends get up to. Instead of coming off like the pretentious and uptight archetype, Reika proudly partakes into whatever crazy situations happen to the cures. She has a desire to learn more about her friends and the world making for a quite captivating character. Her intelligence and maturity is also used for comedic effect but also makes for some of the best scenes in the whole. Like Peace, Beauty has a more defined character journey over the course of the series. Her spotlight episodes are written in the whole show as she has to make much tougher decisions than the rest of the cures.

Candy is the primary fairy mascot character of Smile and one of the better fairies in the franchise. She may come off as annoying as most Precure fairies but thanks to the amount of character focus this season, she gets to have a good amount of depth. A number of episodes in the first half have Candy as a prominent element. Her increased attention allows candy to be well-fleshed and receive character development that isn’t common among most Precure fairies. The childish nature serves as a way to tell the moral of those earlier episodes with great effect.

Like the cures, the villains are a lot more idiotic and eccentric compared to other seasons. Each one is fleshed out with a unique personality and are effectively used to contrast either a certain cure or theme of a given episode. They have great dynamics among themselves and the cures. While Wolfrun, Akaoni and Majorina are wacky comedic treats, when a serious villain comes, their presence is much more impactful. Joker is that taste of pure sadistic evil needed to stand in as the greatest contrast to the main themes of the show.

Smile Precure states its main intent and theme in the name of the show itself. This is a series that will make you smile no matter what. The theme of this season is fairy tales which are generally filled with wonder and joy. It may be an episodic show with barely any plot even for Precure standard, but it is one of the most fun rides in all of anime. Every episode is filled with so many happy vibes and excitement that you will grin all the way through. This comes in the form of well written character moments, comedy and overall wacky hijinks. The number of weird and crazy situations the cures end up in is astronomical. Smile goes through so many anime and general stereotypical story tropes making for the most varied season in terms of content.

However, the true beauty of the show comes in how it balances the joy with everything else. From my descriptions, it may seem like the episodes are non-stop roller coaster rides of happiness but that isn’t actually the case. In reality almost all the wacky episodes have a small touch of seriousness to them. Each one tells their self-contained story in which the theme of joy is expanded upon with more nuance. The true beauty of the series comes from the context behind the smiles themselves. Even if it varies from episode to episode there is complexity when it comes to how happiness is portrayed. There is always a message behind them and the emotional core of the show becomes apparent.

This aspect is further accentuated when the plot does kick during the middle and end parts of the show. Compared to the majority of the series these episodes are much more serious in tone and carry much more weight to them. While this is nothing new for Precure the contrast to the rest of the show is a brilliant move to make them much more impactful than in any other season. There can’t be light without the dark and those small serious moments are not only more poignant, but they even help the light shine even brighter.

The Precure franchise can be expressed on a sliding scale. With the more plot heavy and serious seasons on one end and the lighthearted and more episodic ones on the other. Smile falls on the far end of the latter. It has the stupidest cast and the highest concentration of pure fun energy. Yet I believe it to be the season that best encapsulates why I love this franchise. Precure to me, is a series that will always bring pure unadulterated happiness. This being Smile’s main objective. Through some of the most endearing characters in the whole franchise to the added layers behind the happiness, there isn’t a season that best illustrates why Precure is my all time favorite Magical Girl franchise than Smile Precure. It teaches you the joys of life better than most anime in the medium.

Oh and there is no Glitter Force in Ba Sing Se.