Among its strengths and weaknesses, Smile Precure has become one of my favorite series in the franchise. One of the reasons is the balance it strikes between comedic/lighthearted and serious elements, with only one instance where I found this mix out of place.

Certainly, the plot is not one of the anime's strongest points, especially in its first half. There are many episodes that do not advance the storyline in any way, except by accumulating more Bad Energy for the antagonists or more Decor for the Precures. The clock representing the energy collected thus becomes a way to know when the main plot will return. But is this really a problem? In some cases, yes, but Smile Precure rarely is boring thanks to its fun and personality-filled episodes, some inspired by old series and others completely original. I’ll name a few well-known examples: the world tour, the body swap, Yayoi lying (which gave me so much anxiety…), Nao and the insects, invisibility, the beach challenge, Miyuki mecha, the race in the alternate dimension, the baby Precures, the courage test, Cinderella, and many others.

Character development is also not one of the series' strong points. Nearly all the protagonists and villains remain practically the same from the beginning to the end of the series. Of course, in each episode, the girls have new experiences that shape them as people (despite being an episodic series, it has excellent internal continuity) and lead them to make decisions like not giving up on Candy (midway through the series), but their core remains unchanged. The great exception is Yayoi Kise, who is the first character I would talk about and is also my favorite. She is introduced as a kind and shy girl, quite the crybaby, who often left things unfinished; by the end of the series, however, she is much more open with her friends, has gained more courage and determination and is pursuing her dream of becoming a mangaka. But her development is not the only pleasant aspect of her character. She is a big fan of manga/anime/video games, particularly mecha and tokusatsu, sometimes struggles to express herself, is kind to everyone, insecure, not very athletic and gets excited about the most chaotic experiences she has (bowling, love, courage tests, school trips…): in short, she is absolutely relatable. On that note, I, too, just like her, was raised solely by my mother, due to my father's death when I was still a child. Episode 19, which explores this, is one of the most beautiful and moving in Precure, even in terms of direction, with constant rain and darker tones. Finally, at the end of her transformation, Yayoi always plays rock-paper-scissors, a competition in which I have always challenged her: it is a simple device, but it makes the experience interactive and memorable (I won in the long run, but interestingly, there were more ties than victories).

Now, as I said, the other Precures don’t have a character development comparable to hers, but this is not a real problem, as they compensate with personalities that are intriguing, fun, and, in my opinion, work well. I’d start with the leader, Miyuki Hoshizora, who fits the stereotype of the very cheerful pink Precure. I appreciate that her family was addressed, particularly her mother and grandmother. The latter is a key element of her past, making her more interesting than expected: as a child, she lived in the countryside with her grandmother and had difficulty talking to her peers. However, her encounter with a girl, who later turned out to be a spirit, pushed her to open up first to her and then to others. She developed an interest in fairy tales, thanks to the good feelings she experienced during happy endings. Despite no longer being shy, she still shows nervousness in certain circumstances, and in general, she is not particularly good at anything. At the beginning of the story, she was very scared of the Akanbe, but quickly found the strength to fight them, as she felt she was on Candy’s side, and she became more capable over time. There is a vast difference in Miyuki's fighting style between the initial and final parts of the series. Her relationship with Yayoi reminds me a lot of that between Nozomi and Urara because of their character affinity. The episodes dedicated to her that I preferred are the school trip, the Cinderella episode, the body swap, the one about her grandmother, and the one where her life was narrated.

Then, there’s Akane Hino… Without a doubt, the character recalls Rin from Yes! 5: both are the protagonist’s first friends, they are athletic, have red hair, and are associated with fire. A unique characteristic of hers is that she speaks in the Kansai dialect, which makes her way of speaking distinctive, and the fact that her family runs an okonomiyaki restaurant. Her interactions with other characters work well, as do those with her family, especially her father. Among her best episodes are those where she handles the family restaurant on her own, her introductory and final episodes, and the one with Brian, an English boy she falls in love with, which is the only romantic story in the series.

Next, there’s Nao Midorikawa: she is also very athletic, but she specializes in soccer rather than volleyball. A noteworthy episode is the one where she asks all her friends to run a relay race, to further strengthen their bonds, and supports the insecure Yayoi. Then, there are two gags related to her: the first is that she eats a lot (as seen in the world tour episode), and the second is that she has many phobias. Her fear of insects is treated more seriously, as when she shrinks down, she manages to empathize with those creatures she previously found only scary, seeing the effort they put into living; she will still be afraid of them in the future, but it’s a nice lesson to convey. As seen in the courage test episode, she is also terrified of ghosts. But what scares her the most, as shown in episode 42, the best one dedicated to her, is the possibility of losing her family: among seven siblings, she is the eldest, has always loved taking care of them, and is very attached to them. She is very strong and always tries to look after her friends as well. In one of the strongest and most traumatizing scenes in all of Precure, the antagonist Majorina launches an attack towards her siblings with the intent to kill them, and Nao was significantly late. For a few seconds, the girl experienced indescribable pain, the kind of pain one feels when they have lost forever what was most precious to them: there was no reset button, no going back. Only the intervention of her friends saved her siblings, and at the end of the battle, she burst into a liberating cry for all the suffering she had endured, only to be rewarded with the birth of a new sister.

Among the protagonists, only Reika Aoki remains, who is an intelligent and refined girl, even in her speech, but never arrogant or presumptuous. She is always willing to support her friends and often serves the community: she is the first to realize that Candy feels left out of the school trip, organizes performances for children, helps with homework, and does everything she can to improve the school. Her demeanor has allowed her friends and, in the episode where she was elected student council president, all the students to understand how hard work will make you feel good in the end. She sometimes lacks common sense (like when she doesn’t know famous comedians), and is quite open to trying new things (mecha or the courage test). Compared to the beginning of the series, where her actions were more dependent on what others suggested, she has become autonomous in her choices. Episode 44 best highlights this aspect: Reika wins a contest she signed up for more than a year ago, which would allow her to study abroad, as it was seen as a great formative experience. Her family was very happy for her, and her friends, not wanting to hold her back, offered their support. This made her think that if she stayed in Japan, she would disappoint everyone. It's at this moment that Joker exploits her weakness to try to break her down psychologically and make her give up being a Precure. However, seeing her friends in despair, she realizes that she must prioritize her desire to stay with them, and she rises up, facing the enemy alone in one of the most spectacularly choreographed battles in the series.

Speaking of which, it's time to talk about the antagonists, starting with him. In a series where the villains are mostly clumsy and comical, Joker stands out significantly. His character design, resembling that of a clown, could be inherently disturbing to some people, but he is truly a purely evil, sadistic, manipulative, deceitful, brutal, and intelligent individual. He often stays in the background, letting the other generals take action, but when he steps in, he is very impactful. Several times he takes pleasure in traumatizing the Precures: in the first instance, he defeats them in a 5v1 battle; in the second, he drags them into his ideal world where their individualities gradually disappear; and in the third, as I already explained, he psychologically torments Reika. His insane expressions remind me a lot of Yami Marik and Vector from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and his high-pitched laughter is always unsettling. He's the type of villain I like. He even uses a sword to fight, and his battle with Reika is incredible. He also manipulated the generals to do whatever he wanted, draining their life force every time. However, he also has some flaws: the first is that his origin and connection with Pierrot are unclear. The second is his conclusion, which I found very disappointing: he simply became material for Pierrot to absorb. Speaking of Pierrot, I would say he is one of the most disappointing, basic, and empty villains in the entire franchise, even considering the big bads. He is only saved by his design and the damage he was causing; otherwise, he's really hollow. One last thing on this matter: (spoiler Smile Precure Novel) I know that Joker returns in the sequel novel, and I hope this time he gets the conclusion he deserves.

Now it's the turn of the three generals of the Bad End Kingdom. First of all, let me say that their catchphrase when summoning the Akanbe is very cool. As for them, they are often quite clumsy and comical, but when necessary, they can become tough opponents. Among the most entertaining episodes is the one where they have to face off in various games in the parallel world, where they become babies, in the mecha episode, or the Cinderella one. Individually, for Majorina, I would mention her many interactions with the policeman, the episode where the Precures become tiny, and she messes up everything, when she becomes invisible, and… I didn’t expect the de-aging, which corresponded with a significant growth in her chest. For Akaoni, I remember the surfing episode, the historical drama episode, and the one where he becomes a comedian with Wolfrun. As for the wolf, he made me laugh when he walked into a restaurant and was thrown out because they thought he was wearing a mask, or when Miyuki's grandmother wasn’t bothered by him at all. They are a fun trio, but I’m not entirely convinced by their resolution: I like that the empathy the Precures feel towards them is sincere, but just a few episodes before, Akaoni had tried to kill them with a piranha monster, Wolfrun was about to destroy the house with Miyuki's grandmother inside, and Majorina had directly threatened Nao's siblings' lives. I fear they went a bit overboard with these actions, only to resolve it with forgiveness in a single episode, with no follow-up.

Among the antagonists, there are also the Bad End Precures. As soon as I saw them, I was very excited and, considering episodes 39-44, I hoped they could be versions of the protagonists who had experienced bad ends (Miyuki without friends, Yayoi without dreams, Akane failing, Nao with her family dead, and Reika taking the wrong path). Instead, Joker immediately reveals that there is practically no connection with the Precures, and I find that disappointing. They all had little individual screen time and seemed more like devices to write an extra episode. The only ones who stood out a bit were Bad End Happy, thanks to her screen time, and Bad End Peace, thanks to her interactions with Yayoi.

As for the main characters, there are only Candy and her brother Pop left. Candy doesn’t have much characterization or distinctive traits, but thanks to her screen time, she still manages to be lovable. I liked that in the final battle, she actually fought alongside her friends, and their separation touched me. Pop is the typical warrior who wants to show off his manliness, but he has a cute side he doesn’t want to show. I really liked him in the historical drama episode, where he took human form for the first time and played the role of a samurai. He was even more smug than usual. I also appreciated him when Joker kidnapped Candy and he offered the Precures the choice of what to do, as going to the Bad End Kingdom would have risked their lives, and he didn’t have the right to decide for them.

The colors are bright, and the animations throughout the series are practically smooth, reaching peaks in important episodes like 24 and the sequence of episodes from 39 to 44. Even without incredible animations, there are episodes that are beautifully choreographed, like episode 19. I really like the henshin sequences; they perfectly reflect the girls' personalities and feature excellent transitions. Moreover, in this series, at least two songs with lyrics are integrated into the background, and you often hear the instrumental version of the opening during important moments. Speaking of the opening, I like it a lot, both visually and musically. I prefer the first ending over the second, but I don't dislike the latter either. Another element I want to analyze is the comedy. I’ve already mentioned several moments related to this, but I would like to highlight moments where it satirizes tokusatsu and Precure as its derivative. I’m thinking of when the protagonists actually react to gaining superhuman powers, when Miyuki sees herself as cute after the transformation, the haphazard way the girls initially accumulate energy for the final attack, discussions about the poses to strike, comments on each catchphrase, rock-paper-scissors, Akane realizing that their friendship bond isn’t that strong after just 3 episodes, and many more. Rarely do these things happen in Precure. One last trademark is represented by the despaired or empty expressions of the protagonists, which have been seen multiple times, especially during the fights against Joker and Pierrot; in no other series has such unease been conveyed through the simple faces of the characters.

In summary, it’s a series I really enjoyed, which, despite its poor plot, holds its own thanks to the characters, the tone of the series, the ideas expressed in various episodes, and the nice animations. I’m very curious about the sequel novel, and I’ll try to read it as soon as possible.