After Hugtto Precure convinced me hard to give a chance to the rest of the franchise, I went for the entry that seems to be the most loved and popular (except maybe the original) of the franchise, did it live up to the hype? Well, it sure did in my opinion!
Tsubomi, the protagonist of this story, is a shy girl who definitely didn't fit with what the image of what the standard Precure protagonist looked to me, I think that this is played very nicely through the story and seeing her open up more while keeping what makes her be her was so satisfying to see. Together with the cheerful and absurdly lovable Erika by her side, they form the main duo of the story for a good time before the other Precure join.
Those episodes with them alone were "the weakest" part of the series to me (saying that in quotes because they were still enjoyable) and were focused on giving the spotlight to side characters (mostly classmates or the family of the MCs) and our girls helping them both via interactions, and by kicking ass defeating the "Desertrians", monsters created by the enemies of this story combining an object and the wiltered hearts of the characters. This anime uses the fact that Tsubomi loves flowers very strongly using that detail, with the flower each character has having a meaning that fits with their problem.
Once the other and equally nice Precure join the group, the plot starts to really pick up and only gets better and better, with very emotional moments and solid development for the characters. I don't want to possibly overhype it, but honestly the final episodes were some of the most epic I have watched.
With a nice main cast is also needed a nice villain side, and The Desert Apostles did a successful job on that. Precure does a very good job at being lighthearted while also not shying away when it has to be darker, and the villains were a good example of that in execution, I enjoyed the interactions and comedy moments between them and/or with the Precures a lot and they ended up being very memorable as well when it came to the more serious parts involving their characters.
The art style of the series is so visually appealing and allows for a wide array of nice reactions and goofy movements from the characters while looking perfectly fitting with the show, and the great designs by Yoshihiko Umakoshi (Casshern Sins, Boku no Hero Academia, Mushishi...) definitely were a part of that, the action scenes are also solid, abundant and well animated, not to mention the nice transformation scenes of the characters. The soundtrack of the series is also nice and has some very memorable tracks.
After only saying more and more positives I guess that it's time to say the problems I had with the series, which honestly didn't affect my opinion in the long run:
- The first is the already mentioned slower start, while I always enjoyed watching the episodes, I didn't feel that it hooked me in nowhere as much as Hugtto or Princess Precure (which I watched right after) did, so I wasn't feeling as hyped and also a bit worried that maybe I wouldn't end up loving it as much as I wanted to, but yeah, that got fixed later on, boy it did.
- The second is the mascot characters of the main duo, that honestly were pretty annoying at first and I was never a fan of the "a heart seed is coming out!" scene after they defeat the Desertrians they face (and thank god the animation of that part got more polished, they are clearly pooping it, c'mon!) But they grew on me as the episodes passed and even took the spotlight in a comedy focused episode that made me laugh really hard and I loved.
- Lastly, this just seems to be a thing with the franchise as a whole. As a series that lives by selling the toys they make based on the anime they know that they have to advertise them, and how they do so? By making the objects the girls use look exactly like they would as a toy and even use CGI for some, this makes total sense but at times I couldn't help but feel like "man, they are really trying to sell the product here", which let's be honest, it's pretty stupid thinking about it: of course they are not making anime because why not, we wouldn't get more if it didn't sell! It's a matter of getting used to it, and why lie, I freaking want a Flower Tact! I'm not surprised at all that this is the best selling entry so far.
If you haven't watched any Precure yet and you're reading my review you might feel put off by the last two negative points and think that this is in anime that only kids might find enjoyable, but I can promise you that this isn't the case and that anyone has a chance to really enjoy it, the characters are very compelling and likeable, the comedy is solid, the action is nice looking and the story is interesting and has some darker moments that definitely surprised me seeing. I can't recommend this anime enough.