AnimeSuki Forums

Quarkboy · 2006-02-05, 04:40

Well, I'm making this thread to discuss it... But in reality I'm making this thread to vent.

Yes, I know there's only been 1 episode, but I don't care, as far as I'm concerned it has 96 episodes to live up to:

Spoiler for pretty cure splash star suckiness:

Okay 2 major issues here, the rest pale in comparison:

1. Pretty Cure no longer fights using martial arts. They seem to have energy powers now. Cure bloom can make a spherical shield shell to repel attacks, and cure egret seems to spew blue auras of doom from spinning her hands around. Plus, their new fnishing move is much more "moon healing escalation" than marble screw (i.e. enveloping wave of curing power vs. an actual attack). And to top it all off, the preview and opening hint that Pretty Cure can fly. FLY?! sorry, but in Quarkboy's world, Pretty Cure doesn't f*cking fly. Except in the movies. But that's the ONLY EXCEPTION. Dammit.

2. The mascot characters are, if you can believe it, 5 times more annoying than Mepple and Mipple were. For one thing, they end sentences with -ppi. oy vey. For another thing, they speak pigeon japanese compared to M&M, especially Choppy, who speaks like a 3 year old.

Other problems: Saki and Mai have no personalities so far. Especially Mai had very little of her character introduced, she simply seems like a normal unremarkable girl. Saki plays softball and likes ice cream, and other than that we don't know much about her... she seems less cynical than Nagisa too. Saki's little sister also was introduced but without any caracterization. There doen't seem to be any family conflict at all, just a bunch of boring happy people. Also no school friends so far besides the umpire and catcher on saki's softball team who had 2 lines each (and they weren't interesting either).

Good things: Well, the ending animation was the most blatantly Yuri-hinting thing I've seen in a long time. Holding hands running onthe beach? Sitting back to back under a tree? close up on holding hands again? OU MAI GODDU.

Quarkboy (Pretty Cure Czar)'s verdict: I'll give it maybe 2 more episodes to prove my initial observations wrong. But if it continues like this, then the creators have taken everything that was ever any good about Pretty Cure and destroyed it. Japanes kids aren't stupid, they'll recognize crap when it's fed to them. This won't go down well. They've taken a franchize at the top of its game and "reinvented" it into crap. Heads will roll...

Secca · 2006-02-05, 07:45

Mipuru and Mepuru already sound ridiculous to me since the first time I saw Pretty Cure. Not to mention that the voice behind it is Tomokazu Seki. >_<

It gives me the shivers.

Lina Inverse · 2006-02-05, 16:38

Sounds quite ridiculous... Could you give a link to the official homepage so I could take a look it it?

Quarkboy · 2006-02-05, 18:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lina Inverse

Sounds quite ridiculous... Could you give a link to the official homepage so I could take a look it it?

It's not too hard to find:
http://www.asahi.co.jp/precure/

Radiosity · 2006-02-05, 19:45

I've mentioned it before (unfortunately in posts lost in the Great Hack), but I'll say it again. If Pretty Cure had the dumb magic crap removed, Mipple and Mepple were roasted on a spit over an open fire, and Zakenna (however it was spelt) was reincarnated as a type of candy (you know, the Gomen stars after it's defeated, those would make for some cool candy

) then Pretty Cure would have been a whole load better.

I enjoyed the main characters, and their interactions with each other and the people at home/ school etc., particularly Nagisa's sports scenes. The magical girl stuff totally ruined it for me. I actually skipped all of the transformations, battles (well, ok, I watched the kickass fights until the obligatory marble 'yay same attack for 20 episodes' screw, at which point I skipped it), and all major scenes involving Mepple, Mipple or both.

So... I don't think I'm going to be watching this

Leo_Otaku · 2006-02-05, 20:20

They should of canned this show and brought back Doremi which pwns this series >.<

Or made a new shoujo anime completely, I'm so sick of Pretty Cure

NoSanninWa · 2006-02-06, 02:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Well, I'm making this thread to discuss it... But in reality I'm making this thread to vent.

Yes, I know there's only been 1 episode, but I don't care, as far as I'm concerned it has 96 episodes to live up to:

Spoiler for pretty cure splash star suckiness:

Okay 2 major issues here, the rest pale in comparison:

1. Pretty Cure no longer fights using martial arts. They seem to have energy powers now. Cure bloom can make a spherical shield shell to repel attacks, and cure egret seems to spew blue auras of doom from spinning her hands around. Plus, their new fnishing move is much more "moon healing escalation" than marble screw (i.e. enveloping wave of curing power vs. an actual attack). And to top it all off, the preview and opening hint that Pretty Cure can fly. FLY?! sorry, but in Quarkboy's world, Pretty Cure doesn't f*cking fly. Except in the movies. But that's the ONLY EXCEPTION. Dammit.

2. The mascot characters are, if you can believe it, 5 times more annoying than Mepple and Mipple were. For one thing, they end sentences with -ppi. oy vey. For another thing, they speak pigeon japanese compared to M&M, especially Choppy, who speaks like a 3 year old.

Other problems: Saki and Mai have no personalities so far. Especially Mai had very little of her character introduced, she simply seems like a normal unremarkable girl. Saki plays softball and likes ice cream, and other than that we don't know much about her... she seems less cynical than Nagisa too. Saki's little sister also was introduced but without any caracterization. There doen't seem to be any family conflict at all, just a bunch of boring happy people. Also no school friends so far besides the umpire and catcher on saki's softball team who had 2 lines each (and they weren't interesting either).

Good things: Well, the ending animation was the most blatantly Yuri-hinting thing I've seen in a long time. Holding hands running onthe beach? Sitting back to back under a tree? close up on holding hands again? OU MAI GODDU.

Quarkboy (Pretty Cure Czar)'s verdict: I'll give it maybe 2 more episodes to prove my initial observations wrong. But if it continues like this, then the creators have taken everything that was ever any good about Pretty Cure and destroyed it. Japanes kids aren't stupid, they'll recognize crap when it's fed to them. This won't go down well. They've taken a franchize at the top of its game and "reinvented" it into crap. Heads will roll...

It sounds like you'll be doing us a service by NOT fansubbing this. It is a shame when a great show is ruined like this. We see it happen again and again. Then it is painful to let go of the good times and accept that those good times just aren't related to what they turned it into.

* NoSanninWa is saddened.

mintyfresh · 2006-02-06, 09:11

I just got through watching the first episode of this, myself. ...Well, just barely, that is..
It's strange, really.. I never really found it that hard to get through an episode of Pretty Cure, no matter how dull, usually. Maybe it's as Quarkboy says -- the characters really aren't that interesting. It was even a stretch for me to care about those two cute fuzzy things as they nearly killed themselves against that male version of Poison Ivy.

Also, a lot of the things in this ep seemed a little forced.. though that may just be because I couldn't help but constantly compare it to the first ep of Pretty Cure. For one thing, is it just me, or were the two girls a little underwhelmed at Flappy and Choppy's existence? "Huh, two creatures just fell from the sky. How do you figure that? Oh, and now they're talking -- don't see that everyday.."

And indeed, the ending theme seems suspiciously riddled with yuri.. I wonder if they're going to try to win back old fans with a...er, "closer relationship"..?
They probably wouldn't do that... somehow, I'm betting Saki develops a crush on Mai's older brother ala Fuji-P (only this time, it's a little less attainable since he's in highschool). Besides, if they were going to do that... it would be such a waste for them to make the jump now..

Flo · 2006-02-07, 06:16

Well I got my hands on the RAW and watched it, I have no idea whether I want to laugh or cry. Everything in the episode looks so corny.

And now I can't get the OP off my head.

supaa supaa supaa supurashi star~

Guido · 2006-02-12, 12:12

One group has stepped in to fansub Splash Star.

Mystery Fan Translation Group X

They have now released the first episode fansubbed.

Maceart · 2006-02-12, 13:17

Yah bring back Ojamajo Doremi!!!

But now that the memorial boxsets are released... there seems to be no more hope for anymore Doremi -_-.

Well I've yet to see the first ep, but it can't be THAT bad... it's from Toei for gods sake. They pioneered the mahou shoujo genre (or, kept it popular).

deathsvengeance · 2006-02-13, 12:08

has anyone else had an issue with the sound not working? I tried two different players and have recently updated my codecs.. lol I don't know what's going on?!

[edit]nevermind, user error

helps when mute is off rofl[/edit]

Quarkboy · 2006-02-13, 13:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathsvengeance

has anyone else had an issue with the sound not working? I tried two different players and have recently updated my codecs.. lol I don't know what's going on?!

[edit]nevermind, user error

helps when mute is off rofl[/edit]

Wow, that's almost as good as the "video isn't working because monitor isn't on" scenario.

But, to keep things on topic, at least you don't have to listen to flappy or choppy that way.

And does anyone else find it slightly backwards that the "earth spirit" says "flappy", and the "bird spirit" says choppy? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Radiosity · 2006-02-13, 14:03

Choppy sounds more like something a Water spirit would say. Though in actual fact it sounds like something that someone might say if they had just had their brain removed and replaced with cotton wool. Mipple and Mepple were bad enough... shudders at the recollection... but hearing 'flappy' and 'choppy' has just ensured that I never download an episode of this series

Oiseau · 2006-02-13, 22:44

Well, I watched the first episode, and I still don't get it -- why REMAKE a series which finished airing ONE YEAR ago?

Everything is exactly the same, except everything gets a different name.

Mipple and Mepple ? Flappy and Choppy.
Black and White ? Bloom and Eg(r/l)et.
Marble Screw ? Twin Stream.
Gardens of Light/Rainbows ? Gardens of Fountains/Greenery.
Dual Aurora Wave ? Dual Spiritual Power.
Zakenna ? Uzainaa.
Gomen stars ? Arigatô fairies !

I could go on ... and I still think it's just plain weird. Now, if Pretty Cure was a 10-year-old series which they could remake with better animation or something, I would see the point, but in THIS situation, what are they thinking? And will it really be the same plot all over again?

Anime+ · 2006-02-13, 22:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oiseau

Well, I watched the first episode, and I still don't get it -- why REMAKE a series which finished airing ONE YEAR ago?

Everything is exactly the same, except everything gets a different name.

Mipple and Mepple ? Flappy and Choppy.
Black and White ? Bloom and Eg(r/l)et.
Marble Screw ? Twin Stream.
Gardens of Light/Rainbows ? Gardens of Fountains/Greenery.
Dual Aurora Wave ? Dual Spiritual Power.
Zakenna ? Uzainaa.
Gomen stars ? Arigatô fairies !

I could go on ... and I still think it's just plain weird. Now, if Pretty Cure was a 10-year-old series which they could remake with better animation or something, I would see the point, but in THIS situation, what are they thinking? And will it really be the same plot all over again?

Is it really that bad. I havn't seen it yet, but that sounds a little over the top. Why would they make an indirect remake.. at least in such a short time period?

Guido · 2006-02-14, 00:47

Ugh...

That's how I feel after paying attention to Quarkboy's warning, and yet I went on to watch Pretty Cure Splash Star!

It's just flatly one-dimensional, clichéd, and corny to the bone!!

Everything that Quarkboy's posted is true regarding the story and the characters.

Splash Star is actually a restart of the Pretty Cure Universe but employing this time traditional shoujo elements within a conventional magic-girl context.

In a non-technical explanation, Splash Star absurdly employs the use of flashy lights, magical spells, and tear-eyed situations that makes me want to puke.

All the aerial martial arts choreography that was the prominent trait in the first Pretty Cure is gone for good and instead replaced with all this splashy, corny magic crap.

The opening and ending theme songs sound ludicrously childish and happy-go-bubbly.

Those songs tend to remark the corny aspects of magic-girl shows that deal with the power of love and friendship. Yuck!!

The OP and ED songs of the first Pretty Cure series felt that they dealt with the action and pre-teenage aspects of the show, that's why they sound so cool to me and have the full versions of the songs in my computer.

They don't even introduce the Big Bad of this series right from the very start, unlike Pretty Cure (classic series) that the Dark King was already introduced along with its bunch of baddies.

The baddies of this season look tough but likely have scarce brains as only to resort on brute force and power to get their way with Splash Pretty Cure.
How I miss Pissard and the others since at least they employed strategy to physically and emotionally traumatize Pretty Cure.

The ten clichéd, corny aspects found in Pretty Cure Splash Star that definitely ruin this series.
1. Clichéd plot device about Mai and Saki having met before in the past as children, only to meet again because those plushy pets have them called now as teens. Later having Mai transferred to Saki's school and particularly to Saki's classroom to have them close together.

2. Some characters, for example like Saki's mother and Mai's brother, are recycled characters from previous Pretty Cure series.
Saki's mother = Nagisa's mother
Mai's brother = Fujimura, Nagisa's sempai who was in love with him.

Don't look awfully familiar the faces?

3. The magic spells and energy powers that Splash Pretty Cure uses to fend off against foes. Once again I say, Yuck!!

4. The transform animation sequence is absurdly flashy and the light effects too much corny.
For this transformation the two girls are already wearing Pretty Cure clothes, unlike Nagisa and Honoka's transformation that first were naked but bathed in silver color before their Pretty Cure clothes started to materialize.

5. A complete lack of both creativity and imagination from the staff to come up with better monster-of-the-day baddies. The Uzainaa are just recycled Zakenna with the same formula and same modus operandi but given different names.

6. The baddies that are after Choppy and Flappy they look just tough and likely possess this delirium of power.

7. Choppy and Flappy are the most annoying characters ever had the displeasure to listen to. Flappy is more annoying to me due to his tendency to end all phrases with the -iapi sound.

I cannot withstanding that and desires so badly to beat my head onto the wall to death, if ever I had to heard -iapi sound.

Mepple and Mipple were never annoying. In fact, I never mind their -mipple and -mepple sounds. Porun did quite touched a nerve on me with his baby behavior, but it was occasionally.

8. Using the theme about nature plus mixing with that stereotypical issue about the war of light v.s. darkness theme. C'mon how much overexploitative, clich'ed, and corny can it be? or has been overly used in most magic girl shows?
That giant tree that both Mai and Saki are always fond I'm dead certain it has to do with the fountains that Flappy and Choppy are searching for. How predictable can it much be?

9. The baddies treating Splash Pretty Cure as if they were formidable opponents after witnessing transforming and pulling out those magic attacks.
All of the dark King's henchmen barely ever treated Nagisa and Honoka as a real menace and mostly they prioritized their own goals rather than taking on Pretty Cure one on one first.

The Uzainaa, unlike the Zakenna, are average monster-of-the-day baddies and do the stupidest thing of all and that is they stay in shock when Splash Pretty Cure fires their Ultimate blast and don't move rather receive the blast head on thus being defeated.
Not much of an improvement but the Zakenna at least had the common sense to block Pretty Cure's Marvelous Screw, although their defense wears down and eventually are overwhelmed by it.

10. As I said before, Pretty Cure Splash Star is a restart of the Pretty Cure universe that lacks all the traits that made first Pretty Cure so appealing to me.

QuarkBoy posted that Japanese kids aren't stupid and know when crap is feed to them, however, that could be true unless TOEI is marketing the series to another age segment.

Hypothesis:
Why did TOEI bring up all this excessive magic-girl crap and pasted it on Splash Star?

The only reason I can come up with was due that the original Pretty Cure series jumped the shark.
Their target, mainstream audience probably became fed up with the content and plot material and found it no more appealing or imaginative than when it was first broadcasted.

TOEI made a commercial success with the first and second Pretty Cure series, but they wouldn't allow that their Blockbuster hit franchise stop earning ratings and bringing up advertisement for their target audience to continue shopping Pretty Cure products and all paraphernalia related to Pretty Cure.
The executives had to find out a way to still continue milking cash from that cow and came with the obvious conclusion: Turn the next Pretty Cure series into a traditional, full-fledged magic girl and target it towards an even younger audience.

I believe that for Splash Star TOEI took the decision to target this series toward an even younger audience. A sspectators that couldn't care less about the changes in both plot and characters and being oblivious to them, because they love the series simply for its magic-girl stuff and the girl characters that use that stuff.

I think that the first two Pretty Cure series were aimed at a target audience of girls between 7-11 years of age.

Splash Star seems that it targets girl spectators between the ages of 4-8 years old.

And believe me that small gap among age segments is significant.

Another reason why Splash Star imperially sucks is because Daisuke Nishio no longer was appointed to direct this series.
He was series director for both Pretty Cure and Max Heart.

Previously, he was series director to both DragonBall Z and Air Master, therefore, there's no doubt as to why all the choreographic martial arts and aerial combat featured in the first two Pretty Cure series.

Kage no Tori · 2006-02-14, 07:49

Hey there, just delurking to say that I actually quite like Splash Star. I feel I kind of had to defend it in the face of so much anger and venom. (quite understandable since the original was so loved.) I guess I don't have as much a problem with it because a. while I enjoyed the original I wasn't *that* attached to it and b. I'm a sucker for anything and everything mahou shoujo so I would have liked it anyway, pretty much.

And yes, it is rather annoying that Saki and Mai are pretty much clones of Honoka and Nagisa. But other than that caveat about a lack of originality, I like it. It's cute and flashy. Give me cute and flashy and magical girls and I'm as happy as a sandgirl.

Just wanted to put the other point of view! I think it's easier to accept this series if you think of it as being a seperate entity from the first two series rather than as a direct sequel.

I think that if this was brand new and had no connection to the old Pretty Cure it would have been recieved a lot less critically. Anyway I'm enjoying it so far although it is early days yet!

oh one or two things I noticed-(persons of a delicate disposition may wish to look away at this point!)

'Pretty Cure Twin Stream Splash' makes me think of urination and then when they do the attack all I can think of is ahem..*weewee*. It's quite unintentionally hilarious. Perhaps this is just my dirty mind and I am bad.

The grateful leaf fairies look like sperm. Cute little green happy grateful sperm. Which is rather sweet actually.

And that bit at the end of the OP when Bloom and Egret look surprisedly at the zooming mobile phone thingies? Kawaiii!!!

that's my two farthings anyway!

Tatiana Razajev · 2006-02-14, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kage no Tori

Hey there, just delurking to say that I actually quite like Splash Star. I feel I kind of had to defend it in the face of so much anger and venom.

While I haven't decided to like it yet. Right now I'm still in the give it a chance mood. I've already seen episode 2 and I plan to watch episode 3 at least. However I definitely don't hate it yet. As for whether I'll hate it, like it or decide to give it one more episode. That depends on how episode 3 goes for me.

I am planning to watch the series on its own merit and not compare it to Original/Max Heart contantly. Especially since Splash Star is just getting started. I'd hate to accidentally take a later more epic battle of Original and compare it to an early battle of Splash Star.

Still lucky for me, I'm used to the idea of what Splash Star is doing. Which is take the basic formula and start the series over. While maybe making a few changes here and there. Of course sometimes the formula is only slightly changed while other times it's greatly changed.

Guido · 2006-02-15, 12:16

For any Pretty Cure fan out there, then I recommend you all to take a good read from the following Ask John Archive article about Splash Star?

Should fans be worried about Pretty Cure Splash Star?

The topics that I got correct, posted previously by me, that are discussed in the article were:
1. TOEI intends to keep commercially exploitating the Pretty Cure franchise to milk more cash from the cow.

2. The executives came to the decision of changing basic stuff for the content.

3. The series director for the previous Pretty Cure series was replaced with another one for Splash Star.

What I got wrong was that the target's age group segment was switched to an even younger audience. False!

TOEI replaced the characters because at the end of Max Heart both Nagisa and Honoka had become old enough, and the target audience would no longer feel identified with them if was decided that the two should be casted again for Splash Star.

They even chose to change the story's setting to another location in Japan.

2006-02-05, 04:40	Link #1
Quarkboy Translator, Producer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Tokyo, Japan Age: 44	*Pretty Cure SplashStar Well, I'm making this thread to discuss it... But in reality I'm making this thread to vent. Yes, I know there's only been 1 episode, but I don't care, as far as I'm concerned it has 96 episodes to live up to: Spoiler** for pretty cure splash star suckiness: Okay 2 major issues here, the rest pale in comparison: 1. Pretty Cure no longer fights using martial arts. They seem to have energy powers now. Cure bloom can make a spherical shield shell to repel attacks, and cure egret seems to spew blue auras of doom from spinning her hands around. Plus, their new fnishing move is much more "moon healing escalation" than marble screw (i.e. enveloping wave of curing power vs. an actual attack). And to top it all off, the preview and opening hint that Pretty Cure can fly. FLY?! sorry, but in Quarkboy's world, Pretty Cure doesn't fcking fly. Except in the movies. But that's the ONLY EXCEPTION. Dammit. 2. The mascot characters are, if you can believe it, 5 times more annoying than Mepple and Mipple were. For one thing, they end sentences with -ppi. oy vey. For another thing, they speak pigeon japanese compared to M&M, especially Choppy, who speaks like a 3 year old. Other problems: Saki and Mai have no personalities so far. Especially Mai had very little of her character introduced, she simply seems like a normal unremarkable girl. Saki plays softball and likes ice cream, and other than that we don't know much about her... she seems less cynical than Nagisa too. Saki's little sister also was introduced but without any caracterization. There doen't seem to be any family conflict at all, just a bunch of boring happy people. Also no school friends so far besides the umpire and catcher on saki's softball team who had 2 lines each (and they weren't interesting either). Good things: Well, the ending animation was the most blatantly Yuri-hinting thing I've seen in a long time. Holding hands running onthe beach? Sitting back to back under a tree? close up on holding hands again? OU MAI GODDU. Quarkboy (Pretty Cure Czar)'s verdict: I'll give it maybe 2 more episodes to prove my initial observations wrong. But if it continues like this, then the creators have taken everything that was ever any good about Pretty Cure and destroyed it. Japanes kids aren't stupid, they'll recognize crap when it's fed to them. This won't go down well. They've taken a franchize at the top of its game and "reinvented" it into crap. Heads will roll... __________________ Read Light Novels in English at J-Novel Club!* Translator, Producer, Japan Media Export Expert Founder and Owner of J-Novel Club Sam Pinansky

2006-02-07, 06:16	Link #9
Flo The Necessary Evil Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Peeing on Stinku's Grave	Well I got my hands on the RAW and watched it, I have no idea whether I want to laugh or cry. Everything in the episode looks so corny. And now I can't get the OP off my head. supaa supaa supaa supurashi star~ Last edited by Flo; 2006-02-07 at 10:10.

2006-02-12, 13:17	Link #11
Maceart Doremi-fansubs founder Fansubber Join Date: Mar 2004	Yah bring back Ojamajo Doremi!!! But now that the memorial boxsets are released... there seems to be no more hope for anymore Doremi -_-. Well I've yet to see the first ep, but it can't be THAT bad... it's from Toei for gods sake. They pioneered the mahou shoujo genre (or, kept it popular). __________________ AIR 2005! Kanon 2006! CLANNAD 2007-2008! Planetarian OAV/Movie 2010?

2006-02-14, 00:47	Link #17
Guido Snobby Gentleman Join Date: May 2004 Location: Monterrey, México Age: 43	Thanks TOEI for ruining a conscious creative series!!! Ugh... That's how I feel after paying attention to Quarkboy's warning, and yet I went on to watch Pretty Cure Splash Star! It's just flatly one-dimensional, clichéd, and corny to the bone!! Everything that Quarkboy's posted is true regarding the story and the characters. Splash Star is actually a restart of the Pretty Cure Universe but employing this time traditional shoujo elements within a conventional magic-girl context. In a non-technical explanation, Splash Star absurdly employs the use of flashy lights, magical spells, and tear-eyed situations that makes me want to puke. All the aerial martial arts choreography that was the prominent trait in the first Pretty Cure is gone for good and instead replaced with all this splashy, corny magic crap. The opening and ending theme songs sound ludicrously childish and happy-go-bubbly. Those songs tend to remark the corny aspects of magic-girl shows that deal with the power of love and friendship. Yuck!! The OP and ED songs of the first Pretty Cure series felt that they dealt with the action and pre-teenage aspects of the show, that's why they sound so cool to me and have the full versions of the songs in my computer. They don't even introduce the Big Bad of this series right from the very start, unlike Pretty Cure (classic series) that the Dark King was already introduced along with its bunch of baddies. The baddies of this season look tough but likely have scarce brains as only to resort on brute force and power to get their way with Splash Pretty Cure. How I miss Pissard and the others since at least they employed strategy to physically and emotionally traumatize Pretty Cure. The ten clichéd, corny aspects found in Pretty Cure Splash Star that definitely ruin this series. 1. Clichéd plot device about Mai and Saki having met before in the past as children, only to meet again because those plushy pets have them called now as teens. Later having Mai transferred to Saki's school and particularly to Saki's classroom to have them close together. 2. Some characters, for example like Saki's mother and Mai's brother, are recycled characters from previous Pretty Cure series. Saki's mother = Nagisa's mother Mai's brother = Fujimura, Nagisa's sempai who was in love with him. Don't look awfully familiar the faces? 3. The magic spells and energy powers that Splash Pretty Cure uses to fend off against foes. Once again I say, Yuck!! 4. The transform animation sequence is absurdly flashy and the light effects too much corny. For this transformation the two girls are already wearing Pretty Cure clothes, unlike Nagisa and Honoka's transformation that first were naked but bathed in silver color before their Pretty Cure clothes started to materialize. 5. A complete lack of both creativity and imagination from the staff to come up with better monster-of-the-day baddies. The Uzainaa are just recycled Zakenna with the same formula and same modus operandi but given different names. 6. The baddies that are after Choppy and Flappy they look just tough and likely possess this delirium of power. 7. Choppy and Flappy are the most annoying characters ever had the displeasure to listen to. Flappy is more annoying to me due to his tendency to end all phrases with the -iapi sound. I cannot withstanding that and desires so badly to beat my head onto the wall to death, if ever I had to heard -iapi sound. Mepple and Mipple were never annoying. In fact, I never mind their -mipple and -mepple sounds. Porun did quite touched a nerve on me with his baby behavior, but it was occasionally. 8. Using the theme about nature plus mixing with that stereotypical issue about the war of light v.s. darkness theme. C'mon how much overexploitative, clich'ed, and corny can it be? or has been overly used in most magic girl shows? That giant tree that both Mai and Saki are always fond I'm dead certain it has to do with the fountains that Flappy and Choppy are searching for. How predictable can it much be? 9. The baddies treating Splash Pretty Cure as if they were formidable opponents after witnessing transforming and pulling out those magic attacks. All of the dark King's henchmen barely ever treated Nagisa and Honoka as a real menace and mostly they prioritized their own goals rather than taking on Pretty Cure one on one first. The Uzainaa, unlike the Zakenna, are average monster-of-the-day baddies and do the stupidest thing of all and that is they stay in shock when Splash Pretty Cure fires their Ultimate blast and don't move rather receive the blast head on thus being defeated. Not much of an improvement but the Zakenna at least had the common sense to block Pretty Cure's Marvelous Screw, although their defense wears down and eventually are overwhelmed by it. 10. As I said before, Pretty Cure Splash Star is a restart of the Pretty Cure universe that lacks all the traits that made first Pretty Cure so appealing to me. QuarkBoy posted that Japanese kids aren't stupid and know when crap is feed to them, however, that could be true unless TOEI is marketing the series to another age segment. Hypothesis: Why did TOEI bring up all this excessive magic-girl crap and pasted it on Splash Star? The only reason I can come up with was due that the original Pretty Cure series jumped the shark. Their target, mainstream audience probably became fed up with the content and plot material and found it no more appealing or imaginative than when it was first broadcasted. TOEI made a commercial success with the first and second Pretty Cure series, but they wouldn't allow that their Blockbuster hit franchise stop earning ratings and bringing up advertisement for their target audience to continue shopping Pretty Cure products and all paraphernalia related to Pretty Cure. The executives had to find out a way to still continue milking cash from that cow and came with the obvious conclusion: Turn the next Pretty Cure series into a traditional, full-fledged magic girl and target it towards an even younger audience. I believe that for Splash Star TOEI took the decision to target this series toward an even younger audience. A sspectators that couldn't care less about the changes in both plot and characters and being oblivious to them, because they love the series simply for its magic-girl stuff and the girl characters that use that stuff. I think that the first two Pretty Cure series were aimed at a target audience of girls between 7-11 years of age. Splash Star seems that it targets girl spectators between the ages of 4-8 years old. And believe me that small gap among age segments is significant. Another reason why Splash Star imperially sucks is because Daisuke Nishio no longer was appointed to direct this series. He was series director for both Pretty Cure and Max Heart. Previously, he was series director to both DragonBall Z and Air Master, therefore, there's no doubt as to why all the choreographic martial arts and aerial combat featured in the first two Pretty Cure series.

2006-02-05, 07:45	Link #2
Secca nya` Artist Join Date: Feb 2004	Mipuru and Mepuru already sound ridiculous to me since the first time I saw Pretty Cure. Not to mention that the voice behind it is Tomokazu Seki. >_< It gives me the shivers.

2006-02-05, 16:38	Link #3
Lina Inverse SL Aki fanclub president Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Germany	Sounds quite ridiculous... Could you give a link to the official homepage so I could take a look it it?

2006-02-05, 19:45	Link #5
Radiosity Sexy Tornado Artist Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The European Bunion Age: 45	I've mentioned it before (unfortunately in posts lost in the Great Hack), but I'll say it again. If Pretty Cure had the dumb magic crap removed, Mipple and Mepple were roasted on a spit over an open fire, and Zakenna (however it was spelt) was reincarnated as a type of candy (you know, the Gomen stars after it's defeated, those would make for some cool candy ) then Pretty Cure would have been a whole load better. I enjoyed the main characters, and their interactions with each other and the people at home/ school etc., particularly Nagisa's sports scenes. The magical girl stuff totally ruined it for me. I actually skipped all of the transformations, battles (well, ok, I watched the kickass fights until the obligatory marble 'yay same attack for 20 episodes' screw, at which point I skipped it), and all major scenes involving Mepple, Mipple or both. So... I don't think I'm going to be watching this

2006-02-05, 20:20	Link #6
Leo_Otaku Rewrite of the Life Join Date: May 2003 Location: Canada Age: 37	They should of canned this show and brought back Doremi which pwns this series >.< Or made a new shoujo anime completely, I'm so sick of Pretty Cure

2006-02-06, 09:11	Link #8
mintyfresh Altoid Join Date: Aug 2004 Age: 37	I just got through watching the first episode of this, myself. ...Well, just barely, that is.. It's strange, really.. I never really found it that hard to get through an episode of Pretty Cure, no matter how dull, usually. Maybe it's as Quarkboy says -- the characters really aren't that interesting. It was even a stretch for me to care about those two cute fuzzy things as they nearly killed themselves against that male version of Poison Ivy. Also, a lot of the things in this ep seemed a little forced.. though that may just be because I couldn't help but constantly compare it to the first ep of Pretty Cure. For one thing, is it just me, or were the two girls a little underwhelmed at Flappy and Choppy's existence? "Huh, two creatures just fell from the sky. How do you figure that? Oh, and now they're talking -- don't see that everyday.." And indeed, the ending theme seems suspiciously riddled with yuri.. I wonder if they're going to try to win back old fans with a...er, "closer relationship"..? They probably wouldn't do that... somehow, I'm betting Saki develops a crush on Mai's older brother ala Fuji-P (only this time, it's a little less attainable since he's in highschool). Besides, if they were going to do that... it would be such a waste for them to make the jump now..

2006-02-12, 12:12	Link #10
Guido Snobby Gentleman Join Date: May 2004 Location: Monterrey, México Age: 43	One group has stepped in to fansub Splash Star. Mystery Fan Translation Group X They have now released the first episode fansubbed.

2006-02-13, 12:08	Link #12
deathsvengeance Dreams in Fear Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: PA Age: 42	has anyone else had an issue with the sound not working? I tried two different players and have recently updated my codecs.. lol I don't know what's going on?! [edit]nevermind, user error helps when mute is off rofl[/edit]

2006-02-13, 14:03	Link #14
Radiosity Sexy Tornado Artist Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: The European Bunion Age: 45	Choppy sounds more like something a Water spirit would say. Though in actual fact it sounds like something that someone might say if they had just had their brain removed and replaced with cotton wool. Mipple and Mepple were bad enough... shudders at the recollection... but hearing 'flappy' and 'choppy' has just ensured that I never download an episode of this series

2006-02-13, 22:44	Link #15
Oiseau Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2004	Well, I watched the first episode, and I still don't get it -- why REMAKE a series which finished airing ONE YEAR ago? Everything is exactly the same, except everything gets a different name. Mipple and Mepple ? Flappy and Choppy. Black and White ? Bloom and Eg(r/l)et. Marble Screw ? Twin Stream. Gardens of Light/Rainbows ? Gardens of Fountains/Greenery. Dual Aurora Wave ? Dual Spiritual Power. Zakenna ? Uzainaa. Gomen stars ? Arigatô fairies ! I could go on ... and I still think it's just plain weird. Now, if Pretty Cure was a 10-year-old series which they could remake with better animation or something, I would see the point, but in THIS situation, what are they thinking? And will it really be the same plot all over again?

2006-02-14, 07:49	Link #18
Kage no Tori Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006	Hey there, just delurking to say that I actually quite like Splash Star. I feel I kind of had to defend it in the face of so much anger and venom. (quite understandable since the original was so loved.) I guess I don't have as much a problem with it because a. while I enjoyed the original I wasn't that attached to it and b. I'm a sucker for anything and everything mahou shoujo so I would have liked it anyway, pretty much. And yes, it is rather annoying that Saki and Mai are pretty much clones of Honoka and Nagisa. But other than that caveat about a lack of originality, I like it. It's cute and flashy. Give me cute and flashy and magical girls and I'm as happy as a sandgirl. Just wanted to put the other point of view! I think it's easier to accept this series if you think of it as being a seperate entity from the first two series rather than as a direct sequel. I think that if this was brand new and had no connection to the old Pretty Cure it would have been recieved a lot less critically. Anyway I'm enjoying it so far although it is early days yet! oh one or two things I noticed-(persons of a delicate disposition may wish to look away at this point!) 'Pretty Cure Twin Stream Splash' makes me think of urination and then when they do the attack all I can think of is ahem..weewee. It's quite unintentionally hilarious. Perhaps this is just my dirty mind and I am bad. The grateful leaf fairies look like sperm. Cute little green happy grateful sperm. Which is rather sweet actually. And that bit at the end of the OP when Bloom and Egret look surprisedly at the zooming mobile phone thingies? Kawaiii!!! that's my two farthings anyway!

2006-02-15, 12:16	Link #20
Guido Snobby Gentleman Join Date: May 2004 Location: Monterrey, México Age: 43	For any Pretty Cure fan out there, then I recommend you all to take a good read from the following Ask John Archive article about Splash Star? Should fans be worried about Pretty Cure Splash Star? The topics that I got correct, posted previously by me, that are discussed in the article were: 1. TOEI intends to keep commercially exploitating the Pretty Cure franchise to milk more cash from the cow. 2. The executives came to the decision of changing basic stuff for the content. 3. The series director for the previous Pretty Cure series was replaced with another one for Splash Star. What I got wrong was that the target's age group segment was switched to an even younger audience. False! TOEI replaced the characters because at the end of Max Heart both Nagisa and Honoka had become old enough, and the target audience would no longer feel identified with them if was decided that the two should be casted again for Splash Star. They even chose to change the story's setting to another location in Japan.