[Guido]

Unlike the Pretty Cure Splash * Star thread, from this post onward I'll be reviewing three episodes at once so as not to clutter the Fresh Pretty Cure thread with lots of posts done by myself.

Spoiler for Episode 7: Setsuna and Love. The Clover of Friendship!:

This episode formally introduces Eas alterego, Higashi Setsuna, in attempt for her to gain Love/Peach's trust in order to get a better understanding of what makes Pretty Cure happy to become strong enough.

Unfortunately, having spoiled myself first with the other peoples' previous posts at this thread and later having watched the Fresh Pretty Cure film, it is predictable what will become of Setsuna.

And keeping track of all records about antagonists who at first come in contact with the Pretty Cure for later them becoming or turning to the good side we have:

1. Kirlia from Pretty Cure Classic series - that by the end of the first season got reincarnated as a human boy with no memories of Pretty Cure, save that his feelings for Honoka lingered.

2. Kaoru and Michiru Kiryuu from Pretty Cure Splash * Star - that not only turned to the good side but helped Bloom and Egret with the final match against Gohyaan and were resurrected as full-fledged, human girls by life forces of all the spirit fountains. However, unlike Kirlia, they did not lose their memories about Saki and Mai.

Spoiler for Episode 8: Chiffon's in Big Trouble! Peach's New Power!!:

The animation went completely downhill during the Nakewameke fight in this episode; TOEI lagged drastically.

The upside delivered for this episode was the emotional drama Peach delivered when struggling to come back to get the donut as the last ingredient to make a new Cure Vitan to feed Chiffon. In turn, Peach selfless act taught Chiffon to be thankful, to appreciate her well-mean efforts, and not to be selfish at not getting what she needed.

Spoiler for Episode 9: Miki's Dream. I'm Leaving Pretty Cure!!:

This is my personal opinion and feel free to disagree.

Honestly, in every action, magic-girl series that has been and there's to be, I do really hate this kind of episodes when one of the magic-girls earns a chance whether be to become an aspiring model, study abroad to a prestigious school, etc., etc., and at the end she doesn't leave me.

Don't take me wrong. My point of frustration is not that the magic-girl leaves, but those episodes per se are just a waste of time and story when could be invested more to explore the relationships among the characters or continue at building the story.

The only morale those kinds of episodes teach is that bonds amongst friends are strong, and they remain loyal to each other, but that kind of old formula worns out too quickly, becoming conventional and clichéd.

Second, just when I thought this Pretty Cure series was to my liking, TOEI deliberately insulted and handicapped the viewer's intelligence, including mine.

I mean, c'mon, that two Pretty Cures cannot handle a single Nakewameke, even though it's powered-up; in magic-girls, supposedly, evil never gets its way even if the odds are against the heroines.

In HeartCatch Precure, Marine and Blossom are able to handle themselves against the Desertrains fairly before Cure Sunshine stepped in.

Cure Berry not present or any other of the three Cures invoke a magical-drop in the overall fighting capacity of the Pretty Cure team for the Fresh series, and that's what TOEI went with this season.

Frankly, Miki's explanation about that one of them is missing, then Pretty Cure cannot be, meaning no disrespect, is both farfetch'd and bull****, and I'm neither buying nor acknowledge it