[Malintex_Terek]

When starting PreCure, you have to understand what the franchise is about.

It's schoolgirl drama + Dragonball Z style fights, with a magical backdrop. The main course of the show is the shoujo drama, so in that regard HeartCatch PreCure, Futari wa PreCure and Yes PreCure 5 are the best. HCPC and FWPC double by integrating the magical stuff with the drama, while in Yes 5 (outside of the mascots) the conflicts were mostly independent of the drama.

Fresh is under-rated, IMV...a lot of people called it bad, but it was very different from everything before HCPC, and is a solid show, albeit not on the godly level of Yes and HCPC. Maybe even with FWPC when FWPC's second season + Max Heart is taken into account.

Smile and Suite are bad, Suite because of storytelling problems and Smile because of an utter lack of story at all. There's a handful of good Smile episodes, like the recent character-focused ones, but we have to remember every episode in Yes was like that. Take away the shoujo drama, and Smile just becomes another moe show. It might be a good moe show, but that doesn't make it a good PreCure.

I love Smile's characters, although they're louder stereotypes than Yes 5's cast, but I can't wait to get away from this anime. The lack of any continuous drama/development isn't a good trade-off for the otaku shout-outs, occasional humour and moe. When I look back at HCPC and season 1 of FWPC, I remember an endearing anime. When I look back at Smile, I think of something I just watched to burn time.