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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.

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.