Wonderful Precure!

Two years ago I decided to get into Precure via Hirogaru Sky and I’m so glad I did. It’s been one of the most rewarding and beautiful experiences ever for me, quite literally changing my life and opening me up to a part of the anime world I didn’t know about. These shows might be aimed at kids, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t sit down and get a lot out of them. There’s something so beautiful about the simple messages of friendship, learning who you are as an individual and being true to yourself, all lessons we can take into our daily lives. Wanpre ... was more than just a Saturday night fun watch to me. It’s allowed me to connect with friends from all over the world and truly got me hooked on this franchise.

While it may not have had as good a story as Hirogaru sky, the characters and bonds in this season were arguably better. I initially struggled to get with the lack of direct action like the last season and Otonapre, which I also watched recently, had. However, after a while, I really started to appreciate the concept of the girls saving the animals and teaching the audience the importance of respecting wildlife. We share one world with so many different species and it’s important to educate people at a young age about that.

There was never a dull moment with this show. I had a blast watching all the girls develop over the last year and felt like a proud older sibling with where this season ended. So many laughs, tears and smiles, it truly lived up to its name and was a wonderful time. Whether it’s Komugi being stupid and saying the most outlandish things, Yuki being a complete tsundere and pretending to hate everyone even though she’s got the biggest heart, or Mayu playing matchmaker with Iroha and Satoru, I had a smile on my face every Saturday for the past year and I’ll miss this show so much.

The cure designs and transformations were all great, but Lilian and Nyammy particularly had me in a chokehold. Nyammy’s transformation especially was one of the best I’ve ever seen. As usual with any long running Toei series, some episodes looked better than ever. But when they needed to go all out, they definitely did. The biggest fights looked incredible and there were some awe inspiring set pieces. I’m very content with the production quality!

Somehow, Wanpre has been divisive among the fanbase with a lot of people not being able to get into it because of the way the fights are handled this season as well as Komugi being kind of dumb, but you know I think that’s a big part of its charm. It’s an acquired taste and I get it if you don’t like it at the start, but give it a fair shake and I believe you’ll see where this show shines. I certainly did and will miss it a lot.

Wanpre gets a very easy 10 out of 10.

As a grown ass man who's watched all the top anime in myanimelist and whose favorite anime are the ultra violent ones, and has also watched the previous precure series (delicious party and hirogaru sky) I can say this wonderful anime is refreshing. I have a daughter I watch this with. I can say for sure this is the best for a toddler. No hand to hand combat for our main protagonist. They use love and understanding and nice words and they use their brains and teamwork to beat the bad guys. That's perfect. Not everything can be solved by brute force. Although I like ... violence, this anime gives me the balance I need from all the blood and gore. Totally recommend for those looking to just have a great time with their daughters. I particularly like the transformation sequences' animation. The frame rate and quality of animation are great. The songs are catchy. The dance moves are nice. Story is not perfect. Solid 9/10.
Not to mention I can play as the bad guy and my daughter will save the day by loving me. Chefs kiss. 😘

I must say that it was an interesting premise.
 
The fact that they try to calm down the animal rather than fighting them wasn't bad at all, and even though it was dumb at many moments to not make it too easy to recognize them, it still was interesting enough. 
Some of the characters does have a charm and all in all it was easy to follow the show.
 
But, it just falls flat halfway.
I'll try to put it simply: the direction changed halfway.
I do not know if that is the person who changed or if someone tried to make it more for children, but it was ... really easy to feel it the moment it happened.
 
The show became dumber, and it wasn't smart to begin with, so it really felt like a children's show. The kind of those that are killing the child's brain cells.
Consequently, the characters became dumber too killing the charm established until then.
Most of the episodes felt completely like a filler.
It is a Precure, most of the show is fillers and yet, it REALLY felt like a filler. Until then, there was still something in each episode, whether it is that they are getting used to being a Precure or any minor things, but at this moment, there was simply nothing.

The power balance became to naught.
I do understand that when a Precure not ally becomes one of the main group, there is a big power down to put them at the same level, and yet, it was awful in this case.
As it is always the case, a new Precure got added at some point.
She never made it. This last one was almost never on screen and didn't appear most of the time, making you wonder, why did they even bother adding her? Wasn't it better to simply keep things how they were?

Last, even when there was a story, it still felt like a filler.
Amazing work to do: the moment a key person at the enemy side got taken care of, I finally realized that it was actually an impactful moment and not just the usual episode of the week.

As such, it was just disappointing.
I do not know why this shift happened, but it sure didn't do any good. 
They tried to recover it later on but they weren't quite able to. Making Wonderful an overall boring show.