The first episode of Futari wa Pretty Cure was directed by Naoyuki Itou. He was no stranger to prior Toei shoujo titles, directing episodes for both Ojamajo Doremi and Ashita no Nadja. By contrast, the script was written by Ryo Kawasaki, who was also in charge of series composition and appears to have very few credits outside of Pretty Cure.

How did they do?

Let’s take a look.

EPISODE SYNOPSIS:

As the first episode in a series, episode one of Futari wa Pretty Cure hits all the right notes when it comes to getting the basics done. The main characters and some of the important side characters are introduced, as is the hook of the series – that the girls are now magical warriors and have to cope with everything that entails.

The (very) condensed version of the plot is as follows:

Before the opening theme we are given a brief introduction to both Nagisa and Honoka and their respective school hobbies – lacrosse and science – and afterwards they have their first couple of tentative discussions with each other.

After school, Nagisa is hit in the head by a creature from another world – which longtime fans will know is a bit of a Precure trope in and of itself.

This creature, Mepple, promptly enlists Nagisa’s help to find his partner, Mipple. Mipple, as it turns out, has been discovered by Honoka lying in an old box in a storage shed. Following the direction of these creatures, Nagisa and Honoka meet up in a theme park right as its closing.

Here is where we meet our first bad guy, who demands that the girls hand Mipple and Mepple over. They refuse, and Mipple and Mepple quickly instruct Nagisa and Honoka how to transform, leading to the first ever Precure transformation scene… and Nagisa’s subsequent confusion.

Although Nagisa and Honoka don’t really know how to approach their newfound power, they do succeed in fighting off the bad guy. Afterwards, Mipple and Mepple tell them that the two are now Pretty Cure and have a new mission to save the Garden of Light.

Honoka is thrilled about this development, and Nagisa less so…

…and scene!

ANALYSIS:

I genuinely have no idea how to objectively approach the first episode to my favorite anime of all time. I feel like no matter what I say, a fair amount of bias is going to shine through. However, I’m going to touch upon some of my favorite bits of the episode, as well as a few things that I noticed upon my latest rewatch:

Rapid Zoom: A rapid zoom effect, usually zooming in but occasionally zooming out, was used multiple times throughout the episode right from the beginning. I somehow had never really noticed before just how many times this effect was used, and I’m interested to see if this is a technique that will continue to be used throughout the series, and, if so, which directors utilize it the most. Here are a couple of examples, although certainly not all of them:

Character Introduction: As the first episode of a new series, it’s expected for the recurring characters to all be introduced, and I feel this initial episode filled the bill very well. Aside from introducing Nagisa and Honoka, their friends and family are given some screen time as well.

The respective personalities of Nagisa and Honoka are established with aplomb. Right from the start we learn that Honoka is a scientist, but also a dreamer – she gently chides Nagisa and friends for assuming that a meteorite is bad omen, points out exactly what they are from scientific standpoint, and then adds that surely something so interesting must actually be a good omen.

This unique mixture of character tropes – the romantic intellect who sees the beauty in the atomic stardust that surrounds her – is one I genuinely love and dearly wish we saw more of in media.

Nagisa, meanwhile, is her own interesting mixture of traditional tropes. She’s spunky and sporty, but also down-to-earth and grounded. She may even have a more natural understanding of logic than the show’s resident science whiz. She sees practicality where Honoka sees something new and exciting, and this occasionally reaches even to the point of pessimism, perhaps demonstrated best by her catchphrase, “arienai!” – “impossible!”/”unbelievable!”

Despite having a somewhat more cautious nature than Honoka, she is more than willing to put herself in danger to protect things worth protecting – even before transforming into Pretty Cure she’s using her lacrosse skills to save Mepple from falling into the wrong hands, and Mepple is a strange creature from another world that she’d only just met minutes before. When I see people online critique Nagisa, they often level criticism at her “selfishness”, but personally I don’t see it. Literally from episode one she’s putting herself in harm’s way to protect others. In fact, jumping in front of Cure White to protect her is one of her very first actions as Cure Black.

The fact that both of these two characters defy stereotypes is perhaps my favorite part of the entire series. Rather than a Kirk-Spock dynamic, where the dashing and rambunctious lead is held back by the stoic and logical straight man, we have a dynamic where our “dashing lead” is actually the more cautious and grounded of the two of them, and it’s the scientist with her head firmly entrenched both in scientific formulae and in the clouds at the same time. Perfection.

Animation: Solid. I didn’t notice any particularly standout bits of sakuga worth highlighting in particular but overall it absolutely established the weighty, physical feel to the characters and their actions. This episode is apparently one of the few in this series that perhaps my favorite animator of all time, Tatsuo Yamada, worked on. Although I didn’t notice any of his signature style this time, I will definitely be highlighting his work in the future, so stay tuned.

WORTH WATCHING?:

While I (obviously) feel that every episode of this season is worth watching, I figure from here on out I’ll point out whether or not a particular episode is worth watching if you have limited time or only want to watch the “Best Of” Futari wa Pretty Cure. Granted, for the first episode it’s a bit of a moot point. Of course you should watch the first episode. It’s, well. The first episode. Frankly I’d watch it even if you aren’t going to watch any of the rest of the series but have a passing interest in magical girls, just so you can get a general grasp of how this famed franchise came to be.

ARIENAI COUNT:

Two, which brings the series wide total to (wait for it): Two.

See you next week!

NEXT TIME: Episode Two

Notes on Versions and Subtitles:

Although an official standard definition version of this season and its accompanying official subtitles are available on Crunchyroll and on Tubi.tv, I’m opting to go for a high definition version of the series and fansubs as provided by Arienai Fansubs. I have watched both versions extensively and aside from the visual quality of the unofficial release to be much improved, I also feel that the fansubs read more fluidly and naturally than the official subs do. That said, as far as I’m concerned, whichever way you wish to watch this series is valid – the choice is personal and up to you. This does mean that if you’re watching the official version some of the dialogue might be slightly different than what appears here, but the gist should be the same.