The second episode of Futari wa Precure aired on February 8, 2004. The script was written by Ryo Kawasaki, who also wrote the previous episode, and it was directed by Yasuo Yamayoshi, who has extensive directoral credits on a variety of other series including, but not limited to, Kinnikuman, Mazinger Z, Marmalade Boy, and Ojamajo Doremi. Having a different director than the prior episode probably explains why I found it to have its own distinct style compared to its immediate predecessor – and one really worth looking at. Let’s dive right in!
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First Look at the Legends: Futari wa Pretty Cure Episode 1
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.
DANZEN! A Look at the Opening and Theme Song of Futari wa Pretty Cure
Your best! My best!
生きてるんだから 失敗なんてメじゃない!
Your best! My best!
Because we’re alive, failure’s not really a big deal after all!
DANZEN! Futari wa Pretty Cure – That’s Right! The Two of Us Are Pretty Cure – is the theme song to (predictably enough) Futari wa Pretty Cure and in many ways has become emblematic of the franchise as a whole. It was heavily present throughout the recent Precure 15th anniversary celebrations, both in television commercials and in the show proper. A remixed version played during the credits of the 2018 film HUGtto! Pretty Cure♡Futari wa Pretty Cure: All Stars Memories. A single of the Max Heart version of the song charted at #60 on the Oricon Singles Chart. It has appeared as a playable song in the game Donkey Konga, and has been parodied or referenced in countless other anime.
For example, episode six of Kyoto Animation’s Lucky Star:
The visuals of the opening are arguably just as iconic, featuring the first appearance of a Cure leaping out of smoke and debris – which would become the Precure series’ very own Akira bike scene.
Who is behind these moments? Who defined Precure from the start?
Let’s take a closer look, starting with the music.
Continue reading DANZEN! A Look at the Opening and Theme Song of Futari wa Pretty Cure
Pretty Cure: Origins
Toei Animation has been making magical girl anime since Sally the Witch in 1966 – and TV Asahi (previously known as Nihon Educational Television, or NET) has been airing these shows for just as long. Sally the Witch, for the uninitiated, is largely considered the first animated magical girl series. (Himitsu no Akko-chan preceded it as a manga first serialized in 1962, but it would not be adapted into an anime until 1969. Yes, Toei did that one too.)
Inextricably linked, Toei and TV Asahi have brought the world far too many magical girl shows to recount here, although some of the more popular ones include Cutie Honey, Sailor Moon, and Ojamajo Doremi. By the time the 21st century hit, Toei was no stranger to the world of mahou shoujo and its sister concepts. Witches from another world? Androids? A team of Super Sentai-esque magical warriors? Together, Toei and TV Asahi had been there and done that.
So they were looking for something a little different for 2004. Ojamajo Doremi had been highly successful in the 8:30am Sunday time slot, so perhaps returning to magical girls after the then-currently airing (and underperforming) historical romance Ashita no Nadja would be a decent idea. This new series would be directed by Daisuke Nishio of Dragon Ball Z fame, and feature characters designed by Akira Inagami. Notably, this would be Inagami’s first shot at character design – his background includes key animation in Dragon Ball Z and directing some episodes of Ojamajo Doremi.
Takashi Washio was chosen to produce this new series. He had no prior experience working on a girls’ series, as the biggest credit to his name up to this point was assistant director on One Piece. Washio is the one credited for coming up with the first seeds of Toei’s new show. There was no real difference between the way girls and boys acted when they were very young, he noticed. Both girls and boys want to save the world. Both girls and boys like action. Transforming heroines had been very popular in the past, but why not throw in something more? In his notes for laying the groundwork of the series, Washio said one of his most popular and oft-quoted lines: “｢女の子だって暴れたい｣” – “Even girls want to rampage.”
With that idea in mind, Pretty Cure was born.
