Kirakira☆Precure a la Mode
Watch Links: Crunchyroll
Synopsis: Girls in a mountainside town transform into magical girls called Precure combat the forces of evil who seek to take the joy out of their peaceful life by stealing the power inside of sweets, these magical girls also exploring their passion for sweets, personal connections, and plans for the future.
Score: 5.6/10
This was actually the first Precure series I ever checked out, back in 2018. I never finished it back then, though, so I was pretty glad I got to watch it with friends to the end this time. Back then, I thought the show was pretty alright. Now that I’ve finished it, well, I hold a pretty similar opinion overall.
Kirakira☆Precure a la Mode, like some other Precure entries I’ve seen, is a mixed bag of mostly middling episodes with a few standouts here and there and a few stinkers in the batch. The peaks aren’t super high here. No episode really stood out as “great”, just some stood out as “good” rather than just “fine”. I do think some elements of the overarching narrative are good as well. Ichika’s development in particular feels especially strong. There’s an underlying theme of finding what you’re passionate about and finding meaning in that, as well as just enjoying yourself, sweets being an expression of enjoyment and a point of connection for people. Ichika’s passion, since she can use sweets to bring happiness to others, gives her a strong connection to this theme. She undergoes a somewhat compelling arc, which led to satisfying closure at the finale. The episodes focused on moving Ichika forward are some of the better ones in this season, coincidentally also being the ones which introduce large plot points, so it helps elevate the season on the whole. This makes Ichika actually a good pick as the main character, as opposed to any of the other 6 main Cures this season.
As for the other Precures, they are similarly a mixed bag. I do think that mileage may vary depending on what kind of character you connect with more, and they purposefully gave a wide range of characters for this season, as opposed to some Precure entries which give a more focused selection of Cures. Personally, I was fond of Yukari, Aoi, and Ciel, while Akira and Himari seldom did much for me. Yukari’s search for identity and finding what she actually enjoys was probably the most compelling character arc in the season, and her character is very fun even in episodes not focused on her specifically. Aoi was my early favorite when I had tried the show years ago. She’s not my favorite now, but I still liked the episodes focused on her and finding her way with music. Ciel I didn’t find as great in the episodes focused on her, but she quickly becomes an entertaining member of the cast, even despite her late introduction, keeping things fresh and fun. Akira has some interesting stuff going on with her character, but the examination of the selfless prince-type character felt somewhat shallow and more ideological than applicable to any real human experience. Maybe I’m just too selfish a person to really connect with someone who lives for everyone but themselves, but her idealism didn’t feel like as big a detriment as the series sometimes made it out to be, and they take it to extremes where it doesn’t feel realistic sometimes, at least higher extremes than pretty much anyone else’s arc. As for Himari, she’s just somewhat forgettable and doesn’t contribute much to most episodes, with pretty underwhelming episodes focused on her. I think she’s more grounded than Akira, with a personality and area of interest I could see others easily connecting with, so I don’t want to dispariage her too much, but she seldom did anything which I found worthwhile. The episode which most piqued my interest which focused on her was also focused on Aoi, and even there it felt like Aoi’s part in it was what made that episode work so well.
In terms of the plot and structure, it’s not too far off from the standard for the Precure series. In fact, I was surprised by how many parallels I could draw between this season and Mahoutsukai Precure, the Precure series entry I talked about on this site already, and the Precure series which was released directly before this season. There are differences, of course, but seasons like HUGtto and Go! Princess felt like they stood out a bit more as compared to this one when it comes to the overall structure of the season and pattern of plot developments.
I will say, I do prefer this season to Mahoutsukai Precure, and this mostly has to do with the antagonists. The antagonists here aren’t stellar or anything, but they’re at the very least decently characterized and given some reason for their actions beyond “we serve the big bad”. Each one has motivation, even if that motivation is at times simply “I’m evil”. It’s not much, but it does help this season stand out a little bit more.
If you like Precure as a franchise, this is another one of those, for the most part. It’s not gonna blow you away, probably, but it should still be a good time if you enjoy this kind of lighthearted monster-of-the-week magical girl show. It’s pretty basic in terms of how it fits that formula, and doesn’t have any particularly exceptional elements which help it stand above its peers really, coming down more to minor things to distinguish it from others in terms of quality. If you’re not interested in this kind of show, this isn’t going to be an exception, probably.
