Hi everyone! I don't usually do such posts but because Maho Tsukai Precure has reached a low point for me as the things Toei did for this season make me scratch my head and wonder why the drastic change after the successful Go Princess series?
Even before the finale end, my mind was already cracking and wondered what went wrong with this show and thanks to Internet personality, Masako X who did his own views on Dragonball Super. I came up with Three ways to make Maho Tsukai Precure a more better (or at least decent) show.
All these ideas are my thoughts and suggestions so if you have better ideas than feel free to write down in the comments.
No 1: Make Mirai and Riko to have opposite personalities.
In the original, Mirai was your avenge 14 years old girl who somehow believe in magic thanks to her grandmother. Her character is the typical female lead who is friendly and helpful. But I will rather have Mirai be a non-believer of magic. Hear me out before you start typing in the comments.
I will have Mirai to be an outgoing person like Nagisa who love the outdoor. Her grandmother tell her stories of magic however Mirai take it with a pinch of salt. But when she meet Riko for the first time, she couldn't believe the magic stuff at first. However Mirai is a helpful person and aided Riko when she arrived on Earth. (I will explain my changes about her in a moment)
Let's said Mirai has the Diamond pendant with her all along as a form of good luck charm and when the two girls were being attacked by Batty for the first time, Mirai rushed in head on like Megumi and her courage awaken the Diamond pendant and she became Cure Miracle for the first time. Instead of using magic spells, Cure Miracle will be more of a melee fighter and infuse magic into her physical attacks. It will definitely caught Batty off guard as magicians in general are more defensive and chant spells from far.
Throughout the series, Mirai will be taken to see the Magic world but her attitude is more outgoing. She doesn't really fit in however her fighting style will be a match with any magicians since no one can predict how she battle with melee combat.
For Riko, I will give her a more logical reason to come to Earth. In the original, Riko came to Earth to find the Emerald Linkle to make her a better magician and to be on par with Rizu. That's a very selfish desire which I don't understand why her Diamond pendent will make her worthy to be a Precure.
Let me rewrite her back story: In this version, Riko and Rizu are students in the Magic school. Rizu is an elite who is loved by her peers and teachers. However Riko is not talented and is a laughing stock in school. Maybe Rizu was involved in some magic spell that went wrong (Due to the Dark Magicians tampering it or Riko's fault) that either got her injured, turned evil or even in a coma. Then Riko wanting to save Rizu, heard about the Linkle Emerald that can grant her wish. Riko also learn about how the Legendary Magician Precures are needed to find the Linkle Emerald and her Diamond pendant led her to Earth to meet Mirai.
Riko will be more defensive and cool-headed since she used more magic based attacks. Her character will be similar to her original version in which she tried to use magic to solve her all problems but later realised it make matters worse and Mirai had to teach her that magic is not Omnipotent. Because Mirai is more hot headed, she will butt head with Riko in the initial stages but soon learn they need to work together and later respect each other's character.
No 2: Give the villains (and heroes) more things to do.
For this season, Toei dropped to use human victims as the monster of the week but rather using immaterial objects to become the Yokubal. However this lacked any tension as the girls could easily take out the monsters without any consequences. I know this season is also about finding the Linkle stones unlike Go Princess which is taking people's dreams away.
Maybe the Dark Magicians are looking for people or objects that possess the Linkle stones that is placed secretly in various people which represents the characteristics of the stones like Ruby represents Lifeforce, Passion and Courage or Aquamarine represents Peace, Communication and Empowerment. It will definitely make a more interesting story rather than searching blindly for the various stones.
Make Yamoh or Oruba have their own agenda as they might be seen as weakling in front of the generals but secretly plotting to take over their leaders to prove how superior they are. Oruba did something similar but failed short since he was double crossed by a crafty spider lady and a tough turtle.
Dokuroxy should have a more proactive role since he spent the whole time sitting in his throne and giving non verbal commands through Yamoh. Let the battle between Dokuroxy and the Headmaster be more personal since the Headmaster knew it was Kushi all along before the girls stepped in to help.
For Desumast will be probably the same as Dokuroxy as he doesn't do anything to let the viewers know what his motives was. We could have Dokuroxy reporting to Desumast as a higher up and when Desumast was defeated, he decided to escalate his plans (since he is struck in space) and ordered his generals to aggressively find the Linkle Emerald or some plot device to break him out in space.
No 3: The Supporting Characters and the Environment.
First, Morufun. I will have Morufun to be own by Riko instead of Mirai. Morufun was a gift by Rizu and somehow Rizu was able to send some magic to bring Morufun to life before her "accident" Morufun will have a bossy personality like an older sister but she meant well to Riko.
Instead having Jun, Kei and Emily as the only magic students, I will have a class of different characters for Riko and Mirai to interact. We could have a Female classmate who is the typical Ojou Sama who looked down at Riko and Mirai. The smart but shy student, the occult fanboy or fangirl, the cool and handsome Sempai and so on...
If Mirai is to become a student in the Magic School, the time flow works differently from Earth. For example, a week in the Magic world is only five minutes on Earth. Otherwise it will be hard for Mirai to explain to her parents on how she spent a week in the Magic World in real time.
The headmaster will be more of a lead authority in Magic and he should have a human assistant (Maybe a human Kathy) who can be Mirai and Riko's personal instructor on Magic Combat. The headmaster will still have his cool attitude but when things get tough, he can fight the villains in equal ground. Furthermore, the magic school should have it's own security if it detect any evil forces approaching. (In the original, the villains just come and go to the Magic School like a hotel which is a bad idea)
We could also have Riko struck on Earth for the first half and she resort to using magic for every problems. Mirai will have to come up with a lame excuse every time Riko make a blunder which will deftienly be more interesting. After that, the two girls travel to the Magic World and Mirai become the comic relief as she can't believe the things she saw in the Magic World.
I know there are so many ways to improve this series but unfortunately, the series has ended with a sour taste for me. I know I never mention about Kotoha since that require an amount of rewriting to make her character likable in which I can't think at this time around. Anyone want to try rewriting Kotoha to make her likable?
That's my three ways to make Maho Tsukai Precure a better or at least a decent show to watch. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, just write in the comments and until then, see you in the next post!
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How about more story and less filler episode on the second half ?
ReplyDeletePretty much toei want mahou precure focus on comedy with some complex story but their do bad job on story tellling and progess.
Even the comedy was pretty meh to me..if you want comedy, watch Smile Precure which I always label it the Kamen Rider Den-Oh of Precure. Miyuki and company are probably the most funniest and goofiest team which never failed to make me smile...
DeleteMaho Tsukai Precure was, basically, a Kamen Rider Ghost's ripoff, in terms of pacing. Even if that, I believe it wouldn't solve half of the problems the series has.
DeleteOne thing I wished they did was "spotlight" episodes to advance character development. That's what made "Go! Princess Precure" such a great series. Hopefully, the upcoming "KiraKira Precure A La Mode" will have a number of such "spotlight" episodes.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing, make Kotoha actually grow up? She acts like a kid and like an "adults preference" character. I dont wanna sound rude, but she keeps makeing those cute faces and stuff which really kinda is gross; not to mention the ice dragon scene where she sells cuteness, the ice dragon kinda has a crush on her. Children may see it as awww, but me *isthatpedophile? Srsly, i didnt like her as much, as her personality is different than her ego. Cant go into much detail, but all i want to say is stop making her her sell cute! It shows that she is forced to do it in order to attract unwanted audience!
ReplyDeleteOne thing they can DEFINETLY improve is the with elements! Its a witch season and i dont see they use much magic in battles? Linkle spells dont count as they are the jewel attacks (and reused animation banks), but i have not seen them use much spells in their battle! Thats a put off since i was hoping they would do "Cure Rapapa, Broomstick Arrow!" And whizzz darts the broom and pierce into the monster. I think they coulda have space for improvement and use for spells and their broomsticks (Mofurun did it in the movie, but ahem). There were not even much elements outside battles; wheres the witchy girls cauldron? Spellbook? There are many witch elements you could have put into the series, but no; you decided to went offhill until the series ended.
Improvement for all in all, COMBAT! You can see how lazy they were in every episode; they barely attacked the monster, just threw them into a tree and chant the finisher. LAME. They try to punch the monster but then got accidently slammed back Aaahhhh and then talktalk then use magic. LAMEEEE. They didnt even use much magic spells to aid them; and even if they did, this proved useless when they were blasting all their magic at the fat genie. Did Not Work At All. Lame, as a powerup or additional upgrades, those spells or attacks are useless, why even bother to make jewels as spells in the first place? Even Heartiel Action could freeze and heal. Back to physical combat, there were, in the entire season, at least less than 5% of combat in he season. As a hardcore fan, i was disappointed episode by episode, because the fight scene was so badly choreographed. Im starting to like Hacha more, because altho their story was bad, at least their combat scenes were rich. Maho Girls, you have broken my top rule for liking Precure: Combat. So this means, you are at the last ranking of my Fav Precure Series list, thank you.
All in all, i think there were much more potential for this series to develop, the character designs were nice and the accessories; but the season was a disgrace. If there were improvements to be REALLY made, Id ask Toei to hire a author or two from the Fandom Precure OC Wikia to help write decent stories instead, since most of us have better storylines. And as a Precure Manga artist, i will KEEP in my mind PERMANENTLY to have PHYSICAL COMBAT SCENES in my Precure OC mangas.
This may be an odd thing to say, but I thought the series was a pretty good one. Mind you, there was one thing keeping it from being better than that -- all the Precure stuff!!
ReplyDeleteLet me explain: as an anime about two girls from different worlds trying to find a way to get along, it was fine. The magic even provided an interesting point of contrast; as the inhabitants of the Magic World were constantly amazed at the technology and conveniences of the modern "human" world. And, when the series concentrated on this, it was done pretty well.
But then they had to shoe-horn in all the Precure stuff, and suddenly it all rather falls apart. Traditionally, being Precure is the special (magical) part of the girls' lives. But here... Look, Mirai & Riko had magic brooms to fly, defrosted fruit, made cats talk, etc etc etc. But when they became Precure, they relied on punching and kicking. Say whaaa???
So MGPC is akin to the Tristar Godzilla, which was an okay generic giant monster movie, but was NOT a Godzilla film.
In my opinion, of course. :-)
Well,i like some humor and comedy episode.
ReplyDeleteLike when the girls open magic door and found out headmaster fighting with batty then the girls step back out the door or mofuderella episode.
And technically Mirai and Liko are opposite personalities.
On drama cd the girls was fighting about this and turn out they can't transform,
Mirai displeased that Liko took Serious everything and Liko displease that Mirai too muxh thinking Positive and chilling .
Shame it's not happen on anime.
Another thing that I forgot to mention was a waste of voice talents. You have Horie Yui and Hayami Saori who voiced Riko and Kotoha. Both of them have quite a number of good roles under their belt and can do good or slightly mischievous roles.
ReplyDeleteThe villains cast are made out of Seiyuus who are known of playing really good villains-Yusa Koji voiced Batty is known by Bleach fans as Ichimaru, Kobayashi Yuu voiced Spalda is known for playing crazed female characters like Ayame from Gintama and Sasha from Attack of Titans. Nakata Jouji who voiced Gamets did Kirei from the Fate Series. Even Dokuroxy is voiced by Master Asia himself-Akimoto Yusuke.
Kushi is voiced by Nakamura Yuichi which is a wasted of his voice talent cause I always like his roles either as a leading role or a side character.
Shakince is voiced by Mr Smooth Psychopath, Hayami Sho and here he can't show how crazed he can get. Benigyo is voiced by Forever 17 Inoue Kikuko who can voiced sweet and crazed characters and here she is just playing herself.
Oruba is voiced by Sugiyama Noriaki and he can play evil or anti heroes like Sasuke from Naruto.
If you looked at Go Princess, their cast is quite all right but they get the job done. Maho Tsukai is like Batman: The Killing Joke who has great voice talents but deliver a mediocre season.
I hope oruba comeback on novel like joker.
Deletehe easy get defeat by didn't even have some physical fight with the girls.
I agree mostly only with the second point. For me, the really weak point of MahoTsu were the villains and the fights.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think this is what caused the plot to be weak, too. When you don't have a strong antagonist, there's no conflict, and without conflict the plot rarely advances.
But all in all, I enjoyed this season. More as a "magic users slice of life" show than a magical girls show, but still I liked the setting, I liked the characters (Mirai and Riko, but supporting characters too) and I had fun with each episode.
And then there's the finale: while it's probably the weakest one in terms of fighting, I still loved it. It made me cry so much. Mirai and Riko's separation, of course, but more than that (you KNOW they'll get together again) seeing lifeless Mofurun and slightly-older Mirai trying to cast magic... That really killed me.
So in the end MahoTsu doesn't score really high in my favorite series, yet still leaves DokiDoki at the bottom (sorry, I someone has to be at the bottom and DokiDoki did everything it could to go there).
Let's see what KiraKira brings to us...
By reading this post, I understand why you reach such a low point for this series...
ReplyDeleteI reply it in point form like your post: (I have to divide into three posts because of the word count)
1. They had already made Mirai and Liko different in this series, Mirai is more emotional while Liko is rational. Mirai likes outdoor as you said, only that she is not as sporty as Nagisa (but she is good at sports), but she is still an outgoing person. Your point of Mirai's setting as non-magic believer doesn't work in the whole series because people in general don't believe in magic. If she is the same as others, she can't cause the miracle and become Precure. About her rushing head like Megumi and become Precure, this plot had been used in the past for so many times that it can't interpret the word miracle. If she infuses the magic into the fight, again it is no different from the past Precure, and magic becomes a minor feature. In the past, even though Precure doesn't say that it is magic, but the attacks are magical attack. (You can't say those who use wands, rod and tact are not magical attacks) The only possible change for Mirai side is to create a super nature club with Kana and Mayumi, making them be another Seiji or Yui.
Then Liko, her reason of getting Emerald is not making her be better magician. She just doesn't want to be expelled. I admit it is selfish, but her selfish is actually helping Principal to save the world. Even though she doesn't intend to do it, but it can turn things better. (Unlike Cure Princess) However, this selfish doesn’t affect her to be Precure, because she also has saving friend plot to support her to be Precure. About the setting on Liz and Liko as the reason to get Emerald, there are some conflicts that it doesn't work:
a. the age problem - if Liz and Liko are at the same age or Liz is slightly elder than Liko (but she is still a student)...Liko won't admire her, it will become jealous. Their relationship will be similar to Erika and Momoka, then Liko will think of doing other things than the magician. Looking back to Komachi and Madoka, Erika and Momoka, and Iona and Maria, they are not having the same dream. Even Minami admires her brother at first, she also will go another career path. To make Liko going to the similar path (now she is the same), Liz needs to make Liko interest in being an excellent magician. Otherwise, she is not even interested in Emerald.
b. It is difficult for an elite magician (e.g. Liz now) to go wrong, unless he/she tries prohibited magic like Cushy, but in this case, the result should be dead. (it won't be just a coma. If it is just a coma, Liko doesn't need Emerald). Turning a sibling into evil had been done in HaCha and the result is not good. If you want to go this plot, you must have the proper reason why Liz pursues this kind of magic.
Particularly, Liko represents "magical connection". If she can't get the diamond by magic (in the original version, Magical tree fulfill the criteria), she can't call "Cure Magical". Also, Emerald implies a new Precure, it can't be obtained too soon. If it goes with your setting, Liz can't wait until ep 21.
2. Toei originally use objects to form monster more than using human victims because they try to avoid this big conflict - Precure is hitting the victim. Both HCPC and DDPC had pointed out this. In the series, magic on controlling human is a kind of magical connection, even it is a bad one. If they do that, it cause the conflict to the theme "magical connection is wonderful". You may ask why Deus Mast team doesn't have the intention to control people? It is because the people will become one of them. Their proud is they can smash you with less effort. If they do more things on people, the villain just admits human is very strong. (The villain usually believes that human is a weak creature) Therefore, what the villain should do is to make their planning come true, like what Orba does. There is only one thing they need to do for harming human. It is getting human's spiritual energy. For this series, as I said, once Deus Mast swallows everything, they can get the power easily. That's why they just need to defeat Precure. The writer intends to emphasize Precure is their greatest threat, and they achieve it.
DeleteAnother point which controlling people cannot be done in this series that magician cannot show in the public. If so, the world will be in chaos because of Precure.
Dokuroxy is only interested in Emerald (the top one). Others are not interested. The reason is he cannot move a lot. Yamoh and Batty try not to let him move. His battle with Principal is just standing up. If he is so healthy, he doesn't urge to have Emerald. (although his past desire is the major reason) The stone representation they had already done in the series, before you mention it, only that you didn't notice. Ruby is Passionate, Topaz is exciting, Sapphire is calm. They had done what you said, why it can't interest you?
Deus Mast..it is quite similar to Dune, Pierrot and Red - only reveal his plan in ep 45+, but Deus Mast does better than the other three because Orba, Laboo, Shakince and Benigio are Deus Mast's brain. If you consider them as Deus Mast, the writer had fulfilled what you said about making villains to do more things. Looking back to the past villains, besides make chaos (controlling people is part of it) and defeat Precure, they actually have nothing to do. This time, they are given a mission and execute, what Dokuroxy team and Orba do are more than other villains. The core problem for these villains is no communication with Precure. Dokuroxy still talks a bit with Precure, but Deus Mast team don’t bother to talk to Precure. Yamoh and Gametus (after Ha-chan becomes Felice) go after Kotoha, and Sparda goes after Precure. Perhaps the writer tries to distinguish the expression between dark magic and muhou.
For the fighting, what I suggest is Yokubal should cast more magical attack that Precure have to make use of both physical and magical attack to resist (like ep 49).
As I had seen weaker fight in the previous series, I don’t think the fight in this series is the weakest, but it is true that it needs to be improved.
3. Mofurun cannot go with Liko. If so, Mofurun can just appear as a mascot, or this role can be disappeared because Ha-chan can substitute. Mofurun is here to make Mirai believe in magic. Do you know why girls like to talk to their doll? Because they believe the doll will talk to them one day (the appearance of magic). Girls like to treat their beloved doll as their live partner, but the doll is originally an inanimate object. Also, you can’t see magical people plays with the doll in the series as if they are advanced, they can have a crystal ball partner like Kathy. Your story setting is making something before the accident, then it is planned and no longer a miracle.
DeleteFor the magical school setting, since Mirai cannot be the formal magical school student (she is permitted to learn in the school, but she can’t stay in magical world all the time), those setting you mention should execute in Non Magical World. If a magical people falls in love with Non Magical people, it can fulfill the Double Seven theme. Nevertheless, it will steal Mirai and Liko role. (i.e. Mirai and Liko friendship is no longer the focus.) The smart but shy student is already in the series- he is Yuuto. Although there is no Ojousama-type (this character only applies to very rich girl…but Tsunagi first middle school seems to be a public school), we have the big sister character June here. June, Emily and Kay are not the only students, they are the students who take the retest with Liko.
In fact, June, Emily and Kay are the different characters for Liko and Mirai to interact as you said, only that you don’t like them.
Principal has a human assistant, who is Vice Principal. She did give support to Liko when she is in Non Magical World. What you said he can fight against the villain in equal ground had been done in the series. Principal loses to Dokuroxy, but he can win Batty. After Dokuroxy battle, he needs time to recover, but while he is recovering, he fights against (defend) Deus Mast team again. The school should not be closed with security because it is opened to all kinds of people, including the villain. There is a saying “teaching regardless the race and nationality”. Similarly, Tsunagi middle school doesn’t have any security as well because the school is not meant for defending the enemy. Even the villains can go to the school and attack the people, they only can defend using their magic. If the school is suddenly built up the security barrier, the student will be panic.
If Liko wants to stay in Non magical world, she needs to do something to deal with her life in Magical World. Unless she is assigned by Principal, this step cannot be avoided. If she is assigned officially by Principal, her life is too smooth. (then you will say very boring) For Kotoha, I think her character writing is ok, but it can be improved by having one more growing stage. I don’t think she should stay 14 year-old look when she is the universe guardian.
About the jokes in the series, I think it can’t satisfy us, but it can satisfy the children who like to see chaoic things. (like the children drawing-all over the place) SmPC so-called jokes are either parody or referred to PC5. What SmPC had done can be mostly found in PC5 and DX movies. As for the waste of voice talents, I think they make use of Horie Yui very well that they let MGPC sing the ED songs, which didn’t do in the past. They also have mini dramas in the second Vocal Album. Cushy voiced by Nakamura Yuuichi is not a waste as well. Although his role is not much, his voice can impress us already. (At least you remember him even you can’t remember the series storyline) On the contrary, GPPC has more new seiyuus than this series. If the story can’t arouse your interest, the (new) seiyuus can’t impress you as well.
Generally, I can see your sour taste comes from your adaption to this kind of storytelling. You start reviewing since SmPC and I assume that you didn’t watch the Precure series before that. It may not be the main reason for some old Precure fans, but in your view, the story is the most complicated among all. To me, it is just the second complex. The topic they are talking about is not difficult and they had done before. To watch this series, you have to throw away your concept of past Precure. From SmPC to GPPC, the stories are different but the formulae are similar, even KKPC may go back to this pattern since you and some viewers can’t cope with this kind of storyline. Your three ways of improving this series is just going back to the stories with many plot holes, but it is a good attempt that you try to express your view in this way. (I understand more why you don’t like the series) I write such a long comment doesn’t mean that I discourage you to rewrite the story. (I know I deny almost all of your points) You can try to write as a fanfiction. As an animator, I am trying to tell you that writing a (series) story needs to calculate a lot of things and take more reference from the past Precure series.
DeleteI think Mahopri is okay as it is, although a bit boring. The fight scenes have a lot of room for improvement though. It's crazy how many new toys they add this season and do so little with them. I want to see more action with Topaz form and maybe Diamond.
ReplyDeleteThe characters could also use some flesh to them. At their base, Mirai and Riko are fine, but it feels like there could be more to them. Mirai has her thing with Mofurun (kinda weird in reality but I like it in the story), but that's pretty much the most I got out of her. Riko has her thing with magic and her family. I imagine her character is easily relatable to some children but I feel that the show didn't use her enough.
Haachan is the funniest little shit but she took over the show too uch. She made the whole show feel like a game she was playing. It's sometimes fun but the time could have been used for something besides a teaching moment or whatever for her.
Basically, I want to see Mirai and Riko do their own thing too. Haachan had that one unnecessary transformation episode, and even Mofurun kinda had her thing with Mofuderella.
Finally, first half villains could use a re-work because they are uninteresting and kinda ugly.