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Happiness Charge Precure is, in honesty, a season that I was hesitant about heading into, given that a lot of Precure seasons I watch are less than stellar, and that this season doesn't seem to have the best reputation among fans. However, I was completely and utterly surprised by what awaited me in this season. On the surface, this season shares a lot of similarities to other seasons, but these are only surface-level, and Megumi and the other girls are not only one of the most interesting and developed casts of characters, but likeable. Megumi is, in my opinion, one of the most ambitiously written ... pink Cures right up there with Tsubomi, a considerably difficult bar to pass, and a lot of this has to do with the season's central theme of love, and how each of the four girls embodies an integral aspect of that, which is what makes the series as strong as it is. Megumi, Hime, Yuuko, and Iona are all great characters standalone, with Megumi's incredibly vast love and acceptance making her far and away one of the most empathetic and rewarding lead Cures to watch I have yet seen. The reason for this is mainly because of how well they handle her character: unlike most prior leads, Megumi is not only energetic, but passionate to a fault and overzealous in the degree in which she wants to spread her love to everyone; Hime has a beautiful contrast as Megumi's informal "pair", because her arc is completely different. Hime's primary arc is built around guilt, and the way they handle that as she takes accountability for what happened is truly beautiful and enhances her as a character. Yuuko's love for food, while seemingly shallow, has surprisingly deep roots, and Iona has some of the best growth of any character, even if it wasn't shown in the most consistent manner. My review of the Doll Kingdom movie covers in more detail how Megumi in particular differentiates herself from other past leads.

One of the best and most well-depicted themes across the seasons, this season heavily embodies love, especially romantic love among others, and how even pure love can lead to misfortune, grief, and hatred, a direct antithesis to the beliefs the girls embody. While this may have been attempted in past seasons, it has never been as direct and outright as it is here, which is excellent: what this means is that by playing it straight, emotional investment in the series becomes immediately apparent, which is beneficial to the themes of the Phantom Empire. The series also has an extremely strong sense of world-building, arguably the best in any series, as the lore has several Cures in international locations fighting the Phantom Empire, showing not only the extent of their reach (and by extension, the reach of grief, hatred and envy), but that other Cures exist and actively fight. This is directly relevant because it reinforces two characters' prior Cure statuses. The International Cures also play a significant role throughout.

I think one of the aspects that best embodies why this season works, however, is due to the fact that there is such strong emotional investment and the simplicity of the basic concept of their love, that it is quite easy to find them empathetic, and thus, to become more easily invested. This also includes the generals of the season, who slowly have their origins and even ultimate fates hinted at throughout. Phantom is an exception to this, and to say he is an anomaly of a character is an understatement, going from one of the most intimidating threats capable of near-defeat outright of the Cures on several occasions, to having a very unique interaction with another Cure. One of the only aspects of the series I thought were underdeveloped, were Blue, Seiji, and the primary villain.

Blue, despite being a god of the Earth in name, does very little VISIBLY in the series, aside from distribute crystals of love to actually live up to what his title would suggest; rather, much more often, it seems that his presence in the series is moreso tied to his relation to Mirage as a character than it is that he is actually necessary. The way the girls refer to him as "God" also has concerning religious connotations as well as indications of power imbalance. Seiji, however, faces a quite different issue: that, while, Seiji as a character is perfectly serviceable to the plot as an "unofficial" male Cure, and rather contributes handily to some fights. The sad truth is that Seiji is heavily underutilized as a character and often has a minor role or is outright missing from more than a handful of plot-relevant episodes, to the point that this is even called out during the season itself by the characters. Despite these minor grievances, this is without question, one of the most rewarding seasons to watch in the Precure franchise, with plenty of plot twists to keep sharper viewers engaged and excellent follow-ups on the overall lore. I cannot recommend this season any more heavily, as its ideas are wholly original and uplift the overall quality of the season as it progresses. Please watch this. 10/10.

Precure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien no Tomodachi was a movie I was very much looking forward to, and when I exited, my expectations were VERY different from the reality I was expecting. Even though I would normally preface this by saying that they re-used this plot somewhat from one of the older All Stars films, which also primary revolved around a fairy with a redemption arc, I am not going to mention that here, because I believe this movie should be judged on its own merits, and was found not just profoundly lacking, but completely inexcusable on several fronts, all of which have ... a massive role in making this film far less enjoyable than it should be.

One of the primary issues for the movie is on the focus of which Precure teams are prominently in the movie, and I say "prominently" very lightly, because that prominent team boils down to exactly one: DokiDoki Precure. I've already covered why I didn't like DokiDoki in my own review of the season and won't re-hash it much, but needless to say, this was the one singular movie I was hoping wouldn't be completely focusing on them, and even if it did, I was very much regretting the potential re-appearance of the infamous "Mana bias" that plagued the actual DokiDoki season, which you can read more about in my review of that season to learn more. Needless to say, both unfortunately rang true throughout the movie; not only did most of the DokiDoki Cures bar Mana have little to no role, but Happiness Charge Precure, the team the movie's season is allegedly based on, had a staggeringly small and inexcusable excuse for a season debut.

Why is this, you ask? Because while Megumi and Hime were in the film and prominent, Iona was completely and utterly lacking in presence, and was not even mentioned, which is particularly egregious because she was in the FIRST EPISODE of Happiness Charge Precure. By contrast, Yuuko was not revealed as a Cure until episode 9. And yet somehow, Yuuko is not only the Cure featured, but she is STILL even by that standard hardly featured at all, having mere moments of screentime and only about one speaking line, perhaps two, in the entire movie. The other Cures are seen, but only in small roles aside from the battle, which is the antithesis of what a movie with Precure literally in the title should be and what All Stars are meant to be. Equally infuriating is the fact that despite international Precure being an established presence in Happiness Charge, they get not so much as a name or reference at any point despite being extremely prominent in the season proper.

Even giving the movie the benefit of the doubt and assuming it was meant to focus on fairies and not Cures, we can examine it on that front. So, how did it do there? Well, equally awful would be an understatement, and atrocious would be better. Gurrel and Enen seem to be intended to play a major role, but felt more like background presences than anything. Their connection to Yumeta is also unsurprisingly shallow, because the characters only interacted in a few scenes despite the movie's entire moral being framed completely on their relationship and their status as friends. Yumeta himself does not help the movie's issues: a fairy who does nothing but cry, act defenseless, and barely even ATTEMPT to make an effort, let alone one who can't even pretend to be bothered to care for the people who supposedly think of him as their close friends, will not make for a good or easily redeemable character, which is an issue with fairies I've held as far back as Futari Wa Precure's season.

However, Maamu somehow manages to be far, far worse if that's even possible. Her character redemption is given absolutely nowhere near the weight it needs to counterbalance the atrocious, despicable and inhumane, sadistic acts (targeting children with monsters, attacking Precure with monsters, forcibly trapping children in dreams, likely even manipulating Yumeta) she inflicted on the vast majority of the cast throughout the entirety of the film. If Maamu was the first fairy to actually be a villain, I would not be surprised, and would find this an arguably better twist than the one we got in the film. One of the few positive the film did was managing to bring back all of the Cures and showcase exactly what type of dreams they had as well as their unique and rather dynamic fighting styles, but even this is the absolute bare minimum for a series like All Stars, even considering the massive cast size. I had very high hopes for this film to be good, and only wish my expectations may have been lived up to slightly higher, especially given that I hold Happiness Charge itself in such high regard and the Doll Kingdom movie was truly exceptional. I really cannot recommend this movie at all, despite my wishes the contrary could be true. 2/10.

Nichijou - My Ordinary Life Episode 0 is a prequel to Nichijou I assume, as I watched this first. That said, if it is, it's one of the greatest possible slice of life-comedy anime intros I may have ever seen, because it offers so much in such a little timeframe. In just this one episode alone, you get a great perception of the type of character Yukko will become, as well as meet a rather unusual scientist, a talking cat, and her possibly clockwork-inspired guardian Nano. One of the things this episode did best was in its use of comedic timing and giving each part ... of the episode room to breathe and develop. You truly get a sense for who everyone can become in the main series here, and a lot of these gags are incredibly set up. The opening in particular, gives development to both Mio and Yukko, and the jokes with Sakamoto, the talking cat, quickly established that this trio of characters, even if they aren't connected to the main duo directly yet, are entertaining, with enough good dynamics to bounce off each other.

One of the criticisms I would say I had, was that, as it was only one episode, it felt as though there wasn't really enough time to explore the characters in more detail. This isn't a fault toward the episode by any means as I'm sure it's only meant to be a preliminary episode before the cast is assembled, but without proper context, it is a bit unusual seeing things such as an adult woman with a wind-up gear sticking out of her back with nobody acknowledging it, or the episode's unusual fascination with sharks, which suggests it may become a recurring gag. I also would've liked to see more of Mai, as although she is in the last section of the episode, she only has a line or two and doesn't really impact the scene. 9/10!

Shugo Chara-chan! is one of the more interesting sequel/spinoff merchandise out there, and that's not just because it's extremely hard to find (which it is, unfortunately); it's because of the fact that unlike most magical girl spinoff media (for instance, one may think of Nanoha's ViVid), you typically imagine it centered around a human. Shugo Chara-chan! centers its story on the Charas. And while they did have a very large part in the series proper, I think a series built around just them has potential, if nothing else, and this manga side series gestures toward the possibilities laid out within that framing. Most of these ... chapters are built around 4-panel (or 4-koma) jokes or gags, with some occasional elements that make up mini-stories together. Aside from the lack of availability of all of the chapters, these are a mixed bag, but generally fare on the better side.

While it may be tempting to believe that this isn't really worth looking at, the fact of the matter is that the author of this series knew how to place them in interesting and unique situations that one would be hard-pressed to find entertaining or even plausible with the main characters at all. This is due to utilizing the Charas well, such as their various attributes, especially their small size, and the reliance on the uniquely dynamic relationships the Charas have with each other, as well as a few cameos from the Guardians, especially Amu. Outside the greater frame of "the Charas", Ran, Miki, and Su (and occasionally, Dia) alone have enough synergy and friction to make for some pretty entertaining jokes; the only ones that stood out as poor were the repetitive jokes of Su overeating and gaining weight. While not a necessity by any means, if you have a wish to see more of Amu's Charas embarking on adventures where they are free from the constraints of being with Amu all the time, this is a very entertaining way to pass time. 7/10.

Happiness Charge Precure! Movie: Ningyou no Kuni no Ballerina is, in my opinion, one of the definitive must-watch movies of the Precure franchise. While most of the movies in this series are generally held to a very high quality, I particularly like this film because of the heartfelt message and pathos the movie has. These don't only make for a good and compelling story, they give real investment and stakes to a nuanced and well-developed character, without falling into the trap of making things too idealistic to possibly seem feasible enough to happen. Thus, it should come as no surprise that this movie had an ... exceptional presentation, plenty of things for the Cures to do, and outstanding battles.

Tsumugi is one of the most interesting one-off movie characters I've seen in the Precure franchise, in terms of movies. The way her illness is presented is in a way that both has a lot of subtext worth analyzing, specifically her simple and innocuous dream to be a ballerina, and the way the Doll Kingdom is presented to her. Dolls, in general, are a great lens into how to take a child character seriously; not just because they're commonly used, but because how a person characterizes their belongings can tell you about them. Tsumugi envisions herself as the princess of a flourishing kingdom in order to escape her despair, whilst Black Fang only sees people as tools, being brooding and manipulative. The Doll Kingdom's fantastical nature is shown in great detailed, the textured and vibrant landscapes being visual eye candy for much of the film, while Hime also has a strong side-plot with Zeke, as do Yuuko and Iona. The increasing disconcertment Yuuko and Iona have nuances them as characters within the film and adds a layer of much-needed grounding to the actions of those around them, especially their interactions with the dolls.

One of the most important scenes in the movie is with Megumi, which cements my prior perception that she is far different from past pink-coded Pretty Cure. While it is well-known that Megumi is very determined, energetic, and filled with boundless optimism, she always had a very "serious" grounding underneath, which made her seem very level-headed, but also too deep into her own emotions at the same time. This is exemplified in no better a scene than the midpoint of the movie, where Megumi overcommits to helping Tsumugi and realizes that, as it seems, not every person can actually be helped or "saved;" the film makes it clear this isn't from lack of effort, but that some situations are not able to change easily. What's telling is that this actually affects Megumi, who for a very rare moment, has a moment of genuine depression and anguish, reduced to tears. This scene is extremely powerful given the pathos the movie builds, and the way it's framed as a "real" moment and not played safe. The movie also comes full circle with this low at the end with the antithesis of the argument: while it is always possible to feel despair, and even be overwhelmed and enveloped in sorrow, it is always possible to hope, and with hope, can come change. This would be poetic enough on its own, but given that it directly ties into the core theme of the Happiness Charge! Precure season, it elevates what would be an incredible scene into something truly uplifting. This movie is a exemplary example of one that does not just have a great standalone plot, but retroactively improves the rest of the series, which can be described as no less than a true joy to sit through. 10/10.

The rating of Sailor Moon Cosmos will be discussed first, and overall, I believe the two movies are a mixed bag, although they have many exceptional moments that stand out. The primary flaw I have is that while the second season adapts the remainder of the story spectacularly well, the first half has a tendency to drag on and get caught in loops that would not be as bad if the series was told normally. Among these can be seen the fact that the first movie struggles to only focus on two characters being picked off at a time, and additionally struggles to fully flesh ... out characters due to the limited screentime, such as the Starlights and Animamates. There simply isn't enough time in the movie to give everyone the development they deserve, and although this is understandable due to the fact that it is an entire season worth of content being adapted, one would hope for a more streamlined telling of the story. As it is, the entire story, while perfectly serviceable, struggles to fit the formulaic nature of the manga's plot into an hour and a half movie, and things feel cramped. This is not aided by the persistent use of stock footage, especially in attacks and transformations that are repeatedly used in full. Additionally, while both movies are perfectly fine, the first movie has a somewhat jarring tone, occasionally not bothering to fully explain plot points, which makes some scenes incredibly bizarre and feel mismatched in pacing, with a lot of exposition only coming near the end of the movie and the first part of the second half.

The second half of Sailor Moon Cosmos is arguably better, because this half of the corresponding manga focuses solely on worldbuilding and lore surround Shadow Galactica's henchmen, despite a similar occurrence to the first movie with the Outer Senshi in their castles. What this means is that there is much more time to expand on their personalities and battles, with the Sailor Animamates actually being shown with compassionate sides. This is a great development to make the Sailor Animamates and other Shadow Galactica members multi-faceted, especially since one of manga/Crystal Sailor Moon's primary flaws is that a lot of characters can seem fairly one-dimensional, especially given their disposable nature. However, this works in Cosmos' favor in this particular case, because it emphasizes the control Galaxia has over her minions, and the ending forgoes the rather dark and ambiguous conclusion of the manga by instead ending on a positive footnote of lost and regained strength, which reinforces the series ideals. 5/10 for the Cosmos movies together.

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As for the entire Sailor Moon Crystal/Eternal/Cosmos franchise as a whole, the series has always been on uneven footing, although it does follow the standard layout of the original manga quite well. The primary issue appears to be that the series, especially when presented simply as is, is somewhat bare; even accounting for the more unique aspects of the plot such as Pluto's battle in the second season among others, at times the franchise does feel like it struggles to find its own footing, especially earlier on. This is not to say that the series is bad, and it is in fact quite good. However, many moments feel dulled from the impact they may have otherwise had, although the story is overall still solid. One of the best aspects of Crystal is the heavy themes of destiny and fate, which repeatedly work in the series' favor, not only for the girls themselves, but even for tying together plot elements that would otherwise be only seemingly held together tangentially. This works especially well in connecting the seasons core themes to each other, and they also do admirably handling themes of depression and grief, among others. Overall, Sailor Moon Crystal is a worthwhile watch and has its own merits that help it stand out. 7/10.

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 was a very exciting movie that had been anticipated to live up to the hype and great premise presented by its first half, as the first movie was excellent and left a great impression for what's to come in the second half of its season. Although Part 2 had a lot of good going for it, I also felt there were significant improvements it could have made. Starting with the good elements of the movie, Nehelenia's backstory came at a perfect time, fleshing her out as a real threat and opponent to be taken seriously, albeit a sympathetic one. It ... worked really well in contrasting the White Moon Kingdom mentioned earlier throughout the series and gave retroactive depth to both Queen Serenity and Usagi, in her own and Neo-Queen form. The uniting of all ten Sailor Senshi was also a pleasure that more than made up for the Outer Senshi's absence in the previous part, and the Sailor Senshi were all reunited with a greater purpose. On top of all this, the Asteroid Senshi being awakened signaling an internal change in Chibiusa was an excellent footnote, foreshadowing what could become should the series ever progress past its five seasons.

Unfortunately, Sailor Moon Eternal Part 2 also has some significant flaws: primarily, while the Amazoness Quartet's arc is great and gives them a lot of depth as characters and is overall a very interesting backstory, it doesn't get much chance to shine. It only is briefly hinted at early in the movie, and they only return in the aftermath of the final battle, getting to do almost nothing compared to the vast screentime they got in the first part. This is a disappointment, since their arc is especially great with them being the first significant villains to get a redemption arc in the manga-based anime. Additionally, although the arrival of the Outer Senshi is welcome, there is a noticeable amount of screentime in the beginning spent away from the Inner Sailor Senshi, which causes them to feel removed from the plot for a time. In addition to this, Zirconia does not get much depth despite being the face of the Dead Moon Circus in both movies as well as the "boss" of the Dead Moon Circus and Nehelenia's servant. There's never a true explanation on what she really is besides a faint hint, which never comes to fruition before she is killed. Mamoru and Usagi's curse is a good development on paper in that it helps solidify the conflict by adding a better dynamic between them, but the curse stops being relevant in the midst of the movie aside from briefly coming back at the end.

One of the most disappointing elements is how Elysion was portrayed throughout the movie, as a bleak wasteland. While I recognize that this is intentional due to the Dead Moon Circus' takeover, there should have been a way to make it look more visually interesting than dreary grey and black shades. Elysion should have a visual and cultural contrast to the Earth to indicate that they are not exactly the same, although this isn't made possible, as we only see two residents of Elysion besides Helios and a horse, and what we do see of it looks similar to Earth's surface. Another element I will say worked particularly great is the fact that Chibiusa and Hotaru were the ones who showed sympathy and directly requested Sailor Moon heal the Asteroid Senshi, which did well at playing off Chibiusa's innate empathy towards others. Helios is also an interesting character to discuss: although in theory he should be central to the plot, he comes off moreso as simply directing exposition to Mamoru, as he doesn't directly retaliate against the Dead Moon Circus except in helping guide Elysion's power to Earth's surface. Overall, Sailor Moon Eternal's second half isn't one that I'd quite consider bad, but it is notable that the first movie turned out better in my opinion. 5/10.

Sailor Moon Eternal Part 1 is a really well-done adaptation of the original manga. The movie does an amazing job at not only picking up right off the end of the already good Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3, it characterizes the Dead Moon Circus members in an iconic and unforgettable way, giving each of them a unique presence that helps them stand out. The first most notable element is the Amazoness Quartet's presences; they are frequently shown as somewhat of manipulators in their group, albeit playful and mischievous ones, which seems to not be far off from their original incarnations. Each of them has a ... strong performance, while the Amazon Trio are also memorable in their own way. This is especially the case for Hawk's Eye, who seems to come off as the most empathetic and concerned member of the Dead Moon Circus and the most genuine. The series also plays well with the contrast of the girls' hope versus falling into the despair of nightmares, and they play with the idea of reality vs dreams very well with the experiences each girl has with an Amazon Trio member. Or, Xenotime and Zeolite in Minako's case, who are arguably the weakest part of the movie. However, this can be forgiven, as they only serve a minor role in the first place.

The movie also does a great job directly and indirectly giving the girls' backstories more context and relevance: their deepest insecurities are revealed to us and preyed on for the plot, which helps give them all a new sense of empowering strength and helps strengthen their senses of purpose. Chibiusa also gets a great amount of depth in the movie, which helps put into context the elements of her personality seen in prior seasons, such as her insecurities with loneliness, responsibility and inferiority. Mamoru develops similarly with themes of being feeling like a burden and, to an extent, isolation. Pegasus/Helios is a solid character as well, but does not get much to do in the movie besides act as occasional exposition for the plot.
This is a shame as his role is somewhat prominent in the season, yet he does not get to do much, although what he is given is workable. Overall, this movie turned out extremely well, showcasing the best aspects of the series. I also think it works well in the two-part movie form presented rather than in a season, which helps compact the plot and make it more easily digestible, and also more easy to comprehend. Overall, I think this movie was a great way to experience the fourth season of Sailor Moon. 8/10.

Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 is really interesting. In contrast to the previous seasons (which I felt had at least a bit of trouble standing out versus the manga), the third season seems to be where Crystal found its footing, with a lot of plot points and characters feeling especially memorable in this arc. The Outer Senshi are a very cool soft contrast to the Inners, with their beliefs and actions acting somewhat as an inversion of the Inner Senshi. Haruka's development is the best of these, and she's expanded most as a character of the Outers, which gives insight into the unique way the ... series perceives her gender having the strength of both sexes, and being the most forward with the other characters. The other most noteworthy character mentioned is Hotaru, who has solid development across 13 episodes, which is impressive: the subtle yet impactful nuance they give her character as well as the way these events are foreshadowed gives her a lot of depth that ultimately culminate in the season finale, leading to some of the series' most impactful moments thus far.

Usagi and Mamoru's relationship also seems to be a plot point brought up across the season, which can be a bit puzling as the series directly established how strong their relationship would last, although I like the idea of there being insecurity or doubt and playing with the idea of the future being not predetermined. The Witches 5 are really solid, well thought-out characters who act as good contrasts to the Inner Sailor Senshi while also not stalling the plot development. Kaolinite is one of the best villains in the series, with arguably some of the best scenes as well as actually impacting the plot substantially. There are also some very wholesome moments, such as the power of all Sailor Senshi being used together to unlock the Holy Grail's power and the Taioron Crystal contrasting the Silver Crystal (in a sense). This is a fantastic season overall, and very much worth watching for what it brings. 7/10.

Sailor Moon Crystal is a really interesting deviation from the original anime, largely due to it being intentionally made to be faithful from the manga. Sailor Moon has a great story as a whole, with the lore and worldbuilding being some of the strongest appealing factors. Where Crystal differs in this is that it offers a more straightforward, concise telling of the story, which I believe works well for the most part. Crystal has some very well executed scenes, with Usagi and Mamoru's romance being central to the story. A lot of bittersweet tension and emotional moments are also in the series, with some hitting ... quite hard. However, one of the main flaws in my experience, is that the other Sailor Senshi barring Sailor Pluto, have somewhat lacking character development. This could be due to the shortened pace not giving them as much time to develop as characters, and Minako, the alleged leader of the Sailor Senshi, suffers for this, as this never truly takes a central role. Villains in Sailor Moon are also rather unusual, with only a few sticking around more than a handful of episodes and the rest being more akin to cannon fodder.

One of the best aspects of Crystal is the emotional payoff that it can deliver. Although not the most visually refined series and the other Senshi may not have very prominent roles, Chibiusa has some of the best character development in the second half, and Luna in the first, working off their roles as Sailor Moon's mentor and a central part of the Black Moon Clan arc, respectively. Although the series had a marked improvement in the second arc, the first gave more personality to the Shitennou via their backstories relating to the main cast, and even some of the villains have memorable characters. While Sailor Moon Crystal may not be one of the most polished series, it has some unique great storytelling elements that leave a lasting impression. 6/10.