After the 24th episode, we can start talking about the halfway point in Pretty Cure series. Many have clear delineations at this point. Smile Precure was simple case of round one/round two against the minions of Emperor Pierrot. Mahoutsukai Precure switched up the opposition from the practitioners of dark magic to mugic-users. Star Twinkle had the girls stop collecting the twelve pens of the Zodiac princesses and go after that Twinkle Imagination. Other good series have no real parting of the series' plotline at midway point. Heartcatch Precure had just gained Cure Sunshine and then waited another ten to snag Cure Moonlight. Kirakira Pretty Cure meandered their way toward a confrontation between the light and dark forces of what they called ‘sweetness.’
What does this do with Healin' Good Precure?
We have an odd situation thanks to the coronavirus. At my count, at the end of January 42-44 episodes will have been aired, a matter which becomes serious if you are committed to a normal 48-episode season. By this time Cure Grace will introduce the new Precure leader of a team yet to be revealed. Now, how to do this?
Healin' Good Precure's strength is its ecological theme, a throwback to the Pretty Cure Splash Star team of 2006-2007. Its first half seems to be fixated on the procurement of Elemental Bottles of water, wind, flora, and other enviro-facets. Where it continues (and how many episodes to commit to it) is still in the writers' hands.
Let’s introduce the team: Cure Grace (Nodoka Hanadera) is a convalescent girl who is adjusting to her frail but healthy frame. She is the Pretty Cure of the floral powers. Nodoka is quite the contrast to Cure Fontaine (Chiyu Sawaizumi), a slender and graceful high jumper for her school's track/field team. She commands the element of water. Cure Sparkle (Hinata Hiramitsu) is a social butterfly, friendly and out-going, though susceptible to doubts about her abilities as a Pretty Cure. Light is her thing. They are combatting the forces of the Byo-gens, germ-esque villains who infect the environment by seizing the miniscule element they attack. Healin’ Good Precure is aided by their fairy doctors Rabirin, Pegitan, and Nyatoran, and through them the girls employ the powers of Cure Touch and save the day for Nodoka's puppy Rate (she began the season as Latte, a doggie-name which makes more sense). It is Rate who is the link to the realm who has been fighting the Byo-gens, and their efforts to stop the enviro-menace now extends the battle to Japan. Latte has been sent to our realm to escape the disease-bearing marauders.
As always, the teamwork of the Precure ensures victory, but with a pattern of this backsliding effect where the Byo-gens increase their strength, and the trio of girls are in a dither how to ever continue to match the onslaught of eco-disease. Enter the picture Cure Earth (Asumi Fuurin), a magical girl from the realm the Healing Gardens, the world Latte has escaped. At this point, Cure Earth does the bashing and smashing, the three others getting the chance to mop up and do the healing. This has been the standard fare and has the character of getting old quick. This is why I note the halfway point of Precuria story lines. The twist in plot (Suite Precure), the introduction of new foes (Mahoutsukai Precure), the changing up of the over-all mission (Star Twinkle Precure) are the spicings which have made several series remarkable. It is just a matter of the time element. But note, HGP has the disadvantage of lost time never to be regained (unless Toei Animation has a plotline to cover this). By January, some sense of closure must be on the horizon. Will there be an overlap with the new series? Shared adventures?
All I know that this will not be a rush job. Precure stories do not tend to spill out. They play out.
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The final episode shook me for two reasons: 1) Episode 45 was like the moral to the story, a thought that the enemy is US! Throughout the whole series, you met a ton of people whom you'd not even consider as bad as a litterbug, but it was the three girls of the Pretty Cures of this world (Grace, Fontaine, and Sparkle) who introduce a Byo-gen into the Healing Gardens. Their fault, their bad, their mess to clean up. This leads to reason 2) the blurring of the lines between purification and elimination. In previous Precure seasons, you had a chance of seeing the 'generals' somehow reformed. You saw this in HeartCatch, Suite, Smile, Happiness Charge. Even the boss of Nightmare Inc. walked free in the Yes! Precure Five GoGo a better man for being knocked about by Cure Dream et. al. But in Healin' Good, the healing animals consider the need for 'purifying' the humans.
HARSH!
But give it the HGPC. They stayed rock-firm steady to their theme, a strong environmental message for us all.
Screenshots
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