Well it's 2011 and I have no new moxies to report. Besides, you're s'posed to keep these things private, aren't you, like birthday wishes?
But perhaps a steady eye on the future with a smattering of realism might be fun.
I'll admit it - often I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but in this particular case I think it may've been an unconsciously imposed disposition. I've known all along that Japanese animation production house Toei reinvent their Pretty Cure anime series every year, and that they'd done so seven times already since 2004.
But me and my five-year-old daughter Cocoa had grown so attached to the current incarnation, HeartCatch PreCure! over the past 40-odd episodes, and it's been so wildly popular here in Japan, that I fooled myself into believing Toei would change the rules this time round and continue the storyline romps of Blossom, Marine, Sunshine, Moonlight, et al.
You might recall that this was, in fact, my choice of anime series of the year for 2010 - something difficult to swallow since it's a shojo girl's show aimed at little kids. Here's an action shot of all-pink Blossom, however, for posterity:
But now, regardless, we've stumbled across the truth: as per usual, Toei will sink the current series and introduce a new one from next month, actually from February 6th.
It's called Suite PreCure♪, or Suīto PuriKyua♪ (スイート プリキュア♪) in Japanese.
Given that this duo, Cure Rhythm and Cure Melody, have powers that revolve around music, you'd think I'd be the first to be won over - but when Cocoa and I first saw their character designs last night and my wife Yoko (less a fan of the whole Pretty Cure thing) asked us what we thought, my daughter and I both let out a cynical "Hmmm..." at the same time.
Quite possibly this will change; the wavering optimist in me hopes so. Cocoa's already today saying how cute Rhythm and Melody's costumes are.
In the meantime we have just four more episodes of HeartCatch PreCure! to say sayonara.
Check out this clip from an episode a couple of weeks back when Blossom's grandma briefly became the all-powerful Cure Flower. Grand stuff indeed!
In the meantime - happy new year!
© ABC・東映アニメーション
No comments:
Post a Comment