Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
Recently I went on a binge watch of several anime titles and it's brought up some interesting subjects to discuss.
"Magical Girl Anime is going extinct"
I don't want to agree with this but after seeing the symbol of Precure be given to a pet dog has started adding nails to the coffin. Magical girls these days fall into three categories; copy Madoka Magica, have the entire cast wear whole battle ship parts or be a magical idol show, and with Precure going off the rails, I'm sorry to say that the genre is on life support.
"Anime isn't mature enough"
You want to tell that to him?
Real talk, anime has been willing to tackle subjects that every other medium avoids like the plague, the problem is that the current generation can't handle it, to someone like me, the first episode of Goblin Slayer was tame compared to anything from the forgotten ultra violent era, if anything we've evolved the maturity subject matter to a point that it's covered in a respectable manner as opposed to before when violence, language and sex was thrown in because everyone thought it was more appealing.
"Gundam are out of ideas"
Witch from Mercury definitely takes more from Utena than from Gundam, the issue is that the well has been running dry since Gundam 00, it doesn't help that the demand for Gundam is giving less and less returns, Suletta Mercury being the first female lead isn't exactly competing with Monkey D Luffy for ratings but I did hear positive things about the new Gundam Seed movie so maybe Gundam isn't done yet.
"Romance anime feels cheap"
It's actually getting better, the romance anime I did watch over my binge session over the last four weeks had believable romances, Banished from the Heroes Party was my favourite romance as Red and Rit were legitimately a good couple. Japan is going through a horrible birth rate so having stories of legitimately great romances gives some more credibility to the pursuit of romance, way better than the tsundere era we had grown too used to.
"There will never be another big shonen title"
With Akira Toriyama sadly passing away, the symbol of Shonen anime, it's hard to see if anyone other than the original big three of Naruto, Bleach and One Piece can join Dragonballz as legends. B tier shonen like Fire Force just isn't enough to take the crown, Attack on Titan, Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen will likely fade into obscurity years after they ended, even Naruto and Bleach are struggling to stay relevant.
I've done the cures now time for the series themselves, all 22 will be ranked today.
Precure as a franchise doesn't do bad, at worst it's okay at best it's in my top ten so I rate none of these entries as bad.
22. Wonderful Precure
They really dropped the ball with this one, Precure was built on the foundations of it's cast being able to throw a punch and removing that element doesn't make it a Precure. Doggo Precure or not.
21. Fresh Precure
Precure prides itself on it's influences and likes to pay homage to them, especially if certain staff worked on other shoujo series, however Fresh takes so much that it can't stand as it's own show, the influences are hard to ignore and are distracting not helped by the fact it was released in the genre's stale years.
20. Healin Good Precure
Beautiful setting in a very plain environment. Largely uneventful for Precure and very stale and a very stupid ending.
19.Futari Wa Precure Max Heart
Shiny Luminous wasn't really needed as the duo were plenty strong enough as characters to not need support, too many episodes made this season drag.
18. Yes Precure 5 GoGo
Season fatigue was the problem here, a near 100 episodes of the same team is just too much and never found any real boost from Precure 5.
17. Delicious Party Precure
The plot is back to basics but hardly ground-breaking.
16. Precure Full Bloom
An opportunity to showcase former Yes Precure 5 and Splash Star Precures as adults, great idea that failed to stick the landing, 20 years of Precure and still no adult Precure, at least effort was made.
15. KiraKira Precure A La Mode
This series made the homage so obvious you could almost call it plagiarism but at the very least it's still colourful and the characters although familiar to magical girl veterans were fun.
14. Doki Doki Precure
Contains two of my least favourite precures and one of my least liked villains and possibly worst costumes, but there is some entertainment to be witnessed.
13. Hirogaru Sky Precure
A season that plateaued hard by mid season but ended better than it had any right to, it brought alot to the table but ultimately never hit it's true potential.
12. Tropical Rouge Precure
A laid back offering with not much agency in the plot and utterly dominated by argubly the best Precure ever made.
11. Star Twinkle Precure
The story wrote itself into a corner that they never recovered from but at least it was fun.
10. Suite Precure
It's position after Heartcatch gave it the impossible task of trying to recapture the same glory but I found myself loving the art style along with a certain guitar haired Precure.
9. Precure Splash Star
I can't ignore the fact that the two Precures can easily be mistaken for the original duo but the fighting set a high standard to follow.
8. Yes Precure 5
I've grown to appreciate this season more but again, so many cures that I don't rate highly.
7. Mahou Tsukai Precure
The best duo since the original pair along with the most beautiful Precure. Strong in characters, weak in setting.
6. Go Princess Precure
The most fabulous Precure, no, Magical Girl series ever. Every transformation produces an ever bigger dress, it's pure unapologetic fun.
5. Futari Wa Precure
The first season is showing it's age but there's no denying that without it, the franchise would not reach such heights.
4. Hugtto Precure
Anniversary year aside, this is proof that Precure still has a place in the world, packed full of the most heart warming, emotional scenes Precure has ever had.
3. HappinessCharge Precure
This was when Precure was at it's most creative and deserves more praise than it gets.
2. Smile Precure
The last two I consider the seasons that best represent Precure. Fun, colourful, memorable precures, memorable villains, not afraid to get silly yet deliver an experience worthy of it's name.
1. Heartcatch Precure
Same reasons as Smile only this series is in a different league altogether. Every good quality that the franchise has is showcased here in Heartcatch, this season will never be topped.
I waited an entire year before I decided to review the cast of Hirogaru Precure and I have to say, it's very much improved.
Sora came out the blocks with a massive boost and quickly gained a good arc which later ended in such a good climax.
Mashiro was a good partner for Sora even though she fell into the same category as plenty before her, the more shonen built Sora makes the dynamic much stronger though.
Tsubasa as the first main line male Precure needed more to do but ultimately sat in the generic role of making up numbers.
Ageha had the sass and the personality of the older Senpai of the group but even she had to step aside and keep to a support role.
Ellee is just Cure Ace with a more convoluted backstory, also getting sick of having baby characters in Precure now.
Sora Harewataru - Cure Sky - 8.0/10
Mashiro Nizigaoka - Cure Prism - 7.6/10
Tsubasa Yunagi - Cure Wing - 6.7/10
Ageha Hijiri - Cure Butterfly - 7.4/10
Ellee - Cure Majesty - 5.6/10
Best Dressed Award - Cure Prism
Everyone knows a good transformation when they see one whether it be a makeover, power up or a magical transformation, there are your iconic ones like Sailor Moon but there are others that may not be as well looked at as you might think, got a whopping 25 entries with no restrictions, in no order either.
1. Beyblade G Revolution
Ming Ming is a magical idol of sorts as she's very much younger than the rest of the main cast but when she blades, she shows up in her true age dropping the UwU act.
2. Akazukin Chacha
Chacha is another unique one as not only does she get older everytime she transforms into her princess warrior form but requires rings worn by her two best friends to work.
3. Tenchi Universe
Azaka and Kamidake were often seen as mobile logs that protected Ayeka at all times but Universe gave them prominent forms as Royal Guards more akin to what were used to seeing whenever Tenchi and Ayeka battled, honourable mention to Achika for her battle form.
4. Sailor Moon
We've seen the scouts transform enough times to the point that it has it's own official run time in the Anime Encylopedia, but during the Sailor Moon S movie we were treated to Luna's human form, argubly one of the most beautiful transformations in anime.
5. Kiss Him Not Me
Kae Serinuma throwing a sulking tantrum over a dead anime character stops eating only to emerge as a bishojo attracting every guy in sight.
6. Suite Precure
Precure is no stranger to villain face heel turns but the former feline Cure Beat not only becomes a Precure but loses her cat form in the process, on the bright side she has guitar hair.
7. Wedding Peach
I like how utterly pointless the wedding dresses are in the transformations but they still showcase them every episode anyway.
8. The Incredible Hulk
A rare western example from the 90s cartoon of the Hulk in She-Hulk. Following the blood transfusion, the radiation doesn't make her so much angry but trigger what I can best place as pleasure making her flirty rather than angry.
9. Cinderella Monogatari
The simplest transformation on this list, an extra petticoat, a bow and an elaborate hairdo is enough to see out the royal ball for Cinderella.
10. Pretear
Himeno gets several costumes to wear but come with the added bonus of all her husbandos transforming into her costumes.
11. One Piece
Nico Robin going all giantess demon with Demonio Fleur, utterly terrifying to witness and insanely brutal to watch.
12. Dragonball Super
It's not Ultra Instinct or whatever passes for Gohan's latest Saiyan form it's Trunks' Rage Saiyan form after he snaps fighting Black Goku, his look resembling Broly in the eyes.
13. Mahou Shounen Majorian
We've seen young girls become teens to battle but how about young boys become teen girls, the dynamic here is less the TG transformation and more the dynamic between the duo as their relationship is bullying because the victim is too feminine, the irony.
14. Kiddy Grade
Eclair and Lumiere go through so many forms that it needs it's own entry to explain it.
15. Uta Kata
Here's the Kiddy Grade creator releasing a magical girl show with a different costume designed by a different mangaka every episode.
16. Magical Emi
The green haired magician girl is another girl to teen transformation but with a design that can only exist in the 80s.
17. Card Captor Sakura
The only time Sakura ever went through a transformation was the first time she gave herself wings complete with a dress that Tomoyo didn't design.
18. Hime Otogi Lilpri
Aikatsu and Pripara follow the same theme of costumes on cards but Hime Otogi Lilpri has the element of surprise on their side.
19. Miraculous Ladybug
Our second western entry focusses on Shrinking Violet Goth Girl Juleka who becomes Purple Tigress.
Looking at the pictures, you wouldn't guess it was the same person, well it is the power of clout.
20. Interspecies Reviewers
Our randy Reviewers decide to transform into women to see what sex feels like in their shoes, five star ratings all round.
21. Marchen Awakens Romance
The talking hammer weapon Babbo comes with some extreme forms including a gargoyle, a sexy goth angel and OP Puss in Boots.
22. Kuragehime
I could include any character makeover in this show but Mayaya's is the most dramatic, goes to show what the promise of capsule toys means to an Otaku.
23. Tokyo Mew Mew
The best choreographed transformation sequences in all of anime.
24. Star Twinkle Precure
They sing their transformation sequence, why didn't anyone else think of that?
25. Ranma 1/2
Will need it's own entry really, girl Ranma you always wonder who's really in control of the body, Ranma or the cursed drowned girl.
Surprised to get this far with this series but here we are.
"Anime is better when written by women"
Women have an excellent track record of anime, a lot of that stems from the fact that a woman did the likes of Demon Slayer and Full Metal Alchemist but its fairly balanced in the creator category between the genders.
"Deku is one of the most boring protagonists in shonen anime"
Why doesn't anyone love me?
Real talk, no main character in any long running franchise starts off as the best character or even the most interesting, it's only after their series ends where the audience judges whether or not they were a good character based on how their journey progresses and ends, Deku will get his chance.
"Healin Good Precure handles the shock value more than Madoka Magica could and has a great message about saying no to those who hurt you"
Healin Good Precure was boring, had no shock value, it's ending actually insulted the audience and it's message was saying no to anyone wanting to mess with your body.
Madoka Magica had a magical girl lose her head to a low level enemy quite close to the beginning, that's shocking.
Honestly this hot take was poorly written.
"G Gundam is better than Gundam Wing"
Comparing G Gundam and Gundam Wing is like comparing night and day, they are so different that you forget that they are both Gundam series, both had a hand in reviving the franchise, G Gundam's outlandish designs and ridiculousness revived the franchise from going bankrupt while Gundam Wing finally broke the western market that it's older series couldn't achieve, it's a fascinating story and I hope to write it someday, I don't judge one as better than the other, but I will say that G Gundam got the better dub.
"Zoids deserves a reboot"
I love Zoids Chaotic Century, New Century was okay, everything else was terrible, it's a franchise that is done. I'll tell you what it does need, to be re-releashed on streaming with a new dub.
