r/precure • u/Dr_Encephalon • 3h ago
Star Detective Pretty Cure! My honest feelings towards Star Detective (Meitantei) Precure
I don't know if any of you feel the same way as I do, and it's fine if you don't, but I really, REALLY can't get into Star Detective, and I don't get its appeal. I thought it was even less engaging than the past seasons, both in terms of the story and especially the characters.
For starters, I really don't like its main characters, Anna and Mikuru. I thought the two have no personality whatsoever and are quite similar to one another, and even after 25 episodes, I still don't know who they are, what Anna's or Mikuru's personal life and interests are like, where Anna's father is and why she never said anything about him, why Mikuru wants to be a detective and how she knows about Precures. I was so appalled by the first episode; literally, it sped up the character introductions and immediately jumped into the mystery part without giving me any reason to care about those two.
I also don't get what's cool about Luluka; she has a cute design, but I thought she was one-note and her deadpan voice kind of irritates me. Because of that, I couldn't care about the mystery behind why she works under Usonoir and her relationship with Eclair. I thought the reveal was predictable and the mystery itself was pointless (I also didn't like the reveal of who Eclair is).
Jet-Senpai and Mashutan were okay, and so were the villains who left a stronger impression on me than the Cures. Pochitan was a little annoying, though, but not as much as the two so-called leads.
I also thought the mystery part was super boring; aside from the unengaging leads, I thought the show relies too much on delaying the information without building up to it early on, which makes the experience so annoying, especially when the reveal ends up being underwhelming like the Cure Eclair arc. I also wonder if the time-travel element or the similarity between Mikuru and Anna's mother (and Anna strangely never noticing) is necessary; will that be relevant later on, or wouldn't there be any difference if there's no time travel and Mikuru's design was different?
On a more personal note, I'm not the biggest fan of the designs (from the 100 Girlfriend anime designer, no less); they don't look awful by any means, but they look to me kind of bland and a bit too babyish for my liking, if you know what I mean, and these default red cheeks on each girl look super distracting to me.
EDIT: I forgot to say that the premise of this season is more or less similar to Maho Girls, Star Twinkle (the first two are from the same writer), Tropical Rogue, and especially Hirogaru Sky (a girl mets another one from a different setting, and their relationship becomes one of the main focus of the story, and there's a baby fairy they're taking care of), i don't know if anyone else noticed that, but i did.
Again, these are just my opinion, but I want to know if there's anyone else who might agree with me on some point.
