Board Thread:New on Pretty Cure Wiki/@comment-25034020-20181022151836/@comment-37117761-20181024231837

Pikapika200 wrote: ever snce fresh prety cure,every installment of the franchise has had some sort of sixth ranger,even if they are not a cure. but sixth rangers aren't stupid. Smile didn't have a sixth ranger, unless you count Royal Candy. And some people don't count Happiness Charge, because while Cure Fortune didn't join the team until halfway through the show, she was an active solo fighter since the beginning.

And I agree: sixth rangers aren't the problem. The problem is when they steal attention from the first Cures in the long term (it's okay during their character arc, of course, but lay off a bit once they've joined). Even though it's still a good season IMO, HUGtto has this problem; ever since Ruru and Emiru gained focus, Saaya and Homare have lost screentime. It isn't horrible, though.

I do think that it's harder to botch up sixth rangers if there's less Cures overall. It is possible to balance a large cast, but it takes skill.