Thread:CureHibiki/@comment-386913-20171124112329/@comment-386913-20180128130509

My problem with Futari's second half is two-fold: Pollun...and the Dark Seeds really never amounting to anything. Nagisa and Honoka are still good (Nagisa gets way worse in Max Heart because she really doesn't change...at all..) and it built up the sub-cast so well that you can ignore the weaknesses (I'd kill to see another season with characters like Shiho, Rina, Yuriko, Natsuko/Kyoko, the teacher, the principal/VP, Nagisa's brother, Honoka's granny...I'd say Akane but at least she's one of the few bright spots of Max Heart's early developments...it's amazing that when you don't have as many Cures or a world that's way simpler, you can focus and develop everyone else and make them as endearing! Sure the other seasons do it too and it isn't going to be like Sailor Moon (who basically ignored anyone who isn't a Sailor Senshi and we got too many filler characters at some points in the anime) but Futari/Max Heart actually did something and made their world feel like it came alive so well.  I think the seasons that came closest to Futari in this were Splash Star (due to a similar situation obviously) and maybe Fresh and/or Heartcatch. (though Dokidoki has honorable mention for a couple standouts that aren't Cures)

But yeah, the main problems in the second half remain Pollun and the villains. Pollun's obvious: he's annoying, a cheap power-up meant to basically obscure Wisdom (because who wants a weird stationary humanoid to protect the powers of the crystals when you can have a saccharine cute fairy...makes me happy Wisdom's VA later played Tarte I admit) and an utter brat. He has his purposes but it felt like the second-half was overpushing to make Pollun that important. The Dark Seeds...feel like wasted potential though. There is nothing wrong with them in that they're a failsafe to allow for the Dark/Evil King to return and it is interesting they start "gaining independence" near the end so they don't want to be part of him anymore, but it really is just a false lead leading to their reabsorption. Likewise, the battles just get monotonous with them (it's not as terrible as the Guardians next season in the second half...oh the nightmares of that phase of Max Heart with those four)...plus you have weird stuff like the first guy appearing to have this entire life as an office worker prior to reawakening (which is literally a half-episode after he first "emerges) and the one who appeared to be a doctor! The only one I sort of didn't mind was Regine, mostly cause I did like she had contrast between her human and monster forms.

We've had a few dark-skin villainesses in the franchise before (Ms. Shitataare, Sasolina), but I do think a Jamaican/Haitian themed one would be neat...or just more dark-skin/ethnically diverse characters in general. I'm just happy Sentai's finally having an African mentor myself this season coming up, it shows greater diversity in the world and not just everything being so Japan-centric.

Yeah, I hated that Mothers Day episode. It furthers along why Megumi is a terrible lead and it sort of shows to me that Hime is a lot more emotionally mature than she lets on. She knows her mother was captured by the enemy and has come to terms with it. Thus her feeling when Mother's Day comes along isn't to mourn but to celebrate by making her mom's favorite sweet by herself...and eating it; that is a mature and smart thing to do and at least shows that Hime cares about her mother. It's her over-genki teammate who comes up with the dumb "let's give them to your mom trapped in a mirror despite how dangerous it is and the fact no one will eat them and they'll get moldy and stale when she finally is out of the mirror" idea. I'm not saying make an episode as emotional as the Smile Father's Day episode with Yayoi's daddy, but at least let Hime celebrate in her own way and cope with the idea her mom isn't around and is trapped for a while instead of pulling this stuff.

Eh, I'm not a fan of Infinity either; I just like Moebius and his final plan. Seriously, a magical girl series with a living supercomputer created by the ones now enslaved by it is just a brilliant idea for a final villain...even if the idea of a fairy being a memory chip is ludicrous and somewhat dumb.