Suite Pretty Cure♪ Movie: Torimodose! Kokoro ga Tsunagu Kiseki no Melody♪ - Reviews

NOTE:  This review is not solely on this Pretty Cure movie, but on the Pretty Cure feature movies which appeared usually during the first third of the season.  The reason for this sudden interest in this component of the Pretty Cure franchise comes with the Healin’ Good Pretty Cure movie, Yume no Machi de Kyun! Tto Gogo! Daihenshin!  When released to the world public, it will be the first of its kind to invite a second Precure team into its story.  A weird match of innovative and done before.

The feature movie was a super-magno-glorious original concept piece that was totally disjointed from the goings on in the original series.  Different villains (usually better), different realms (more off-beat than most), and storylines which often displayed greater creativity than one could find spread out through nigh to fifty episodes condensed in a mere 71 minutes (some more, some less, but one hour, eleven minutes seemed to be the standard).  Even series as Dokidoki and Yes! Precure 5 atoned for their lackluster plots in their episodes with a masterful tale spun through their feature movie.

A few oddities about the Pretty Cure feature movie.  Futari wa Pretty Cure never created one in the first year but countered with two in their second, both featuring Shiny Luminous but concentrating on Cures Black and White.  The only series which never created a feature movie … Hugtto!  Even though the best crossover movie, Memories, featured Cure Yell and her team.

I debated presenting a best five feature films from the sixteen already produced.  Hard task, as the superior quality of the feature movie has so many great pieces (I’m not talking about the campy KPCAM Paris to! Onoide no Mille-Feuille.  Some plots are too twisted to be appreciated).  I can only offer the top seven:

7) Dokidoki PC: Mana Kokkon?  Mirai ni Tsunagu Kibou no Dress.  Mana’s grandmother’s wedding dress has a quaint secret which draws a demonic collector of items.  Plus, the boy-clueless Mana dashes into her future to get a glimpse of her own wedding.

6) Star Twinkle PC: Hoshi no Utu ni Omoi wo Komete.  Cures Star and Milky battle to free a space entity which could destroy the world if its powers fall into the hands of evil.

5) Max Heart 2: Friends of the Snow-Laden Sky.  Playing on the theme of diverse personalities in Nagisa and Honoka, bad boys Frezen and Frozen induce Cure Black and Cure White to battle each other to the death.  Doesn’t happen; friendships forged through adversity last.

4) Fresh PC: Omocha no Kani wa Himitsu gu Ippai.  Cure Peach and the gang travel to the Land of Toys to save a tattered doll from the clutches of an ugly action feature on sour steroids to prove no toy is ever totally unappreciated.

3) Smile PC: Ehon no Naka wa Minna Chiguhagu.  The movie that steered me clear of a Glitter Force mentality towards a better understanding of the Precure universe.  Keeping the series theme of the story coming to a happy ending, Cure Happy et. al. straightens out the twisted plotlines of the Land of Storybook.

2) Heartcatch PC: Hana no Miyako de Fashion Show … desu ka?  The fashion-driven Heartcatch team invade Paris to learn the industry and stumble across a boy werewolf and his master who is out to inflict heavy damage on the City of Lights.

Number One goes to this feature of Suite Precure.  Toremodose! flips about the plot of the series and switches the cast of villains from the bad guy (Mephisto) to the bad girl (Aphrodite).  Man, Cure Muse’s parents know how to get into trouble!  But it’s not them, but an evil entity Noise who is out to rid the Land of Major of music (Suite Pretty Cure’s driving theme and reason that it’s plotline is one of the franchise’s best).  But the undercurrents of plot make this movie ideal.  First the relationship of father and daughter.  Mephisto is recently cured of the bad influences in his life and is striving to be that ‘great dad’ to Muse.  Muse is at that age where she wishes to become more independent.  Mephisto tries too hard and learning to let go (a little) and watch how Princess Ako is capable is a good move.  Plus, Ako’s role as a princess is stressing the relationship she has with Souta, Cure Rhythm’s brother and Ako’s classmate.  But as conditions in Major approach normal, Souta is not sure what to make of Ako’s case.  IS it friendship which wishes to deepen and turn to love?

As usual, though the good guys are now the bad guys until you make them good guys again, Suite Pretty Cure use all their talents and resources to smash the ploys to ruin the homeland of music.  A satisfying conclusion to a movie which was just beginning to experiment with CG but confident to ride with the animation techniques already in play at Toei.  A good effort that deserves to be the standard.