Doki Doki Precure
Mana has always been a slightly controversial main character, and while I understand not liking her, I find her really entertaining. There's something so funny about a Precure protagonist taking on a role typically used for boring male characters in romance anime...basically, everyone LOVES Mana. She's constantly surrounded by gushing girls, including every other cure in her team (sans the 10 year old, of course) and especially the main antagonist Regina. Honestly, good for her. This is the lesbian they tell you not to worry about.
Mana's fit is very cute and pastel; I love the striped shirt underneath the baggier shirt. Totally like something I would wear. Despite her playful outfit, you do get the sense of Mana's student council responsibilities side, too, in a way I can't place. Maybe the face? And her heart-shaped hair is so sweet. I've always liked the occasional pink cure trope of pink hair turning blonde when they transform. Cure Heart rocks an even more heart-shaped haircut, which is iconic, though I kinda think the longer untied segment is unnecessary, cool as it looks. The pink side ribbons are DEFINITELY unnecessary. Otherwise I think Heart is awesome. The Doki Doki girls have a sort of mythical soldier/angel design I adore; they have sashes, and heart brooches serving as badges. Cure Heart's practicality comes across with her visible shorts, whilst her quirkiness is conveyed through the mix of sharp and soft shapes. The arm warmers are so good. She's also matching with Sword!
Not sure about the brown boots, but they're a practical choice which suits Rikka, Mana's smart, responsible and yuriful friend. Maybe a darker shade could have benefited her dress, Idk, it's simple and nice enough. A lot of these civilian blue cures look very similar, and it's their personalities you have to look to for the differences. Cure Diamond is very pretty, and I like the creativity of using her hair strands to imply a diamond rather than the hair explictly being diamond shaped. She has a very princess-meets-knight look which suits her (I remember her pledging to be Mana's knight) and grants her a lot of battlefield elegance. Just gorgeous.
The sweet rich girl trope, which I like a lot. She's my fave girl from this series, sans Regina. Alice is a cutie pie with her unique intricate hair--the strands imply a clover!--and her soft, regal design; the only thing I'd change would be the colour of the tights (darker or white) and the colour of the shoes (maybe brown or red). A lot of Precure designs could maybe benefit from a more neutral colour in places, you know? Meanwhile Cure Rosetta is here to melt my heart, because she's so puppy cute. I LOVE the accents of green and the panelling of her dress. That being said, the boots are a bit funny looking with all those yellow blobs. Maybe a simpler design for the footwear would have worked. I'd also personally have had her hair shorter, maybe turning the pigtails into a lower, secondary set of buns to create her clover shape. Cure Rosetta is the roundest, softest design of the bunch, reflecting her role as a defender more than a fighter.
Interestingly, Cure Sword is her default form, since she comes from this season's magic world, where she worked as a royal guard; Makoto is actually her disguise. Makoto has a really pleasing, androgynous design and a soothing palette, the latter of which transfers tenfold to Cure Sword. Badass name by the way. Sword looks simple and effective, with a truly lovely shade of lavender, so I wish she was just a bit more simple. She's got just a bit too much clutter imo, which could be remedied even by cutting her ponytail off; the spade shape would remain. I like her little shoulder cape, though I think it could be slightly longer. Still so good!!
This damn baby...Aguri was introduced into the plot when everyone was excited for the (much more interesting, pre-established) Regina to become a Precure, and I think, had I been watching the show as it came out, I'd be mad too. I just do not like this character. Being about ten, she has an awkward age gap with the other cures, and on top of that she bosses them around and disrupts the former serenity of the group. Her character role was already being serviced by Makoto and I really question this writing decision, to be honest, when Mana's girlfriend-of-the-week Regina (with a more unique, bratty, demanding princess personality to contrast Alice) was right there. Her design is as insignificant as her character, though I'll always be happy with more brunette cures. Cure Ace, meanwhile, is a KILLER design. Adopting a classic magical girl trope, Aguri ages up to about 18, shifting her from baby to big sister of the group, gets a stellar ace-shaped hairstyle, and a truly majestic costume. The white overcoat is such a smart choice, breaking the cherry tones of her hair and dress. And the swirled trim of the coat!!! She looks kind of like a doctor, in the best way, accidental as I'm sure that was. Even the lipstick looks good, and for Precure that's IMPRESSIVE. But you know who this cure design would have better suited...? Reginaaaaa... :,<