Heartcatch Precure
Tsubomi is a great protagonist, slightly timid and down-to-earth but also able to goof off when needed. Her everyday fit is very cute, but I always felt kind of weird about how Erika determines Tsubomi's style and even removes her glasses halfway through ep 1, lost forever. The glasses would have been so good if she kept them!! The darker hair to contrast the luminous cure forms in this season is clever, and in general I'm fond of this iconic artstyle where they look a little like insects lol. The relative simplicity of the cure designs allows for some incredibly fun, high-quality animation and fight scenes. The colours make the Precure look like they're literally flowing with magical energy and it's awesomeee. The petal skirt is supercute.
A goofier, louder contrast to Tsubomi, also a pretty nice girl. Her everyday fit matching Tsubomi goes hard. Cure Marine is, well, perfect. The aquatic hair, the tiara and the almost jester-like shoes with the stockings make her both match and contrast Cure Blossom beautifully.
I am...not especially fond of the anime trope of "fixing" a girl by making her more "feminine" (it's like that godforsaken scene in the Breakfast Club except some magical girl anime aims it at impressionable young girls), but Itsuki is one example where it works. She has a story about having to pretend to be her brother or something? I haven't seen Heartcatch in a long time lol but she's a cool character, a serene balancer to Tsubomi's nerves and Erika's mania. Cure Sunshine has a cool crop top and sharp pigtails to stand out. It's impressive how you can tell Cure Sunshine represents a sunflower just from a glance, and all without actually using any of a sunflower's brown. Love her big choker ribbon.
Peak alert...Yuri is a troubled older Precure who has temporarily lost her powers, though she gets them back later in the show and joins the team. Yuri's design is perfectly sombre and makes for a nice Clark Kent with the ethereal Cure Moonlight. Moonlight, who was a Precure long before the others, has a completely different costume which still compliments the others smoothly, and that's no easy feat. The longer dress, the mismatched gloves and the emo hair all convey her seriousness and her power. This design is just GORGEOUS. The palette and the pops of black AGHH
Immediately winning the bob-off. Iirc, Dark Precure was Yuri's clone which is an insane plotline. I respect it so hard. Though Dark Precure is an antagonist, you really feel for her and I was crushed when she (spoilerssssssssssssss) dies. That haunting shot of her sprawled on the floor, wide-eyed and dying, is probably the thing I most recall. The plain black outfit is very effective in making her stand out as not quite like the other Precure. Her one glove, her heterochromic eyes and her single wing all show that she's Moonlight's other half. I like her brooch resembling an eyeball. In general a perfect edgier Precure design. When will SHE be featured dancing as a 3D model with the rest of the Precure huh...