Monday, August 27, 2007

The changing of the guard in a series.

To explain what I'm talking about, I'll use Pretty Cure. Pretty Cure introduced us to Honoka and Nagisa. They became the established leads of the series. After which we got the direct continuation Pretty Cure Max Heart which added Hikari to the mix. However then came Pretty Cure Splash Star. Which was akin to an alternate universe where we got two new girls Saki and Mai. The next Pretty Cure which starts the story over yet again in another alternate is called Yes! Pretty Cure 5! and has of course five new girls this time. Nozomi, Rin, Urara, Komachii, and Karen.

Changing of the guard can be rather tricky. People get used to the older cast and are very suspicious of the newer cast. However I'm going to be blunt here especially in terms of Pretty Cure that in many cases changing the guard is for the best. Simply because you can't drag out things forever.

Seriously I love Pretty Cure/Pretty Cure Max Heart. I'm extremely fond of Nagisa , Honoka, and Hikari as they've given many great moments. However there are only so many times they can essentially repeat the process. Plus with the way Max Heart ended any continuation would have ruined things. Especially since the ending more or less finalized things in my view.

Sure there is the idea of just increasing the size of the cast. Which can indeed work in some cases. It certainly does work for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha which is an awesome series. The size of the cast did indeed grow quite a bit in StrikerS. Yet from the episodes I've seen of the series they manage to both focus on the old and the new characters rather well.

However in the case of Pretty Cure and some others series it's better not to have the old cast compete with the new cast. Simply because it only leads to one over-shadowing the other in the long run. In other words it can be far more effective to create a clean slate. Have it so the past series is the older cast's moment of glory and the current series is the new cast's moment to shine. Hence why the right decision was made with Pretty Cure Splash Star and Yes! Pretty Cure 5!

Then again as a person who has played several RPG series where two games in the same series can have completely different casts I've probably become used to the idea of the changing of the guard. I'll admit there will always be part of me that wants to see more of the past characters, but I'm also glad to meet new ones. Besides I figure it this way I can always re-experience something again. Ie re-watch an anime, replay a game and you get the idea.

As long as I am on the subject of Pretty Cure I'll provide a link to the image that show the various Pretty Cures that have appeared and by that I mean all of them that I know of. So you have been warned. In any case just click here

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