>[CStars] Hugtto! Precure - 01 (B543FE48).mkv
Never heard of this group but they seem okay based on this episode. No shitty memes, no (terribly) mistranslated lines, sign/karaoke work was basic but serviceable. I hope they stick it out for the long run and keep up this sort of speed.
Most of the main characters are very cute and have clearly defined roles and characters. I wasn't sold on the seiyuu for pink, since she is very new to the industry and all of her fure fure I've heard in the last month or so were extremely lackluster (also because she's not pretty IRL,) but seeing it in action has mostly assuaged my tism on this. I finally felt the genki from her that's been missing throughout all the PV/CM so far and she'll probably also get better as we go along. Ogura Yui on yellow was another source of worry, since she is usually typecast in her superloli voice and Homare clearly isn't that type of character, but the few lines in this episode she had were pretty encouraging. Strong, clear, and maybe even a bit haughty as she essentially told her sensei to go eat a dick. However, Blue was way weak. Her scenes, interactions, and the way they were acted didn't leave any sort of impression on me at all. I have no idea what type of girl she'll be. Even the babby wasn't that bad. It barely cried and otherwise just made babby sounds. Also the hamster is chad as FUCK.
Animation looks consistent and high quality, but the first fight was pretty lame. I might be spoiled by GoPre because I'm going through that at the same time, but I expected something more from this allstar staff-casting and the hubbub surrounding it. They might just be playing it a bit safe for the moment though so the soccermoms let down their guards before they whip out the sick sakuga. Or so I'm hoping.
The villains are a corporation (Kuraiasu aka Dark Times), which, according to Precure precedent, typically means they will be of a higher quality than otherwise. They're aiming to send out negative energy and steal everyones asapower (tomorrowpower,) which will steal the future or something who knows. The babby mascot character, of course, has a boatload of asapower and may or may not have come from the future as the 5th Precure.
Overall it was a solid first episode. I haven't sat through Mahou/Kira2 for the last 2 years and thus haven't been demoralized (rumor on the grapevine is that those two suck shit), but this seems like more of the same that I'm used to. That's enough.