The long-running, popular children's anime series Precure is celebrating its 20th anniversary and published a new special video on its website last week to celebrate. The video features a new song set to footage from the franchise over the years as a tribute and memory to where the series has come from. This video has been released ahead of the show's 20th title, which will be premiering in February.
Precure, sometimes anglicized as Pretty Cure, always follows a group of teenage girls who are given magical powers to fight against evil and protect the world. They have fairies as helpers, and gain more powers and abilities every series as their enemies also become stronger. While the franchise is aimed at young girls specifically, its actual demographic is much wider and encompasses a wide variety of people both in Japan and abroad.
Precure is not just one anime, but a franchise. There have been 20 titles so far, with the first, Futari no Precure airing in 2004-2005. The latest title is Hirogaru Sky! Precure, which will air in February 2023 for the show's 20th anniversary. Additionally, there have been Precure films, over 20 video games, and even a live action drama in 2018 that celebrated the franchise's 15th anniversary. 3 Precure titles have been given English adaptations, and the 19th series is currently available for streaming on Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
Precure has consistently been ranked in the Top 10 animations in Japan, and its popularity has only grown over the past 20 years. The new promotional video features a brand-new song the band Ikimono-gakari, who also did the theme songs for The Seven Deadly Sins, Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, and more. The song is called "Tokimeki," and it was written exclusively for this video, showing just how much cultural impact Precure has in Japan.
To celebrate 20 years of magical girl transformations and good conquering over evil, the video shows highlights from the previous 19 Precure titles. It is not meant as a preview for Hirogaru Sky! Precure, but rather in memory of the series that have already finished. After all, everyone is already excited about the new series to air next month, and it would have never gotten this far without all the past seasons.
The new promotional video is a real celebration in that way, highlighting where the franchise has come from rather than just focusing on where it is going. No special events have been announced yet for the Precure 20th anniversary, but it's only the start of the year. Once the new series begins to air next month, it's likely that at least some events and collaborations will be coming over the course of 2023. And you still have time to catch up and enjoy the latest series on your favorite streaming service in the meantime!
Source: AnimeNewsNetwork