I dont think Pretear ever had much of a chance. The manga is pretty but largely incomprehensible and its story was changed drastically for the anime for the better. The art is about what youd expect from anime made cheap in 2001: inelegant and choppy often slipshod with a muddy uninspired color palette. There are some nicelooking bits but overall its not much to look at. Himeno our titular Pretear gains her Magical Girl powers by preting with the Leafe Knights basically merging their souls with hers temporarily. Each of the knights give her a different kind of power that also manifests as a different cute costume. This is turned into a bizarre sex metaphor inserting mercifully brief but palpable discomfort into every episode. I can go on. The monster designs are uninspired the fight scenes lack tension or interest most of the Knights are tragically underdeveloped and it does occasionally descend into embarrassing melodrama. BUT: here is why I like Pretear. Magical Girl shows are usually at their core about Feelings. Pretear is about the importance of context re: feelings. Its about the flawed and clumsy ways we express ourselves when weve been hurt or are holding in something were too afraid to say aloud. Pretear understands and confronts loneliness and the feeling of being out of place in a way I rarely see. It calls into question the way we make assumptions about other people we perceive as successful and having it all together.. It shows the ugly thoughts that come with pain and isolation. It shows us how even kind words in the wrong context can sometimes be hurtful. It examines and meaningfully addresses intent versus outcome when interacting with other people. And it doesnt just do it through making its typical perky magical girl heroine be sad about her heavy secret burden it shows us this through a regular human character. Thats something else I really liked about Pretear. It gets its nonsuperpowered characters involved in significant ways even as the magical events ramp up. It isnt just about the special magical people saving the world. It goes into what that means for the regular people the ones with no powers the ones that would normally be rescue bait at the very most. Mahou Shoujo has a tendency to minimize the roles of characters who arent in the know about the magic goingson. Its sort of a ProtoMadoka in that it bucks those conventions and gives Himenos nonmagical family a lot of attention and importance. Pretear allows its characters to be messy and still affirm that they are worthy of love and happiness. Also its cute and even on a rewatch as an adult I found myself laughing at the anime slapstick comedy as hackneyed as it was. Something about it is just inherently likeable in that Sailor Moon way where it doesnt matter how corny it is. Incidentally Sailor Moon fans will see a lot of little tonal echoes and inspiration in this one which is fun. While it is definitely flawed I definitely recommend giving this one a look if youre a fan of mahou shoujo.
70 /100
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