Chihaya Yoshitake - PaPePiPu☆Romantic (パぺピプ☆ロマンチック)

Last year, I was captivated by the animation of one of the first episodes of Hugtto! Precure (HuGっと！プリキュア). It seemed like the perfect timing to enter a franchise I had wanted to for a long time, since I am a big fan of the magical girl genre. I surely wasn't disappointed, as the aforementioned season of the Pretty Cure franchise was very good. It touched a range of themes, some of them not common for a magical girl show. Most notably, for the first time in a mainstream show, a boy became a magical boy.

The franchise has been going around since 2004 due to its popularity and to being a huge advertisement to kids' toys. Nonetheless, it's appreciated by people of all ages, and the staff has stated they acknowledge those different publics. That's what, in my opinion, makes it such an interesting watch.

Lately, I only watch anime sporadically or in waves, so I wavered before deciding to watch this year's season as well. For those who may not know, there is one season of Pretty Cure per year, 50+ episodes long, and each with its own themes. For 2019 we have Star☆Twinkle Precure (スター☆トゥインクルプリキュア) and the themes are space and the power of imagination.

What ultimately sold me was knowing Eimi Naruse (成瀬 瑛美) of Dempagumi.inc (でんぱ組.inc) was voicing the main character. She's basically a real-life anime character herself! Her singing ability is showcased in the transformation sequence and I think her voice suits the character of Hikaru very well.

In this post, I'd like to highlight the ending theme, PaPePiPu☆Romantic (パぺピプ☆ロマンチック) by the newcomer Chihaya Yoshitake (吉武千颯). She won the "ANISONG STARS" audition in 2017 and it's her first single release.

This ending theme got my attention right from the first episode for its slight retro sound. It has an overall vibe that reminds me of Urusei Yatsura. Plus, Yoshitake's voice is very cute! She is only 19 years old, so I wonder if we are going to listen to her more in the future. The aesthetics for the ending sequence are also really nice, showing the colors of the four main characters.

This ending summarizes pretty much what this anime has been until now: aesthetically and musically pleasing. Story-wise, it's been nice as well, but knowing the anime will continue for more than 50 episodes, there has to be more than that to keep me going. And personally, art and sound count a lot.