Pretty Cure is known for its massive amount of main characters to adore; don't like the characters or outfits of one series? Try another, as with over 15 series, there's bound to be one you'll enjoy. But which Cures have the best designs as a team?
Judging so many magical outfits calls for a few criteria: How practical are the girls' outfits for fighting? Do they look like a cohesive unit? Within that unit, does the outfit suit the wearer's personality? Do the outfits connect back to the show's theme? And, most importantly, does it look nice? Of course, this is all subjective, but here are the Pretty Cure teams that we think are the series' best dressed.
5. Star Twinkle Pretty Cure's Outfits Are Out of This World
Star Twinkle's outfits are bright, colorful and immensely appealing right off the bat. With the theme of space, each girl relates back to a celestial body, with their names Soleil, Celeste, Milky, Star and Cosmos making it easy to tell at a glance who's who. This heavy emphasis on theme and the unique takes on them make these some of the most creative Cure outfits to date.
However, this group is low on the list due to their lack of coherency as a team. They've only one design element in common: the star pendant on their chest. Beyond that, almost every character has unique visual "ideas," including different bodices, skirts and sleeve shapes.
The final nail in the coffin is Soleil's and Celeste's skirts, which both go past their knees in the back. This means that if they want to kick something behind them, there's a chance they could get tangled up in their dress.
4. Tropical-Rouge! Precure Shows Oceans of Promise
The newest entry in the franchise, these girls are killing it with their outfits, with everyone falling beautifully within theme while still showing plenty of personality within it. While it's subtle, each of the girls is actually wearing a sailor outfit, made obvious by the distinctive collar. This not only suits the nautical theme of the series but unifies the unique outfits without overpowering the girls' individuality. Helping that unity is the fact that each Cure has a blue accent somewhere in her outfit -- Summer has blue trim, Flamingo has blue streaks in her hair, Papaya's eyelashes are blue, Laura the Mermaid (who is not a Cure, but very much part of the team) has a blue tail and Coral has large blue accents in and on her skirt.
The outfits even refer back to the second theme, summer, by having each girl embody a different aspect of it with their outfits' unique elements. Coral relates most obviously to the sailor concept, while Flamingo embodies summer's excitement with her bold red outfit and Papaya's design recalls a refreshing smoothie.
Finally, Summer's cheerleading outfit radiates energy and joy. Holding the girls back from a higher spot on the list is the fact that while it's there, they aren't immediately apparent as a team, and the aspects that tie them together are difficult to spot.
3. It's a Desert Platter Full of Delight with Kira Kira Pretty Cure Ala Mode
Meanwhile, Kira Kira uses its themes to create more obvious coherency between its members. Like Star Twinkle, there are very few repeated design ideas, but the addition of animal ears and tails onto each of the Cures makes it immediately apparent that they're a unit. Despite this variety and personalization, once one realizes the tying thread of all the outfits is sweets, things become even more cohesive, with the exception of Gelato's slightly obscure inspiration.
They also have relatively combat-ready outfits, with Gelato sporting heavy combat boots and the addition of a tail making it believable that Macaron can fight without teetering on her heels. All of the girls have short skirts with minimal accents that make it easy for them to kick, flip and run without clothing getting in the way.
2. Heartcatch Pretty Cure!'s Unique Style Creates a Cohesive Group
Heartcatch Pretty Cure! is by far the most uniquely stylized series in the franchise, and they make great use of that in the girls' Cure outfits. Not only do the petal skirts unify them as a team and relate back to the flower theme, but the color palette makes each girl unique without making her too different. That is to say, despite each girl being a different color, her outfit is as vibrant as the rest of the team's.
Furthermore, they intentionally leveraged the cohesiveness of the main trio to help Moonlight look like the "odd one out." However, her palette still matches the others, painting her as the older mentor on the team rather than a separate entity, all via her outfit.
Almost every element of their outfits is shared across the team. For example; each of the girls has a ribbon on at least one wrist and a larger ribbon on her dress, though Moonlight's is on her waist instead of her chest. Sunshine and Moonlight even share crossed-laces on their boots. Holding them back from top billing is Cure Moonlight's billowing dress and the group's boots. Suiting the highly stylized look of the show, each girl was given the tiniest heel to stand on and, while puncture damage is all well and good, it's hard to believe they aren't sinking into the ground every time they hit the dirt.
1. Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!'s Redesigns Result in the Best Version Possible
Yes! Pretty Cure 5 had a lot of advantages as the first series to step away from duo-formula of Futari wa Pretty Cure, as their whole gimmick was the team. When they got a second season, it would've been silly to not redesign the girls.
Where before the girls' outfits were mostly white with their signature color as an accent, GoGo uses the same trick as Heartcatch, giving everyone different colors of the same brightness, resulting in a cohesive whole that's nice to look at. Unlike Heartcatch, GoGo uses Dream's design as a base, then varies the details according to each girl's personality. For example, all the girls have a split jacket -- but Lemonade's jacket is circular over the skirt instead of triangular, and Rouge's shoulder pieces have no padding. Likewise, all the girls have rose hair accessories and butterfly ribbons, tying into both the season's theme and referencing their original outfits.
When it comes to combat, they're hard to beat (literally). All of the girls have low, blocky heels that look easy to move in, and the skirt-biker-shorts combo reigns supreme. Overall, these girls combine form and function for the best team outfit so far in the franchise.
