Back in the day, Splash Star used to get a lot of hate for reusing character designs and personalities and toning down what made the original series so special, but that doesn't mean it's bad. If you actually watch it, it's actually quite different from it. I personally liked it a lot. I liked how Saki and Mai got along, I love the down to earth conflicts between the children and how realistically they were handled and solved (No misunderstandings or stupidity! Yay!), I love the monster fights, and it even made me cry at times. I will admit, I always thought Michiru and Kaoru were creepy. Thankfully, they stopped being creepy by the end of the series, but I don't really feel much for them. Also, there were too many villains, and they were all annoying and cliche. The ending resolved things a bit too conveniently, but the positives highly outweigh the negatives in this case, so I can fully forgive it. Just because a series looks too much like its predecessor doesn't mean it'll automatically be bad or a complete rip-off. The animation did look a bit clunky at times, but the soundtrack was quite good, the writing was consistent and never went astray, and I really liked its themes. Splash Star may not be the best series in the franchise, but its definitely one of my personal favorites, right behind Heartcatch Precure. If you're looking for a genuinely good anime to watch that makes you care about the characters and their conflicts, I highly recommend it.
Anime Don't Judge It By Its Cover
Back in the day, Splash Star used to get a lot of hate for reusing character designs and personalities and toning down what made the original series so special, but that doesn't mean it's bad. If you actually watch it, it's actually quite different from it. I personally liked it a lot. I liked how Saki and Mai got along, I love the down to earth conflicts between the children and how realistically they were handled and solved (No misunderstandings or stupidity! Yay!), I love the monster fights, and it even made me cry at times. I will admit, I always thought Michiru and Kaoru were creepy. Thankfully, they stopped being creepy by the end of the series, but I don't really feel much for them. Also, there were too many villains, and they were all annoying and cliche. The ending resolved things a bit too conveniently, but the positives highly outweigh the negatives in this case, so I can fully forgive it. Just because a series looks too much like its predecessor doesn't mean it'll automatically be bad or a complete rip-off. The animation did look a bit clunky at times, but the soundtrack was quite good, the writing was consistent and never went astray, and I really liked its themes. Splash Star may not be the best series in the franchise, but its definitely one of my personal favorites, right behind Heartcatch Precure. If you're looking for a genuinely good anime to watch that makes you care about the characters and their conflicts, I highly recommend it.