From (I think it was) episode 8, not so much an actual mikan box as it is a picture of a mikan box on the front of the manga the younger brother is reading.

Woah, meta.

I’m yet to figure out a particularly valid reason as to why I’ve actually been finding myself watching Pretty Cure – “because it’s there” isn’t really a valid excuse given that, whilst I’m at Funi’s video streaming site, I could just as well be watching the new Fullmetal Alchemist (which I’ve still not started on), or Captain Harlock or Galaxy Express the like. I guess I just have too much affection for janky magical girl shows, and Pretty Cure is certainly pretty janky in so much as it’s really not a particularly great show, though it is at least diverting.

Still, I’ve got to wonder if those are really the best masters for the show that Toei could scrape up for these streaming sites. It looks, and particularly sounds, like fifth-generation VHS fansubs. I’m kind of wondering if they’ve been taken from a set of tapes they’ve been using to try and flog the show to English speaking countries for the last five years. There’s no way a show from 2004 should be looking and sounding worse than a show from the 70’s.

Which, again, makes me wonder why I’m even watching it…