The two series were intentionally similar!!! I smell a cash cow scheme...
While I'm not sure what even is a cash cow, things like these do happen quite often. Just look at the popular "transported to a fantasy realm/video game world" plot for example.
While I'm not sure what even is a cash cow, things like these do happen quite often. Just look at the popular "transported to a fantasy realm/video game world" plot for example.
Cash cow franchise: a property whose popularity is so high that it can be reliably and consistently "milked" for money. While cash cows aren't necessarily bad (in many cases, the reason why they are so popular is because they were good, at least at first), the term is usually used when talking about things that only continue to exist due to their popularity and not due to actual quality, or when bemoaning the lack of risky new creations in favor of the reliable and tired. The one most familiar to the modern mainstream would be the Marvel movie franchise. Again, I just want to stress that just because something is a cash cow doesn't necessarily make it bad, or even that its status as a cash cow is a bad thing - although it absolutely can be.
In this instance, qi is (half-jokingly, I assume) proposing that the production company essentially came up with one show and then gender flipped it so as to cover as many demographics with as few ideas as possible. The "isekai" genre explosion you mentioned is more of a "follow the leader" type situation, and not really what's seemingly going on here.
All of this came out way more cynical than I intended... I think it would be really cool if there was a Toei-produced "powered-armor" anime that mirrored Precure in some ways. I know that Kamen Rider and Super Sentai is a thing, but they're live-action and don't exactly feel like "Precure but with boys".
Hostile toward the main character's group, but is also attracted to themand has now mended her way, kind of characterThe serious main characterThere are real goods out there, but... there are no high school students wearing something like this...You can't hate the rival character either...So I made this... with the motif from that mark!Aaah...Huh...That guy...? I guess of course girls would think that kind of guy is cool...Hostile toward the main character's group, but is also attracted to them kind of characterRival...? Well, I guess she used to be their rival...Ah! And you know, I'm in the handicraft club...The MysteriousNew characterThat mark... is from that girl, right...? Even though she's only appeared just the other day...I also like the cool and useful support character with glasses!The older researcher girl character who often gives advice to the main charactersThe older bookstore owner male character who often gives advice to the main charactersYeah...
