From one perspective, it's a good thing that Yes! Precure 5 has two sequels. Although the middle series, Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!, remains legally unavailable in English as of this writing; the adult third series Power of Hope: Precure Full Bloom is, and that truly completes the story of Precure's first large team of magical girls. All of this is to say that the ending of Yes! 5 may be a little bittersweet for some viewers, but it also isn't the definitive end of the story.

But more importantly, that story continues strong in the second half of the series, and central to that is the idea that being a team is a major facet of the way these Cures function. Although there are pairs within the larger group – Nozomi and Rin, Karen and Komachi, Coco and Natts – unlike many similar magical girl teams (even within the Pretty Cure franchise), there's a real focus on mixing the girls. Rin and Karen have to learn not to butt heads, Komachi has to become more comfortable operating in the larger framework, and Urara learns to balance her career self with her child self. As everyone gains new powers in this set of episodes, that's crystallized in Five Explosion, the girls' group attack that builds off of Cure Dream's Crystal Shoot. While other large Cure teams also have group attacks, Five Explosion feels particularly rooted in the girls' teamwork, especially since it also involves Milk, who in GoGo joins the team as Milky Rose. (Of the licensed series, I think some of Go! Princess Precure's group attacks come the closest.) Not only does it have a striking visual of all five Cures (with Milk on Dream's wrist), it also directly shows that it is through combining their powers that they become stronger. That helps to underline the worry that all three Palmier Kingdom residents will have to go back: if they're all stronger together, how painful will separation be?

This is, perhaps, slightly ameliorated by how caustic Milk can be. She's much more caught up in her own drama and desire to stand by Coco and Natts, which leads to her striking up a self-proclaimed rivalry with Nozomi. She often goes too far with her words and deeds, deliberately hurting Nozomi in her attempts to drive a wedge between her and Coco. While this does make it all the more important that she eventually becomes part of the Five Explosion (and of course in her roles in both GoGo and Power of Hope, which do a lot to develop her character), she's tough to take here, although there's an argument to be made that she's a counterbalance to the main five's friendship.

She also forms a middle ground between the Cures and Bunbee, one of Nightmare's executives. Bunbee has been the main villain the girls have interacted with from the start of the series, and like many a Precure bad guy, he has evolved throughout the season. In episode thirty, he attempts to help fellow Nightmare Arachnea, which marks a major change in his attitude, one which he tries very hard to refute. Episode forty-three, meanwhile, has the Cures attempting to explain hope to Bunbee, and while we don't see that bear fruit here, it's a pivotal moment in the three seasons starring these Cures. It's also key to Nozomi's eventual realization about Despariah and how she ultimately decides to handle her: she recognizes that Despariah is acting out of the despair from which she takes her name, and, true to her name and catchphrase, Cure Dream decides to allow her to eventually regain her hope. It's the culmination of everything the Yes! 5 girls have learned about themselves and the world, and one of the most powerful moments in the franchise as a whole.

Despair and fear are parasitic. This is shown through the black masks that Nightmare uses, which are more dangerously powerful than the white ones, actively burrowing into their wearers' psyches. Natts' guilt over his role in the fall of the Palmier Kingdom shows how easily you can slip into those states, while Milk, Urara, and Komachi demonstrate the struggles of not feeling “good enough." All of them react differently, and that's a good example of how emotions can affect different people and various ways of coping with them. Natts becomes withdrawn, Milk becomes mean, Urara and Komachi both grow down on themselves. But all of them can find a way out again, and that's the important part. It's a theme that reappears across all three series, and it gets stronger with every iteration, including this second half of Yes! 5 building on its beginning.

Yes! Precure 5 isn't a perfect series in its second half. Its ending is bittersweet, the reuse of Splash Star's ending theme feels lazy, and there are relatively frequent off-model moments. But it's still a good Precure series, and one that's particularly important to the franchise. It marks a lot of firsts (and it's striking how Urara's experience as an idol contrasts with the most recent season's depiction of the same) and delivers a tight-knit group who all noticeably grow together to make it a strong one.