Mahou Shoujo fans, what was your experience with Princession Orchestra?

Since mid-2024 I've been trying to expands my horizons with anime, trying things I normally wouldn't, from old art-house anime to to 3DCG Idols.

Earlier this year I tried getting into "Weekly shoujo mahou shoujo" with Princession Orchestra, but ended up dropping it 27 episodes in. It had some good episodes (Episode 13 was my favorite, it was very enjoyable), some bad ones, some jokes that did made me laugh (e.g. the three Jammerwocks in a trench-coat), but in general I didn't find it very interesting and decided to drop it when watching new episodes started to feel like a chore.

Granted, part of me still doesn't accept "not having liked it", since some people I follow on Twitter did seem to like it, as well as a couple people who seemed similar enough to me.
I still don't plan on giving up on the genre, though. I intend to start following the new PreCure when it releases, I wonder if I'll have a better experience?

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Commentaires

Asiyt2026-01-02 08:24

Im a huge symphogear fan and at first i thought i would like princession orchestra but the writing is very underwhelming. I didnt even get as far as you did and dropped it before ep 20

Calwings2026-01-02 08:33

Princession is basically like PreCure with a Symphogear coat of paint over it, and while it's far from perfect, I'm enjoying it *way* more than any of the recent PreCure series. If you're not enjoying Princession, I doubt you'll enjoy PreCure any more.

You might be better off trying some of the less kid-targeted magical girl anime, like Lyrical Nanoha, Madoka Magica, Flip Flappers, Wish Upon The Pleiades, Kill La Kill, Gonna Be The Twin-tail, or the aforementioned Symphogear.

Sky_Sumisu2026-01-02 09:07

Well, there's a reason I specified "Weekly shoujo mahou shoujo", because I did watch quite a few of the other types of mahou shoujo: Madoka, the entire Nanoha and Symphogear franchises, Kill la Kill, Prysma Illiya, Granbelm, three different versions of Cutie Honey, Princess Tutu, among others.

I did like them (OK, except the original Cutie Honey), though I was aware that more kid-targeted mahou shoujo would be their own thing, but I still felt like giving them a shot nonetheless.

I did also focus on the "weekly" part because they seem to be made to be watched weekly, to not be rushed, though some day I would also like to try anime such as Cardcaptor Sakura, Ojamajo Doremi, Shugo Chara and Heartcatch PreCure.

Tarhalindur2026-01-02 11:53

You know, the thing is, you pretty much just named all the series I would be mentioning (the only exception is OG Sailor Moon - fan opinion is mixed on the remake, though apparently it does find its footing later on). The thing is that weekly mahou shoujo not named Precure basically just... doesn't exist anymore; Precure basically monopolized the magical girl toy market within a year or two of the original Futari wa Pretty Cure, Princession is the first attempt at a reasonably direct competitor in well over a decade. And if you're trying Pretty Cure, fanbase consensus is that Heartcatch is best and since each Precure is standalone it makes a good jumping-in point. (Can't confirm that myself, because I extremely reliably clank off of Precure courtesy of the most cynical CGI merch framing I've ever seen - trips some bad juju sense in a way that even other toyetic Toei franchises like their live-action tokusatsu offerings don't - but YMMV.) Outside of that, outside of Shugo Chara and the notoriously mediocre Tokyo Mew Mew (+ reboot) most of the big weekly mahou shoujo are 1990s or earlier, and Sailor Moon/CCS/Ojamajo Doremi are the first three names I would mention there. (Note that CCS in particular is one of those late cel works that holds up unusually well visually.)

The other kind of weekly magical girl show to survive are the magical girl idol subgenre, which seem to have at least a somewhat different monetization model. That's not my genre so I don't know that much about them, but I do at least know a couple of the franchises in the subgenre: Jewelpet and the recent Mewkledreamy.

(Side note on a non-weekly mahou shoujo: checking your MAL I notice you did watch the original Yuuki Yuuna and decided to stop there. As someone who made the exact same mistake (I'm not as harsh as you but S1 has its issues and I had no particular need to go further) and had to be cajoled into continuing myself, Yuusha no Shou is the (half-length) season that makes that franchise and with you having Selector Infected WIXOSS that high there's a decent chance it would land for you as well. (You would have to go through the also mediocre Washio Sumi no Shou to get there, but actually you might wind up higher on WaSuYu than I did so there is that?) Dai Mankai no Shou is another matter, that one has *major* issues and a good opening episode + epilogue don't necessarily make up for that.)

iruchii2026-01-02 09:29

I've watched almost all Precure series and I'm generally a big fan of most anime for kids, but I also dropped Princession Orchestra. I don't think it's bad or anything, but I think it's just too flat in its execution. The episodes were just lacking something to grab my attention, and instead I was almost always finding myself dozing off.

Most Precure seasons, on the other hand, have a lot more charm and energy in general, so I think if that's part of your issues with Princession Orchestra then you might still enjoy it when you give it a try.

VoidEmbracedWitch2026-01-02 09:30

It varies a lot for me. Sometimes there are genuinely great episodes (and I think the last 3 or so that were subbed belong in this camp), but other times I feel like I only watch for the elements garden soundtrack. Doesn't help that you can tell the production hits its limits quickly a lot of the time.

Also, part of why I'm sticking to it is because Idolcure ended my 2 year streak of watching Precure weekly with how underwhelming it was and I enjoy having at least one Sunday morning show.

I think for weekly magical girls you can do better than Princession. I'd highly recommend CCS and Hugtto Precure. Also heard great things about Doremi and should watch it soon; a Satojun never disappoints. As for your plan to follow the next Precure (Detectivecure) weekly, I wonder if it's a good idea. Imo the last time we had a good Cure was Tropical Rouge in iirc 2021, with the series since ranging from decently enjoyable to mediocre, but maybe the next one will turn things around.

Fangzzz2026-01-02 09:56

I'm in a group watch where we're watching it and I deeply hate it, so you should not feel too bad about your decision.

The art is fine but the writing is dire. The characters are incredibly flat and the overall story arc drags things out insanely, and then gives a stupid as hell reveal. IMO the show fundamentally misunderstands how Precure works: it's not about the fights! It's about the mundane events that develop the characterisation of the main characters between the fights! So many episodes in and we just have no clue about the individual motivations and flaws of the heroines. The only character with any sort of depth is Nacchi.

Watch Soaring Sky Pretty Cure instead. Or SIVIS for Princession Done Right.

Typhoonflame2026-01-02 12:29

The music was great but the plot just didn't grab me, so I quit mid-season. And I'm a huge Precure fan.

SIVIS is much better.

DukeMunter2026-01-02 15:36

I will ravenously consume any magical girl show and you're not mistaken in thinking that Princession misses the mark in a lot of ways. The music is excellent and that's about it. The production and animation is sub-par at best, the show allocates a significant amount of time to gag side characters and leaves the main cast undeveloped, and certain episodes feel like a complete waste of time - like the staff are trying to do as little as possible to save resources. The recent arc starting from the halfway point has been a total flop too.

It doesn't really do anything new to set itself apart from the pack either. I'm personally confused by the people who insist that Princession is a nice breath of fresh air from Precure when it does everything Precure does but worse. I would have loved for it to become something really interesting and competitive in the genre, but I doubt it's going to happen.

clone692026-01-02 16:09

I think the Toei people in charge of Precure should be taking notes. Especially when comparing it to the currently airing season, which is idol themed. When You & Idol Precure debuted their group finisher, they recycled the ED song. Every character has only one solo song except the mid season Cures who don't even have individual songs. Princession had no less than 3 songs per character before even introducing their late season new characters who, likely, won't be getting individual songs either because of their duo theme, but definitely will have more than just the one song they are using now.

Another factor they are doing much better is the development of characters. The one time victims of the week keep reappearing in different situations, giving some consistency to the world and even making the viewer feel invested in these characters. In Precure, the victim of the week is usually a random person you don't care about.

And let's not forget how much better they're handling the villains. Precure has 4 episodes left, and there's barely any sign of the main villain. Princession has given them more personality than just a verbal tic, and even an episode that centered on them.

All in all, I've been enjoying Princession Orchestra far more than I've been enjoying You & Idol Precure, and I definitely wouldn't mind if it becomes a recurring series. Maybe not yearly like Precure, to avoid burn out, but maybe a new series every couple of years, maybe even featuring different casts of characters.

ElectricalCompany2602026-01-03 13:22

It´s from the same people who made Symphogear.

I´m enjoying it so far and will watching until the end but there could be more yuri - like in SG - but you can feel Hibiki x Miku vibes with Minamo x Nacchi because they´re childhood (girl)friends, but with less yuri compared to H x M but still cute and sweet enough to ship M x N like H x M.