This review does not contain any spoilers. Its safe to read before watching. It doesnt require any knowledge of the franchise. As I watched more and more Precure I started comparing the series to one another. I want to write down some notes on that. Its the first Precure series Ive finished but not the first one Ive seen I was halfway through another one when I binged Go Princess. I want to see all of them and report my opinions. Each one I see will add to my experience so Ill try to compare them a bit too. A short explanation for those not accustomed with the series: Sunday morning kids show targeted for young girls the longest consecutively running mahou shoujo franchise ever over 20 years of non stop anime almost every series follows a similar pattern introducing a new group of magical warriors fairy mascots and a lot of magical gadgets. Go Princess Precure is the 12th Pretty Cure series which started airing in 2015. It brought some minor changes to the established formula but mostly is a fine example of the franchises current style. As good a place to start as any. The themes of the story are princesses and dreams. Apparently the success of Disneys Frozen was the reason to make a series focused on that. Its a cute sentiment especially since Precures idea of princesses is very fairytalelike: its not really as much about royal blood or societal position as it is about being strong kind and beautiful. A princess has to know how to behave how to dance how to cook? Well it doesnt make that much sense but the protagonists goal to become a princess is just more endearing because of that. 400https://64.media.tumblr.com/c8bd38a1ffc35bdf467f70d69fe26505/tumblrp0olpip0081uwhtt4o1540.gifv The story follows 13 years old Haruno Haruka who just entered a new chapter of her life: started education at a prestigious fancy boarding school. Shes super determined to make her childhood dream becoming a princess a reality. The chance comes quickly as she stumbles into the first episode of your usual mahou shoujo story: she meets cute mascots gains magical transformation and powers and has to fight evil. There are others quickly joining her and soon a cute team of Precure princesses is saving the world from the powers of darkness. How is it? Well the story is far from unique and it relies heavily on tropes. Its not necessarily a bad thing and the series does handle it with quite a lot of grace most of the time. Since the story takes place in a boarding school there are less family moments that happen in other series its mostly interactions between the main girls and other students or school staff. The overall story is simple and cute just as it should be but while its well executed there are things that could be pulled just a bit better taken just a bit farther. But thats just me nitpicking. Its a solid story and execution for a quite long running kids series. As I compare it to other series I feel like it did manage to have some kind of fairytale vibe. A bit dreamy a bit light yet keeping something more serious deep within. It didnt tackle any particularly dark topics of course but the harsh reality was there only to be trampled by the power of dreams. Because apparently if you dream hard enough you can achieve anything. Sometimes with the help of magic but still. As a quite long episodic series Go Princess obviously had to heavily focus on the characters. We get three Cures and then a fourth one two fairies and then two more a trio of returning villains and the Big Bad. The main girls just like the story rely on many tropes. The protagonist fits the role of most pink magical girls: shes sweet optimistic a bit naive a tad clumsy. She doesnt get much more character than your typical mahou shoujo team leader but shes cute and likeable. The other girls well they are pretty plain. Minami is a perfect schools council president type of character calm collected wellbehaved and of course shes from a strict rich family and has some kind of parents issues. Its nothing new but I like how its developed and ended so theres something to look forward to. Kirara is a model who wishes to follow in her famous mothers footsteps and she tries to balance it with being a magical warrior. Shes popular and has a strong personality and her career oriented story works well enough. The final fourth girl who I wont describe more because of the spoilery nature offers an interesting premise but is heavily underused. Are they likeable? Of course. They play their roles in the story well and they have just enough character development to not be boring. I like them but they wont become my fav Cures. Well maybe Haruka shes such a silly sweetie and her clumsy attempts at ballet remind me of Princess Tutu. The fairies are pretty good too. I found only one of them annoying which is a fine score since the mascots can be insufferable. The villain trio plays a huge role and I think they deliver. The main antagonist is okay too but its obviously the three silly guys who steal the spotlight. Their designs are fantastic distinct and memorable especially Shut and Close. Their personalities are also unique and each of them works nicely in the story. 400https://64.media.tumblr.com/5bfb5d76c789bf3a852501134eeff786/9772be6fb3c00e5066/s540x810/3ecb2e67cc92d7f0dcdd156f88d06e454c5b3308.gifv Precure as a series definitely believes in the old truth: you cant fight evil if you aint cute. The designs are just wonderful. I may not be a fan of the huge ball dresses that show up at times but the girls main magical girl outfits are great. I love Harukas hair it matches her traditionally princessy look. And Sayas whole sea themed look is just incredible. Its such a well put together project Im impressed. Other than the main girls I think Twilights design is simply showstopping. The villain trio looks quirky and memorable I like them too. These all are some amazing projects. I know its kind of Precures staple thing and it definitely puts the bar high. The whole princessy vibe well makes as much sense as any other magical girl theme be it Solar System planets endangered animals or sweets and desserts. Its girly and cute so its perfect for a show like that. Frozen was a huge hit in Japan as elsewhere so I get why it could be fitting. I didnt really care for it much but everythings cute and fits well. Whats more to want? Im not a Precure expert yet. The real experts the seriess target are young girls watching the Sunday morning TV and their opinion is interesting. Go Precure didnt actually get much acclaim from its child public. Apparently the intense at least more intense than in the previous series I presume fighting scenes were too scary for a lot of the viewers. Its well lets say its a confirmation that the action scenes were really cool. Some of the fights were actually quite impressive not only for a kids show but for an action anime. The series is held in much higher regard by the older audience especially in the West. Ive seen it being considered one of the better Precure titles out there. Cant really judge it that way but I get where it comes from. Go Precure works really well as a traditional mahou shoujo anime. The story is alright the characters are sweet the designs are fantastic and the fights are fun. There is definitely a lot that could be improved but nah its okay. I enjoyed it a lot. For a mahou shoujo series that doesnt try to do anything new its awesome. Sometimes you just need a princess to save the day by punching a monster. A lot. Disneys princesses could never. 400https://64.media.tumblr.com/e635ef0900ab6e8cc8f8ee2bc5b2856b/419d23a621162b7091/s540x810/4fc7922cf29771eaa17055051611e9ad7d8585f8.gifv Heres my personal Precure rating its a 5 scale comparing the series. Cures: designs: mascots: villains: story: theme and vibes: Thank you for reading