Princession Orchestra

Princession Orchestra seems to be a love letter to the original Magical Girl Franchise. And I am saying that as someone who does enjoy the genre trying to evolve every now and then. But since the "original" genre is mostly dominated by PreCure nowadays and it often being an advertisement for the toys they want to sell, this show was definitely a welcome addition. I will say, if you never liked the typical Magical Girl formula, Princession Orchestra will not change your opinion on it as it goes through the typical elements which I will discuss in a bit. But if you are either alreadya fan of the genre or you were at some point and lost interest, this is definitely a recommendation in my opinion, because it does all the things you would expect from a Magical Girl show, but really hones most of these elements to near perfection that there aren't a lot of negative things to say. There are basically only two aspects where I think the show could and should improve. These are the characters (which I will go into in more depth) and the animation which is very basic and you can see they try to work around it, but are not always able to cover for the lower budget or talent. However, just to make this clear, it's not really bad, just noticeable if you are looking for it. But that is enough of the general introduction. Let's go into a bit more detail. 1. The Story The story is honestly very typical of what you would assume from a Magical Girl show. There is a world where the "mascot" characters live and which is threatened by some sort of force that they are not able to deal with themselves, so they have girls transform into Princesses which take care of the attackers. With the difference being that this world is not unknown to people, since every girl a certain age can enter there. It's more like a fun hangout space for teenage girls where they can pursue their hobbies, mostly related, but not exclusive to singing and dancing. And the Alicepeans (the mascot characters) also help every girl to properly do what they want to do. Now, the bulk of the episodes is following the typical magical girl formula: A bit of slice of life, either where the main characters are hanging out with one another and follow their own hobbies or they meet a side character which shows them their hobby. Then the antagonists appear and turn one of the civilians' "music strength" (which is the energy in this world created by doing the things you like) into a monster that our main characters have to defeat. With them coming to a realization about the character or themselves. And then a small epilogue of this week's story. And this is why I mentioned above, that people that never really got into the magical girl genre, will not change their opinion. Because not only is that a typical story of the week formula, but also because you can bring all your usual criticisms here as well: Why are the bad guys only sending out minions and not fight themselves? Why are they fighting one by one? And so on. To be fair to the show, there is some sort of explanation this time, but it's also not entirely consistent and it definitely won't change your overall view on this type of story telling. Similarly, the themes explored are very basic and since there is usually only one episode time, don't expect too much depth. Most of it boils down to continuing to do the things you like. There are some more "complex" themes when it comes to the big antagonists. For example, the first one follows the idea of "sacrificing people in order for a few select to become powerful enough to overcome catastrophes", but I am sure, most of you already know what the answer of our main characters to that is going to be. Yes, this is ultimately a very "power of friendship" coded series, like most (or all) magical girl series are. And just to make this clear here, this isn't me saying, these things are bad. If you know what to expect, you can have a lot of fun with all of this, because as mentioned above, it is honed very well. The slice of life elements are fun and don't repeat themselves too much even if they usually cover similar themes. And while the themes aren't explored in much depth, the conflict between our main characters and the antagonists is well executed as well. It's an actual clash of ideals where our main characters have to find their own answers in order to achieve victory. And that is the most important thing in magical girl shows in my opinion. Similarly, the story in itself has some twists and turns. You won't be really surprised if you pay a bit of attention, but there was definitely more "story" than you would typically find in a magical girl show. So all in all, the story of the week episodes did their job without overstaying their welcome either and when the show went into main story territory, despite the themes being very basic, the conflict was portrayed in a way that was fun to follow. 2. The Characters This is probably the aspect where I think the show falls a bit behind others in its genre. Which isn't to say that the characters are bad. And I want to start this section by making this fact clear. They all have fun personalities, meaning when they are just doing their slice of life moments, you have fun just watching them. In particular, Nagase is a bit more of the comedic character and worked really well, but Kagari and Minamo did not have to hide either. They were also not really one-note, but had different layers to their personality which were shown during different moments of the show. And not to forget, the antagonists were also more interesting than you would expect from this type of show. And I don't just mean, the big antagonists behind all that, but the "minions" as well. They not only get their own character that works really well throughout the show, but they even have some form of "development" even if it isn't too big since they aren't the main focus of the show. But the main problem for me is that there isn't really much "conflict" or development when it comes to the main characters. What do I mean by this? Firstly, the development part. The main issue is that the development is very frontloaded. So the characters are introduced with some sort of "flaw" and it is then immediately resolved in the same episode when they become Princesses. This is most noticable for Nagase (and two characters that are introduced at the half way point of the show). The problem with this is that it makes the characters feel like they are standing still, because for the rest of the show, they don't have anything to improve for themselves. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, if it is about them helping others, but since those are often stories of the week, it can become a bit repetitive if our main characters take nothing from those interactions. And that is if you even get that initial development. Which brings us to Kagari. Because she was already a Princess before the show started, they skipped this introductory development alltogether. She is the same from beginning to end. And that could be fine if this was a 12 episode show, but it has 48 episodes and then, it starts to be noticeable. Now, I also want to mention that there are two exceptions from the rule, which are Minamo and her friend Natsu, who every now and then get an episode which includes development for them. And I really appreciated these moments. It just begs the question why the other characters did not get this treatment. The second part, the "conflict", is a way more subjective one. Like in many other magical girl shows, our Princesses were not friends from the beginning, but only became those once they became Princesses together. And that usually opens the door for a bit of conflict between them, since they have differing personalities (and which then could be used to show their stronger bond as friends when they overcome this conflict). But Princession Orchestra does not do that at all. From the moment they meet, they are friends and there is never an argument between them. And as said, some might even prefer this, because a conflict can also feel artifical if done poorly. But similarly to the general development, I feel, when you have 48 episodes, then having an epsiode or two dedicated to the characters arguing and through that, become even better friends is kind of expected and also needed. Because without it, this friendship feels very simple and lacks identity in my opinion. 3. Action and Music Which brings us to the last big point that is the technical side. As already written in the introduction, the animation is fine. It is nothing to write home about, but it's also not that bad that you can't have fun with the show. But you will notice the shortcomings here and there. What I did like about the fight scenes was that the girls were allowed to really punch and kick. Sure, they have their magical attack at the end of a battlle as well, but the show isn't afraid to show girls throwing hands. Which is something that is often a bit lacking when it comes to the newer PreCure seasons after all. As for the music, I liked it. The characters get their own insert songs which fit their personality which is always a plus (favorite one being Kagari's). But what I really appreciated was how they implemented the insert song. Because the characters are singing in-universe to unleash their power. And usually, this just means that the insert song is put over the scene. But this show went a step ahead. Meaning that when a character is talking, they can't sing (obviously), so only the music is played until they can sing again. But even better, when the characters are fighting while singing, they don't quite hit the notes as they usually would. Because fighting is exhausting on its own already. And that is a detail that really elevated these moments for me, because it really gave the feeling of the characters singing and fighting at the same time. It is a detail that most anime wouldn't include because you have to record the singing for every scene individually, which is why it stands out so positively here. 4. Summary All in all, Princession Orchestra is a really well-made old-school magical girl anime. If you like this combination of slice of life and fights, then you will like Princession Orchestra, because it does most of these things very well. It doesn't re-invent the wheel but it also does not have to, because you can often feel that the people behind the show are fans of the genre. However, this also means that the themes that are explored are very simple and it isn't going into too much depth when discussing them. But that is something most would assume I think. Where I do think the show lacks a bit is in the animation department (though it isn't like magical girl shows are full with great animation, so it's probably also what you would expect) and the characters. Who while being fun lack a bit of development over time and their friendship is kept very simple with no arguments or any conflict in between our main group. Still, it is a show that I enjoyed over all and I think fans of the genre will as well.

Princession Orchestra is a long-running magical girl anime brought to us by veteran director Shin Oonuma, and his distinctive style occasionally bubbles up to give the series a unique edge. The standard trappings of magical girls are combined with Alice in Wonderland-inspired fantasy elements, a slightly gothic aesthetic, and the more recent trend of musical performances and idols to create an identity all its own that I really vibed with. As for its ability to convey that through its art direction, Silver Link continues to be a studio constantly shooting for the moon, but not always reaching a truly spectacular outcome. The art quality overallrarely dips into anything I would call bad and its sense for compositing somehow manages to be stronger that some more high-profile project from this season, but the bulk of it outside of the big action climaxes tends to evoke a solid “it’s alright,” though said action climaxes can be pretty stellar, and the scenes of characters singing can feel a bit stilted and awkward at times. In contrast, the plethora of insert songs spread across the series are consistently excellent and catchy J-pop tracks that fit both their assigned situations and the overall tone of the series exceedingly well. I will definitely be adding these to my playlists for future enjoyment, which is well more than I can say about the other idol-themed magical girls series from a much bigger franchise that just so happened to air alongside Princession, and the fact that there are multiple recordings of several tracks to properly reflect how the characters are performing them in any given scene really showed that this team wanted to go the extra mile. The chemistry amongst both the main cast and the assortment of side characters cycled in and out for each new episodic story was one of its narrative highlights, with the comedic, yet naturalistic dialogue making the scenes of everyday life surprisingly enjoyable. On the other hand, it occasionally encounters some hiccups with its overarching story; not in the sense of what actually happens, but with either the abruptness or dragged out-ness of certain plot twists, leading to the grand outline of the plot feeling a bit jagged. I generally enjoyed the world of Alicepia and its position as a conduit through which young girls are encouraged to express their creativity, and some of the design elements are fairly solid, but there aren’t many specifics that I’ll be thinking about for long after finishing this aside from it being Wonderland-adjacent. There are plenty of areas where I wish this series was a bit stronger, but I’m still fairly satisfied at the end of all of it and glad that Oonuma got to do a traditional magical girl series imbued with the sensibilities of his that I’ve grown fond of over the years.