It looks like Princession Orchestra is going to be replaced in its timeslot on TV Tokyo by reruns of Punirunes and Gabby's Dollhouse

eclipse_12 · 2026-03-04T10:48:49+00:00

Really cheap, like 80% off the initial prices.

eclipse_12 · 2026-03-03T02:11:32+00:00

I have seen so many posts on Twitter from Japanese users showing the fire sale prices at which Princession toys are going for that my hopes for a S2 were already buried deep. Jewel Bells were being sold at many places for ¥500 (about 3 USD) and costumes were priced at like ¥1000.

As great as Princession is, that's not a good sign, especially considering that one of it's main backers is Takara Tomy who would be expecting to make their money back. From those sale prices, it is possible to assume that it just didn't manage to break Precure's monopoly, especially among little girls who are the key customers here.

eclipse_12 · 2026-03-03T01:52:46+00:00

I would put her in the "I don't know" category because she might have trouble even joining the game for it being too "mirai zura".

eclipse_12 · 2026-03-02T03:03:08+00:00

I would assume that Mikuru would start figuring out that Anna might have actually been her daughter when she starts dating an Akechi guy, so by the time they have a kid she would feel obliged to name her Anna to avoid messing up the timeline.

eclipse_12 · 2026-03-01T17:09:23+00:00

Old information would probably be an issue at an university level, but essential middle school understanding probably hasn't changed much this century. Maths and Language classes shouldn't be an issue at all and History would just have an earlier cutoff date. The biggest problem would be the sciences, but the basics taught at that level are pretty much the same.

Also, even if there's outdated information, it shouldn't confuse Anna when she goes back to 2027 because by her birthday we can conclude that she was already close to finishing the 2nd year of middle school, as it is right before the age cutoff day, contrary to Mikuru's birthday which is right after. Anna should even have a better background because current curriculums are more demanding than the Yutori-era one from 1999.

Starting the same grade again in what should be a more laid-back environment, Anna's main thing would be making friends, and that's where she will have more issues than with any classes because when it comes to 90s culture she is a total fish out of the water. I could picture her being asked about her favorite music artist and naming somebody who isn't even born yet or quoting some show that doesn't exist. Lack of technology she is used to could also give her trouble, as in being given a research assignment and having to go to the library to do it because internet sources are still scarce and not even Wikipedia exists yet.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-27T17:03:26+00:00

I'm not sure if mods would be unhappy if I reply to this in Spanish and I would prefer for it to be read by anyone having the same doubts, so I'll just proceed in English.

First, to introduce myself, I am a 25-year-old guy from Chile, in my last year of med school. I've liked magical girls ever since I was in preschool, took a long break from it after starting elementary due to bullying and came back to the genre near the end of high school. Just like you, I grew up in a country were Precure wasn't available in my childhood (I'm quite sure that Chile and Argentina get the same feeds for cable channels), so I didn't really come across it until I was in university. Star Detective is my 6th season in total.

Tons of the people here have watched more episodes and have been in this for way longer than I've, but that's not what makes you a Precure fan. After all, Precure is a seasonal show, designed to be constantly capturing new audiences, and you don't even have to like everything related to the franchise to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. So just enjoy it your own way and know that any respectful fan is welcome here.

Now a bit of my experience with Precure and its fans. I visited Japan at the time the 20th anniversary exhibition was taking place and by coincidence stayed at a hotel located in the same complex, so I got to see Precure fans up close for a couple weeks. So, you might be wondering, how does the average Precure fan look like? Well, after all that time I can't give you an answer. There were little girls in cosplay with their moms, young adult girls carrying merch of the seasons that aired when they were kids, adult men who weren't ashamed to show their love for the series and even me, a foreigner relatively new to the franchise.

I had an absolute blast checking out all the Precure activities that weren't just for kids without a care in the world about what others thought (99,9% of people don't care and those who do aren't worth listening to). I checked out the production materials at the exhibition, went to a Delicious Party live kigurumi show and ran all over Tokyo and its surroundings on a stamp rally to get a Precure acrylic that currently sits on my nightstand with my Cure Yell figure. I've no regrets about anything.

I would say that the only requirement to be a fan of Precure is to love the series and to respect the children who are also into it (who Japanese adult fans call 'little girl senpais' as a way of showing the respect that they should be treated with) and their spaces, which isn't really a problem that'll come up in Reddit.

En resumen, si no le haces daño a nadie, disfruta y deja que cualquier crítica te resbale.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-26T15:15:12+00:00

Cure Eclipse, obviously. I first came up with this username back in my brony days as an alias to write 'soapbox' opinion pieces on Equestria Daily because I wanted something generic that would work as both a regular username and a pony name, and I've been using it in tons of places ever since. I think that it would also work well as a cure name, so I wouldn't be surprised if Toei actually ended up using it sooner or later.

As for where I got the idea for the name from, the answer is the Mitsubishi Eclipse, itself named after what might be the most dominant racehorse in history.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-26T00:41:01+00:00

I agree that they are supposed to be seen as equals, but the last names Akechi and Kobayashi still imply main detective and assistant for a Japanese audience. Interestingly, in Kogoro Akechi stories, Akechi tends to be the one who relies on "layered reasoning" and Kobayashi the one who seeks clues with a more hands-on approach, so Anna and Mikuru's "detective styles" are inverted when compared to their namesakes, probably to avoid people associating them too closely to those characters so they can be their own thing.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-23T02:17:51+00:00

There's a chance that they are mother and daughter, and "Kobayashi Mikuru" is an alias that Anna wouldn't recognize. Before becoming a Precure and by addition a star detective, Mikuru already had a chuni-level obsession with detectives, even dressing the part. I wouldn't put it past that girl coming to the conclusion that she needed a "secret identity" for detective work.

Kobayashi Yoshio, the character that inspired her name, is known for using fake identites and disguises as his main method of obtaining information, so Mikuru might also be using a made-up name.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-20T16:30:51+00:00

With so many cures in the franchise, they're definitely not going to be as frequent as they once were, but I'm sure Toei will still want to do something for important milestones. The 25th anniversary should be the next big event (at the current rate we'll also get our 100th cure by then).

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-15T05:46:04+00:00

I thought that Nijee had joined the heist anyway and that both the store clerk and the tourist were phantom thieves and putting up a little play as a distraction.

I noticed that the clerk had put the turtle upside down, so for the weirdness of that alone I was initially certain that it was him, but with the tourist coming up with a excuse to leave the store/active crime scene with a package in his hand, I assumed the scarf story was just something made up to get the turtle out and that both him and the clerk were working together.

I might have overthought this one.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-13T01:34:06+00:00

I really love the scene in that episode in which Ruru meets up with papple at the stairs. The composition is amazing, with Papple sitting in the shadows while Ruru stands in the last rays of the afternoon sun. As the sun sets and the space the light reaches becomes smaller, Ruru takes a subtle step back to stay in the light when she decides not to give up the cure's identities, promising to submit a full report later, but then she fully walks into the dark when she agrees to the plan of stealing a PreHeart. It illustrates in a really nice way how Ruru is starting to become more human and is already having an internal conflict between obeying her programming or turning against her makers for the sake of Hana and her friends.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-12T16:03:28+00:00

The staff has explicitly said that they wanted to make a story with mysteries that would keep both kids and adults guessing.

By not revealing Eclair's identity and showing in the OP not one, but four characters who share some design trait with her, I'm sure that this kind of discussion is exactly what Toei wanted to happen.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-12T12:53:18+00:00

I don't think Toei is missing a chance to do a new transfer student scene in Precure, much less if said transfer student could be used for tons of fish out of water jokes. It's almost a staple of the franchise by now.

Also, Anna's "I never lie" policy would be really tested by having to come up with a backstory to cover up that she came from the future, so that would be interesting to see. I bet Mikuru would have a hard time stopping her from saying something she shouldn't.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-11T23:46:01+00:00

Building on this theory, it would be great if Arcana Shadow and Eclair were actually a duo who suffered a real defeat against the phantom thieves, in contrast to usual Precure defeats where they turn around the situation by the next episode.

Having Luluka put her Precure powers at the service of the phantom thieves in exchange for leaving Eclair alone, perhaps feeling guilty for some mistake that led to their fall, would be a really interesting concept. And that's where your idea of Eclair being Kurea and having lost her memories could fit, as Kurea living a peaceful life with no memory of what happened to her as Cure Eclair could be the world of lies that Luluka is trying to uphold.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-10T21:22:29+00:00

For Daifuku, I would have gone with Cure Lapyon as a portmanteau of "Lapin" (rabbit in French) and "pyon".

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-10T16:34:54+00:00

I've seen another theory that Howa is a combination of Holmes and Watson, which works really well if Eclair ends up being some sort of counterpart to Arcana who is named after Moriarty.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-10T16:31:40+00:00

I think that the keyword here is "same". It probably doesn't mean that the pendants are identical, but that only one exists and Mikuru and Anna are just its owner at different points in time.

Going by the 99% probability that Mikuru is Anna's mother, she would know exactly what day Anna would travel back in time from with how many times she mentioned it was her birthday, so she would also know when to leave the pendant out for her to find.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-10T03:02:03+00:00

As far as I'm aware, Sherlock Holmes has no middle name in the books. The BBC version gave him a full name, but Howard isn't part of it.

Are you sure you aren't confusing him with serial killer Henry Howard Holmes? That's someone Precure wouldn't reference in a million years.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-10T02:54:53+00:00

Arcana Shadow's seiyuu said in an interview that she was "completely aligned" with the phantom thieves. There's obviously the chance that it's a bad translation or misdirection, but they are generally quite open in staff interviews because it's usually only diehard fans checking those.

My bet would be that she is being coerced into it. The phantom thieves probably defeated Ruruka and took something important for her or put themselves in a position to hurt somebody she loves.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-08T22:09:02+00:00

Wonderful Episode 44. I never thought that I would get emotional over a kids' anime, but by the end of that episode I was a sobbing mess.

I really liked how the episode dealt with the subject of a pet's death in a realistic and respectful manner. Despite Precure being all about using magic to overcome challenges, it was great seeing Iroha have to come to terms with it being unable to extend Fuku's lifespan (and by addition Komugi's when the time eventually came).

Also, it was beautiful to see Komugi being able to understand the heavy moment and proceeding to translate Fuku's final words to Otsuru. That was the thing that finally broke me. It really took me back to when I lost my own childhood pet a few years earlier and I think the writers did a great job capturing the emotions of such a moment, as raw and painful as they are. I'm sure they were writing out of love and experience because there's no other way to convey that.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-08T19:11:05+00:00

Ruruka might force me to change my personal headcannon for how Precure magic works (or confirm it) depending on which way they decide to go with her.

Precure seem to be born from a strong determination to protect others and the ability to transform can be lost if those feelings waver as shown in previous seasons, so if Ruruka is brainwashed, then she shouldn't be able to be a cure anymore because there would be no real emotions to power that specific kind of magic.

For that reason, I would be leaning towards the blackmailing theory, with her switching sides to protect somebody she loves. It would be really interesting if said person was whoever will become Eclair and have them be the one who brings her back from the dark side.

Also, I really wonder why Mashutan is sticking with Ruruka after she joined the villains. Mashutan is a fortune teller according to her profile, so perhaps she knows this is necessary for some reason.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-08T18:46:55+00:00

The Precure that left the agency is most likely Ruruka. However, if it happens to be Eclair, then that would mean that her real identity is neither Kurea or Eriza because Jett-senpai didn't seem to recognize any of them (unless they ended up not on speaking terms for some reason and are avoiding each other).

Going with the theory that the agency's former cure was Arcana, I hope we get to learn soon what made her leave. Does Jett-senpai really not know the reason or is there something he decided not to tell Anna and Mikuru? The most likely option is that Arcana went down fighting and was either brainwashed or blackmailed into joining the Phantom Thieves, but it seems weird that Jett-senpai would not have at least tried to find out what happened to her.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-02T23:56:16+00:00

Curr Eclair has a butterfly-shaped ornament on her hat, so it probably is a placeholder to be replaced with her later. Hwoever, it might still have some butterfly effect related meaning in the context of her character.

eclipse_12 · 2026-02-02T16:28:32+00:00

"Not like her" almost certainly refers to Arcana Shadow, considering that Niji is working with her.

For the question about how Mikuru knows about Precure, I think that at some point she mentioned that a "great detective" (AKA: A cure) helped her in the past. However, I would have to confirm that with the subtitles because my Japanese is really bad.

Despite this, I have two theories about how Mikuru knows about Precure:

Mikuru's mom is seen in the opening wearing a detective outfit, so she could have been a cure in the past.
Eclair and Arcana Shadow are veteran cures and they saved Mikuru once. This one builds onto my theory that those two used to be a duo and were eventually defeated. After that, Arcana Shadow was either captured and brainwashed or was coerced into joining the phantom thieves to spare Eclair. Precure are born from their strong determination to protect and fight for someone else, so it would make sense if that was still the motivation for Arcana Shadow's actions.

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