• First of all, let's talk about the gorgeous sakuga in Go! Princess. I can't completely vouch for it being a fluidly animated series all the way through, like a Yuasa Masaaki work, but there are three or four episodes where the animation in the fight scenes will blow you away. The director, Yuuta Tanaka, has only one other credited work and that was on the Heartcatch Precure movie, and Heartcatch is especially known for its brilliant animation, as well as Yoshihiko Umakoshi's memorable designs. Here's to hoping that Tanaka will grace us with more badass magical girls in the future.
• I really enjoyed the designs and the voice acting. Miss Shamour and Shut, in particular, were favorites of mine. Each design blooms with expressiveness and color, although the characters are rather simple in motivation and depth. I think that I expressed this enough with the animation segment, but the animation is certainly something to behold.
• Aesthetically, Go! Princess seems to have taken inspiration from Revolutionary Girl Utena: the main girl is going to find her mysterious, fair-haired, tan-skinned prince, but gains enough power herself to save the entire world instead of relying on another person. Except, Haruka gains her power with the dream of becoming a princess instead of vying to become a prince. I thought this message triumphed over Utena's, in showing young girls that they can be feminine and kick ass as a princess as much as a man could as a prince (a subversion of what we’re taught in classics like Sleeping Beauty).
• With many other Precure shows, I haven't been a fan of the villains presentation but this one is impressive, in that regard. One criticism that I have is that a villain (that later becomes a Precure) was far more interesting as a bad guy and gets shafted as soon as she joins the trio. It was rather sad to see me be so interested in a dark princess, just to see her become a mouthpiece to clarify that their goal should be to rescue the prince.
• The main theme of this Precure is dreams, and we are beheld with the characters ambitions, mistakes, and triumphs through their pursuit of these, though rather simple. Unlike many other children's shows, the scenes are not horribly repetitive and unlike it's predecessor, Happiness Charge Precure, it didn’t seem like a hollow commercial for toys. Yes, there was a toy castle that was used for an attack, but that was not the primary focus of the series. This Precure seemed to care much more about the viewers connection to the characters and the hope that they may be inspired to someday follow their dreams.
• At the moment of publishing this review, I have not finished Heartcatch Precure, which many acclaim to be the best Precure, so by far Go! Princess is the best Precure I've seen. Each episode had me glued to the screen, and wanting more. I never got exhausted and bored because I felt that the show was lowering its quality for a younger audience like I have with Smile Precure, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Sailor Moon R. Whether you are a child, teen, or adult I think this is a good show to watch, I give it a 7/10 and much enthusiasm.
• Haruka Haruno, or Cure Flora, leaves us with a haunting last message as she fights the final villain, "Dreams and despair are two sides of the same of the same coin.” A message that is really helpful to teach the young girls, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and fervently pursuing a dream, who think their ambitions will be met with nothing but sunshine that there is a reality on the other side of hope. Go! Princess breaks the mold to pass along truthful messages, instead of only pretty colors through glitter and sparkle.
