Happy Precure Day! It’s the first Sunday in February, which for the last 23 years, means the new Precure series begins! The newest series is Star Detective Precure. “Star” in this case doesn’t mean a star in the sky, it’s the word for a famous person. The new series has some interesting complications, with our main character Anna thrown from 2027 back to 1999, and meeting her Cure partner Mikuru, who wants to become a Star Detective. Fan theories are already flying – that Mikuru is really Anna’s mother in the past. When the series ends in January 2027, presumably Anna will return to the present in real time. We’ll see. Things are looking good for the first episode.

It also means that last week we said goodbye to You and Idol Precure.

I’ve noticed that there’s quite a difference between Japanese Precure fans and Western fans.

First of all, nostalgia isn’t as much of a factor as you’d see with a series like Sailor Moon, because since 2009 every year’s series of Precure has different characters and themes.

From what I’ve seen, Western fans are more likely to be polarized on individual series. The favorites usually include Heartcatch, Go Princess!, and Hugtto. All excellent series. Others seem to be rated lower, and some series fans flatly refuse to watch because they don’t like the concept. Wonderful and You and Idol being in that group.

The biggest favorites in Japan seem to be Yes Precure 5, and Witchy Precure. The two recent “grown-up” Precure seasons featured Cures from those years. But individual series don’t seem to attract disdain the way they do in the West.

A Japanese poll from the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival from November 2025 is one of the more interesting ratings I’ve found. The results are quite different from what you’d expect, and having Orb – On the Movements of the Earth as #4 makes me think this is mainly from adult anime fans. You and Idol ranked #30, and Wonderful Precure at #32. They’re higher than the 2nd season of Kaiju #8, Re:Zero’s 3rd season, Lazarus (51), One Piece (54). Even Mirai Days, the grown-up version of Witchy Precure is on the list as #71.

My theory on this is that Western fans are taking a harder look at the writing and use of the characters, and seeing if the battles stand up to their favorite series, if they’re not avoiding a series completely. So they’ll criticise Wonderful because it featured “chase action” instead of hard-hitting battles (don’t beat up those innocent animals!), You and Idol because Nana/Cure Wink and Kokoro/ Cure Kyun-Kyun were underutilized as characters and didn’t get the attention they deserved.

I suspect the Japanese fans tend to approach the series from a “Were the episodes a bright spot in my week?”, and that’s something that Toei seems to do well with all the series.

Anyway, I think Star Detective first episode has some great things going for it so far.

Have you seen it? What do you think?