Waccha PriMagi!

As someone who has seen most of the Pretty Series (save for Himitsu no AiPri), I think this is one of the most solid seasons in a while.
The characters, which are by far my favorite part, are well-developed and not too gimmicky unlike other previous series.
If you're like me, an adult viewer following the franchise (or even a teen), I believe this season will be easier to follow that Pripara + Idol time pripara and Kiratto. I'd think it will be enterely a matter of preference in animation style and light-heartedness whether you like this season or the most dramatic Pretty Rhythm.
Another ... positive - if controversial - point is that is a standalone series, with surprisingly few shot outs to the previous series. While as a long time follower this might seem strange, I think it makes it adequate as an introduction to Pretty Series overall. If I was recommending a non-chronological order to watch the series I'd definitely do that.
In regards to the music, is as solid as usual, and with a different style to that of previous seasons. For me, that'll always be a reason to continue invested in the series. The "last boss" song is particularly memorable. The distribution is similar to Aikatsu! Friends, since all the songs are either duets or solos.
I'm only taking away one point because despite the number of episodes, the resolution after the climax felt fast. In addition, while the ending had a good feel to it, in a way it was also a cop-out of the bittersweet ending. The MC has the typical "red protag" personality, but one has to admit her ending was unlike anything in this franchise.

It's rare that a show is able to completely hook me in from the start but that's what Waccha PriMagi was able to do. With charismatic characters, good comedy, and hints in the background for a deeper plot, it seemed like Waccha was prepared to use its time well and create a stellar show. And in the end Waccha was able to live up to that potential and ended up being one of my favorite shows.

Waccha's characters excel in both being fun characters to watch on screen and as being deep and interesting characters that grow throughout the show. The issues that the main characters ... each have are developed and tackled well. The show being four cours allows each of these issues to be explored through out the span of the series, which gives both a lot of nuance and development to these aspects of the characters, but also gives them a more meaningful and realistic development as they are approached through out the show rather than covered for an episode and then forgotten about. All the while the episodes that focus on these various issues work really well, and provide a lot of good viewing experiences. A good example of this is Miruki. When she's introduced she is presented as a selfish idol, only looking out for herself. But as the show goes on and she gets more screen time more of her personality shines through including a lot of the unique characteristics that drive who she is and the outlook that she has. This development and characterization does a great job of making her feel very real and admirable despite the negative qualities that she has. It also does a good job of showing the viewer why some of her negative qualities are there, and gives a great nuanced picture of her.

The character's charisma are all top notch too. The characters have fun personalities without feeling overly gimmicky or shallow. The interactions between them as well as very fun to watch, as they can bounce off of each other in great ways. The mascots in particular have a lot of great chemistry together. It's always fun to see Myamu and Chimumu bicker with each other as the two's silliness play off well against each other. It's also nice to see bonds like Matsuri's and Hina's where Hina can both be a mentor to Matsuri that helps her get experience and suck into the PriMagi, but also can be a sort of rival at the same time. Each of the various characters between the cast are able to have strong bonds with each other and provide something in their interactions with different characters. The cast is just really fun and likeable. Each of the characters is pretty much able to carry an episode on their own and utilize their unique charm to make the episode fun.

The plot also developed well. The hints that they dropped at the beginning towards conflict in the background where explored later and even brought out a strong theme on the role of technology versus the power of magic when it comes to idol performances and other entertainment like it. Waccha was able to tackle these ideas in various ways with different character's relations to the main theme, without making it overly focused on these thematic ideas. It was able to do this by having these ideas be central to various character's development and plot. They fit into the puzzle pieces the Waccha created itself with and paired well with the natural development and character based issues that the characters were dealing with.

At the end of the day, I really loved this show. It was the show that I looked forward to the most for the past year, with characters that I absolutely loved seeing on screen. Episode after episode Waccha was able to provide a whole bunch of entertainment and enjoyment. The cast has been one of my absolute favorites and ultimately it's hard to say anything but I love this show. It was a great time watching it, and there were so many heartfelt and resonating moments from it that I really enjoyed. It basically fulfilled all that I was hoping for at the beginning. So I'd easily recommend others to watch it. It's really good. I wish I could talk at length about all the specifics I enjoyed about it but I wanted to keep this spoiler free and give an overview. I hope this was fine enough. Personally though I loved the show, and I hope you all enjoy it too. It was a magical watch and I hope for more of it in the future.

(this is copied from my anilist account because it got privated on there. never going to use this account again. ok let's go)

great characters! waccha! great songs! waccha! waccha! waccha! 3, 2, 1, waccha, primagi!

waccha primagi is an adorable, interesting and above all GAY magical idol anime which brings me so much happiness. it started in october 2021 while i was watching tropical rouge precure (watching delicious party precure now) and was something i didn't know i needed <33
to summarise the plot quickly, basically there's a magic world, and the people from there partner with people from the normal world and they perform together. there ... are seven main characters and a few notable side ones. now for the actual review lol

all of the main characters go through compelling development and the show delves into topics such as nepotism, burnout, social anxiety, identity and more. there are also some..... interesting bits later. you will have to waitandsee. point is there is a lot more depth and nuance than what you'd get from your average shounen #notsorry
there's a lot of plot and worldbuilding which is kinda unusual for the pretty series (usually slice of life and character based from what i've seen) but it's very welcome!! definitely adds a lot of spice. the previous entry in the franchise kiratto prichan was pretty derivative for me so it's nice to see something unique and different from what's come before
the songs are catchy and endlessly fun to listen to and the cgi (while it won't be winning any awards) is surprisingly good for a long running tv anime. the normal animation is a bit stiff but you can look past that. don't expect love live level or something. the artstyle is also very colourful and pretty imo :D they use a lot of clashing colours which normally i wouldn't like but uh. idk how to explain it. it just works in this case. good job designers?
a bunch of tropes are subverted like the hetero love triangle, side love interest, shipping dynamics and more. and in general there is a LOT of homosexual activity. like, more than you would expect from a show aimed at kids. i won't spoil everything but there is a certain arc where they all partner up to perform together...... and........... yeah.

i would highly recommend this one if you're into magical girls or idols at all. especially to people who like precure as the tone is quite similar and the ideas (friendship, transformations, magic worlds etc) resemble previous seasons of that particular franchise. [cough cough mahoutsukai precure] takes a little while to warm up but once it gets into it?? excellent. i cried like ten times don't judge me
ALSO IT'S STILL GOING SO WATCH IT EVERY WEEK (45 episodes at the time of writing. season 1 is almost finished wow)
my favourite character is lemon. not that you asked. sheis me. i give it a big old 9.5/10 absolute peak please watch it