Maho Girls
Looking at these designs, I started to wonder whether the cure form or the civilian form gets designed first--I don't know why I've never thought about that. Anyway, it's not relevant lol. Spoilers but Maho and Kirakira Precure share my spot for favourite Precure designs ever. I think they're legitimately perfect. And then we got the treat of the new Adult Mirai Precure (which I watched tearfully with my flatmate and, despite some very confusing writing, adored for sheer whimsy) retaining the girls' personal styles--updating their designs but keeping the magical flair. I've always liked her bob and her cute picnic-like outfit. The big shorts! I like that her civilian name is similar to her cure title, that's a cute touch.
In this season, the girls age up to adulthood when they transform, which I find a cool way to mask their identities and give off the sense of a significant transformation, the sort which changes not only appearance but maybe something deeper. Cure Miracle has a very heroic, angelic cute-witch costume. The pink and blonde combo is visually very pleasing. The soceress theme comes across nicely in these designs, with the outfits balancing standard Precure cutesiness with a season-unique floaty elegance and air of slight oddity. Look at Cure Miracle's oddly placed side ponytail, the translucent elements of the costume, the assymetrical ripple of the skirt, her three orbs which evoke planets or potion bottles (and also the elemental forms the Maho Girls can cycle through). I lovee her cute puffy sleeves and the wing-like white frills all over. I especially love the floating rings--I've always adored that character design trait. Overall, Miracle's costume really looks like a witchy powerup of Mirai's everyday clothing and it's so good. Her hair even sort of looks like a broom's brush. Still, I do agree with a lot of the Maho design critiques, which wish they'd pushed the witch aesthetic even further, especially with a larger hat. Like, these things are TINY.
Okay there's debate about whether her name is Riko or Liko but objectively I'm pretty sure it's both! Riko starts with a dainty dress and sensible shoes, coming across as pretty normal for a witch-in-hiding. She's a practical sort of character and I like that you can tell, and though the weird little pink puffball in her hair is an interesting choice, the fact she keeps it as Cure Magical (and how often do civilian trinkets carry over to magical girl forms?) implies some sort of sentimental value, which is cute. Now, Magical's design is divisive with the strange hair, but conceptually I like it; the hair is shaped like a cloak, with the pigtails sort of resembling a collar. Still, I agree it looks a bit wacky, especially ontop of her cream cape and with how similar in shade it is to her outfit. Cutting her hair off to the neck (where you can see she has a sort of bob outlined) would, imo, fix the hair entirely. I love the main body of her costume, with its details of a necktie instead of Miracle's ribbon, the general fantasy-scholarly vibe. Magical looks kind of bizarre and slapdash but, considering how coherent the Maho designs are, I believe it's intentional. However, I am baffled by the orange feathery bands she wears on her legs. They look very out-of-place. I'd also cut the pink bows from her waistcoat. My strongest opinion is that I'd probably put her in black rather than purple, with purple (in my version) serving as an accent. This would up the witch AND scholar vibes and make her match extra nice with the white-clad Miracle. But this was when Precure was still afraid of black clothing so ah well.
Okay this is the big one, my favourite Precure ever. Cure Felice is my baby my princess and is also the Precure world's version of Mother Earth, here a fairy goddess who reincarnates herself as the adorable Kotoha. Kotoha is like if Equestria Girls Fluttershy slayed. I love her slightly old-fashioned/fantasy silhouette and her palette is straight out of a happy daydream about some enchanted butterfly forest. Making her so innocent and cutesy was a clever move, because it makes the transition to the serene and beautifully OP Cure Felice all the more stark. Cure Felice is not only my favourite cure, but she has my favourite DESIGN. She has such a standout elegance, even when bedecked in big campy flowers and butterfly cutouts. She's the ideal Precure balance of cute and graceful and powerful. My favourite details include her flowy sleeves, the rose blooming on her bodice, the vine-like ballet shoes, of course that stunning palette and, dear goodness, her HAIRSTYLE. Not only is Felice's hair gorgeous, but its circular shape implies her ties with life and her ability to reincarnate.I recall when she came out soo many people were angry about her having pink hair rather than green, but I think the soft pink is a good choice here. Green could have been interesting too, I know. I just love Felice and I would never change a thing about her. Like, she's a beautiful Lilymon fairy magical girl with functional wings and also she's a god. Side note, her transformation is the best. The way you see how her costume comes together organically and the way she emerges from the big flower whadhds
Okay weirdly impossible to find good quality pics of these but...this season has form changes. The girls (sans Felice bc she's already beautifully overpowered I suppose) use their Linkle Stones to cycle through Ruby, Sapphire and Topaz forms. I wish they got an Emerald form too, but what we got is so good I can't be upset. The Ruby forms have cute flamelike pigtails and a "passion/romance" theme, and of course actual fire powers. I love the consistency of Miracle having a paler accent colour and Magical getting a darker accent. Miracle looks adorable with her sweet Lolita lace and hearts. Magical is a bit weaker, not really conveying much, but I guess she doesn't have to because Miracle will always be beside her in scenes, with her big hearts to shout THIS FORM'S THEME IS PASSION AND LOVE. I'm also unsure about the pigtails on Magical--again you can see the silhouette of a potentially superior bob, but, like, Precure is scared of short hair on women, as we know. I hesitate to say this but Magical's design also feels sort of mature/"sexier" for a Precure. I hesitate bc she's definitely not sexy, she's still technically 14 under there (until we get to the sequel where they're both 20 all the time), but I'd say that was the intent, and the garter belts do look cool. In general Magical's Ruby form is cool, even if I think Miracle's is better! Maybe giving Magical more of a Gothic Lolita look would be a sweet way to mirror the Ruby girls...
The Sapphire forms adopt more of Riko's scholarly flair, representing Wisdom. These are so pretty, with an ethereal statue-like look to them. The flowing robes evoke their water powers while also giving a nice longer silhouette. The flipped matching ponytails are a great touch. While I wish they could have let Miracle go without pink (because, cute as it is, here it is very out of place), I love the general colour scheme with the dips of golden yellow. The twisting sleeves are a gorgeous touch too. Again, Magical kiinda got the weaker design? But since these will only ever be viewed as a pair (the girls literally have to hold hands/kiss in the sequel to transform) I look at them as a pair too, and as a pair they're pretty much pair-fect.
I love the Topaz forms because I love when Precure does something goofy on purpose. The Topaz grants the power of electricity, but rather than sticking to that, the girls get big, over the top candy-themed costumes and their attack is playing electric energy tennis. PEAK. In this case I even think Magical got a slightly superior costume, especially paired with Miracle. There's some nice character storytelling in the details here: Miracle has big campy brightly-coloured accessories which Magical has noticeably forgone. Magical's more muted palette is very in-character while still giving her a fun pudding skirt and what looks like an actual custard pudding wobbling precariously on her head. Miracle has comically large cumbersome braids which I love, very pastry-shaped. Meanwhile Magical has a slightly more subdued hairstyle, if you can call it that. I still wish they'd maybe let her be rid of the cape hair for a minute because, again, imagining this hair as just the upper segment, I like it a lot more.
Though she originated in a movie, Cure Mofurun has since appeared a few more times and is always a delight. I think she's, like, impossible to hate. She's a stuffed bear who is kind of transgender and is objectively one of the least annoying Precure mascots; in fact, Mofurun is genuinely lovable and cute without the show trying too hard. As Cure Mofurun, she has a refreshingly orange palette with fun stripes and fluffy shorts! She even wears little pink and purple charms to signify her lesbian mothers...awww...if I have any notes, maybe I'd prefer the bear ears to be a bit more organic-looking (she is a stuffed bear, sure, but she doesn't have to wear Disneyland ears) and, my eternal comment: the hair would probably be cuter if it was cut off at the first line, you know, the part where it seems to be a little pageboy cut. Still! It's Cure Mofurun < 3
In general this season proved to me that I especially appreciate magical girl designs that go for something interesting and thematic, something perhaps impossible to wear irl. It enhances that sense of magic and, even in the case of designs which are a bit cluttery, I'll always take them over something plain and safe :3