What Is Pretty Cure? The Long-Running Girls' Anime Franchise Now on Its 23rd Series, Explained by Marine

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Now in its 23rd year of continuous new series, Pretty Cure remains the defining modern magical girl franchise for young audiences in Japan.

A New Series, Every Single Year

Toei Animation launched the first Pretty Cure series, "Futari wa Pretty Cure," in 2004. Rather than continuing one ongoing story, the franchise resets annually: a new cast, new theme, and new magical transformation powers debut with each yearly series, while still sharing the "Pretty Cure" name and core magical-girl-team format. This structure has made it the longest continuously running modern magical girl franchise in Japan.

The 2026 Series

The franchise's 23rd installment, "Star Detective Precure!," began airing February 1, 2026, directed by Koji Kawasaki. Themed around detective work and time travel, it follows 14-year-old Anna Akechi, who time-slips from 2027 to 1999 Makoto Mirai City and meets Mikuru Kobayashi, a girl who dreams of becoming a detective — continuing the franchise's tradition of trying a fresh genre concept each year.

What To Know

Pretty Cure's decision to fully reset its cast, setting, and theme every single year, rather than running one continuous story, is a structural choice almost unique among long-running anime franchises — it lets each series experiment with wildly different genres (idols, cooking, space, detective work) while still building on 20-plus years of shared franchise trust with its audience.

Pretty Cure occupies a specific, commercially important slot in Japanese television, the Sunday morning "girls' anime" timeslot, alongside toy and merchandise tie-ins releasing in sync with each year's new series, a business model distinct from how most fan-driven anime franchises operate.

What Fans Are Saying

• "A completely new cast and theme every single year for two decades is such a unique format."
• "The detective/time-travel angle for this year's series sounds like a fun change of pace."
• "Impressive that Toei has kept this format going consistently since 2004."

Original Japanese

• 「20年以上、毎年新しいキャストとテーマで続けているのは本当にユニークです」
• 「今年の探偵×タイムトラベルというテーマは新鮮ですね」
• 「2004年からずっとこの形式を維持しているのはすごいことだと思います」

Easy Japanese

「プリキュア」シリーズは、東映アニメーションが毎年新しく作る魔法少女アニメです。2004年から続いています。