With its mix of 2D anime style, tokusatsu action, and heartfelt character moments, Miraculous World: Tokyo, Stellar Force feels like a bridge between the franchise’s past and future. It honors the Japanese genres that inspired Miraculous while boldly expanding its universe with a team unlike anything fans have seen before. And though the wait for Miraculous: Stellar Force stretches into 2027, this special offers a vibrant, stylish preview of what’s coming next and why the franchise continues to resonate around the world.
(Miraculous Corp/Disney)
Creator Thomas Astruc has long drawn on classic “magical girl” (shōjo) anime like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Pretty Cure. His French CGI take on these familiar Japanese tropes helped make Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir a global phenomenon. The globe-trotting Miraculous World specials have taken fans to New York, London, and Shanghai, but returning to Japan feels particularly appropriate for a series so heavily influenced by the country’s pop-culture traditions.
The special opens with Kagami inviting Marinette to Tokyo to help old friends. When their plane lands at Narita International Airport, the visual style shifts from the show’s usual CGI to a full 2D anime aesthetic, mimicking the very series that inspired Miraculous in the first place. There, Marinette discovers that Kagami’s former friends now form the superhero team known as Stellar Force, but this isn’t another shōjo story.
(Miraculous Corp/Disney)
Stellar Force transforms using Stellar Matrix sprites that become wristwatches and a matrix shard, unlocking suits styled after the Japanese tokusatsu tradition. Each member sports a distinct color and helmet and commands a personal mecha. As in Power Rangers/Super Sentai, their mechas can combine into a giant robot built for battling larger-than-life foes. The upcoming Miraculous Stellar Force series fully embraces this tokusatsu influence, making it a notable stylistic departure within the Miraculous universe.
Like any Super Sentai season, the team is organized around a central theme — in this case, the zodiac. The 12-member lineup blends constellations, animals, and birthstones into a colorful ensemble that fits neatly within the Miraculous world. While all twelve appear in the special, only a few get significant spotlight:
Miki (Leo): Presented as the de facto team leader, Miki transforms into a yellow-suited warrior with a lion-mane-shaped helmet.Kazuno (Capricorn): Once Kagami’s unrequited crush, Kazuno secretly fell for Miki instead, an awkward dynamic that left Stellar Force fractured. The special makes it clear that with their feelings finally on the table, the spin-off series will start with a more united team.
(Miraculous Corp/Disney)
The special also draws heavily from Power Rangers/Super Sentai-style villainy. The team’s masked foe, Moddler, serves a fiery entity known as Supreme. When Moddler’s minions arrive in Tokyo to hunt Stellar Matrix shards, they transform civilians into full kaiju monsters, giving Stellar Force giant adversaries to match their mecha.
Just as Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir pays tribute to magical-girl anime, Miraculous Stellar Force embraces Japan’s tokusatsu tradition. The timing is fitting: Disney is coincidentally helping revive the Power Rangers brand, with a new Disney-backed series filming in early 2026.
(Miraculous Corp/Disney)
If Miraculous began as a love letter to shōjo anime, Tokyo, Stellar Force is its love letter to tokusatsu and a promise of big things ahead. The new special doesn’t just expand the universe; it recharges it with new styles, new heroes, and new storytelling possibilities. Until Miraculous: Stellar Force arrives in 2027, this is the perfect chance for fans to dive into the shows that inspired it, and get ready for the franchise’s next evolution.
Miraculous World: Tokyo, Stellar Force is now airing on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It will begin streaming on Disney+ on February 27th.
AloJapan.com