Review: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5 (SPOILER FREE!)

Today, the last episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season aired, and with that, the conclusion of the first story arc of the show. Here is my review of the season, with no spoilers for the finale or any episode that hasn't aired on Disney Channel USA yet!

If you don't watch Miraculous, the series is about two teenagers from Paris who have magic jewels, the Miraculous, that they can use to transform into superheroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, to protect Paris from Hawkmoth, a villain who turns ordinary citizens with negative emotions into unique supervillains.

This season mainly dealt with the aftermath of the end of Season 4, where Marinette (aka Ladybug) lost most of her Miraculouses to Hawkmoth, now known as Monarch. With Miraculous-powered up villains wreaking havoc over Paris, it's up to Ladybug and Chat Noir (aka Adrien) to deal with new threats, their love life, and a secret plan that might destroy their world as they know it.

I really enjoyed this season of Miraculous! A lot of the episodes were great, and every single one pushed the story forward in a new direction in ways that wouldn't be seen from previous seasons. We got to know a lot more about the characters, watch the plot progress, and witness the payoff of many things that were set up in previous seasons, which was very rewarding for me as a longtime viewer. The only thing I would criticize, however, is the pacing and how some story arcs (such as the reverse love square) only took a few episodes to resolve, while others (like Marinette trying to confess to Adrien) took more episodes than they should have in order to make the story flow in a meaningful way. (Oh, and the ending might have made me cry...)

Overall, this season would be a 9.5/10 from me. Season 4 is still my favorite because it had the right pacing, but Season 5 is a close second, and I can't wait to watch Season 6 when it comes out in the summer of 2024!