| 124th | Top programs broadcast by Animax |
| 61st | Top programmes broadcast by Television Broadcasts Limited |
| 84th | Top fantasy anime |
| Futari wa Pretty Cure | |
|---|---|
![]() Cure Black (Nagisa) and Cure White (Honoka) |
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| ふたりはプリキュア (Futari wa Purikyua) |
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| Genre | Magical girl, Action, comedy |
| TV anime | |
| Director | Daisuke Nishio |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Licensor | |
| Network | |
| Original run | February 1, 2004 – January 30, 2005 |
| Episodes | 49 |
| TV anime | |
| Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart | |
| Director | Daisuke Nishio |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Network | (Jan 28-Jul 8,2007) |
| Original run | February 6, 2005 – January 29, 2006 |
| Episodes | 47 |
| Anime film | |
| Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart: The Movie | |
| Director | Atsuji Shimizu |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | |
| Runtime | 70 min |
| Anime film | |
| Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart the Movie 2: Yukizora no Tomodachi | |
| Director | Atsuji Shimizu |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | |
| Runtime | 80 min |
Futari wa Pretty Cure (ふたりはプリキュア Futari wa Purikyua, lit. We are Pretty Cure), is a Japanese magical girl anime series, part of the Pretty Cure metaseries produced by Toei Animation and broadcast across Japan by Animax, TV Asahi and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. The series is watched mostly by junior and high school students in Japan; it is also broadcast around the world. The original Pretty Cure series, directed by Daisuke Nishio (known for Dragon Ball Z and Air Master), premiered on TV Asai February 1, 2004. The series is continued in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart (ふたりはプリキュア ー マックスハート Futari wa Purikyua Makkusu Haato) which premiered on February 6, 2005.
Contents |
The first story revolves around two girls, Nagisa Misumi, and Honoka Yukishiro, who by encounter the Garden of Light's Mipple and Mepple who give them the means to the fight the forces of the Dark Zone—a dimension of evil that encroached on the Garden of Light and as now about to do the same to the Garden of Rainbows, Earth. The initial run of the series has Cure White and Cure Black searching for the Prism Stones, and they place them in a heart-shaped device known as the Prism Hopish. The Hopish is protected by the Guardian, Wisdom. Once they have discovered all the Prism Stones, its power takes them to the Garden of Light and repairs most of the damage done by the Dark Zone. Later in the series, Porun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, granting the Pretty Cure duo use of their Rainbow Bracelets as they defeat the Dark King.
Max Heart continues the story when Nagisa and Honoka meet the mysterious Hikari Kujou, revealed to be the "Life" of the Queen with no memory of her life before and powers scattered in the form of the "Heartiel." But as the Pretty Cure duo attempt to find the Heartiel, remnants of the Dark Zone are protecting a mysterious boy suspected to be the "Life" of the Dark King. Cure Black and Cure White fight back these new enemies with Hikari backing them up as Shiny Luminous.
Nagisa Misumi (美墨なぎさ Misumi Nagisa, Natalie Blackstone in the English version) is the ace of the school lacrosse team. She is also a close friend of Akane-San (or Alex in the English Dub), who has her own Takoyaki Stand(Doughnut stand in english dub). Her alter ego Cure Black (キュア・ブラック Kyua Burakku), is the strong fighter of the Pretty Cure duo. She is the one with the strength and the heart. She is quite girly and image conscious, and has a large collection of stuffed animals. Nagisa is weak in academics but makes up for it with pure spirit and energy. She also has a large appetite and loves to eat chocolate and, according to Honoka, foods with the word "yaki" in the name. She likes shopping but tends to squander her money and ends up having none when she needs it most. Nagisa has a crush on Honoka's friend, Fuji-pi, also known as Fergison (or Fergy in the English Dub), and gets flustered whenever he is around. To her dismay, Nagisa is more popular with the girls than the boys. She has a younger brother, Ryouta (Ryan), who seems to have a crush on Honoka. Aside from Honoka, Nagisa's best friends are Shiho (Shawna) and Rina (same name in English Dub). She is also considered the life of the party, because of her fun spirit and pure heart.Voiced by: Yoko Honna (Japanese), Rocio Barahona (English) As Cure Black, Nagisa wears a black and pink outfit.
Honoka Yukishiro (雪城ほのか Yukishiro Honoka, Hannah Whitehouse in the English version) is the quiet and reserved one, but that does not keep her from having her own friends and following. She can be quite strict and evil when the situation calls for it. Her alter ego is Cure White (キュア・ホワイト Kyua Howaito). Her specialty is the science club, where she is looked up to by the others. Honoka hasn't had many friends, but the few she has seem to be really close to her. It has also been noted that she's relatively popular with the boys, though she seems to have little interest in them. She has a love and friendship bond with Kirea during the first season, and realised it in the second season. She lives with her grandmother and their dog, Chuutaro. Her parents are art dealers and spend most of their time overseas. They return once a year for Honoka's birthday. Despite their prolonged absences, they seem to have a good relationship with their daughter. Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese), Michelle Molineux (English) As Cure White, Honoka wears a white and blue outfit. Mepple (メップル Meppuru) is the chosen protector of the Princess of Hope. Because of this, he and Mipple have a "lovey-dovey" relationship. He tends to be a little more agitating and controlling, constantly making fun of Natalie as they get into arguments. He is also mildly jealous of Porun and wishes Porun would act less selfish at times. However, Mepple is just as selfish, constantly eating or whining about being hungry and noting to himself that Nagisa is easy to manipulate. He resides with Natalie and ends his sentences with "mepo". Both Mipple and Mepple can only stay in their true forms for a short time before growing tired, so they generally take energy-saving forms resembling cellphones. Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Roger Rhodes (English)
Mipple (ミップル Mippuru) is the Princess of Hope from the Garden of Light. She, like Hannah, is generally more reserved than her male counterpart. She's always sticking up for Porun, though, once he comes on the scene, and that tends to cause problems between her and Mepple. She resides predominantly with Honoka and ends all her sentences with the word "mipo". She gets annoyed of Mepple getting angry at Porun very often. Voiced by: Akiko Yajima (Japanese), Angie Beers (English)
Porun (ポルン Porun) is the Prince of the Garden of Light. He is sent to Earth after Pretty Cure gather all the prism stones. The Queen gives a cryptic statement about his powers aiding Pretty Cure. Later, when Wisdom is in trouble, Wisdom places the power of the Rainbow Stones into Porun without his knowledge. This gives him the ability to remain in his regular form as well as the ability to communicate with various people from the Garden of Light. When communicating with members of the Garden of Light, he turns into what looks like a gaming console and everyone can hear what is said and communicate openly. He also grants Pretty Cure the power of light which gives them their Rainbow Bracelets. He tends to be extremely selfish and think only of himself. He is quite childish and has a lot of energy. He can get a little annoying at times and definitely annoys Mepple. He lives predominantly with Natalie in Pretty Cure and with Hikari in Max Heart. He tends to end his sentences with "popo". He enjoys getting between Mipple and Mepple. Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa (Japanese), Kris Rundle (English)
Lulun (ルルン) is the Princess of Light who can connect the future. She thinks of Porun as her older brother and always annoyed him. Lulun can give the Heartiel Broach to Luminous. She ends her sentences with "-lulu". Voiced by: Asuka Tanii
Queen (クイーン Kuīn) is the ruler of the Garden of Light (光の園 Hikari no Sono), a realm protected by the power of the Prism stones. She appears as a huge CGI woman sitting on a throne, though she is easily overtowered by the Dark King. She carries a heart-shaped item of some sort. She has stated that she is impressed with the courage of Pretty Cure and aids them when she can. She seems to always be closing her eyes. During Max Heart, the Queen's being broke apart and she became Hikari. Voiced by: Kaya Matsutani (Japanese), Elizabeth Ludwig (English)
The Heartiels (ハーティエル Hātoieru) are twelve fairies who are the embodiment of the Queen's Will. The Pretty Cure duo gather the Heartiels and place them in the Queen Chairect, an item that represent the Queen's Heart, in hopes of making Queen whole again. When Pretty Cure wants one of the Heartiels to come out of the Queen Chairect and help them, Seekun will turn the knob around to let out one of the Heartiels.
The villians of the first series emerge from the Dark Zone (ドツクゾン Dotsukuzon, Dusk Zone on Japanese version), which is a realm of darkness ruled by the Dark King.
Dark King (ジャアクキング Jaaku Kingu, Jaku King in Japanese version) is the imprisoned ruler of the Dark Zone, somewhat humanoid in form that appears to come out of the ground. He is very tall and muscular with red eyes and extremely long arms. He does not appear to wear clothing. He wants to acquire the Prism Stones to prevent the "power to consume all things" from eventually destroying his own body, and to become immortal—he believes that it is the fate of all things to be consumed by the darkness. Like the Queen of the Garden of Light, the Dark King is animated by CGI. Voiced by: Kenichi Ono (Japanese), Tom Edwards (English)
Zakenna (ザケンナー) are the grunts that serve under the Dark Zone, infecting people or items to turn them evil.
The Dark King's first wave of servants.
When the Dark Five are defeated, new enemies appear: the Three Seeds of Darkness. The Seeds of Darkness are joined by Macaw, their pet bird; and the Butler Zakenna (執事ザケンナー). The butlers serve as comic relief, as they are unintelligent and tend to fight and bicker a lot. However, unlike other Zakenna, they speak human language, only using "-zakenna" to end their sentences. The taller Zakenna is laid back and somewhat clumsy, while the shorter Zakenna is quick to anger.
Belzei Gertrude (ベルゼイ・ガートルード Beruzei Gātorūdo) is the de facto leader of the group. He's a plotter and a sadist. He is first seen in the series impersonating a doctor. He is able to blend in by making people think he is someone else. Due to his own ego, it's always someone of a high position, like head doctor or principal. His human alias is Hidehiko Yuuki (ゆうき ひでひこ Yuuki Hidehiko) [1]. Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura
Regine (レギーネ Regīne) is the lone female of the trio. She starts out as a pretty red head, but then transforms and her hair stands straight back, then bounces into six curls. When in human form, she has a tendency to mumble things twice, then suddenly she'll scream out without warning, shocking everyone. She is far more confident in her dark form, though. Her human alias is Shoko Koyama (こやま しょうこ Koyama Shouko), made her original form in the English version who seemed to be very lonely. [1] Voiced by: Rika Fukami
Juna (ジュナ Jyuna) is the tall young man of the trio. More the muscle of the group, Juna is quite stoic and his expression seldom changes. His human alias is Edgedale (かくざわ りゅういちろう Kazukawa Ryuuichirou, Ryuichiro Kakuzawa in Japanese version) who is made as his original form in the English version. [1] Voiced by: Yasunori Matsumoto
The Four Guardians are what remains of the Dark Zone, serving as the protectors of The boy in the mansion (館の少年 Yakata no Shōnen), the "Life" of the Evil King whom they go to lengths to revive.
Baldez (ヴァルデス Varudesu) is the strongest of the four Guardians. He can repel the Marble Screw, Luminous Heartiel Action and Extreme Luminario attacks. Moreover, his true form is the spirit of the Dark King. Voiced by: Kenichi Ono
Circulas (サーキュラス Sākyurasu) appears to be the "leader" of the group whenever Baldez isn't around. He often bickers with Uraganos. Voiced by: Hitoshi Bifu
Uraganos (ウラガノス Uraganosu) is large and dim-witted. He is clumsy and tends to destroy things by accident due to his size and strength. Uraganos also to never seem to hear people finish their sentences, especially Circulas. Voiced by: Wataru Takagi
Viblis (ビブリス Biburisu) is the more serious of the group. She often scolds Uraganos and Circulas when they argue and is more intimidating. She is also the type to never apologize even when she was wrong. Voiced by: Ai Kobayashi
Nagisa and Honoka have a number of special powers they possess. However, they cannot use them in their civilian forms. Instead they must become Pretty Cure by sliding the Queen Card into a slot in their "Card Communes"/"Heartful Communes" and shouting "Dual Aurora Wave!" In the sequel, the pre-transformation phrase is the same, but the card is inserted into the top of the phone and then the casing is spun. This is followed by both girls scanning one hand over the base of the phone.
Similarly, Hikari in Max Heart must transform into Shiny Luminous in order to utilize the powers she possesses. She waves her hand over Porun who "reawakens" and becomes a "Touch Commune" and shouts "Luminous! Shining Stream!" Her transformation involves light, a nod to both her name and her Pretty Cure alias.
In the first and second season, Cure Black and Cure White have the power to manipulate black and white thunder. For the first season, they use their Pretty Cure Marble Screw attack ("Marble Twister" in the English version) either to revert inanimate objects to their normal form, and use Pretty Cure Rainbow Therapy to heal humans and animals of their evil influence. Later in the series, they are given their Pretty Cure Rainbow Bracelets by Porun, fired from him in a rainbow blast. They are pink devices that sit on their wrists with a heart shape in the center filled with rainbow energy. This gives them enhanced strength and the power to do Pretty Cure Rainbow Storm. In Max Heart, the Marble Screw/Twister attack becomes more enhanced. The power-up they receive in the second season is the Sparkle Bracelet. It gives them the power to do Pretty Cure Marble Screw Max Sparkle. According to Intelligen, it is the "power of hope granted to Pretty Cure by the power to create all things." They get the Spakle Bracelet by holding hands, and strongly wish for hope. Then, a bright light will shine from the base of a tree, the light spreading all over the ground will then spread into the air. Pretty Cure will raise their arms out, thus receiving the bracelet.
Shiny Luminous has a Heart Baton which can be used to perform Luminous Heartiel Action to temporarily freeze an enemy and restore Pretty Cure's power or to combine powers with Cure Black and Cure White to perform Extreme Luminario. Her power-up is a Heart Broache, which Lulun turns into. (Note that Lulun is in her Miracle Commune form when she does so.) Lulun then uses the power of the Heartiels to create a barrier around Luminous.
In addition to these items and attacks, Pretty Cure has a number of miscellaneous items that can be used by them in their civilian forms. Firstly, the Prism Hopish is a heart-shaped pink device that holds all of the Prism Stones. Mipple accused Mepple of dropping the Prism Hopeish into Lake Hyoutan. The Guardian, Wisdom, appears standing over top of it with his hand constantly above his head. Next the Pretty Cure Diaries are notebooks Nagisa and Honoka have, and they are predominantly used as a diary or journal. They can write anything inside, but only they can read them. Once they were arguing and they accidentally switched notebooks and were able to read how the other felt. Thirdly, the Prism love checker is a game that can test the compatibility of two people.
Garden of Rainbows (虹の園 Niji no Sono)
Garden of Light (光の園 Hikari no Sono)
Verone Academy
Kappa Mountain and Lake Hyoutan
Tako Cafe
Two movies set in the Max Heart season. The first, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart: The Movie (映画 ふたりはプリキュア ー マックスハート Eiga Futari wa Purikyua Makkusu Haato) premiered April 16, 2005. In the movie, the creatures Round, Square, Marquis, Oval, Heart, Pear and Triliant who reside in the Garden of Hope (希望の園 Kibou no Sono) have called in Pretty Cure to save their world from a witch from the Dark Zone who wants to take the Garden of Hope's Diamond Line, which consists of several pieces of jewelry worn by the Queen of Hope on her birthday. These jewels, if fallen in the wrong hands, will cause the Garden of Hope to become unbalanced, thereby causing everything else to become destroyed and enabling the restoration of the Dark King.[2]
The second movie, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart: Friends of the Snow-Laden Sky (映画 ふたりはプリキュア ー マックスハート Eiga Futari wa Purikyua Makkusu Haato 2: Yukizora no Tomodachi) premiered December 10, 2005. In this movie, Sage accidentally drops the egg containing a houou to the Garden of Rainbows. Hikari retrieves the creature and names it Hinata (warm). Sage eventually finds Hinata and travels up into the Garden of Clouds with Pretty Cure and Hikari. Sage explains that this rare houou is important in contributing heat and warmth to all the worlds. They need a blessing from the queen in the Garden of Light to ensure its healthy life. However, Frozen and Freezen, both against warmth, inhibits Hinata's success by freezing her.[3]
In celebration of Pretty Cure's fifth anniversary, on 20 March 2009, a special "Pretty Cure" movie was released.[4]
The series has proven popular enough with Japanese viewers to warrant four spin-off series. In a TV Asahi opinion poll, Pretty Cure appeared in the 45th position, above other series of the magical girl genre like Cutie Honey (technically not a "magical girl" series in the same sense; see article for details), Cardcaptor Sakura, and Magical Angel Creamy Mami. Sailor Moon appears in the Top 20.[5][6]
Its popularity has also led to a spoof of the show in an episode of the Gin Tama anime.
On February 25, 2006, 4Kids Entertainment announced broadcasting and distribution rights for Pretty Cure in the United States,[7] however 4Kids Entertainment never aired the show or produced an English version of it. As of 2008, Toei Animation has attempted to market it themselves in the US. In July, 2008, they began making episodes available through IGN's Direct2Drive service subtitled into English.[8], and have also started making those same episodes available for free internet streaming on the Crunchyroll website.[9] The subtitles were produced by "Nippon Golden Network", a Hawaii-based cable network that broadcasts Asian programming (mostly from Japan).
On December 16, 2008, Anime News Network, citing Animation Magazine, reported that Toei Animation made an agreement with the cable network, YTV to air a new English-dubbed version of the first Pretty Cure series in Canada. The series premiered on March 6, 2009 at 7:30 am Eastern on YTV,[10] with Nagisa and Honoka renamed "Natalie" and "Hannah" respectively.[11] The dub was produced by Ocean Studios in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and recorded at Blue Water Studios in Calgary, Alberta. In October 2009, Pretty Cure was pulled from the YTV schedule after airing 31 episodes, with no explanation given. In December 2009, YTV's Pretty Cure page announced that broadcast will resume on January 9th, 2010.[12]. The reason was later revealed to be production delays in dubbing.[13]
In April of 2009, Funimation licensed the English-subtitled version of the series for online distribution on the company's website[14], but whether or not there will be a DVD release or a U.S. TV broadcast is unknown.
| Preceded by None |
Pretty Cure
Series 2004-2005 (Futari wa Pretty Cure), 2005-2006 (Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart) |
Succeeded by Pretty Cure Splash Star |
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