Futari wa Pretty Cure

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Futari wa Pretty Cure


caption = Cure Black (Nagisa) and Cure White (Honoka)
ja_name = ふたりはプリキュア
ja_name_trans = Futari wa Purikyua
genre = Magical girlInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Daisuke Nishio
studio = flagicon|Japan Toei Animation
licensor = flagicon|Japan Pony Canyon
network = flagicon|Japan Animax, TV Asahi, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation
network_other = flagicon|Germany RTL II
flagicon|Italy Rai Due
flagicon|South Korea SBS, Anione/Champ
flagicon|Taiwan ETTV Yoyo
flagicon|Hong Kong TVB Jade
flagicon|Spain Cuatro
flagicon|Malaysia NTV 7
flagicon|Singapore MediaCorp TV12 Central
flagicon|Philippines Hero TV, ABS-CBN
first = February 1 2004
last = January 30 2005
episodes = 49Infobox animanga/Anime
title = Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart
director = Daisuke Nishio
studio = Toei Animation
network = flagicon|Japan TV Asahi
first = February 6 2005
last = January 29 2006
episodes = 47Infobox animanga/Movie
title = Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart Movie
director = Atsuji Shimizu
studio = Toei Animation
released = flagicon|Japan April 16 2005
runtime = 70 minInfobox animanga/Movie
title = Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart Movie 2: Yukizora no Tomodachi
director = Atsuji Shimizu
studio = Toei Animation
released = flagicon|Japan December 10 2005
runtime = 80 min

nihongo|"Futari wa Pretty Cure"|ふたりはプリキュア|Futari wa Purikyua, literally "We are Pretty Cure", is a magical girl anime metaseries produced by Toei Animation and broadcast across Japan by Animax, TV Asahi and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation.

The "Pretty Cure" series comprises the original series and its sequel, two movies, and three spin-off TV series: "Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star", "Yes! PreCure 5" and "Yes! PreCure 5 Go Go".

The girl group Precure Kids was formed in 2004, members dressing like characters of the series and performing the theme songs on stage.

Pretty Cure

The original "Pretty Cure" series, directed by Daisuke Nishio (known for "Dragon Ball Z" and "Air Master") premiered on TV Asahi February 1, 2004. The story revolves around two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who fight the forces of the Dusk Zone — a dimension of evil that encroached on the Garden of Light. The Zone's power takes the form of the nihongo|"Zakenna"|ザケンナー|Zakennā, creatures that infect people or items to turn them evil.

The Dusk Zone's actions necessitated the escape of two of the Garden of Light's protectors, odd talkative creatures named Mipple and Mepple. They serve as a source of information and peanut gallery for the series and are usually found within the girls' transformation devices which resemble mobile phones. Mipple and Mepple, however, do not actually function as mobile phones, but rather as henshin devices. For short periods they can transform into their real selves and interact more easily with each other.

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 Hopeish. The Hopeish 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 Dusk Zone.

Later in the series Porun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, is added to the mix. He transforms into what looks like an electronic notebook or a sort of gaming system. He has a controller and a mouse. The Guardian places the power of the Prism Stones in Porun and when he gets agitated, he shoots out power from his mouth, granting Pretty Cure their Rainbow Bracelets. These vastly strengthen them physically and supply them with a new attack. Porun has the added ability of premonition. Often in his sleep or just randomly he pops up and tells Pretty Cure something, and they have to figure out what the premonition means. He can contact the Garden of Light and various people from the Garden of Light with the power of the Prism Stones.

Heroes

Villains

For the first half of the series, Pretty Cure's enemies are the Dark Five:

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 nihongo|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.

Max Heart

nihongo|"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 premiered on February 6, 2005. The series is a sequel to the original. A third protagonist, Hikari Kujou, is introduced. She is probably a stranger from the Garden of Light, and is also the "Life" of the Queen. Hikari takes the appearance of a young girl, and has lost the abilities and memories from being the Queen. However, she might regain these by discovering 12 fairies called "Heartiel." On the other hand, remnants of the Dusk Zone are protecting a mysterious boy suspected to be the "Life" of the Dark King. In order to revive the Queen, Cure Black and Cure White fight new enemies. Hikari transforms to Shiny Luminous and backs them up in battle.

Two movies set in the "Max Heart" continuity have been released in Japan. The first,nihongo|"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.

The second movie, nihongo|"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.

New heroes

The "Max Heart" sequel introduces new characters to the series. Including:

;The Heartiels
* Seekun (Seek) is the first of the Heartiels discovered. She's the queen's sense of adventure and discovery. She asks a lot of questions and seems relatively naive about the world. anime voice|Ai Nagano
* Pation (Passion) can sometimes be seen flying with a pigeon in some episodes. His symbol in the chairlet is the torchanime voice|Kokoro Kikuchi
* Harmonin (Harmony) first appeared in episode 9, but met Pretty Cure in episode 10. She is mostly seen with a little treasure box with her. Her symbol in the chairlet is the box
* Pyuan (Pure) anime voice|Rika Komatsu
* Interijen (Intelligence) is the only Heartiel who has been entrusted with the Book of Wisdom. In episode 22, she helped Pretty Cure find a solution to oppose the power of Valdes with the help of the Book of Wisdom. Her symbol in the chairlet is the bookanime voice|Mayuko Kobayashi
* Wishun (Wish) anime voice|Yukiko Hanioka
* Horpun (Hope) anime voice|Yusuke Numata
* Braven (Bravery) anime voice|Mari Atachi
* Prosen (Prosperity) anime voice|Masato Amata
* Hapinen (Happiness) anime voice|Sawa Ishige
* Loveran (Love) anime voice|Oma Ichimura
* Eternalun (Eternal) anime voice|Fumie Mizusawa

New villains

The Four Guardians are the protectors of nihongo|The boy in the mansion|館の少年 |Yakata no Shōnen, the "Life" of the Evil King.

Special powers and items

Attacks

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.

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 lightning. For the first season, they use their Pretty Cure Marble Screw attack 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 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."

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 Rurun turns into. (Note that Rurun is in her Miracle Commune form when she does so.) Rurun 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.

Finally in Max Heart, the Queen Chairect is the "home" for the Heartiels to resurrect the Queen. Hikari first saw this device as a shining item in episode 11. When the Heartiels enter this device, they become a coloured ball. 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. (It should be noted that Seekun herself was the last to enter this device)

Locations

: The term used by Mepple that refers to the Earth.:The world where Mepple, Mipple, Porun and Rurun come from. The Garden of Light is protected by the power of the Prism stones. It in daylight all the time and flowers bloom all year long.: The world of Darkness. The Evil King and his cohorts come from this world.Verone Academy: Nagisa and Honoka's school.Kappa Mountain and Lake Hyoutan: Places where Mepple dropped the Prism Hopeish into. The outline of the lake looks like a figure eight. In Max Heart, Pretty Cure went to the same place to find a piece of shining earth that "contained great power of hope which was surrounded by six pillars" in Lake Hyoutan.Tako Cafe: A mobile cafe created by Akane-san. Hikari works here and Nagisa and Honoka are frequent visitors.

Reception

The series has proven popular enough with Japanese viewers to warrant two 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 "Cutey Honey", "Card Captor Sakura", and "Magical Angel Creamy Mami". The quintessential magical girl series "Sailor Moon" appears in the Top 20.cite web | url = http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime | title = TV Asahi Top 100 Anime | date = 2005-09-23 | accessdate = 2007-01-01 | publisher = Anime News Network] cite web | url = http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime-part-2 | title = TV Asahi Top 100 Anime Part 2 | date = 2005-09-23 | accessdate = 2007-01-01 | publisher = Anime News Network]

Licensing

On February 25, 2006 4Kids Entertainment announced broadcasting and distribution rights for "Pretty Cure" in the United States,cite web | url = http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8451 | title = 4Kids Licenses Pretty Cure | date = 2006-02-24 | accessdate = 2007-01-01 | publisher = Anime News Network] but no reference to a U.S. English translation or dub has appeared since. As of 2008, it appears that 4Kids no longer owns the rights to the series, rather Toei Animation has attempted to market it themselves in the US. In July, 2008, they made the first two episodes available through IGN's Direct2Drive service subtitled into English. cite web | url = http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-19/precure-digimon-02-added-to-direct2drive-downloads | title = Precure, Digimon 02 Added to Direct2Drive Downloads | date = 2008-07-19 | accessdate = 2008-07-30 | publisher = Anime News Network] .

The only English dub was made by Odex for broadcast in Southeast Asia.

References

External links

* [http://www.prettycure.tv/index.html Toei Animation's English "Pretty Cure" website]
* [http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/precure_MH Toei Animation's "Pretty Cure: Max Heart" website] ja icon
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* [http://www.prettycure.org PrettyCure.org - English "Pretty Cure" collective]