Smile Pretty Cure!

Smile Pretty Cure! (スマイルプリキュア！) is a Japanese anime series and the ninth Pretty Cure installment by Izumi Todo. Produced by Toei Animation, the series is written by Shōji Yonemura, who is best known as the series writer of several Heisei Kamen Rider series, including Kabuto, the second half of Decade, and OOO. It began airing on TV Asahi on February 5, 2012, replacing Suite Pretty Cure♪ in its initial timeslot.

Official Announcement
Smile Pretty Cure! was first announced in Mainichi Shinbun's Mantan Web in November 2011 after Toei officially revealed the new copyright name for the ninth series. Later that month the official logo was revealed by TV Asahi. Also, the official pamphlet included in the December issue of Nakayoshi reveals the character designs of the 5 main Cures alongside their fairy mascot, Candy. The ninth Pretty Cure Series is announced to premiere on 5 February, 2012, thus setting up Suite Pretty Cure♪ to have a grand total of 48 episodes.

During the screening of movie Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi in theatres, it was revealed that a Smile Pretty Cure! movie,Ehon no Naka wa Minna Chiguhagu! will be released in October 2012.

Plot
Somewhere in the universe there exists a place called Märchenland, where characters from fairy tales live. Near the corner of Märchenland exists a world called Bad End Kingdom, where the antagonists of all fairy tales gathered. In order to show everyone the "Worst Ending", the people of Bad End Kingdom traveled to Earth to collect Bad Energy. If the villains succeed, all the worlds in the universe will suffer from the "Worst Ending".

In order to prevent the "Worst Ending", the 5 Legendary Warriors, Pretty Cure, need to collect Cure Decor, the power of happiness of Märchenland's Queen. The Cure Decor, however, has been stolen and hidden away. Set to the task of finding Pretty Cure, Candy the fairy follows the 5 Beams of Light to Earth, where she meets a flustered Miyuki, a transfer student on her first day of school, and already running late...

Pretty Cure
Hoshizora Miyuki (星空 みゆき)

A fourteen year old girl with an interest in books and fairy tales who transfers to Nanairogaoka Middle School. Like many of the lead Cures before her, Miyuki is cheery and optimistic, but also something of a klutz. Her catchphrase is "Ultra Happy!". She transforms into Cure Happy and uses the power of holy light.

Hino Akane (日野 あかね)

A girl from Osaka whose parents run an okonomiyaki shop and is a member of the school's volleyball team. Akane may be a jokester, but when she has a goal set, she can be very passionate about achieving it. She transforms into Cure Sunny and uses the power of fire.

Kise Yayoi (黄瀬 やよい)

A girl who is in the Homemaking Club and aspires to be a mangaka. Though timid, shy about her work, and a crybaby, Yayoi is very loyal, diligent, and headstrong when pushed. She transforms into Cure Peace and uses the power of lightning.

Midorikawa Nao (緑川 なお)

A tomboyish girl from a family with many younger siblings who is a member of the school's soccer team. Nao is straightforward and reliable with a strong sense of justice, though she does get frustrated when things don't go according to plan. She transforms into Cure March who uses the power of wind.

Aoki Reika (青木 れいか)

The student council vice president and a member of the Art Club, often writing poems and tanka. Reika is generally elegant and kind-hearted, but has a frightening temper once her patience reaches her limit. Her father is a painter whilst her mother practices aikido and her elder brother practises judo. She transforms into Cure Beauty and uses the power of water and ice.

Mascots
Candy (キャンディ)

Candy is the mascot of the group. She was sent to Earth to collect the Cure Decor to save Märchenland.

Pop (ポップ)

Pop is a lion-like fairy and the second fairy mascot in Smile Pretty Cure!. He is the big brother of Candy and came to earth to pass the Cures the Decor Décor to collect the Cure Decor pieces in.

Villains
Pierrot (ピエーロ) is a sinful emperor of Bad End Kingdom, who invaded Märchenland to steal the Cure Decor and bring about the "Worst Ending".

Joker (ジョーカー) At Pierrot's service, he's the leader of Wolfurun, Majorina and Akaoni.

Wolfurun (ウルフルン) is a wolf-like monster whose mission is to chase Candy before she finds Pretty Cures. He's based on wolf villains from Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.

Majorina (マジョリーナ) One of Pierrot's subordinates, she's a little witch that reminds one of Snow White's step-mother

Akaoni (アカオーニ) At Pierrot's service, he's a red demon that reminds one of oni from Japanese fairytales such as Momotaro.

Akanbe (アカンベー) are monsters summoned by the villians of the series to battle the Pretty Cure. They are created by fusing an ordinary object with a Red Nose containing Pierrot's power, turning the Cure Decor's energy to Bad Energy.

Items
Smile Pact - The Cures' transformation device. If Cure Decor are inserted to the Smile Pact, it produces items.

Cure Decor - The source of happiness of Royal Queen; special tokens that can be used either to revive Royal Queen of Märchenland or bring about the Worst Ending.

Decor Décor - Special box used to store Cure Decor pieces in. Brought to the Cures by Pop in Episode 6.

Princess Candle - The Cure's main weapon, first used in Episode 23. Using alongside the powers of the Super Princess Cure Decors, the Cures can undergo their secondary forms called Princess Form to execute their most powerful group attack, Rainbow Burst.

Locations
Märchenland - A fairy tale kingdom where all fairytale characters live. The Queen has been sealed before the story begins. Märchen is German for "fairytales".

Nanairogaoka Middle School - The school that the Cures attend. Nanairo means "rainbow" in Japanese.

Bad End Kingdom - The homeplace of the antagonists of the series, whose residents invaded Maerchen Land and traveled to Earth in an attempt to give it the "Worst Ending" by collecting Bad Energy.

Trivia

 * The theme of Smile! is fairy tales, and there are many details throughout the series that reference this.
 * Smile! is the second installment to have design similarities with a previous season (Yes! Pretty Cure 5). The first was between Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star and Futari wa Pretty Cure.
 * Smile! is the first Pretty Cure season to have more than one athletic Cure. Akane is in the volleyball team, Nao is in the girls' soccer team, and Reika is in the archery team.
 * Smile! is the third season to have a Cure whose theme color is purely green, the first and second were Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and its sequel with Cure Mint.
 * Smile! is third season in which the Cures do not have heart-shaped hair accessories, following Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and its sequel. Instead, the Cures wear jeweled tiaras and wing-shaped hair accessories.
 * Smile! is the fourth season in a row in which the Cures wear a choker around their necks.
 * Smile! is the third season to utilize a cosmetic item as a transformation device, with Yes! Pretty Cure 5: GoGo! and Heartcatch Pretty Cure! coming before it.
 * Smile! is the second season to have five main Cures that were announced from the very beginning, the first being Yes! Pretty Cure 5.
 * Smile! is the second season in which the Cures' basic finishers include their Cure names, after Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and its sequel.
 * In the June issue of magazine Animage, an interview with one of the producers revealed that all the Cures were initially designed to have long flowing hairstyles.
 * Quote: "However, letting all the Cures have long hairstyles seemed to take away their personality differences, so we did quite a bit of thinking to rectify that. (...) Both final hairstyles and Cure theme colors were determined not by looking at each girl alone, but everyone as a group. We needed to see them together before we settled on their final design, in order to achieve a good total balance."

Merchandise
Please refer to main page Smile Pretty Cure! Merchandise.