Minazuki Karen

Minazuki Karen (水無月 かれん) is a third-year student at L'École des Cinq Lumières Middle School, and the last Cure to join the group in Yes! Pretty Cure 5. Because of her parents' job, she has been raised by the mansion's butler. At school, she is the student council president, and is very popular by the juniors together with her fellow student council member, classmate and best friend, Akimoto Komachi, for her cool and inspiring demeanor. Her alter ego is the Cure of Intelligence, Cure Aqua (キュアアクア).

Before the Series
As a child, Karen always missed her parents when they were away, even though she pretended not to. This worries her Butler, Sakamoto.

In episode 28, it reveals how Karen and Komachi began their friendship. When she was older and was in, she was a Class Representation, full of enthusiasm starting it. One day, she got a call from a factory that her class were going to had to cancel the tour because one of the machines broke down. She and the Class were disappointed about it, until quiet Komachi then rose up and encouraged Karen that they still can't give up till the end and volunteers to help Karen find another factory to do the project. Through many rejections, they finally make a reservation, did the brochures and completed it. That is the story on how she became friends with Akimoto Komachi. Possibly sometime when elected as Student President, she became more focused on her position and more responsible losing her enthusiasm, but some brought back when becoming a Precure, and because of her job and having to do it alone, it causes her to believe that she has to do everything to do it right and nothing else.

Yes! Pretty Cure 5
One day after school, Karen was in the school library with Komachi when they were interrupted by Yumehara Nozomi. Nozomi insisted that someone had entered the library without either of them noticing, which was clearly impossible. A few minutes after she wandered off to look for her imaginary friend, Karen and Komachi heard strange noises. Investigating, they found damage to the floor and shelves in one part of the library, with no obvious origin. Stranger still, the damage mysteriously repaired itself when they left briefly. From this point on, Karen and Komachi tried to talk to Nozomi in order to find out what had happened, as the junior was most likely involved.

During these investigations, Karen realized that Nozomi and her best friend, Natsuki Rin, had become friends with the new student Kasugano Urara, even though they had nothing in common. Komachi became involved as well after the three girls told them some ridiculous story about "Pretty Cure". Despite her best efforts, the four invited themselves over to Karen's house to try to convince her of their story. However, in the middle of an unconvincing explanation involving Coco, a living fluffy animal, the girls were suddenly attacked by Bunbee, who stole another strange creature and turned Karen's gazebo into a monster. Karen ran and hid, but it became clear that the others did not stand a chance unless she was able to transform herself. A blue butterfly flew out and landed on her wrist, but immediately disappeared, leaving Karen to watch helplessly as Bunbee escaped with the Pinky he had captured. Karen admitted that Nozomi and the others had been telling the truth, but said she could not help them.

Nozomi, however, was incredibly stubborn and annoying about it, and just would not get the message, even getting Jii-ya to tell her things for some reason. Frustrated, Karen stormed off, but Nozomi followed, and told Karen that what they had in common was their love for their parents. Karen was shocked by the idea that Nozomi actually understood her, and agreed that, Pretty Cure aside, they could be friends. Then Bunbee attacked again, and turned the Pinky from before into a Kowaina. Things went badly once more, but Karen was determined to help the others, and declared as much. The blue butterfly returned, this time giving Karen the ability to transform, and under her directions the girls saved the Pinky and defeated Bunbee.

Once gathered, the five Cures were able to rescue Coco's friend, Natts, from the Dream Collet. Natts raised the question of who was the leader of Pretty Cure, and while Nozomi suggested Karen, Karen hastily turned down the position and nominated Nozomi herself, a suggestion immediately supported by the others. After Natts started living in a small storehouse that Karen was certain was too small for the purpose, Karen brought a housewarming gift; a small pot of blue Chinese bellflowers from her greenhouse. This, however, led into a conflict with Rin, who was also bringing in a pot of bright red tulips. Eventually, by being forced to fight Arachnea together, they learned to get along, or at least get along better.

Karen, the serious student council president, almost immediately began to get in the way of the more free-spirited Nozomi's ideas. First she shot down Nozomi's plan to advertise Natts's accessories by bringing them to school, pointing out that this was against school rules. Not much later, understandably unimpressed by Nozomi's poor grades and study habits, she tried to force the Pretty Cure leader to study, but eventually relented in favor of setting more gradual goals. There were apparently no hard feelings, however, as Nozomi and the others were more than willing to help Karen solve the various student organizations' budget problems when the chairwoman refused to give them any more money.

As Cure Aqua, meanwhile, Karen made a habit of rescuing Masuko Mika when she was in danger. Mika, meanwhile, interviewed Karen for the Cinq Lumieres News, with unflattering results.

When a new creature from Palmier Kingdom, Milk, comes into the picture, Nozomi accidentally destroyed the butterfly decoration the others had been working on, and Karen joined Rin in lambasting her about her carelessness and calling Komachi wishy-washy over her attempt to not take sides. She immediately tried to take back her words, but they continued to bother Komachi until the following afternoon, when Karen's attempt at an apology was interrupted by an attack by an insane powered-up Girinma. Cure Aqua and Cure Mint were defeated almost immediately, then caught by Kawarino. Cure Aqua was forced into a nightmare in which an illusion of herself as Karen lectured her about her tendency to remain distant from others, resulting in her lacking close friends and, ultimately, being alone. Cure Aqua was thus easily placed under the control of a Mask of Despair. The controlled Cure Aqua completely ignored Nozomi's attempts to remove the mask, and helped to restrain her after she transformed into Cure Dream. Along with the other Cures, Cure Aqua was eventually restored to her normal self by Cure Dream's efforts at reaching out to them.

Personality
Karen is admired by other students due to her calm and stoic nature. This, however, is her outer character--she is actually very lonely, especially when thinking about her parents, whom she secretly misses. In the beginning, she was full of enthusiasm as a class representative before she met Komachi. Because she has known Komachi for such a long time, Karen often feels responsible for being there for her; to an extent, she feels this way about everyone, believing it to be a natural responsibility of the president of the student council. Because of her position, Karen is able to memorize all the names and faces of all the Cinq Lumières students, and also easily takes responsibility when something happens to the school, as seen in the second episode where she wants Nozomi to explain what happened to the library the other day. Because of her loneliness when her parents are away and her responsibility of the school, it causes her to believe that she needs to do things by herself.

However, when Karen's angry about something or when she's arguing with someone, it sometimes gets to a point where she ends up saying hurtful or offensive things to other people, shown in episode 23, where she called Komachi naive and indecisive when she got angry.

It also appears that Karen is afraid of scary things, which shocked all of her friends.

In episode 5 and 6, Karen acted as though her time with the precure had been a made up story. But with their company she had a lot of fun. When she meets Coco, she was quite stunned. When a Kowaina came and attacked, she was scared, but seeing her friends hurt, she wanted to help. When the blue butterfly disappeared, she was shocked and held lot of grief and depression. But encouraged by Nozomi and stunned by her hopes and friendship, she was happy and dealt with it the best she could. Finally, she became a Pretty Cure in the end of Episode 6 and the more she spends time with her teammates, the more she has fun with them. In episode 29, Jii-ya commented that she is making jokes that makes him happy, in words, she developed a tiny joking habit, but still responsible and serious.

Appearance
Karen has long, straight dark blue hair with a long strand worn over her shoulders and her bangs brushed to the side. She has matching dark blue eyes.

In 5, her casual outfit consisted of a pale blue dress with light blue ruffled trim at the shoulders and a matching line on the hem of the skirt, along with five small straps at the chest. Worn with this are pale blue boots with light blue straps. In GoGo! she switches to a similar two-piece outfit with the ruffled trim now also included at her wrists and the hem of her skirt. On the back of her top is a matching bow. Her top is cut to reveal a darker blue section beneath it, matching her pumps.

In Yes! Pretty Cure 5: Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibouken!, Karen wore a Light purple jacket with a fluffy white trim and three yellow straps, over a dark teal skirt, along with pale blue and pale indigo boots with butterflies designed on them. Her dress she wears is dark blue and reminiscent of a puffy princess gown with white trim and blue bows. She wears a blue headband with a lilac bow on the side, dark indigo heels, and a white choker with a blue gem.

As Cure Aqua, her hair turns sapphire in color and grows very long, having to be pulled up into a thick, straightened ponytail held with a blue butterfly that has a red gem on it. Her bangs are also longer, with some of pulled pulled to the side of her head. She gains light blue butterfly earrings. In 5, she wore a pale yellow dress with blue trim to match the ribbon tied around her waist, and sleeves hanging off of her shoulders with a pale blue ruffled trim to match the petticoat. Sewn to her chest is butterfly to match her hair ornament. She gains pale yellow sleeves with blue trim and a light blue butterfly to match those of her earrings, along with her Pinky Catch on her left wrist. Her boots are blue with a small white butterfly, and she gains dark blue shorts.

In GoGo! her hair butterfly remains, but with a pink rose in the center. She wears a puffy pale blue dress with blue straps to match the trim of the sky-blue vest with a popped collar worn over it. Attached to her sleeves are pale yellow ruffles, and she keeps her butterfly with a CureMo string hanging beneath it, attached to her right hip. She keeps her shorts and boots, but they gain a stylized cuff. Her sleeves turn into gloves and gain a light blue streak down the middle.

Relationships
Her parents are musicians and often go on tour, and as such Karen has been mostly raised by her butler. She misses her mother and father, but will not ask for them to come home for fear of disturbing their work, so despite wealth and popularity, she is often lonely.

Komachi Akimoto - Karen's best friend, along with fellow student council member or library aid. They remain inseparable and often lean on each other to cheer the other up.

Milk - Karen has a motherly or older sister relationship with her. Milk admires Karen for her mature and graceful nature.

Rin Natsuki - At first Rin wanted nothing to do with Karen, and the feeling was mutual. Their personalities, along with colors and elements were seen to be as different as night and day, and due to this they often bickered. However, after growing to understand each other and realize they share things in common as well, they grew closer.

Cure Aqua
"The blue spring of intelligence, Cure Aqua!" 知性の青き泉、キュアアクア！ Chisei no aoki izumi, Kyua Akua!

Cure Aqua (キュアアクア) is the last to join the group, and her costume has a design resembling that of Cure Mint's, her counterpart. Cure Aqua's biggest difference from Karen is that she is more loyal to her team and has a much stronger and gentler personality, and her voice changes slightly as well to a more stronger one. She is usually the one to help the others. She, as Nozomi learns, is the most trustworthy Cure. In the beginning, Karen is reluctant to join Pretty Cure, but in the episode 6, as the girls are being manhandled, Karen stands up to her friends, vowing to protect them regardless of transformation. The butterfly that eluded her previously reappears and successfully lands on her wrist, enabling her to transform to the Pretty Cure of Intelligence. Her powers relates to water and sea.

Alone, Cure Aqua can perform the attack Aqua Stream. When her powers get upgraded with the Aqua Ribbon, she uses Aqua Tornado. At the end of the first season, all the five girls can combine their powers and do the attack Five Explosion.

In the next season, Cure Aqua is able to use the attack Sapphire Arrow. With the other five girls and their Cure Fleurets, she can perform Rainbow Rose Explosion and, with Milky Rose at the end of the season, Floral Explosion.

Super Cure Aqua
Super Cure Aqua (スーパーキュアアクア) is the the upgrade Cure Aqua receives in Yes! Pretty Cure 5: Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibouken! Thanks to the Miracle Lights. Her powers are greatly increased. She can now fly because of her butterfly wings. Her dress has a extra row of frills on her sleeves and dress. Her arm warmers are now longer and her boots are more wild.

Cure Rainbow Aqua
Cure Rainbow Aqua (キュアレインボーアクア) is an upgrade Cure Aqua gains in Pretty Cure All Stars DX 2: Kibou no Hikari - Rainbow Jewel o Mamore!. Together with the others' upgrades, the group of seventeen girls form the group Cure Rainbow. This upgraded outfit vaguely resembles that of Shining Dream from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!: Okashi no Kuni no Happy Birthday!, except with the color blue instead of pink and a pair of small golden wings instead of grand white ones.

Transformations
Pretty Cure Metamorphose - "Pretty Cure metamorphose!" is the official transformation phrase Karen uses to transform into Cure Aqua in ''Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!''

In ''Yes! Pretty Cure 5'', Karen's Pinky Catch opens and she shouts, "Pretty Cure..." She makes a circular motion with her arm and shouts, "...metamorphose!" Her body then gets covered in a blue glow. Her top and brooch appear first, followed by her arm warmers, skirt and shoes. Her hair gets styled, her Pinky Catch closes and Cure Aqua recits her introductory speech.

In ''Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!'', Karen's CureMo opens and she presses the buttons while saying, "Pretty Cure metamorphose!" The CureMo's screen glows and her body gets surrounded in blue light. A blue tunnel then appears with light showing at the end. Karen appears with her body glowing blue and surrounded by streams of water. She becomes encased in a globe of water and when it bursts, Karen is fully clothed. Cure Aqua then flies down, opens her eyes and recites her introductory speech.

Attacks
Aqua Stream - Cure Aqua spines around herself once while chanting, and reaches her right hand upward, and the hand begins to glow blue. A stream of water then begins to spiral around the screen before Cure Aqua thrusts her palm towards the enemy, making all the water flow to the Kowaina to purify it.

Aqua Tornado - Cure Aqua's butterfly bow begins to glow, in which the light reaches out toward her left hand. The Aqua Ribbon is then shown, in which she takes it over to her right hand. She then spins around herself once while chanting, and the Aqua Ribbon begins to emit a stream of water that spirals around the screen before Aqua thrusts the Aqua Ribbon at the enemy, making all the water flow at the Kowaina to purify it.

Sapphire Arrow - Cure Aqua makes first with both hands and crosses them in front of her chest, causing the butterfly emblem to glow in her signature color. Tiny droplets of water then begin to swirl around her. She reaches forward and her hand becomes surrounded in a tiny mist. The water gathers into an almost solid form which Aqua grabs a hold of and bends back into the shape of an archery bow. A large, drill-like torrent then rips from the bow. When the arrow hits, a blue butterfly appears, purifying the Hoshina.

Etymology
Minazuki (水無月) :  水無月 is the ancient Japanese term for June, a rainy month in Asia. Mi (水) also translates to "water", obviously referring to her water-based powers as Cure Aqua.

Karen (かれん) : can be both a Japanese and English name. The most common and likely intended Japanese meaning is "lovely" (可憐), while there are many other ways to be written in kanji. As an English name, the origin of Greek is "pure".

Her name means "June's loveliness" or "June's purity".

Cure Aqua: This name indicates her power over water, as "aqua" is Latin for "water". Aqua is also a color which lies exactly between blue and green.

Songs
Karen's voice actor Maeda Ai, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Sanpei Yuko, who voices Yumehara Nozomi, Takeuchi Junko, who voices Natsuki Rin, Ise Mariya, who voices Kasugano Urara, Nagano Ai, who voices Akimoto Komachi, and later, Sendai Eri, who voices Milk/Mimino Kurumi.
 * Heavenly Blue
 * Surely It'll Be Alright

Duets

 * Metamorphose ~Young Girls LOVE&DREAM~ (Along with Sanpei Yuko, Takeuchi Junko, Ise Mariya, and Nagano Ai)
 * 1.2. Shoot! ~Five Explosion~ (Along with Sanpei Yuko, Takeuchi Junko, Ise Mariya, and Nagano Ai)
 * A Child's Time (Along with Nagano Ai)
 * And Then, The World Keeps Expanding (Along with Nagano Ai)
 * Tomorrow, A Flower Blooms. Smiles, Bloom. (Along with Sanpei Yuko, Takeuchi Junko, Ise Mariya, Nagano Ai, and also Sendai Eri)
 * Shine 5 Hearts (Along with Sanpei Yuko, Takeuchi Junko, Ise Mariya, and Nagano Ai)
 * Pretty Cure 5, Full Throttle Go Go! (Along with Sanpei Yuko, Ise Mariya, Takeuchi Junko, Nagano Ai, and also Mayu Kudo)

Trivia

 * Cure Aqua is the first blue Pretty Cure.
 * Cure Aqua is the first water themed-Cure, followed by Cure Marine and Cure Mermaid.
 * Karen is the first Pretty Cure to not have a traditional Japanese name.
 * Karen is the third Pretty Cure to be excellent in academics.
 * Karen's relationship with Milk is implied to be analogous to those between Nozomi and Coco, Komachi and Natts, and Urara and Syrup.
 * Karen is never seen expressing romantic interest in a male character, except when others are doing the same.
 * Cure Aqua's Aqua Ribbon is the source of a rare inconsistency between the animation and merchandise. Merchandise representing the item consistently depicts it as a long, blue, whip-like ribbon attached to a handle similar in appearance to the Rouge Tact. In the animation, however, the ribbon is absent; the item consists solely of the handle, which the writers would occasionally interpret as a sword hilt. The reason for this discrepancy is unknown.
 * In the Pretty Cure All Stars Suite Flower Card Collection, Karen is represented by the iris, which symbolizes love and sympathy in the Language of Flowers.
 * Karen is the second Pretty Cure to have a ponytail, and the first to have blue as her color scheme.
 * Karen is the first Pretty Cure to have a butler, followed by Yotsuba Alice.
 * Karen is the first Pretty Cure who plays the piano, followed by Hojo Hibiki and Yotsuba Alice
 * Cure Aqua's pose in Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien No Tomodachi resembles Cure Mint's pose.
 * Karen appeared as Cure Aqua to give the 10th Anniversary Congratulatory Message at the beginning of episode 7 of Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!
 * Karen/Cure Aqua shares a lot of similarities with Aoki Reika/Cure Beauty from Smile Pretty Cure!:
 * They both are student council presidents of their schools.
 * They both have blue as their theme colors.
 * They both have a similar attack. Cure Aqua has an attack called Sapphire Arrow, while Cure Beauty has an attack called Beauty Blizzard Arrow (the upgraded version of Beauty Blizzard) and is also part of the archery team at school.
 * They both have calm and polite personalities.
 * They both have similar hairstyles in civilian forms (except for the bangs).
 * They both are the most intelligent ones of their teams.
 * They both have similar powers. Cure Aqua controls water while Cure Beauty controls ice.
 * Although rarely shown, Karen does have a fear of ghosts and monsters, just like Kurokawa Ellen and Kaido Minami.

Gallery

 * Main Page: Minazuki Karen/Image Gallery