Hino Akane


 * This article is about the Smile Pretty Cure! character Hino Akane. For the Futari wa Pretty Cure! and Max Heart character, please go to Fujita Akane.

Hino Akane is one of the main Cures in Smile Pretty Cure!. An unusually passionate girl, she is able to get into any mood easily, and loves to make others laugh. Her family runs an okonomiyaki restaurant, and she often helps out there. In school, she is part of the volleyball team. She was born in Osaka and thus speaks in the Kansai dialect, like Tarte from Fresh Pretty Cure! Her alter ego is Cure Sunny (キュアサニー).

Personality
Akane is a passionate girl who loves making others laugh. Being born and raised in Osaka, she speaks in the Kansai dialect, and refers to herself as "uchi" instead of the usual "watashi". The first impression she gives is that of the class jokester, always full of puns and jokes to make her classmates laugh. As such, she appears to be generally popular and well-liked. Sometimes, her joking gets a little out of hand, such as when she introduced Nao, Reika and Yayoi to Miyuki as being a "female gang leader", "Miss Popular" and "crybaby" respectively, causing visible discomfort to the three. However, there does not seem to be any ill meaning behind these nicknames. Ironically, she was initially embarrassed by the puns made in her own Cure introductory speech.

Despite all the teasing, Akane is extremely loyal to her friends. When she witnessed Cure Happy being defeated by an Akanbe, she remembered how Miyuki had helped her out, and risked her life to help Happy even though she had no chance of winning against the Akanbe. Her strong wish to help her friend earned her the Smile Pact and allowed her to transform into Cure Sunny.

In terms of sports, Akane is excellent at volleyball, easily beating her classmates in a friendly match. She aims to become the ace attacker of the school volleyball team, and comes down hard on herself when she is unable to perform well. She is also an independent girl, as she told Miyuki that she does not normally allow others to help her out, but gave Miyuki a chance to help her with volleyball training due to her enthusiasm and willingness. She can also be extremely focused, as she turned down Miyuki's offer to become Pretty Cure (or "kiripura" as she mistakenly calls it) as she wanted to focus on her volleyball training.

Akane's family runs an okonomiyaki restaurant, and it is probably that Akane enjoys cooking.

Relationships
Hoshizora Miyuki - Akane describes Miyuki as being a scatterbrain who can be serious when she wants to. Miyuki often showers her with hugs and encouragement whenever she feels down, and Akane values her as a true friend, risking herself to help Cure Happy, which gained her the Smile Pact to become Pretty Cure.

Kise Yayoi - Despite teasing Yayoi lots about being a crybaby, the two seem to be good friends and are often seen together.

Midorikawa Nao - Akane seems to respect Nao, describing her as being excellent at sports but calling her a female "gang leader".

Aoki Reika - Akane seems to respect Reika, expounding her position as a member of the class committee and school council. She also describes Reika as being excellent at studies and calls her "Miss Popular".

Cure Sunny


"The Sun, brillant, hot-blooded power! Cure Sunny!"

"太陽サンサン熱血パワー！キュアサニー！"

"Taiyou sansan nekketsu pawaa! Kyua Sanī!" Cure Sunny (キュアサニー) is the Pretty Cure alter ego of Akane. Cure Sunny has the power of Fire.

Her basic attack is Sunny Fire.

Appearance
Akane has short red hair worn in a small ponytail with long bangs on both sides of her face, held with a hairclip on the right side. Her eyes are orange. Her normal outfit consists of a loose long sleeved orange shirt with multiple yellow stripes and red pockets, blue pants/leggings and red shoes. She wears her school uniform with a red tie, and a orange sweater tied around her waist.

Cure Sunny has bright orange hair, worn in a big bun on top of her head, with a few loose strands. Her outfit is mainly light orange, with bright orange lining and a small orange bow with a golden medallion in the centre. Her sleeves are a single white layer with small orange beads. The bottom of her top is split into petals, and the back extends out in a single pale yellow frilly piece. She wears dark orange tights beneath her skirt, long white boots with light orange toetips and heel, and orange ribbons at the top. Her white arm protectors are elbow length with orange ribbons at the end and light orange ribbons at the wrist.

Etymology
Hino (日野) - 日 has multiple meanings, but the one that fits the best will be "sun". 野 means "field" or "plain".

Akane (あかね) - Akane means Madder Red, the name of a shade of intense red. It is used mostly to describe the sun and sunset.

Trivia

 * Although her theme color appears to be orange, Akane's name has the Japanese word for "red" in it. Her Cure Decor is also red.
 * The color of the circle depicted on the Japanese national flag is officially madder red ("akane"), and the translation of Japan's name "nippon" is incidentally "Land of the Rising Sun".
 * Cure Sunny is the first canon Cure with an orange theme.
 * Akane is the first Cure to come from Osaka.
 * Akane is the second character to speak in a Kansai dialect after Tarte from Fresh Pretty Cure!
 * Cure Sunny is the second Cure to control fire, after Cure Rouge from Yes! Pretty Cure 5.
 * Overall, Cure Sunny is the third pyrokinetic in the franchise after Moerumba and Cure Rouge.
 * Akane shares her first name with Fujita Akane from Futari wa Pretty Cure!.
 * Cure Sunny is one of only two Cures to wear her earrings attached to the helix of the ear instead of at the earlobe, the other being Cure March.
 * Cure Sunny is the first Cure to have her Cure hair styled into a bun.
 * Her last name, Hino, is romanized the same way as the last names of Hino Rei from Sailor Moon and Hino Eiji from Kamen Rider OOO, but with a different character (日, "sun", as opposed to 火, "fire").
 * Akane is the second Cure after Cure Marine to be the 'Class Clown' type.