Kenjou Akira

Kenjou Akira (剣城あきら) is one of the five main characters of KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode who is a second year high school student. She is gentle and has a strong sense of justice like a "dog". Akira's alter ego is Cure Chocolat (キュアショコラ) and she is based off chocolates and dogs.

Her catchphrases are Are you okay? (「大丈夫？」) and There there (「よしよし」).

Appearance
Akira appears taller than the others with a boyish appearance. She has short dark red hair and sharp, slanted brown eyes. She wears a light brown and red button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly and a dark red shirt underneath it. She also wears a necklace with a dog tag hanging from it, blue jeans with a brown belt, and tan-colored boots.

As Cure Chocolat, her hair becomes bright red and more spiky looking. The bangs flare greatly on the right side and there is a dark brown streak among them. She also has large, pointed dog-like ears and a thick fluffy dog tail. She wears a brown top hat with melting chocolate on top. Her dress is long-sleeved with the top portion of sleeve made from thick material and striped in red and brown. She also has white gloves and cuffs with red cuff links and wears a short brown cape. The torso of the outfit has brown accent and a layer of cream pleat ruffles beneath it, while the collar is cream and furry looking with a rectangular-shaped chocolate brooch and a brown and gold ribbon hanging from it. On the left side of her hip is her Sweets Pact with a red bow on it. The skirt is a cream pleat over a pair of dark red shorts. She wears a dark brown choker with a silver tag hanging from it and silver earrings. Her boots are dark red and brown with thigh-high white socks, a cream toe, and cream fur sticking out from the top.

Her Patisserie outfit includes pants, rather than a skirt, along with a red ribbon on the hat to match the stripes on the sleeve cuff. She wears light red boots with a red bow, and a red, short tie at her chest.

Personality
Akira is a gentle boyish second year high school student. She'll always be by your side and has a strong sense of justice like a "dog". She knows her way around places which makes her a good person to rely on. Akira has a sickly younger sister who she tends to give chocolate to as a way of cheering her up.

Etymology
Kenjou (剣城): Ken (剣) means 'sword' while Jou (城) means 'castle'.

Akira (あきら) is a masculine name often used by men but can also be a female name. The name means 'bright', 'clear' or 'intelligent'.

Chocolat is French for Chocolate.

Cure Chocolat
"With Strength and Love! Let's・La・Mix It All Up! Cure Chocolat! Is Complete!" 強さと愛を！レッツ・ラ・まぜまぜ！キュアショコラ！できあがり！ ''Tsuyosa to Ai wo! Rettsu・Ra・Mazemaze! Kyua Shokora! Dekiagari!''

Cure Chocolat (キュアショコラ) is the Pretty Cure alter ego of Akira. She transforms using the phrase "Cure A La Mode・Decoration!".

Trivia

 * Many aspects about Kenjou Akira - including her design, her voice, her personality and her transformation sequence - reference the extravagant Broadway-style musicals performed by the Takarazuka Revue, in which women play all possible roles of the musical.
 * Her masculine design and personality fit the otokoyaku (男役) (literally "male role"), the male part played by actresses in Takarazuka productions. This is especially apparent with her Cure design, with its ornate uniform/suit-like style, the top hat and the princely puffed sleaves and cape.
 * In her transformation sequence, she stands on an ookaidan (大階段), the "grand staircase" being a trademark of the musicals since 1927 and usually rolled out in the finale for the actresses to dance on. Her hand motions in the sequence are also typical.
 * Her voice actress, Mori Nanako, used to play the otokoyaku role in fifteen Takarazuka Revue musical productions from 2005 to 2009.
 * Cure Chocolat is the first Cure to be based on Takarazuka musicals, and the first character in Pretty Cure overall to be based on them, even with the musicals being a common motif in shojo productions such as The Rose of Versailles, Princess Knight and Revolutionary Girl Utena.
 * Incidentally, juxtaposed with Cure Chocolat, the feminine Kotozume Yukari seems to reference the musumeyaku (娘役) (literally "daughter's role") - the actresses playing the women in the musicals.
 * Cure Chocolat is the fifth Cure to have more than one color in her hair, preceded by the four Go! Princess Pretty Cures.
 * Cure Chocolat is the second Cure to wear a cape in her Cure form, preceded by Cure Magical (Dia Style) from Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure!
 * Cure Chocolat is the second Cure to have long sleeves, preceded by Cure Muse from Suite Pretty Cure♪.
 * She shares her name with Miura Akira from Heartcatch Pretty Cure!.
 * Cure Chocolat is the seventh Cure in the franchise to not have an English name as Chocolat is French for "Chocolate". The first six were Cure Rouge (French), Cure Aqua (Latin), Cure Rosetta (Italian), Cure Felice (Italian), and her teammates Cure Gelato (Italian) and Cure Macaron (French).
 * Cure Chocolat is the third Cure with short hair, preceded by Cure Black from Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart and Cure Rouge from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!.

Gallery

 * Main Page: Kenjou Akira/Image Gallery