Kenjou Akira

Kenjou Akira (剣城あきら) is one of the six 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. In the summer, she wears a white T-shirt with a red vest and red and white sneakers. She maintains the jeans and the dog tag.

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.

Relationships

 * Kenjou Miku: Akira's younger sister.

Etymology
Kenjou (剣城): Ken (剣) means 'sword' while Jou (城) means 'castle'. Ken can also be used as a substitute for Inu (犬) when referring to dog breeds.

Akira (あきら) is a name often used by men and less frequently also used by women. 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 Ready To Serve!" 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 La Mode・Decoration!". In this form, she has a heightened sense of smell like a dog. Before she transforms, she wears a different outfit unlike the other Cures, consisting of a short sleeveless dress and shorts underneath.

Attacks

 * Kirakira♪Kiraru♪: The main method of attack used by the Cures, which manifests in the form of magical batter within the Sweets Pact. As Cure Chocolat, Akira has shown she has the ability to:
 * Shield herself with a swipe of batter.
 * Create force fields shaped like chocolate bar squares.
 * Shoot a homing stream of energy that immobilizes the foe.
 * Kirakirakirarun♪Kirakiraru♪: A more powerful version of the original incantation, giving Chocolat the ability to fire a large blast of red energy that encases the foe in what resembles a chocolate egg, which implodes and sends them flying.
 * Three・2・Wonderful A La Mode! (スイー・２・ワンダフルアラモード！) is the group attack Cure Chocolat performs with the other four Cures. To perform it, she must use the Candy Rod.
 * Chocolat Aromase (ショコラアロマーゼ) is the first sub attack Cure Chocolat uses in episode 15. To perform it, she needs the Candy Rod.

Songs
Akira's voice actress, Mori Nanako, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Miyama Karen, who voices Usami Ichika, Fukuhara Haruka, who voices Arisugawa Himari, Muranaka Tomo, who voices Tategami Aoi, Fujita Saki, who voices Kotozume Yukari, and Minase Inori, who voices Kirahoshi Ciel.
 * Chocolat・Etoile
 * Let's・La・Cookin'☆Showtime

Duets

 * Macaronage of Love and Excitement (Along with Fujita Saki)
 * Let's・La・Cookin'☆Showtime ~KIRAKIRA☆Patisserie・Version~ (Along with Miyama Karen, Fukuhara Haruka, Muranaka Tomo, Fujita Saki and Minase Inori)

Trivia
Coincidentally, Ichika at first time "falls in love" like Tsubomi of Itsuki.
 * Akira's birthday is in September 24th, making her Zodiac sign Libra.
 * 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 under the stage name Saeki Chihaya 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.
 * The design choices for Akira are also interesting considering Japan's recent increasing acceptance for its "genderless" fashion movement.
 * In Animage's monthly character poll for its 2017-06 issue, Akira placed 9th in "Best Character Overall".
 * 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!.
 * Akira has a role in the series similar to that of Itsuki Myoudouin in HeartCatch Pretty cure.

Gallery

 * Main Page: Kenjou Akira/Image Gallery