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Amamiya Elena (天宮えれな?) is one of the five main Cures in Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure. She is a third-year student at Mihoshi Middle School, and is in the same class as Madoka.

Elena's alter ego is Cure Soleil (キュアソレイユ?) and she is known as the Pretty Cure of the Sun. Her catchphrases are "Chao!" (チャオ!?) and "Sounds nice!" (いいねぇ!?)

Bio

Concept

Yanagawa Akari, the producer representing Toei Animation on Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure, wanted to emphasize not only the diversity between humans and aliens, but also within humans, which is why the main characters each have different skin tones, including Elena. Yanagawa lived in the United States where she attended elementary school for a few years, before moving back to Japan. She grew up on cartoons featuring children of different races, which she felt Japanese anime should have more of.[1] As Yanagawa had no Mexican ancestry nor knowledge of the culture, she consulted people who have such knowledge or heritage on how to write Elena.[2]

Appearance

Elena has tan brown skin and curved purple eyes and thick chest-length golden hair. Her bangs are entirely pulled back and worn with an orange headband with a knotted bow on the side, behind each ear is a small braid. She has a beauty mark by her lower left eye and slightly thick eyebrows.

Casually, Elena wears a loose, off-white top with elbow-length sleeves with orange designs. The shirt ties in the middle. She also wears a thin purple choker and bracelet, along with denim shorts, and white and burnt orange shoes.

As a child, she looked the same but without her braids and headband. In her adulthood, she tied up her hair and wore a pearl necklace around her neck. She wore a long light lime dress and an orange coat, a pearl necklace around her neck, and white high heels.

In the winter, she wears a white sweater with purple designs near the collar with an orange shirt underneath it and blue jeans. She would sometimes also wear a brown jacket with a dark orange scarf.

As Cure Soleil, her eyes brighten and hair turns bright blonde and lengthens to her thighs, entirely pulled back in a ponytail. She wears two purple headbands decorated with a yellow and orange star on the right and a gold beaded tiara with a star in the middle. Her dress is mostly orange with yellow designs and pale cream ruffles at the bottom that is slightly shorter on the left. Around her waist is a belt made of stars with a purple translucent ruffle and an additional orange and yellow layer. On the left is her carrying pouch for her Star Color Pens. The dress also has white straps with golden yellow and white ruffles along the neck with her Star Color Pendant in the middle. Her boots are light yellow and orange with stars that resemble her hairpiece on the top of each. Her accessories include yellow and white wristbands, a purple choker, and matching earrings.

In her Twinkle Style, her hair grows more and is decorated with stars. While one of her headbands turns into a purple and white tiara, the other is replaced with a golden one with multicolored stars. Her star hairpiece is now smaller and appears on both sides of her head while her choker is lined with white ruffles. Her dress now matches the length of her hair, with the light yellow and purple ruffles larger, with a deep orange layer added under it The pouch has a lilac ribbon flowing from it. The ruffle on top of the dress now covers just her left shoulder with an additional translucent purple ruffle and a red rose accenting the pendant. On her upper arms are three gold bracelets, with two additional ones on her wrists with purple ruffles. Her boots remain the same, but gain a purple ruffle.

As Libra Cure Soleil, her dress is longer and wider and turns mainly bright yellow with the purple ruffle growing longer. Her blonde hair now has an orange ombre with part of it styled in hight twin-tails held by several bands of pearls with gold crescent moons hanging from it. Her wristbands are completely white and she also wears round light green earrings.

As Scorpio Cure Soleil, her dress is orange again with dark orange designs and is more closed than her previous ones, with the lining ruffle now light orange. The sleeves on top are yellow and pale orange with the purple ruffle around the waist growing longer in the back. The boots are now orange. Her hair is styled in a ponytail resembling a scorpion's tail with a dark orange ombre and purple stars decorating it. Her star hair accesorry and earrings are also dark orange and her wristbands are dark orange and yellow.

Personality

Elena is a third-year student with a radiant smile. She's very popular and sporty to the point that she is known as "The Sun of Mihoshi Town". She often looks after her 6 younger siblings when her parents are off working at the florist store Sonrisa, which her family runs. On the report of AI's evaluations, Elena can be defined as the challenger type due to her excellent sportiness and is suitable for helping to carry heavy objects as the muscle of the team. She could be emotionally fragile because of her past when she felt she couldn't fit in because of her skin color, but learned that bringing peace to the universe can bring smiles in return. She used to be too occupied by looking after her family than figuring out her own career, but learned to find a balance and be honest to herself.

Relationships

  • Kaguya Madoka: Elena and Madoka are both from the same class and are also idols of Mihoshi Middle School, though they didn't interact much until they became Pretty Cure. Overall, the two appear to be close friends, with Elena appreciating Madoka for her intelligence and multiple talents.
  • Amamiya Siblings: Elena looks after her younger siblings responsibly and shares a close relationship with them. For example, she once worried about Touma being upset as well as when she felt sad to leave her family behind when she had to temporarily travel to Saman.
  • Amamiya Kaede: Elena loves and admires her own mother, hoping to become a translator like her. She was initially upset when Kaede found out she hadn't been truthful to herself, but is happy when her mother started to support her after she decided to pursue her dream of being like her mother.
  • Tenjo: Elena has a rivalry with Tenjo because they both have different beliefs on relationships between species and acceptance, mostly because of Elena's positivity towards these aspects, which Tenjo greatly disagrees with. However, as a heroine, Elena is still very kind towards her. After understanding Tenjo's terrible past and later saving her from the twisted imagination, Elena and Tenjo are finally able to put aside their differences and get along.

Etymology

Amamiya (天宮?) - Ama (?) means "heaven" or "sky" [3] while Miya (?) means "shrine" or "palace" [4]. Together, Amamiya means "sky shrine".

Elena (えれな?) - There are many different kanji variations for this name, but when written as "Elena", it can mean "shining bright" or "bright one" [5] which eludes to Elena's theme as Cure Soleil.

Cure Soleil is a noun and is French for "sun" [6].

History

Meeting Hikaru And Lala

Elena first appears when she notices Hikaru and Lala having an argument. Thanks to always solving her siblings' arguments, she gives the pair some advice on how to resolve their issues, which is to listen to what the other has to say. She then notices that her flower shop has a customer, so she bids them farewell.

A few days later, Hikaru and Lala turn up at her house. Elena is delighted to see that they're getting along now. As they walk around the shop, Elena tells them about why she is so set on making others happy, even telling them that the store's name, Sonrisa means "Smile" in Spanish.

Becoming Cure Soleil

While doing the chores, Elena notices a giant cloud of smoke coming from the park. Worried, she leaves her brother to look after the store as she goes to investigate. When she arrives, she sees Fuwa flying around and being pursued by the Nottorei. Elena tries to go help her, but she is too scared to do anything. She then sees Cure Star fighting against the Nottorei and recognizes her voice. As a Nottorei launches himself towards Fuwa, Elena breaks out of her fear and leaps into the air. She catches Fuwa, but she falls over when she lands.

Tenjo taunts Elena, and Elena says that even though she doesn’t know what’s going on or what Fuwa is exactly, she’s determined to protect Fuwa due to the smiles she brought to her sisters’ faces. Tenjo remarks that Pretty Cure now has one more target that they need to protect, so they’re even weaker. As Star and Milky fight the Nottorei, Elena shouts her determination to protect Fuwa. This enables Fuwa to summon a new Star Color Pen and Star Color Pendant. With these, Elena transforms into a new Pretty Cure: Cure Soleil.

Cure Soleil proceeds to beat the Nottorei into submission using mostly punches, kicks, and flips, but also a little bit of fire. She tells Tenjo that having people to protect doesn’t make her weaker; it makes her stronger to know that she’s responsible for the smiles on their faces. She then uses an attack called Soleil Shoot to defeat all of the Nottorei, causing a concerned Tenjo to teleport away.

Understanding Her Brother

One day, Elena has the chance to let her three friends meet her family, but notices that her brother Touma hasn't been smiling lately, which concerns her. That night, when she asks Touma about him ignoring their parents earlier, Touma admits that he finds them being weird, especially when one time they broke into a dance in front of his friends. He remains unconvinced no matter how Elena tries persuading him.

On the day of the party, Elena's concern grows when Touma's bad mood worsens and he runs away after their parents and siblings break into another dance. She later finds out that Tenjo has turned Touma into a Nottorei, but he has gotten so strong that he cannot be easily saved even after she transforms into Soleil. Soleil then realizes that Touma is crying of feeling abnormal due to having a different family than others, so she reaches out to him by telling that she used to feel the same way like him as a child. After Star helps her blast Tenjo, Soleil grabs the Scorpio Princess Pen from Tenjo and along with her friends is able to turn Touma back to normal.

Afterwards, Touma admits that he is happy with their family, and Elena gives him a warm hug as she is glad to understand him and make him feel better, though Touma gets embarrassed and a bit dismayed about that.

Befriending Saboro

In episode 34, Elena and her friends are waiting for the space inspector, but instead, a cactus alien arrives on Earth. Elena warms up to the alien and names him Saboro, mistaking him as the Inspector.

At first, Elena and Saboro have a fun time together, but she unintentionally offends him after taking him to Sonrisa, as he cannot understand why humans are selling plants as a living and therefore misunderstanding humans as cruel. Confused and furious, Saboro leaves Elena behind and returns to his spaceship.

Back at home, Elena sighs and admits to her mother that she finds it impressive how her mother can interpret other languages which leads to people smiling. But her mother tells her honestly that communication isn't simply about languages, the most important factor is to get to understand the person's perspective.

Later, Elena and her friends receive a transmission from Abraham about the real Saboro being a slacker who has gone on a holiday irresponsibly. However, Elena still wants to reconcile with the cactus Saboro since she understands how desperate he is on trying to befriend other foreigners. Unfortunately, before she and her friends can reach him, he has already been targeted by Tenjo who forcibly turns him into a Nottorei. With his intensified pain, all of Saboro's attacks have been boosted, so the Cures have a harder time saving him.

Although facing such hardships, Soleil does not give up and still wants to redeem herself, no matter how Tenjo attempts to discourage her. She manages to stand up and believes that it worth trying, which encourages her friends to help her. Just before Saboro is about to finish off her friends, Soleil explains to him how she enjoys being his friend so as to clear the misunderstanding and even makes a heart with both hands to show her sincerity, which ultimately allows the girls to return him back to normal.

That evening, Elena kindly tells Saboro on how humans put their feelings into plants as gifts to the loved ones they treasure and genuinely apologizes for hurting his feelings. Saboro then removes his hat and cape to show Elena his body which suddenly blooms with an abundance of flowers, picking one for her as a present. She hopes that he will meet plenty of new friends and she, along with her friends, watch him depart in joy.

Rivalry With Tenjo And Realizing Her Dream

When asked to be the Mihoshi Middle School's representative for an English Speech Contest, Elena accepts. Her tutor turns out to be Tenjo, disguised as Ms. Jou, who is looking to have Elena realize how cruel the world really is so Elena would lose her smile. However, that plan backfires when Elena takes Ms. Jou's advice and puts a positive spin on it, which in turn has Elena win the whole contest. But Elena seems to be bothered still because of what Tenjo had said about smiles during the battle.

In episode 42, Elena sees that her mother, Kaede is home from work early. Her mother tells Elena she can have a break but just as Kaede decides to keep cooking, she gets a phone call asking her to come back to work. At the parent-teacher interview, Elena is asked by her teacher and her mother what her future dream is, which in turn has Elena say she'd prefer a future where she can still help out at home. Later that day, Elena comes across Tenjo who had turned her mother into a Nottorei because Kaede was bothered by Elena most likely destroying her own future due to being too keen to look after her family. This gets to Elena but she transforms. During the battle, Tenjo points out that Soleil's smile is fake and that she isn't actually doing anything for herself. Soleil isn't able to say anything back, so Selene steps in for her. However, the words of her mother had gotten to Elena, making her hesitate to even walk through her home's door.

In episode 43, when visiting Planet Guten, Elena is discouraged, as Tenjo reminds her of her insecurities from her past. But after being encouraged by Selene during the battle, Soleil decides to display her truest smile to everyone including Tenjo which triggers her Twinkle Imagination. After returning home, she chooses to tell her parents about her dream of being a professional translator.

Epilogue

Fifteen years later in episode 49, Elena is now a translator for a television station. She is last seen watching the rocket carrying Hikaru into space.

Cure Soleil

STPC Color Charge Soleil Finishing Pose

Cure Soleil poses after transformation

"Light up the sky! With sparkling heat! Cure Soleil!"
宇宙を照らす!灼熱のきらめき!キュアソレイユ!
Uchū wo Terasu! Shakunetsu no Kirameki! Kyua Soreiyu!

Cure Soleil (キュアソレイユ?) is the Pretty Cure alter ego of Elena. In order to transform, she needs the Star Color Pendant and her Star Color Pen. During the battles, Soleil takes on an offensive role, almost always getting offensive and attacking the enemy with her flaming kicks.

Transformation

  • Color Charge!: Elena's pendant top pops up, allowing Elena to insert her Star Color Pen. Her headband then disappears as she shouts the phrase and draws a circle that produces fireballs. Elena bursts out of the circle and begins to sing. She draws a swirl which turns into purple spheres. She sticks her hands inside one of the spheres, which creates her cuffs. She puts her feet in another sphere, forming her boots. She touches her pendant again and draws a squiggly line that forms the stars on her boots. She hops on a few of the spheres and draws another squiggly line, forming her dress. She then draws on her beady choker, earrings, and hair clip as her hair grows really long and becomes lighter. She presses her pen to her pendant one last time as the cord disappears and attaches to her dress. She then tosses the pen into the air before catching it and drawing on her belt and then her pen flies into its pouch. She stops singing and introduces herself before striking a pose.

Attacks

  • Soleil Shoot (ソレイユシュート?): Using the Star Color Pendant, Soleil is able to perform this attack.
    • Libra Soleil Shoot (てんびん座ソレイユシュート?): Using the Star Color Pendant and the Libra Star Princess Color Pen, Soleil is able to perform an upgraded version of this attack.
    • Scorpio Soleil Shoot (さそり座ソレイユシュート?): Using the Star Color Pendant and the Scorpio Star Princess Color Pen, Soleil is able to perform another upgraded version of this attack.
    • Virgo Soleil Shoot (おとめ座ソレイユシュート?): Using the Star Color Pendant and the Virgo Star Princess Color Pen, Soleil is able to perform yet another upgraded version of this attack.
  • Southern Cross Shot (サザンクロスショット?): An attack Soleil performs alongside Cure Star, Cure Milky and Cure Selene. To perform it, she needs the Twinkle Stick.
  • Star Twinkle Imagination (スタートゥインクルイマジネーション?): An attack Soleil performs alongside Cure Star, Cure Milky, Cure Selene and Cure Cosmo. To perform it, she needs Unicorn Fuwa and her Twinkle Style.

Songs

Elena's voice actor, Yasuno Kiyono has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Naruse Eimi, who voices Hoshina Hikaru, Kohara Konomi, who voices Hagoromo Lala, Komatsu Mikako, who voices Kaguya Madoka, and Uesaka Sumire, who voices Yuni.

Group Songs

Trivia

  • Elena's birthday is on September 8th, making her star sign Virgo. Relating to Star☆Twinkle's outer space motif, Elena's birthday happens to fall on the anniversary of the American premiere of the science fiction franchise Star Trek and its first episode, The Man Trap.
  • Elena shares her voice actress with Lumière, a character from KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode.
  • Elena is the first main character to have darker skin.
    • She is also the first Cure to have a beauty mark.
  • Due to her father being Hispanic and her mother being a translator, Elena is proficient at languages.
  • Similar to Amanogawa Kirara, Elena’s surname comes from her mother rather than her father.
  • Elena shares her first name with Shiina Elena, a minor character from Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!.
  • Elena isn't a fan of horror films.
  • According to head writer Murayama Isao, Elena was originally going to be the student council president. However, as "pink and purple are more popular from a business standpoint," he was asked to keep the colors pink and purple as components "certain to mesh well," meaning Hikaru and Madoka were to be interconnected as opposing forces. As a result, Madoka became the president instead.
    • In contrast to Hikaru and Madoka, Lala and Elena were given more leeway when creating their characters, which is why the latter has a big family and a foreigner for a father. In terms of audience perception, Murayama admitted Elena was the most challenging as he predicted Lala would be perceived well for being an alien. That's why he and producer Yanagawa Akari were happy to hear that Elena's popularity grew as the series progressed.[7]
  • When coming up with Cure Soleil's name, Murayama noted that the word "Elena" first came to mind. However, since Elena is a normal name for girls, it would have been like naming her "Cure Hanako," so they used Elena for her civilian name instead.[8]

Gallery

Main Page: Amamiya Elena/Image Gallery

References


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