Aoki Soutarou

Aoki Soutarou (青木曾太郎 Aoki Sōtarō)^? is Reika's grandfather and father of Aoki Shizuko, and a minor character in Smile Pretty Cure!. He made his first appearance in episode 16, but Reika first mentions him in episode 10.

Bio[]

Appearance[]

Soutarou is an old man with white hair around the sides of his head and a white moustache. His eyes are a dull shade of blue. He is normally seen in a light gray men's kimono with a blue belt and inner lining, a brown coat, and dark blue socks with wooden geta.

Personality[]

Soutarou is a wise man and Reika's confidant. When Reika was troubled about the reason behind the things she did, he advised her to give up on everything in order to better find out what she really wanted to do.^SmPC16

He has also been shown to write calligraphy, and Reika's wall scroll with the word "the way" from episode 7 was probably written by him.

Trivia[]

Soutarou shares his seiyuu, Nishimura Tomomichi, with Belzei Gertrude from Futari wa Pretty Cure, and Moebius from Fresh Pretty Cure!
His seiyuu, Nishimura Tomomichi, shares the same surname as Reika/Cure Beauty's seiyuu, Nishimura Chinami. Coincidentally, Reika/Cure Beauty is his granddaughter in the series.
Soutarou is interested in ikebana, traditional flower arrangement. His tokonoma (alcove) usually has a different flower in each of his appearances, showing the progress of time. Another name for ikebana is Kadō, "way of flowers." The kanji for Kadō is 華道, and 華 is glyph used for writing Reika's name in kanji (麗華).
In the Smile Pretty Cure! novel, supposedly set 10 years after the series, Soutarou passes away. However, this turns out to be part of Joker's illusions.