Aono Miki

Aono Miki (蒼乃美希)^? is one of the four main Cures in Fresh Pretty Cure!. She is a second-year student at Private Torigoe Academy.

Her alter ego is Cure Berry (キュアベリー, Cure Berry)^?, the Pretty Cure of Hope. Her catchphrase is "I'm perfect!" (あたし、完璧！, "I'm perfect!")^?.

Bio

Appearance

Miki has a taller frame than her friends, with sharp, slit indigo eyes and long, dark violet wavy waist-length hair worn loose with a white headband. Her bangs are combed to the right with small amounts hanging in front of the ear at the left. When necessary, she may pull her hair back into a ponytail.

Casually, Miki wears a long-sleeved sky blue top with a V-shaped collar that has navy stitching forming a small ribbon in the middle, which reveals a matching navy undershirt below with light, dull tan denim shorts, black knee-length boots with three straps containing silver rectangular buckles, one around the foot and matching socks underneath, and a pale cream scarf to match her headband which is pale cream in this case. Her Linkrun hangs around the waist at the right secured in a white rectangular purse that has a magenta strap and a silver circular button.

During the summer, Miki wears a black shirt beneath a pale lavender ruffly-tiered top, white trousers, and light brown sandals with crisscross straps. She wears a sky blue choker with a rose decoration, and a light blue headband with pink stripes.

For dance, Miki wears a white T-shirt lined in blue with blue sneakers containing white toes, soles, and thin horizontal lines in the middle, and a bright blue sweatsuit with white stripes that go vertically on the pant sides, white vertical sections on the bottom corners of the top, pockets in the back, and a bright blue upturned collar, the pants being normal length. The cuffs, collar, and top trimming are lined with two white stripes.

In the movie, Miki wears a long-sleeved navy top with a V-necked collar lined in white frills, a pale blue pencil skirt with suspender straps linked by two horizontal buttons, a sky blue jacket with pockets at the bottom, and lavender knee-length boots. At some point in the movie, she also wears a space patrol outfit consisting of blue heart-shaped pieces on the sides of her head lined in white with white antennae and round pale blue tops, a pale blue leotard with a whiter chest, pale blue shoulder pauldrons, a blue swan-necked collar to match the upward-arched bordered trimming around the waist and oval-shaped pendant lined in silver, and pale blue handless gloves flaring out at the top to match her thigh-high boots with flared tips.

As Cure Berry, her eyes brighten and her hair becomes lavender, worn in a large curled ponytail at the left, and she gains forelocks. Her headband gains a blue heart-shaped ornament at the left lined in white to accent her blue circular earrings that have upside-down heart-shaped pieces dangling below and choker. She wears a cropped, pale blue top curving like an upside-down heart at the bottom with blue ruffles above and trimming below, off-shoulder ruffled sleeves secured by blue bands and blue straps. Dark blue stitching circles the chest with the Fresh! insignia as her chest ornament on the top left corner. Her light blue ruffly mini-skirt has a thick downward pointing blue belt that has dark blue crisscrossed stitching and a large blue ribbon hanging on the right hip with its tails flowing down to the knee, while her Linkrun now rests on the left with a pale pink strap. Her skirt has pale blue and white ruffled petticoat layers. She also gains midnight blue knee-high socks and a pair of knee-length blue boots with light blue diamond-shaped toes and heels, white folded angular cuffs lined in blue at the top, and short dark blue wristbands with blue lining on the top and bottom, and a dark blue ribbon on top of the palm.

As Cure Angel Berry, her hair grows slightly longer and is a little paler, along with her ribbons. Her outfit turns lighter and paler. Hanging from the back of the skirt are several pale blue ruffles, and her sleeves alter in shape, becoming more larger and flowy near the ends below the band. Her socks gain pale blue lining on the top, with her boots having larger cuffs with one cuff slightly bigger than the other on either side. Her wristbands' trimming flares out and sharpens at the bottom, turning white while the skirt's ribbon enlarges and its tails become more flowy and long down past the foot. She also gains slightly large, pale blue rhombus-like wings, and her chest ornament has an additional white heart on it between the pink and orange ones in the middle above. Her wristbands' ribbons' tails also grow longer.

As Rainbow Cure Berry, her outfit is the same as Cure Angel Berry with a small pair of golden wings.

Personality

Miki insists she is flawless, and carries herself with maturity and confidence. She is graceful, charming, and kind-hearted. Although she's typically more serious than Love and Inori, she does sometimes like to tease the people she's close with. She's very social, commanding the attention of those around her with ease. Since she was young, her dream has been to become a model.

Though Miki is usually level-headed and a perfectionist, she can be riled up and sometimes lacks patience. She often becomes distressed when she encounters a situation she doesn't know how to handle, and can become somewhat abrasive when under stress.

Relationships

Ichijo Kazuki: Miki's younger brother, who often is seen spending time with. She is shown to care about him deeply and value their relationship.
Aono Remi: Miki's mother, who she lives with separately from her father and Kazuki due to their parents' divorce. Remi and Miki are shown teasing each other, and while Remi tries to be a good mother, they have a strained relationship at times.
Momozono Love: Miki has been friends with Love since they were children. She can be strict with Love but always means well.
Yamabuki Inori: Miki has been friends with Inori since they were children, and like the rest of her friends, she calls Inori 'Buki'. She is understanding and supportive of her.
Higashi Setsuna: She is initially mistrustful of Setsuna after discovering her true identity as Eas, but quickly comes to view her as a friend. She has a difficult time getting along with her at first due to Setsuna's relative lack of social skills^FPC33, but the two soon learn to understand each other better, growing closer in the process.

Etymology

Aono (蒼乃, Aono)^?: Ao (蒼, Ao)^? means blue, an obvious reference to her color scheme. No (乃, No)^? indicates the possessive form, but in this case, is probably only included as a common component in Japanese surnames rather than having any special meaning having to do with Miki's powers or personality.

Miki (美希, Miki)^?: Mi (美, Mi)^? translates to beauty, and ki (希, ki)^? translates to hope, a reference to her title as the Cure or Symbol of Hope. The ki in her brother Kazuki's name is the same kanji.^[1]

Cure Berry refers to the blueberry, a small, dark blue, sweet edible berry that grows on bushes.^[2]

History

Becoming Cure Berry

Miki leaves Love after bringing up a "date" she has with Kazuki and ignores Love's requests to join her dance lessons. After Kazuki falls sick during a Nakewameke attack, Miki tries to get him to safety when Burun, the Pickrun who earlier found her, goes into her cellphone, allowing her to turn into Cure Berry, who gets Kazuki into an ambulance and she goes to combat the Nakewameke. With help from Cure Peach, they defeat it. Miki then joins Love with dance lessons, unaware that Inori is looking at them in envy.^FPC02

The Chance To Make Her Dream True

Miki has always aspired to be a top model. One day Kazuki finds Miki and her friends at Kaoru-chan's Doughnuts Café. He tells Miki that a fashion model audition is going to take place and she is happy about this chance to make her dream come true. That evening, Love and Inori's families as well as her brother come to Miki's home to celebrate her getting her chance to make her dream come true. Then Miki realizes if she passes the audition and leaves Japan, she has to quit dancing and being a Pretty Cure, but still Love and Inori support her and say they'll take her whole part.

The next morning, Miki gets ready for the audition and makes her way there. Later when she is close to the final stage, she sees Peach and Pine on TV, having trouble fighting the Nakewameke. She sneaks out of the building to rush to her friends' rescue. Thanks to Kaoru-chan, who drove her to that location, she arrives quickly and transforms into Cure Berry to help her friends defeat the Nakewameke. After this, Miki explains to both of them everything and says that Pretty Cure only works when they're three. Love and Inori are glad that Miki isn't mad at them.^FPC09

Receiving Her New Power

After Cure Peach and Cure Pine have received their "Fresh" upgrades of their powers, Miki decides to babysit Chiffon to be equal with them. Knowing nothing about how to make a baby happy, however, she tries to appeal to her to no avail. One day, Miki brings Chiffon to Private Torigoe Academy. When Chiffon wanders off during a photoshoot, Miki becomes frantic and searches all over for her. She finds Chiffon with the other girls, and after yelling at her for running off, hugs her in tears. Touched by this, Chiffon summons Burun and it gains an upgrade. During a fight with Westar's sandwich Nakewameke, she calls upon her Pickrun's power, receiving the Berry Sword and defeats the Nakewameke.^FPC17

Eas' Rebirth As Cure Passion

It is Miki who gives Love the initiative to consider fighting Eas, as she tells her that Setsuna is the enemy. Inori tries to stop her from being cold to her friend, but the two girls go and look for Love after she runs out of her room. They find Cure Peach fighting Eas and witness Setsuna's rebirth as Cure Passion.^FPC23

Days later, a tower Nakewameke attacks the city, getting Miki's attention. She transforms into Cure Berry and meets Pine along the way; both helping Cure Peach deflect a missile heading for Cure Passion. The three welcome Cure Passion to the team after Westar retreats.^FPC24

Coming Closer To Setsuna

One day when both Inori and Love cannot spend time with Miki, she ends up spending the day with Setsuna, whom she initially struggles to socialize with, because of Setsuna's lack of social skills. After having a heart-to-heart talk with Setsuna about their own fears, with her sharing her traumatic past about octopuses, Miki learns that Setsuna really cares about her along with Love and Inori. After the battle with an octopus Nakewameke, Miki has become closer friends with Setsuna.^FPC33

Cure Berry

"The blue heart is the emblem of hope. Freshly-gathered, Cure Berry!"
ブルーのハートは希望の印。つみたてフレッシュ、キュアベリー！
Buruu no hāto wa kibō no shirushi. Tsumitate furesshu, Kyua Berī!

Cure Berry (キュアベリー, Cure Berry)^? is Miki's Pretty Cure alias. She is symbolized by the blue heart which is the symbol of hope and Spade.

Cure Berry can use the attack Espoir Shower, which is later upgraded to Espoir Shower Fresh after getting the Berry Sword. In the spin-off movie, she, Cure Peach and Cure Pine combined their normal attacks into something they called Triple Fresh. Later than half-through the season, Pretty Cure uses the power of the Clover Box to use the group attack Lucky Clover Grand Finale, in which Cure Berry transfers her powers into the Espoir Leaf.

Transformation

To transform into Cure Berry, she opens her Linkrun and touches the button. Her face is showing, and she shouts "Change!". Next, her full body is showing, her hair ornaments disappears, and she shouts "Pretty Cure..." She falls to her feet on the ground, raise her hands in the air, and shouts "Beat Up!". She spins around and begins to slide along the ground. Her brooch appears, then her top and skirt. Her hair changed and her other clothes and ornaments appear in step by step. She jumps into the air. Cure Berry flies down, and then introduces herself before striking a final pose.

To transform into Cure Angel, She shouts "Change, Pretty Cure! Beat up!" and her normal Cure clothes disappear. She starts spinning around, and white light creates her top, skirt, shoes, arm warmers and Angel Wings. Next, her full costume is showing, and she introduces herself with the other Angel Cures.

Attacks

Espoir Shower (エスポワールシャワー, Espoir Shower)^? is Cure Berry's first finisher. She first performs it in episode 2.
- Espoir Shower Fresh (エスポワールシャワーフレッシュ, Espoir Shower Fresh)^? is the upgraded version of Espoir Shower that she performs with her Berry Sword. She first performs it in episode 17.
Triple Fresh (トリプルフレッシュ, Triple Fresh)^? is a movie-only group attack that Cure Berry performs with Peach and Pine. It is a combination of Espoir Shower with Love Sunshine and Healing Prayer.
Lucky Clover Grand Finale (ラッキークローバー・グランドフィナーレ, Lucky Clover Grand Finale)^? is a group attack she performs with Peach, Pine and Passion with the Clover Box. They first use it in episode 37.
Loving True Heart (ラビング・トゥルー・ハート, Loving True Heart)^? is a group attack she uses with Peach, Pine and Passion as Cure Angel in episode 49.
- Loving True Heart Fresh (ラビング・トゥルー・ハートフレッシュ, Loving True Heart Fresh)^? is the upgraded version of Loving True Heart. She uses it with Peach, Pine, Passion, Tarte, Azukina, Westar and Soular in the final episode.
Cure Berry can use a few very basic attacks together with her friends, such as the Pretty Cure Punch and Pretty Cure Kick.

Upgrade Forms

Cure Angel

Cure Berry Angel Finishing Pose — Cure Angel Berry

"The white heart is the heart of everyone! Freshly-flapping, Cure Angel!"
ホワイトハートはみんなの心！羽ばたけフレッシュ、キュアエンジェル！
Howaito hāto wa minna no kokoro! Habatake Furesshu, Kyua Enjeru!

Cure Angel (キュアエンジエル, Cure Angel)^? is an upgraded form the four Cures gain thanks to the people of Labyrinth. When transforming, the four-leaf clover brooch acquires a fifth white leaf, representing the final transformation.

In this form, Cure Angel is capable of flying at fast speed and has a powered-up strength. Together with everyone else, she can use the attacks Loving True Heart and Loving True Heart Fresh.

Cure Rainbow Berry

Cure Rainbow Berry (キュアレインボーベリー, Cure Rainbow Berry)^? is an upgrade Cure Berry gains in Pretty Cure All Stars DX 2. Together with the others' upgrades, the group of seventeen girls form the group Cure Rainbow. This upgraded outfit resembles that of Cure Angel in the season's finale, except with a pair of small, golden wings instead of white ones.

Songs

Miki's voice actor, Kitamura Eri, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Oki Kanae, who voices Momozono Love, Nakagawa Akiko, who voices Yamabuki Inori, and later also Komatsu Yuka, who voices Higashi Setsuna.

Than The Stars, Than The Flowers
FRIENDS ~3Q4love~

Group songs

Fresh Pretty Cure・Sun Child (Along with Oki Kanae, Nakagawa Akiko and Komatsu Yuka)
Dreaming Flowers (Along with Oki Kanae, Nakagawa Akiko, Komatsu Yuka and Iizuka Mayumi)
Happiness☆Wonderland ~The Gift Of Smiles~ (Along with Oki Kanae, Nakagawa Akiko, Komatsu Yuka and M*Cube)

Trivia

In the Pretty Cure All Stars Suite Flower Card Collection, Miki is represented by the purple wild radish flower, which symbolizes a serious and strong personality in the Language of Flowers.
Miki's blood type is A and she is 164cm tall.^FPC50
Miki shares her same voice actor with Burun from the same season.
Cure Berry is the only Fresh! Cure whose name doesn't start with the letter P.
Miki appeared as Cure Berry to give the 10th anniversary congratulatory message at the beginning of episode 16 of Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!.
Episode 33 revealed that she has chapodiphobia, a fear of octopuses due to a traumatic experience she had as a child.
Miki is the first main character in the franchise to have divorced parents, living separately from her father and brother because of this. Her parents divorced prior to the events of Fresh!, and it is never mentioned when this happened or why.
- Miki's surname being different than her brother's implies that she adopted her mother's surname following the divorce.