Brian Taylor

Brian Taylor (ブライアン・テイラー Buraian Teirā)^? is a transfer student who came from England to learn Japanese. He befriended Akane and became her first crush.

Bio[]

Concept[]

Brian's name derives from Bryan Hikari Hartzehim, who at the time was a PhD student from UCLA that was allowed by Toei Animation to visit their studio and observe the production of Smile Pretty Cure! for his thesis research.^[1]

In one scriptwriting session, the premise for the episode, which would become SmPC36, was about "summer romance," featuring Akane having an unrequited love. The staff were stumped on what kind of boy Akane's love interest would be, someone her age and could match her "headstrong personality." Series director Otsuka Takashi asked Hartzheim for his opinion, who said that the boy should be someone from "outside the school and a little different from the other students," as Akane herself is a transfer student from Osaka. At that moment, ABC producer Matsushita Hiroyuki blurted out that the boy should be a foreigner (pp. 357-358).

The script went through a few revisions, and Hartzheim was repeatedly asked for his input on the accuracy of Brian's dialogue. Episode scriptwriter Narita Yoshimi believed that England would be a better native country for the gentlemanly Brian, vetoing Hartzheim's idea that he should be American, like himself (pp. 358-359).

Otsuka had Hartzheim pose for several pictures for the design of Brian, so that the character designer Kawamura Toshie can model the character after his "basic features." Hartzheim noted that Brian retains his "glasses and tousled hair," but was given freckles, blonde hair, and blue eyes to make him look more "foreign" (pg. 359).

Hartzheim also worked with Brian's voice actor, Kakihara Tetsuya, "to get the timing and delivery of his dialogue correct, both in English and Japanese." Kakihara, who grew up in Germany, spoke some English, so he had some knowledge about the difference in English accents. Hartzheim admitted he failed to coach Kakihara on giving Brian a "proper English accent," but found a "good balance" in the deliver of his imperfect Japanese so that "it does not sound like a total mockery of foreigners speaking non-native Japanese, a problem [he says is] common to other anime productions." They also changed some of Brian's dialogue to insert more English phrases and colloquialisms, such as changing "delicious" to "brilliant" (pp. 359-360).

Beyond the episode featuring Brian, Toei staff continued to ask Hartzheim for his input on English-related questions, such as helping voice actors with their English-language lines, opinions about English-language titles for new special abilities for Pretty Cure, and subtitles for the then-upcoming Smile Pretty Cure! film's international release (pg. 361).

Appearance[]

Brain is a European boy with dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. He usually wears a pair of black square glasses.

One of his outfits is a set of green-striped button cardigan. a red necktie, white shirt, dark green trousers, and dark brown shoes. His other outfit is a white T-shirt with the red printed words "Daijobu" (alright in Japanese), a purple long-sleeved undershirt with yellow rims, a pair of light blue trousers, and brown sneakers.

Personality[]

Brian is a hardworking person, who is eager to learn about other cultures. He is also a kind and friendly person.

Relationship[]

Hino Akane: After they spent some time together, Akane developed a crush on him. She showed him many things about Japan, and in return, he taught her a bit of English. When Brian left Japan, he told Akane he had fun being with her and couldn't thank her enough, and Akane told him she loved having him around. Akane became depressed when Brian returned to England, but they maintained a postage friendship for a while. Their relationship further developed in the novel, where they end up reuniting and living together for a few years, but break up due to incompatibility.

Languages[]

Brian speaks English, as he is from the United Kingdom. He went to Japan as an exchange student to learn the language, but learned to love the country as well. Although he already knew some Japanese before he met Akane, thanks to her, he got better at the language. While with Akane, he still spoke English sometimes, such as calling her "lady", which flustered her, and teaching her how to say "volleyball" while playing the sport. He learned some Kansai slang from her, such as "ookini", which means "thanks".

History[]

In the beginning of episode 36, he came across Akane walking while acting out her volleyball moves. When she tripped from a move and fell from a hill, he came down and helped her out. When she met him, she was flustered, and wondered who he was as he left. At his temporary new school, he met Akane again when she shouted out while he was being introduced in class. The teacher assumed she knew him and asked her to show him around the school. After school, Akane brought him around the school, trying to say the rooms' names in English. When she asked what he wanted to see, he said he wanted to see sword fights, kimono, and samurai. Akane realized she'd have to show him what Japan was really like, and introduced him to Japanese culture, correcting his assumptions as to what things are. When she left school, Brian caught up with her and picked up a volleyball, inviting her to play. While they played together, he taught her how to say "volleyball" in English. They eventually became friends and spent a lot of time together as Akane introduces him to and teaches him about Japanese culture. A week later, he ran into Akane in the evening after her failed love confession plans and ideas, looking for a restaurant to eat at. Akane brought him to her family restaurant and gave him okonomiyaki to try, which he loved. He noticed her use Kansai slang and asked what it was, so she taught him. He asked her to teach him more about her country and language, which she accepted.

The next few weeks, she showed him many things and taught him many words. She took him to various Japanese activities and places in town and they had a great time together. At the end of one day, when they were at the park watching the sunset, he reminded Akane he is leaving tomorrow. He says he had a great time with her, but Akane is saddened about him leaving Japan. At the goodbye party outside his school the next day, he thanked everyone in his class for teaching him, but noticed Akane wasn't there.

At the airport, he waited for Akane, because he knew she'd come to see him off. He told her that he had fun being at school with her and eating her okonomiyaki, and thanked her, saying that she'd taught him so much about so many things, and he'd fallen deeply in love with her country. Akane was touched and said she loved having him around and that he helped her so much and taught her so much English. They both said "thank you" in each other's language, (Akane says "thank you" and Brian says "ookini") and the episode ended with them holding hands.

Trivia[]

He is the first boy a Pretty Cure falls in love with in Smile!.
There is a high chance of him also having a crush on Akane, in episode 40, in the letter he wrote to her, he said, that her smile is like the sun.
- In the novel set 10 years after the show, he even lives with her for a few years, before they break up.
Brian does not make a full appearance in Glitter Force, but is still mentioned as a volleyball celebrity who wrote back to Kelsey/Akane.