Fresh Pretty Cure! (フレッシュプリキュア! )? is the sixth anime series of the Pretty Cure franchise.
Directed by Shimizu Junji and Zako Akifumi and produced by Toei Animation, the series premiered on TV Asahi on February 1st, 2009, succeeding Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! in its time slot.
The series' themes are fruits, clovers, card suits, and dancing.
Media[]
Fresh Pretty Cure! episodes
Fresh Pretty Cure!: Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai!? (Movie)
Fresh Pretty Cure! Manga (Kamikita Futago)
Story[]
Momozono Love is a second-year student at Public Yotsuba Junior High School. One day, Love goes to see the concert of a popular dance unit called Trinity and she is impressed! Seeing Miyuki, the leader of Trinity, kick starts Love's dream to dance. However, because of the sudden appearance of a Nakewameke, the concert becomes a disaster! Labyrinth intends to overthrow the town and control the whole world but doesn't that seem like a far-reaching conspiracy...!?
Love yearns to protect the people and see Trinity perform live once again. As a Linkrun is motivated by the strong feelings of Love, it turns her mobile phone into a transformation device turning her into a legendary warrior - Pretty Cure!! Along with Tarte and Chiffon, fairies from the Sweets Kingdom, Aono Miki and Yamabuki Inori, they use their power of love, hope, and prayer to defeat Labyrinth's evil plans.
Characters[]
Pretty Cure[]
- Momozono Love (桃園ラブ )?: A cheerful and selfless girl, and the leader of Pretty Cure. She is well-liked by everyone in town and hates to see others suffering, even if they are her enemies. Her alter ego is Cure Peach (キュアピーチ )?, representing the power of love through the symbol of the Heart.
- Aono Miki (蒼乃美希 )?: An elegant, popular young girl who is talented in several fields and dreams of becoming a model, though Pretty Cure and her friends always come first. She states she is "Perfect" at times. Her alter ego is Cure Berry (キュアベリー )?, representing the power of hope through the symbol of the Spade.
- Yamabuki Inori (山吹祈里 )?: A shy girl who loves nature and animals, and aspires to become a veterinarian just like her parents. Her alter ego is Cure Pine (キュアパイン )?, representing the power of faith through the symbol of the Diamond.
- Higashi Setsuna (東せつな )?: Initially introduced as Eas, a member of Labyrinth and enemy of Pretty Cure, Setsuna eventually joins them when she is revived as Cure Passion (キュアパッション )?, the previously missing fourth Cure, representing the power of happiness through the symbol of the Club/Clover.
Labyrinth[]
- Eas (イース )?: The only female member of Labyrinth during the first half of the series. She is a serious girl who has an obsession with defeating Pretty Cure in order to get Moebius's attention. Her human alias is Higashi Setsuna, and eventually, she becomes Cure Passion.
- Westar (ウェスター )?: The more clumsy member of Labyrinth, who is more of a comic relief character despite his tough appearance. He tends to rush into things without thinking them through. His human alias is Nishi Hayato.
- Soular (サウラー )?: The quieter, more level-headed member of the group, who takes a more strategic approach to his work. He seems to care for no one and enjoys people's suffering. His human alias is Minami Shun.
- Northa (ノーザ )?: The fourth member who appears later on in the series following Eas's departure. She is an elite within Labyrinth with the ability to manipulate plant life, who uses Sorewatase as monsters in battle. Her human alias is Kita Nayuta, though she never officially used it.
- Klein (クライン )?: An elite member of Labyrinth, he serves as Moebius' right-hand man, and often serves as his messenger to the lower-ranking members.
- Nakewameke (ナケワメーケ )?: The monsters used most often by the villains. They are made using a diamond imbued with evil energy that can be created by Eas, Westar, and Soular using magic, which is then used to possess both animate and inanimate objects to do the bidding of whoever summons them.
- Nakisakebe (ナキサケーベ )?: The new kind of monster that Moebius presented to Eas after she asked for more time to defeat Pretty Cure. Although it is incredibly strong compared to Nakewamekes, it works by sapping energy from the user and causing them pain. Eas was given only four cards to summon Nakisakebes, and those four are the only ones that appeared in the series.
- Sorewatase (ソレワターセ )?: The third monster used by the villains, stored within a fruit with a vaguely humanoid shape that is grown by Northa using the liqufied Fuko Energy stored in the Fuko Gauge. It was introduced by Northa, and only she can use them fully, though they are also used by Westar and Soular a few times.
- Moebius (メビウス )? The leader of Labyrinth who wishes to rule all worlds, thinking of all his subjects to be only mindless pawns.
Kingdom of Sweets[]
- Tarte (タルト )?: A ferret-like fairy from the Kingdom of Sweets, he is Chiffon's caretaker and speaks in Kansai dialect. He takes Chiffon to the human world during his search for Pretty Cure. He is prone to worrying and often grumbles, but becomes weak to a good story and will become overly emotional. He also loves Kaoru's donuts.
- Chiffon (シフォン )?: A baby fairy from the Kingdom of Sweets. Chiffon likes to play practical jokes on others, often by using her psychic powers. The mark on Chiffon's forehead gives a light that has many different abilities, including bestowing Pretty Cure with the ability to transform and giving them some of their power-ups.
- Elder Tiramisu (長老ティラミス )?: The owl-like elder of the Kingdom of Sweets. He is the one who summons the Pickruns to look for Pretty Cure.
- Waffle (ワッフル )?: Tarte's father and the king of the Kingdom of Sweets.
- Azukina (アズキーナ )?: Tarte's fiancee who loves him very much and supports him in whatever he is doing. She is also a fairy but strongly resembles a chipmunk with pink fur.
Clover Town Street[]
- Main Page: Fresh Pretty Cure! Minor Characters
- Kaoru (カオルちゃん )?: A laid-back man who runs a mobile donut cafe that the girls frequently visit, and often gives advice to them when they're feeling down. He is also aware of Tarte and Chiffon's true identities.
- Chinen Miyuki (知念ミユキ )?: Miyuki is the leader of the famous dance unit Trinity, and is also the coach of Pretty Cure's dance group, Clover. Love looks up to her greatly, and she cares for the girls in turn, although she can be somewhat strict at times. She is later made privy to her students' secret identities as Pretty Cure.
- Chinen Daisuke (知念大輔 )?: Miyuki's younger brother and one of Love's classmates. He has a crush on Love and often tries to impress her throughout the series, though the two frequently end up bickering.
- Sawa Yuki (沢裕喜 )?: Another of Love's classmates, and a friend of Daisuke. He has a huge crush on Miki.
- Mikoshiba Kento (御子柴健人 )?: Love's classmate, Daisuke's friend, and the heir to Mikoshiba Zaibatsu. He's a tall, timid boy who wears glasses and has a crush on Inori.
- Ichijo Kazuki (一条和希 )?: Miki's 13-year-old younger brother, who has lived separately from Miki with their father ever since their parents divorced. Miki often recruits him to go out with her and pose as her boyfriend to keep away other boys. He has had low blood pressure since birth, which has given him low confidence; despite this, he aspires to become a doctor one day.
- Momozono Keitarou (桃園圭太郎 )?: Love's father, who is a development chief for a company that makes wigs.
- Momozono Ayumi (桃園あゆみ )?: Love's mother, a gentle and understanding woman who loves her family very much. She was the champion in the beauty contest of Yotsuba Town once.
- Aono Remi (蒼乃レミ )?: Miki and Kazuki's mother, who runs a salon in Clover Town Street; she cares very much for her two children and wants the best for them.
- Yamabuki Tadashi (山吹正 )?: Inori's father, the local veterinarian, who owns a personal clinic in Yotsuba Town. He has a bold, generous appearance and is very knowledgeable about animals, a quality that Inori admires greatly.
- Yamabuki Naoko (山吹尚子 )?: Inori's mother and her husband's assistant in his clinic.
- Reika and Nana (レイカとナナ )?: The two other members of Trinity alongside Miyuki. When performing, they wear black visors over their eyes.
Items[]
- Linkrun (リンクルン )?: The Linkrun are cell phone-like devices which the girls use to transform into Pretty Cure. They are created by the Pickrun, and must be physically unlocked in order to be used.
- Cure Stick (キュアスティック )?: Peach, Berry, and Pine's attack items. Each has its own attack name and a different headpiece for the wands (ie: Peach has a heart).
- Passion Harp (パッションハープ )?: Passion's attack item; she is the only Cure in this season to have a different weapon.
- Clover Box (クローバー ボックス )?: An item the Cures obtain from the Mushy Bean Woods in Sweets Kingdom. It can be used to revert Chiffon back to normal whenever she turns into Infinity, and also for a group attack.
- Fuko Gauge (不幸のゲージ )?: The main container for Labyrinth to contain Fuko Energy, in order for Moebius to take over the universe.
Locations[]
- Yotsuba (四つ葉町 )? is the city where the Cures live. Clover Town Street is one of its main shopping districts.
- Public Yotsuba Junior High School is Momozono Love and Higashi Setsuna's school. Daisuke also attends this school.
- Private Torigoe Academy is Aono Miki's school. Dialogue from episode 3 suggests that it may be a school for the arts.
- Christian Private White Clover Academy is Yamabuki Inori's school. From the name, this implies it is a private school for Christians. It is the first of its type to appear in the entire Pretty Cure franchise.
- Labyrinth (ラビリンス )? is a parallel world consisting of a city of technology, from which the the main villains of Fresh Pretty Cure! originate. Its leader is Moebius.
- Sweets Kingdom (スウィーツ王国 )?: Another parallel world, and the home of Chiffon and Tarte. The Cures visit this world occasionally.
Trivia[]
- Fresh Pretty Cure! is the first season to:
- have Atsutoshi Umezawa as a producer until Smile Pretty Cure!.
- feature the main characters go to separate schools.
- not have instrumental version of its opening theme during its fight scenes.
- have CGI-animated endings.
- have an All Stars movie.
- give the main team four members.
- give all the Cures their own catchphrases.
- have a reformed villain officially joins the Pretty Cure team as a Cure.
- get 50 episodes.
- have the opening changed mid-season.
- have the main characters reveal their identities as Pretty Cure to the public.
- The mascots look quite different compared to the mascots that came before them. Furthermore, they do not end their sentences with a suffix, and the tradition of ending each story with four mascots ends.
- In the second opening, a Nakewameke appears below the ground Soular and Westar are standing on; however, since the Nakewameke has a dark-red diamond on it, it means that Eas was the one who summoned it, but by that time she already became Cure Passion and left Labyrinth.
- Unlike most seasons of the franchise, the areas affected by the battles between the Cures and the villains don't revert to normal even after the battles have ended.
- If you line up the catchphrases of the four Cures in hiragana and read the first character of each line, it spells "shiawase", which means "happiness" in Japanese. This is one of the main themes of the season, as well as part of Love's catchphrase.
- This season was considered revolutionary by Toei staff members, as they became aware that their previous targeted demographic, which were kindergarten aged children, had graduated and gone to higher education, and they wanted to have a boarder storytelling appeal for a wider audience. Therefore, they decided to write more grounded stories for this season that could resonate with teenage girls. They also introduced more nuanced concepts, such as making more human villains and the final villain being an AI, and also new elements to the franchise. These elements include a mid-season Cure, which has since become a longtime tradition in the series.[1]
Merchandise[]
- Main Page: Fresh Pretty Cure! Merchandise.
Gallery[]
Video[]
External Links[]
- Fresh Pretty Cure! at Toei Animation (Japanese)
- Fresh Pretty Cure! at TV Asahi (Japanese)
- Fresh Pretty Cure! at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia