Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star (ふたりはプリキュアSplash☆Star? Lit. "We are Pretty Cure Splash☆Star") is the third season of the Pretty Cure franchise and the first new iteration of Pretty Cure after the original Futari wa Pretty Cure and its sequel Max Heart. It was directed by Komura Toshiaki and premiered on TV Asahi February 5, 2006.
The story revolves around Hyuuga Saki and Mishou Mai, who were chosen by the spirits of the flowers and birds to become the legendary warriors, Pretty Cure, for the battle against evil organization Dark Fall.
The Cures' signature motif is the Japanese idiom "flower, bird, wind, moon" (花鳥風月 )?, and the beauty of nature is the main theme for the season.
The series is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
Media[]
Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star episodes
Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star: Maji☆Doki♡ 3D Theater (Short)
Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star Tick Tack Kiki Ippatsu! (Movie)
Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star Manga (Kamikita Futago)
Story[]
The story begins five years prior to the start of the series. Young Hyuuga Saki and Mishou Mai meet each other under the Sky Tree at age nine after following two glowing lights flying towards the tree. Five years later, they meet at the same place again and become the Legendary Warriors Pretty Cure.
Saki is the star in the softball team, and Mai is an aspiring artist. When they meet each other by a coincidence before the Sky Tree, two lights fall down, revealing two small creatures named Flappy and Choppy. They explain to the girls about their duty as Pretty Cure, but on the same day, they get attacked by a strange humanoid creature with his fearsome monster. The girls transform into Hyuuga Saki and Mishou Mai, defeat the monster and acquire something later revealed to be a Miracle Droplet. After some thought, the two girls decide to become friends and help Flappy and Choppy save their world named the Land of Fountains. Cure Bloom and Cure Egret can fight physically, set up energy shields and fly freely using spiritual powers, and they are protected by a passive force field. Spiritual powers take in the form of visible light, so the Cures are aura battlers. Their group attack is the Twin Stream Splash. Cure Bloom bears the Flower symbol from Flappy on the back of her gloves, and Cure Egret bears the Bird symbol from Choppy in the same matter. These symbols are always used for launching a group attack and retained when they attain their second form.
Over time, they have defeated Karehaan, Moerumba, and Dorodoron before confronting two of their best friends, Kiryuu Michiru, and Kiryuu Kaoru, the Dark Fall magical girl duo who go to the Land of Greenery in order to spy on Pretty Cure. The four eventually become good friends after spending some peaceful days together and a confrontation where the Cures have refused to fight back. Michiru and Kaoru sacrificed themselves to rescue Saki and Mai from their fearsome leader Akudaikaan and disappeared from the Land of Greenery until their revival by power from the Fairy Carafe.
After Pretty Cure has restored the Fountain of Sky, two mysterious spirits from this Fountain appear, named Moop and Foop, who can collect the power of the Moon and power of the Wind. A powerful and treacherous villain Ms. Shitataare appears to be too powerful to Cure Bloom and Cure Egret to handle without an upgrade. Moop and Foop supply their powers to the Splash Commune, which provides the Spiral Ring Set to the Cures, allowing them to use the more-powerful Spiral Heart Splash attack.
Later, Flappy and Choppy are captured and injured by Goyan, and subsequently healed by power from Moop and Foop, resulting in an upgrade in their item form from the Mix Commune to the Crystal Commune, and their ability to use the moon and wind powers collected by Moop and Foop, resulting in a new form for Pretty Cure, Hyuuga Saki and Mishou Mai. Hyuuga Saki and Cure Windy can access all of Hyuuga Saki and Mishou Mai's fighting capability plus the ability to use the power of the Light and power of the Wind. Their group attack is the Spiral Star Splash, which requires the use of the Spiral Ring Set, which is also supplied by the same pair of spirits as their Cure transformation. Flappy and Choppy still retain their ability to collect spiritual power from the Earth and the Sky after this upgrade, so the girls can freely choose and switch between the two forms. They are shown to use both forms in the second half of the show, and they have defeated Kintoleski using their second form.
After Pretty Cure has restored all six fountains in the Land of Fountains, Queen Fillia collects powers from the six fountains in the Fairy Carafe and intends to use them for the Fountain of Sun, but Goyan steals the Fairy Carafe and uses such powers to revive the five defeated Dark Fall minions. The remaining power is used to revive Michiru and Kaoru, who have betrayed the Dark Fall and sided Pretty Cure afterward. After defeating all five recycled minions, the four girls enter the Dark Fall to retrieve the stolen Fairy Carafe and subsequently fight Akudaikaan and Goyan. After Akudaikaan gets defeated by the four girls, Goyan kills him and reveals that he is the one who has created Akudaikaan and intends to destroy the universe and take all lives with it. Goyan reveals his original form and has a fiery battle against the girls, during which the Land of Greenery is turned into the ruined world and all four girls have run out of power and are near death. Saki and Mai are de-transformed, but they have eventually managed to summon remaining spirits from the Land of Greenery to finish the battle. With the Cures using Flappy and Choppy's Flower and Bird powers and Michiru and Kaoru carrying a portion of Moop and Foop's powers (the remaining portion is in the Cures' Spiral Rings), the four are able to use all four powers together and defeat Goyan with their ultimate attack, the Spiral Heart Splash Star.
The Land of Greenery and the Land of Fountains are restored, the four girls live together in the Land of Greenery, and the four spirits return to the Land of Fountains. The story ends with the four girls heading forward to their future and Saki and Mai holding hands for one last time.
Characters[]
Pretty Cure[]
- Hyuuga Saki (日向咲 )?: Saki is the athletic heroine of the series and is a member of the school's softball team. Much like Misumi Nagisa, she is a cheerful sporty girl who loves sweets and hates studying, but has a bright and easygoing personality. Her alter ego is Cure Bloom (キュアブルーム )?, with powers representing the earth, and later Cure Bright (キュアブライト )?, with powers representing the moon.
- Mishou Mai (美翔舞 )?: Mai is a transfer student in Saki's class. She is a quiet artist who loves drawing and has awareness of the surroundings. Her alter ego is Cure Egret (キュアイーグレット )?, with powers representing the sky, and later Cure Windy (キュアウィンディ )?, with powers representing wind.
Allies[]
- Flappy (フラッピ )?: Flappy is the spirit of the Flower and Saki's mascot partner. He has a crush on Choppy and ends his sentences with "-lapi".
- Choppy (チョッピ )?: Choppy is the spirit of the Bird and Mai's mascot partner. She is not aware of Flappy's crush on her. She ends her sentences with "-chopi".
- Moop (ムープ )?: Moop is the spirit of the moon from the Fountain of Sky. He ends his sentences with "-mupu".
- Foop (フープ )?: Foop is the spirit of the wind from the Fountain of Sky. She ends her sentences with "-pupu".
- Princess Filia (フィーリア王女 )?: The ruler of the Land of Fountains, and Spirit of the World Tree. She appears every time Pretty Cure restores a ruined Fountain and provides a hint on future events.
- Kiryuu Kaoru (霧生薫 )?: A denizen of Dark Fall. Together with her sister Michiru, they control the Fountain of Sky. She and Michiru come to Yuunagi Junior High as exchange students in an attempt to infiltrate Pretty Cure but eventually end up becoming friends with them instead.
- Kiryuu Michiru (霧生満 )?: A denizen of Dark Fall and is always together with her sister Kaoru. She and Kaoru come to Yuunagi Junior High as exchange students in an attempt to infiltrate Pretty Cure but eventually end up becoming friends with them instead.
Dark Fall[]
- Karehan (カレハーン )?: The first denizen of the Dark Fall. It looks like he is made of plants, and creates wood-based Uzaina. He controls the Fountain of Trees.
- Moerumba (モエルンバ )?: The second denizen of the Dark Fall. Moerumba manipulates the fire element and can create fire-breathing Uzainas using heat-related objects. He controls the Fountain of Fire.
- Dorodoron (ドロドロン )?: The third of the Dark Fall, he is an arachnoid creature that travels underground and uses earth-based objects as his Uzaina monsters. He controls the Fountain of Earth.
- Ms. Shitataare (ミズ・シタターレ )?: The fourth of the Dark Fall is an ice woman and uses water in many forms for her Uzaina monsters. Her name is a pun on the Japanese word "misu" (水 )?, which means "water".[1] She controls the Fountain of Water.
- Kintoleski (キントレスキー )?: The last minion of the Dark Fall, and also the physically strongest. His skin is metallic gold. He controls the Fountain of Gold.
- Goyan (ゴーヤーン )?: Akudaikaan's aide, though Ms. Shitataare calls him "Go-chan" despite his superiority. He often comments on the minions' previous work whenever they come to report to Akudaikaan.
- Uzaina (ウザイナー )?: The physical form of the Dark Fall's power. Uzainaas are monsters created from a fusion of an object and a Miracle Droplet corrupted by the Dark Fall. Upon their defeat, elemental spirits are released to thank Pretty Cure.
- Akudaikan (アクダイカーン )?: The evil ruler of Dark Fall who wants to take over the World Tree, he has managed to capture six of the seven fountains that nourish it. He has sent out minions to try to find the location of the last Fountain, the Fountain of the Sun.
Items[]
- Mix Communes (ミックスコミューン )?: The transformation device for Bloom and Egret.
- Crystal Communes (クリスタルコミューン )?: The upgraded transformation device for Bloom, Egret, Bright, and Windy.
- Splash Commune (スプラッシュコミューン )?: A laptop device used by both Pretty Cure.
- Spiral Rings (スパイラルリング )?: The weapon like devices to perform special attacks.
- Miracle Drops (奇跡の滴 )?: The droplets that restore the fountains.
- Fairy Charafe (フェアリーキャラフェ )?: The object that restores the fountains.
Locations[]
- Land of Greenery: This is a name referring to the human world, where Saki and Mai live. The Fountain of Sun and the World Tree resides in this world, and Pretty Cure needs to protect this fountain along with the World Tree.
- Land of Fountains (泉の郷 )?: The Spirit World where Flappy and Choppy come from. It consists of seven holy fountains. Six fountains are destroyed and controlled by the Dark Fall, and it is Pretty Cure's job to restore those ruined fountains while protecting a seventh, the Fountain of the Sun.
- Land of Clocks: This world houses the Infinite Clock which controls time, and only appears in the movie.
- Yuunagi Middle School (夕凪中学校 )?: The middle school attended originally by Hyuuga Saki and ultimately all main characters of the season, including Mai and the Kiryu sisters.
- PANPAKA Pan Bakery (ベーカリーPANPAKAパン )?: A bread shop within the town and home of the Hyuuga family.
- Sky Tree (大空の樹 )?: A notable landmark within the town of Yuunagi, connected to the Land of Fountains.
- Dark Fall (ダークフォール )?: The evil organization that is localized in a tower alone in the water. It has a path from the entrance into the cave at the main tower. The term "Dark Fall" also refers to the nine villains from the Dark Fall.
Trivia[]
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star is the only season:
- where the transformation devices are changed mid-season along with the Cures' names.
- in the franchise to change its head writer partway through the series run, with Narita Yoshimi replacing Nagatsu Haruko after thirteen episodes.
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star was initially planned to have a sequel season, but the idea was abandoned when Toei decided they needed to alter the formula before it became too stale.[2]
- Toei producer Washio Takashi has offered some insight on the planning behind Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star.[3]
- The main setting of Yuunagi draws inspiration from the city of Kamakura and the region of Shonan on Enoshima.
- The overall world is inspired by Norse mythology, with the Sky Tree being based off the Yggdrasil that is the source of all life.
- In the previous seasons, when a villain appeared onscreen, the entire screen was darkened with a purplish color, but in Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star, battles took place under a normal blue sky. Washio noted that he discussed how to make use of the surrounding environment to emphasize a cheerful feeling.
- During Washio's time as producer on Pretty Cure for the first five years, he made sure not to depict direct blows to the head or stomach, instead having the girls defend against them. He noted that the action style changed this season from the last two, being more restrained. Whenever the girls got hit, a sort of pixie dust would fly off their bodies, which was series director Komura Toshiaki's idea.
- From the beginning, it was always planned that Saki and Mai would have two different Pretty Cure transformations each. Michiru and Kaoru were never planned to become Pretty Cure or considered as one, as the intent at the time was to have Pretty Cure be ordinary girls in their daily lives the audience could relate to.
- "Splash☆Star" was added to the title because he wanted to reflect the season's motifs: "Splash" referring to the ocean and "Star" referring to the sky.[4]
- Many concepts, storylines, character designs, and overall plot seem to be based on the previous two seasons. Saki and Mai both look and act similar to Nagisa and Honoka, Minori is like Ryota, Kiryuu Karou and Kiryuu Michiru are heavily based on Nagisa and Honoka's appearances, more so than Saki and Mai, and their motives are based heavily on Kiriya's, Akudaikan is similar to the Evil King, Goyan is similar to Baldez, Flappy and Choppy are similar to Mepple and Mipple, Princess Filia is similar to the Queen of Light and etc.
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star is the last season to be aired in the SD format and 4:3 ratio.
Merchandise[]
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star at Toei Animation (Japanese)
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star at TV Asahi (Japanese)
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star at Television Tropes & Idiosm
References[]
- ↑ Jisho page for "水."
- ↑ Toei Animation. "Kawamura Toshie Toei Animation PreCure Works" (2014).
- ↑ A 2009 interview of Washio conducted by Katou Reizuna for the web magazine "The B-Team" (source is in Japanese).
- ↑ A 2009 Q&A session with Washio conducted by Katou Reizuna for the web magazine "The B-Team" (source is in Japanese).