Hishikawa Rikka

Hishikawa Rikka (菱川六花)^? (or Rachel in the English Dub Glitter Force Doki Doki) is one of the five main Cures in Doki Doki! Pretty Cure. She's a second-year student at Oogai First Middle School and is in the same class as Mana and Makoto.

Her alter ego is Cure Diamond (キュアダイヤモンド, Cure Diamond)^?, or Glitter Diamond in the Glitter Force Doki Doki dub.

Bio[]

Appearance[]

Rikka has slanted dark blue eyes and matching-colored chest-length hair worn loose with a small amount pulled back to form a braid on the back of the head, held by a ribbon. Her bangs are swept to the right with a few strands in the middle and shoulder-length sharp forelocks. At times she wears red glasses. Casually, she wears a white long sleeved blouse with a navy ribbon, worn below a light blue dress with darker pleats, two buttons on the waist, a frilly white trim, black socks, and short brown boots with lighter soles.

In summer, she wears a white dress with short sleeves and cerulean bands and sailor collar that has a white stripe, a navy ribbon, a light cerulean skirt and diamond patterns on the bottom of the top layer, and dark blue flats with light gray soles and frilly-cuffed white socks.

As a child, her hair was held in short pigtails with light blue rabbit-ear ribbons. She wore a navy short-puffy-sleeved dress with white ruffly trim, and a neckline where her white undershirt and tiny navy ribbon were.

As Cure Diamond, her eyes brighten and her hair turns light indigo, growing at knee-length and pulled into a thick ponytail held by a triangular light blue ornament with white frills on top and a blue diamond in the middle. On each side of the head is a thick curled strand, with her bangs slightly curled and neater. The forelocks also split. She gains blue diamond-shaped earrings hanging from two white pearls and a gold choker to match her bracelets. She wears a light blue dress with white winged sleeves, one with a gold clasp around it, and accents of white jagged frills around the chest, diagonally down to her small blue ribbon with diamond-shaped tails at right, and dark blue trimming on the bodice. The waistline is white with a dark blue stripe in the middle and goes diagonally upwards at right. The skirt has thick white segments at the bottom, resembling a fanned out wing, exposing her two-layered, scalloped white and milk blue skirt. On the back right is her Lovely Commune. On the right of the chest is a blue heart with white lining, and a white diamond-shaped tie hanging from it. Her short white boots have a split milk blue cuff, revealing a white point with yellow V-shaped bands.

When performing Royal Lovely Straight Flush, she gains white angel wings.

Personality[]

Intelligent and introverted in comparison to the much livelier Mana, Rikka enjoys things like studying and is one of the top ten scoring students in the national trial exams. As noted by Mana in episode 9, Rikka is at the top of the class and constantly placed as the first place in her school; however, if she becomes distracted by other things, like a current hobby, her grades are shown to suffer.

While she is kind and usually calm-minded, Rikka can be bluntly stern and she's not afraid to speak her mind. She strives to lead a quiet school life, but is often dragged into various things by Mana, and as her childhood friend, she feels obligated to look out for her and keep her out of trouble. However, she also cares a lot about Mana and trusts her entirely as Mana has always protected her.

Relationships[]

Aida Mana: Mana is one of Rikka's very close childhood friends and current schoolmate. Rikka is her secretary as well. They always protect each other. Every time Mana over-exerts herself while helping others, she always tries to stop her, which she never succeeds in doing.
Yotsuba Alice: Alice is another one of Rikka's childhood friends. They met in elementary school, and they are very close.
Kenzaki Makoto: Makoto is one of her Pretty Cure teammates. Rikka used to be jealous of Makoto spending time with Mana, but Makoto comforted her and assured her that everything would be fine, as their relationship differed from hers with Mana. She felt much better and they became good friends.
Raquel: Raquel is Rikka's transformation partner who helps her transform into Cure Diamond and are good friends.
Ira: They are rivals. She took him in and looked after him in episode 26 and went against Cure Ace to protect him.

Etymology[]

Hishikawa (菱川, Hishikawa)^?: Hishi (菱, Hishi)^? refers to something in the shape of a diamond while Kawa (川, Kawa)^? means river; put together it means "a diamond-shaped river."

Rikka (六花, Rikka)^? means "snow" and is assumed to be the correct way to read her name^{^[1]}.

Her dub name Rachel comes from the Hebrew and means "ewe" or "one with purity".^[2]

Cure Diamond is a transparent and extremely hard precious stone which is also one of the four suits in playing cards.^[3]^[4]

History[]

Pre-season[]

How She Discovered Her Dream[]

Rikka and her parents went on a trip to a landscape full of flowers. When Rikka's father took photos, he asked Rikka what she wanted to be in the future, to which she responded with wanting to become a doctor to help sick people just like her mother. Her father suggested she become a travelling photographer, but she remained stubborn. Rikka's mother was happy to hear her daughter's dream, while Yuuzou told Rikka she had a lot to learn, but Rikka didn't care.

Meeting Mana[]

When Rikka's parents were talking to Mana's parents at Pig Tail, Mana ran straight to Rikka. They introduced each other and shook hands. Since then, they have been friends with each other for roughly 12 years, where they have looked out for each other. ^DDPC03

Finding out that Mana is Cure Heart[]

Upon returning from her first battle, Mana is greeted by her worried classmates and teacher. On the way home, Rikka suspects Mana is hiding something and tries to get her to spill the beans. But when Mana tells her she became a Pretty Cure, Rikka doesn't believe her. The next day at school, another Jikochuu appears and freezes anyone it came across. With no other choice, Mana transforms into Cure Heart, to which Rikka realizes Mana was telling the truth the whole time. During the battle, Mana is hit by the red beam and turns to stone, so Rikka steps in to try and help. In that moment, she notices a button on the back of the Jikochuu. As she reaches out to press said button, the Jikochuu notices her but as she turns to stone, her finger presses the button, freezing it. This allowed Heart to turn back to normal and cleanse the Jikochuu. On the way home, Rikka forces Mana to carry her school bag but forgives her for everything.^DDPC02

Becoming Cure Diamond[]

After investigating Mana's Lovead, Rikka and Mana head to Pig Tail for dinner. As they part ways, Mana asks Rikka to join her as a Cure, with Raquel thinking she'd be perfect as Mana's partner but she declines the offer. The next day, Mana and Rikka find Joe. Rikka tries to question him, but he forcibly gives Rikka a Lovead and leaves. The two fairies then realize a Jikochuu had appeared, so the girls rush over to its location. Mana transforms but as she struggles to fight the Jikochuu, Rikka remembers when she first met Mana. Her Lovead shines, and with Raquel as a Lovely Commune, Rikka manages to transform into Cure Diamond. She quickly cleanses the Jikochuu with Twinkle Diamond, and accepts her duty as a Cure.^DDPC03

Jealous of Makoto And Overcoming Selfishness[]

Rikka asks Makoto when she decided to transfer and about why she moved. Makoto replies that she came here because if she wanted to find the princess, she has to learn more about Earth's customs. Later, when she, Makoto, and Mana are coming home from school, they meet a bunch of people who try to take pictures of Makoto. Rikka decides to distract them while Mana and Makoto leave, and Rikka begins lecturing them on how they don't have permission to take pictures. Later, while Rikka is walking home, Alice's car passes by, and Alice offers to give her a ride home. In the car, they begin chatting about Makoto's transfer. Alice admits she's worried Makoto will get lost, but she says that she's happy they'll always be together. Rikka comments on how happy Mana was was about it, but she gets somewhat upset and looks away. Alice then asks if they should visit Mana's house, and Rikka says that they should, as she wants to know what happened next. When she walks into Mana's room, she is surprised to see Makoto there. Mana asks if she and Alice would like to stay the night, but both of them refuse. Raquel then comments that when Rikka stays over at Mana's, she practically babysits her. Mana asks if she can stay next time. Watching Mana put the blanket on Makoto, Rikka notices a strange feeling in her heart. She then says goodbye to Alice. At home, her mother asks her how her day has been. Rikka claims that nothing unusual happened, but she later reveals that her class got a new transfer student and that she's staying over at Mana's house. She looks sad, and her mother says that she can tell when something's happened to Rikka because of her motherly instinct. Later, Rikka is having trouble sleeping because she's thinking about what Mana and Makoto are doing. She pulls the blanket over her head and puts her hand on her heart, asking herself what this feeling is.

The next morning, Rikka discovers that she's late for school. She runs downstairs and her mother informs her that Mana already went to walk with Makoto. Rikka wonders why while running over to them. She sees them feeding Ai, and watches on. Alice pops up behind her and begins commenting on Mana and Makoto. Then, Rikka notices a feeling in her heart and begins pondering it. However, she watches Makoto's "bodyguard" talk about how jealous he is. He is then turned into a Jikochuu, and it begins screaming about how much it loves Makoto. Rikka then notices her own jealousy and begins feeling ashamed of it. Alice reassures her that it's a natural feeling, but she shouldn't let it run wild like the Jikochuu. She transforms into Cure Diamond and freezes the Jikochuu using her Twinkle Diamond. The other Cures intervene and begin attacking the Jikochuu. Diamond freezes the Jikochuu again, and tells Cure Heart to attack. After the fight, Cure Sword talks about how well Diamond and Heart get along and how she's jealous of the trust they share. Sword says she wants to be best friends with all of them. Cure Rosetta agrees, and Diamond ponders how everyone was jealous of each other. She then declares that they're all friends. Later, Mana invites all of them to a sleepover at her house. ^DDPC10

Discovering Her "True Feelings"[]

When her class discussed their dream job, Rikka started questioning her reasonings for wanting to become a doctor. At the Anmitsu shop, she tells her friends about her doubts when Aguri walks up to them and tells Rikka she doesn't know her "true feelings". Confused, Rikka tries asking Aguri what she means, but is told to figure it out herself. That evening, she finds out her parents won't be able to come home for the weekend, so she decides to go on a "date" to the beach with Raquel. There, they come across an unconscious Ira. As he wakes up, she learns he has amnesia. She then takes it upon herself to look after him, even taking him to her house to cook him a meal.

Later, she meets her friends at a nearby river, where she tells them about Ira. However, Aguri doesn't approve and transform to fight Ira. As Rikka moves to protect him, Gula appears while Ace quickly disappears. The girls transform to fight Gula but are quickly wounded. Meanwhile, Ira regains his memories but still protects the Cures from Gula's attack. Thrilled, Diamond awakens her powers once realizes she had to believe in herself and not regret anything she does. So she and Ace team up to fight Gula, with Diamond giving Gula a brain freeze with Diamond Shower.^DDPC26

Cure Diamond[]

Love Link Diamond's finishing pose — Cure Diamond

"The light of wisdom! Cure Diamond!"
英知の光！キュアダイヤモンド！
Eichi no Hikari! Kyua Daiyamondo!

Cure Diamond (キュアダイヤモンド, Cure Diamond)^? is Rikka's Pretty Cure alter ego. She represents wisdom and controls the power of ice.

Transformation[]

Raquel cries out his name before Rikka first places her transformation Cure Lovead onto Raquel's silver heart medallion object and shouts "Pretty Cure, Love Link!". She then spells "L-O-V-E" on her Lovely Commune and the transformation begins. She is seen floating around with her body, except for her head, glowing with blue light. First, her hair glows blue and grows into a long ponytail. Her hair then turns to a lighter blue and her hair accessories and diamond shaped earrings start to appear. Her dress then appears and her Lovely Commune attaches itself to it. Next is her heart brooch, bracelets, and boots. Finally, her dress ribbon appears on her pelvis and Cure Diamond poses saying her introduction speech.

Attacks[]

Twinkle Diamond is Cure Diamond's main attack, with the incantation "Sparkle! Twinkle Diamond!" (煌めきなさい！トゥインクルダイヤモンド！, "Sparkle! Twinkle Diamond!")^?. In Glitter Force Doki Doki, the incantation is instead "Shine on! Twinkle Diamond!" Cure Diamond activates her attack with the Lovely Commune. It then blinks twice and she points her finger towards the foe, releasing a flurry of blue diamond-shaped energy beams. With this attack, she can also freeze enemies.
Diamond Shower is Cure Diamond secondary individual attack that appears in episode 11, firstly, she summons the Love Heart Arrow and sets the Diamond Arrow Lovead within the middle of the heart, then it shines. She takes the arrow and she taps her arrow a couple of times, releasing a big wave a diamonds.
Diamond Swirkle is Cure Diamond's third individual attack performed with Magical Lovely Pad.
Diamond Blizzard is Cure Diamond's fourth individual attack. It looks like an upgraded version of Diamond Shower and Raquel says the incantation with her. After she uses this attack, she is encased in a diamond-shaped block of ice.

Power-Ups[]

Like her teammates, she can use power-ups when she becomes serious in the battles. When this happens, a blue light surrounds her body.

Songs[]

Rikka's voice actor, Kotobuki Minako, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Nabatame Hitomi, who voices Aida Mana, Fuchigami Mai, who voices Yotsuba Alice, Miyamoto Kanako, who voices Kenzaki Makoto, and Kugimiya Rie, who voices Madoka Aguri.

COCORO♦Diamond
Clear Eyes

Group Songs[]

Summer's Meteor Shower (Along with Nabatame Hitomi)
Treasure (Along with Nabatame Hitomi and Fuchigami Mai)
Beyond the Sky (Along with Nabatame Hitomi, Fuchigami Mai, Miyamoto Kanako, Kugimiya Rie, Yoshida Hitomi, and Kurosawa Tomoyo)

Trivia[]

In episode 42, her zodiac is revealed to be Virgo.
- Rikka's birthdate of September 17 was confirmed by Yamaguchi Ryota himself^{^[1]}. She also shares her birthdate with her Japanese voice actress.
Hishikawa Rikka/Cure Diamond placed 2nd in Animage's "Top 100 Anime Characters of December 2013" voting^[5].
Rikka appeared as Cure Diamond to give the 10th anniversary congratulatory message at the beginning of episode 25 in Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!.
Whenever Mana goes out of her way to help someone, she calls Mana "The Happy Prince" after the fable written by Oscar Wilde. She also has a tendency to compare herself to the swallow from the same fable.
In the Official Complete Book of Doki Doki! Pretty Cure, it was revealed that Rikka does not have romantic feelings towards Ira, though there were initially plans to develop it. "On romantic feelings: I don't feel that Rikka has romantic feelings toward Ira, though there were plans to develop it. But that would be overdoing it for Pretty Cure."
- Instead, it was confirmed by the director of Doki Doki! after the finale aired that Diamond was in love romantically with Heart; in turn, how she freed herself after becoming frozen by her own attack is considered as a plot hole. Therefore, in theory, Diamond sacrificed herself for Heart.