Kaido Minami

Kaido Minami (海藤みなみ)^? is one of the four main Cures in Go! Princess Pretty Cure. She is a second-year student at Noble Academy and also the student council president.

Minami's alter ego is Cure Mermaid (キュアマーメイド, Cure Mermaid)^?, the Princess of the Sea.

Bio[]

Appearance[]

Minami has sharp blue eyes and long dark teal hair with a portion braided across the head to hang over the left shoulder. Her bangs have a corner intake at the right. Casually, she wears a pale blue blouse with cufflinks and frills around the shoulders, a lilac neck ribbon, a long blue pencil skirt, and blue high-heels with lilac bows.

During the summer, she wears a long cerulean dress with a short pale blue top over it that has ruffly sleeves and trim, and white sandals.

For the winter, she wears a light purple buttoned top with a pearl necklace, a long blue skirt, gray stockings, and blue heels.

As a child, her hair was very short and her braid was held by a pale blue bow. She wore a white top with a long-sleeved sky blue blouse split in the middle, a frilly white collar, a navy skirt and waist ribbon, white frilly socks, and navy Mary Janes.

In the movie, she wears a pearl blue long-sleeved top with a frilly white cuff and a milk blue neck ribbon, a folded blue and red plaid skirt, dark navy tights, and black shoes.

As Cure Mermaid, her eyes lighten while her longer floor-length hair turns ocean blue, worn in a curled ponytail reminiscent of flowing water with a dark ombre at the left. Most of her bangs are braided and they gain purple streaks, and from the right corner stick out four, large curled strands of hair. She gets a gold arched tiara with a light pink clam, at its right, a blue pearl with two small whiter ones on each side in front, and pearl blue fabric flowing out. Her earrings are pale blue pearls dangling with a shell at the bottom. Her outfit consists of a blue top with white at the bottom, and light blue trimming on top and below which sharpens at the bottom, a sky blue scalloped collar, and white scalloped sleeves. A chain of pale pink pearls wrap around the neck and goes down the center with a large gold sphere at the center containing the Go! Princess insignia. Her sky blue skirt has light pink fabric circling it and a trim of blue ruffles, accenting the scalloped waistband which has a chain of lilac pearls circling it. Hanging from the back are a pair of blue fin-like tails. The undertone is sky blue with a darker trim. She also gains white warmers with blue scalloped bands and two light pink pearls on the finger, and white boots with dark blue and teal scaly bands, followed by three light pink pearls stacked vertically that get smaller downwards, and dark blue soles with a heel.

In her Mode Elegant, Mermaid's outfit gains different detail based on the mode she uses. In it's normal form, her skirt loses the tails, fabric, and trim. It tightly coils around her legs and reaches the floor with a trim of ruffles lined in blue and white, resembling a mermaid's tail.

In her Mode Elegant Ice, her earrings become diamonds, while the pearls of her top turn into a diamond choker with a pale blue snowflake-shaped brooch that has a chain of pale blue diamonds and pearls beneath it. She gains an additional blue layer at the neck. Her skirt turns pearl blue, while the ruffles become pastel indigo with a pale blue lace over it. The piece is lined by a chain of large diamonds between two, smaller light blue diamonds.

In her Mode Elegant Bubble, her earrings become a chain of spheres, while her light blue collar wraps around the back of her neck with a lilac undertone and has a smaller white pair of fins attached to a large, pearl blue sphere, followed by her pearls turning pale blue. She gains pearl blue, rounded lace sleeves while her skirt turns blue with a teal ombre at the bottom, with white to pastel indigo ruffled fabric around the bottom covered with bubbles.

In her Mode Elegant Sango, her hair grows very long, adorned with pearl pink bubbles. Her earrings are the same with a white beaded necklace with blue dangles, while her tiara alters in shape to specifically resemble the Go! Princess insignia and gains a deep blue heart in the middle, the base lined by lighter blue beads. The fabric at the side turns frilly. Her dress turns into a large white ballgown with layered, frilly sleeves. The arm warmers' bands turn white and the pearls turn pale blue. On the chest is a light cerulean ribbon with a deep blue pearl on top with pale red swirled bordering resembling a piece of coral, two strips on the torso with frills lining the shoulders, and on the navel is a big white bow with her ornament moved down to be in the center of it. Her slightly thin skirt is ruffled and pale blue to accent the bunched pieces of fabric wrapped around its top white split layer, and from the ruffled tails hanging from the large white and light cerulean bows. On each is a light blue sphere with a piece accenting her brooch. The next white scalloped layer has a gold stripe, followed by a bubble-accented, pearl blue petticoat. During Royal, she gains a large pale blue lace ribbon with trident, shell, and and coral designs.

In her Mode Elegant Halloween, her tiara becomes three big yellow flowers with white dotted centers, the middle one having four around the center with white earrings. The fabric at the side is more wavy. At the left is a long pale green curly strand. Her choker turns chiffon with white beaded lining and a gold orb in the middle. She wears a slim chiffon dress with white frills on the neckline, and pearls on the ruffly chest's front, white sides, the arm warmer bands turning white, two-layered, and ruffly, and two-layered ruffly sleeves. At the navel is a yellow flower with a pale blue pearl at the center, pale green leaves behind it, and long pearl blue tails. On the back of the skirt is a long gold ribbon. Her skirt's split up in the center to reveal ruffled white layers, and it's lined by ruffles.

As a Grand Princess, her longer hair is in a tighter curl towards the bottom, and she wears a heavily ornate gold tiara with a sapphire heart-shaped gem in the middle. Her earrings and arm warmers remain the same, but her choker is plain white with a bow adorned by a blue sphere. Her slim pale chiffon ballgown has a ruffle splitting up the seam to reveal a matching colored, scalloped layer with a gold ombre and trimming and pale chiffon petticoat. The top has gold detail and two-layered scallops, and around her shoulder is a long, flowing gold cape with white lining the bottom. The hood is lined by white fluff, and in the middle is a baby blue bow with gold spherical ornament, and two big white frilly ruffles hanging below. Her arm warmers' trimming turns gold. On her head is a large white laced halo. She gains a white scepter with gold bands around the top handle, and a swirly gold heart with a hot pink one in the middle, followed by a gold-bordered one on top, and a gold bead above, the pieces next to it looking like a tiara.

In the final episode, Minami is an adult. Her hair has been pulled back into a braided ponytail and she wears a white lab coat.

Personality[]

As the "Academy Princess", Minami is proper, noble, and has a strong sense of responsibility. She is wise and can come off as strict at times, but she has the personality of an older sister. She is fair and cares about others, as she is likely to worry about them if she sees anything to be concerned with, and she won't let them recklessly get into harm's way if she can help it. She dreams of becoming a respectable person who can be useful to others.

Minami is very close to her family, and, as such, she struggled to tell them of her true dreams of becoming a Marine Veterinarian, rather than inheriting the family business. She sometimes struggles to make decisions if she thinks others won't like her choice. She was very worried that she was being selfish, but over time, she learned to learn to speak her mind and began making her own decisions that everyone could be happy with.

Relationships[]

Haruno Haruka: Initially brisk towards Haruka, Minami wasn't pleased with her showing up late on the day of the welcome ceremony and scolded her. But when Haruka expressed interest in learning ballet, Minami agreed to tutor her. She bluntly told Haruka of her shortcomings but this encouraged her to keep going, and Minami was impressed by her determination as they started to become closer. When she saw Haruka transform and struggle against the Zetsuborg, she tried to protect her friend, resulting in her becoming Cure Mermaid. They became close friends following this, to the point of Minami choosing Haruka as her dance partner and confiding in her when concerned.
Amanogawa Kirara: Kirara is the first person to call her "Minamin", and while they may differ on opinions, they can agree on other ones and understand the others point of view. They share a friendship after joining together as Pretty Cure.
Tina: Tina saved Minami when she was little and she considers her to be one of her closest friends. When she goes to the resort, they swim together in the sea. During a battle against a Zetsuborg, Tina took a hit for Cure Mermaid that nearly killed her. Mermaid was hoping that Tina would pull through and the Miracle Bubble Dress Up Key appears, healing her and Tina's wounds.
Akagi Towa: In episode 25, Towa and Minami started to form a deeper friendship when Minami comes to Towa's aid when she has a nightmare because of her fear of the darkness and the resurfacing of her memories as Twilight. Minami helps her to try and overcome that fear and tells her that she should depend on her friends and the rest of the team. She precedes to help Cure Scarlet in defeating the Zetsuborg.
Ijuin Kimimaro: Minami has known Kimimaro since their childhood, and while she dislikes his behavior at times, she doesn't entirely discourage him either until he tried to end her friendship with Haruka. This greatly angered her, causing her to scold him and hurt his feelings. After rescuing Kimimaro from Stop & Freeze, she accepts his apology before he departs for England.
Kitakaze Asuka: Both Minami and Asuka share a love for the ocean, and they befriend each other quickly. Also, Asuka is the person who has actually helped Minami to reconsider her dream and become a marine biologist.

Etymology[]

Kaido (海藤, Kaido)^?: Kai (海, Kai)^? means "sea" or "ocean", while Do (藤, Do)^?, read as "Fuji", means "wisteria".

Minami (みなみ, Minami)^? means "south", but it can also be read as "beautiful wave".

Cure Mermaid is a legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish.

History[]

Becoming Cure Mermaid[]

While looking over the sea one day, Minami discovers a Dress Up Key that had been washed up on to the shore. When Haruka sees Minami dancing ballet, she becomes inspired and hastily asks her to teach her how to do it. She helps her through the basic steps and tries to makes her more flexible. When Haruka sprains her ankle after trying to perform a new step, Minami comes to her aid and bandages it. Haruka is surprised to find out that Minami is not as perfect as she first thought, and she even thanks Haruka for asking her to teach ballet because no one else had the confidence to do so. When a Zetsuborg attacks, she follows Haruka and witnesses her transform into Cure Flora. When Flora damages her ankle again after kicking the Zetsuborg, she is about to be attacked before Minami pushes her out of the way. When Flora takes a hit for her, Minami tells Close that it is her duty to protect the students of the academy. Her Dress Up Key reacts to her determination to help others and she receives her Princess Perfume, allowing her to transform into Cure Mermaid. She is able to fight the Zetsuborg off before purifying it with Mermaid Ripple.

Saving Wataru And Tina[]

Minami takes Haruka and Kirara to a seaside resort her family runs, and meets up with Wataru. When he gets caged by Lock, Minami transforms into Cure Mermaid and tries to save him. Her dolphin friend Tina bravely protects her from an attack, but Mermaid is horrified and saddened to see Tina get severely wounded. Recalling how Tina rescued her when she was a child, Mermaid begins crying, which has the Miracle Bubble Dress Up Key protect Tina and heals both of their wounds. With this key, Mermaid is able to use Bubble Ripple and rescue Wataru from the cage. At the end of the day, she is proud that she is able to protect her brother, her friends and the sea.

Losing And Regaining The Dress Up Keys[]

The girls are having fun at the beach, but when she, Haruka and Kirara try to find Towa and Yui, Lock appears before them. Although they appear to have defeated Lock; after the battle, the trio are shocked to realize during the fight, Lock managed to steal their keys thanks to his clones, leaving them powerless and devastated. Later on, the trio come across their predecessors, the Past Princess Pretty Cure, in a forest. They bond with them and were even given three keys to transform. After their encounter with the mysterious girls, the trio regain the determination to retrieve their keys. While Towa as Scarlet stays behind to fight the Zetsuborgs Lock has summoned, the trio enter the cursed castle of Hope Kingdom, but get trapped inside the throne room. They try to get back their keys, only to be overpowered by Lock. After Haruka manages to rush to and unlock the cage, the trio retrieve their Dress Up Keys. With the help of Scarlet, they purify the castle and turn it into the Music Princess Palace and defeat Lock in their Premium Mode Elegant forms.

Relationship With Kimimaro[]

One day, when the girls notice a crowd of confused students and security that showed up, Minami becomes uneasy as a white limo pulls up and her childhood friend Kimimaro steps out from it, and she isn't surprised that he dashes up to her with a bouquet of flowers. Her friends also notice how troubled she feels after meeting up with him.

At first, Minami is fine with him staying with her for the time being, and explains to her friends that Kimimaro tends to overreact. However, Minami later finds out that Kimimaro has let his jealousy get the better of him when she overhears him telling Haruka that she does not deserve to be friends with her and confronts him about it, telling him off for being inconsiderate for her feelings.

Later, when Kimimaro is locked up in a cage by Stop & Freeze and his dream of marrying Minami has been turned into a Zetsuborg, Mermaid still decides to rescue him. She remarks to Flora that Kimimaro is right about her having changed, but she likes who she is now and thanks Flora. She is glad that Kimimaro is alright, but admits that it is only his idea that he wants to marry her.

Minami later accepts Kimimaro's apology for being rude to her and Haruka the day before and accepts her change. Minami then exchanges a laugh with Haruka after Kimimaro promises to return to her after he becomes the gentleman worthy of standing by her.

Reconsidering Her Dream[]

When Minami brings her friends to meet her family on the Kaido family cruise, her family joyously discuss how Minami has always wanted to become part of the Kaido Group company ever since her childhood. However, things begin to change for Minami when she encounters Kitakaze Asuka, who is a marine vet that befriends her after noticing her bond with Tina. At first, Minami declines Asuka's offer, but decides to come along once Haruka convinces her. After spending some time at the aquarium where Asuka works at, Minami starts to become more interested in looking after marine animals. When Minani meets Asuka on the cruise again, Asuka declines her family's offer due to wanting to understand the sea without restrictions bounded by contracts and desires, which starts to make Minami doubt her childhood dream despite also resonating with Asuka's dream. After the Cures rescue Asuka from Stop & Freeze, both Minami and Asuka meet up with each other again, with Asuka complimenting and prompting to invite Minami to personally train under her guidance in the future. Although Minami appears to have turned down Asuka, who claims that she is only joking, before they part ways, she pauses to see Asuka again and begins to consider Asuka's offer.

Later, Minami starts having a dream about connecting with the marine animals in the ocean, but is unable to due to her family's ship which symbolizes her previous childhood dream. She tries to hide her worries from her friends, but they soon figure it out. Kirara later fakes an emergency in hopes to help Minami speak out. When Shut captures Zama-sensei and turns her into a Zetsuborg, Mermaid suddenly loses her powers due to her wavering dream, which puts her at a disadvantage. However, after her friends encourage her that it is no problem to pursue her new dream, she regains her power and manages to defeat the Zetsuborg with the other Cures. She then reveals her dream of becoming a marine vet like Asuka, and her friends root for her to pursuing it.

Soon, Minami meets up with Asuka, and recounts how her dream of being with the ocean buds. However, she still hasn't mustered the courage to tell it to her family. During the Christmas party, she receives a call from her mother and tries to deny her feelings, but soon her friends notices that she is crying afterwards, and thus they encourage her to tell her family how she feels. Mermaid later gets teleports to Hope Kingdom and even with her friends come to help her, they are overwhelmed by the Zetsuborg, but soon Mermaid stands firm with her new dream, and they all manage to defeat the Zetsuborg and restore the Castle of Seas. Later on, Wataru, who's driving Minami to see their parents, says that he already knows that she has something up in her mind, and she finally gets to reveal her new dream to her parents. Instead of being mad at her, her parents are actually glad that she finally has learned to prioritize her own dream after all her time putting their needs above herself, and respects and supports her decision, as well as wanting to know more about it, much to her immense happiness.

Epilogue[]

A few years after the events of the season, Minami is an adult and is currently working as a marine vet.

Cure Mermaid[]

"Princess of the crystal clear seas! Cure Mermaid!"
澄み渡る海のプリンセス！キュアマーメイド！
Sumiwataru umi no purinsesu! Kyua Māmeido!

Cure Mermaid (キュアマーメイド, Cure Mermaid)^? is the Pretty Cure alter ego of Minami. She controls the power of water and in order to transform, she needs her Princess Perfume and the respective Dress Up Key.

Transformation[]

Minami shouts out "Pretty Cure" and her clothes disappear in a flash of bubbles. As she says "Princess Engage", she inserts her blue Dress Up Key into the Princess Perfume and locks it into place. Her perfume fills up with blue liquid that she sprays around her and on her hands, feet, and body to make her gloves, boots, and dress appear. She sprays the perfume once again in the air to create her tiara which she places on her head to make her earrings appear and her hair grow longer and change color. She then strikes a pose to make her Dress Up Key appear underneath her skirt. She then lands on the ground and says her introduction before striking her final pose.

Attacks[]

Mermaid Ripple (マーメイドリップル, Mermaid Ripple)^? is Cure Mermaid's main attack, that can only be used when she is in her Mode Elegant. It appeared in episode 2.
Trinity Lumiere (トリニティリュミエール, Trinity Lumiere)^? is Cure Mermaid's group attack that she performs with Cure Flora and Cure Twinkle, where they need the Crystal Princess Rod and the Elegant Dress Up Keys. It made its debut in episode 11.
Frozen Ripple (フローズンリップル, Frozen Ripple)^? is Cure Mermaid's main attack, performed with the Crystal Princess Rod and the Ice Dress Up Key.
Bubble Ripple (バブルリップル, Bubble Ripple)^? is Cure Mermaid's main attack, performed with the Crystal Princess Rod and the Miracle Bubble Dress Up Key.
Trinity Explosion (トリニティーエクスプロジオン, Trinity Explosion)^? is Cure Mermaid's second group attack that she performs with Cure Flora and Cure Twinkle, where they need the Crystal Princess Rod and the Miracle Dress Up Keys. It was first seen in episode 18.
Éclat Espoir (エクラエスポワール, Éclat Espoir)^? is Cure Mermaid's third group attack that she performs with Cure Flora, Cure Twinkle and Cure Scarlet, where she needs the Music Princess Palace and her Premium Sango Dress Up Key.
Grand Printemps (グランプランタン, Grand Printemps)^? is Cure Mermaid's fourth group attack that she performs with Cure Flora, Cure Twinkle and Cure Scarlet, where she needs the Music Princess Palace and the Royal Key.
Coral Maelstrom (コーラルメイルシュトロム, Coral Maelstrom)^? is Cure Mermaid's main attack that she performs with the Music Princess Palace and her Premium Sango Dress Up Key.
Grand Libération (グランリベラシオン, Grand Libération)^? is Cure Mermaid's fifth group attack that she performs with Cure Flora, Cure Twinkle and Cure Scarlet, where she needs to be in her Grand Princess form.
Halloween Eclair (ハロウィンエクレール, Halloween Eclair)^? is Cure Mermaid's sixth group attack that she performs with Cure Flora, Cure Twinkle and Cure Scarlet, where she needs to be in her Mode Elegant Halloween form.

Songs[]

Minami's voice actor, Asano Masumi, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Shimamura Yu, who voices Haruno Haruka, Yamamura Hibiku, who voices Amanogawa Kirara, and Sawashiro Miyuki, who voices Akagi Towa.

Heart Pearl
Brave Ripple

Duets[]

Strongly, Gently, Beautifully. (Along with Shimamura Yu, Yamamura Hibiku, and Sawashiro Miyuki)
Conditions of Being a Princess (Along with Shimamura Yu, Yamamura Hibiku, and Sawashiro Miyuki)
Joyful! Pretty Cure Christmas (Along with Shimamura Yu, Yamamura Hibiku, and Sawashiro Miyuki)

Trivia[]

Minami's birthday is July 20^th, making her zodiac a Cancer.
- Her birthday occurred on a Japanese national holiday, "Ocean Day" (海の日), of 2015.
Minami shares her surname with Kaidou Yuuya from Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!.
- She also shares her name with Soular's human surname from Fresh Pretty Cure!.
Her favorite things are the sea and drinking tea.
Minami is the oldest in the Go! Princess Pretty Cure team, as she is the only member to be 14, while Haruka, Kirara, and Towa are 12-13.
She has phasmophobia, a fear of ghosts.^GPPC09
She's the first Cure who can fight underwater.
- However, the only time she is officially depicted as an actual mermaid is when she stars in her own Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid adaptation written by Nanase Yui in the Go! Princess Pretty Cure manga adaptation.
Minami's transformation into Cure Mermaid has greatly inspired the animators in the transformation sequence of the popular comic book superhero, Superman, in My Adventures with Superman.