Kenzaki Makoto

Kenzaki Makoto (剣崎真琴 Kenzaki Makoto^?) (or Mackenzie Mack in the English dub Glitter Force Doki Doki) is one of the main Cures in Doki Doki! Pretty Cure. Originally from the Trump Kingdom, she is a very famous idol and a fashionista. She is a very responsible and head-strong girl, but is also independent and often sacrifices herself for the sake of others. Her Cure form is Cure Sword (キュアソード Kyua Sōdo^?), or Glitter Spade in Glitter Force Doki Doki.

Bio

Appearance

Makoto has purple eyes and short hair that curls in some places along with a lilac hairclip. Her casual wear consists of a white work shirt with a black tie and a long lavender vest. This is paired with khaki shorts, black socks, and white boots. Initially, when out in public, she also wore red glasses and a white painter's cap. During summer, Makoto wears a white and lavender top, lilac leggings, and a denim skirt. Her accessories include a pale brown vest, pearl bracelet, and a spade charm necklace.

During her Idol performances, Makoto wears a strapless bright purple and pink dress that is longer in the back with a lavender insert. The top of the dress and the bottom of the pink skirt are lined with black ruffles. Also on the top of the dress is a white bow. Her boots are black and thigh-length with hearts on the top. Her accessories include a black choker with a heart hanging in the middle, short black gloves, a black ribbon around the top of her left arm, and a magenta heart-shaped hair clip. On her head is her Lovely Income.

As Cure Sword, her eyes turn light purple while her hair grows and turns lilac, with some of it in a ponytail on the left and held by a feathery hairpiece accented with a purple ribbon. Also on the top is a purple spade-shaped clip. Her dress is lilac and white with a slanted top. Both sleeves are feathery, but the left one is way longer. On the left is a purple heart brooch with a purple ribbon at the bottom. Her skirt is lighter in color and is longer toward the right with a purple bow on the hip, while her Lovely Commune appears on the left. Her boots are also lilac and white and reach her thighs, while her arm warmers are lilac as well and have purple bows on each. Her accessories include a lilac choker and spade-shaped earrings. She would occasionally wear a white and lilac cape with a spade-shaped clasp and a larger spade on the back over her outfit when performing for Princess Marie Ange.

Personality

A stubborn girl with a strong sense of justice who is willing to defend others by sacrificing her own safety during battle. She dislikes violence and fighting and as such, preferred to stand alone to keep others out of harms way. Deep down she holds regret at not being able to defend the Trump Kingdom from the Jikochuu, and wishes to find Princess Marie Ange soon and return to save Trump Kingdom. Her true personality is often masked by how she acts and only Dabyi knows what she is really thinking, similar to Cure Muse and Dodory. Despite her rational and calm mind, she is shown to be completely clueless to how things work on Earth but she attempts to figure them out with dedication. She is also shown to be slightly flustered when shown kindness. Also, it is shown that she is afraid of dentists, and often does not like to admit her true feelings.

Relationships

Aida Mana: Makoto and Mana seem to have become much closer, seeing how Makoto trusts her much more now. Makoto accepts Mana's offer to join her and the others to fight together as Pretty Cure.

Princess Marie Ange: Makoto serves her as her Royal guard and it was her duty to protect her. When Trump Kingdom was invaded, they fled to Earth, but were separated. Makoto felt and held remorse for not protecting the Princess and it was her responsibility to protect her. She kept searching for her ever since. When Marie Ange was fading away, she was deeply saddened, but soon accepted that the Princess could rest in peace and thankful for what the Princess had encouraged her.

Dabyi: As Sword's partner, they have a very good relationship. Dabyi worries for Makoto for her dismay due to losing contact with the Princess, Dabyi also can always tell what she is really thinking, and helps her open up to the rest of the girls. She is also Makoto's manager named D.B.

Ai: A fairy-like baby who is Princess Marie Ange’s present day form. At first, Makoto didn’t want to admit that Ai was cute but soon admitted it after she gradually learned to be more open with others.

Regina: Both dislike each other because she blames her and her father for destroying her kingdom. Later she begins to trust Regina after she saved Mana.

Madoka Aguri: They met during the battle with Regina. Aguri advised her to act seriously as a Cure and idol. Makoto was initially uncomfortable on her blunt commentary, but learned to understand it and slowly she became better friends with Aguri.

Etymology

Kenzaki (剣崎, Kenzaki^?): Ken (剣) means "sword", an obvious reference to her alter ego, Cure Sword, while zaki (崎) means "small peninsula" or "promontory".

Makoto (真琴, Makoto^?): Makoto is a common given name that means integrity and sincerity. Individually, Ma (真) means "pure/true", while the koto (琴) is a traditional Japanese instrument. The whole name can also pronounce as the whole word Makoto (真).

Cure Sword: Sword is a noun, meaning a weapon with a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard, used for thrusting or striking and now typically worn as part of ceremonial dress.

Her dub name Mackenzie means "fire-born, "child of the wise ruler"^[1] or "comely".^[2]

History

Early life

Sword had been an idol in the Trump Kingdom, singing to an audience as well as Princess Marie Ange

Sword young — Young Makoto/Cure Sword playing with other kids.

, in her Pretty Cure form. ^DDPC07 The Princess later told Sword that she liked her singing, flattering her. After this, the Selfish Trio, along with the Jikochuu that they had created, attacked the Trump Kingdom, leaving Marie Ange to fight them. She eventually turned the Selfish King into stone, but Sword felt that she could not protect anything, blaming herself for the destruction of the Trump Kingdom. Before she became a singer however, her parents had unfortunately died in an accident when she was a baby. ^DDPC42

The Destruction of Trump Kingdom

Sword, along with the Princess, escaped to the human world. However, after an attack caused by Bel, Sword had been separated from the Princess, and began searching for her in Japan. She becomes a popular idol in order to check whether she was still alive.

In Japan, Cure Sword uses the name Kenzaki Makoto, but it is still not clear if Makoto is her fake or true name, since most Trump people do not use Japanese names. The process how she later became well-known and popular is still unknown, but in a flashback ^DDPC05, it was shown that she began as a street singer playing the piano in a promenade with people around her listening to her music.

As an idol, Makoto sang songs and could be seen on Yotsuba TV, a popular TV channel. Her debut single sold over 1 million copies in its first week. She was an idol on the road to stardom. One of her known songs was called "~SONGBIRD~".

Meeting the new Pretty Cures

In episode 1, she was introduced when a crowd of fans surrounded her with D.B and her body guards. Mana and Rikka saw her and Mana rushed over to get a closer look. When a fan pushed Makoto by accident, a hair clip that held her Cure Lovead fell off which Mana saw and quickly grabbed. Mana squeezed through the crowd and gave Makoto her Cure Lovead when she got to the elevator to which Makoto thanked her before the elevator doors closed. Later when the Jikochuu attacked, she appeared as Cure Sword.

At first, Mana and Rikka didn't know who Cure Sword really was. In the last scene of episode 4, Alice indicated that she found out Makoto had been Cure Sword all along, via her monitor system and scientific identification. In episode 5, Makoto pretends to know nothing about the Pretty Cure when questioned Mana, and later in episode 6 Makoto officially showed her identity to the new Cures.

Earning the Purple Royal Crystal

Makoto received an opportunity to be Snow White when she was searching for Marie Ange. She initially wanted to turn it down, but she couldn't resist it. When her friends came to her rehearsal, they found her diligently practicing but another actress Tamaki was jealous of Makoto due to the way she had received the role.

On the last day of the shooting, Tamaki, despite appeared to have no selfishness, was forcefully turned into a Jikochuu by Regina. At first, Sword's friends were worried that they might not be able to gain an advantage, but Sword suggested they combined their powers. With Ai producing four new Cure Loveads, they managed to purify the Jikochuu.

Tamaki then came to appreciate Makoto's efforts and in turn gave Makoto a worn-out but precious script as a gift. Ai then touched it and as a result, Makoto earned the third Royal Crystal. ^DDPC15

Regaining Motivation on her Career

Makoto began to debate whether she should continue her idol career or not. When Aguri criticized her for not being professional enough, she was greatly upset. Mana later pointed out to her that she had been avoiding her concert, which won't help the situation get better.

When Leva interrupted the concert with a Jikochuu and captured her friends, Makoto was desperate, until Ai produced a new Lovead. It had a mirror which seemed to contain Marie Ange's voice, much to her surprise. Makoto asked Marie Ange for advice and Marie Ange encouraged her to carry on. Encouraged, Makoto managed to seek Aguri's help and together they transformed, finishing off the Jikochuu to rescue their friends.

With her conflict resolved, Makoto decided to continue pursuing her career. ^DDPC24

Epilogue

After recovering Trump Kingdom, Makoto was still heartbroken because Marie Ange would never be able to witness such a miracle. Marie Ange was glad that Makoto had learned to overcome her pain by making new friends and told her to keep smiling and singing, allowing Makoto to accept the fact after crying.

She later became a worldwide celebrity as the star from Trump Republic. Before performing on stage, she thanked Mana for opening her heart. She was last seen becoming Cure Sword once again to help her friends stop a satellite from crashing into Oogai Town. ^DDPC49

Cure Sword

"The courageous blade! Cure Sword!"
勇気の刃！キュアソード！
Yūki no Yaiba! Kyua Sōdo!

Cure Sword (キュアソード, Kyua Sōdo^?) is Makoto's Pretty Cure alter ego. She represents courage.

Transformation

Dabyi calls out her name before Makoto places her transformation Cure Lovead onto Dabyi'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 with most of her body glowing in purple light. First, her hair glows purple and grows into a ponytail, with her spade shaped earrings and hair accessories already there as her hair then turns to a lighter purple. Her arm warmers appear one after the other followed by her dress and her Lovely Commune attaches itself to it. Next her boots appear after striking her legs together. She taps her chest with her hands and the heart brooch materializes. Finally her dress ribbon appears and Cure Sword poses saying her introduction speech.

Attacks

Holy Sword - Cure Sword's first attack, with the incantation "Flash! Holy Sword!" (閃け！ホーリーソード！, "Hirameke! Hōrī Sōdo!"^?). In Glitter Force Doki Doki, it is "Glitter Force! Sparkle Flash!" It is the first Doki Doki! Pretty Cure attack. To activate it, she puts the attack Cure Lovead on her Lovely Commune. She then draws a heart on the Commune's screen. Cure Sword flies in the air, and then she draws a flurry of swords at the Jikochū, purifying it.

Sparkle Sword - Cure Sword's purification attack, which appeared in episode 11. This attack could only be done by a Love Heart Arrow and a Cure Lovead. She first inserts the Lovead into the Love Heart Arrow and then slides her finger across the 4 different colored hearts, activating them and making them shine. The big heart in the top shines in a purple color. She spins with the arrow, then she stops and pulls Arrow's trigger, from that the purple heart shines then rapidly fires a blast of spade shapes to the enemy.

Sword Hurricane - Cure Sword's third individual attack performed with a Magical Lovely Pad, which first appears on episode 35. She first summons her Pad, later hits it, causing on the Pad to fire the shots. The attack could wound the Jikochuu.

Power-Up

Like her Cure friends, she has the power to use full strength, as she gained that she had believed on learning the "five Pretty Cure vows". The power-up is shown, as a purple aura appears and surrounds her. She has much greater strength than in her normal form.

Songs

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

Duets

Where The Future Lies (Along with Kugimiya Rie)
Beyond The Sky (Along with Nabatame Hitomi, Kotobuki Minako, Fuchigami Mai, Kugimiya Rie, Yoshida Hitomi and Kurosawa Tomoyo)

Trivia

Episode 42 reveals that she was born on November 4^th, thus making her a Scorpio.
Makoto's voice actress Miyamoto Kanako has performed several songs for the Pretty Cure franchise, including the ending themes of Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!, the ending themes of KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode, and the opening of HUGtto! Pretty Cure.
Kenzaki Makoto/Cure Sword ranked as the 9^th top anime character in the December 2013 issue of Animage.
Makoto appeared as Cure Sword to give the 10th anniversary congratulatory message in episode 32 of Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!.
It was revealed in episode 35 that Makoto has a fear of the dentist.
In the final episode of the English dub, Mackenzie says that where she's from, people would listen quietly to her singing. This, plus the mention of a hymn service from Princess Marie Ange in episode 7's flashback implies that before the season, she used to sing in a church.