Laura

Laura (ローラ)^? is one of the five main Cures in Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure. She is a mermaid from Grand Ocean, who comes to Aozora City in search of the Pretty Cure so they can save her home. Her full name is Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer (ローラ・アポロドーロス・ヒュギーヌス・ラメール)^?, and also known as Laura La Mer (ローラ・ラメール)^? in school.

Laura's alter ego is Cure La Mer (キュアラメール, Cure La Mer)^?, and her charm point is her nails.

Bio[]

Appearance[]

As a mermaid, Laura has long, bright pink hair that reaches her waist and blue eyes. She wears pearl clips on her bangs and has cyan otoliths as earrings. Her top is cyan and white with pink pearls on the front. She has cyan fins on her elbows and gold bracelets on her wrists. Her tail is blue with a pale pink and yellow fin, and she wears a pink ribbon with a yellow star and pearls around it. When she starts studying to become the next queen, she wears a blue tiara with a teal gem and white embroideries on her head.

As a child, Laura had shorter hair and wore a green bead necklace. She didn't have her arm bracelets or the ribbon with the pearled star around her tail.

As a human, Laura gains legs in place of her tail, and her otoliths become human ears. Her hair remains the same, but she wears a sky blue headband. Her outfit bears a slight resemblance to her mermaid form. The top is white and light blue with a cerulean stripe on top and a matching collar with pink pearls on it. The skirt is light blue with cerulean and white petal-shaped layers at the bottom and a thin pink belt with a yellow star on the left. Her sandals are light blue with some pink pearls and light blue ruffles on top. She wears gold seashell-shaped earrings.

During winter, she wears a lavender blouse with long ruffled sleeves, a light blue pearl choker on light purple fabric, a cerulean tight skirt that opens in the front with sea blue ruffles, and white high-heels. Her forelocks are tied into ponytails on each side of her head.

In the movie, she wears a light blue blouse with ruffles near her shoulders, a cerulean skirt with straps around her shoulders and a chain of pearls at the middle, and brown-red boots.

As Cure La Mer, her eyes turn pink with blue heart-shaped flecks, and she gains small pearls on her eyelashes. She also gains cyan nail polish on her fingernails, and pink polish on her toes. Her hair grows thicker and longer and becomes sky-blue with a pink ombré at the head and ends. Two large pearls lay on the sides of her head, coated in hair, and she also has a small turquoise headdress on her bangs and pink pearls around her hair. She wears a light blue off-shoulder top with pink and golden accents with scalloped frill with long white puffy sleeves that have fitted blue wristbands. A blue shell lays on her chest with a hot pink bow and golden little sphere just below it. She also gains a short skirt with layers of dull purple, violet and cyan, and long white pants. On her left hip, there is a Tropical Pact accented with a pale pink ribbon. She also gains white platform open-toed sandals with pink pearls and blue soles. Her accessories include a blue and white choker, pale blue pearl earrings, and a blue train and pale pink at the front resembling a mermaid tail and blue big ribbon hanging from her skirt.

In her Excellen-Tropical Style, her hair is lighter, and lengthens and thickens, gaining an additional blue ombre at the bottom. The two pearls in her hair turn bright blue, while the pearls on her bangs become a small gold tiara. Her forelocks are now connected to the back of her head. The blue part of her top turns white, becoming a long dress that opens in the front with a rainbow-colored gradient inside and a green translucent turtleneck. Her skirt is blue with a scaly design like a mermaid's tail with a golden band at the top and a longer light pink train at the bottom. Her sleeves shorten with sea green ombre at the top and pink pearl bands at the middle. Her choker is white and blue with a blue gem hanging from it, while her earrings turn bright blue and gain bright pink and matching pearls. She now wears white frilly wristbands with blue bands around the wrists and is barefoot with light blue pearls around her ankles.

In her Snow Crystal Tropical Style, her outfit contains some elements of the Super Silhouette form. Her hair grows longer and has a golden sheen to it. She gains a small gold tiara with a blue heart in the middle. Her outfit lightens in color with her miniskirt growing longer, and the tail in the back lengthening and becoming bigger. She gains light blue sleeves with sharp wing-like ends on them. On her chest is an ocean-blue bow. Light blue butterfly-like ribbons appear at the ends of her pant legs. On her back is a pair of rainbow heart-shaped wings.

Personality[]

Laura is very self confident, and is the type of person who will honestly say whatever is on her mind. She wants to become the next queen of Grand Ocean. She also loves to sing. She tends to have a short temper, usually when things don't go her way or someone claims mermaids don't exist. Before becoming a human, she would feel left out when the rest of the Tropical Club did their activities. She can't keep secrets.

Relationships[]

Natsuumi Manatsu: Laura originally treated Manatsu with contempt, and only saw her as a stepping stone to her goal, but gradually warms up to Manatsu after she saves her. It was later revealed that she met Manatsu when they were both children, but she forgot about Manatsu after having her own memories erased.
Suzumura Sango: Laura met Sango when she got separated from Manatsu and her classmates. At first, she does not really have much faith in Sango, but gradually starts to like her.
Ichinose Minori: Laura initially considers Minori unreliable, but begins to view her differently once she becomes Cure Papaya.
Takizawa Asuka: After she and Manatsu are defended by Asuka, Laura becomes interested in Asuka and considers her as a desirable Pretty Cure candidate, though Asuka, who finds her annoying, did not return the favor. However, Asuka grows to appreciate her more after spending time with her.
Kururun: Laura is Kururun's caretaker, and they are good friends. However, there are instances where Laura has trouble understanding Kururun.
Mermaid Queen: Laura is the Mermaid Queen's chosen candidate, and she shows great respect for her, regarding her as her mother. The Mermaid Queen in turn trusts her greatly.
Sharon: Laura becomes fast friends with Sharon over their royalty statuses and love for songs. When realizing Sharon is being selfish and cold, Laura is devastated but still wants to reach out to her. She has promised Sharon to spread the song of Shantia, before watching Sharon vanish and accepting her demise.

Etymology[]

Laura: A female given name. It originates as the feminized form of laurus, Latin for "bay laurel plant", which in the Greco-Roman era was used as a symbol of victory, honor or fame. It suits Laura, who is known for her strength of personality and desire to become a ruler. The name Daphne, derived from Ancient Greek, carries the same meaning.

Apollodoros: A given name, originally male. It comes from ancient Greek, meaning "gift of Apollo", from the name of the god Apollo and with Greek δῶρον (doron), meaning "gift".

Hyginus: A Roman surname, deriving from the Ancient Greek “ygieinós (υγιεινός)”, from “ygeía (υγεία)” meaning “healthy, hygienic, healthful, sanitary”. In turn the name means “prosperous, healthy, auspicious one”.

La Mer means "the sea" in French.

History[]

Meeting Manatsu As A Child[]

When Laura was a child, Laura came across Minamino Island and decided to explore it, but was then found by Manatsu without revealing she is a mermaid. They soon promised to meet again the next day, but after returning to Grand Ocean, Laura had her memories erased and therefore did not fulfill the promise or remember Manatsu. ^TRPC37

Meeting Manatsu[]

Due to the Grand Ocean being attacked by the Witch of Delays, Laura is sent by the Mermaid Queen to the human world in hopes of finding the legendary Pretty Cure. She later meets Natsuumi Manatsu, who discovers her when passing by and is grateful that Laura helped her found her lipstick. Initially, Laura only thinks of Manatsu as a stepping stone to her goal of becoming the next queen, but then she watches Manatsu become Cure Summer just to rescue her when she is captured by Chongire. She slowly warms up to Manatsu after being saved by her.^TRPC01

Argument and Reconciliation with Manatsu[]

When Manatsu begins attending school, Laura gets upset. She later requests Manatsu to bring her to school in hopes of searching for a Pretty Cure candidate, but gets bored rather quickly. She leaves the Mermaid Aqua Pot to search for a candidate herself, only to be noticed by the students. After Manatsu finds her, they have an argument. Upset by what Manatsu had said to her, she angrily swims away. When she is almost attacked by Chongire's Yaraneeda, however, she realizes that Manatsu, who rushes to her aid, still cares for her as a friend. Afterwards, they make up with each other.^TRPC02

Finding and Returning Manatsu's Motivation Power[]

After a difficult battle against the more powerful Zenzen Yaraneeda, Manatsu has her Motivation Power stolen by it. Laura quickly retrieves it with the Mermaid Aqua Pot, but the Zenzen Yaraneeda startles her and knocks the pot into a nearby canal. While the other Cures try to get Manatsu's motivation back, Laura goes to search for the pot. Desperate to return Manatsu's motivation, Laura even swims through the dirty section of the canal. Eventually, she meets up with Kururun, who was able to find the Mermaid Aqua Pot themselves. When Laura returns, she finds that Manatsu was able to regain her motivation on her own. She then releases Manatsu's stolen Motivation from the pot, which restores the Cures' strength and allows them to perform their new group attack, Mix Tropical, to purify the Zenzen Yaraneeda.^TRPC10

Getting Suspected and Retrieving the Aqua Pot[]

Sometime later, Laura becomes the subject of a ridiculous rumor about a mermaid at the school, much to her annoyance. When swimming in the canal of the school, she is offended and blurts out after hearing Kakuta Masami saying that mermaids don't exist, therefore exposing herself, though she manages to swim away before being further noticed. After the Mermaid Aqua Pot gets confiscated by Masami, Laura sneaks into the room that stores the confiscated items and pretends to be one of the students by using a banned uniform to get past Masami, and manages to retrieve the Aqua Pot. She later brags about her act of pretending to be a student is ingenious enough to not get herself suspected, only to be told by her friends that she should be returning the uniform, much to her dismay. ^TRPC12

Switching bodies with Minori[]

When the Tropical Club is preparing for cheerleading for the upcoming softball competition, Laura watches Minori preparing the banner, but has to help Minori who gets sucked into the Mermaid Aqua Pot. This results in their bodies getting swapped. Realizing she is in Minori's body, Laura gets excited and decides to experience what it is like to be a human, but they are unable to switch back, so Minori lets Laura stays at her home for the night.

The next day, when a croissant Zenzen Yaraneeda is on the loose, Laura tries to transform in Minori's body, but fails as the ring and compact do not react. But they end up switching their bodies back after Minori's ring reacts to her determination to help her friends. Although she is glad that they have switched bodies back and says she prefers being a mermaid, she actually misses the experience of being a human.^TRPC15

Desire of Becoming Human and Being Captured by the Witch[]

As time passes, Laura begins to spend more time with her human friends, but her wish of wanting to become a human grows stronger. Her friends also find her acting strangely, and Minori is the first one to figure out that she wants to become human, and tells Laura that she has to give up something precious in order to fulfill a wish. After meeting Natsuumi Aoi, her eagerness to become human grows, but she wonders what Minori meant.

The next day, when the Cures are fighting Chongire’s Zenzen Yaraneeda, Laura tries to retrieve the Motivation Power from it, but the monster dumps a bunch of similar-looking bottles on her, swapping the Mermaid Aqua Pot out for one of them. As she desperately searches for it, she is captured in a net and the Zenzen Yaraneeda escapes with her. She eventually finds it when Kururun calls out to her and she takes a bunch of bubble pictures, hoping it would help the Cures find her location. They discover the bubbles and dive underwater in hopes of finding her. Meanwhile, Laura is taken to the Witch of Delays and refuses to say anything to her, but the Witch figures out Laura's desire to turn human and begins convincing her to work for her so she will grant her wish. ^TRPC16 When Laura refuses to be tempted by the Witch, the Witch decides to send her to the dungeon.^TRPC17

Becoming Cure La Mer and Turning Human[]

After failing to escape from the dungeon, Laura is discouraged until she recalls memories with her friends. She notices and reunites with Kururun, and tells the sea fairy to get the keys. After saving Kururun from Elda, she tells them to go ahead first while she decides to retrieve the Mermaid Aqua Pot by herself. She is caught by the Witch's grasp when she accidentally wakes up the Witch, but escapes with the Pot after biting the Witch's hand. After being rescued by Kururun when she is attacked by Butler, she meets up with the Mermaid Queen who asks her what she really wants to do next, and she decides to return to her friends. The Queen is delighted to hear her decision and hands her a pact.

On her way however, Laura realizes that her friends are in trouble when she witnesses Chongire defeat Summer. Determined to rescue her friends, she tells Chongire that she won't allow anyone to injure her friends, thus gaining her Heart Kuru Ring and the pact becomes her Mermaid Aqua Pact, which allows her to transform into Cure La Mer for the first time.

After retrieving the Motivation Power and purifying one of the Zenzen Yaraneeda, Laura is reunited with her friends, and is overjoyed when she realizes that she has gotten legs and thus has become a human as she wished. She later decides to stay at Manatsu and Aoi's home and attend Aozora Middle School, much to Manatsu's joy. ^TRPC17

Going to School[]

Not long after staying at Manatsu's home, Laura later begins her school life. She introduces herself as a new student at the assembly, but brags about Grand Ocean and how she wants to try everything so that she can succeed in being queen one day, surprising and confusing the other students. Although she appears to be knowledgeable in her studies, she later gets bored and irritated with it. She joins the swimming club later on, but fails to swim properly due to not adapted to using her legs to swim. She nearly exposes her identity as a mermaid until her friends stop her. She then decides to join the Tropical Club instead and enjoy her school life. ^TRPC18

Running for Student Council President[]

When the Tropical Club knows that Yuriko is going to resign and handover her position soon, Laura decides to run for the president election, though she isn't the most supported by the other students. She then takes her friends' suggestions into account for the preparation of her last speech, but during the speech she abruptly leaves to help her friends who are overwhelmed by Chongire's Chou Zettai Yaraneeda. Of course, her leave is considered as a forfeit and Ichijo Riko, who is the vice president of the council, ends up winning. At first, Laura is irritated by her loss, but soon regains her optimism and believes that this experience is a good practice for her way to become queen of her kingdom. ^TRPC30

The Lost Memories[]

After seeing the damage of Grand Ocean during their visit, Laura and her friends venture to save the Queen, but after finding out the room that stores the memories that mermaids had with humans, including the one the Witch had with the Legendary Cure, she discovers her own childhood memories with Manatsu that is contained inside a conch shell.

Upon saving the Queen who inform them that the Witch wants to use the Casket to gain immortality, Laura reveals that she has found her shell, so the Queen admits that the memory erasure is a law that cannot be changed. After meeting the Legendary Cure who saves them and helps them regain the Marine Ring, La Mer is assured by Summer that she'll always cherish their friendship with each other. Later that same night, Manatsu fulfills her promise of giving a flower crown to Laura, which makes Laura happy. Laura had also decided to keep the shell that contains her memories. ^TRPC37

Learning The Mermaid Queen's Past[]

When visiting the Mermaid Queen to repair the damaged Aqua Pot, Laura appears before her as La Mer for the first time. The Queen then tells La Mer about how she attempted to become a Pretty Cure herself in hopes of retrieving a cup of Motivation Power from a villain that appeared after centuries of peace. She failed to become a Cure, but she was able to get the cup back anyway, hiding it away on Minamino Island along with the Perfume Shiny Brace, confirming that she was the mermaid La Mer learned about with the others. After the Queen mentioned that her memories might have been erased despite her not coming into contact with humans, she tells La Mer that she might have no choice but to follow the law and have her memories erased soon too, upsetting La Mer. The Queen then also tells her about Oasis's secret. Soon after that, La Mer comes to the Cures' aid while battling the blue whale Yaraneeda and they purify it before entering the Witch of Delay's mansion. There, she tries to convince the Witch to find her heart, but to little avail. ^TRPC43

The Final Battle[]

After the Witch and Cure Oasis have gone to heaven together, La Mer is happy for the both of them, until Butler turns himself into a dangerous Yaraneeda who is able to overpower her and the others, causing them to de-transform. Despite re-transforming and being aided by the defective villains, La Mer, and her friends still end up falling into a dark pit by Butler. However, with La Mer and her friends vowing to do what's important for themselves, they manage to escape from the pit and purify Butler with Super Tropical Paradise. She later takes back and distributes the Motivation Power from the Fool's Casket with the repaired Mermaid Aqua Pot with some help from her friends, despite Butler's last-ditch effort to destroy the world.

Afterward, Laura and her friends return to school to resume preparing for the graduation festival. But during the Tropical Club's slumber party, Laura wakes up as she receives a message from the Mermaid Queen. She learns that the Queen is going to relocate to the Grand Ocean on the day of the festival. Despite the Queen's respect for her choices, she is soon offered by the Queen two tough options: return to the Grand Ocean to inherit the throne, or stay with her friends.^TRPC45

Epilogue[]

On the day of the graduation festival, Laura tries to get herself prepared, although Sango, Minori, and Asuka feel that she is acting differently. After Manatsu returns with the cushion Laura won, she knows Manatsu is trying to avoid talking about her departure, so she decides it's time for her to tell the others. Despite her friends pleading with her to delay her decision, Laura still believes that she should do what's most important to her right now. Encouraged by Manatsu, she states that her role as the princess should return to her country to become queen. She also reveals to the school that she's actually a mermaid.

That evening, Laura and her friends gather by the seaside as she prepares to leave. She congratulates Asuka on graduating from Aozora Middle School as compensation for not being able to attend the ceremony. She then starts to feel emotional, so she tells them that they won't be alive by the time she becomes the Mermaid Queen. She also reveals that the memory-erasing machine in the Grand Ocean was created by another mermaid who got lonely after leaving her human friends behind. After being reassured by her friends, Laura musters up the courage to leave them behind after jumping in front of them for the last time. With Laura's memories now erased, everyone and everything that bears her memories also disappears. Before her memories were erased, she told Chongire, Numeri, and Elda to remind her about her friends when she visits them in the future.

Soon, Laura begins studying to become a queen, though she tries remembering things about her past. After being permitted by the Mermaid Queen, she gets to see the human world again. At first, she and Manatsu don't recognize each other, but after she takes out the lipstick, both of them suddenly remember each other, and with the Mermaid Aqua Pot's help, both of them fully regain their memories as the machine overloads. In the end, Laura starts teaching other mermaids about humans and finally gets to reunite with her friends again.^TRPC46

Cure La Mer[]

Shimmering Ocean! Cure La Mer!
揺らめく大海原 (オーシャン)！キュアラメール！
Yurameku Ōshan! Kyua Ramēru!

Cure La Mer (キュアラメール, Cure La Mer)^? is Laura's Pretty Cure alias. In order to transform, she needs her Mermaid Aqua Pact and Heart Kuru Ring.

Transformation[]

The transformation begins with Laura's Mermaid Aqua Pact appearing. She then holds the pact while removing her Heart Kuru Ring, inserting it into the lock and turning it. The pact's lid then splits open. She then holds her pen, shouting "Let's make up! Bling!", as she draws circles on the center part, causing it to glow and a cyclone of water to shoot out of it. She shouts "Face!" as the cyclone turns into several different-colored orbs. A couple of them first hit her cheeks, making them rosy, and then her eyes, which cause pearls to appear on the tips of her eyelashes and her eyes to turn pink with blue heart flecks. Then another hits her hair, causing it to grow and change color and style as her hair accessories appear, and the last one hits her lips, causing lip gloss to appear. She then spins the center of the pact again and shouts "Nails!" as she waves her pen over her fingernails, turning them blue, and her toenails, turning them magenta. She spins the center once more and shouts "Dress!" as she draws a purple star, which then encircles her and turns into two stars. The first star moves up her body, causing her top to appear, while the second one moves downward, creating her skirt, bow, pants, and shoes. Finally, a pouch for her Mermaid Aqua Pact appears as the pact itself falls into it. With the transformation complete, La Mer quickly swims in the ocean before emerging to the surface, introducing herself before striking her final pose.

Attacks[]

Kurukuru La Mer Stream (くるくるラメールストリーム, Kurukuru La Mer Stream)^?: One of Cure La Mer's solo attacks that she can perform using her Mermaid Aqua Pact.
Ocean Bubble Shower (オーシャンバブルシャワー, Ocean Bubble Shower)^?: The other Cure La Mer solo attack that she can perform using her Mermaid Aqua Pact when she puts it into its Bubble Mode.
Land Beat Dynamic (ランドビートダイナミック, Land Beat Dynamic)^?: A group attack that Cure La Mer performs with Summer, Coral, Papaya and Flamingo. To perform it, she and her teammates must be in their Excellen-Tropical Style, and they need the Tropical Heart Dresser and the Land Kuru Ring.
Marine Beat Dynamic (マリンビートダイナミック, Marine Beat Dynamic)^?: A group attack that Cure La Mer performs with Summer, Coral, Papaya and Flamingo. To perform it, she and her teammates must be in their Excellen-Tropical Style, and they need the Tropical Heart Dresser and the Marine Kuru Ring.
Super Tropical Paradise (スーパートロピカルパラダイス, Super Tropical Paradise)^?: A group attack that Cure La Mer performs with Summer, Coral, Papaya, Flamingo, and Oasis. To perform it, she and her teammates need the Tropical Heart Dresser, Land Kuru Ring, Marine Kuru Ring, and their transformation Heart Kuru Rings.
Heart Shining Orchestra (ハートシャイニングオーケストラ, Heart Shining Orchestra)^?: A group attack that Cure La Mer performs with Summer, Coral, Papaya and Flamingo in the movie. To perform it, she and her teammates must be in their Snow Crystal Tropical Style, and they need the Tropical Heart Dresser and the Snow Heart Kuru Ring.

Songs[]

Laura's voice actor, Hidaka Rina has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include songs with Fairouz Ai, who voices Natsuumi Manatsu, Hanamori Yumiri, who voices Suzumura Sango, Ishikawa Yui, who voices Ichinose Minori, and Seto Asami who voices Takizawa Asuka.

Aqua Prism
Song of Friendship

Group Songs[]

Viva! Spark! Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure Tropical Club Ver. (Along with Fairouz Ai, Hanamori Yumiri, Ishikawa Yui, and Seto Asami)
Pretty Rouge Days! (Along with Fairouz Ai)
Let's Tropical To Our Heart's Content! (Along with Fairouz Ai, Hanamori Yumiri, Ishikawa Yui, and Seto Asami)
Shantia ~Land of Happiness~ (Along with Fairouz Ai, Hanamori Yumiri, Ishikawa Yui, and Seto Asami)
Shantia ~Land of Happiness~ Ending Ver. (Along with Fairouz Ai, Hanamori Yumiri, Ishikawa Yui, Seto Asami, Nana Mizuki, Mizusawa Fumie, Kuwashima Houko, and Hisakawa Aya)
Song of Friendship ~Let's Sing Together♪ I Love My Friends~ (Along with Fairouz Ai, Hanamori Yumiri, Ishikawa Yui, and Seto Asami)

Trivia[]

Laura's birthday is on June 30^th, making her Zodiac sign Cancer.
An interview from Animage revealed that in the first draft of the story, Laura had a more typical role and was a gentle girl to tone down Manatsu's outlandishness. But Tsuchida Yutaka was concerned that she was going to get completely overshadowed by the other girls, so they changed her into a character with a strong personality and with a big presence in the story.
- In the Animage January 2022 issue, it was revealed that "La Mer" was Laura's Cure name before it also became her surname, but it was added because trying to be "Laura Hyginus" would've been difficult to pronounce once she started attending school.
  - The same issue also revealed that La Mer's nails were originally going to be multi-colored, but the staff eventually scrapped the idea as the end result did not satisfy them.
    - It was also revealed that Laura's role as the queen candidate is intentional. Tsuchida Yutaka believed the idea of becoming a queen by succession is a similar message to becoming a princess by falling in love with a prince, as it relies too much on someone else.
As she herself stated, Laura doesn't have any parents because she and the other mermaids from the Grand Ocean are all born from a giant pearl shellfish.^TRPC37
Laura is the first Cure to wear open-toed footwear in both civilian and Cure form.
Laura is the only Cure from Tropical-Rouge! who doesn't have her Motivation Power stolen.
On January 1^st, 2024, Laura’s voice actor, Hidaka Rina announced her marriage to Uchida Yuma, who voiced Shinada Takumi from Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure.^[1]