Washio Takashi

Washio Takashi (鷲尾天, Washio Takashi)^? is an animation producer and planner affiliated with Toei Animation. He is known as the "Father of Pretty Cure."

History

Prior to working for Toei Animation, Washio worked as a reporter for Akita Asahi Broadcasting, where he produced documentaries. Having an interest in video production, he applied to Toei so that he could create something seen by a wider audience, despite knowing little about anime at the time. He joined the company in 1998, becoming an producer for titles such as "The Kindaichi Case Files," "Kinnikuman: The Second Generation," and "Tsuribaka Nisshi."

After initially leaving Pretty Cure as a producer, Washio stayed within Toei and was eventually reshuffled into the Planning and Sales Division. In early 2020, when Toei underwent restructuring, he was moved up to an executive producer position within that division.

Work on Futari wa Pretty Cure

"The 'hero fiction' starring girls as main characters, 'Futari wa Pretty Cure,' finally starts! That's the thing, it's not about 'heroines' but rather 'HEROES.' The biggest distinction from heroines is that they don't use any weapons or tools, which is quite the rarity. They don't even have a magic wand or a mysterious bracelet. Instead, with their own hands and feet, they engage the opponent in physical combat. Just good old-fashioned action! Naturally, since the heroes are girls, there will be aspects of love, friendship, tears, laughter, and school life. The more ordinary they are, the more extraordinary they will be after transforming! Not only that, it's packed to the brim of 'SUPER CUTE' things girls will love! The rather annoying extradimensional creatures, Mepple and Mipple, can be selfish and hard to handle, but they're still so cute! Make sure to pay attention to their facial expressions and gestures. What would you do if...in your usual life, an unfamiliar and scary gang started attacking, and you transformed to battle against them...would you be up to the task?! We hope you will tune in to 'Futari wa Pretty Cure', it's the kind of action story that you'll get dragged into!"

– Washio Takashi, comments taken from the website.

When Toei asked Washio to make an anime for girls, he felt perplexed, not knowing how girls feel. In the written proposal for his concept, he touched on the idea that "even girls want to run amok!" He thought that most girls' anime at the time were focused on magical things and less so on action. He also thought that boys and girls were "no different as little kids" before their parents taught them to "act like boys" and "act like girls," leading them to differentiate. He recalled a time when he was young and played pretend with the girl next door, "transforming" into adults. His experience convinced him that girls would also like to transform. Washio's initial idea was that it would be cool if Kikaider and Hakaider, tokusatsu heroes he grew up watching, fought together, and he wanted to do a girls' version of that, noting that girls were also watching "Kamen Rider" and sentai hero shows. These ideas led to the concept of Pretty Cure, where ordinary girls transform to fight enemies. They made sure to refrain from including any dialogue about the differences between boys and girls, such as lines like "because you're a boy" or "because you're a girl," as children don't like to be compared with others.

When coming up with the name "Pretty Cure," Washio has said that they came up with the title at the same time they were working on the story. They had just come up with the concept of the Zakenna, who break down into multiple small stars and run away, crying "sorry" (ゴメンナー, Gomen'na)^?. The staff saw this and came up with the idea that the girls were healing, or "curing" the Zakenna. As it is a coined word, Washio admitted that people had trouble remembering it properly, with one common mistake being "PreCula" (プリキュラ, Purikyura)^?, which was then incorporated into the actual anime with characters like Pollun using it by mistake.

As the original Pretty Cure focused on a duo, Washio was inspired by buddy cop dramas such as "Dirty Harry," "48 Hours," and the Japanese "Tommy and Matsu." Before broadcast, he worried if the anime would appeal to girls, given its action-packed nature. The transformation item for this series was in the form of a cell phone that you slide cards on, but the toy company argued that "girls don't play with cards, only boys do." However, while visiting a toy store on the first day of broadcast, he was pleased to see that the toys were selling well. Washio and Nishio Daisuke, the director for this series, were conscious of their influence on children through the anime, so they discussed refraining from putting images they didn't approve of on screen, such as picky eating or talking back to one's parents. The original idea was that no male characters played an active role on the side of Pretty Cure during their battles. While handsome men do make appearances, they are powerless. Washio wanted to show that girls were the main characters and could triumph on their own.

Washio never knew PreCure would last as long as it did. Initially, he and the staff only had plans for up to a year, and even then he only had ideas for the first six months, focusing on the collection of the Prism Stones, as momentum was important. When thinking how to plan the next six months, Nishio told him it was fine to wait until the time came.

Work on Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star

Regarding the scene from the second Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart movie film, where the mind-controlled Cure Black and Cure White fight each other, Washio claimed that they wanted to depict a scene that boys could find relatable. However, since girls are less likely to get into physical fights, it left a bad impression, resulting in reports of children crying in theaters. Since then, the staff has mostly refrained from depicting the Pretty Cure fighting against each other in media since. On physical action, Washio noted that during his time producing 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. Starting with this season, the action was more restrained when compared with the first two seasons. Whenever the girls got hit, a sort of pixie dust would fly off their bodies, which was series director Komura Toshiaki's idea. Even back in Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart, Washio expressed depiction of pain by having the characters put up a guard, only to be blown back into a wall, which would break in an exaggerated matter.

Work on Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!

The third season, Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star, ended without a sequel, which Washio found regrettable. At the time, it was still up in the air whether the following program would also be a PreCure season. The higher-ups greenlit another season, but told him that if it didn't work out, they would change producers afterwards. Washio agreed to the conditions, but requested that if PreCure continued for another year after the coming one, he would continue to be producer until then. These two years comprised the seasons Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and its sequel Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!.

One of the motifs of Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! is the act of exchanging letters, which Washio said was based on the many letters he received from children during his initial time as producer on Pretty Cure, letters which he personally responded and still treasures to this day. In this season, the letter motif is visualized by Mailpo, a mailbox-shaped character who delivers and receives letters. In the final episode of the season, Mailpo sends out a large number of letters to help assist Pretty Cure in their fight, which Washio noted "truly represented the Pretty Cure program itself."

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! introduced Milk's transformation, Milky Rose. She was the fourth character at this point who fought alongside Pretty Cure but was not classified as one, following Shiny Luminous, Michiru, and Kaoru. Washio noted that he wanted Pretty Cure to be represented by ordinary girls who lived daily lives so that the audience could relate to them, of which none of the characters just listed fit the qualifications for as they aren't even earthlings to begin with. On a more obvious note, he also pointed out that if Milky Rose became a Pretty Cure, it wouldn't be called Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! anymore with six of them. It should be noted that, the season following this one, of which Washio no longer was a producer for, introduced a character who started out as a villain with the evil organization, but defected to the protagonist's side and became a Pretty Cure herself. In seasons following, various beings who aren't ordinary human girls also had the ability to transform into Pretty Cure.

Washio ended up staying as producer for the first five years of PreCure, but by that point, he was exhausted and decided one person shouldn't stay in that position forever. He thought that he didn't have anymore material to write for the anime, thus starting with Fresh Pretty Cure!, another person took his place as producer. He would not return to the franchise until Go! Princess Pretty Cure, where he took on a more hands-off planning role for that and subsequent seasons.

Work on Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure!

Up to this point, the franchise generally had what Washio called a "ban on the use of 'magic'." He credited the lifting of that ban to a book he read on "what witches were like in medieval times," from which he learned that people deemed witches were knowledgeable in herbology and present at childbirths. In other words, they do work that affects lives and thus are respected by the people. The reason why such people were treated negatively as witches was because they threatened the influence of those in power if they were garnering respect from the masses. Washio wanted to explore a hypothetical where witches still existed in an society of their own after being banished from ours, and what would happen if the two reconvened. This led to the motif that becoming a Pretty Cure was "a miracle beyond magic," which also led to the two leads being named Cure Miracle and Cure Magical.

Work on Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure

This season marked the first time Washio took on a producorial role for a Pretty Cure season since Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! 16 years ago. The season provided several "firsts" among the Pretty Cure team and the challenges that came with them. When asked about the challenge represented by this series having a lead, Cure Sky, be the color blue, Washio noted that Futari wa Pretty Cure debuted with girls representing the colors black and white, colors which girls were stereotypically said not to like. For the challenge represented by the first Pretty Cure that's a boy on the main team, Cure Wing, Washio noted they have said before that "Pretty Cure will not be limited to just girls when the time comes," and thus decided on the franchise's 20th anniversary as the perfect time to capitalize on that. For the challenge represented by the first Pretty Cure that's 18 years old, Cure Butterfly, Washio referenced that the adulthood age in Japan was recently lowered to 18, and how it would be nice to portray an adult's perspective in the series. For instance, at 18, one could be a student in high school or college, entering the workforce, or have a driver's license, expanding the variation in character.

Work on Kibou no Chikara ~Otona Pretty Cure '23~

Washio noted that Toei Animation already had a working relationship with NHK through airing "Oshiri Tantei" and "Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendou" on their "NHK E" service, leading to Kibou no Chikara ~Otona Pretty Cure '23~ also joining the service as part of the celebration of the franchise's 20th anniversary. He received a proposal to have the work incorporate "sustainable development goals," leading to its focus on topics such as climate change.

When thinking which team to feature in the adult sequel, Washio noted that they chose Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and its sequel as they were the first in the franchise to use "dreams for the future" as a theme, and they wanted to explore what would happen if those girls' dreams had finally taken shape.

Washio noted that, as Futari wa Pretty Cure was nearing its 20th anniversary, the people who grew up watching the anime when it first aired would now be over 20 years old, so he wondered if they remembered the messages they received from back then. He noted that you don't forget what you learned as a child, so he was overjoyed at the opportunity to teach those grown-up viewers again as adults.

Work on Dancing☆Star Pretty Cure The Stage

"We understand what everyone may be thinking: 'Why do a stage play of Pretty Cure with an all-male cast?!' The answer is 'creation and destruction.' When 'Futari wa Pretty Cure' first aired in 2004, it broke with the conventions of girls' anime at the time by having Cure Black and Cure White fight against others in hand-to-hand combat. Since then, we have continued to depict the heroes how we want them to be, even if it breaks with the norm. However, as the 'heroic appearance' of Pretty Cure became more prevalent, it has come to be that we ourselves feel bound by that image, with things like 'the work is for women to shine,' 'male characters are off-limits,' 'Pretty Cure should be this way...' This year, designated as our 20th anniversary, we are moving forward by breaking down the image we had established and rebuilding it, with the first regular boy Pretty Cure, as well as 'Otona Pretty Cure,' which depicts our heroes in the future. Then there's the stage play. Is it possible to create a work where men alone can say, 'This is Pretty Cure!'? That may perhaps be the biggest challenge to date, and it could even be criticized as a reckless attempt. But I want to challenge myself, because that's what 'Pretty Cure' is all about. We'll work hard until the very last minute to make sure the work is good. We hope you will take a look at it, thank you very much for your support."

– Washio Takashi, comments taken from a press release.

Work in Pretty Cure

Series	Year	Producer	Planning	Production Committee	Supervisor
Futari wa Pretty Cure	2004 - 2005	✅	❌	❌	❌
Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart	2005 - 2006		Movie 1, Movie 2
Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star	2006 - 2007		Movie
Yes! Pretty Cure 5	2007 - 2008		Movie
Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!	2008 - 2009		Movie, GoGo Dream Live
Fresh Pretty Cure!	2009 - 2010	❌	DX
Heartcatch Pretty Cure!	2010 - 2011		DX 2
Suite Pretty Cure♪	2011 - 2012		DX 3
Go! Princess Pretty Cure	2015 - 2016		✅, Movie, The Spring Carnival♪*
Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure!	2016 - 2017		✅, Singing with Everyone♪ Miraculous Magic!*	Movie
KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode	2017 - 2018		✅, Dream Stars!	Movie
HUGtto! Pretty Cure	2018 - 2019		✅, Super Stars!*, All Stars Memories*	❌
Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure	2019 - 2020		✅	Miracle Universe, Movie
Healin' Good♥Pretty Cure	2020 - 2021		✅, Movie*	Miracle Leap, Movie
Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure	2021 - 2022		✅	❌
Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure	2022 - 2023		✅	Movie
Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure	2023 - 2024	✅	✅, All Stars F	❌
Kibou no Chikara ~Otona Pretty Cure '23~	2023	❌	✅
Dancing☆Star Pretty Cure The Stage	2023	❌			✅
Wonderful Pretty Cure!	2024	❌	✅		❌

Trivia

• A few characters in the series are named after Washio himself, albeit loosely.
  • Regarding the character from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 named Washio Kouta that producer Washio phonetically shares a family name with, he recalls telling the staff he didn't want his name to appear in the work exactly as written, but they instead could change the kanji that make up the name. When it was revealed which character the staff named "Washio," he told them that he wanted the character, who was established to be Urara's manager, to be an adult who seriously cared about her.
  • In Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure, Captain Shalala rides on a bird named "Washion." Washio didn't know about it at first, so when he arrived to a recording session where the name was said out loud, the entire staff looked uncomfortable. When Shalala's voice actress said "Washion," he thought his name was called, which prompted laughter from everyone.
  • In Wonderful Pretty Cure!, the mayor of Animal Town is named Washio.