Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!

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Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! (ハピネスチャージプリキュア！, Hapinesu Chāji Purikyua!^?), is a Japanese magical girl anime series produced by Toei Animation and the eleventh installment in Izumi Todo's Pretty Cure franchise. It first aired on February 2nd, 2014, succeeding Doki Doki! Pretty Cure on its initial time slot. The season celebrates the franchise's 10th anniversary, having been ten years since Futari wa Pretty Cure.^[1] The series' themes are mirrors, fashion, dancing, form-changing and romance. Alongside Nagamine Tatsuya as its director, it has Narita Yoshimi as its head writer.

Production

Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! was first announced on by Toei in the Japan Patent Office for a variety of goods on October 2 and made public on October 24. In an issue of Nikkan Sports' Pretty Cure Shimbun newspaper, Doki Doki! Pretty Cures Producer, Hiroaki Shibata, confirmed the series after confirming Doki Doki! Pretty Cures 49 episode run and will air in the beginning of February 2014.^[2] A posting for Nintendo 3DS merchandise on Amazon revealed designs for the two main heroines, Cure Lovely and Cure Princess.^[3]

In January 3, 2014, Megumi Nakajima of Macross Frontier fame announced she will voice the series' main character, Aino Megumi. She stated that Pretty Cure was something she has adored for a long time, so it was like a dream to be allowed to star in it herself.^[4]^[5]^[6] It is the first time she took another lead anime role after announcing her indefinite hiatus from her music career at the end of March 2014.^[7] A day later, the first commercial for the series was aired in the end of Doki Doki! Pretty Cure, showcasing Cure Lovely and Cure Princess's transformations.^[8]

Synopsis

Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! episodes

All around the world, Pretty Cures have been fighting against the invasion of the enemy known as Saiark! Shirayuki Hime, the princess of Blue Sky Kingdom is in fact a Pretty Cure, but unable to defeat the enemy alone, she is fallen behind the others and is in a quite a terrible situation. Then, on her quest to find a partner, she meets Aino Megumi (Cure Lovely), they form a team called Happiness Charge Pretty Cure. Later in the story, they are joined by Cure Honey (Omori Yuko) and Cure Fortune (Hikawa Iona), they fight against the Phantom Empire, defeat the Saiarks and collect all PreCards to fulfill their wish! With the dress-up theme beloved by girls, a completely different Pretty Cure story begins!

Characters

Pretty Cure

Aino Megumi (愛乃めぐみ, Aino Megumi^?) / Cure Lovely (キュアラブリー, Kyua Raburī^?) is the protagonist whose redeeming features are her happy-go-lucky attitude and smile. When people who feel troubled or depressed want to be left alone, she unintentionally meddles in their issues. Though she is awkward/tactless, and her attempts at helping others often end in failure, she thoroughly looks to the positive and is skilled at seeing the good in people. She has an interest in cute fashion, but her fashion sense is not exactly the best. Her standard signature color is pink, and she can change into two alternate forms, the red "Cherry Flamenco" (チェリーフラメンコ, Cherī Furamenko^?) and the yellow "Lollipop Hip Hop" (ロリポップヒップホップ, Roripoppu Hippu Hoppu^?). She is represented by hearts.
Shirayuki Hime (白雪ひめ, Shirayuki Hime^?) / Cure Princess (キュアプリンセス, Kyua Purinsesu^?) is the princess of the Blue Sky Kingdom, a rather selfish and spoiled fashion victim. To save the Blue Sky Kingdom from being totally ruled by the evil organization of the Phantom Kingdom, she becomes a Pretty Cure, except she is easily scared and will immediately try to escape from in the middle of fights. Because of her shyness, she never had friends until meeting Megumi. Her standard signature color is light blue, and she can change into two alternate forms, the dark blue "Sherbet Ballet" (シャーベットバレエ, Shābetto Baree^?) and the green "Macadamia Hula Dance" (マカダミアフラダンス, Makadamia Fura Dansu^?). She is represented by circles, the Moon, the Sun and feathers.
Omori Yuko (大森ゆうこ, Ōmori Yūko^?) / Cure Honey (キュアハニー, Kyua Hanī^?) is Megumi’s friend and classmate. She has this snugly and fluffy atmosphere about her, so she has a soothing personality that calms her surrounding. Her home is a lunch store, so she loves eating and making food. Her standard signature color is yellow, and she can change into the blue and red Popcorn Cheer (ポップコーンチアー, Poppukōn Chiā^?) and Coconut Samba (ココナッツサンバ, Kokonattsu Sanba^?). She is represented by clovers.
Hikawa Iona (氷川いおな, Hikawa Iona^?) / Cure Fortune (キュアフォーチュン, Kyua Fōchun^?) is a Pretty Cure who helps the weak and has a strong sense of justice and a gentleness when she consoles people. Her parents disappeared around the time Saiarks started appearing. With her sense of duty as a Cure and her excellent fighting skills, she goes on her own to bring down the Saiark one by one. Her standard signature color is purple. In episode 19, Iona revealed to the Cures that she is Cure Fortune. She can change into the two alternate forms, the Pink and Blue Anmitsu Komachi (あんみつ小町, Anmitsu Komachi^?) and the Turquoise and Yellow Pine Arabian (パインアラビア, Paīn Arabia^?). She is represented by stars.

Allies

Ribbon (リボン, Ribon^?) is Hime’s mediator, as well as Cure Lovely, Cure Princess and Cure Honey's fairy partner. Despite her cute appearance, she is silver-tongued and much more gutsy than Hime.
Glasan (グラサン, Gurasan^?) is Cure Fortune's fairy partner. She helps Cure Fortune during her battles. Glasan can produce PreCards like Ribbon.
Blue (ブルー, Burū^?) is the spiritual being of Earth who endows the heroines with the power of Pretty Cure.

Phantom Empire

Queen Mirage (クイーン・ミラージュ, Kuīn Mirāju^?) / Cure Mirage (キュアミラージュ, Kyua Mirāju^?) is the ruler of the Phantom Empire. She likes to see people fall into despair and sorrow. She has butterfly wings and uses a staff as a weapon. She detests love and relationships. In episode 13, it was revealed that she was once in love with Blue, but under some circumstances, she then became evil, reject all love and happiness in the world. She used to be a Cure named Cure Mirage. Her Saiarks creates fog and utter chaos. In episode 43, she was purified thanks to the Cures and her love for Blue was restored. She had also retained her Cure powers once she was purified.
Deep Mirror (ディープミラー, Dīpu Mirā^?) / Red (レッド, Reddo^?) is Queen Mirage's adviser. He is a mirror with an unknown figure inside the mirror who shows different things such as a map of where the Phantom Empire's influences are and any new Cures. Often give orders to the generals under her command. He is the highest rank of the group. It is revealed that he was the one who controlled Queen Mirage. His true identity is Red, his hair color is crimson and his appearance closely resembles Blue. He was the god of Red Planet, but when all life on it disappeared, he grew jealous of his younger brother, Blue, who protected the Earth. He then attempted to destroy it so he would feel the same despair. In episode 49, he was purified and he learned from his mistakes, now helping to restore the planet with the help of Blue and Mirage.
Namakelder (ナマケルダ, Namakeruda^?) is the first general of the Phantom Empire. He has grasshopper antennae on his hat and wields a cane. He is intelligent but very lazy, even to the point of considering listening to a song is too much work. His Saiarks spread mold across the area. In episode 49, he is reborn as a businessman who still keeps a bit of his laziness.
Hosshiwa (ホッシーワ, Hosshīwa^?) is the second general of the Phantom Empire. She is a lady who wears a pink dress and a hat with the apple as a symbol and holds an umbrella. She is very selfish, wealthy and desires everything. She can disguise herself. Her Saiarks turn the area into one with chocolate, cakes and other sweets and desserts. In episode 49, she is reborn as a kindergarten teacher.
Oresky (オレスキー, Oresukī^?) is the third general of the Phantom Empire. He is a man who wears a military uniform with Saiark-like glasses as a symbol. He appears to be the leader and brutish of the trio and very strict, though he has a high opinion of himself and considers himself better than Namakelder and Hosshiwa. His Saiarks turn the area into a barren wasteland and creates dark clouds. In episode 49, he is reborn as a police officer assisting an old woman.
Phantom (ファントム, Fantomu^?) / PhanPhan (ファンファン, FanFan^?) / Cure Unlovely (キュアアンラブリー, Kyua Anraburī^?) is the fourth and elite general of the Phantom Empire. He is a man who wears a white coat and holds a sword with a gauntlet at his left arm. He is courageous and unruffled and refers to himself as "The Pretty Cure Hunter." He is incredibly loyal to Queen Mirage, even to the point of showing some feelings toward her. He defeated many Pretty Cures all over the world, including Cure Tender - Cure Fortune's elder sister. He was severely weakened after Cure Fortune regains her powers and she overpowered him. His Saiarks spread purple crystals and mines throughout the area. It was revealed in episode 41 that he is actually Cure Mirage's fairy partner. In the last episode, he became Cure Honey's fairy partner.
Madam Momere (マダム・モメール, Madamu Momēru^?) is the fifth general of the Phantom Empire, though he only targeted the Alo~ha Pretty Cure. She is a cross-dressing, androgynous-looking lady who wears a flowy pink blouse and sports a beard and makeup along with some jewelry. She is very flamboyant and loves it when her opponents argue among each other. Her Saiarks completely freeze the area around them.
Saiarks (サイアーク, Saiāku^?) are the series' main monsters. They wear sunglasses and scarves, with the color of the scarves depending on which general summoned it. They were created when the general traps the victim within a mirror to turn their happiness energy into sadness. Their name means "worst." They can alter the environment around them also depending on who summoned them.
Choiarks (チョイアーク, Choiāku^?) are group of numerous underlings who work for the Phantom Empire. They don't speak proper words and they speak 'choi'. Their names means "little or kind of bad ". They are much weaker than Saiarks. The Cures can use their Form Changes to purify Choiarks. They serves as a low rank of the kingdom.

Others

Hikawa Maria (氷川マリア, Hikawa Maria^?) / Cure Tender (キュアテンダー, Kyua Tendā^?) is Iona's older sister. As Glasan and Iona described, she was a powerful Pretty Cure and has a strong heart. She was defeated by Phantom while protecting her sister from his attack. In episode 37, she was freed by Queen Mirage and became corrupted. The Cures were able to free her from Mirage's control after a long and hard battle. She travel to United States to spend time with her parents and help the other Cures out.
Sagara Seiji (相楽誠司, Sagara Seiji^?) is a 14 year old boy, who lives next door to Megumi. Megumi and Seiji have been friends since kids, and Seiji understands Megumi's weak and good points. Seiji loves martial arts and diligently trains everyday at Hikawa karate dojo. Although he's popular with girls, he has no interest in a relationship and wants to focus on his training. Despite this however, he harbors a secret crush on Megumi and showed jealousy towards Blue due to Megumi's developing feelings towards him. Because of his mother's work, he and his sister, Mao usually have dinner with the Ainos'.
Sagara Mao (相楽真央, Sagara Mao^?) is Seiji's younger sister. She and Megumi get along well.
Aino Kaori (愛乃かおり, Aino Kaori^?) is Megumi's mother. She was the one who taught Megumi to help the others when they are in trouble. Although her health isn't good, she always takes care of Megumi.
Sagara Hiroko (相楽寬子, Sagara Hiroko^?) is Seiji and Mao's mother. She often drives trucks in other countries and has little time with her children.
Masuko Miyo (増子美代, Masuko Miyo^?) is a reporter in the Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! universe. She is reporting about Japan's and other countries' Pretty Cures.
Other Cures: In episode 8, it was revealed that there are other Pretty Cures battling Saiarks in different regions of the world, including North America (Bomber Girls Pretty Cure!), India (Wonderful Net Pretty Cure!) and France (Cure Aile). There is another one in Egypt named Cure Nile, but she has been defeated and sealed by Phantom. In the fourteenth episode, there are additional Cures from Sydney, Moscow, Rome, and London. In episode 28, the main Cures visit Hawaii and meet a new Pretty Cure team, the Alo~ha! Pretty Cure consists of two Cures: Cure Wave and Cure Sunset. In episode 30, it is revealed that Queen Mirage was a Pretty Cure named Cure Mirage.

Items

PreChanMirror (プリチェンミラー, PuriChenMirā^?)
- The Cures' transformation item (excluding Cure Fortune). Its name is short for "Pretty Change Mirror".
LovePreBrace (ラブプリブレス, RabuPuriBuresu^?)
- Cure Lovely and Cure Princess' main attack item. Cure Fortune had one when she inherited Maria's old powers, but lost it in episode 22.
Triple Dance Honey Baton (トリプルダンスハニーバトン, Toripuru Dansu Hanī Baton^?)
- Cure Honey's main attack item. It has three modes: Baton, Ribbon and Maracas. She can use it in both attacks and protection. She uses it in Ribbon Mode when she is in her Popcorn Cheer form and in Maracas Mode when she is in her Coconuts Samba form.
Fortune Tambourine (フォーチュンタンバリン, Fōchun Tanbarin^?)
- Cure Fortune's main weapon. She received this in episode 22. With Fortune Tambourine, she can use her new attack, Starlight Ascension.
Fortune Piano (フォーチュンピアノ, Fōchun Piano^?)
- Cure Fortune's transformation device.
Shining Make Dresser (シャイニングメイクドレッサー, Shainingu Mēku Doressā^?)
- A box that kept the villains sealed away. The box was kept within the Blue Sky Kingdom until Hime opened it, releasing the Saiarks, Queen Mirage and her minions from their prison so they can attack. However it is revealed that it also holds the powerful magic of the Shining Make Dresser powers of the box and the Shining Make Dresser's attack Happiness Big Bang. It also grants the Cures their Innocent Forms when their innocent feelings have peaked and soon after were able to use their strongest group attack, Innocent Purification.
PreCards (プリカード, PuriKādo^?)
- The season's main collectible items, which the Cures use to transform and change forms. If happiness wells up within the fairies Ribbon and Glasan, Ribbon and Glasan's nose gets ticklish and a card is formed. When all of them are gathered, any wish can be granted. In episode 22, Lovely, Princess and Honey have collected enough to grant a wish so Hime could resurrect her kingdom. However, she gave all to Iona instead to apologize for her mistakes in the past.
Cure Line (キュアライン, Kyua Rain^?)
- A smartphone-like device, that the Cures can use in order to communicate with each other. Their faces appear on the screen when they talk to each other.

Locations

Pikarigaoka (ぴかりが丘, Pikarigaoka^?) is a city located in the Greater Tokyo Area and is the setting of the Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! series. It was the main target of Phantom Empire.
Blue Sky Kingdom (ブルースカイ王国, Burū Sukai Ōkoku^?) is the homeland of Shirayuki Hime. It was occupied by the Phantom Empire after Hime accidentally opened the box named Axia. After Queen Mirage was purified, the kingdom was restored and all of its people were freed.
Phantom Empire (幻影帝国, Gen'ei Teikoku^?) is an evil kingdom that serves as the main antagonists hideout in Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!. Its leader is Queen Mirage, but Deep Mirror was revealed to be the true one.
Pretty Cure Graveyard is a location where Phantom collects the Pretty Cures he defeats. After the defeat of the Phantom Empire, the Cures were all freed.
Pikarigaoka Middle School (ぴかりが丘中学校, Pikarigaoka Chūgakkō^?) is the school that the Cures attend.
Cross Mirror Room (クロスミラールーム, Kurosu Mirā Rūmu^?) is a special room where Blue usually resides and watches what the Cures are doing. There, they can teleport anywhere around the world.

Trivia

Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! has a very large amount of similarities with Heartcatch Pretty Cure!.
- Both series feature a team of four Cures with the colors pink, blue, yellow and purple.
- The pink and blue Cures of both series (Blossom and Marine and Lovely and Princess) are best friends.
- The purple Cures of both series (Moonlight and Fortune) are both more stern and serious than the rest of the team. They refuse to join the rest at first and prefer to fight alone, but later join and become their friends. The purple Cures also used to use the same transformation item as the rest of the team, but gain a new one (Moonlight used to use a Heart Perfume, but later uses the Heart Pot lid to transform, while Fortune used to use a PreChanMirror, and then later uses the Fortune Piano).
- The pink Cures of both series wear their hair in a ponytail.
- The blue Cures of both series are outgoing, into fashion, and are the comic relief/funny character out of the Cures.
- The mascots of both series are all white, have large eyes, float, and have an overall similar appearance. At the end of each episode, the Heartcatch fairies poop out a Heart Seed, while the Happiness Charge fairies sneeze and then release them from their backs in a very similar manner.
- The choreography of the opening of Happiness Charge is extremely similar to that in Heartcatch. One example is near the end of the opening when the Cures are fighting a mass hoard of Saiarks, which is very similar to the scene of the Heartcatch opening when the Cures fight a hoard of Snackeys. The poses, attacks, and movements are very similar.
- Both series' titles have one word beginning with the letter 'H' and the next beginning with the letter 'C'.
- In both series there is a trio of villains consisting of two men and one woman (Sasorina, Cobraja, and Kumojaki in Heartcatch, and Hosshiwa, Namakelder, and Oresky in Happiness Charge).
- Later in both series, the Four Cures obtain a very powerful upgrade item in the form of a makeup mirror (the Heartcatch Mirage in Heartcatch, and the Shining Make Dresser in Happiness Charge).
- The makeup mirror in both series features four buttons which can be pressed with a pen.
- The makeup mirror enables the Cures to transform into a more powerful form consisting of an all-white dress replacing their normal clothes (the Super Silhouettes in Heartcatch, and the Innocent Forms in Happiness Charge.
- Both series' final battles take place with an outer space backdrop which features stars and planets.
- Both series have 49 episodes.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the second Pretty Cure series to have changing forms, preceded by Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star, as well both series also use cards as their transformation item.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the fourth series to have its heroines transform through cards.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the fourth series to have bracelets as attack weapons.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first Pretty Cure series to have Cures fighting in different countries, as well as the second canon source to have Pretty Cures be well-known among civilians through news broadcasts, following Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the second series, after Yes! Pretty Cure 5, to have a female lead villain.
Despite all the Happiness Charge Pretty Cures appearing in the opening, only Cure Lovely and Cure Princess appear in the first ending.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the third series when the Cures transform, their hair comes first before their clothes, preceded by Fresh Pretty Cure! and Doki Doki! Pretty Cure (though in Higashi Setsuna and Madoka Aguri's case, their clothes appear before their hair.)
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first series where the Cures can actually fly without any upgrades.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the fifth series that the Cures are all the same age (14), preceded by Futari wa Pretty Cure, Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star, Fresh Pretty Cure! and Smile Pretty Cure!, (until episode 36 as it is Megumi's birthday, making her 15 years old).
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season where someone other than the lead Cure's transformation is shown first.
- This is also the first season where the lead Cure is the last Cure in the group to receive her powers.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season that all of the Cures are wearing clothing of the same color (the vests are black and its also the second season where they have black as a theme color).
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the second series where all the Cures have ponytails and twin tails, after Doki Doki! Pretty Cure.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first series to use music from another original soundtrack. The used OST partly comes from Doki Doki! Pretty Cure.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season that utilizes disguises for the protagonists to allow them to do different things.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season that has only one eyecatch.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season where CG effects are used in attacks or in the anime itself.
The current Cure count for this series is: 28 or simply more than 100, if the Cures that Phantom had captured are counted.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the third season where the last Cure to join the team has a transformation device different from the ones the other members of the team have, preceded by Heartcatch Pretty Cure!, and DokiDoki! Pretty Cure.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the second series after Yes! Pretty Cure 5 (and its sequel) where romance is constantly present.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the second series to have seven villains, after Yes! Pretty Cure 5.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season to have two Pretty Cures who were turned evil, but they were good from the start (Cure Mirage/ Queen Mirage and Hikawa Maria/ Cure Tender).
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season where all the Cures sing in their group attack (Innocent Purification).
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first Season of Pretty Cure to introduce other Pretty Cure teams besides the main one, with the International Pretty Cures. It is unknown if future Pretty Cure series will do this again.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the third season where all of the main Cures can create shields, preceded by Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star and Fresh Pretty Cure!.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the first season where at the end of it, there is a hand-off scene to the lead Cure for the next season, like they have done on the Super Sentai franchise in the recent years.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the second series where the Cures use a power-up item that is based on a mirror, preceded by Heartcatch Pretty Cure!.
Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! is the third season to not have a tomboy-ish Cure, preceded by Fresh Pretty Cure!, Doki Doki! Pretty Cure and followed by Go! Princess Pretty Cure.
The four colors of the team is the same as the Heartcatch Cures:
- Pink (Blossom - Lovely)
- Blue (Marine - Princess)
- Yellow (Sunshine - Honey)
- Purple (Moonlight - Fortune)