Futari Wa Pretty Cure

**Futari Wa Pretty Cure** In English it's "We are Pretty Cure", or Known as Just Pretty Cure Outside of Japan, is a Japanese magical girl anime series produced by Toei Animation and broadcast across Japan on TV Asahi's ANN network. It is the first series in the Pretty Cure metaseries created by Izumi Todo. The original series, directed by Daisuke Nishio, aired on TV Asahi between February 1, 2004, and January 30, 2005, in the same timeslot as Izumi Todo's previous work Ashita no Nadja. It was the first of the Pretty Cure series to have received an adapted English-language version, which aired in United States From February 2005 And Also Canada from March 2009. A direct sequel, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart or simply Max Heart, aired in Japan between February 6, 2005, and January 29, 2006. It was then succeeded by Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star. Two Max Heart movies were released on April 16, 2005, and December 10, 2005, respectively. The series' main motif is yin and yang.

## Pretty Cure

### Produced by

Moegi Nishizawa, Rika Tsuruzaki, Shigehaki Dohi Takashi Washio, Tomoko Takahashi

## More Info

### Licensed by

Toei Animation Inc. (North America), Odex (Singapore)

### Original network

Animax, TV Asahi, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation

### English network

YTV (Canada), TVB (Hong Kong), Kids Central (Singapore), Pop Girl (Untied Kingdom), Fox Kids (America)

## Plot

*Futari wa Pretty Cure* revolves around two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who encounter the Garden of Light's Mipple and Mepple, who give them the power to transform into the emissaries of light; Cure Black and Cure White, to fight against the forces of the Dark Zone: a dimension of evil that has encroached on the Garden of Light and is now about to do the same to the Garden of Rainbows, Earth. The Cures search for the Prism Stones, placing them in a heart-shaped device known as the Prism Hopish, protected by the Guardian, Wisdom. Once they have discovered all the Prism Stones, its power takes them to the Garden of Light and repairs most of the damage done by the Dark Zone. Later in the series, Porun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, grants the Pretty Cure duo use of their Rainbow Bracelets as they defeat the Dark King.

## Characters

Like all anime English Dubs Back in the Day, They Changed The Japanese Names of The Characters into English Names.

### Pretty Cure

* **Nagisa Misumi/Natalie Blackstone/Cure Black-** Voiced By **Yoko Honna** (Japanese), Rocio Barahona (English): Nagisa is a 14/15-year-old student in the second year of Private Verone Academy Sakura Class. The ace of the school lacrosse team, she is strong-hearted, but also incredibly lazy, barely ever doing her homework. She is also a food lover, her favorite dish being the takoyaki from Akane's stand. Although generally courageous, she frequently becomes quite flustered when near Shogo, on whom she has a crush. She is often known for her catchphrase "Unbelievable!" As Cure Black, she is strong and passionate. Her theme colors are black and pink.
* **Honoka Yukishiro/Hannah Whitehouse/Cure White-** Voiced By **Yukana Nogami** (Japanese), **Michelle Molineux** (English): A 14/15-year-old quiet girl who is Nagisa's classmate in both second and third year of her middle school. She lives with her grandmother Sanae and her dog Chuutaro, as her parents are constantly working overseas. She is quite intelligent and extremely knowledgeable, and is thus nicknamed 'The Queen of Knowledge'. She is in fact a member of the school's science club, where she is looked up to by the others. Honoka has not had many friends, but the few she has seem to be really close to her, and she has come to appreciate Nagisa's friendship. Her theme colors are white and blue.

### The Garden of Light

* **Mepple-** Voiced By **Tomokazu Seki** (Japanese), **Roger Rhodes** (English): Mepple is the chosen protector of the Princess of Hope who allows Nagisa to transform into Cure Black. He is noticeably selfish, as he is somewhat possessive of Mipple and becomes jealous when Pollun takes her attention away from him. Despite residing with Nagisa, he frequently gets into a fight with her, often begging her to feed him, even occasionally poking fun at her. He ends his sentences with "mepo". Mepple can only stay in his true form for a short time before growing tired, so he generally takes on an energy-saving form resembling a cellphone.
* **Mipple-** Voiced By **Akiko Yajima** (Japanese), Angie Beers (English): Mipple is the Princess of Hope from the Garden of Light who resides predominantly with Honoka and gives her the ability to transform into Cure White. She, like Honoka, is generally more reserved than her male counterpart. She ends her sentences with "mipo". Although it is hinted that Mepple has feelings for her, Mipple is always sticking up for Pollun, causing problems between her and Mepple whenever Mepple comes on the scene. Like Mepple, Mipple usually stays in a cellphone-like case for the same reason as Mepple.
* **Pollun-** Voiced By **Mayumi Sho** (Japanese), **Onalea Glibertson** (English): Pollun is the Prince of the Garden of Light. He is sent to Earth once all the Prism Stones have been retrieved by the Cures. The Queen gives a cryptic statement about his powers aiding Pretty Cure. Later, when Wisdom is in trouble, Wisdom places the power of the Rainbow Stones into Pollun without his knowledge. This gives him the ability to remain in his regular form as well as the ability to communicate with various people from the Garden of Light. When communicating with members of the Garden of Light, he turns into what looks like a gaming console and everyone can hear what is said and communicate openly. He also grants Pretty Cure the power of light which gives them their Rainbow Bracelets. He tends to be extremely selfish and think only of himself. He is quite childish and has a lot of energy. He can get a little annoying at times and definitely annoys Mepple when he wants to be alone with Mipple.
* **Queen-** Voiced By Kaya Matsutan (Japanese), Elizabeth Ludwig (English): The ruler of the Garden of Light, a realm protected by the power of the Prism Stones. She appears as a huge CGI woman sitting on a throne, though she is easily over-towered by the Dark King. She carries a heart-shaped item of some sort. She has stated that she is impressed with the courage of Pretty Cure and aids them when she can. She seems to always be closing her eyes.
* **Wisdom-** Voiced By **Taiki Matsuno** (Japanese), Glenn Howard (English): Wisdom, often referred to as simply The Guardian is the keeper of Prism Stones, often residing on top of the Prism Hopish. His expressions often range from very sleepy to overly spooked.
* **Elder-** Voiced By **Hiroshi Naka** (Japanese), Jonathan Love (English): A wise sage who resides in the Garden of Light. Despite his wisdom, he often keeps forgetting Nagisa and Honoka's names and referring to them as the *Pretty **Cura***.

### Dark Zone / Dotsuku Zone

The villains of the first series emerge from the **Dark Zone** which is a realm of darkness ruled by the Dark King.

* **Dark King-** Voiced By **Kenichi Ono** (Japanese), **Tom Edwards** (English): The imprisoned ruler of the Dark Zone, somewhat humanoid in form that appears to come out of the ground. He is very tall and muscular with red eyes and extremely long arms. He does not appear to wear clothing. He wants to acquire the Prism Stones to prevent the "power to consume all things" from eventually destroying his own body, and to become immortal—he believes that it is the fate of all things to be consumed by the darkness. Like the Queen of the Garden of Light, the Dark King is animated by CGI.
* **Zakenna-** Voiced By Hitoshi Bifu (ep 1-22), Satoshi Taki (ep 15, ep 28 onwards) (Japanese); Tom Edwards (English): The Zakenna are large purple monsters that are summoned by servants of the Dark Zone. These monsters combine with objects or living things to oppose the Pretty Cure. When they are defeated by a purifying move, they burst into numerous smal star-shaped monsters called Gomennah ( derived from the word for 'sorry'), who scurry off apologising.

#### Dark Five

The Dark King's first wave of servants.

* **Pisard/Pijard-** Voiced By **Hiroki Takahashi** (Japanese), David Belke (English): The leader of the Dark Five to appear. Pisard is often thought to resemble a member of KISS, but when one looks closely, his look is closer to that of a male Kabuki actor in "*keshō*" ("make up"), having long hair and a painted face.
* **Gekidrago-** Voiced By **Koji Ishii** (Japanese), Kevin Gilese (English): The strongman of the Dark Five, large and muscular with a moai-shaped head. He relies on his brawn rather than his brain. Easily having the highest fortitude of the group, Gekidrago can take a direct, unprotected hit from a Marble Screw (or Twister in the English Dub) and only be knocked out for a few minutes. He often ends his sentences with "-Muka".
* **Poisonny/Pandora-** Voiced By Voiced by: Sakiko Uran (Japanese); Onalea Gilbertson (English): The only female of the Dark Five. Instead of making a big show of calling on Zakenna like Pisard and Gekidorago, she snaps her fingers and is much more discreet about it. She often takes on a human appearance to gain the trust of the girls before attacking. In her true form, she resembles a vampire: She is pale, dresses in black tinted with red, wears a cape and has fangs, dark-rimmed yellow and red eyes and long red hair.
* **Kiryia/Kirea-** Voiced By **Reiko Kiuchi** (Japanese), Scott Roberts (English): The youngest of the Dark Five, Poisonny's younger brother, he comes to the Garden of Rainbows (Earth) in order to spy on Nagisa and Honoka, infiltrating their school as a freshman and ends up becoming friends with them, developing a fondness and love for Honoka after she shows kindness to him. Later on he starts to have emotions and feelings for Honoka while trying to understand human emotions, resulting with him unable to fight the Pretty Cure duo. This act results with him sent back to the Dark Zone, but not before willingly giving a Prism Stone to the Pretty Cure duo. After the Dark King is destroyed, Kiriya returns as a normal human and lives an equally normal life.
* **IIkubo-** Voiced By **Issei Futamata** (Japanese), Jonathan Love (English): The most powerful of the five and the Dark King's right-hand man. He can block the Marble Screw (or Twister in the English Dub) with just his abilities, as well as many other attacks, but his fortitude isn't as high as Gekidrago, as a direct hit will still hurt him. He first appeared on Earth, but did not start seriously fighting the girls until after Kiriya is sent back to the Dark Zone. He is defeated in episode 24 but made a brief comeback in episode 25 in which he battles Pretty Cure and takes them to the Dark Zone in a far more monstrous (and powerful) form. He is large, pale and bald with pointed ears and dark-rimmed eyes that resemble those of Kiriya. He wears a white robe and carries a purple sphere.

##### The Seeds of Darkness

When the Dark Five are defeated, new enemies appear: the Three Seeds of Darkness. The Seeds of Darkness are joined by Macaw, their pet bird; and the Butler Zakenna, The butlers serve as comic relief, as they are unintelligent and tend to fight and bicker a lot. However, unlike other Zakenna, they speak human language, only using "-zakenna" to end their sentences. The taller Zakenna is laid back and somewhat clumsy, while the shorter Zakenna is quick to anger.

* **Belzei Gertrude / Beruzei-** Voiced By **Tomomichi Nishimura** (Japanese), Paul Hudson (English): The de facto leader of the trio. His human alias is Genbu Yuuki (Dr. Encastle in the English version). He's a plotter and a sadist. He is first seen in the series impersonating a doctor. He is able to blend in by making people think he is someone else. Due to his own ego, it's always someone of a high position, like head doctor or principal.
* **Regine/Regina-** Voiced By **Rika Fukami** (Japanese), **Carol-Anne Day** (English): The only female of the trio. Her human alias is Shoko Koyama (Sheila in the English version). She starts out as a pretty red head, but then transforms and her hair stands straight back, then bounces into six curls. When in human form, she has a tendency to mumble things twice, then suddenly she will scream out without warning, shocking everyone. She is far more confident in her dark form, though.
* **Juna-** Voiced By **Yasunori Matsumoto** (Japanese), Brendan Hunter (English): The tall young man of the trio. The muscle of the group, Juna is quite stoic and his expression seldom changes. His human alias is Ryuichiro Kakuzawa (Edgedale in the English version), who is made as his original form in the English version.

Look at Other Characters Here: **https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futari\_wa\_Pretty\_Cure**

## Media

### Anime

The original *Futari wa Pretty Cure* anime aired in Japan between February 1, 2004, and January 30, 2005. The opening theme is "Danzen! Futari wa Pretty Cure" by Mayumi Gojo whilst the ending theme is "Get You! Love Love?!" also by Gojo.

### Licensed Media and Dubs

On February 24, 2006, 4Kids Entertainment announced broadcasting and distribution rights for *Pretty Cure* in the United States, though never produced an English version of it. In July 2008, Toei Animation began making episodes available through IGN's Direct2Drive service subtitled into English, and have also started making those same episodes available for free internet streaming on Crunchyroll. The subtitles were produced by "Nippon Golden Network", a Hawaii-based cable network that broadcasts Asian programming (mostly from Japan), and featured low-quality video and audio. In April 2009, Funimation used to license the English-subtitled version of the series for online distribution on the company's website. This subtitled version was updated on Crunchyroll and VRV on March 25, 2021, with improved video and audio quality.

An English-dubbed version was produced by Toei and Ocean Productions using their Blue Water studio in Calgary, Alberta which aired on Canada's YTV channel from March 6, 2009, to July 31, 2010. Although uncut in content, the English dub makes several changes to character names, cultural references and theme music, though mostly retains the original version's main soundtrack. This dub also aired in the United Kingdom on the Pop Girl digital channel from September 6, 2010.

This anime also aired, in Indonesian-dubbed version on RCTI, Indosiar (MAX Heart version) and Spacetoon Plus.

A Cantonese dub of the anime aired in TVB stations in Hong Kong, with the theme song sung by Cantonese band duo, Twins.

### Manga

Both the television series and their movies received manga adaptation which were illustrated by **Futago Kamikita** in **Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine** as they aired.

### Video Games

Four video games based on the two series have been released in Japan by Bandai. An educational video game was released for the Sega Pico in 2004. A puzzle platformer, Futari wa Pretty Cure: Arienai! Yume no Sono wa Daimeikyu, was released for Game Boy Advance in 2004. A platformer, Futari wa Pretty Cure: Max Heart - Maji? Maji!? Fight de IN Janai was released for Game Boy Advance in 2005. A side-scrolling beat 'em up game, Futari wa Precure Max Heart – Danzen! DS de Precure - Chikara wo Awasete Dai Battle was also released in 2005 for the Nintendo DS.[12] Nagisa, Honoka and Hikari have also appeared in other Nintendo DS games based on subsequent Pretty Cure series.

## Reception

The series' popularity quickly spawned it into a full franchise with many different series. In a TV Asahi opinion poll, *Pretty Cure* appeared in the 45th position, above other series of the magical girl genre like *Cutie Honey* (technically not a "magical girl" series in the same sense; see article for details), *Cardcaptor Sakura*, and *Magical Angel Creamy Mami*.

## Gallery

Cover 1Cure Black and Cure WhiteBlack and White at the Ending of The Intro
## Videos

Futari wa PreCure TransformationFutari Wa Precure - Our First Transformation (English Dub)Futari wa precure attack 1♦Futari wa Pretty Cure ~ Opening 1 -HD-♦
## Reviews

* I have seen little of Full Episodes of Futari Wa Pretty Cure, But have made videos of it on my YouTube Channel and Watch Clips, This is the start of the Pretty Cure Series, and it's a Big one to Boot and to see were a Fantastic Magical Girl Anime Series that is still active today Year by Year to where it had started by in 2004, and also the Year i was born in too ;) (Review By **Rebekah Rodriguez**, September 26th 2021).