Futari wa PreCure Splash Star

A poster featuring Cure Bloom, Cure Egret, Flappy, and Choppy

**Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash☆Star** (Lit. "We are Pretty Cure Splash☆Star") is the third season of the *Pretty Cure franchise* and the first new iteration of *Pretty Cure* after the original *Futari wa PreCure* and its sequel *Max Heart*. It was directed by Komura Toshiaki and premiered on *TV Asahi* February 5, 2006.

The story revolves around Saki Hyuuga and Mai Mishou, who were chosen by the spirits of the flowers and birds to become the legendary warriors, Pretty Cure, for the battle against evil organization Dark Fall.

The Cures' signature motif is the Japanese idiom "flower, bird, wind, moon", and the beauty of nature is the main theme for the season.

## Synopsis

Saki Hyuuga and Mai Mishou met at age nine for the first time after they followed two glowing balls that flew towards the Sky Tree, a big tree situated on top of a mountain in their town. Five years later, they met again at the same place and became the new legendary warriors PreCure (Pretty Cure). Flappy and Choppy, spirits from the Land of Fountains, revealed that they were the glowing balls and the girls were chosen to protect the Fountain of Sun hidden in Saki and Mai's world, which they refer to as the Land of Fountains. Saki and Mai are transformed into Cure Bloom and Cure Egret using the spirits. Later they gained new forms to become Cure Bright and Cure Windy with help from two additional spirits Moop and Fuup. The villains of this series are the Dark Fall, who are searching for the Fountain of Sun, the last of the seven fountains that feed the World Tree - the source of all life forms for all worlds. The Leader of the Dark Fall has set his aim on this tree, and it is the Pretty Cure's job to protect it.

## Characters

### Pretty Cure

* **Saki Hyuuga** : Saki is the athletic heroine of the series and is a member of the school's softball team. Much like Nagisa, she is a cheerful sporty girl who loves sweets and hates studying, but has a bright and easygoing personality. Her alter ego is **Cure Bloom**, with powers representing the earth, and later **Cure Bright**, with powers representing the moon.
* **Mai Mishou** : Mai is a transfer student in Saki's class. She is a quiet artist who loves drawing and has awareness of the surroundings. Her alter ego is **Cure Egret**, with powers representing the sky, and later **Cure Windy**, with powers representing wind.

### Allies

* **Flappy** : Flappy is the spirit of the Flower and Saki's mascot partner. He has a crush on Choppy and ends his sentences with "-lapi".
* **Choppy** : Choppy is the spirit of the Bird and Mai's mascot partner. She is not aware of Flappy's crush on her. She ends her sentences with "-chopi".
* **Moop** : Moop is the spirit of the moon from the Fountain of Sky. He ends his sentences with "-mupu".
* **Foop** : Foop is the spirit of the wind from the Fountain of Sky. She ends her sentences with "-pupu".
* **Princess Filia** : The ruler of the Land of Fountains, and Spirit of the World Tree. She appears every time Pretty Cure restores a ruined Fountain and provides a hint on future events.
* **Kaoru Kiryuu** : A denizen of Dark Fall. Together with her sister Michiru, they control the Fountain of Sky. She and Michiru come to Yuunagi Junior High as exchange students in an attempt to infiltrate Pretty Cure but eventually end up becoming friends with them instead.
* **Michiru** **Kiryuu** : A denizen of Dark Fall and is always together with her sister Kaoru. She and Kaoru come to Yuunagi Junior High as exchange students in an attempt to infiltrate Pretty Cure but eventually end up becoming friends with them instead.

### Dark Fall

* **Karehan** : The first denizen of the Dark Fall. It looks like he is made of plants, and creates wood-based Uzaina. He controls the Fountain of Trees.
* **Moerumba** : The second denizen of the Dark Fall. Moerumba manipulates the fire element and can create fire-breathing Uzainas using heat-related objects. He controls the Fountain of Fire.
* **Dorodoron** : The third of the Dark Fall, he is an arachnoid creature that travels underground and uses earth-based objects as his Uzaina monsters. He controls the Fountain of Earth.
* **Ms. Shitataare** : The fourth of the Dark Fall is an ice woman and uses water in many forms for her Uzaina monsters. Her name is a pun on the Japanese word "misu" (水), which means "water". She controls the Fountain of Water.
* **Kintoleski** : The last minion of the Dark Fall, and also the physically strongest. His skin is metallic gold. He controls the Fountain of Gold.
* **Goyan** : Akudaikaan's aide, though Ms. Shitataare calls him "Go-chan" despite his superiority. He often comments on the minions' previous work whenever they come to report to Akudaikaan.
* **Uzaina** : The physical form of the Dark Fall's power. Uzainaas are monsters created from a fusion of an object and a Miracle Droplet corrupted by the Dark Fall. Upon their defeat, elemental spirits are released to thank Pretty Cure.
* **Akudaikan** : The evil ruler of Dark Fall who wants to take over the World Tree, he has managed to capture six of the seven fountains that nourish it. He has sent out minions to try to find the location of the last Fountain, the Fountain of the Sun.

## Trivia

* *Splash Star* was originally meant to get a sequel, but the idea was scrapped after Toei decided they need to change the formula before it got too stale.
* The fictional city of Yuunagi in the series is heavily based on the Kamakura/Enoshima area southwest of Tokyo.
* Many concepts, storylines, character designs, and overall plot seem to be based on the previous two seasons. Saki and Mai both look and act similar to Nagisa and Honoka, Minori is like Ryota, Kiryuu Karou and Kiryuu Michiru are heavily based on Nagisa and Honoka's appearances, more so than Saki and Mai, and their motives are based heavily on Kiriya's, Akudaikan is similar to the Evil King, Goyan is similar to Baldez, Flappy and Choppy are similar to Mepple and Mipple, Princess Filia is similar to the Queen of Light and etc.
* *Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star* is the last season to be aired in the SD format and 4:3 ratio.
* This is the only series where the transformation devices are changed mid-season along with the Cures' names.
* "Splash☆Star" was added to the title because the producer wanted the title to reflect the season's motifs: "Splash" referring to the ocean and "Star" referring to the sky.