Usami Ichika

Template:Infobox character
Template:Nihongo is one of the six main Cures and the lead Cure in *KiraKira☆Pretty Cure A La Mode*. She is a second-year student at Ichigozaka Middle School. When she gets excited, she jumps around like a "rabbit".

Ichika's alter ego is Template:Nihongo, the Pretty Cure of liveliness and smiles, and she is based off shortcakes and rabbits.

Her catchphrases are Template:Nihongo and Template:Nihongo.

## Bio

### Appearance

Ichika has magenta eyes and long curled orange hair worn in twin-tails held by large strawberries. She wears a white top with a short pink dress, white sneakers with pink detail, and strawberry socks. For summer, she swaps this with a pink blouse and a short layered white skirt with white shoes featuring a strawberry design. During winter, she wears a pink sweater with a dark pink skirt, strawberry boots with white socks, and at times pink gloves, white earmuffs, and beige jacket. When working at KiraPati, her twin-tails are lowered.

In the movie she wears a pale pink blouse with a light blue skirt and black shoes with cream socks. At the party, her hair was tied with hot pink ribbon. She wore a bright pink dress with white gloves and pink heels.

As **Cure Whip**, her now knee-length hair turns bright pink and she gains curled forelocks. She wears a strawberry shortcake on a magenta headband, fluffy white earrings, and a magenta choker. She gains white rabbit ears and a tail. Her pearl pink mini-dress has a pink buttoned corset and chest bow, which is adorned by a strawberry. Her Sweets Pact is worn on a magenta bow. Her secondary skirt layer resembles shortcake with a frilly petticoat. She also gains pink boots with a white rabbit-like toe and a pom-pom on the ankle to accent that on her gloves.

As **Super Cure Whip**, her top, waist bow, boots, and gloves are light pink. Her sleeves are rounded and the strawberry on her chest is larger, while her skirt has changed in shape. A white piece of fabric hangs from the back. Her boots and gloves are angular cut. She gains a large white pair of wings.

In **A La Mode Style**, her headband has been replaced by a fluffy white hat and light pink bow. Her choker is light pink with a pom-pom. Her boots grow in length and the pom-pom is gone, while that on her glove was replaced by a fluffy cuff. Her white dress resembles a ballgown with a red heart on the chest and she has fluffy sleeves. Large strawberry slices circle the waist and the remainder of skirt is pearl pink with bunched, light pink fabric and big pink spheres around the bottom.

### Personality

Cheery and upbeat, Ichika loves all kind of sweets and she loves to brainstorm new ideas. She's very creative and excels at decorating and making animal sweets, but her cooking skills and schooling could use some work. She has a way of making others smile through her pure and genuine feelings and heart she puts into everything she does, and she is usually very perky. When really excited, she hops around much like a rabbit. She can be clumsy now and then and is fairly emotional.

### Relationships

* **Usami Satomi:** Satomi liked to bake strawberry shortcakes for Ichika when she was younger. When Ichika wondered why her cakes are so delicious, Satomi stated that she puts all her love for Ichika into it. Even though Satomi is working away from home as a doctor, she and Ichika are always thinking of each other.
* **Usami Genichirou:** In the past Ichika adored her father, but at the start of the series she is shown to be a little distant as he enjoys teasing her. But they still maintain a close relationship.
* **Pekorin:** From the moment they encountered each other, Ichika and Pekorin form a close bond. They care deeply about each other.
* **Kirahoshi Ciel:** Originally, Ichika idolized Ciel. However, Ciel actually admires Ichika and wants to learn from her. Although both have different approaches when it comes to making desserts, they are close friends and learn from each other.

### Etymology

Template:Nihongo: Template:Nihongo means 'eaves', but is also often used as an affix for anything Template:Nihongo related. Template:Nihongo means 'to help', and Template:Nihongo is a common name suffix that means 'beautiful' .

Usami is meant to sound similar to Template:Nihongo, which means 'rabbit' or 'bunny'.

Template:Nihongo is only given in Hiragana and can have several meanings. It sounds similar to Template:Nihongo.

*Whip* is short for whipped cream which goes on desserts like strawberry shortcake.

## History

### Preseason

As a child, Ichika used to watch her mother baking different kinds of sweets, such as cakes.Template:Storylink

When the *Mahou Tsukai* girls arrive at KIRAKIRA Patisserie, Ichika greets them and serves them with some delicious Mofurun cake. Later on, she appears as Cure Whip to support them as the three Cures battle the Dokurokushe monster. After the battle, Ichika runs off. Template:Storylink

### Her first transformation into Cure Whip

Learning that her mother is coming home soon, Ichika decides to make her a strawberry shortcake as a present. She attempts to make it several times, but it could never rise properly. While she is working, a hungry Pekorin crashes into her face through the open window. The fairy eats up and enjoys the failed cakes (thinking they were cookies), and as Ichika makes another one for her mother, Pekorin notices the Kirakiraru sparkling from it. Ichika then finishes baking the new shortcake and it successfully rises, but the celebration is short-lived after she learns that her mother would not be able to come home that day, which drains her of her motivation to complete the cake. As she laments, Gummy, who sensed the Kirakiraru coming home her house, arrives and steals it from the remaining shortcakes, turning them black and powering him up. Ichika and Pekorin then give chase, with the unfinished cake in tow. Pekorin strives to protect the cake Ichika put her feelings into, which in turn gives the girl confidence to finish it. Just then, they are surrounded by a bright light as she decorates the cake with a rabbit's face on it. Just then, the cake turns into an Animal Sweet and a Sweets Pact. With those, Ichika transforms into Cure Whip for the first time. After getting adjusted to her newfound powers, Whip uses her attack to turn Gummy back into his smaller form and to return the Kirakiraru to the blackened sweets. Template:Storylink

### Obtaining Candy Rod and defeating the fused Thieves

In episode 11, she and the other Cures receive the Candy Rod, after combining the Kirakiraru from people. Together, the Cures perform Three・2・Wonderful A La Mode! attack and purify the fused monster that the Kirakiraru Thieves had merged into.

### Falling into despair

During episode 17, Rio says some nasty stuff to her, which results in her falling into despair, thus giving Rio opportunity to collect her Kirakiraru. When other Cures arrive, Rio finally reveals himself as Julio and transforms his rod into a dark Candy Rod replica. He mimics Cures' attacks and gains the upper hand. Ichika, who manages to break free from despair confronts Julio and together with other Cures hit him with Three・2・Wonderful A La Mode! attack. With Julio's mask and his rod now broken, Ichika (as Cure Whip) gives him a hand and tells him to come with her, but Julio refuses to believe one's feelings could get through with sweets and leaves.

### Purifying Julio

In episode 22 it is revealed that Julio is Kirarin's brother, a fairy named Pikario and the Cures try to get him to remember, but to no avail. A powered-up Julio manages to overpower the Cures, until Cure Whip, with the help of the legendary patisserie Lumière gets through to him and he changes back to Pikario.

### Return of her mother

In episode 31, Ichika's mother returns which surprises Ichika. However, her mother needs to return to work the next day. Ichika wants to make a cake for her like she did in the past but she doesn't do very well. After she clears things up with her mother, she finally succeeds and gives her mom a cake to eat on her trip back. She also finally learns to be honest to her mother regarding her true feelings, which ends in them hugging it out.

### The Final Battle Against Elisio

In episode 46, Ichika is finally celebrating her fourteenth birthday when Elisio appears and completely stains the town in darkness. Whip, along with her friends try to fend off Elisio but are overpowered by Grave, Diable and then Elisio. Whip quickly shoves Pekorin and Chourou into the KiraPati box but loses her emotions in the process.

In episode 47, after losing her emotions and getting amnesia, Ichika tosses her Animal Sweet and Crystal Rabbit into the trash. Pekorin tries to greet her, but she can't recall Pekorin either. So Pekorin regains Ichika and the other Cures memories and emotions by giving them a basket of donuts. This allows Ichika to reunite with her Animal Sweet and Crystal Rabbit and transform into Cure Whip again.

In episode 48, Cure Whip and the other Cures confront Elisio once and for all. However, Elisio is so powerful that he absorbs everybody and even the Earth, and all Whip can do is tearfully watch her mother fade away. But instead of surrendering, Whip forgives Elisio and tells him that he has a heart, before she and the other Cures recreate the world. Moved by Whip's speech, Elisio leaves after telling her that he looks forward to the world she has recreated. She is then able to resume her birthday celebration with everyone that has been saved.

### Epilogue

A year after the battle against Elisio, Ichika has been planning to travel around the world when she grows older, but can't seem to tell her friends. When Pekorin and the Crystal Animals discover her travel guides, Ichika tries to cover them up, but eventually admits that she is afraid to tell them because she doesn't want miss them, and breaks down into tears. However, all of her friends support her dream, and she regains the courage to make it come true. After meeting Cure Yell, Ichika decides to travel around the world.

A few years later, Ichika has accomplished her dream of becoming a traveling pâtissier, with the KiraPati being operated by her. She arrives at a faraway desert town and meets a Noir-looking boy, a Lumière-looking girl, and a Diable-looking puppy. She manages to make the boy and girl calm down before cheering them up with her cupcakes. She is then ready to begin her journey of bringing happiness to the rest of the townspeople. Template:Storylink

## Cure Whip

 File:KKPCALM01 Cure Whip's pose.jpg

**"With energy and smiles! Let's・La・Mix It All Up! Cure Whip! Ready To Serve!"**
元気と笑顔を！レッツ・ラ・まぜまぜ！キュアホイップ！できあがり！
*Genki to egao wo! Rettsu・Ra・Mazemaze! Kyua Hoippu! Dekiagari!*

Template:Nihongo is the Pretty Cure alter ego of Ichika. In order to transform, she needs Sweets Pact and Animal Sweets. During the battles, she can jump really high and possesses a stronger sense of hearing like a rabbit.

### Transformation

**Cure La Mode・Decoration!:** Ichika's Sweets Pact opens up and her reflection is shown in the mirror. She wears a pink translucent dress and calls out "Cure La Mode・Decoration!". Her strawberry-shaped hairclips disappear, and her hair becomes down. Her Animal Sweet pops up and Ichika shouts "Shortcake!" as she grabs it and inserts it into the pact. Then a small light pink beater-like pen comes forth, and Ichika presses the light pink stars with it, saying "energetic" when pressing the first one and "smile" after pressing the second one. Beams of magenta and white-colored light respectively shine from the small bowl-like part of the pact. She shouts "Let's・La・Mix It All Up!" as she uses the stylus to mix the two lights together, which spin around and coalesce into cream-shaped light.

From the cream, a strawberry shortcake appears and Ichika floats over it. Ichika swirls some of the cream around, and part of it turns into a strawberry surrounded by several dollops of whipped cream. At that instant Ichika's hair grows and becomes magenta, styled in long twin-tails. A shortcake-shaped hat appears on the left side of her head and she uses the stylus to give herself white puffball-shaped earrings. She then lands on top of the cake and the frosting splashes onto her feet, causing her boots to appear. She spins the stylus again and the cream coming from it makes her gloves appear. Then she swirls more cream and strawberries around, and her dress is formed. She draws another circle and her bow appears.

After winking, she outlines a pair of rabbit ears, causing her Animal Sweet to appear, which lands on her head, giving her rabbit ears and a rabbit tail. The pact closes and she taps the left side of her hip, causing the pact's pouch to appear, and it inserts itself into the pouch. Whip then spins around and strikes a pose before jumping off of the cake and striking her finishing pose.

### Attacks

* **KiraKira♪Kirarun:** The main method of attack used by the Cures, which manifests in the form of magical batter within the Sweets Pact. As Cure Whip, Ichika has shown she has the ability to:
	+ Envelop her enemies with whip-like lashes of batter.
	+ Launch large pink energy blasts from her wand.
	+ Wrap her enemies in a colossal encasing of frosting, creating an explosion that depletes them of their power.
	+ Use the batter to manifest a large sticky rope-like structure or web that keeps the foe in place.
* **Kirakirakirarun♪Kirakiraru♪:** A more powerful version of the original incantation, giving Whip the ability to summon a large snake-like structure of batter that coils around before launching itself at the foe. The impact from the tip sending them flying.
* Template:Nihongo is the group attack Cure Whip performs with the other four Cures. To perform it, she must use the Candy Rod.
* Template:Nihongo is the first solo sub attack that Cure Whip uses. She first performs it in episode 12. To perform it, she must use the Candy Rod.
* Template:Nihongo is the group attack Cure Whip performs with the other five Cures. To perform it, she must use the Kirakiraru Creamer and her Crystal Animal.
* Template:Nihongo is the group attack Cure Whip performs with the other five Cures. To perform it, she must use the Kirakiraru Creamer and her Crystal Animal and be in her A La Mode Style.

## Songs

Ichika's voice actress, **Miyama Karen**, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with **Fukuhara Haruka**, who voices Arisugawa Himari, **Muranaka Tomo**, who voices Tategami Aoi, **Fujita Saki**, who voices Kotozume Yukari, **Mori Nanako**, who voices Kenjou Akira, **Minase Inori**, who voices Kirahoshi Ciel, and **Kanai Mika**, who voices Pekorin.

* **Add The Berry To My Big Love**
* **Let's・La・Cookin'☆Showtime**
* **Bunny Gift**

### Duets

* **Shine☆Avec☆Moi☆** (*Along with Minase Inori*)
* **Very Hungry☆Happy Decor♡Donuts** (*Along with Kanai Mika*)
* **Let's・La・Cookin'☆Showtime ~KIRAKIRA☆Patisserie・Version~** (*Along with Fukuhara Haruka, Muranaka Tomo, Fujita Saki, Mori Nanako, and Minase Inori*)
* **Mémoire・Mille-feuille** (*Along with Fukuhara Haruka, Muranaka Tomo, Fujita Saki, Mori Nanako, and Minase Inori*)

## Trivia

* Ichika's birthday is on January 7th, making her Zodiac sign Capricorn.
* Ichika is the first Cure to make a cameo appearance in a different *Pretty Cure* series, not counting the *All-Stars* or *Dream Stars* continuities, as she appeared in the last episode of *Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure!*.
* Ichika is the first Cure to make a special appearance on a Japanese Sunday news program *Sunday LIVE!!* on the day of the season's finale. She was also the first Cure to be animated with Live2D for this occasion.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%AE%87#Japanese
2. ↑ http://www.wordsense.eu/%E7%BE%8E/
3. ↑ https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2018/01/26/hugtto-precure-protagonist-hana-nono-to-make-a-cameo-appearance-in-kirakira-precure-final-episode
4. ↑ https://www.animatetimes.com/news/img.php?id=1516964784&p=1&n=1
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVQmSlaYcpo

Template:KKPCALM characters
Template:Cures