Akane Hino

Akane Hino is the second of Pretty Cures, after Miyuki, to be found by Candy. Is the Cure Sunny.

## Appearance

Akane has dark red eyes and short hair worn in a ponytail with a few clips, her messy bangs mainly facing the right. She wears a loose orange long-sleeve top with pastel yellow stripes and red pockets, worn over a dark red tank-top, blue pants and dark red flats. For summer she switches to a light orange tank-top over an orange T-shirt, khaki shorts, white stockings, and tan shoes.

As Cure Sunny, her eyes and hair turn orange, and her longer hair is worn loose with a portion held up in a bun with two locks of hair and a white wing, a large curled cowlick on the right and her bangs have lengthened. She gains a white tiara with an orange gem and matching earrings worn on the upper-ear. She wears a burnt orange choker. Her short pastel orange dress has burnt orange and white detail. Her white feathery sleeves have two orange spheres on top, and on the chest is an orange bow with light yellow fabric and a gold brooch. Hanging from the back is a ruffled, pale yellow coat-tail, and she gains burnt orange shorts. Her tall white boots have burnt orange ribbon and a pale orange sole, an she gains similar sleeves.

In Tiara mode, her white tiara is replaced by a gold crown with a red circle worn at the center of her head, while the wing turns gold. Her earrings are replaced by gold ribbons with orange hearts in the center, and she now wears them on her earlobes.

As Princess Sunny, her hair grows long and her bun resembles a bow with a long curled lock of hair on each side of her head and her bangs thicken. The wing in her hair is gold and she gains the tiara and earrings from Tiara Mode, along with a halo. Over her outfit is a ruffled cream dress with a ribbon on the back, and a pastel orange and white striped ribbon on the chest, where her brooch resides.

As Ultra Cure Sunny, her hair resembles that of Princess, but it's curled and thinner. Her gold crown gains two red diamond gems and a gold wing, and her earring becomes a large droplet. Her cure dress colors lighten, and over it is a feathery cream piece covering the chest and shoulders, with the remainder flowing in back like a cape. Beneath the brooch are a small pale orange pair of wings. Her choker turns white with a small red gem, and her feathered wrist pieces gain a gem and ring. Her boots gain a wing-like cuff, with one at knee-length, the other reaches mid-lower leg. She obtains white wings.

## Personality

Being born and raised in Osaka, Akane speaks in the Kansai dialect, and refers to herself as "uchi" instead of the usual "watashi". Her catchphrase is "aka~n"(あか〜ん), the Kansai equivalent of "dame da"(駄目だ) or "This won't do". She is also fond of saying "uchi no deban ya!"(うちの出番や!)or "It's my turn now!". She possesses a tomboyish personality, often reflected in the way she stands or sits. However, she seems to love cute things and has an especially soft spot for gorillas.SmPC07

Akane is a passionate girl who loves making others laugh. The first impression she gives is that of the class jokester, always full of puns and jokes to make her classmates laugh. As such, she appears to be generally popular and well-liked. Her friends see her as an interesting girl who always manages to make them laugh. She has a habit of speaking her mind, which can get a little out of hand sometimes, such as when she introduced Nao Reika, Yayoi to Miyuki as being a "female gang leader", "Miss Popular" and "crybaby" respectively, causing visible discomfort to the three. SmPC01 Yayoi, with her crybaby personality and fascination with superheroes, is often the target of Akane's jokes. However, there does not seem to be any ill-meaning behind the teasing, and the other girls seldom take offense.

Despite all the teasing, Akane is extremely loyal to her friends. She also tends to act before she thinks. For example, when she witnessed Cure Happy being defeated by an Akanbe, she remembered how Miyuki had helped her out, and immediately went to help Happy even though she had no chance of winning against the Akanbe. Her strong wish to help her friend earned her the Smile Pact and allowed her to transform into Cure Sunny. SmPC02

Concerning being a Pretty Cure, Akane was initially against the idea, turning down Miyuki's bold invitation. When she did become a Cure, she seemed quite cool about the whole idea, ready to do her best in battle, though not overwhelmingly enthusiastic like Miyuki or Yayoi. Similar to Nao, she does not understand why Miyuki and Yayoi are so hyped up about being "superheroes", and gives Miyuki a cool reception when she insists on the group coming up with a signature phrase. Ironically, though she loves to make puns, she was initially embarrassed by the ones made in her Cure introductory speech.

In terms of sports, Akane is excellent at volleyball, easily beating her classmates in a friendly match. She aims to become the ace attacker of the school volleyball team and comes down hard on herself when she is unable to perform well. She is also an independent girl, as she told Miyuki that she does not normally allow others to help her out, but gave Miyuki a chance to help her with volleyball training due to her enthusiasm and willingness. She can also be extremely focused, as she turned down Miyuki's offer to become a Pretty Cure (or "kiripura" as she mistakenly calls it) as she wanted to focus more on her volleyball training.

Akane's family runs an okonomiyaki restaurant, and it is shown that Akane enjoys cooking. Therefore, in the alliance, she is also Elzam's assistant.

## Story

When introducing herself to the class, Akane makes a joke about Miyuki's name. But because of her help when she was nervous, Miyuki makes it a habit to talk to Akane whenever she needs help. Although at that moment in time, Candy was still indignant that the Alliance was distracted by the war with the Decepticons, forgetting about the search for Precures.

The first time Akane hears about Candy is in episode 1 when Miyuki mentions her. In the next episode, Miyuki further explains to her about the Pretty Cure and Candy and tries to get her to join in. At first, Akane is skeptical, but she warms up to Miyuki when she helps Akane with volleyball practice. Later in the episode, Wolfrun appears and collects negative energy from the people playing on the volleyball field, including Akane. When Cure Happy fails to hit the Akanbe with Happy Shower and is helpless, Akane snaps out of her depressed state and tries to defend Cure Happy, despite not having the power to do so. Her strong will and friendship cause an explosion of feathers and light and Akane finds herself in a mysterious realm. Candy tells her that she proved herself worthy of being the next Pretty Cure, and with Candy's guidance, Akane transforms into Cure Sunny. In the battle, she hits the Akanbe with Sunny Fire, purifying it. Cure Happy/Miyuki is happy that Akane became the 2nd Pretty Cure.

## Trivia

In the English version, Glitter Force's name is Kelsey.