, also called HappinessCharge Pretty Cure! or Happiness Charge PC, is a 2014 Japanese magical girl anime series produced by Toei Animation, and the eleventh installment in Izumi Todo's Pretty Cure metaseries, released to celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary. It is directed by Tatsuya Nagamine, who previously directed HeartCatch PreCure!, and written by Yoshimi Narita, who previously wrote for Yes! PreCure 5, with character designs from Masayuki Sato of Air Gear.
It aired in Japan from February 2, 2014 to January 25, 2015, succeeding DokiDoki! Precure in its timeslot. The series' main topic is love, with fashion styles and dance moves as the Cures' motifs. It features trading cards, mirrors, and changing forms as important key elements.Nakayoshi January 2014 issue, Kodansha It was succeeded by Go! Princess PreCure on February 1, 2015.
Plot The evil , led by its ruler Queen Mirage, and its generals begins its alien invasion of Earth with Choiarks and powerful monsters called Saiarks. Around the world, Pretty Cures are chosen to fight against the Phantom Empire. Hime Shirayuki, an extraterrestrial princess from the , which the Phantom Empire conquered, becomes the Pretty Cure Cure Princess, but is too timid to fight.
After receiving a Crystal of Love from the spirit of Earth, Blue, who tells her to find a partner to fight alongside her, Hime goes to the city of and throws the crystal into the air, deciding to partner with whoever it lands on. It lands on Megumi Aino, a kind-hearted girl always looking to help others, who becomes Cure Lovely and is recruited by Hime to fight with her. Along with Cure Honey and Cure Fortune, using the power of the PreCards and their changing forms, they form the Happiness Charge Pretty Cure team to collect the PreCards and protect Earth from the Phantom Empire.
Characters Pretty Cures The Pretty Cures are legendary Warriors of Light chosen by Blue, the spirit of Earth, to protect it from the Phantom Empire. They use the , along with cards called , to transform with the phrase . Cure Fortune uses the to transform with the phrase . In addition to transformation, the PreCards can be used to change outfits in and outside of battle, providing new powers and abilities, and are said to grant a wish to those who collect enough of them.
HappinessCharge Pretty Cure, the protagonist team, consists of the four Cures currently active in Pikarigaoka of Japan. Cure Lovely and Cure Princess use the , which allows them to create their own attacks. Cure Honey uses the , while Cure Fortune, who previously used the Love PreBrace, uses the . They can also use the Shining Make Dresser, Axia's true form, to perform their group finishing attack, Innocent Purification. The Cures have another transformation called Innocent Form, with a design that resembles Japanese idols, through the power of the special PreCards. To activate the form, they must have a reason to protect someone they care about.
Together, they introduce themselves as
The main protagonist. 14-year-old second-year student at Public Pikarigaoka Academy who strives to help people when they are troubled or depressed, but sometimes inadvertently interferes with their problems. Despite this, she is optimistic and able to see the good in people. She has an interest in fashion, but struggles with fashion sense. Her wish is to cure her mother, who influenced her to help others. After being chosen by Hime's Crystal of Love, she transforms into Cure Lovely. As Cure Lovely, her dark magenta hair turns bright magenta and is worn in a ponytail. She uses the LovePreBrace to attack and transform into the alternate forms , which uses fire-based attacks, which uses music-themed attacks, and her Innocent Form. Megumi has two other special forms: in the movie and in the series finale. She introduces herself as and represents love. As Super Happiness Lovely, she introduces herself as As Forever Lovely, she introduces herself as Her theme color is pink.
Born . A 13/14-year-old extraterrestrial princess of the Blue Sky Kingdom, which the Phantom Empire conquered after she heard a sad voice coming from Axia and decided to open it, freeing them. She became a Pretty Cure to save the Blue Sky Kingdom from the Phantom Empire, though struggled to fight because of her timid nature. After arriving on Earth, she lives with Blue and Ribbon at an embassy in Pikarigaoka and has trouble making new friends because of her shyness. However, after meeting Megumi and becoming her partner, she begins to open up and become more confident. Her wish is to restore her homeland and atone for her mistake. She later develops a temporary crush on Seiji and worries about becoming Megumi's rival for his love, but later finds that she is happier supporting him and Megumi's relationship. As Cure Princess, her dark aqua hair becomes light blue and is worn in twintails. She uses the LovePreBrace to attack and transform into the alternate forms and , and her Innocent Form. She introduces herself as and represents courage. Her theme color is blue.
Megumi's 13/14-year-old classmate and best friend, whose family runs a bento shop. She enjoys cooking and trying different foods and is known for her homemade honey candy that she gives to others to cheer them up. Her wish is to share delicious food with the people she cares about, as she once had a dog and was inspired to cook food for the sake of people's happiness. She first appeared in Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien no Tomodachi before her debut in the series, later revealing herself to be Cure Honey, having received a Crystal of Love from Blue prior to the beginning of the series, and officially joining the team. As Cure Honey, her straight brown hair turns blond and is worn in a ponytail. Her main weapon is the Triple Dance Honey Baton, which has three modes; Microphone Mode for singing soothing melodies that put her enemies in a trance, Ribbon Mode for restraining her opponents with ribbons, and Maracas Mode for healing her allies. Her alternate forms are , , and her Innocent Form. She introduces herself as and represents life. Her theme color is yellow.
A 14/15-year-old girl from Megumi's neighboring class who is known for her academics and is the main apprentice of her grandfather, the master of the "Hikawa Karate Dojo". She first appears as a Pretty Cure who works alongside her own fairy partner, Glasan, and is powerful and skilled at fighting, though kind to citizens. Unlike the other Cures, who received their powers from Blue, she received her powers from her older sister Maria, who was Cure Tender until Phantom defeated her and trapped her in a mirror. Her wish is to become stronger in order to defeat Phantom and rescue Maria.she is fighting to save her sister. While she resolved to fight independently in her pursuit of Phantom, who is considered her arch-enemy, she warms up to Megumi's idea of teamwork and later reveals her identity to the group. She holds a grudge against Hime for freeing the Phantom Empire from their prison, but during a battle with Phantom, she loses her PreCards and her ability to transform. Hime apologizes to her by giving her PreCards to her to fill her PreCard File, and Iona uses her wish to regain her ability to transform, reconciling with Hime and officially joining the group afterwards. After regaining her transformation, her transformation device is the Fortune Piano and her main weapon is the Fortune Tambourine. Her alternate forms are , , and her Innocent Form. She introduces herself as and represents hope. Her theme color is purple.
Blue Sky Kingdom
Hime's mediator, who comes to Japan with her and serves as the fairy partner for her, Hime, and Yuko. Despite her cute appearance, she can be harsh and is more courageous than Hime. She has the ability to convert the positive feelings of those freed from the Phantom Empire's mirrors into PreCards.
Iona's fairy partner, who, like Ribbon, can convert positive feelings into PreCards.
The spirit of Earth, who resembles a young man with light blue hair and is often referred to as . He travels to different countries to find candidates who could become Pretty Cures, giving them Crystals of Love that grant their powers. He uses magic mirrors to monitor the Pretty Cures and the Phantom Empire from the . Originally from the Blue Sky Kingdom, he comes to Japan with Hime and Ribbon to aid them and the Cures in their fight against the Phantom Empire. He is later revealed to have known Queen Mirage when she was a Pretty Cure and unknowingly caused her descent into evil after he left for his duties as a god. This allowed Red, who is later revealed to be his estranged brother, to take advantage of her anger towards him to manipulate her. After Red is defeated and reconciles with him, Blue entrusts the Cures with protecting Earth before leaving with Red and Mirage to help restore the Red Planet. King and Queen Hime's parents and the extraterrestrial rulers of the Blue Sky Kingdom, who, along with its inhabitants, were trapped in mirrors when the Phantom Empire conquered it. After Mirage's defeat, they are freed and reunite with Hime.
Phantom Empire The are the main antagonists of the series. Having conquered the Blue Sky Kingdom after Hime released them from , they use it as their base of operations while invading Earth by having their Saiarks terraform the environment and replace love and happiness with sorrow and misfortune. It is later revealed that Deep Mirror was using them, using Mirage to act through before she is purified. Red then summons the Red Planet in an attempt to conquer the world with his army of Saiarks, but is defeated and repents.
Leaders
The main antagonist of the series and the ruler of the Phantom Empire. He is a spirit who once watched over the Red Planet until its people died, causing him to become hateful and aim to turn Earth, which is under the protection of his brother Blue, into a place of hatred. Red assumes the alias of Deep Mirror for most of the series, appearing as a silhouette in a mirror and acting as an advisor to Queen Mirage, giving orders to the commanders. However, his true role in the Phantom Empire is revealed when he intervenes to prevent the commanders from being purified and it is revealed that he manipulated Mirage through her anger towards Blue. After she is purified, Red attacks the Cures directly, brainwashing Seiji to attack the Cures while summoning the Red Planet to attack Earth. After Megumi saves Seiji, Red personally battles the Cures before being defeated by Megumi as Forever Lovely. Afterwards, he reconciles with Blue and leaves to restore the Red Planet with help from Blue and Mirage. He is based on the Magic Mirror from Snow White.
The secondary antagonist of the series and the queen of the Phantom Empire, who has butterfly-like wings and wields a staff. As the Cures learn, she was a shrine maiden of Pikarigaoka who met Blue 300 years ago and developed feelings for him as she fought with her as Cure Mirage. However, after Blue left her for his duties as a god, she fell under Red's influence after he amplified her anger towards Blue. Her Saiarks creates fog and chaos. After the Cures defeat and purify Mirage, restoring her to her original form, she transforms into Cure Mirage again to help the Pretty Cures stop Red's invasion. She later leaves with Blue and Red to help restore the Red Planet. Mirage's motif is based on the costume worn by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu in the promotional video for Tsukematsukeru.Animage, September 2014 Issue
Commanders Mirage's elite minions, whose Saiarks each create a different environment. Namakelder, Hosshiiwa and Oresky form a group called the , while Phantom and Madam Momere act independently. They have the power to trap people in mirrors to create Saiarks, which take away their love and happiness.