Glitter Force/ Smile Pretty Cure

Glitter Force, known in Japan as Smile Pretty Cure! (スマイルプリキュア!, Sumairu PuriKyua!), is a 2012 Japanese television anime series by Toei Animation and the ninth installment in Izumi Todo's Pretty Cure franchise. The series is written by Shōji Yonemura, who is best known as the head writer of Glass Fleet and "Kamen Rider Kabuto". The character designs were done by Toshie Kawamura, who previously worked on the character designs for [Yes! PreCure 5. The series aired on All-Nippon News Network (ANN)'s TV Asahi network between February 5, 2012 and January 27, 2013, replacing "Suite Pretty Cure" in its initial timeslot, and is succeeded by Doki Doki! Pretty Cure. A film was released in Japanese theaters on October 27, 2012. The series' main motif is fairy tales. The series was adapted into English by Saban Brands and was released as a Netflix exclusive outside of Asia and in multiple languages on December 18, 2015. It is the second series in the franchise to receive an English-dubbed adaptation following Futari wa Pretty Cure series.

Plot

The kingdom of Jubiland (メルヘンランド, Meruhenrando, Märchenland), where various characters from fairy tales reside, is attacked by the evil Emperor Nogo, who intends to direct its world to have its Types of fiction with multiple endings, but is stopped when Queen Euphoria uses the last of her energy to seal him away. When Nogo's minions from the Shadow Realm try to revive him by harnessing negative energy from the people of Earth, Euphoria sends the messenger Candy to assemble a team of five magical girls known as the Glitter Force (Smile Pretty Cure). The series follows the formation of the team and the adventures of the girls as they try to fight off their enemies to collect the magical Glitter Charms that will enable them to upgrade their powers and revive Euphoria.

Characters

Miyuki Hoshizora (Emily)

Miyuki is a bright and energetic girl who loves fairy tales. She is always happy and optimistic, making her seem very naive. Simple things such as eating cake can make her happy, and she is fond of using the phrase "Ultra happy!" to show her joy. In contrast, when things do not go her way, she shows her disappointment by saying "Happupu~". However, Miyuki stated she was a very timid and shy girl who is not good with others in the past until Tae, her grandmother gave her a mirror to tell her always put a smile on her face and an encounter with an mysterious girl will result in her becoming who she is now.

She is also extremely unreserved, openly asking Akane and Yayoi to become Pretty Cure with her, and hugging and jumping on Akane/Cure Sunny despite knowing her for only a day. She often openly proclaims her love for her friends, announcing that she really likes Reika in Episode 5 and Candy in Episode 6.

Miyuki likes to play-pretend and was thus extremely excited to become a Pretty Cure, proclaiming her Cure costume as "cute" and that being a Cure is like "being a superhero on TV". Despite this, she has little confidence in her own powers as Pretty Cure at first, calling the Akanbe monsters "frightening" and preferring to run away instead of fight. However, she gains confidence in her abilities over time, and though she does not come off as a very reliable leader, her enthusiasm often helps her to lead the other Cures in battle.

Miyuki/Emily's alter-ego is Cure Happy/Glitter Lucky.

Akane Hino (Kelsey)

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", the Kansai equivalent of "dame da" or "This won't do". She is also fond of saying "uchi no deban ya!" or "It's my turn now!". She possesses a boyish 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.

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 and Yayoi to Miyuki as being a "female gang leader", "Miss Popular" and "crybaby" respectively, causing visible discomfort to the three. 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 has a tendency 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.

Akane/Kelsey's alter-ego is Cure Sunny/Glitter Sunny.

Yayoi Kise (Lily)

She is a shy girl with a big heart. She was first depicting as a crybaby, "crying over the slightest nudge". Though she had a few friends, she mostly kept to her own due to her shy and modest nature. When Miyuki and Akane saw what potential she had in art, they managed to draw a more passionate fire out of her. When their lives were put it danger, she completely shed her baby-ish personality and showed her true strengths.

Now that she's made a few friends, Yayoi has became more outgoing and passionate about being a Pretty Cure, especially the superheroic elements. She is quite bubbly and sweet, and while she may appear as a crybaby, she is actually quite strong when it comes to protecting her friends and making the right decision.

Yayoi/Lily's alter-ego is Cure Peace/Glitter Peace.

Nao Midorikawa (April)

Nao is said to have a strong sense of justice and does not easily forgive one's wrong actions. She is also known for her exceptional courage. Despite her bravery, she is a scaredy-cat and is scared of bugs (especially pillbugs), heights and ghosts.

Nao/April's alter-ego is Cure March/Glitter Spring.

Reika Aoki (Chloe)

Reika is shown as elegant and quiet, but also quite understanding. She is quite modest, and hates to put anyone through trouble, going so far as to initially refuse any help. Reika is also quite calm and patient, not even out off a bit when the other girls told her about Pretty Cure, and tried to spare their feelings even when refusing their original request to become a Pretty Cure with them. She is very responsible and hard working on her studies, her clubs and as a Pretty Cure.

When Reika was revealed to truly be a Pretty Cure, she was the most accepting of any of them, being the only one that wasn't surprised at all. She showed she was naturally calm and focused in battle, barely breaking a sweat when defeating her first Akanbe. She also occasionally displays an obsession with finding her "path" in life, and appears to take her Pretty Cure duties quite seriously. She also takes it seriously trying to find an answer or what to do to (achieve something).

Reika/Chloe's alter-ego is Cure Beauty/Glitter Breeze.

Gallery

Cure Happy/Glitter Lucky

Cure Sunny/Glitter Sunny

Cure Peace/Glitter Peace

Cure March/Glitter Spring

Cure Beauty/Glitter Breeze