Pretty Cure (2004 TV series)
Pretty Cure, also sometimes stylized as PreCure, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation and the first installment in the Pretty Cure metaseries created by Izumi Todo. It aired on ANN, with 96 episodes across two seasons.
The first season, directed by Daisuke Nishio, aired from February 1, 2004, to January 30, 2005, in the same timeslot as Izumi Todo's previous series, Ashita no Nadja. It received an English-dubbed version, which aired in Canada from March 2009 to July 2010. In the season, two middle school students gain the power to transform into the “protectors of light”, Pretty Cure, and are tasked with collecting the Prism Stones to restore the Garden of Light while fighting against the forces of the Dark Zone, who caused its destruction. A second season, Pretty Cure Max Heart, aired in Japan from February 6, 2005, to January 29, 2006. It introduces another member of the group, Shiny Luminous, and follows the Cures’ efforts in collecting the twelve Heartiels to revive the Queen, whose life has taken the form of Hikari Kujou/Shiny Luminous. Two Max Heart movies were released on April 16 and December 10, 2005, respectively. It was succeeded by PreCure Splash Star in its timeslot. The series' main motif is yin and yang.
Plot
Pretty Cure follows two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who one day encounter Mipple and Mepple, who are from the Garden of Light. They give them the power to transform into the emissaries of light, Cure Black and Cure White, to fight against the forces of the Dark Zone: a dimension of evil that attacked the Garden of Light and now plans to invade the Garden of Rainbows, Earth. The Cures search for the Prism Stones to restore the Garden of Light, placing them in the Prism Hopish, a device protected by the Guardian, Wisdom. Once the Prism Stones are recovered, their power transports them to the Garden of Light and repairs most of the damage done by the Dark Zone. Later on, Pollun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, grants them the power of the Rainbow Bracelets to defeat the Dark King. After the Dark King's defeat, three new villains, known as the Seeds of Darkness, are born from him and seek the power of the Prism Stones for themselves.In Max Heart, Nagisa and Honoka meet the mysterious Hikari Kujou, who is revealed to be the "life" of the Queen. Following her battle with the Dark King, the Queen was separated into three parts: the twelve Heartiels, which represent her will, the Queen Chairect, which represents her heart, and Hikari Kujou, who represents her life. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Dark Zone are protecting a mysterious boy, who is believed to be the "life" of the Dark King. Together with Hikari, who gains the power to transform into Shiny Luminous, the Cures once again fight against the Dark Zone in order to retrieve the Heartiels and restore the Queen.
Characters
Where appropriate, names on the left are from the original Japanese version, whilst names on the right without Japanese text are from both the Canadian and Singaporean English dubs. Character descriptions pertain to the Japanese version of the show.Pretty Cures
;Nagisa Misumi / Cure Black;Honoka Yukishiro / Cure White
Additional members
;Hikari Kujou / Shiny LuminousGarden of Light
The Garden of Light is a realm ruled by the Queen and protected by the power of the Prism Stones, which the Dark Zone seeks for themselves. Prior to the events of Pretty Cure, they attacked the Garden of Light and stole five of the seven Prism Stones, with Mepple and Mipple being given the Red and Blue Stones, respectively, before being sent to Earth to find those who could become Pretty Cure and fight against the Dark Zone.;Mepple
;Mipple
;Pollun
;Lulun
;Queen
;Wisdom
;Elder
;Heartiels
;Seekun
;Passion
;Harmonin
;Pyuran
;Inteligen:
;Wishun
;Hopun
;Braven
;Prosen
;Happinen
;Lovelun
;'''Eternalun'''
Dark Zone
The villains of Pretty Cure. They come from the Dark Zone, a realm of darkness ruled by the Dark King.;Dark King
;Zakenna
Dark Five
The Dark King's first wave of servants, who each possess a Prism Stone.;Pisard
;Gekidrago
;Poisony
;Kiriya
;Ilkubo
Three Seeds of Darkness
A villainous trio who appear after the Dark Five and the Dark King are defeated, being born from the Dark King and initially normal humans until they awaken their powers and transform into their true selves. They are accompanied by a macaw and the Butler Zakenna.;Belzei Gertrude
;Regine
;Juna
;Zakenna Butlers
Four Guardians
What remains of the Dark Zone, serving as the protectors of the "life" of the Dark King as they seek to revive him.;Baldez
;Circulas
;Uraganos
;Viblis
;The boy in the mansion
Cures' families
;Takashi Misumi / Terry Blackstone;Rie Misumi / Glenda Blackstone
;Ryouta Misumi / Ryan Blackstone
;Sanae Yukishiro / Susan Whitehouse
;Taro Yukishiro / Ken Whitehouse
;Aya Yukishiro / Luca Whitehouse
;Chuutaro
Verone Academy
;Yoshimi Takenouchi / Yvette Woodgrove;Principal
;Kometsuki / Mr. Weaver
;Miyashita / Mr. McMasters
Classmates
;Shougo Fujimura / Shawn Ferguson;Rina Takashimizu
;Shiho Kubota / Shawna Knowles
;Yuriko / Lilian
;Mayu Kashiwada / Maya Kennedy
;Yumiko Nakagawa / Nickie
;Yuka Odajima / Emma
;Natsuko Koshino / Summer and Kyoko Mori / Chrissy
;Seiko Taniguchi / Sophie
;Kimata / Kossner
;Yui Morioka / Julie Woodhill
;Chiaki Yabe / Sienna
;Kazuki Hasekura / Hamilton
;Nao Tabata and Miu Kagayama
;Maki and Megumi
Other characters
;Akane Fujita / AlexMedia
Anime
The original Pretty Cure anime aired in Japan between February 1, 2004, and January 30, 2005. The opening theme is "Danzen! Futari wa Pretty Cure" by Mayumi Gojo whilst the ending theme is "Get You! Love Love?!" also by Gojo. The follow-up series, Max Heart, aired in Japan between February 6, 2005, and January 29, 2006. The opening theme is "Danzen! Futari wa Pretty Cure " by Mayumi Gojo. The first ending theme, used for episodes 1-36, is "Muri Muri!? Ari Ari!! In jaa Nai?!" by Mayumi Gojo with Young Fresh, whilst the second ending theme, used for episodes 37-47 is "Wonder Winter Yatta" by Gojo. In March 2013, the anime was later re-aired on TV Asahi's cable channel, TeleAsa Channel 1.Films
Two animated films based on the Max Heart series were released. The first, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart the Movie, was released on April 16, 2005.The second movie, Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart 2: Friends of the Snow-Laden Sky, was released December 10, 2005.
The heroines also appear in all Pretty [Cure All Stars] movies, which ran between 2009 and 2016. Another crossover film, HUG! Pretty Cure Futari wa Pretty Cure: All Stars Memories, was released on October 27, 2018, celebrating the franchise's 15th anniversary.
Licensed Media and Dubs
On February 24, 2006, 4Kids Entertainment announced broadcasting and distribution rights for Pretty Cure in the United States, though never produced an English version of it. In July 2008, Toei Animation began making episodes available through IGN's Direct2Drive service subtitled into English, and have also started making those same episodes available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Tubi. The subtitles were produced by Nippon Golden Network, a Hawaii-based cable network that broadcasts Asian programming, and featured low-quality video and audio in the initial uploads, though the Crunchyroll streaming service later replaced the video and audio source and updated the subtitles. In April 2009, Funimation used to license the English-subtitled version of the series for online distribution on the company's website.An English dub produced by Voiceovers Unlimited for Odex debuted on Kids Central in Singapore between April 1, 2006, and March 3, 2007. A dub of Max Heart followed from July 21, 2007. A separate English dub of the first season was produced by Toei and Ocean Productions using their Blue Water studio in Calgary, Alberta which aired on Canada's YTV channel from March 6, 2009, to July 31, 2010. It later aired in the United Kingdom on Pop Girl starting September 6, 2010. The series was also sold to Cartoon Network in Australia and New Zealand. The dub began streaming on Toei's YouTube channel in North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Latin America as part of the "Summer Weekend Splash" live event from June 28 to September 20, 2025.
Manga
Both the television series and their movies received manga adaptation which were illustrated by Futago Kamikita in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine as they aired.Video games
Four video games based on the two series have been released in Japan by Bandai. An educational video game was released for the Sega Pico in 2004. A puzzle platformer, Futari wa Pretty Cure: Arienai! Yume no Sono wa Daimeikyu, was released for Game Boy Advance in 2004. A platformer, Futari wa Pretty Cure: Max Heart - Maji? Maji!? Fight de IN Janai was released for Game Boy Advance in 2005. A side-scrolling beat 'em up game, Futari wa Precure Max Heart: Danzen! DS de Precure was also released in 2005 for the Nintendo DS.In Puyo Puyo Quest, featuring the characters in the Hikari's Heart Festival and Skybloom Festival event.