is a Japanese television series starring

Haruka Fukuhara is a Japanese actress, singer and model from Saitama Prefecture. From 2009 to 2012, she starred in ''Cooking Idol! I! My! Main'' as Main Hiiragi, portraying the character in both animated and live-action segments. Following the series' end, she h ...

, Aoi Yoshikura,

Mariya Nagao is a Japanese television personality and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. Nagao is represented by Irving. Career Mariya Nagao joined AKB48 as a 9th generation trainee in late 2009. On December 8, 2010, together with Mina ...

, Yurika Nakamura, and

Jun Amaki is a Japanese gravure idol. Amaki is represented by Watanabe Entertainment. She was formerly affiliated with Alice Project as a member of the Japanese J-pop idol groups Kamen Joshi and Armor Girls. Amaki's sister is Kamen Rider Girls' Ayako Ku ...

. The series focuses on the lives of five aspiring

voice actresses Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

who live together in a dorm, and follows their goal of becoming established in the voice acting industry. It premiered on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

on April 8, 2018. The series ran for ten episodes, with the last episode premiering on June 10, 2018. The series is a spin-off of the ''

Pretty Cure , also known as and ''PC'', is a Japanese magical girl anime franchise created by Izumi Todo and Bandai and produced by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, Asatsu-DK, Toei Animation and Bandai. Each series revolves around a group of magical girls kn ...

'' multimedia franchise, but does not directly feature its story or universe.

Plot

The series follows Makoto Kikuchi, the daughter of a grocery shop owner who has no experience in voice acting or acting. Her life changes when she is scouted to be a voice actress, which leads her to live in a dorm with four other newcomers: Ryōko Ochiai, a former child actress, Ren Inaba, a fan of the ''PreCure'' franchise, Asami Kuriyama, who Makoto later considers to be her rival, and Konatsu Morimoto, who originally hails from Kansai. The series depicts their journey of becoming voice actors, showing their voice acting lessons and other events in their lives.

Characters

; :Portrayed by:

:She is the daughter of a grocery shop owner. She knew nothing about voice acting until she was scouted. ; :Portrayed by: Yurika Nakamura :A young girl who is later considered by Makoto to be her rival. ; :Portrayed by:

:An ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

'' who has deep admiration for the ''PreCure'' franchise. ; :Portrayed by:

:A girl originally from the

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

region who tends to speak in the

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

. She serves as the group's moodmaker. ; :Portrayed by: Aoi Yoshikura :She is a former child actress who decided to pivot to voice acting. She is the eldest among five children and takes care of her four siblings. ; :A popular voice actress who notices Makoto's talent during an acting test. She serves as a mentor for the group.

Production and release

The series was produced as part of the franchise's 15th anniversary. Produced by

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...

and Fine Entertainment, the series is directed by Natsuki Seta, Toshiki Sōma, and Kyōhei Tamazawa, and is written by Kōta Fukuhara and Shinya Hokimoto. The series premiered on

on April 8, 2018 and will run for 10 episodes. Voice actors

Haruka Tomatsu is a Japanese voice actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n. She received the Rookie of the Year award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and the Synergy Award at the 9th Seiyu Awards. Tomatsu voiced Asuna Yuuki in ''Sword Art Online'', Zero Two in ...

Daisuke Namikawa is a Japanese actor and singer associated with Stay Luck. He began acting as a child and is sometimes mistaken with Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of roles, he usual ...

Noriko Hidaka , better known by the stage name of , is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator. She played Minami Asakura in ''Touch'', Akane Tendo in ''Ranma ½'', Satsuki Kusakabe in ''My Neighbor Totoro'', Near in '' Death Note'', Jean Roque ...

, and

Mitsuo Iwata is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer who was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama.Endo, Akira et al. "Voice Actor Spotlight". (November 2006) ''Newtype USA''. pp. 110-111. He is married to voice actress Rikako Aikawa. Mania.com praised him as "tr ...

appear as themselves in the series. Footage of Tomatsu performing at a concert the song "Q&A Recital", used as the opening theme to the anime series ''

My Little Monster is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Robico about the relationship between a girl named Shizuku Mizutani and a boy named Haru Yoshida. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Dessert'' magazine from August 23, 2008 to June 24, 2013. An a ...

'', is used in the series' seventh episode. The series' ending theme is "It's Show Time!" by Tomatsu and Haruka Fukuhara.

References

External links

Official website
{{Pretty Cure Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming TV Asahi television dramas 2018 Japanese television series debuts 2018 Japanese television series endings Pretty Cure