, also known as and ''PC'', is a Japanese

magical girl is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered around young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into which they can transf ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

created by

Izumi Todo , credited with creating series like '' Ojamajo Doremi'' and ''Pretty Cure'', is a collective pen name used by Toei Animation television producers when contributing to their various anime series. Pseudonyms used in a similar manner include Hajime ...

and

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

and 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 divis ...

Asatsu-DK d/b/a ADK, formerly known as Asatsu-DK, is a Japanese advertising agency. Headquartered in the Toranomon Hills building complex in Minato, Tokyo since June 2014 (previously in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo), the firm is Japan's third largest adver ...

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

and

. Each series revolves around a group of

s known as Pretty Cures who battle against evil forces. Starting in February 2004 with ''

Futari wa Pretty Cure , known as simply ''Pretty Cure'' outside Japan, is a Japanese magical girl anime series produced by Toei Animation and broadcast across Japan on ANN for 97 episodes. It is the first series in the ''Pretty Cure'' metaseries created by Izu ...

'', the franchise has seen many anime series, spanning over 850 episodes to date, as well as spawning movies, manga, toys, and video games. Its most recent iteration, ''

Delicious Party Pretty Cure } is a 2022 Japanese magical girl anime television series produced by Toei Animation, billed as the nineteenth installment in the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise. It is directed by Toshinori Fukazawa and written by Sawako Hirabayashi, and premiered ...

'', began airing in February 2022 as part of

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 Comp ...

's Sunday morning

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

block. As of January 2022, three series have received English adaptations.

Overview

Each series focuses on a group of teenage girls who are granted special items that allow them to transform into legendary warriors known as the ''Pretty Cure.'' With the assistance of creatures known as fairies, the Pretty Cure use their magical powers and enhanced strength to fight against evil forces who create monsters to bring misery to the Earth. As the series progresses and stronger enemies appear, the Cures gain new magical items, new abilities, and sometimes new allies to help them in their fight against evil.

Main series

There are currently nineteen

television series in the franchise, two of which are direct sequels to their previous series. To date, three of the series have received English adaptations. ''

'' was dubbed into English by

Ocean Productions Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...

and aired in Canada under the name ''Pretty Cure''. '' Smile PreCure!'' and '' DokiDoki! PreCure'' were adapted by

Saban Brands Saban Capital Group LLC is an American investment firm based in Los Angeles, California focused on media, entertainment, and communications investments. Formed in 2010 by Haim Saban, Saban Capital Group owns Saban Films, part of Univision Commu ...

and released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

under the names ''Glitter Force'' and ''Glitter Force Doki Doki'', respectively. The series, ''Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode'', ''Healin' Good Pretty Cure'' and ''Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure'', began streaming in

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...

on their respective territories. Each series has received a

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

adaptation illustrated by

Futago Kamikita and , born August 11 in Kōchi Prefecture, are two Japanese manga artists and character designers, twin sisters, who work together under the pseudonym of . They are best known for the manga versions of the '' Pretty Cure'' franchise. Their pr ...

, which is published in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

's ''

Nakayoshi is a monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First issued in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 60 years of manga publication history. Notable titles serialized in Nakayoshi include '' Princess Kni ...

'' shoujo magazine alongside the anime. Starting with '' Fresh Pretty Cure!'', each ending movie featured a dance choreography by each series' Pretty Cure members. As of 2020,

Toei Animation Inc. Toei Animation Inc. (abbreviated as TAI, or sometimes just Toei Animation USA or Toei LATAM depending on the territory) is an American licensing and distributor based in Los Angeles. It is Toei Animation's American sister company. It holds partn ...

owns the international rights to the franchise while both the dubs of Smile and DokiDoki alongside the ''Glitter Force'' brand is currently owned by Hasbro and

eOne Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

. Episode 13 of ''

Healin' Good Pretty Cure is a Japanese magical girl anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is the seventeenth installment of the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise and the first exclusive series in the Reiwa period. It premiered on ANN on February 2, 2020, suc ...

'' was originally scheduled to air on April 26, 2020, but was postponed until June 28, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, with the series re-airing select episodes during that time.

Films

Beginning with ''Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart'', each television series has received a theatrical animated film based on the series, with ''Max Heart'' receiving two films. Starting in March 2009, crossover films featuring characters from multiple series have been released annually, with 12 crossover films released to date. The eleventh crossover film, '' Hugtto! PreCure Futari wa Pretty Cure: All Stars Memories,'' has been awarded the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

title for "Most Magical Warriors in an Anime Film", with a total number of 55 Cures with speaking roles.

Adaptations

Musicals

Live stage shows since '' Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart'' began in February 2005. They don't usually have special names like the movies or games, and they are performed in theatres, or live stages. These musicals are often made for children between the age of 5–9.

Video games

Several

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

have been produced by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...

(formerly

) for video game systems and educational consoles, as well as '' Data Carddass'' arcade machines. ;Console video games * (2004,

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

) * (2005, Game Boy Advance) * (2005,

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...

) * (2006, Nintendo DS) * (2007, Nintendo DS) * (2008, Nintendo DS) * (2009, Nintendo DS) * (2010, Nintendo DS) * (2010, Nintendo DS) * (2011, Nintendo DS) * (2012,

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...

) * (2013,

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...

) * (2013, Nintendo 3DS) * (2014, Nintendo 3DS) * (2015, Nintendo 3DS) * (2017-2020, iOS, Android) * (2018,

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

) ;Arcade game * (2007–2017) ;Educational titles * (2004,

Sega Pico The Sega Pico, also known as is an educational video game console by Sega Toys. Marketed as " edutainment", the main focus of the Pico was educational video games for children between 3 and 7 years old. The Pico was released in June 1993 in Ja ...

) * (2005, Beena) * (2006, Beena) * (2008, Beena) * (2009, Beena) * (2010, Beena) * (2011, Beena)

Live-action drama

A live-action series, , aired in Japan between April and June 2018, celebrating the franchise's 15th anniversary. The series follows a group of aspiring voice actresses and stars

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 ...

, who voiced Himari Arisugawa/Cure Custard in ''Kirakira PreCure a la Mode''.

Reception

The combination of transmedia text products, including anime series, films, live performances, theme stores, and toys, has been analyzed as a "system of consumption, knowledge and action

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

creates a lifestyle-text, a set of fictional media works that are synonymous with the lifestyle practices they promote." The ''Pretty Cure'' films are the seventh highest-grossing anime film franchise.

Bandai Namco also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest ...

from ''Pretty Cure'' video game sales was () from April 2008 to March 2012, () from April 2012 to March 2013, () from April 2013 to March 2014, and () from April 2014 to December 2020, adding up to () net sales revenue for Bandai Namco.

Merchandise

''Pretty Cure'' has had numerous licensed merchandise sold in Japan. By 2010, it became Japan's fifth highest-grossing franchise annually.

References

External links

PreCure TV Asahi official website

PreCure Toei official website
{{Toei Animation Bandai brands Magical girl anime and manga Mass media franchises introduced in 2004 Teen superhero television series Children's manga