Smile PreCure!

Smile PreCure!
File:Smile dvd cover1.jpg 1st Japanese DVD volume of Smile Precure! distributed by Marvelous AQL, featuring the five Cures (from bottom left clockwise): Peace (yellow), Beauty/Breeze (blue), March/Spring (green), Sunny (orange), Happy/Lucky (pink, top center) and mascot Candy (bottom center).
スマイルプリキュア! (Sumairu PuriKyua!)
Genre	Magical girl
Anime television series
Directed by	Takashi Otsuka
Produced by	Atsutoshi Umezawa
Written by	Shōji Yonemura
Music by	Yasuharu Takanashi (JP) Noam Kaniel (Noam) (US)
Studio	Toei Animation
Licensed by	NA Saban Brands (2015–2017) Toei Animation/Allspark Animation & eOne (Hasbro) (2017/18 & 19–present; licensing) Netflix (streaming rights)
Network	ANN (ABC, TV Asahi)
English network	CA Netflix SEA Animax Asia UK London Live US Netflix
Original run	February 5, 2012 – January 27, 2013
Episodes	48 (Japanese version) 40 (International version)
Manga
Written by	Izumi Todo
Illustrated by	Futago Kamikita
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Original run	March 2012 – February 2013
Volumes	1
Game
Smile PreCure! Let's Go! Märchen World
Developer	Namco Bandai Games
Publisher	Namco Bandai Games
Genre	Minigame
Platform	Nintendo 3DS
Released	August 2, 2012
Anime film
Smile PreCure! The Movie: Big Mismatch in a Picture Book!
Directed by	Narumi Kuroda
Written by	Shoji Yonemura
Studio	Toei Animation
Released	October 27, 2012
Runtime	70 minutes

Smile PreCure! (Japanese: スマイルプリキュア！, Hepburn: Sumairu PuriKyua!, lit. "Smile Pretty Cure!") is a 2012 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation and the ninth installment in Izumi Todo's Pretty Cure metaseries, featuring the seventh generation of Cures. 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 illustration book of her works was released on February 12, 2014. The series aired on All-Nippon News Network (ANN)'s TV Asahi network between February 5, 2012 and January 27, 2013, replacing Suite PreCure♪ in its initial timeslot, and is succeeded by DokiDoki! PreCure. A film was released in Japanese theaters on October 26, 2012. The series' main topic is fairy tales and happiness. A novel was released in 2016, which serves as a series epilogue taking place 10 years after the events of the anime.

The series was adapted into English by Saban Brands under the name Glitter Force and was released as a Netflix exclusive outside of Asia and in multiple languages on December 18, 2015. As of May 24, 2017, the Glitter Force trademark and the license was transferred to Toei Animation. Hasbro currently owns the rights to the brand alongside other Saban Brands entertainment assets as of June 14, 2018. It is the second series in the franchise to receive an English-dubbed adaptation following the original Pretty Cure series.

Plot

The kingdom of Märchenland (メルヘンランド, Meruhenrando, Saban: Jubiland), where various characters from fairy tales reside, is attacked by the evil Pierrot (Saban: Emperor Nogo), who intends to direct its world to have its unhappy ending, but is stopped when the queen uses the last of her energy to seal him away. When Pierrot's minions from the Bad End Kingdom (Saban: Shadow Realm) try to revive him by harnessing negative energy from the people of Earth, the queen sends the messenger Candy to assemble a team of five magical girls. 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 tokens called Cure Decors (Saban: Glitter Charms) that will enable them to upgrade their powers and revive the queen.

Characters

Characters are listed by their Japanese names.

Main characters

The titular characters are a team of magical girls who are based in the Magical Library (ふしぎ図書館, Fushigi Toshokan, Saban: Library of Legends), a pocket dimension where fairy tales and other stories is stored. They derive their powers by collecting various items known as Cure Decors (キュアデコル, Kyua Dekoru, Saban: Glitter Charms) which they store in a jewelry box, the collective energy needed for their mission to revive the queen. The girls places the items in a compact case, applying the compact powder to themselves while shouting Pretty Cure, Smile Charge! (プリキュア、スマイルチャージ！, PuriKyua, Sumairu Chāji! , Saban: Glitter Force Makeover!) to transform. When all five transform, they recite their group catchphrase: "Our five lights will guide us to the future! Sparkle! Smile Pretty Cure!" ( Itsutsu no hikari ga michibiku mirai! Kagayake! Sumairu PuriKyua! ( ５つの光が導く未来！輝け！スマイルプリキュア！^?, Saban: "Time to blaze away to a happy ending! Shining bright! Here comes the Glitter Force!")). They later acquire upgraded "Tiara" and "Princess" Mode transformations. In the series finale, the Smile Precure acquired Royale Mode during their battle against Pierrot while acquiring Eternal Mode in the series epilogue novel.

Miyuki Hoshizora (星空 みゆき, Hoshizora Miyuki, Saban: Emily) / Cure Happy (キュアハッピー, Kyua Happī, Saban: Glitter Lucky)

Voiced by: Misato Fukuen (Japanese), Laura Bailey (English)

Miyuki is a 14-year-old transfer student to Nanairogaoka Middle School (何ろが丘ちゅがこ, Nanairogaoka Chūgakō, Saban: Rainbow Hills Middle School), who has an interest in fairy tales, her favorite story being Cinderella and once admitting to have a crush on Peter Pan. She is energetic and optimistic, but also something of a klutz. Miyuki was initially a very timid and shy child until her grandmother Tae gave her a mirror that resulted in her encounter with a mysterious girl, resulting in her ideology that accumulated in her wanting to make others happy. In the series epilogue, she wrote a picture book detailing her misadventures called "The Greatest Smile".

As Cure Happy, she serves as the leader of the Smile Pretty Cures, and her dark magenta hair becomes magenta/pink and her pigtails grow longer each with a strand and a small curl, and she sports small bands and knee-length boots. Happy's theme color is pink, and her magical form motif is a heart. Her element is holy light and she possesses the ability to jump high into the sky or great distances in a single bound as well as being capable of flight. Happy's signature move is Happy Shower (Saban: Sparkle Storm), in which she forms a heart with her hands and releases explosive pink light; its stronger variant is called Happy Shower Shining (Saban: Sparkle Storm Shining). She can also transform into Princess Happy on her own and is capable of using the Cinderella Happy Shower attack. Her transformation catchphrase is "Twinkling, shining, light of the future! Cure Happy!" (キラキラ輝く未来の光！キュアハッピー！, Kirakira kagayaku mirai no hikari! Kyua Happī!, Saban: A fabulous shimmer, a glow in your heart! I'm Glitter Lucky!). In the Japanese-exclusive movie, she gained the ability to become the angelic Ultra Cure Happy (ウルトラキュアハッピー, Urutora Kyua Happī).

Akane Hino (日野 あかね, Hino Akane, Saban: Kelsey) / Cure Sunny (キュアサニー, Kyua Sanī, Saban: Glitter Sunny)

Voiced by: Asami Tano (Japanese), Colleen Ann Villard (English)

Akane is the 14-year-old star member of the school's volleyball team. She is from Osaka and speaks with a Kansai dialect. Akane's family runs an okonomiyaki restaurant, where she sometimes works. She may be a jokester, but when she has a goal set, she can be very passionate about achieving it. She also has a crush on British exchange student named Brian Taylor.

As Cure Sunny, her dark red hair changes to orange and grows longer with a bun at the top, and she sports elbow-length bands and thigh-length boots. Her theme colors are orange and red, and her magical form motif is a circle. Her element is fire, and she possess superhuman strength. Her signature move is Sunny Fire (Saban: Sparkle Fire), which is done by her running and jumping towards a formed ball of fire similar to a volleyball and spiking it; its stronger variant is called Sunny Fire Burning (Saban: Sparkle Fire Inferno).

Her transformation catchphrase is "The brilliant sun, hot-blooded power! Cure Sunny!" (太陽サンサン熱血パワー！キュアサニー！, Taiyō sansan nekketsu pawā! Kyua Sanī!, Saban: When you mess with me! You're playing with fire! I'm Glitter Sunny!).

Yayoi Kise (黄瀬 やよい, Kise Yayoi, Saban: Lily) / Cure Peace (キュアピース, Kyua Pīsu , Saban: Glitter Peace)

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Alex Cazares (English)

Yayoi is a 13-year-old aspiring artist who enjoys drawing and painting action hero characters. Though timid on the outside, shy about her work and sometimes prone to crying, Yayoi is loyal, diligent, and headstrong when it comes to things and people she cares about. She is a big fan of superheroes and becomes really excited when something hero-like is brought up, accumulating in her creating her own manga series, Miracle Peace (ミラクルピース, Mirakuru Pīsu, Saban: Goldenlight).

As Cure Peace, her yellow hair brightens into lemon yellow and is tied into a wide ponytail, and she sports small bands and shin-length boots. Her theme color is yellow, and her magical form motif is a star. Her element is lightning, which often peaks when she gets excited or upset. Her signature move is Peace Thunder (Saban: Sparkle Lightning), in which she spins around several times and produces watts of lightning; its stronger variant is Peace Thunder Hurricane (Saban: Sparkle Lightning Hurricane).

Her transformation catchphrase is "Sparkling, glittering, rock-paper-scissors! Cure Peace!" (ピカピカぴかりんじゃんけんポン♪ キュアピース！, Pikapika pikarin jankenpon♪ Kyua Pīsu!, Saban: Puppies and Kittens! The power of love! I'm Glitter Peace!). During her transformation, she chooses a different rock-paper-scissors outcome.

Nao Midorikawa (緑川 なお, Midorikawa Nao, Saban: April) / Cure March (キュアマーチ, Kyua Māchi, Saban: Glitter Spring)

Voiced by: Marina Inoue (Japanese), Danielle Judovits (English)

Nao is the 14-year-old captain of the school's soccer team. She is straightforward and reliable with a strong sense of justice, though she gets very frustrated when things don't go her way. She is the oldest of six siblings, taking on a motherly role in her family. Despite her general confidence, she has her phobias, such as bugs, ghosts and heights. Nao eventually learns to conquer her fears.

As Cure March, her dark green hair becomes bright green and longer with two large-size side bangs, each with a slight curl at the end, and a long ponytail, and she sports medium-size bands and ankle-length boots. Her theme color is green, and her magical form motif is a gemstone-like pentagon. Her element is wind, and she possesses super speed. Her signature move is March Shot (Saban: Sparkle Shot), which involves her flying towards a soccer ball made out of a gust of wind and kicking it; its stronger variant is March Shot Impact (Saban: Sparkle Shot Maximum Impact). Her transformation catchphrase is "Intense courage, a straight-up bout! Cure March!" (勇気リンリン直球勝負！キュアマーチ！, Yūki rinrin chokkyū shōbū! Kyua Māchi!, Saban: A force is strong as life itself! I'm Glitter Spring!).

Reika Aoki (青木 れいか, Aoki Reika, Saban: Chloe) / Cure Beauty (キュアビューティ, Kyua Byūti, Saban: Glitter Breeze)

Voiced by: Chinami Nishimura (Japanese), Kate Higgins (English)

Reika is the 14-year-old student council vice president and a member of the school's archery club. She is intelligent, serious, elegant and kind-hearted, but has a frightening temper once her patience reaches its limits.

As Cure Beauty, her dark blue hair becomes sky blue, her bangs are longer, and the back part is parted in four ways, and she also sports small bands and knee-length boots. Her theme color is blue, and her magical form motif is a diamond. Her element is ice, and she possess intellect and reflexes which allow her to detect and avoid any enemy attacks. Her signature move is Beauty Blizzard (Saban: Sparkle Blizzard), in which a ball of ice is formed, she makes a snowflake with her hands, and combines both to release a powerful strand of snow; its stronger variant is Beauty Blizzard Arrow (Saban: Sparkle Blizzard Arrow). Her transformation catchphrase is "Snowing, falling and gathering, a noble heart! Cure Beauty!" (しんしんと降りつもる清き心！キュアビューティ！, Shinshin to furitsumoru kiyoki kokoro! Kyua Byūti!, Saban: Cool and swift as the winter wind! I'm Glitter Breeze!).

Candy (キャンディ, Kyandi)

Voiced by: Ikue Ōtani (Japanese), Debi Derryberry (English)

A lamb-like pixie with light pink fur and long curly fluffy yellow ears with pink bows who is the team's Mascot character, she is childishly cheerful while quite cute and fashionable in having her ears being styled like hair. Candy is sent to Earth by Royale Queen to recruit the Pretty Cure and regain the stolen Cure Decors, becoming a vital member of the team by providing the Tiara Charms that enable the girls to assume Tiara Mode for team attacks and then using the Royale Clock to boost their power. In the series finale, Joker having long knew she was connected to the Miracle Jewel, Candy's mission was revealed to a means of preparing her to succeed Queen as new ruler of Märchenland. This results on Candy gaining the ability to transform into the human-like Royale Candy (ロイヤルキャンディ, Roiyaru Kyandi, Saban: Queen Candy) once the Cure Decors are finally gathered, helping her friends in the final battle before assuming her role as Märchenland's sovereign.

Pop (ポップ, Poppu)

Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)

Pop is Candy's older brother, a male lion-like fairy/pixie with light orange fur and an orange mane who takes pride in his masculinity to hate being called "cute" yet gets bashful whenever commented as "fierce and cool" by Yayoi. He alongside Candy were in charge of searching for the five chosen ones to become Pretty Cure. He reunites with Candy once she assembled the group, explaining their mission and giving them the Charm Chest. Pop normally remains in Märchenland but usually visits the group during important matters. He is capable of using ninjutsu arts including transformation into various forms to assist the Pretty Cure in battle.

Royal Queen (ロイヤルクイーン, Roiyaru Kuīn, Saban: Queen Euphoria)

Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)

The Queen of Märchenland, and the origin of the fairies/pixies who regard her as their mother. When Märchenland was attacked by Pierrot, the Royal Queen lost the Cure Decors to her opponent and is forced to sacrifice herself in sealing Pierrot while her body ends up in a petrified state. She sends Candy to search for the Pretty Cure in order to recover the Cure Decors and restore her power. Though the Pretty Cure gathered the Cure Decors, the Royal Queen chooses to spend their power to give the girls their Princess forms during their battle against Pierrot with the girls gathering more Cure Decors to make another attempt. However, the Royal Queen revealed her restoration was a ruse when she protected Candy from Joker, revealing the pixie to be her successor as queen while giving her the Miracle Jewel to use at her discretion.

Bad End Kingdom

The Bad End Kingdom (バッドエンド王国, Baddo Endo Ōkoku, Saban: Shadow Realm), the primary antagonists of the series, are a group who strive to revive Emperor Pierrot by smearing the page of the magic book in their possession with the contents of a black paint tube which is a manifestation of Pierrot's will. This creates a spatial field called a Dark Zone that amplifies negativity and places those unprotected into a deep despair while their negative energy is extracted and collected into the book. This proceeds advances a clock-like meter called the "Wheel of Doom" which counts down Pierrot's resurrection. The leaders and the Akanbe are based on clowns while the commanders (Wolfrun, Akaoni, Majorina) are based on fairy tale characters.

Pierrot (ピエーロ, Piēro, Saban: Emperor Nogo)

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda

The main antagonist of the series, his goal is wiping out all hope in existence until only despair remains. Prior to the series, Pierrot attacks Märchenland and steals the Cure Decors from the Royal Queen before she used the last of her strength to seal him away. For the first half of the series, the Shadow Realm minions collect negative energy from humans to revive Pierrot with Joker completing it. Through obliterated when the Pretty Cure gained their Princess forms, Pierrot survived with a surviving fragment reforming into an egg that gradually increases in size from an infusion of negative energy used to restore him. Once restored, absorbing Joker while creating his army of living shadow monsters, Pierrot evolves into a new form and almost destroys the world until being permanently killed by the Pretty Cure.

Joker (ジョーカー, Jōkā, Saban: Rascal)

Voiced by: Yūji Mitsuya (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

The secondary antagonist of the series, Joker is Pierrot's harlequin-like intermediary to the Three Commanders, a playful yet sadistic being who uses his playing cards for various purposes and creates Akanbe Noses from his headdress. Being overseeing the Three Commanders' progress, Joker also seeks the Miracle Jewel with the intention of destroying it and anything else that gives others hopes. Following the Commanders' final defeat, Joker creates the Bad End Precure to distract the girls during Pierrot's revival while he attempts to kill Candy after she transformed into what he assumed is the Miracle Jewel. Once Pierrot's resurrection is complete, Joker reveals himself as a fragment of his master's being as he dissolves into black paint while allowing himself to be absorbed by Pierrot. Joker returns as the main antagonist of the series epilogue novel, having survived Pierrot's destruction and used Miyuki's book to feed on the adult Precures' negative energy to gradually reconstitute himself as Bad Joker (バッド・ジョーカー, Baddo Jōkā) before being killed for good.

Wolfrun (ウルフルン, Urufurun, Saban: Ulric)

Voiced by: Tomoyuki Shimura (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

An anthropomorphic gray wolf with violet eyes and white hair who wears a blue leather biker's outfit, violently bitter and rude in personally. He looks down on peoples' hopes and dreams, expressing disgust towards the Precures' ideals. Wolfrun is based on the Big Bad Wolf in fairy tales such as the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. He is eventually purified back to his original form Wolrun (ウルルン, Saban: Ricky).

Akaoni (アカオーニ, Akaōni, Saban: Brute)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Iwasaki (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

A red-skinned troll with an afro and horns who carries a large club, based on the oni from Momotaro. Akaoni is not as intelligent compared to the other villains, preferring to use his own strength when fighting his opponents. He is eventually purified back to his original form Oninin (オニニン, Saban: Rufus).

Majorina (マジョリーナ, Majorīna, Saban: Brooha)

Voiced by: Miina Tominaga (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)

Majorina is an elderly witch who usually wears dark green clothes, and is modeled after fairy tale witches such as those found in Hansel and Gretel and Snow White. She devises various badly-named inventions to use against the girls, usually effective as the result of her fellow commanders thoughtlessly throwing them into the human world. Majorina can also temporary transform into a youthful and beautiful version of herself to fight opponents directly, creating clones of herself. She is eventually purified back to her original form Majorin (マジョリン, Saban: Margie).

Akanbes (アカンベェ, Akanbees, Saban: Buffoons)

Voiced by: Hiroo Sasaki (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

Akanbes are clown-like monsters created when an Akanbe Nose is combined with an object such as a volleyball or a tree. The standard red-nosed Akanbes are created with noses fashioned from a Cure Decor, dropping it upon being purified. Joker created later models like the blue-nosed Akanbes, Joker's personal yellow-nosed Akanbe, the Super Akanbe (スーパーアカンベェ, Sūpā Akanbees, Saban: Super Buffoons) created from two Akanbe Noses, and the black-nosed Hyper Akanbe (ハイパーアカンベェ, Haipā Akanbees, Saban: Twilight Buffoons) which the Commanders can pilot. The Japanese name akanbe literally means the action of "pulling one's eyelid down and sticking out one's tongue.", the English name "buffoon" is a synonym for jester.

Despair Giants (絶望の巨人, Zetsubō no Kyojin, Saban: Shadow Giants)

Constructs of Negative Energy initially used by King Pierrot in his attack on Märchenland. After King Pierrot resurrects on Earth, the Despair Giants are summoned to cover the planet in darkness before being absorbed by King Pierrot.

Pierrot Monsters (ピエーロモンスター, Piēro Monsutā, Saban: Shadow Monsters)

Pierrot's personal army of monsters created from black ink that normally able to regenerate at a fast rate, conjures the monster army to overwhelm the Precure before they acquired their Royale Mode forms that allowed them to obliterate his creations as he absorbs them in response.

Supporting characters

Family members

Ikuyo Hoshizora (星空 育代, Hoshizora Ikuyo)

Voiced by: Mariko Kouda (Japanese), Cindy Robinson (English)

Miyuki's mother.

Hiroshi Hoshizora (星空 博司, Hoshizora Hiroshi)

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki

Miyuki’s father.

Tae Hoshizora (星空 タエ, Hoshizora Tae)

Voiced by: Yoshiko Matsuo

Miyuki's grandmother who lives alone in the countryside. Her unfaltering optimism makes her incapable of falling into despair.

Daigo Hino (日野 大悟, Hino Daigo)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma

Akane's father. He runs the okonomiyaki shop "Akane", named after his daughter because it opened after her birth.

Chiharu Kise (黄瀬 ちはる, Kise Chiharu)

Voiced by: Kyoko Hikami (Japanese), Debi Derryberry (English)

Yayoi's mother, who works as a fashion stage manager for Fairy Drop. She is the widow of Yūichi Kise (黄瀬 勇一, Kise Yūichi, voiced by Shuhei Sakaguchi), Yayoi's late father who gave Yayoi her name.

Genji Midorikawa (緑川 源次, Midorikawa Genji) and Tomoko Midorikawa (緑川 とも子, Midorikawa Tomoko)

Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna and Rie Takahashi

Nao's mother and father.

Shizuko Aoki (青木 静子, Aoki Shizuko)

Voiced by: Emi Shinohara (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

Reika's mother, who is an aikido expert.

Junnosuke Aoki (青木 淳之介, Aoki Junnosuke)

Voiced by: Kiyohito Yoshikai (Japanese), Robbie Daymond (English)

Reika's older brother, who is now a judo protégé.

Soutarou Aoki (青木 曾太郎, Aoki Sōtarō)

Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

Reika's grandfather, who is a Japanese calligraphy expert. In the epilogue novel he passed away in his sleep.

Other characters

Namie Sasaki (佐々木 なみえ, Sasaki Namie, Saban: Miss Mason)

Voiced by: Ryoko Ono (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)

The homeroom teacher for class 2-2.

Brian Taylor (ブライアン・テイラー , Buraian Teirā)

Voiced by: Kakihara Tetsuya

A foreign exchange student from the UK.

Ms. Horike (堀毛先生, Horike-sensei)

Voiced by: Mika Kanda

A middle school teacher.

Fujiwara

Voiced by: Toshifumi Fujimoto and Takayuki Haranishi

An owarai comedy duo who guest star in episode 17.

Minor characters

Genki Hino (日野 げんき, Hino Genki)

Voiced by: Ryoko Shiraishi

Akane's younger brother, a freshman in the basketball club in Nanairogaoka Public Middle School.

Masako Hino (日野 正子, Hino Masako)

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino

Akane's mother. She doesn't help her husband's business because she can't cook herself.

Keita, Haru, Hina, Yūta and Kōta Midorikawa (緑川 けいた、はる、ひな、ゆうた、こうた, Midorikawa Keita, Haru, Hina, Yūta, and Kōta, Saban: Calvin, Harriet, Hannah, Hugo, and Cody)

Voiced by: Yuka Terasaki, Chinatsu Akasaki, Yukiyo Fujii, Ikumi Nakagami, Ryōko Hikida (Japanese), Robbie Daymond, Erin Fitzgerald, Stephanie Sheh (English)

Nao's five younger siblings. In order of age, the 3rd and 4th ones are girls, the rest are boys. In episode 42, Tomoko also gives birth to the youngest daughter, Yui (ゆい, Saban: Nina).

Irie (入江, Saban: Jared)

Voiced by: Tomoyuki Higuchi (Japanese), Lucien Dodge (English)

The student council president in Nanairogaoka Public Middle School, he's a handsome guy and very popular among female students.

Runa Terada (寺田 るな, Terada Runa, Saban: Theresa)

Voiced by: Chinatsu Akasaki (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English)

The student council clerk in Nanairogaoka Public Middle School.

Bad End Pretty Cure (バッドエンドプリキュア, Baddo Endo Purikyua, Saban: Glitter Shadow Force)

Voiced by: Misato Fukuen, Asami Tano, Hisako Kanemoto, Marina Inoue, Chinami Nishimura (Japanese), Laura Bailey, Colleen Ann Villard, Alex Cazares, Danielle Judovits, Kate Higgins (English)

Clones of the PreCures created by Joker using the last Cure Decor and the Three Commanders' expunged darkness, being dark reflections who seek to prove their superiority to the originals. Each Bad End Cure separates her original from the others to engage in one-on-one death matches, only to be destroyed while serving their purpose to keep the PreCures from preventing Pierot's resurrection.

Movie characters

These were major characters in the film Smile PreCure! The Movie: Big Mismatch in a Picture Book!

Nico (ニコ)

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara

A purple-haired girl who lived with a fairytale picture book that played a role in shaping Miyuki's outlook as a child. However, as the last pages of her book were torn off, Nico bore a grudge on Miyuki as she failed to honor her promise to finish the book. This led to Nico aiding Maou by spiriting the Pretty Cure into the World of the Picture Books. But Miyuki manages to reach Nico and restore her original ideals with the book's torn pages restored.

Demon King (魔王, Maou)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma

The main antagonist in the film, a purple bird-like Dragon who was initially the villain of Nico's story. He corrupted Nico to act on her grudge toward Miyuki. But when Nico discards her hatred toward the girl, Demon King personally attacked the Pretty Cure before being purified by Ultra Cure Happy.

Media

Anime

See also: List of Smile Precure episodes

The 48-episode Smile PreCure! anime aired on TV Asahi and other Japanese stations between February 5, 2012 and January 27, 2013, replacing Suite PreCure♪ in its previous timeslot. The opening theme is "Let's go! Smile PreCure!" (Let’s go!スマイルプリキュア！, Retsu gō! Sumairu Purikyua) by Aya Ikeda. The ending theme used in episodes 1-24 is "Yay! Yay! Yay!" (イェイ！イェイ！イェイ！, Yei! Yei! Yei!) by Hitomi Yoshida, and the ending theme for episodes 25-48 is "Mankai Smile!" (満開＊スマイル！, Mankai Sumairu!, "Full Bloom Smile!") also by Yoshida. All three songs are composed by Hideaki Takatori. A Blu-ray Box Set by Marvelous AQL and TC Entertainment was released on October 26, 2012, in the same fashion as Suite PreCure. Standard DVD releases were also issued.

Saban Brands have licensed the series outside of Asia under the name Glitter Force, releasing it as a Netflix exclusive. This version consists of 40 episodes, with twenty episodes released on Netflix on December 18, 2015 and the other twenty released on August 26, 2016. The adaptation, which was dubbed into English by Studiopolis, features changes to character names, terminology, and music. Glitter Force also skipped eight episodes and the film from the original Japanese version. The opening theme is "Glitter Force", performed by Blush, who also perform various insert songs. Shirley Pelts wrote that "Netflix is investing heavily in legacy cartoons such as Popples and Glitter Force, which it considers to be important toy and entertainment brands." The show is currently licensed by Hasbro.

The English version was later broadcast on London Live in the United Kingdom in July 2017.

Feature films

The heroines appear in the Pretty Cure All Stars cross-over movie series, first appearing in the fourth entry, Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage: Friends of the Future, which was released in Japanese theatres on March 17, 2012 and on DVD on July 18, 2012.

A film based on the series, titled Smile PreCure! The Movie: Big Mismatch in a Picture Book! (映画 スマイルプリキュア！ 絵本の中はみんなチグハグ！, Eiga Sumairu Purikyua!: Ehon no Naka wa Minna Chiguhagu!) was released in Japanese theaters on October 27, 2012. It debuted at the number-one spot in the Japanese Box Office and earned a total revenue of ¥193,000,000 (US$2.42 million), and was the highest grossing PreCure movie to date.

Soundtracks

The music in the anime is composed and arranged by Yasuharu Takanashi, who previously composed the other Pretty Cure series Fresh Pretty Cure!, HeartCatch PreCure! and Suite PreCure. The official soundtrack to the series is divided into two editions, "PreCure Sound Parade!!" and "PreCure Sound Rainbow!!". There are also three vocal albums as well: "Spread out! Smile World!!", "Hey, Everyone Smile!!" and the vocal best album along with the movie's official soundtrack. The background music in the Saban dub is composed by Noam Kaniel (Noam) (who worked on X-Men, Code Lyoko, W.I.T.C.H., Power Rangers, Digimon Fusion, & Miraculous Ladybug). The songs from the Saban version were performed by the girl group Blush.

Manga

A manga adaptation by Futago Kamikita began serialization in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine in March 2012 and ended in February 2013.

Merchandise

Merchandise of the anime were also issued during the series's initial run including bags, watches, raincoats, etc. Several toys featuring the Cure's transformation devices and weapons were also released by Bandai during the series' airing. Some of the Cures were also released as part of Bandai's long running S.H. Figuarts line of collectors figures.

Video game

A video game titled Smile Precure! Let's Go! Märchen World (スマイルプリキュア!　レッツゴー！メルヘンワールド, Sumairu PuriKyua! Rettsu Gō! Meruhenwārudo) was developed by Namco Bandai Games and released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS on August 2, 2012. The game sees the Cures take on the roles of various fairy tales such as Snow White, The Tortoise and the Hare, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel.

Reception

The original Japanese version was well-received, placing regularly in Japan's weekly top ten anime shows broadcast.

Brad Stephenson of About.com describes the English adaptation as "a return to when anime was fun and the priority of everyone involved was to make a super accessible series that could be enjoyed by as many people as possible." He liked the variety of animation for the physical attacks, the energetic singing of Blush, and that "young English-speaking children can have the same experience as the Japanese audience did when they first saw it." He also found the Japanese references to not be a deterrent and would encourage kids to look into Japanese culture as with Sailor Moon.

Ella Anders of BSC Kids, who had also reviewed many other recent magical girl adaptations such as LoliRock and Miraculous Ladybug, thought the series was better than she expected, but disliked the amount of localization provided by the Saban dub, writing that the "With the world so interconnected as it is now the removal of cultural aspects was saddening. It would be such a great chance to celebrate and focus on the Japanese culture."

Jacob Robinson of What's On Netflix critically panned the Glitter Force adaptation, prefacing his review by stating that he most certainly does not recommend the English dub, calling the script "overly cheesy, girly and downright criminal cliché". Robinson also stated that Smile Precure would have been much more bearable to watch in Japanese.

The Glitter Force dub was cited as an example in a The Mary Sue article on the subs vs. dubs debate.

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media argued that while the anime "doesn't dazzle," the strong female leads shine through. Ashby also argued that the series comes across "feeling silly and superficial" and said that the show is a "mild assault on the visual and auditory senses" through the "glitter" transformations. She said that the latter is unfortunate as it is a "decent story with strong, appealing female role models."

External links

• Official website (Toei Animation)
• Official website at Netflix
• Anime official website at ABC / Asahi TV
• Smile PreCure! (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Preceded by Suite PreCure

Smile Precure 2012-2013

Succeeded by Doki Doki! Precure