The is a Japanese

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

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

franchise 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 Y ...

and produced by

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

ABC Animation is a Japanese animation planning, production and content company that serves as a subsidiary of the Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings Corporation. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, the company was formed as part of a spin-off of ABC's animation co-pro ...

, ADK Emotions and

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 ...

. 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 , 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 ...

'', the franchise has seen many anime series, spanning over 1000 episodes to date, as well as spawning movies, manga, toys, and video games. Its most recent iteration, ''

You and Idol Pretty Cure , stylized as ''You and Idol PreCure♪'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation and the twenty-second installment in the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise. Directed by Chiaki Kon, written by Yōichi Katō, and with charac ...

'', began airing in February 2025 as part of

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

's Sunday morning

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

block. As of December 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 twenty-two

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. ''

Pretty Cure The is a Japanese magical girl anime franchise created by Izumi Todo and produced by ABC Television, ABC Animation, ADK Emotions and Toei Animation. Each series revolves around a group of magical girls known as Pretty Cures who battle ag ...

'' 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! 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, best known as ...

'' and ''

DokiDoki! PreCure , is a Japanese anime series produced by Toei Animation and the tenth installment in Izumi Todo's ''Pretty Cure'' metaseries, featuring the eighth generation of Cures. The series is produced by Hiroaki Shibata, who produced ''Digimon Data Sq ...

'' were adapted by

Saban Brands Saban Brands was an American brand management and production company and a defunct subsidiary of Saban Capital Group based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Israeli American media mogul Haim Saban as a successor to an earlier company he co-f ...

and released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

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 Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

on their respective territories. Each series has received a

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation illustrated by

Futago Kamikita and , born August 11 1960 in Kōchi Prefecture, are two Japanese manga artists and character designers, twin sisters, who work together under the pseudonym of . They are best known internationally for creating the manga versions of the ''Pretty ...

, which is published in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''

Nakayoshi is a monthly Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga List of manga magazines, 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 ...

'' shoujo magazine alongside the anime. Starting with ''

Fresh Pretty Cure! , also known as ''Fresh PreCure!'', is a Japanese magical girl anime series and the sixth in the ''Pretty Cure'' metaseries by Izumi Todo, featuring the fourth generation of Cures. The series was produced by Toei Animation, directed by Junji ...

'', 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 distribution company that operates as an international distribution arm of the Japanese animati ...

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.

Films

Beginning with ''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 British reference book published annually, list ...

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

Adaptations

Video games

Several

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

have been produced by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

(formerly

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

) for video game systems and educational consoles, as well as ''

Data Carddass is a series of Japanese arcade game machines created by Bandai, which largely focus around the Digital collectible card game, digital use of collectible card game, collectible trading cards. It is an expansion of Bandai's ''Carddass'' collectible ...

'' arcade machines. ;Console video games * (2004,

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

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

Nintendo DS The is a foldable 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 worki ...

) * (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 foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

) * (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, f ...

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

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

) * (2018,

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

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

Sega Pico The Sega Pico, also known as is an educational video game console by Sega Toys. The Pico was released in June 1993 in Japan and November 1994 in North America and Europe, later reaching China in 2002. Marketed as "Educational entertainment, ...

) * (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 Headgear, 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 incorpor ...

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 (commonly known as and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group,) is a Japanese mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specia ...

net income In business and Accountancy, 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 (a ...

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 Japan-exclusive video games Video games featuring female protagonists