Futari wa Pretty Cure

"The beautiful souls of Pretty Cure-"
"-shall crush your evil heart!"

The first series in what would become the Pretty Cure franchise, Futari wa Pretty Cure ("The Two of Us Are Pretty Cure") is a Anime First Magical Girl show done with a modern, self-aware approach to an old genre.

Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro are two eighth-grade girls who normally would have never become anything more than passing acquaintances. Nagisa is an energetic jock and ace of the lacrosse team, loved by all the girls but secretly wishing for a male admirer straight from a romance novel. Honoka is the star pupil and class president, incredibly popular with all the guys but not too fussed about acting upon it.

That was until the day Nagisa made a wish on a shooting star and (violently) came into contact with Mepple, a fairy on the run from the sinister agents of the Dusk Zone. Fleeing from the Dusk Zone's monsters, Nagisa runs into Honoka, who happens to have Mepple's partner (and lover) Mipple. To defend themselves, Nagisa and Honoka use the fairies' power to transform together into Cure Black and Cure White: the Emissaries Of Light, Pretty Cure.

After an initial awkward phase with involuntary catchphrases and their new Super Strength, Nagisa and Honoka learn about the seven Prism Stones that protect the Garden of Light, Mepple and Mipple's homeworld. Dusk Zone has already captured five of the Prism Stones, and seek to consume both the Garden of Light and Earth once they have all seven. Mepple and Mipple have the remaining two, but need all seven to repair the damage done to the Garden of Light. Thus, the stage is set for the conflict between Pretty Cure and Dusk Zone.

Pretty Cure was aimed at both young girls and young male adults, and the amount of Post Modernism awareness of the Magical Girl genre and Parental Bonuses shows it. Nagisa in particular is flabbergasted by the silly clichés of the genre, reciting a prolonged post-transformation catchphrase and then blurting out, "Wait, what am I saying?!"

Pretty Cure bucks the formula in other ways. The girls are very physical when fighting: leaping, punching and kicking their foes and reserving magical attacks for the final blow. Both girls possess super-strength and agility, making them far more formidable in hand-to-hand combat than the usual magical girl. It's worth noting at this point that the director of Pretty Cure was Daisuke Nishio, whose resume also includes Dragonball Z.

All their magical abilities come from teamwork: they have no solo attacks and cannot even transform into their Pretty Cure forms unless they do so in unison. The show focuses heavily on the developing friendship between Nagisa and Honoka, even throwing in some blatant yuri subtext for the older audience. From an animation standpoint, the show seemed to have an aversion to Stock Footage: if Nagisa and Honoka were in different clothes when they transformed, a new transformation sequence would be animated. All of this makes for one of the more unique Magical Girl shows to come along in a long time.

The show proved so popular that a direct sequel, Futari wa Pretty Cure MaX Heart, followed immediately afterwards. Following the finale of Futari wa, the Queen of Light is forced to shatter her own essence and scatter the pieces to Earth. Nagisa and Honoka are recruited once more by the Garden of Light, given upgraded powers and tasked with finding the twelve "Heartiels" that make up the Queen's heart. Aiding them is a Mysterious Waif called Hikari who transforms into Third Ranger Shiny Luminous, avoiding the usual problem with new members by acting as more of a Support Party Member to Black and White. Opposing them are the remnants of the Dusk Zone, who are seeking a way to revive the Dark King.

YTV signed a deal with Toei to air the show in Canada in 2009 where the English dub debuted. Additionally, it has aired in this form in Australia and New Zealand on Cartoon Network; and in the UK on PopGirl. And if you live in America, you can legally watch the subtitled version right here, right now.

Alternate Continuities came in later seasons with Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star, Yes! Pretty Cure 5, Fresh Pretty Cure, Heartcatch Pretty Cure, Suite Pretty Cure, and Smile Pretty Cure.

Compare to My-HiME and its successor, Mai-Otome.

Amusing tidbit: In interviews Eiichiro Oda mentioned his daughter enjoys this show over her father's work.

Tropes used in Futari wa Pretty Cure include:

Action Girl^[context?]
All Your Colors Combined^[context?]
Alternate Continuity (At least five so far)
Alternate Reality Game (Garden of Dreams, which even spawned a comic)
Alternative Foreign Theme Song (The English opening is different from the Japanese version, although the dub does use some of the original songs.)
Androcles' Lion^[context?]
Anime First^[context?]
Balance Between Good and Evil (As always, this trope is used to, basically, ensure that no matter what the heroines do, the evil (namely, the Evil King) is guaranteed to return to wreak more havoc.)
Barehanded Blade Block (Honoka at one point appears to do this to a Zakenna's gigantic sword... but there was also a tree holding it in place.)
Because Destiny Says So^[context?]
Berserk Button (Nagisa's friends and her brother serve as her buttons: harm them, and your life is forfeit, as Gekidrago learned the hard way in episode 11)
- Later, in episode 42, when Honoka/Cure White is in serious danger, Nagisa/Cure Black (after initially panicking and crying) fights the bad guys on her own and shows of a LOT of power, especially considering she and Cure White are supposed to get their powers from teamwork. Les Yay? Noooooooooo, of COURSE not...
Big Bad (The Evil King)
Big Eater (Nagisa)
Big Fancy House (Honoka's)
Big Guy, Little Guy (the Butler Zakenna)
Brand X^[context?]
Bishounen (Several)^[context?]
Calling Your Attacks^[context?]
Catch Phrase (Arienai!)
Clark Kenting^[context?]
Conspicuous CG (The Queen of Light, the beginning of the Transformation Sequences, and Mepple's first appearance.)
Converging Stream Weapon (The "Pretty Cure Marble Screw" attack.)
Crosscast Role (Done twice by Nagisa and once by Honoka, each for a school play.)
Crossdresser (Nagisa in at least two episodes)
Cross-Popping Veins^[context?]
Cultural Translation: Notably with takoyaki becoming doughnuts...covered in "cheese" and herbs.
Dancing Theme (The ending theme)
Demonic Invaders^[context?]
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? (The Evil King loses three times to the girls.)
Downer Ending (The first season)
Down to the Last Play (Each season has about 3-4 Lacrosse matches, all of which are won by Nagisa at the last second.)
Do Wrong Right (Episode 11 has an instance where Nagisa's dad catches her using a grappling move on her brother. Instead of scolding her for tormenting her Annoying Younger Sibling, he corrects her technique and goes on his way.)
The Dragon (Ilkbo in the first arc)
Early-Bird Cameo (Kenta Hoshino makes a brief cameo during one episode of Max Heart.)
The End of the World as We Know It
Every Car Is a Pinto (When she was pissed in episode 42, Cure Black's Battle Aura was the bolt in the differential necessary to destroy an entire subway car, making this one Every Subway Car Is A Pinto)
Evil Minions^[context?]
Evil Counterpart (In one episode, two of the heroines' classmates- who loved Pretty Cure so much that they were cosplaying as them and putting on amateur stage shows for little kids- were Brainwashed to become evil counterparts. However, far from being equals their Brainwashed state made them sluggish and gave them no other superpowers save for Super Strength. The main obstacle came from Black and White trying not to accidentally cripple them.)
Evolving Credits (The ending changes partway through to showcase the new Quirky Miniboss Squad and Pollun.)
Evolving Music (The opening theme of MaX Heart is a remix of the original theme.)
Expy (their Alternate Continuity successors)
Extraordinarily Empowered Girl^[context?]
Fighting Your Friend (The second movie finally answered the Fanon question of who would win in a straight Cure Black vs. Cure White fight. (It only took some Brainwashed and Crazy magic to make it happen.) The answer: Cure White by TKO.)
Fleeting Demographic (young girls)
Frilly Upgrade (Just look at their outfits in the first season, then their outfits at Max Heart.)
Genre Blindness (Subverted)
Good Old Fisticuffs (Well, before they start raining hell on their opponents)
Gotta Catch Them All ( Defied the Pretty Cure make no real effort to collect the Heartiels near the end of the series it's revealed they never intended to revive The Queen and are in fact offended by the idea that they would be willing to sacrifice anyone.)
Gratuitous English^[context?]
Heel Face Turn (Done twice, first by Kiriya and later, in part, by King Haaku, whose life makes the turn and splits from him.)
Heterosexual Life Partners (Nagisa and Honoka)
Ignored Enemy (In episode 8. Nagisa and Honoka are bickering while casually dodging Gekidrago's attacks, and when he demands they stop ignoring him, they shout "Be quiet! We're having a very important conversation here!" and blast him into orbit.)
In the Name of the Moon (Mildly subverted at times)
- The first time they do this, Nagisa responds by asking what the heck she is saying.
Intertwined Fingers (The girls hold hands like this whenever they perform the Marble Screw.)
Invisible to Normals (Subverted most of the time)
I Have the High Ground^[context?]
Keep Circulating the Tapes (the fate of the english dub apparently.)
Lampshade Hanging (So much of it going around due to Nagisa that it deserved having it as its own trope.)
Lonely Rich Kid (Honoka)
Love Letter Lunacy (Nagisa and her female admirers)
Lovely Angels (Look at this picture, now look at this one.. Note, jock and brain, note hair colors hmm..)
Magical Girl^[context?]
- Magical Girl Warrior: A lot more action based than the typical Magical Girl show.
Magic Realism (Hints of it; for instance, the art gallery episode)
Malaproper (Nagisa)
Meta Guy^[context?]
Mid-Season Upgrade (The Pretty Cure Rainbow Bracelets.)
Mini-Dress of Power^[context?]
Modesty Shorts (Nagisa wears them both in her lacrosse uniform and as Cure Black.)
- But why would a lacrosse uniform include a skirt in the first place?
  - The lacrosse uniforms in Muv-Luv include them as well; must be a Japanese thing.
Monster of the Aesop^[context?]
Monster of the Week^[context?]
Motor Mouth (Shiho, who punctuates her verbal barrages with a stutter-like triple repeat of the occasional word.)
Multiple Demographic Appeal^[context?]
Never Say "Die" ("Returning to the darkness"; Mipple and Mepple assure Honoka that they haven't really killed their enemies, but later on, the villains treat it as punishment and Kiriya once mentions it in a context that sounds like committing honourable suicide.)
- This becomes a plot point later on when Kiriya manages to communicate with the girls through a rift in the darkness.
- Turns to Fridge Horror, when the Evil King describes what the darkness is and you realise that if the defeated minions retained their consciousness, they are stuck in Nothing After Death.
Non-Human Sidekick (Mipple and Mepple)
Odd Couple (Honoka is a tidy, feminine intellectual from a rich family; Nagisa is a rough-and-tumble middle-class tomboy)
Off-Model Episode 11 of Max Heart is infamous for its fight scene.
Ojou^[context?]
Pillar of Light^[context?]
Post Episode Trailer^[context?]
The Power of Friendship (Very important in the series, as the Cures' attacks are powered by their friendship.Even when they're arguing/yelling at each other, they can still manage to dodge all the enemy's attacks -- in perfect sync -- and pull together long enough to defeat it.)
Powered by a Forsaken Child In addition to requiring the twelve Heartiels, Hikari's life must be sacrificed in order to revive the Queen. or rather that's what they think
Puppy Dog Eyes^[context?]
Quirky Miniboss Squad^[context?]
Red Oni, Blue Oni (Nagisa and Honoka respectively)
Repeat Cut^[context?]
Reset Button (Not explicit, but there are a few cases, when all damage from immensely destructive battles disappears, and normals don't remember anything afterwards.)
Rope Bridge^[context?]
School Play (with added Les Yay)^[context?]
Schoolgirl Lesbians (Implied: Nagisa's admirers)
Screwed by the Network (YTV, despite paying for the dub, has put it in really bad time slots. They also used little advertising. At least it managed to complete the first season, though still no word on whether they will acquire Max Heart.)
- They only aired the first 12 episodes for the first few months.
Ship Tease (Possibly with the aforementioned School Play episode)
Shoujo^[context?]
Shorttank (Nagisa)
Shout-Out (Sailor Moon and other mahou shoujo references, both straight and satirical)
Sixth Ranger (Hikari's a Third Ranger)
Slow-Motion Pass-By
Snot Bubble (Mepple does this, sometimes with added drool.)
So Last Season (Zig-zagged. Once the Seeds of Evil show up, Pretty Cure seem to be helpless against them without the Pretty Cure Rainbow Bracelets. However, the regular old Marble Screw still works just fine against Zakenna, and eventually they can win against the Seeds without the bracelets as well.)
- For that matter, the Marble Screw was already pretty much useless against Ilkubo several episodes before the Bracelets were introduced, forcing Pretty Cure to rely on luck and tactics to survive against him.
- Then when MaX Heart comes along, they use an upgraded version of Marble Screw, but that too is eventually outclassed by Extreme Luminario . . . and then Marble Screw is upgraded again.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Nagisa. She's tolerable in the first season, but in MaX Heart, she gets more episodes than Hikari and Honoka combined and then some. The first Non-Serial Movie is nothing but Nagisa doing cool things while Honoka and Hikari are barely more than Living Props. Averted in the second movie, however. Worse, Saki and Hibiki are both expies of her and both do this too.
Stock Footage (There's the usual stock footage, and some surprise ones, like Nagisa's lacrosse goal.)
The Sweat Drop^[context?]
Team Spirit^[context?]
Teen Genius (Honoka)
Theme Tune Cameo^[context?]^{[please verify]}
This Is Unforgivable! (Honoka, every single week)
The Thing That Goes Doink^[context?]
Title Drop (Borderline example, and the dub is an automatic aversion since the title is shortened to simply "Pretty Cure". The girls' In the Name of the Moon speech finishes with the exclamation of "We are Pretty Cure!", making this a Once an Episode occurrence.)
Tomboy and Girly Girl^[context?]
Tomboyish Name^[context?]
Too Dumb to Live: After about the tenth time weird things start happening around them and they don't immediately transform, but instead decide to investigate in their normal unpowered state, you start to wonder what is wrong with them. You have superpowers, girls. If everyone around suddenly gets turned to stone, you should probably use them!
Transformation Sequence^[context?]
Verbal Tic (the mascots)
Visible Sigh^[context?]
Wave Motion Gun (Their signature attack, "Pretty Cure Marble Screw" (or "Pretty Cure Marble Twister"), greatly resembles one.)
Weasel Mascot: Mepple.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: See Never Say "Die", above.
Wonder Twin Powers: As noted above, Honoka and Nagisa need to be together, and even touching, before they can use most if not all of their magical abilities, starting right with their Transformation Sequence.
Writers Cannot Do Math: Subverted. The infamous "You should be able to solve this" screencap (the equation resolves to 0=26) is taken from seconds before Honoka points out that the equation can't be solved--it's the in-universe math teacher who made a mistake, not the writers.
- But it's a really dumb mistake no teacher should make.