Merci Pretty Cure!

'''Merci Pretty Cure! '(メルシィプリキュア Merusī Purikyua) is a Japanese magical girl anime that is produced by Toei Animation, and is the first installment of the Happiness Charge ''franchise. It is directed and written by Kobayashi Tsubomi. It succeeds ''Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! and airs alongside Go! Princess Pretty Cure!''. The series' main motifs are flowers, love and rainbows.

Speculations (from author)

 * It looks like Cure Earl isn't the only member of Merci Pretty Cure!. Meet Cure Espoir, whose theme colour is blue, holds the power of water and Form Change is Vanilla Hip Hop (バニラヒップホップ Banira Hippu Hoppu).

Synopsis
Merci Pretty Cure! Episodes

The season takes place in the "city of love", Paris, where it follows a graceful and friendly girl named Florence, who learns about the Saiarks attacking lots of countries, including France, but there is no Pretty Cure to protect it! Florence, determined to help France, is given a Crystal of Love. When a Saiark appears and attacks Paris, Florence grows angry at Monsieur Frimer, and because of this, it triggers her Crystal of Love to transform into a PreChanMirror and PreCards. Join Florence as she meets Amour and battles against the Phantom Empire so she can protect France while collecting the PreCards.

Pretty Cure

 * Florence (フィレンツェ Firentsu~e)/ Cure Earl (キュアアール Kyua Āru)
 * The main protagonist, Florence has a heart of gold and loves to help others out. She is friendly and loves ballet, and dreams of becoming a Prima Ballerina. She is good at both studies and athletics. She transforms into Cure Earl (キュアアール Kyua Āru), whose theme colour is pink. She holds the power of flowers. Her Form Change is the red Chocolate Waltz (チョコレートワルツ Chokorēto Warutsu).

Allies

 * Amour (アムール Amūru)
 * Florence's fairy partner who is a fairy from the Blue Sky Kingdom. Amour helps Florence whenever she can, and acts like a mother to her. She ends her sentences with "mour".
 * Blue (ブルー Burū)
 * The spiritual being of Earth who sent Amour to France because of Florence gaining her Pretty Cure powers. Blue is always in Japan helping the Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! team, something that annoys Florence greatly, but doesn't show it much.

Phantom Empire

 * Queen Mirage (クイーンミラージュ Kuīn Mirāju)
 * The ruler of the Phantom Empire. She likes to see people fall into despair and sorrow. She has butterfly wings and uses a staff as a weapon. She detests love and relationships.
 * Monsieur Frimer (ムッシュショーオフ Monsieur Frimer)
 * The first general from the Phantom Empire to battle Cure Earl. He adores everything that is beautiful as himself. He is a bit of a narcissist and also pompous. Additionally, he also looks and acts like a woman, although his voice is very masculine. His Saiarks turn everything into an desert wasteland.
 * Saiarks (サイアーク Saiāku)
 * The series' main monsters. They wear sunglasses and scarves, with the color of the scarves depending on which general summoned it. They were created when the general traps the victim within a mirror to turn their happiness energy into sadness. Their name means "worst." They can alter the environment around them also depending on who summoned them.
 * Choiarks (チョイアーク Choiāku)
 * A group of numerous underlings who work for the Phantom Empire. They don't speak proper words, instead they say 'choi'. Their names means "little or kind of bad ". They are much weaker than Saiarks. They serves as a low rank of the kingdom.

Supporting Characters

 * International Pretty Cure
 * In episode 1, it was revealed that there are Pretty Cure fighting against the Saiark all over the world. In episode 6, it was revealed that there are twin Australian Cures named Cure Rose and Cure Desert also fighting against the Saiarks. In episode 10, the Japanese group consisting of four Cures, Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!, are revealed to be the strongest Pretty Cure in the world.
 * Marceline (マルセライン Maruserine)
 * She is Florence's best friend. Since Florence is bad at lying, she couldn't keep the secret that she's a Pretty Cure from Marceline. Thankfully, Marceline forgave her and began helping her whenever she could.

Items

 * PreChanMirror (プリチェンミラー PuriChenMirā)
 * Florence's transformation item. Her transformation phrase is Pretty Cure, Kururin Mirror Change!. Its name is short for "Pretty Change Mirror".
 * LovePreBrace (ラブプリブレス RabuPuriBuresu)
 * Cure Earl's main attack item. Its name is short for "Love Pretty Bracelet".
 * Cure Line (キュアライン Kyua Rain)
 * The smartphone-like devices that Florence and Marceline are given to communicate with each other if they ever get separated.
 * PreCards (プリカード PuriKādo)
 * The season's main collectible items, which the Cures use to transform and change forms. If happiness wells up within the fairy, Amour, her nose gets ticklish and a card is formed. When all of them are gathered, any wish can be granted.
 * PreCard File (プリカードファイル PuriKādo Fairu)
 * The book-like item that is used to store the PreCards.
 * Crystals of Love (愛の結晶 Ai no Kessho)
 * The crystal like jewels that transform into the PreChanMirror and the Pretty Cure PreCards when the person holding it shows bravery and love against the Phantom Empire. In Florence's case, it also includes life.

Locations

 * Paris (パリ Pari): The city that Florence and Marceline live in. It is a real life city that is the capital of France. It is also known as the "city of love".
 * Blue Sky Kingdom (ルースカイ王国 Burū Sukai Ōkoku): The home place of Amour. It was invaded by the Phantom Empire after Axia was opened. It is currently occupied by the Phantom Empire, with its Princess, Himelda, fighting as Cure Princess with three other girls known as Aino Megumi (Cure Lovely), Omori Yuko (Cure Honey) and Hikawa Iona (Cure Fortune).

Forms/Power Ups

 * Regular Form: This is the form that the Pretty Cure are most seen in while battling against the Phantom Empire. They all wear black vests with a gold trim that has the gold brooch on their chest. They also have either small wings or bows on their back that enlarge when they need to fly. Their skirts, bows, boots, gloves etc. are different. In this form, the girls can use their individual attacks (with the help of their weapon) to defeat the enemy. They can also use sub attacks that weaken the enemy so they can perform their finishing move.
 * Form Changes: These are the forms that only a few Cures around the world obtain. The Alo~ha Pretty Cure!, Merci Pretty Cure!, and Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!, are the only Cures to date who are able to change forms. The Merci Pretty Cure!, however, gained their form changes later then the Happiness Charge! group. This form is mostly used when the Choiarks are around. The forms are based of international dances and the Merci Cures have only one form change at the moment. The Happiness Charge Cures have been said to have two.

Opening Theme

 * Let's Go! Merci Pretty Cure! - The main opening theme for Merci Pretty Cure!, which is sung by Hikasa Yoko.

Ending Theme

 * Avenir Fleur - The first ending theme for Merci Pretty Cure!, which is sung by Yano Asami, the voice actress for Florence.

Movies

 * Pretty Cure All Stars International: Ai To Fasshon, Pari-shi! (プリキュアオールスターズインターナショナル：愛とファッション、パリ市！Pretty Cure All Stars International: The City of Love and Fashion, Paris!) is the eighth film in the Pretty Cure All Stars crossover movie series and the first of the "International" films. The Merci characters make their first movie debut.

Trivia

 * Merci Pretty Cure! is the first series to take place in another country other than Japan.
 * Merci Pretty Cure! is the second series to have international Pretty Cure, after Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!.
 * This is the first series to start with only one Cure.
 * This is the second series after Suite Pretty Cure♪ to have only one main mascot in the series.
 * This is the second series to have the theme of flowers after Heartcatch Pretty Cure!.
 * The ending song, Avenir Fleur, is French for "Future Flower".

Merchandise
Please refer to the Merci Pretty Cure! Merchandise page for more information.