Heartcatch Pretty Cure

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The seventh entry in the Pretty Cure series, and the first since Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star to use a pair of Cures as the main characters.

When Innocent Flower Girl Tsubomi Hanasaki and her parents move to a new town, Tsubomi has her heart set on starting with a clean slate and changing her quiet personality to become more outgoing. Fashion-loving Genki Girl Erika Kurumi immediately attaches herself to her, and no matter how hard Tsubomi tries she just can't pry her off.

Meanwhile, Tsubomi is having a strange dream where she witnesses the last stand of a mysterious woman in white called Cure Moonlight against the sinister Dark Pretty Cure. With the last of her strength, Cure Moonlight implores two fairies- Chypre and Coffret- to search for her successor.

It turns out that Tsubomi is a perfect candidate to take up the Pretty Cure power as Cure Blossom... perfect in every area except actual competence, giving her the title of The Weakest Pretty Cure Ever. However, driven by her desire to change and protect those around her, Tsubomi slowly begins to improve herself.

Soon afterwards, Erika gets into the act as Cure Marine. Together, they fight against the Desert Apostles, who seek to turn the world into a desert by killing the Tree of Hearts. To speed the process along, the Apostles can steal the Heart Flowers of those going through a rough patch and turn them into Desertrians, berserker monsters who are the embodiment of that person's frustrations and insecurities. Fortunately, it's nothing that a bit of punch-based therapy can't handle.

Later on, Bifauxnen Student Council President Itsuki Myoudouin joins as Third Ranger Cure Sunshine to form a Power Trio. Then there's Yuri Tsukikage, the former Cure Moonlight who has yet to recover from her traumatic defeat at the hands of Dark Pretty Cure.

Tropes used in Heartcatch Pretty Cure include:

• Actor Allusion: Tsubomi's mom happens to be named Mizuki. Hm...
  • We see Tsubomi wears a shirt with a numeral 7 on it in the first episode and at other times throughout the series; later we see Erika wearing a similar one. It's either because this is the seventh Precure series or because the first name of Tsubomi's voice actor is Nana, which means seven in Japanese. Nana Mizuki is the most famous actor in the show's credits.
  • Yuri isn't the first bespectacled magical girl that Aya Hisakawa has ever played.
• Ambiguously Gay: Cobraja, given his reaction to the fact Itsuki is actually a girl...
• All Your Colors Combined: Gold Forte Burst + Floral Power Fortissimo = SHINING FORTISSIMO!!!
• Alternate Continuity: To every season that came before it.
• Anatomy of the Soul: Heart Flowers
• Anime First
• Apocalypse How: Class X, Planetary Annihilation. Dune has destroyed a green forest planet to fuel his desert power. Didn't expect that in a kid's anime, huh?
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Cure Blossom in Episode 2.

Cure Blossom: Not only did you hurt Erika-san, you even trampled the flowers. I've... I'VE HAD ENOUGH!

• Art Shift: Happens whenever the hell it wants.
• Art Style Dissonance: Despite the cutesy and kiddy art, the show deals with some pretty heavy topics. Though the fact that kids actually deal with this and the show pretty much tells them that you can't always bury your feelings is pretty crafty when you consider how conservative Japan is about complaining.
• Ass Kicks You: Beautifully executed by Cure Blossom in episode six. Why she calls it a "punch" is a mystery.
  • Blossom seems to be fond of this, actually. And in episode 30, both she and Marine do it in a Big Damn Heroes moment.
  • Done again with her whole body in a later episode ("Blossom Body Punch"). She seems to think that any offensive thrust not performed via legs or magic is a "punch"...
• Attack Reflector: Cure Sunshine's Sunflower Aegis and Cure Moonlight's Moonlight Reflection.
• Babies Ever After: After the final battle, we skip ahead at least a few months and learn that Tsubomi's little sister Futaba has been born.
• Bifauxnen: Itsuki Myoudoin had quite a few viewers -- and Tsubomi -- convinced that she was a very cute boy...until Episode Seven. Commence both in-universe and real life Unsettling Gender Reveal.
  • Funnily enough, her frail older brother resembles a girl more than anything.
• Bare Your Midriff: Cure Sunshine and Sasorina.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: And apparently the Cures and fairies are too.
• Beam Spam: Kumojacky's choice gambit while using his Dark Bracelet.
• Beehive Barrier: Potpourri and Cure Sunshine have the power to create them.
• Beware My Stinger Ponytail: Sasorina
• Bishie Sparkle: Happens in Episode 7 with Itsuki. Unsurprisingly enough, there are peonies in the background.
• Blood Knight: Kumojacky. Deconstructed in episode 46.
• Bokukko: Itsuki. She switches to watashi as Cure Sunshine.
• Boom Stick: The Flower Tacts.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Cobraja makes a whole herd of Desertrians from the kids who haven't done their homework. Once his army is defeated, he threatens the viewers who haven't done their homework before leaving.
• Breather (Half-)Episode: The first half of episode 47. Between the defeat of Kumojacky and Cobraja and the battle versus Dark Pretty Cure and Prof. Sabaku, we see how hilarious Sunacky can be.
• By the Power of Greyskull: This time, it's "Pretty Cure, Open My Heart!" Shugo Chara anyone?
• Cain and Abel: Yuri Tsukikage and Dark Pretty Cure. It ended relatively well, with Mr. Tsukikage acknowledging that both of them are his daughters and that Dark Pretty Cure is indeed Yuri's little sister. But not before Cure Moonlight dealt lethal damage to Dark Pretty Cure...
• Calling the Old Man Out: Heartwarmingly Averted. Neither Yuri nor Dark Pretty Cure ever call Mr. Tsukikage/Prof. Sabaku out. To his discredit, he is an awful father.
• The Cameo: Aya Ikeda and Mayu Kudou (singers for Heartcatch's Anime Theme Song and Ending Themes respectively) make an appearance in episode 36 as members of the school's light music club.
  • Mayu Kudou has done this before in Yes! Pretty Cure 5 (which she sang the Anime Theme Song of) with Kanako Miyamoto (singer for that season's Ending Themes).
• Camera Fiend: Kanae Tada.
  • Bland-Name Product: Kanae uses a "Nihon" camera, an obvious stand-in for a Nikon.
• Care Bear Stare: Any attack with "forte" in it, if Cure Marine and Sasorina's reactions to getting hit by them are any indication
• Catch Phrase: Tsubomi, Erika and Itsuki all have "limit phrases" used when battling against Desertrians. On the other hand, a straighter example of this would be Nanami's "A smile is the best!"
• Cherry Blossoms: Cure Blossom's signature flower.
• Combat Stilettos
• Continuity Nod: At the end of The Movie, the fairies are shown waving the light sticks first used in the All Stars DX2 movie.
  • Also, in Episode 48, Salamander and Olivier from The Movie appear in Sabaaku's Start of Darkness flashback.
• Crap Saccharine World: For all the bright, vivid colors and cutesy outfits, the series is mostly spent with the public at large being blissfully unaware that The End of the World as We Know It is barely being held at bay by four inexperienced teenagers. Also see Darker and Edgier below.
• Crossover: The openings of Episodes 5-8 showed all the franchise's characters together in a teaser for the second Bat Family Crossover movie.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Coupe-sama!
• Cue the Sun: When Itsuki transforms for the first time.
• Curb Stomp Battle: When Dune actually appears in person, he totally thrashed the Precures, Cure Flower included.
  • Cures vs. Dune, round 2 reverses it. The girls come at him so hard, he can barely get an attack in edgewise. And then he grows big enough to literally punch the Earth.
• Cuteness Proximity: Itsuki.
• Cutesy Name Town/Premiseville: Kibogahana ("Flower of Hope").
• Dancing Theme: The 3D CGI from Fresh makes a return, and is more complex than last time. An entire mosh pit was rendered for the first ending.
• Darker and Edgier: After 49 episodes, some of which contains Parental Abandonment and its consequences, a dead fairy partner which then gets Deader Than Dead, ultra-violent sibling rivalry, people forced into comas and made into mentally-unbalanced soldiers for alien forces, and several on-screen character deaths including a main character's long-lost father, which was sort-of betraying her, it's safe to say that this is the darkest iteration of Pretty Cure since Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star. It remains to be seen if Suite Pretty Cure keeps the pattern going.
  • All those GRIMDARK-ness only made the theme of hope shine brighter.
• Dead Partner: Yuri's fairy partner Cologne was killed while battling Dark Pretty Cure and Professor Sabaku, which is the reason why she flipped out on Itsuki for not taking better care of Potpourri.
• Deflector Shields: Potpourri and Cure Sunshine can summon these.
• Despair Event Horizon: Episode 45. Thankfully, there were a few survivors.
  • Defied in episode 49. When you're not the Dai-Gurren-dan, the proper reaction to seeing a giant Eldritch Abomination from outer space pummeling your planet with impunity is to tremble in despair. However, Erika instead decides that the Cures must fight it, what with being "14-year old beautiful superheroines".
• Disappeared Dad: Yuri's dad has been missing for some time. But she found him when she met with Professor Sabaku after she defeated Dark Pretty Cure.
• Disappears Into Light: Cologne in episode 34, Dark Pretty Cure in episode 48.
• Dressing as the Enemy: In episode 47. And it works!
• Elemental Hair
• Elemental Powers
  • Petal Power: Cure Blossom, arguably Cure Flower as well.
  • Making a Splash: Cure Marine
  • The Power of the Sun: Cure Sunshine
  • Lunacy: Cure Moonlight
  • Casting a Shadow: Dark Pretty Cure
• Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Infinity Silhouette.
• The End of the World as We Know It: Episode 45. Dune kills the Heart Tree, turning the entire world into a desert.
• Enemy Without: Episode 37 had each of the girls fighting their own version of one.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Girls think Itsuki is pretty. Many of them continue thinking this way even long after they find out she's a girl.
• Excited Episode Title: 90% of the episodes use this some of them are extreme in the spoiler department, even if said development is in the last 5 seconds of the episode.
• Hair Decorations: Tsubomi has her yellow flower-shaped scrunchies, and her little sister has a bow that looks like Chypre's.
• Evil Counterpart: Dark Precure, who else?
  • Evil Twin: The mirage counterparts the Cures face in their Super Silhouette test.
• Evolving Credits: The opening incorporates Cure Sunshine and then Cure Moonlight as they join the active Pretty Cure roster.
• Expy:
  • Sayaka in episode 3 is into soccer, and looks a lot like Rin from Yes! Pretty Cure 5. Lampshaded in episode 21 when Potpourri is scouting for the third Pretty Cure, and tells her there have been soccer-playing Cures before.
  • Prior to the show's premiere, some people thought Tsubomi and Erika resembled Fine and Rein, mainly because of the theme colors.
  • Hiroto from episode 15 looks like a young Kenshin, though the crossed scar is on the opposite cheek.
  • Way too many people compare Erika's older sister Momoka to Miki, right down to her being a fashion model.
• Evil Eye/Eyepatch of Power/Eyes of Gold: Dark Pretty Cure's right eye. Most of the time she fights with it closed, but her power increases dramatically whenever she opens it. As of Ep. 42, both of her eyes are gold, yet her brief appearance there seems to suggest that all three tropes still apply.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Itsuki in the final episode. She's finally wearing the girls' uniform too!
• Face of a Thug: Ban-kun from Episode 18. He's got a Death Glare that scares off even the baddest of delinquents but he's actually a pretty nice guy.
• Faceless Masses: In the opening, some formless, keyhole-shaped people chase Erika and Tsubomi. Itsuki, Kanae, Nanami and a background student are the only ones with definite shapes, but the last two become formless in the next shot.
• Fashion Show: The co-highlight of Episode 36.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Dark Pretty Cure has both the one winged fallen angel appearance as well as Mismatched Eyes, until Ep. 42, anyway.
  • To a lesser extent, Cure Moonlight as well, with the full length glove on just her right arm, and the off-center placement of her accessories.
• The Fashionista: Erika, very much so, though she's rubbed off on both Tsubomi and Itsuki.
• First-Name Basis: Episode 25 kicks off with Erika excitedly doing this with Itsuki.
• Fleeting Demographic: Young Girls.
• Floral Theme Naming: Tsubomi means "flower bud", and Erika is probably named after the flower erica. Additionally, Itsuki's name means "flowering tree", foreshadowing the fact that she eventually became Cure Sunshine, and Yuri (Cure Moonlight)'s name means "lily".
  • Additionally, we have the mothers: Tsubomi's mom Mizuki (the "ki" part probably meaning "tree"), Erika's mom Sakura, Itsuki's mom Tsubaki ("camellia"), and Yuri's mom Haruna (the "haru" part meaning "spring"). And finally, Granny Kaoruko's name is formed with the kanji for "fragrance" and "child".
• Flower Motifs: Pretty much what the entire series is based around.
• Friendly Fireproof: Marine Dynamite has Damage Discrimination, only blasting the hell out of the enemy.
• Funny Background Event: Not really "background", as there was nobody in the foreground when it happened, but at one point during the first episode, a background student was shown arriving at school after getting late.
• Fusion Dance: Infinity Silhouette.
• Gay Paree: The setting of The Movie. It's the first time a Pretty Cure movie, not counting the two All-Stars movies, takes place on Earth instead of in some fantastical land.
• Genki Girl: Erika, PERIOD.
• Girlish Pigtails: Tsubomi after her makeover.
• The Glasses Gotta Go: One of the first things that Erika does to Tsubomi as part of her "makeover". Though Tsubomi still wears them from time to time afterwards.
• Gospel Revival Number: The second ED, "Tomorrow Song Ashita no Uta".
• Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Cure Flower.
• Gratuitous English
• Gratuitous French: Present at various points in The Movie, due to it taking place in Paris.
• Gratuitous Italian: In the names of the Cures' Finishing Moves: forte and fortissimo
• Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Tsubomi, Erika and Itsuki are all doe-eyed to signal their status as heroines. On the other hand, Yuri's eyes start out narrow, but become larger once she regains her ability to transform into Cure Moonlight and starts bonding with the other Cures.
• Go Out with a Smile: A Pretty Cure's Finishing Move causes those who get hit by it to enter a state of complete bliss; if the target is a Desertrian or one of the Desert Apostles, this is accompanied by fading away and returning to human form. Also, pretty much everyone who dies in this series goes through this.
• Graceful Loser: Both Kumojacky and Cobraja in episode 46.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Well, the Sunacky in Castle Planet are sand-brained.
• Hair of Gold: Cure Sunshine
• Heir to the Dojo: Itsuki; it's the reason she has to dress as a boy.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Cologne flew in front of an attack from Professor Sabaku to save Cure Moonlight, costing him his life.
  • And Sabaku himself protects Yuri and Tsubomi from one of Dune's attacks in episode 48, killing him in the process.
• Heroic Second Wind: For Cure Moonlight after Tsubomi's speech in Episode 48, with a Theme Music Power-Up.
• Hey, Wait!: The infiltration scene in Episode 47.
• Hot-Blooded: Kumojaki and Erika. Also subverted with Kenji, who appeared to be this because of his fluffy hair, but turned out to be a rather nice guy.
• Hot Mom: The more perverted fans had a field day with Tsubomi's mom Mizuki and Kenji's mom Keiko...
• How Do I Shot Web?: Cure Blossom's first battle. Marine and Sunshine do not have this problem, but this can be explained away as a matter of self-confidence.
• I Am Your Opponent: Kumojacky loves this trope. Every Desert Messenger and Precure at least likes it.
• Image Song: And yes, Toei didn't let the singing talent of three of their leads go unused. The Cures actually get three songs each instead of the normal one or two.
• Implausible Fencing Powers: Kumojaki's power-up attacks with the Dark Bracelet are pretty out there.
• Improbable Weapon User: Cobraja throws exploding photos, a la a certain Cajun.
• It Gets Worse: Even Heartcatch Mirage isn't enough to stop Dune. He turns into an enormous giant man in outer space and then starts pummeling the Earth with his bare hands.
• Killed Off for Real: Alas, poor Mr. Tsukikage and Dark Pretty Cure...
• Kung Shui: Cure Marine versus Cobraja's fight causes massive damage to space platforms.
• Large Ham: Kumojaki, Cobraja, and Erika.
• Late Arrival Spoiler: Itsuki Myoudouin is a girl (and Cure Sunshine), Yuri Tsukikage is Cure Moonlight. Notably the trailers didn't even bother hiding their transformations.
• Legacy Character: Other Pretty Cure series had hinted at this, but Heartcatch is the first to actually show it, with Tsubomi's grandmother being a former Precure. The very last shot of the series hints that Futaba has become a Cure herself in a few years.
• Let's Get Dangerous: Tsubomi's "I've had enough!" Also, Kumojacky and Cobraja begin taking their battles with the Pretty Cures much, much more seriously after Sasorina is purified, seeking to avenge her death.
• Love At First Sight: According to Episode 9, Tsubomi's parents met that way.
• Love Confession: Yuri gets one in episode 42...by a childhood friend at least 5 years younger than she is.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Cure Sunshine invokes this with her Shiny Tambourine.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: First, Kaoruko mentions never having to deal with anyone like Professor Sabaku during her tenure. Then, she mentions Yuri's father disappeared some years ago while looking for the Heart Tree. Then we find out that Dark Pretty Cure and Cure Moonlight are apparently two halves of the same whole. Sure enough, he is revealed as Yuri's father in episode 47 after his Cool Mask is sliced in two.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Pretty Cure Gold Forte Burst
• Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Dark Pretty Cure.
• Magic Dance: Cure Sunshine dances to power up her Gold Forte Burst, for some unexplained reason.
• Magical Girl
  • Magical Girl Warrior
• Magic Skirt
• Martial Arts Uniform: Tsubomi's grandmother wears one in her flashback episode.
• Meaningful Name
• Meganekko: Tsubomi and Yuri.
• Megaton Punch: Infinity Silhouette's attack.
• Merchandise-Driven: Probably the most egregious example in the franchise. The Heart Pot is a piggy bank, the Heartcatch Mirage is a jewelry box, the Shiny Tambourine lights up when spun a few times, and the Tacts have a dial that the Cures have to spin frantically to complete their spells, turning otherwise cool-looking Finishing Moves into complete Narm.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: More like three fourths through, but Super Silhouette.
• Mismatched Eyes: Dark Pretty Cure, one purple and one gold.
  • Subverted from episode 42 onwards, as they're both gold.
  • Infinity Silhouette, the ultimate union form of all 4 Cures, has one red eye and one blue eye.
• Missing Mom: Nanami (who also happens to be the star of the Mother's Day episode)'s mother has passed away.
• Mundane Utility: Erika tries to use the powers of the Marine Tact to clean her room and give herself a massage in episode 39. Coffret is not amused.
• Never Mess with Granny: Kaoruko Hanasaki, Tsubomi's grandmother, not only won a prominent karate tournament when younger, but was also a former Pretty Cure. Cure Flower makes a triumphant reappearance in episode 44.
• New Transfer Student: Tsubomi.
• Nietzsche Wannabe: Dune.
• Nigh Invulnerable: Nearly everyone who are shown fighting, but especially Cure Marine in episode 46.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: The drama club in episode 16 is doing a play where an extra is playing The Ojou and tries this laugh but gets yelled at that its not grand enough.
• Nobody Poops: Subverted with Chypre and Coffret, who poop out the Heart Seeds much like Pao-chan. The Brain Bleach is right there. This is probably why the sequence was cleaned up in later episodes.
  • And then there's episode 28 where they take out an army of Monsters Of The Week...let that sink in for a few seconds.
• Non-Human Sidekick: The fairies.
• Not So Above It All: Itsuki loves cute things, but she can't say so because she wants to be a great martial artist like her brother once was. To compensate, Tsubomi offers to have her join the fashion club.
• Odd Friendship: Tsubomi is a Shrinking Violet while Erika is way too much of a Genki Girl.
• Ominous Floating Castle: Wakuseijo/The Planet Castle.
• "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: "We'll catch everyone's hearts!" uttered by Tsubomi and Erika.
• One-Winged Angel: The final form of Dune in episode 49, an enormous giant man in outer space.
• One-Scene Wonder: Keiko Ban, who so far only appeared in a single scene from episode 18 but has an oddly disproportional quantity of fanart.
  • Semi-averted. Keiko made a return cameo in episode 36.
• Opaque Lenses: Tsubomi when wearing her glasses.
  • Yuri gets these in Episode 34 when the girls ask her to take part in the fashion show and Erika starts taking her measurements just by looking.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Chypre and Coffret.
• Plot Based Photograph Obfuscation: Nanami's mother.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: The Cures all have their hair turn a lighter color during the Transformation Sequence.
• Power Fist: The maiden that appears when the Super Silhouette Precures use the Heart Catch Orchestra uses this to the fullest.
• Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Itsuki gets some luxurious locks when she transforms into Cure Sunshine.
• The Power of Friendship: Cure Marine preaches about it to Kumojacky in episode 46, who thinks that being strong is everything.
• The Power of Love: The power of Infinite Pretty Cure is literally Infinite Love, which she/they use to stop Dune's earth-shaking rampage.
• Pre-Explosion Buildup: Erika's Marine Dynamite.
• Prehensile Hair: Sasorina
• Punched Across the Room: Well, Kumojacky punches Cure Marine across the space platform and through several stone pillars in episode 46. That's some Saint Seiya-level battle there.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "THIS! IS! TSUBOMI!"
• Puni Plush: Compared to previous seasons, at least. A lot of fans will be reminded of Ojamajo Doremi and Casshern Sins, both of which had the same character designer.
• Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Desert Apostles trio.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs and then Pummel Duel: Cure Marine versus Kumojacky in episode 46.
• Razor Wind: Kumojacky's standard attacks, which Cure Marine counters with Marine Shooter.
• Real Is Brown: Like in Yes! Pretty Cure 5, most of Tsubomi and Erika's classmates have brownish hair, the only exceptions being Sayaka Uejima and episode 15's Hiroto, both having very bright red hair.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Ban-kun is a very scary looking guy with a bad reputation... who also loves drawing weepy shojo manga of Cure Blossom and Cure Marine.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In episode 46, Cure Marine delivers one to Kumojacky while Cure Sunshine delivers one to Cobraja.
• Redemption Equals Death: Mr. Tsukikage.
• Retired Badass: Kaoruko Hanasaki, AKA Cure Flower, who has fought and defeated Dune in the past. Kumojacky and Cobraja never knew what hit 'em when they temporarily forced her out of retirement in episode 44.
  • Coupe, her fairy partner also qualifies.
• The Reveal: Why do the Desert Apostles run with their tails between their legs whenever they're in danger of being purified? It's because they're made from Heart Flowers themselves, making them functionally humanoid Desertians and subject to the same conditions.
  • Episode 47 also counts, with regards to Professor Sabaku's identity.
• Ridiculously Cute Critters: The Cure partners, especially Potpourri.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: It wouldn't be Pretty Cure without it.
• Rose-Haired Girl: Tsubomi as Cure Blossom.
• Sarcastic Clapping: Dune in episode 48, following a dramatic scene.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: The student council members (sans Itsuki) have them all the time.
• School Play: In Episode 16, the fashion club is charged of making costumes for the school play the drama club is holding.
• Secret Test of Character: Episodes 37 and 38.
• Media Franchise
• Shojo
• Shoulder Angels: In Episode 28, Erika has these, arguing over whether to do her summer homework.
• Shout-Out: In Episode 5, Tsubomi (Nana Mizuki) adds rapeseed (Nanohana) to the flower arrangement.
  • The red/magenta heart seeds are essentially Magical Girl Trans-Am.
  • Floral Power Fortissimo is basically a very girly Giga Drill Breaker - projectiles are thrown to hold the enemy in place, complete with a colorful background (just like the galaxy background), then the girls charge at the enemy as the finishing blow, piercing through its "heart". Then, it floats for a second, while the girls strike a pose, at which point it explodes in a mushroom cloud.
  • Kumojacky looks a lot like Captain Harlock. See Wrong Genre Savvy below.
  • Yuri is the best in her class, always being the first at every test. Ami Mizuno, anyone?
  • The Sunacky can only speak high-pitched "eeee!" sounds like Shocker soldiers from Kamen Rider.
• Shrinking Violet: Tsubomi and Naomi.
• Shout-Out: "Heartcatch Precure!: The Movie" was set in Paris and Mount Saint Michael in France, obiviously.
• Skirt Over Slacks: The biking shorts variation, but this time they are really short.
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Averted with Erika; to make up for that, we have Tsubomi, who is a Shy Red Haired Girl.
• Sixth Ranger: Cure Sunshine, whose appearance, powers, and identity -- Itsuki -- were revealed through leaked merchandising scans. Cure Moonlight became a Fourth Ranger in Episode 33. And then Cure Flower appears as the Zeroth Ranger in episode 44.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Coffret is pretty easy to figure out, but Chypre had to be vindicated by a trading card after dozens of spellings. Cobraja/Cobrager/Kobraj and Kumojaki/Kumojacky continue to be debated by fans.
• Spirit Advisor: The power of the Heart Tree managed to revive Cologne's spirit and he gave Yuri a pep talk to convince her to take up the mantle of Cure Moonlight again.
• Spoiler Opening: The second opening, ending, and eyecatches all feature Cure Moonlight very prominently, indicating her return in episode 33.
• Storming the Castle Planet: Episode 45 kicks of an entire arc of it. Man, those Snackies can fly.
• Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: Dune. "My hatred will never disappear!" is his response after he is only barely scratched with Heartcatch Mirage. And then he turns gigantic and starts pummeling the Earth. If he wore black, he would probably outdo Kuja.
• Sunny Sunflower Disposition: Cure Sunshine, of course.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: The girls finally got theirs when searching for the Heart Tree.
• Super Mode: Super Silhouette.
• Taking the Bullet: Erika takes the bullet for Tsubomi in Episode 6.
  • Cologne took one for Cure Moonlight, resulting in his death.
• Talk to the Fist: Cure Marine to Kumojacky in episode 46. Also doubles as Shut UP, Hannibal.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Both forms of Cure Moonlight.
• Tempting Fate: Erika's "Don't worry, if powerful enemies appear, we will smack 'em down!". Naturally enough, the very next scene has the Pretty Cures tasting a sample of Dune's real power. And then Dune reveals just what kind of Cosmic Horror he is...he probably wouldn't be very out of place in Halo.
• Theme Naming: Along with the floral example above, all of the Desert Messengers have desert-themed names: Sasorina (a play on the Japanese word for scorpion, "sasori"), Cobraja (bonus points for "ja" being a Japanese homonym for "snake"), Kumojaki (a play on the Japanese word for spider, "kumo" and his Verbal Tic), Sabaku (from the Japanese words for "desert" and "evil") and Dune (a rare English example, referring to a sand dune).
• This Means War: Desertrians destroy flowers. Cure Blossom proceeds to lay a massive smackdown on it.
• Threshold Guardians: Kaoruko and that hot guy...er, Coupe-sama acted as proctors for the Pretty Cures' test to receive the Heartcatch Mirage.
• Time to Unlock More True Potential: Getting Heartcatch Mirage, and then getting the Heartcatch Orchestra later on.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Initially averted, with Tsubomi and Erika both being girly girls. Then Itsuki joins and is tomboy enough for both of them, increasingly evident girliness aside.
• Trailers Always Spoil: The preview for episode 23 has a shot of Cure Sunshine's identity, while the preview and title of Episode 44 clearly indicate Cure Flower's reappearance.
• Transformation Sequence: This time the modesty is kept by long, flowy dresses made of light rather than the usual sparkly bodies.
  • Transformation Is a Free Action: It's a Magical Girl series. And it's Pretty Cure, to boot.
• Transformation Trinket: The Kokoro and Shiny Perfumes, the Heart Pot and the Heartcatch Mirage.
• Trauma Conga Line: Yuri. Before the series even begins, she loses her beloved fairy partner after he pulls a Heroic Sacrifice to save her life and suffers a crippling loss to Dark Pretty Cure. Then comes the final arc, where she is hit by a machine-gun volley of traumatic revelations and events: Sabaku is her Disappeared Dad; Dark Pretty Cure is her genetic younger sister created by her Brainwashed father specifically to kill Yuri; Dark Pretty Cure (her younger sister) dies at Yuri's hands; her father leaves Yuri to comfort the Evil Knockoff in her dying moments; and her father is murdered in front of Yuri by the Big Bad. And she still manages to hold it together enough to Save the World with nothing more than grit and The Power of Friendship. You would think that the series would give Yuri come kind of compensation or reward for all the losses she's suffered, but no.
• Unexplained Recovery: Not only do the Desert Generals, whose recoveries are explained, manage to recover, returning to being normal humans after being purified, but Erika implies that even the Sunackies survived... somehow. Mr. Tsukikage and Dark Pretty Cure however, aren't so fortunate...
• Unsettling Gender Reveal: Tsubomi develops a crush on Itsuki at first sight and is despondent when she learns that "he" is a girl during episode 7. (Granted, she still fawns over her now and again.) Humorously, Cobraja is pretty shocked that Itsuki is female as well.
• Verbal Tic: Coffret and Chypre end their sentences with "~desu".
  • Potpourri slurs this into "deshu," presumably on account of being a newborn.
  • Kumojaki speaks with a Tosa-dialect, which results in his use of "-jaki" and "-ze yo" to punctuate his statements.
• Victim of the Week: A departure from previous continuities. Someone with an emotional problem is vulnerable to having their Heart Flower stolen, so expect to see a lot of these.
• Villainous Breakdown: Cobraja in episode 46, after he realizes what kind of despicable (read:unbeautiful) monster he is. But he refuses to stop as he reckons it's too late to go back.
• Villains Out Shopping: In Episode 18, the girls are helping a friend write a manga, so they go to a bookstore for supplies. At one point, Kumojacky's distinctive long red hair and White Mage longcoat cross the foreground holding some presumably extremely manly manga.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Episode 39 reveals that this is the basic dynamic between Erika and Coffret. Coffret might not have known it yet, though.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Olivier from the movie.
  • And Sabaku.
• Who Would Want to Watch Us?: In Episode 18, Tsubomi and Erika discover that one of their classmates has been drawing Doujinshi of Blossom and Marine. However it's much lighter on Flanderization than most instances of this trope, and the girls even volunteer to help him ink it.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Itsuki.
• Word Salad Title
• The Worf Effect: Subverted. The girls (especially Cure Sunshine) were shown to be able to hold their own against the Desert Apostles in the past, but once Cure Moonlight showed up, they were easily beaten up. Admittedly, the Apostles were stronger thanks to the Dark Bracelets, and by the end of the episode, the three of them were nearly able to cleanse them, but only after Cure Moonlight softened them up quite a bit.
• Wrecked Weapon: Cure Marine breaks Kumojacky's sword in episode 46 as part of her Heroic Second Wind. And then the fight devolves into a Pummel Duel.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Let's face it, if Kumojacky were in a Giant Mecha series, he'd be the good guy.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: All of the heroines have hair colors that match their Pretty Cure color theme. Erika's case is literal, since she actually does have blue hair.