, 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 seasons.

The first season, directed by Daisuke Nishio, aired from February 1, 2004, to January 30, 2005, in the same timeslot as Toei's previous series, Ashita no Nadja. It received an English-dubbed version, which aired in Canada from March 2009 to July 2010. In the season, two middle school students gain the power to transform into the "protectors of light", Pretty Cure, and are tasked with collecting the Prism Stones to restore the Garden of Light while fighting against the forces of the Dark Zone, who caused its destruction. A second season, , aired in Japan from February 6, 2005, to January 29, 2006. It introduces another member of the group, Shiny Luminous, and follows the Cures' efforts in collecting the twelve Heartiels to revive the Queen, whose life has taken the form of Hikari Kujou/Shiny Luminous. Two Max Heart movies were released on April 16 and December 10, 2005, respectively. It was succeeded by PreCure Splash Star in its timeslot. The series' main motif is yin and yang.

Plot Pretty Cure follows two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who one day encounter Mipple and Mepple, who are from the Garden of Light. They give them the power to transform into the emissaries of light, Cure Black and Cure White, to fight against the forces of the Dark Zone: a dimension of evil that attacked the Garden of Light and now plans to invade the Garden of Rainbows, Earth. The Cures search for the Prism Stones to restore the Garden of Light, placing them in the Prism Hopish, a device protected by the Guardian, Wisdom. Once the Prism Stones are recovered, their power transports them to the Garden of Light and repairs most of the damage done by the Dark Zone. Later on, Pollun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, grants them the power of the Rainbow Bracelets to defeat the Dark King. After the Dark King's defeat, three new villains, known as the Seeds of Darkness, are born from him and seek the power of the Prism Stones for themselves.

In Max Heart, Nagisa and Honoka meet the mysterious Hikari Kujou, who is revealed to be the "life" of the Queen. Following her battle with the Dark King, the Queen was separated into three parts: the twelve Heartiels, which represent her will, the Queen Chairect, which represents her heart, and Hikari Kujou, who represents her life. Meanwhile, the remnants of the Dark Zone are protecting a mysterious boy, who is believed to be the "life" of the Dark King. Together with Hikari, who gains the power to transform into Shiny Luminous, the Cures once again fight against the Dark Zone in order to retrieve the Heartiels and restore the Queen.

Characters Where appropriate, names on the left are from the original Japanese version, whilst names on the right without Japanese text are from both the Canadian and Singaporean English dubs. Character descriptions pertain to the Japanese version of the show.

Pretty Cures /

One of the two main protagonists. A 14/15-year-old girl and student in her second and later third year of Verone Academy's Sakura Class, who is the ace of its lacrosse team. She is strong-willed but lazy, as she dislikes doing homework, and is also a food lover, her favorite dish being the takoyaki from Akane's food stand. Although generally brave, she often becomes flustered around Shogo, whom she has a crush on. She is known for her catchphrase . As Cure Black, she specializes in physical combat. Her theme color is black and her secondary colour is pink. /

One of the two main protagonists. A 14/15-year-old girl who is Nagisa's classmate and friend at Verone Academy and lives with her grandmother Sanae and her dog Chuutaro since her parents are working overseas. She is known as "The Queen of Knowledge" for her intelligence, and the members of Verone Academy's science club, of which she is a member, look up to her. Although she has few friends, they are close to her, and she has come to appreciate Nagisa's friendship. Her theme color is white and her secondary colour is blue.

/

A shy blonde-haired girl who appears in Max Heart. She is physically 13 years old and is the "life" of the Queen in human form after the Queen was split apart following her encounter with the Dark King. Going under the guise of Akane's cousin and working at her takoyaki stand, Hikari enrolls in Verone Academy as a freshman and befriends Nagisa and Honoka. She gains power from Pollun to transform into Shiny Luminous, and later gains more power from Lulun. Despite her lack of fighting skills or strength, her abilities can hinder opponents and enhance Black and White's attacks. Her theme color is pink and her secondary colour is yellow.

Garden of Light The is a realm ruled by the Queen and protected by the power of the Prism Stones, which the Dark Zone seeks for themselves.

The chosen protector of Mipple, the Princess of Hope, who gives Nagisa the power to transform into Cure Black and lives with her. He is selfish, as he often argues with Nagisa, is possessive of Mipple, and becomes jealous when Pollun does not pay attention to him. He ends his sentences with "mepo". Mepple can only stay in his true form for a short time before growing tired, so on Earth he takes on an energy-saving form that resembles a cell phone.

The Princess of Hope of the Garden of Light, who gives Honoka the power to transform into Cure White and lives with her; like her, she is generally more reserved. Although Mepple is implied to have feelings for her, Mipple sticking up for Pollun causes problems between them. She ends her sentences with "mipo". Like Mepple, she usually stays in a cell phone-like form to conserve energy.

The Prince of the Garden of Light, who is sent to Earth once the Cures have retrieved the Prism Stones, with the Queen giving a cryptic statement about his powers aiding them. Later, before Wisdom is captured, he places the power of the Prism Stones into Pollun, giving him the power to remain in his regular form while on Earth. He also gains the ability to communicate with the Garden of Light through a form called the Pretty Commune, and grants the Cures the power of light and the Rainbow Bracelets. He is energetic and tends to be selfish and childish. He lives mainly with Nagisa in Pretty Cure and Hikari in Pretty Cure Max Heart.

Appearing in Max Heart. She is Pollun's younger sister and is known as the Princess of Light who connects the future. She can give the power of the Heartiel Brooch to Luminous.

The ruler of the Garden of Light, who aids the Cures when she can. During Max Heart, she is split into Hikari, the twelve Heartiels, and the Queen Chairect. Like the Dark King, she is animated using CGI.

The guardian of the Prism Stones, who is often referred to as .

A wise sage and resident of the Garden of Light. Despite his wisdom, he often forgets Nagisa and Honoka's names and refers to them as the Pretty Cura.

Twelve fairies who are the embodiments of the Queen's will. The Cures must recover them in order to restore the Queen, placing them in the Queen Chairect, an item representing the Queen's heart. When they want one of the Heartiels to help them, Seekun turns the knob around to let one of them out of the Chairect.

The first of the Heartiels to be discovered, who represents the Queen's sense of adventure and discovery, and as such is naive about the world and asks many questions. When the Cures need the help of another Heartiel, Seekun is responsible for calling them out of the Queen Chairect. She is the last Heartiel to enter the Chairect, with her symbol in the Chairect being a telescope. She seems to prefer Nagisa, as she enjoys spending time with her over Honoka.

He is accompanied by a white dove. His symbol in the Chairect is a torch.

She first appears in episode 9, but meets the Cures in episode 10. She is often seen with a treasure box, which is also her symbol in the Chairect.

Her symbol in the Chairect is the snowflake.

A Heartiel entrusted with the Book of Wisdom, which she uses to help the Cures find a way to oppose Baldez's power. At first, she does not like Nagisa, but comes to like her after seeing her pure heart. Her symbol in the Chairect is the book.

Her symbol in the Chairect is the mirror.

His symbol in the Chairect is the key.

First seen at the end of episode 31. Her symbol in the Chairect is the crown.

His symbol in the Chairect is the pear.

Her symbol in the Chairect is the bell.

Her symbol in the Chairect is the ring.

His symbol in the Chairect is the pocket watch.

Dark Zone The villains of Pretty Cure. They come from the , a realm of darkness ruled by the Dark King.

The imprisoned ruler of the Dark Zone, who seeks to acquire the Prism Stones to gain immortality and prevent the "power to consume all things" from eventually destroying his body—he believes that it is the fate of all things to be consumed by darkness. Like the Queen, he is animated using CGI.

Monsters summoned by the servants of the Dark Zone, who combine them with objects or living things. Upon being defeated by a purifying move, they burst into several small star-shaped monsters called , who scurry off apologizing.

Dark Five The Dark King's first wave of servants, who each possess a Prism Stone.

The guardian of the Green Prism Stone. He resembles a Kabuki actor in "keshō" ("make up") due to having long hair and a painted face. His human disguise is .

The guardian of the Blue Prism Stone and the strongest of the Dark Five, who relies on brawn over brains and has the highest fortitude of the group, as he can withstand being hit by the Marble Screw.

The guardian of the Orange Prism Stone, who often takes on a human disguise to gain the Cures trust before attacking. In her true form, she resembles a vampire, as she has pale skin and fangs.

The youngest of the Dark Five and Poisony's younger brother, who is the guardian of the Yellow Prism Stone. He comes to Earth to spy on Nagisa and Honoka, infiltrating Verone Academy under the guise of the freshman . Despite this, he ends up befriending them and develops a fondness and love for Honoka because of her showing kindness to him. Later on, his feelings for Honoka and his attempts to understand human emotions cause him to be unable to fight the Cures. This causes him to be sent back to the Dark Zone, but not before willingly giving up his Prism Stone to the Cures. After the Dark King is destroyed, he returns as a normal human.

The leader of the Dark Five and their most powerful member, as well as the Dark King's right-hand man and the guardian of the Purple Prism Stone. Despite his strength and being able to withstand the Marble Screw and other attacks, his fortitude is not as high as Gekidrago. He later appears on Earth, but does not start fighting the Cures until after Kiriya is sent back to the Dark Zone. He is defeated, but later returns and takes on a more monstrous and powerful form to fight the Cures in the Dark Zone.

Three Seeds of Darkness A villainous trio who appear after the Dark Five and the Dark King are defeated, being born from the Dark King and initially normal humans until they awaken their powers and transform into their true selves. They are accompanied by a macaw and the Butler Zakenna.

The leader of the Seeds of Darkness, whose human alias is . He is a plotter and a sadist who blends in by impersonating others. Due to his ego, it is always someone in a high position, such as a head doctor or principal.

The only female of the trio, whose human alias is . When in human form, she has a tendency to mumble things, then suddenly scream. She is more confident in her dark form than her human form.

The strongest member of the trio, whose human alias is Depicted as his original form in the English dub.