#what a stroke of genius from toei about elena's cure name

[mahou-furbies]

I like behind-the-scenes character trivia, so here is a copypasted compilation of that from Precure wiki, and also some bits I was able to find on Pixiv. The Pixiv stuff is based on google translate and my own faulty Japanese so take them with a grain of salt (and I’m not fact checking any of this anyway).

Cure Black

Cure Black's outfit was upgraded in Max Heart due to parental concerns about how her previous outfit might have been too revealing for children.

Nagisa's name was originally going to be Kuni (クニ), as revealed in the concept art book.

Yes! Precure 5

There were initial plans to have all five Cures be in a student council (with Nozomi as the president), but it was scrapped due to not wanting everyone to be on the side of power. (from Pixiv)

They were supposed to appear in the Healin’ Good anime first before going to the Tokyo trip in the movie together, but this was scrapped due to covid. (from Pixiv)

Milky Rose

According to an interview with the producer of the Yes! 5 series (Washio Takashi), he didn't expect the series to last for two years and also never meant to make Milk have a human alias. However, when the production of the sequel started, he wanted to make a new character become a Pretty Cure who would have been familiar with the Cures from the start and eventually chose Milk.

Cure Passion

In the book "Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters", it’s revealed that she was originally going to have a similar look to Cure Peach, save for an increase in hair volume until her costume was changed to look like armor to help her stand out.

Additionally, in early stages, animators played around with things like the position of the ribbon and different headband shapes.

The same book also revealed two things regarding Setsuna as Eas: 

The diamond-like cross on the back of her outfit represented the burden she bore before her defection.

Her original hairstyle lacked a headband and looked a bit too much like bedhead. But a hairstyle borrowed from a newscaster didn't appeal to Toei's target demographic.

Cure Blossom / Cure Flower

According to an issue of Drawing Fantastic Female Fighters, Cure Flower's design is based off how the staff imagined a grown-up Cure Blossom.

Cure Marine

According to character designer Umakoshi Yoshihiko, she was originally to have an updo hairstyle as Cure Marine

Cure Rhythm

In prototype concept art, Cure Rhythm was originally going to be a purple Cure.

Cure Happy

Miyuki was originally planned to be in cheerleading club. (from Pixiv)

Cure March

Her theme colour was originally planned to be purple, but was changed so that the characters would form a bright rainbow colour when lined up. (from Pixiv)

Cure Diamond

In the Official Complete Book of Doki Doki! Pretty Cure, it was revealed that Rikka does not have romantic feelings towards Ira, though there were initially plans to develop it. "On romantic feelings: I don't feel that Rikka has romantic feelings toward Ira, though there were plans to develop it. But that would be overdoing it for Pretty Cure."

Instead, it was confirmed by the director of Doki Doki! after the finale aired that Diamond was in love romantically with Heart, in turn how she freed herself after becoming frozen by her own attack is considered as a plot hole. Therefore, in theory Diamond sacrificed herself for Heart.

Cure Rosetta

Alice was initially planned to have an older brother named Hiromichi, who was the former student council president of Oogai Middle School and was the one who led Mana to become president herself. He was eventually cut due to the idea of Mana having a crush on him, which went against her "charity" character idea. This is mentioned in the Official Complete Book of Doki Doki! Pretty Cure.

Cure Sword

She was originally going to join the team halfway through the series, but the idea was scrapped due to her appearance in New Stage 2.

DokiDoki was supposed to be a 3-person team, with Sword joining as the mid-season Cure. When her joining was pushed to episode 6, a lot of plot elements had to be changed, such as Sword originally having a lot of senpai Precure from Trump Kingdom. (from Pixiv)

Cure Lovely

According to her official TV Asahi profile, she had made 100 friends during elementary school.

Her mother was planned to have an incurable disease, with the end series conflict being that Megumi has to choose between world peace and curing her mother, but it was scrapped due to being too heavy. (from Pixiv)

Cure Princess

Was originally going to be named Cure Brave (from Pixiv)

Cure Honey

Was originally going to be named Cure Tender, which later was reused for Iona’s sister (from Pixiv)

She was planned to have a plotline about some unspecified insecurity, but it was removed because her character turned out to be too mature for that to fit. (from Pixiv)

Cure Fortune

Was originally going to be named Cure Mercy (from Pixiv)

Her original design looked too much like an office lady, but elements of it (like the pencil skirt) were reused for Cure Tender (from Pixiv)

Cure Echo

She had her own 10th anniversary greeting storyboarded, but it wasn’t animated due to her position as a special character (from Pixiv)

Cure Twinkle

During early development, her transformation background color was yellow instead of purple.

Cure Miracle

Mirai was originally going to be revealed to have Magic World ancestry, but this concept was eventually scrapped by writers who wanted her to be the more normal member of the Mahou Tsukai team, making her the only of the main Mahou Tsukai! Cures not to come from the Magic World.

A handsome boy who was popular among girls was supposed to be Mirai’s classmate, and a story line where Mirai and Riko aren’t swayed by him was planned. (from Pixiv)

Cure Magical

During the production of Mahou Tsukai, Riko was originally going to have a rival named Shiina Ryuuichi, who was scrapped and ended up being a background character instead.

Cure Mofurun

According to an interview with movie director Tanaka Yuta, most of the staff of Mahou Tsukai Pretty Cure! originally thought of Mofurun as genderless. She became a girl through the development of the series and the characters - as a fact file states, they even wanted to include a line about Mofurun saying that she is “a girl, mofu!”, but did not get the chance to.

The fact file includes description of original plans for Mirai to have thought of Mofurun as a boy in her childhood, but Mofurun deciding otherwise after she became alive and telling her so in the above line.

A rough sketch by Miyamoto Emiko reveals that Mofurun was originally going to wear an overall-like garment.

Cure Chocolat

Early character exploration art by Ino Marie, the character designer, shows her to be scared of bugs and ghosts. 

Cure Yell

According to an interview with Kawamura, the character designer, in the January 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine Animage, the tragedy version of Hana from the future where George and Hugtan came from had never transferred schools. Because she never met Saaya or Homare and was stuck in such a hostile environment, Hana saw no reason to better herself at all.

According to staff member Tsubota Fumi, she based Hana's personality on her voice actor, and she even asked Hikisaka Rie about Hana's feelings for George, adding that it was the beginning of budding feelings. She also asked Rie about whether Hana would like Amano Hinase back, but Rie said that it would be impossible for Hana who prefers men that are older and more mature than him.

Cure Ange

According to an interview with Kawamura, one of the writers, in the January 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine Animage, the version of Saaya from the future where George and Hugtan came from never got to pursue her ambition as a doctor as she would be pressured by the high expectations set by her mother.

Cure Etoile

According to an interview with Kawamura, one of the writers, in the January 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine Animage, the version of Homare from the future where George and Hugtan came from is indicated that she would've remained a delinquent or worse after succumbing to the despair caused by her failed skating experience.

The original concept design for Homare had her wear pigtails in civilian form before being changed into her bob cut. Additionally her near final concept design was meant to don pigtails instead of the side tail hairstyle.

Cure Macherie

According to an interview with Kawamura, one of the writers, in the January 2019 issue of the Japanese magazine Animage, the version of Emiru from the future where George and Hugtan came from would never achieve her dream of becoming a guitarist and singer, because she and her elder brother, Masato would still be living under the oppressive mentality of their grandfather.

Emiru was originally going to be named "Utau", but the staff thought it sounded too old fashioned.

Cure Star

According to head writer Murayama Isao, a producer from ABC suggested the name "Akari" as an alternative to Hikaru, which he viewed as "too strong." Murayama thought "Akari" would be interesting since the character would share a name with the producer, Yanagawa Akari, but Hikaru was ultimately chosen.

Hikaru originally had glasses (from Pixiv)

Cure Milky

Although she has claimed to be an adult, and is considered one on her home planet, her voice actress stated in an interview that in terms of her character's actual maturity level, “It was a lie.”

In the January 2020 special issue of Animage, primarily focusing on Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure, series composition Murayama Isao stated that Lala's name was chosen because it felt right and "alien-like."

Cure Soleil

According to head writer Murayama Isao, Elena was originally going to be the student council president. However, as "pink and purple are more popular from a business standpoint," he was asked to keep the colors pink and purple as components "certain to mesh well," meaning Hikaru and Madoka were to be interconnected as opposing forces. As a result, Madoka became the president instead.

In contrast to Hikaru and Madoka, Lala and Elena were given more leeway when creating their characters, which is why the latter has a big family and a foreigner for a father. In terms of audience perception, Murayama admitted Elena was the most challenging as he predicted Lala would be perceived well for being an alien. That's why he and producer Yanagawa Akari were happy to hear that Elena's popularity grew as the series progressed.

When coming up with Cure Soleil's name, Murayama noted that the word "Elena" first came to mind. However, since Elena is a normal name for girls, it would have been like naming her "Cure Hanako," so they used Elena for her civilian name instead.

Cure Selene

According to the January 2020 special issue of Animage, primarily focusing on Star☆Twinkle Pretty Cure, series composition Murayama Isao was the one who came up with the name "Madoka," and that it would be written with the kanji "円" which indicates a circle, or full moon in this context.

Cure Cosmo

Murayama noted that Yuni's phantom thief element was primarily pushed by the female staff of the project. Producer Yanagawa Akari admitted to this, as she grew up watching anime where a girl transforms into a phantom thief, those who have a stylish image such as Mine Fujiko from "Lupin III." She wanted to create an image of a "cool, independent woman" in Yuni.

According to the Kamikita twins, who draw the Pretty Cure manga, Yuni grows up to be 175cm during the 15 years time skip.

Cure Grace

According to an interview from Animage 2021, Ikeda confirmed that Nodoka had been ill for five years until the middle of her first middle school year.

Revealed in the Official Complete Book, Cure Grace was the hardest character for Yamaoka Naoko to design, as she had revised her design 13 times.

Cure Sparkle

According to an interview in the magazine Animage, Hinata's character development was affected because of the hiatus the season had to take due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, there was going to be a Hinata fashion episode, but it never made the cut.

Furthermore, as mentioned in the Official Complete Book, Hinata's mother was meant to appear in the fashion episode as well as the Christmas episode.

Cure Summer

An interview from Animage revealed that Manatsu's theme color was always meant to be rainbow with white from the start because the Producer wanted Manatsu to stand out even amongst all the Pretty Cure.

In the Animage January 2022 issue, it was revealed that Manatsu's name was originally going to be Natsu, then Natsuki, followed by Natsumi before the staff finally settled on Manatsu.

Nakatani Yukiko revealed that Manatsu was not only designed with her origin in mind, but also as if she was a protagonist for a boy's series.

Cure Coral

An interview from Animage revealed that Sango's personality is a bit toned down compared to the other girls, but she is also the closest to the audience because she is the normal one. She has a role in being an audience surrogate, but her personal charm points will also be highlighted throughout the show.

In the Animage January 2022 issue, it was revealed that the kanji for "Suzu" in Sango's surname was originally going to be 鈴, as it looked cute and Sango as a character loves cute things. However, the staff changed it to 涼 because they wanted to match the show's ocean theme and give her a name with a water radical.

The same 2022 issue also revealed that Sango was written to be a city girl that Manatsu can look up to, which contributes to her fashionable personality.

Nakatani Yukiko also admitted that she gave Coral many hearts because she's the "leader of cute". She also looked at fashion magazines for teenagers to get inspiration for Sango's civilian design.

Cure Papaya

In the Animage January 2022 issue, it was revealed that Minori's surname "Ichinose" was chosen due to it sounding girly.

More importantly, when the staff were selecting the Japanese pronunciation of Papaya between パパイヤ or パパイア, they chose the latter option as the former sounded like "Papa iya!" which means "I hate my father!" in Japanese.

This issue also revealed that her signature eye beam attack was not created until after the production of the Tropical-Rouge! short movie.

The staff had initially considered keeping her glasses even when she transformed into Papaya, before eventually abandoning the idea.

Cure Flamingo

An interview from Animage revealed that Asuka's Cure name was going to be either Cure Phoenix or Cure Volcano.

Cure La Mer

An interview from Animage revealed that in the first draft of the story, Laura had a more typical role and was a gentle girl to tone down Manatsu's outlandishness. But Tsuchida Yutaka was concerned that she was going to get completely overshadowed by the other girls, so they changed her into a character with a strong personality and with a big presence in the story.

In the Animage January 2022 issue, it was revealed that "La Mer" was Laura's Cure name before it also became her surname, but it was added because trying to be "Laura Hyginus" would've been difficult to pronounce once she started attending school.

The same issue also revealed that La Mer's nails were originally going to be multi-colored, but the staff eventually scrapped the idea as the end result did not satisfy them.

It was also revealed that Laura's role as the queen candidate is intentional. Tsuchida Yutaka believed the idea of becoming a queen by succession is a similar message to becoming a princess by falling in love with a prince, as it relies too much on someone else.

Cure Precious

In Oops! All PreCure Animage interview, Cure Precious' name comes from Yui's own appreciation for food.

During the Delicious Party Kanshasai, Hishikawa Hana (Yui’s VA) said that Yui's ideal romantic partner is somebody that loves cooking and making food together with her.

Cure Spicy

In the Oops! All PreCure Animage interview, Cure Spicy was chosen as Kokone's alter ego name as it sounded cool.

In the same interview, Kokone's first name was originally going to be either Tsutsumi or Hasami to match her sandwich theme.

Yufu Kyouko (character designer) also remarked in the interview that Cure Spicy's circular braid is meant to resemble a donut.

During the Delicious Party Kanshasai, Shimizu Risa (Kokone’s VA) said that Kokone's ideal romantic partner for a date is somebody she can have a calm conversation and exchange books with. Pam-Pam's voice actor, Hioka Natsumi also pretended to be Kokone's date in the same scenario.

Cure Yum-Yum

In the Oops! All PreCure Animage interview, Cure Yum-Yum was originally going to be named "Cure Yummy", but was changed to make her sound cuter. Mem-Mem was chosen to be her partner to match both her Chinese motif and the food "ramen".

In the same interview, Yufu Kyouko originally drew Cure Yum-Yum wearing a Chinese hat in her first draft design.

During the Delicious Party Kanshasai, Iguchi Yuka (Ran’s VA) said that Ran's ideal romantic partner is someone she can go on adventures with.

Cure Finale

As stated in the Oops! All PreCure Animage interview, Cure Finale was originally going to be called "Cure Gorgeous" but her name was changed to match her dessert motif.

Yufu Kyouko also stated in the same interview that she wanted Finale to look like a fighting princess.

During the Kanshasai, Kayano Ai (Amane’s VA) said that Amane's ideal romantic partner is someone she can train martial arts with and watch sunsets afterwards.