, stylized as Kirakira☆PreCure a la Mode is a 2017 Japanese magical girl anime series produced by Toei Animation and the fourteenth installment in Izumi Todo's Pretty Cure metaseries, featuring the twelfth generation of Cures. It is directed by Kohei Kureta and Yukio Kaizawa. Jin Tanaka wrote the script, and Marie Ino designed the characters. The cake and sweets designs were handled by pâtissière Junko Fukuda. The series began airing on all All-Nippon News Network stations in Japan on February 5, 2017, succeeding Witchy PreCure! in its timeslot. It was then succeeded by Hug! Pretty Cure on February 4, 2018. The series' main topics are happiness and creativity, with desserts and animals as its motifs.
Toei Animation Inc. licensed the series outside Japan for all territories, with Crunchyroll streaming the series starting on August 20, 2020. With the exception of Smile PreCure! and DokiDoki! PreCure, which were released by Saban in English under the name Glitter Force, it is the third series to be released under the "Pretty Cure" name since Futari wa Pretty Cure.
Plot
Ichika Usami is a second-year middle school student who loves sweets and wishes to work in a patisserie, but struggles to bake. One day, she encounters a fairy named Pekorin, who is able to detect "Kirakiraru", an element residing in sweets that represent the feelings put into them. However, evil fairies start to steal the Kirakiraru for themselves, leaving the sweets black and lifeless. Determined to protect the sweets, Ichika gains the power of the Legendary Patisserie and transforms into the Pretty Cure, Cure Whip, to protect the Kirakiraru. Joined by five other Pretty Cures, Ichika opens up a mobile sweet shop called the Kirakira Patisserie and spends her days making sweets while fighting against those who seek to steal Kirakiraru and bring misfortune to the world.
Production
The series was first registered by Toei at the Japanese Copyright Office on October 25, 2016. A month after its registration, Toei opened a teaser site for the series with the catchphrase "Create, Taste and Battle!". On December 26, 2016, Toei updated the official website with the main characters and staff, alongside the two theme songs and the official release date. This revealed the series to be the third series in the franchise to utilize a five-person team. It was also confirmed that the main characters were running a sweets shop and that the series would still feature battle scenes, but would have a different style of fighting called Colorful Pop Battles to fit with the series theme.
In an interview with the team behind the series, they expressed several concepts being used and adapted in the series. The producers stated that a five-person team was being used after ten years to differentiate it from the previous series, Maho Girls PreCure!, which initially had a duo that later expanded to become a trio. Producer Yu Kaminoki said that "Running a sweets shop/bakery is one of many jobs girls have dreamed of being when they grow up, and that is a good theme for the next series. However, deciding how fighting elements would fit in a dessert-themed series is hard and is not compatible with Pretty Cure or any fighting girls series". They also stated that "using animals as a secondary motif could help balance the first motif of the series and is possible with imagination, to actually make the series work than just using sweets as the series' motif". Lastly, they said that the "animal motif would extend to the main character, Ichika, who decorates and creates desserts with an animal motif due to her huge imagination."
While discussing the staff, the producer said that Kohei Kureta and Yukio Kaizawa were chosen to direct the series to lessen the burden in production while coming up with newer concepts. Yukio Kaizawa was chosen due to his work with the Cure Flora and the Mischievous Mirror short film, and he stated that as director, he wanted to incorporate new ideas into the series. Kaizawa also stated that it was his first time directing a series in Toei's Sunday morning lineup since joining the staff, and that directing alongside Kohei Kureta would be a challenge. Kureta was grateful that he could work alongside him. Despite working together, both directors will direct the series in different episodes and are responsible for how the series will turn out.