Star Detective Precure! New Character and Additional Cast Announced, Fans React “She Looks Like She Could Transform Any Moment”

The latest installment of the long-running Pretty Cure anime franchise, Star Detective Precure! (JP: 名探偵プリキュア！), has announced additional cast members, sparking surprise and excitement among fans online.

The series is the 23rd entry in the Pretty Cure franchise and airs on ABC TV and TV Asahi every Sunday at 8:30 AM (JST). In the episode broadcast yesterday, February 8, several new characters made their debut. Ikumi Hasegawa voices Kurea Howa, a patissier at Patisserie Chouchou. Riko Akechi plays Eliza Kurusu, a current high school student who is also a rookie mystery novelist. Takehiro Hasu voices Taira Asai, the owner of Patisserie Shushu.

With popular voice actors joining the cast and at least one Precure character still unannounced, fans have taken to social media to speculate. Comments include reactions such as, “With that blue-haired character already being voiced by Ikumi Hasegawa, doesn’t it feel almost certain?” and “Just because it’s Ikumi Hasegawa, people assume she has to transform, but didn’t we already see Kenjiro Tsuda play a perfectly normal dog for a whole year?” Others wrote, “If it’s Ikumi Hasegawa, she’s obviously going to transform,” and “Ikumi Hasegawa in Precure? I have to watch,” along with “Her character looks like she could transform any moment.”

Star Detective Precure! introduces the franchise’s first detective-themed Precure and is set in the year 1999. The story follows Anna Akechi, a 14-year-old second-year middle school student living in Makoto Mirai Town. On her birthday, she encounters a fairy named Pochitan and is guided by a pendant in her room, causing her to time-slip from 2027 to Makoto Mirai City in 1999.

Anna meets Mikuru Kobayashi, another 14-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a great detective. When an incident occurs, the two cannot ignore people who are suffering after having something precious stolen. Together, they transform into Star Detective Precure, solving mysteries with the catchphrase, “That mystery! Cured and solved!” while protecting smiles through deduction and searching for clues that will allow Anna to return to her original time.

The main cast includes Hikari Senga as Anna Akechi, also known as Cure Answer; Kaede Hondo as Mikuru Kobayashi, also known as Cure Mystique; and Nao Toyama as Luluka Moria, also known as Cure Arcana Shadow. The voice actor for Cure Eclair has yet to be announced. Emiri Kato voices the fairy Pochitan, Hina Yomiya plays Mashutan, Yuki Kaji voices Jett-senpai, and the cast member for Shushutan will be revealed at a later date.

Source : ORICON NEWS