On Saturday, January 17, 2026, 《 was held at Tokyo・Suginami Kokaido.Idol Pretty Cure You and Me ♪》Blu-ray vol.1 Purchase Bonus Special Event. Appearing on stage were Misato Matsuoka as Idol Angel / Sakura Uta, Minami Takahashi as Kokoro Angel / Aokaze Nana, and Heartbeat Angel / Shion Kokoro's Natsumi Takamori, Nango Aino as Touch Angel/Puriru, and Hanai Miharu as Kiss Angel/Mepple, five in total. As the final episode approaches, at a time when the feelings of fans (the Sparkles) are especially high, this event lasted two hours and was a precious occasion filled with rich conversation looking back on the story together. This article will bring you the situation of the event.
■ Opening: Cast Introductions and Their Honest Feelings
Introduced by Marou Terasako, the familiar MC for Pretty Cure series events, the five cast members made their entrance. They acknowledged the penlights and merchandise held aloft by the Kira-Kiranranz, then each delivered their greetings and character introductions to thunderous cheers from the audience. The reactions from the cast and the crowd alike made the palpable anticipation for the upcoming discussion impossible to miss.
At the top of the event, the cast opened up about their feelings as the series was down to its final two episodes. "It’s so lonely I can barely accept it," shared Nanjo. "It’s such a strange feeling," said Takamori. "I’m right there with all of you, looking forward to every new broadcast," added Takahashi. Matsuoka, however, shared a different take: "I haven’t really felt the loneliness yet." She went on to explain her honest feelings: "When we finished dubbing, I was absolutely heartbroken. But every week, I watch the anime with the same heart as the Kira-Kiranranz, so the loneliness hasn’t really hit me yet. That said, when I imagine the finale airing, I feel an overwhelming wave of sadness. I’m terrified of how I’ll feel once the final episode is broadcast." Hearing this, Nanjo confessed: "I’m already slightly in the throes of post-series blues. I keep thinking ‘if I watch it, it’ll be over’, so I can’t even bring myself to watch it live anymore." She drew a laugh from the crowd as she added, "Though I end up watching it on streaming right after anyway." She also shared that when the key visual for Detective Pretty Cure! arrived early via the official Pretty Cure LINE account, she was instantly captivated by how cute it was, while also thinking "Wait, not yet!" She added, "It made me realize that all the senior cast members from past Pretty Cure series must have felt exactly this way." She also revealed that she’d recently been tuning her voice at home to make sure she could still nail Prirun’s voice, saying she was grappling with the fear that Prirun might fade away from her. Even so, she shared that she’d found herself naturally slipping into Prirun’s voice backstage that day, proving that Prirun was still very much alive and well within her.
■ Joy and Delight Felt Through Song
The event proceeded according to several themes. The first theme was "About singing activities". Centered on "Idol Pretty Cure You and Me ♪" centered on the topic of this work's unique music adorned with richly individual songs, while looking back on memories of recording and concerts and unfolding the conversation.
Matsuoka mentioned Idol Angel's stage song "Egao no Unison♪", recalling: "The calls and responses were done together with the staff. I observed the recording process, sat in the director's chair, and said 'Wonderful!' (through the intercom)—that was my first memory of singing activities (laughs). It felt like everyone was creating "Idol Pretty Cure You and Me ♪"." In addition, she revealed that she "unconsciously starts singing everyone's songs", often humming Koi Angel's stage song "Matataki no Gosenfu", and Takahashi said loudly upon hearing this, "I'm super happy." The fact that songs with distinct personalities, each shining with three different kinds of brilliance, are gathered together is also a unique charm of this work, but regarding "Matataki no Gosenfu", Takahashi said that at first "because it was a song without calls and responses, I was a little worried about how everyone would accept it". Later, seeing everyone swaying their bodies to the song and enjoying themselves at performances and events, she once again felt, "I'm so glad we could sing this song!". Nango nodded while listening, and praised it unstintingly: "It makes tears well up slowly. Among all the hype songs and cool songs, when you come into contact with Koi Angel's uniquely refreshing worldview and singing, you can't help but tear up." By the way, Takahashi herself also seems to often humCure Kyun Kyun's stage song "Kokoro Revolution." Nango said that because the chorus is too difficult, sometimes she unconsciously ends up humming it. Takamori herself also laughed and said, "The first time I heard it I was so startled I trembled, thinking, 'These lyrics are so fast!' ... As I hummed it at home, I kept singing faster and faster, and when I listened to the original song, I realized, 'So it's actually a little slower than that.'"
What made it possible to hear everyone's singing live was the special concert held on Saturday, October 18, 2025 at Yokohama National University Hall, "Idol Pretty Cure You and Me ♪ LIVE 2025 You&I＝We’re IDOL PRECURE》。在這場正式演出中，除了與動畫本篇連動之外，偶像光之美少女們也實際登上了舞台。與聲優們的表演相互呼應的演出等，隨處可見前所未有的嘗試和巧思。高森表示，光之美少女們在旁邊唱歌，讓她產生了「我們是合而為一的」這樣的想法。在回顧當天回憶時，也爆出了演唱會上普莉露和梅寶使用的湯匙麥克風的製作祕辛。
In fact, the creation of the Prirun and Meroron duets started with a rather tentative conversation from the production team, who said "We’d love to make these, but we’re not sure yet". Nanjo expressed her gratitude to the production staff for their passion that brought the songs to life, then added: "I know it might be a long shot, but I’d also love to hear a quirky denpa song where they only say 'Pri' and 'Mero'", which was met with enthusiastic cheers of agreement from the audience.
■ Heart-Fluttering "Oshi Activity" Talk
The next segment centered on the themes of "idols" and "oshi (favorite idols/characters)". Nanjo and Hanai bonded over their shared love of animals, chatting enthusiastically about their dogs and cats. The rest of the cast reacted with "That’s wonderful!" when they shared the story of Hanai going to a cat café with her family and Nanjo.
Nanjo also revealed that You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ itself has become her ultimate oshi, with Hanai adding: "This might be the first time I’ve ever bought this much merchandise for my own character." Takahashi shared a story about visiting the Pretty Cure Pretty Store, and how she ended up leaving with far more merchandise than she’d planned. She also spoke passionately about her own secret favorite idol, saying "Idols are my reason for living, my reason to breathe", explaining that their existence is her daily motivation, and also talking about her attention to visual presentation.
Beside her, Matsuoka and Takamori kept playfully stepping back and insisting the other go first, drawing amused laughter from the crowd. Takamori revealed that she displays her You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ merchandise on her household Shinto altar, and also named Sōji Itao as her long-time oshi. Flustered that she was the only one who named a specific person, she shared that he was her "first love" at around 6 years old, telling stories about him and her memories of attending his fan appreciation events.
Matsuoka, meanwhile, named "babies" as her long-time favorite, speaking about her deep affection for her much younger younger siblings.
● Kira-Kiranran-Worthy Behind-the-Scenes Stories
The five cast members have spent an entire year together through dubbing sessions, events, and more. This segment focused on the themes of "Impressions that changed while working together" and "Stories we can only share now".
Matsuoka shared a story about Takahashi buying five of the You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ Pretty Cure Breath toys for the cast. Despite the items being random blind box designs, Takahashi had managed to get a unique one for every single cast member with no duplicates, much to the shock of everyone in the group. The miracle didn’t end there: later, Setsuji Sato, voice of Zackery / Zacklin, brought the same merchandise, and by pure chance, it was the only remaining design the group didn’t have—meaning they ended up with the complete set of all 6 designs. With a bright smile, Matsuoka said: "I couldn’t help but feel a special bond between us from that incredible luck."
Nanjo spoke about Hanai, sharing that when they’d worked together at a different recording site in the past, she’d had an image of Hanai as a consummate professional craftsman—but after working together on this series, she found her to be like a little sister, saying her impression had done a complete 180-degree turn. In response, Takahashi shared a story about when she’d seen Matsuoka as a big sister figure. The conversation then shifted to memories of the entire cast visiting the You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ collaboration café, filled with stories that highlighted just how close and deeply bonded the cast had become.
■ Looking Back on the Most Memorable Episodes
From here, the discussion delved deep into the main anime series. The cast each shared their feelings about their chosen "most memorable episode" from the 47 episodes that had aired at the time of the event.
Matsuoka chose Episode 31: The Center of Idol Pretty Cure!?, which explores the question of why Cure Idol is the group’s center. She shared that she was deeply struck by the advice from Kaito Hibiki, and Cure Kiss’ line "Will you stay in the center for us, like the sun?". Her eyes lit up as she said: "It made me want to see an Idol Pretty Cure where every single one of us is the center." That line prompted Nanjo to speak from the heart: "From our perspective, it’s only natural that Cure Idol and Uta are in the center. Even so, she was seriously thinking ‘What if Cure Wink was the center? What if Cure KyunKyun was the center?’. Her purity is so dazzling that she doesn’t even realize we’re all thinking ‘Why are you even talking about this now?’. That straightforwardness is exactly who Cure Idol is, exactly who Uta is. And Misato-chan, who speaks these words without a single doubt, is exactly why she is Uta. She’s the perfect leader." Matsuoka blushed slightly, but smiled brightly and said: "Thank you, that makes me so happy. But I really do want to see an Idol Pretty Cure where every single one of us is the center!" Her genuine sincerity was exactly like Uta herself, perfectly proving Nanjo’s words true.Takahashi added: "With Cure Idol in the center, this becomes an idol group where every single person’s individuality is accepted and celebrated." She went on: "If Cure Wink was the center, it might have a more graceful, elegant atmosphere. If Cure KyunKyun was the center, it might be full of endless energy. But idols are all about accepting every part of who you are, and that’s what makes each of our individualities shine." The rest of the cast reacted with warm agreement, saying "That was such a beautiful thing to say."
Takahashi chose Episode 22: Idol Pretty Cure VS Zukyun Kiss!?. She explained that this episode brought out a new side of Nana through her interactions with Meroron, and that she was overjoyed by the moment she and Meroron connected through the poem during the cooking battle. For the event, she had even written down the full text of the poem from that scene and read it aloud for the audience.
She shared: "I feel like that moment we connected through the poem is what started my full-on oshi activities for Meroron." She also added that this episode was special because it came right after a somber period where Prirun had lost her memories, saying "It made me so happy to see everyone having fun and smiling again."
In episode 26, "Never Getting Tired of It!", which Ms. Takamori introduced as "a textbook-like story that lets you understand the very heart of Kokoro," the title phrase also overlaps with the lyrics of "Kokoro Revolution." She recalled, "When I realized, 'This line was given to me by my (late) father!', I was struck by the connection." She also mentioned episode 14, "To Mama ~A Message from the Heart~," which depicts a Mother's Day-related story. She revealed that the flashback scene at the end depicting Kokoro's birth originally had no dialogue in the script, but on the day of the post-recording, hearing Kokoro's mother and father gently soothing her with "Kokoro-chan, Kokoro-chan," she found herself overflowing with emotion. Ms. Takamori said, "You can feel that she was raised in such a happy family. No wonder Kokoro grew into such a strong and warm child." Precisely because this is an episode that moved many people to tears even in the main story, some fans could be seen gently pressing the corners of their eyes while listening to Ms. Takamori speak.
Nanjo picked a scene from Episode 37: New Power! The Idol Heart Ribbon!, specifically the moment right before the battle with the Dark Lander, where Prirun lifts Uta’s hand to encourage her. She noted that Prirun had watched Nana take Uta’s hand to encourage her in the show’s opening sequence, saying: "I think Prirun learned how to encourage people in her own way from that moment." Building on that analysis, she revealed that she had ad-libbed a soft "Pri" line in the opening sequence, even though it wasn’t written in the script.
She also shared that there had been a period where she struggled with whether she was properly portraying Prirun’s innocent, carefree nature. But when she saw the pure, genuine reaction of the fairies from Kirakira Land when they saw the Idol Pretty Cure’s introductions in Episode 44: The Secret of Kirakira Land!, she had a revelation: "This is who Prirun was in Episode 1 and 2." She explained that she realized the parts of her performance she’d felt were missing were actually the result of Prirun’s growth, as she’d come to Hanamichi Town as a blank slate and grown into an older sister figure. "I hope everyone was able to feel Prirun’s growth in Episode 37," she said, before adding with a laugh: "Sorry for how heavy my love for Prirun is."
Hanai introduced Episode 32: Pri! Mero! Dream School Life!, saying "This is my absolute favorite episode." Her voice brightened as she shared that after Meroron was trapped in a dark capsule, only freed by the power of the Heart Kirari Lock, the "dream school life" the episode depicted was only possible because the bond between the five of them had grown unshakable—and that it was "just pure fun from start to finish". Looking back on the classroom scenes and other moments, she said: "This was the first time I was ever able to go into a dubbing session with a completely empty mind. It felt like I was making up for all the youth I never got to experience all at once." She also touched on how Meroron, who had once been dismissive of cheering for others, was able to cheer for Student Teacher Mochida after learning that the power of support truly reaches people. "I was happier than anything to see her grow into someone who wants to make people shine bright and full of joy," she concluded.
■ The Cast’s Boundless Love for Kimipuri
The next theme was "The People Around Idol Pretty Cure", where the cast discussed their relationships with characters outside the main group.
The first name brought up was Junichi Suwabe, voice of Tanaka (affectionately known as Tanakān). The entire cast, led by Nanjo, spoke in unison about how deeply he loves You and Idol Pretty Cure♪.
Takahashi commented that for Nana, Hamori (Uta’s younger sister) is a key figure, someone like a guardian angel. She shared that she and Tomoko Iida, voice of Hamori, share the same hobbies, and that she always looked forward to seeing her at recording sessions.
Matsuoka also spoke about the depictions of the Sakura family throughout the series. She shared that she grew closer to Hiroya Egashira (voice of Uta’s father) and Sayaka Kitahara (voice of Uta’s mother) over the course of the series, saying: "It felt like I gained another family in my life." She also touched on the fact that the final chorus of Uta’s song Everyday♪UTA-OH!! includes the names of her entire family, including the family dog Kyutaro, saying "I love this detail so much" with clear affection.
The conversation also shifted to the villainous Chokkiri Gang, with the cast sharing plenty of laughs. Takamori recalled: "We had more strategy meetings for them than anything else every week at dubbing." Nanjo revealed behind-the-scenes details: "There were so many ad-libs that never made it to the final broadcast, and it was so hard to keep a straight face." She also revealed that she, Masaaki Yano (voice of the Dark Lander), and Setsuji Sato had formed an "Ad-lib Alliance", much to the surprise of the rest of the cast. The entire group also expressed their admiration for Yano, who intentionally kept a respectful distance from the main cast in keeping with his villain role, calling his dedication "incredible". It was a segment that truly showcased the warm, joyful bond between the entire cast.
● A Sneak Peek at the Highlights Leading to the Climax
As the event neared its end, the words "Final 2 Episodes: Here’s What to Watch For!" appeared on the monitor, and the previously lively stage fell silent for a moment. Even in that silence, the depth of the cast’s love for the series was palpable.
After a moment of thought, Takahashi chose her words carefully: "These final two episodes are incredibly memorable for us, but we want all of you to experience them with fresh eyes, so I’m struggling with what to share. All I can say is, please just watch them. I truly believe these final two episodes live up to the title You and Idol Pretty Cure♪." Nanjo echoed her agreement wholeheartedly.
Matsuoka then shared: "I was absolutely blown away by the creative choice to invite Dark Ine to a live show, rather than ‘defeat’ her." Takamori added: "I was shocked by the direction the final episode takes." Each cast member spoke with careful, deliberate words, their deep affection for the series shining through every line. Hanai teased, speaking as Cure Kiss: "There’s a line at the end that will give you chills", building even more anticipation for the series climax. To close out the event, each cast member delivered a heartfelt message to the Kira-Kiranranz. The final message was delivered by Misato Matsuoka: "What we talked about today is only a tiny fraction of the stories we have. There are so many more moments full of our love for Kimipuri. When we all talk together, I just want to share every single one of them, and it made me realize once again just how much You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ means to me. There’s a sadness that once these final two episodes air, it will all be over… but I also appeared in the previous series, Wonderful Pretty Cure!. After we finished recording the finale of this series, I remembered how the cast of Wonderful PreCure welcomed me with open arms and big smiles. I want to become a reliable senior, just like they were for me. That’s why I want to greet the final episode with a smile."
She continued, pouring every ounce of her heart into her request: "I have a personal favor to ask all of you: please never forget You and Idol Pretty Cure♪. Please rewatch it over and over again on Blu-ray, for years to come."
If you rewatch the series while recalling the stories shared at this event, you are sure to make new discoveries. We hope you will revisit the bright, joyful time delivered by the Idol Pretty Cure, again and again. You and Idol Pretty Cure♪ Blu-ray Vol.3 is scheduled for release on Wednesday, March 25, and Blu-ray Vol.4 is scheduled for release on Wednesday, May 27.
Text by Mari Sakai
