KiraKira Pretty Cure a la Mode

, 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.