Prétear

Hayate, Himeno and Sasame.

We have to find her soon, the one who will turn the snow white.

Prétear: The New Legend of Snow-White (Shin Shirayuki-hime Densetsu Puriitia), often shortened to just Prétear, is a Shojo story with a premise that can be described as "Magical Girl Warrior Snow White And The Seven Bishonen". Exactly what it sounds like — nothing too original, but nevertheless quite entertaining, if you are into this particular genre. Originally a four-volume Manga written by Jun'ichi Sato (of Sailor Moon and Princess Tutu fame) and illustrated by Kaori Naruse, it was adapted into a thirteen-episode Anime series, with some noticeable changes in the plot and character designs; both the manga and the anime were licensed by ADV; the anime is later licensed by FUNimation.

The story revolves around sixteen-year-old Himeno Awayuki, who finds herself in a situation quite a bit like in "Cinderella": several years after her mother's death, her father Kaoru married the rich widow Natsue who has two daughters, neither of whom seem to like Himeno. Unable to fit into this new environment, the girl gets more and more depressed, even starting to think that it would be better if she disappeared from the world... that is, until she stumbles upon seven dwarfs Pretty Magical Boys who call themselves the Léafe Knights. They are searching for a girl who can accept their Elemental Powers and become a Magical Girl Warrior named "Prétear". You can guess what happens next...

Main characters:

• Himeno Awayuki, an Ordinary High School Student whose dad has just married a rich woman. Plucky and kind-hearted-
• Hayate, the Knight of W. Rather cold and snarky, but very troubled deep down and gets close to Himeno in spite of himself.
• Sasame, the Knight of S. A cool guy who tries to help out people as much as possible.
• Goh, the Knight of F. A big, tempery and kind man.
• Kei, the Knight of L. A narcissistic but very practical youth.
• Mannen, the Knight of I. One of the younger Knights and a bit bratty.
• Hajime, the Knight of W. Another of the younger and cuter knights
• Shin, the Knight of P. A sensitive Knight with a love of plants.

Supporting characters:

• Kaoru, Himeno's widowed father. A good-hearted but rather childish writer.
• Natsue, Himeno's new step-mother. A very rich widow who pretty much owns the town.
• Mayune and Mawata, Natsue's daughters. Mayune is snobbish and loud, Mawata is cool and mature.
• Yayoi Takato, Himeno's classmate and best friend.
• Tanaka, a driver / servant at the Awayuki Residence.
• Mikage, a maid at the Awayuki Residence and identity of Takako Fenrir (Princess of Disaster), an anime-only character.

Tropes used in Prétear include:

• Adaptation Dye Job: Sasame is blond in the manga, and has white hair in the anime.
• Agent Peacock: Kei in the anime.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: In the manga, Mawata snaps on Himeno as she tells her that she hates how Himeno is the one needed by others despite her (Mawata's) efforts -- but she still falls to her knees and begs her for help to rescue Natsue from the Princess of Disaster. Himeno, All-Loving Heroine that she is, accepts her plea and even apologizes to Mawata for not really reeaching for her before.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Takako to Hayate, plus the anime has Sasame to Takako and Takako to Sasame's dead body...and you could possibly count Himeno's confession for Mawata to Sasame ("She was totally in love with you!") Pretear really likes this trope.
• Anime Theme Song & Ending Theme: Obviously. The first one sung by none other than Yoko Ishida...
• Awful Truth: The Backstory.
• Badass Long Hair: Hayate, Kei in the anime.
• Baka: Used a lot by Himeno and Hayate towards each other, and by Mayune towards Himeno.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy
• Barrier Maiden: Mawata in the anime
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Himeno and Hayate
• Beware the Nice Ones: Sasame is probably the sweetest of the older knights, but when he's pushed too far...oh boy.
• Big Bad: Natsue possessed by the still sealed Princess of Disaster in the manga, Takako / Mikage/Fenrir in the anime.
• Big Fancy House: The Awayuki Residence.
• Big No: In the manga, Himeno lets out one when she realizes that she's accidentally killed Shin.
• Bishonen & Cast Full of Pretty Boys: The seven Knights. Don't mind the young ones — they were Bishonen in the backstory, before they were killed and then reborn..
• Biting the Handkerchief: Mayune on at least one occasion in each version. Yayoi also does this in one episode... sort of.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Mannen
• Break the Cutie: Poor, poor Mawata.
• Brought Down to Normal: In the anime, Himeno loses her powers for an episode.
• Calling Your Attacks: "Calling Your Weapons". It doesn't seem to be mandatory, though.
• Cast from Hit Points: In the manga version.
• Catch Phrase: Himeno's "I won't lose!"/"I don't want to lose!"
• Chekhov's Gunman: In the anime, Mikage starts out as a minor character... She is Takako in disguise.
• Combined Energy Attack: In both versions, Himeno takes the Léafe from all Knights during the final battle, with different results.
• Costume Porn: Himeno has eight different Prétear forms, and all of the knights have elaborate robes they wear in battle. Remember, the show's tagline in the US was "wearable Bishounen!"
• Crash Into Hello: Himeno and Hayate in the first episode; Mayune sometimes meets the Knights in this manner.
• Cross-Popping Veins: Mainly Himeno, though other character occasionally get these as well.
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Man, where to start? Perhaps with Himeno's heart-to-heart talk with Mawata on the beach.
• Curtains Match the Window: Half of the main characters, for example, Himeno (red hair, red eyes) and Mawata (blueish-green hair and eyes).
• Cute Shotaro Boy: The three young Knights.
• Dark Magical Girl: In the anime - Fenrir, aka Takako, aka Mikage; also, to some extent, Mawata while under her influence. In the manga - anyone possessed by Takako, especially her main host, Natsue.
• The Dark Side: "Prétear and Princess of Disaster are essentially the same being" — which may become troublesome since, as the manga points out, "there is no person without darkness in their heart".
• Death by Childbirth: Himeno's mother, in the manga. She doesn't know about that until Natsue spells it out for her. In the anime, however, she died when Himeno was around five or six years old.
• Demonic Possession: Manga only. Takako possesses Natsue and uses her to turn other people into her puppets.
• Despair Event Horizon: Sasame reaches this point in the anime when he realizes that no matter what he does, Takako won't turn back from evil.
  • In both anime and manga, Takako reaches it when she realises Hayate is pretending to love her in an attempt not to harm her feelings (manga) or he outright rejects said feelings (anime)
  • Mawata comes VERY close in the anime, when Sasame not only rejects her Love Confession, but kisses Takako and reveals his Face Heel Turn.
• Disappeared Dad: Natsue's deceased first husband, aka Mayune and Mawata's father. Mawata still misses him terribly, and that's one of the sources of her loneliness
• Disappears Into Light: Leafe Knights die in this manner.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Uh... unrequited love is terrible, Takako, but trying to destroy the world because of that? And making the guy suffer a lot before doing this?
• Does This Remind You of Anything??: The Prétear's power is to merge with a Leafe Knight, gaining the power of his element, described at one point as being something like the Knight "entering her body." It's not made as much of in the manga, but the anime plays it up shamelessly in the Transformation Sequence and Himeno, clearly aware of the symbolism, gets quite flustered over it at first.
• Elemental Powers: see the character list. Also see below...
  • Elemental Baggage: only really exists in the anime; in the manga, overusing elements drains the Knights' Leafe.
  • An Ice Person: Mannen, and Himeno when she is merged with him.
  • Blow You Away & Razor Wind: Hayate, and Himeno when she is merged with him
  • Green Thumb: Shin, and Himeno when she is or is not merged with him.
  • Magic Music: Sasame in the manga--and Himeno when she is merged with him.
  • Playing with Fire: Goh, and... well, you get the picture...
  • Personality Powers: The older Knights. The brash and snarky Hayate got Wind, a good listener Sasame - Sound, energetic hot-headed Goh - Fire, intellectual Kei - Light.
    • Weapon of Choice: Interestingly, it's Himeno who gets to use these. Hayate, the leader, provides her with a sword, Sasame - with "Sound Arrow", Goh - with an axe... Kei's weapon in the manga was a staff, which also fits.
• Emotion Eater: The Taiji of Fenrir in the anime is powered by despair.
• The End of the World as We Know It: Standard Big Bad's goal — in this case, via draining the world's Life Energy. Successfully prevented, though the anime version nicely illustrates it with the destruction of Léafenia.
• Evil Costume Switch: Sasame in the anime version.
• Evolving Credits: Episodes 10-11 replaced one scene in the opening.
• Expy: The anime versions of Himeno, Hayate, Sasame and Takako appear to have expies in Ahiru/Duck, Fakir, Mytho and Rue from Princess Tutu (another anime directed by Junichi Sato), although since Tutu was first thought up by Ikuko Itoh and Sato during their work on Sailor Moon, it might be the other way around.
• Eyes of Gold: Kei, Sasame in the manga (non-evil characters), also Fenrir for a while.
• Face Heel Turn: Sasame in the anime.
• Fallen Hero: The Big Bad, Takako, used to be the Prétear.
• Fan Service: The transformation scenes, definitely. Mayune's shower scenes probably count, as well.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Kei's Knight of Light outfit in the anime (in the manga, it is far less weird).
• Fetish Fuel: "Let's become one..." With Bishonen, some of whom are still children. No wonder poor Himeno gets embarrassed by this... And just in case this isn't enough for you, one of the show's taglines is "Wearable Bishonen".
• First Blood: Used in episode 2, when Himeno notices that Hayate is injured.
• First Guy Wins: In the manga.
• Flash Back: Quite a lot, including those to the Backstory.
• Flight: Prétear and all Knights, seemingly just because it's cool.
• For Massive Damage: The Mayouchuu already attached to something can only be killed by destroying their "core".
• Gender Blender Name: Hayate, Kei, Kaoru.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Kei to Sasame in the manga.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Himeno gets these when she is angry. Fenrir also has glowing golden eyes until she takes on her true form.
• Gray Rain of Depression: Sasame is shown wandering around in the rain after his confession to Takako.
• Hair Colors / Anime Hair: A large variety.
  • Dark-Skinned Blond: Kei in the anime version (in the manga, he has a paler skin tone).
  • Redheaded Hero / Fiery Redhead: Himeno, nicknamed "Tulip Head" by Hayate for her hairstyle in Rose-Haired Girl.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Sasame, although in the anime version only, as he was blond in the manga. Seems that this was changed on purpose.... Mannen's hair is purplish-white, but he is only a kid anyway.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Hayate's hair is dark blue (incidentally, he has normal black hair in the manga), Mawata's is blueish-green, and Mayune's is pink.
• Happily Married: Kaoru and Natsue, in the anime version.
• Hero Secret Service: The Léafe Knights for the Prétear.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Himeno at the end of the anime, and that's after Hayate died protecting her and Sasame got hit with Redemption Equals Death for Takako. He's revived (and so is Sasame) by Himeno's own sacrifice, and then his True Love's Kiss revives her.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Himeno.
• Hidden Eyes: Mainly Hayate, though Himeno is sometimes seen with these as well.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Himeno's first fight as the Wind Prétear.
• An Ice Suit: The ice dress. Would be a "Happy Holidays" Dress, and is cut like a Sexy Santa Dress, but it wasn't explicitly worn during the holidays.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Himeno certainly doesn't, as long as she is needed; if anything, it's in regards to her new lifestyle, not superpowers.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: This is how Himeno released Mawata from the Taiji. And almost immediately afterwards, she used a similar technique on Takako.
  • Also in the manga, Mawata and Himeno tag-team to give one to Natsue. They also succeed.
• Image Song: The four older Knights have these, found on the soundtrack CDs; those for Hayate and Sasame were used in the series.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Himeno's Magical Girl outfits sometimes get a bit too "magical".
• I'm Taking Her Home with Me: Shin get chased by around 20 cooing girls while searching for the Prétear.
• Invisible to Normals: Throughout most of the anime, part of the time via Phantom Zone. Doesn't really happen in the manga.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Sasame in the manga.
• Japanese Pronouns: Can you guess the two of the seven Knights who use "boku" instead of "ore"?
• Jerkass Facade -> Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Hayate.
• Kid Appeal Character: The young Léafe Knights, especially Mannen.
• Kiss of Death: A symbolic one — Takako kisses Mawata before extracting her soul.
• Late for School: Himeno at the start of the series, forced to take a shortcut that leads into... somewhere. Or, in the anime, somebody.
• Leitmotif: Transformation theme, battle themes, character themes...
• Life Energy: "Léafe".
• Limited Wardrobe: Somewhat understandable with the Knights, but why do the members of the rich Awayuki family only have 2-3 costumes per person, school uniforms for the girls included?
• Living with the Villain: Or better said, Having The Villain Work As Your Maid, in the anime, when Takako poses as Mikage the maid.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Mawata, to some extent, despite apparently being popular at school.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Hayate, Kei in the anime.
• Love Bubbles: That's what Bishonen are for...
• Love Hurts: Just about every member of the show's Love Triangles is a victim of this trope in one way or another.
• Love Makes You Evil: Takako, Sasame in the anime, even Mawata if we go to familiar love and her crush on Sasame.
• Love Martyr: Sasame, when he's being more heroic.
• Love Redeems: Takako in the last episode, as well as Sasame.
• Love Triangle: Uh...
  • Manga: Mawata -> Sasame -> Himeno <-> Hayate
  • Anime: Mawata -> Sasame <-> Takako
  • Backstory: Sasame -> Takako -> Hayate
• Luminescent Blush: Himeno. Hayate is quite prone to this as well, especially in the manga.
• Mad Love: Sasame in his darker moments
• Magical Girl / Magical Girl Warrior: Himeno as the Prétear.
• Magical Land: Léafenia.
• Man Child: Karou is so feckless that Himeno sometimes has to act as a parent to him. He means well and genuinely loves Himeno, but he clearly expects all the women in his life--his daughter included--to take care of him. To be fair, he does come around and acts quite more maturely by the last episode.
• Meaningful Name / Prophetic Name: "Hime" in "Himeno" means "princess", "yuki" in "Awayuki" means "snow".
• Megane: Sasame in the anime (and the last chapter of the manga).
• Messianic Archetype: The Legendary White Pretear.
• Mini-Dress of Power: Most of the Pretear outfits.
• Missing Mom: Himeno's real mother is dead, hence the stepmother, although she isn't a wicked queen.
• Mood Dissonance / Soundtrack Dissonance: ...was it so hard not to have Sasame's not-quite-heroic sacrifice followed by the cute ending sequence?
• Moe: Shin.
• Mukokuseki
• Nightmare Dreams: Himeno at the start of episode 5. It was Fenrir/Takako's attempt to communicate with her.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Mayune.
• Nosebleed: Tanaka in episode 5.
• Not So Different: Fenrir points this out in episode 8, saying that Himeno is going to be abandoned by the Knights after the fight is over, and then she will become an evil being like her. Given that Fenrir used to be the Prétear and was in love with Hayate, this makes perfect sense...
• Ojou: Mawata and Mayune, in different ways.
• "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: "I'll win in the next episode, too!" (dub)/"I won't be beaten in the next episode, either!" (sub), both spoken by Himeno.
• One Head Taller: Himeno is quite shorter that the older Knights, even though they are supposed to look about the same age.
• One-Woman Wail: "Nikushimi no Hate", the Leitmotif for Fenrir.
• Only One Name: The Knights. Apparently.
• Ordinary High School Student: Himeno.
• Otaku: In the anime, Yayoi Takato is a big fan of romance novels, to the point when almost anything said by other characters prompts her to give a long speech that sounds like a passage from a poorly written romance novel - and often doesn't make much sense.
• Out-of-Clothes Experience: Mawata, briefly, when Himeno tries to rescue her from the Taiji of Fenrir.
• Overclocking Attack: In the last episode, Himeno defeats the Big Bad's evil tree by feeding it so much of her own Léafe that it disintegrates.
• Phantom Zone: The field created by Shin in the anime version to protect the worlds during fights.
• Pimped-Out Dress: The Pretear outfits, which may or may not be what the knights become when they merge.
• Playing Against Type: Yui Horie plays Takako. Yes, from Tohru and Naru to the local Dark Magical Girl...
• Plucky Comic Relief: Tanaka; Yayoi, to some extent.
• Plucky Girl : Himeno. "I...WON'T...LOSE!!
• Pretty in Mink: The Ice outfit.
• Power Gives You Wings: Pretear's final form, White Pretear, has huge translucent butterfly wings.
• The Promise: Hayate makes one before the final battle in the anime.
• Psycho Supporter: Sasame, in the anime version.
• Quivering Eyes
• Radio Voice
• Rage Against the Mentor: Himeno eventually forces the Knights to reveal the Backstory no one bothered to explain to her from the start. It doesn't end well...
• Rapunzel Hair: The Princess of Disaster (but not Takako), as well as Mayune, and Hayate in the manga.
• Recruit Teenagers with Attitude: Justified with the Knights, who have pretty much been trained from birth, but played pretty straight with Himeno and Takako. To be fair, the show actually deals with the possible consequences of putting the fate of the world on the shoulders of a teenage girl.
• Redemption Equals Death: Sasame--although he's a rare example of a victim of this trope being brought back to life.
• Redheaded Hero: Although Himeno's hair borders between red and pink.
• Reflective Eyes: Himeno and Mawata, each on at least one occasion.
• Refusal of the Call: Himeno initially doesn't even believe the Knights.
• Reincarnation: The three younger Knights. Apparently.
• Requisite Royal Regalia: Himeno's Magical Girl costumes include tiaras; the one she wears as the White Prétear actually resembles a crown.
• The Reveal: The end of Episode 9 (Mikage is the Big Bad); to be fair, some people saw this one coming, since Takako's original form has already been shown two episodes earlier.
• Rich Bitch: Mayune, until Mawata is rescued by Himeno.
• Running Gag: Several, and they all show up together at the end of the last episode.
  • Yayoi's crazy speeches about love, inspired by romance novels.
  • Mayune's attempts to seduce the Knights who wander around the house.
  • Natsue's "Tanaka. [Did something wrong.] Salary cut for N months."
  • Tanaka losing his "precious" hair due to stress.
• Save the Villain: What the anime boils down to, which leads to Everybody Lives
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Sasame has a few face-fault moments in the anime where his glasses are whited-out, which isn't really this trope...but there's another scene in which he stands on a roof, wind blowing dramatically through his clothes and glasses shining right before his Face Heel Turn that's definitely this trope.
  • Tanaka also has several extremely shiny moments, often highlighted by a gleam of light reflecting off of his (desperately not) bald head.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Takako was sealed away sixteen years before, and broke the seal at the start of the first episode. (In the manga, she didn't break free, which still didn't stop her from possessing people.)
• Shojo
• Shonen Hair: Goh and Mannen. (Particularly Mannen.)
• Shoo Out the Clowns: At the beginning of the two-part finale, Yayoi and Tanaka are dragged away from the city in a crowd of fleeing townspeople. Neither is seen again until the ending.
• Show Within a Show: "Sasame's Words-Gate", a radio program.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Karou and Natsue's cooing over each other can't help but be mortally embarassing to their teenage children.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Sasame is Takako-sexual to the point of obsession.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Translators don't seem to agree whether it's "Leafe", "Liefe", "Leife", or something else. For the record, the cover of the second soundtrack CD renders the term as "Léafe".
• Spiritual Predecessor: Of Princess Tutu.
• Stepford Smiler: Mawata and Sasame. Mawata is outwardly polite, quiet and mature, but feels hollow and unloved ever since her father died. Sasame's case is even better: is flirty, cheerful and helpful, to the point that none of the Knights or Himeno see his eventual breakdown coming despite numerous hints that he was struggling.
• Stock Footage: Some transformations and attacks (not always, though), Shin setting up the barrier, the Knights fighting inside the Phantom Zone.
• The Sweat Drop
• "Take That!" Kiss: Fenrir gives Mawata one just before she rips her heart out.
• Tall, Dark and Snarky: Hayate.
• Team Pet / Small Annoying Creature: Tipi, a kind of bird from Léafenia.
• The Teaser: Opens every episode.
• Teleportation: Like Flight, a common ability of all Léafe Knights.
• Ten-Minute Retirement: Himeno, Mannen in the manga.
• That Man Is Dead: Shows up in the anime when Sasame betrays the Knights.
• There Are No Therapists: Poor, poor Mawata...
• The Butler Did It: Toyued with: there's a butler and a maid in the Awayuki residence... The butler is a good guy. The maid? Nope.
• Thirteen Episode Anime
• This and That: Used once by Yayoi in the manga.
• Title-Only Opening: The last two episodes.
• Transformation Sequence: Invoked by Himeno simply touching a Knight's hand, rather than By the Power of Greyskull.
  • Fusion Dance, of the "Power Booster" type, is the result of said action.
• Transformation Trinket: The Léafe Knights themselves.
• True Love's Kiss: The end of the anime. What did you expect from a series explicitly called "The New Legend of Snow-White"?
• Tunnel of Foreshadowing: The opening credits.
• Twelve Thirteen Episode Anime
• Twisting the Words: Himeno is occasionally a victim of this.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Tanaka, to Natsue. Implied with Himeno and Hayate in the manga, but they do end up together.
• Unwanted Harem: Four bishies and three bishies-in-training...
• Wham! Episode: Episode 10. Sasame's Face Heel Turn.
• Where Are They Now? Epilogue: Several months after the finale.
• Where the Hell Is Springfield??: Awayuki Town is shown in the anime to be a city built on a small island connected to the main part of Japan by a bridge--that's about all we know.
• Wicked Stepmother: Quite predictable, but also subverted, especially in the anime version. There, Natsue is more strict than evil, not to mention she does care for Kaoru and Himeno. And in the manga, which plays it more straight... not only Natsue neglects Himeno and her girls, but she's also possessed by the Big Bad. The ending implies that she's starting to get better, however.
  • Natsue's failure to notice her daughter Mawata's depression and withdrawl are troubling. She isn't evil in the anime, but despite her good intentions, she doesn't seem to have aptitude for parenthood.
• Villainous Breakdown: Fenrir
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair
• Zettai Ryouiki: Mawata and Mayune.