Tsubomi Hanasaki

"I have reached my limit!"

- Tsubomi Hanasaki

Tsubomi Hanasaki is the leader of the Cures in Heartcatch Pretty Cure!. She lives in a flower shop called Hanasaki Flower Shop with her parents and grandmother. Her Pretty Cure alter ego is Cure Blossom.

Appearance
In her normal form, Tsubomi has long curly dark red hair that reaches down past her waist. Her bangs are parted down the left side, and the ends curl inwards to frame her face. At the beginning of the series, her hair is worn in a single low ponytail, and she is never seen without her glasses. After Erika's makeover, Tsubomi wears her hair in low twintails secured with yellow flower-shaped hairties, and only wears her glasses when in class or studying.

Tsubomi's casualwear consists of a long-sleeved two-toned pink top with the number '7' on the back, light blue three-quarter skinny jeans and pink flats. She is also sometimes seen in a two-toned pink dress with long white sleeves, blue-green tights and dark pink low-heeled shoes. In school, she wears the standard issue uniform for girls.

Cure Blossom has bright pink hair, styled in a high ponytail secured with a hot pink bow with a small flower on the middle. Her eyes also become a brighter shade of pink. Her outfit is mainly light pink and white, with dark pink lining, and greatly resembles Marine's, with a few small differences. The bow at her chest is large, and her top is two-toned pink/white with shelled sleeves. Her arm protectors are double-layered, with a extra pink layer under the white. Her boots are knee-length, with light pink toe tips, a dark pink sole, and small light pink flowers at the heels.

As Super Cure Blossom, her entire outfit changes to a lighter shade of pink. Her hair is visibly longer, and the bow in her hair has gained a decorative metal piece of the Heartcatch! logo. The bow at her chest becomes larger as well, and the petals of her skirt are longer and sharper-looking, with two extra long coattail-like petals at the back. Her arm protectors extend up past her elbow and becomes full-fingered gloves. Her boots also extend up to mid-thigh length, with larger flowers at the heels.

As Cure Rainbow Blossom, her outfits retains most of the elements from her original outfit. Her hair becomes a lighter shade of pink. The sleeves of her top gain additional feathery layers, and the number of pink petals on her skirt increases as well, with 3 extra long petals at the back. She also has a small pair of golden wings on her back.

Personality
Tsubomi is a really shy and introverted girl and admits that she does not handle energetic people like Erika very well, but she loves flowers very much, and dreams of being a botanist. Because of her relationship and frequent visits with her grandmother, she has picked up her old-fashioned speech pattern.

Tsubomi has stated that she plans to change her personality now that she has started in a new school. Although still insecure, she is starting to speak out her mind and preferences. Together with the courage of Erika, Tsubomi is slowly but steadily changing to a more confident person.

Attacks
Other then purification attacks, Cure Blossom can use some individual sub attacks on her own for fighting use:
 * Blossom Butt Punch - Cure Blossom kicks herself into the air backwards to hit the enemy with her butt. She can only use this when influenced with the red Heart Seeds for speed-up. However, she seems to be capable of using it independent now, though without naming the attack.
 * Blossom Shower - Blossom draws a circle of pink flowers before her and shoots them at the enemy.
 * Blossom Flower Storm - Blossom circles around herself, summoning numerous pink flower petals around her to create a tornado out of them.


 * Pretty Cure Double Shoot - Blossom and Marine's first non-purification duo attack. The Cures create energy balls of their respective theme colors and shoot them at the enemy.
 * Pretty Cure Big Explosion - Blossom and Marine hold hands tightly and, with comical faces, create a giant explosion.
 * Blossom Impact - Blossom concentrates all her powers into her palm and strikes at the enemy; pink light will then shine, and the enemy is knocked away.
 * Blossom Double Impact - Blossom concentrates all her power into her palms and strikes at the enemy; pink light will then shine from both hands, and the enemy is knocked away. It is considered a double-version of Blossom Impact.
 * Blossom Screw Punch - Blossom collects her power energy into her fist and shoots it out, the energy forming like a canon at the enemy.
 * Pretty Cure Impact - All three Cures use their power to knock the enemy away.
 * Pretty Cure Christmas Impact - Blossom and Marine form a heart shape with their arms and shoot out a laser.
 * Pink Forte Wave - The finishing attack that Blossom uses to purify a Desertrian. See main article Pink Forte Wave for more.

Trivia

 * On Tsubomi's casual clothes, the number 7 is written on the back. This might be a reference to the fact that Heartcatch Pretty Cure! is the seventh season, and it can also be a reference to Nana Mizuki, Tsubomi's voice actor, as "nana" stands for "seven" in Japanese. The number 7 is also the number of Nagisa Misumi in the first season.
 * Tsubomi and Honoka had a similar thing is they do not have a brother, a younger brother or nephew of the family.
 * Tsubomi and Kanade both had a similar thing is they are not good at sports. But both were well attended
 * Tsubomi is so far the only lead Cure to wear glasses. Other Cures that wear glasses include Yuri Tsukikage and Ako Shirabe, but none wears glasses when they are in their Cure forms.
 * Blossom is the first Cure, followed by Marine and Itsuki, to be shown deciding her name by herself, instead of instinctively knowing it when transforming.
 * It is speculated that Tsubomi's Heart Flower is the cherry blossom. This is supported by the fact that Kaoruko claims that she is kind-hearted; in the Japanese flower language, cherry blossoms symbolize kindness and gentleness.
 * The name Blossom may represent the earth, while Marine represents the ocean. If that is the case, then it would follow the tradition of the duo Pretty Cure being opposites.
 * Tsubomi is also the first Cure in the franchise to have a heritage to the Pretty Cure legacy, as her grandmother Kaoruko was Cure Flower 50 years ago.
 * Cure Blossom is the only lead Cure who does not have the typical leader traits.
 * Cure Blossom is by far the only pink cure to have her hair in a ponytail.
 * For the DX3 Movie character polls held by Toei Animation, Blossom appeared in the following rankings:
 * 5th in "Favorite Pretty Cure"
 * 4th in "The Pretty Cure you want to team up with most"
 * 5th in "The Pretty Cure you want to be most"
 * 4th in "The Pretty Cure you want to bake with most"
 * In the Pretty Cure All Stars Suite Flower Card Collection, Tsubomi is represented by the sakura or cherry blossom, which symbolizes gentleness and a beautiful heart in the Language of Flowers.
 * Blossom is the first Cure to have her original Cure hairstyle changed (by a villain, or in this case by Cure Marine).
 * Blossom Shower is the second attack in Pretty Cure franchise that utilizes the word "shower". The first is Cure Berry's Espoir Shower.
 * She is the first lead cure to have long hair when she is in her non-cure form.
 * Cure Blossom is currently the only Cure to have her hairstyle altered in some way, as in Heartcatch Pretty Cure!: Hana no Miyako de Fashion Show... Desu ka!?, Cure Marine ends up removing Cure Blossom's hairbow, undoing her ponytail.
 * Tsubomi is the first Pretty Cure to change her hairstyle before receiving her powers.