Homare Kagayaki

Homare Kagayaki 輝木ほまれ?) is one of the three main characters of HUGtto! Pretty Cure. Homare's alter ego is Cure Étoile (キュアエトワール Kyua Etowāru?) and she is known as the Pretty Cure of Strength. Her catchphrase is "Cool, isn't it?" (「イケてんじゃん」 "Iketen jan"?).

Appearance
As Homare, she has short gold hair with one lock curling upward and gold eyes. She wears a long-sleeved yellow off-the-shoulders top with a pale yellow ruffle lining the top as well as a short white skirt accented with a blue sash tied on the left. She also wears a black wire choker and light yellow sandals.

As Cure Étoile, her hair becomes golden yellow and grows in length, tied up into a ponytail held together by a spiky yellow hairpiece, with two star-shaped clips decorating it. She also wears a small blue flight attendant's hat with a jeweled tiara underneath it. Her eyes also become golden yellow. She wears a short orange dress with a bubble skirt with two long cream-colored ruffles hanging from each side. She also has a blue sash with her carrying pouch on the left side decorated with a yellow star. She also wears a cream-colored cape that hangs on her shoulders and is split in the back. For her other accessories, she has a blue scarf tied on the right, white cuffs line in blue, orange high heels with a blue diamond shape across the top of the foot, a thin blue band around the left thigh, and yellow star-shaped earrings.

In her Cheerful Style, her hair becomes longer and curls more, with more stars decorating it. Her dress is now off-the-shoulder, with the bodice lined in white with a small white frill in the center, but still retains its orange color. Her blue scarf becomes a scalloped choker. The skirt part of her dress becomes longer and puffier, with it being even longer in the back. Behind it is a pale yellow skirt that is opened wide in the front. She also gains long pale yellow loose-fitting sleeves gathered into her blue and white cuffs. Her sash is now thicker tied it the back with a giant bow and white lining at the bottom of it. The star behind the pouch is also larger. Her high-heeled shoes are now cerulean bow with matching ribbons and orange heels. She now also wears a short translucent veil over her head held by a gradient rainbow bow with a heart in the middle and white scalloped decorations hanging from it. In her Mother Heart Style, she gains a pair of giant, translucent, butterfly-like wings.

Personality
Homare is a mature girl who excels at everything. However, she appears to have self-esteem issues, quitting figure skating after failing to complete a jump. However, she regains the confidence to skate again after some encouragement from Hana and Saaya, which in turn granted her her Mirai Crystal.

She also loves cute things and ice cream.

Relationships
Hariham Harry - Throughout the series, Homare begins to develop feelings for him, but she has difficulty admitting them to anybody. In episode 32, when she and Harry are transported into a virtual reality world of The Little Mermaid, she learns that Harry is actually in love with a mysterious young woman, who is later revealed to be Cure Tomorrow. She is initially heartbroken, no thanks to Bicine augmenting her pain, and almost disappears, but after hearing Cure Yell call out her name, she overcomes her heartbreak and hides those feelings from him for the time being. In episode 43, she finally admits to Harry that she likes him, but he tells her that he doesn't feel the same way, which saddens her at first but she becomes relieved soon after, promising to help save his future.

Etymology
Kagayaki (輝木?) - Kagaya (輝?) means "sparkling" and "shining" [1]  while ki (木?), a common suffix used in Japanese surnames, means "tree" [2], making "Kagayaki" mean "sparkling tree". "Kagayaki" may also be a pun on the Japanese word Kagayaki (輝き?), which means "sparkling".

Homare (ほまれ?) - There are two different possible kanji readings for her first name: "誉" or "譽", both meaning "reputation" or "honor" [3]. This matches Homare's talented nature.

When the kanji of "Kagayaki" and "Homare" are put together, her name can be translated to "sparkling reputation".

Étoile is a French word meaning "star"[4].

Meeting Hana and Discovering Cures
In the first episode, Homare is first seen wandering the halls of L'Avenir Academy when she first meets Hana and appears interested in her unique-looking bangs before being scolded by a homeroom teacher for skipping classes. She is later seen on the rooftop with Saaya when Hana encounters the two again, seemingly having seen the same star and heard the same baby's cry that she did. There, she compliments Hana's bangs. In episode three, she is seen while Hana and Saaya spend some time at a petting zoo to calm Hugtan down when a businessman confronts them, fed up with Hugtan's loud crying. Homare then easily stands up to him, grabbing the attention of everyone else at the zoo and chasing the man off. Later on, while the Cures were battling against an Oshimaida, Homare witnesses the battle, specifically Yell when she repeatedly punches the monster while stating her dream of being a strong adult. After the battle, the girls take their leave, but not without Hana and Saaya noticing a third dot moving away from them on the screen of the Mirai Pad and Homare thinking about her dream to jump again just like the Cures did.

Trying, Failing, and then Succeeding in Becoming a Cure
In episode four, Hana and Saaya attempt to get Homare to join the team, finding her to be a good candidate for being the third Cure. At first, she is reluctant to join them, but she soon takes a liking to Hugtan. She is also seen taking care of a stray dog she rescued from being run over by a truck during the time stop. Later that day, she challenges a group of bullies picking on a group of third graders to a basketball match between her, along with Hana and Saaya, and them. She is seen to be incredibly skilled at playing, but once she attempts to jump and make a basket, she remembers a frightening fall she took and hesitates, instead of passing the ball to Hana, who scores a lucky shot. Her and Saaya soon learn that Homare was once a famous ice skater and was really good at it until she missed a crucial jump, which badly injured her and essentially ended her career. Then, Homare's coach, Umehashi-sensei, was targeted by Charaleet and his Prickly Powerer used to create a powerful Oshimaida with data that Ruru gathered. The Cures have a difficult time against it, and Homare once again watches. She hopes to be like them and learn to fly again, and that causes her Mirai Crystal to appear, but it is far away from her. She attempts to reach out for it when everyone cheering her on, but when she attempted to jump, she is once again traumatized by the jump she failed to make and the resulting injury. She barely misses the crystal and tumbles to the ground before it disappears. Watching this causes the Oshimaida to feel regret over not being able to help Homare, which in part helps Cure Yell to defeat it. In the end, Homare is still upset about not being able to obtain her crystal.

In the next episode, Homare helps the other girls out in opening Beauty Harry, a boutique that Hariham Harry opens, and it has a successful launch. However, Homare is still feeling upset about everything that happened and still wonders whether or not she'll be able to jump again without remembering her injury. Hana and Saaya assure her that there are things that she could do that they can't, and that is OK with them. Just then, Charaleet appears again, knowing that the despairing Homare will have a good amount of negativity to create a strong Oshimaida. He shackles her and sends her flying to the wall of a tall building. Charaleet mocks her inability to make the clearing between the wall and the building across from her, making Homare remember her injury again. He cruelly tells her that she'll never shine again as Homare plunges to the nadir of her despair, and Charaleet uses the Prickly Powerer to create a powerful skater Oshimaida. Yell and Ange appear to fight it and rescue Homare, but it proves to be too fast and impossible to target because of its spinning abilities. Just when things seem lost, Homare, who is still conscious even after being targeted, starts to regain hope and belief in herself, despite still having fear about jumping. Her determination grows when her Mirai Crystal appears again, but she would have to jump in order to get it. She decides to take that chance and jumps over the gap, successfully obtaining the crystal this time and transforming into Cure Étoile. In her new form, she regained her confidence in being able to jump, which immediately fit with the other Cures, and after using [https://prettycure.wikia.com/wiki/Heart_Star! Heart Star!] to weaken the Oshimaida, Yell purifies it.

Cure Étoile


"Making everyone shine! The Pretty Cure of Strength! Cure Étoile!" みんな輝！力のプリキュア！キュアエトワール！

''Min'na Kagayake! Chikara no Purikyua! Kyua Etowāru!''

Transformations
​Heart Kiratto! (ハートキラっと!, Hāto Kiratto!?)​ Homare holds her PreHeart in its phone mode and inserts her Mirai Crystal onto the device while saying "Mirai Crystal!". She then flips the device into its heart mode as the screen flashes on with a white heart that emits white light. As she says "Heart Kiratto!", she waves her PreHeart gently around until the light turns yellow. Covered in a yellow glow, she presses the red heart on the PreHeart while saying "Hagyuu~" until yellow streams of light fly out to create her dress, sash, skirt, leg bracelet, boots, and gloves. She presses the red heart again while saying "Gyuu~" to change her hair length and color as well as adding her hair accessories. She presses the red heart for the final time to allow her earrings, tiara, and cape to appear. She places her PreHeart in its carry bag on her waist and says her introduction phrase while spinning around, touching the ground then straightening back up to say her name as she poses.

Attacks

 * Heart Star! (ハート・スター！ Hāto Sutā!?) is Cure Étoile's main attack, where she launches a star at her enemy to weaken it. It requires Etoile's PreHeart and Mirai Crystal Yellow or Orange. She first performs it in episode 5.
 * Trinity Concert (トリニティ・コンサート Toriniti Konsāto?) is an attack Cure Étoile performs alongside Cures Yell and Ange to purify the enemy. It requires the Cures' Melody Swords and the Mirai Crystals Rose, Navy, and Orange. She first performed it with her teammates in episode 11.
 * Star Slash (スター・スラッシュ Sutā Surasshu?) is Cure Étoile's secondary attack that she performs to trap her enemies in a rope made of stars. The attack requires the Etoile Flute and the Mirai Crystal Orange. She first performed it in episode 12.
 * Cheerful Attack (チアフル・アタック Chiafuru Atakku?) is the first group attack that she, Yell, Ange, Macherie, Amour, and Hugtan perform together. This attack transforms the girls into their Cheerful Styles. It requires the Memorial Cure Clock and Mirai Crystal Cheerful. It is first used in episode 31.
 * All・For・You! (オールフォーユー！ Ōru Fō Yū!?) is the second group attack that she performs with Yell, Ange, Macherie, and Amour. It requires the Mirai Braces, as well as the powers of all the Pretty Cures in the franchise. It was performed for the first and only time in episode 37.
 * Tomorrow With Everyone (みんなでトゥモロー！ Min'na de Tumorō?) is the third group attack that she, Yell, Ange, Macherie, Amour, and Hugtan can perform by summoning Mother Heart. The attack transforms them into their Mother Heart Styles and requires the Memorial Cure Clock, Mirai Crystal Mother Heart, and Mirai Braces. It was first performed in episode 39.

Songs
Homare's voice actor, Ogura Yui has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include duets with Hikisaka Rie, who voices Nono Hana, Hon'izumi Rina, who voices Yakushiji Saaya, Tamura Nao, who voices Aisaki Emiru, and Tamura Yukari, who voices Ruru Amour.
 * Once Again, To The Sky Ahead

Duets

 * HUGtto! Future✩Dreamer (Along with Hikisaka Rie and Hon'izumi Rina)
 * A Miracle Called Friendship (Along with Hon'izumi Rina)
 * It'll Always Be Here (Along with Hikisaka Rie and Hon'izumi Rina)
 * HUGtto! Future✩Dreamer (5 PRECURE Ver.) (Along with Hikisaka Rie, Hon'izumi Rina, Tamura Nao, and Tamura Yukari)
 * HUGtto! YELL FOR YOU (Along with Hikisaka Rie, Hon'izumi Rina, Tamura Nao, and Tamura Yukari)

Trivia

 * Homare's birthday is April 8th, making her Zodiac sign Aries.
 * In episode 17, it is revealed is Homare is 163 cm tall, which equals around 5'4.