Akemi Maragi

Akemi Maragi (暁美 マラギ Maragi Akemi) is the leader cure and one of the protagonists of Blooming Pretty Cure. She's a quiet young lady with an inferiority complex and a number of illnesses. Despite this, she tries to enjoy life to it's fullest with her friends. She's the first of the Blooming Cures to become a Cure, and looks after Ignis and the other Cures. As Cure Fleur (キュア フルール Kyua Furūru), she seems to be rid of most of her illnesses, and is much less clumsy than her civilian form.

Becoming Cure Fleur


Blooming Precure Events


After Blooming Precure
After the events of Blooming Precure, the members of the team had until next year to live their lives peacefully. Unfortunately, Akemi's illness got much worse afterwards, even when she was shown to have gotten better in the epilogue. It seems like it went downhill from there. She spends most of her days now in the hospital, at school, or tending to the garden. She hasn't moved from her position as vice president, and she's become the president of the gardening club. Very nice.

Ikuyo Precure changed everything. Not a single monster had been seen since then, there had been no attacks, no strange accidents; it was believed that the Cures had finally brought peace to the world. Suddenly, explosions and catastrophes from all over the world were heard of, people claimed to have seen creatures wandering around, causing chaos. Monsters, minions, thought to be destroyed by Precures many years ago had returned; King Jikochu, Desperaia, Akudaikan, Moebius, Dune, Noise, Pierrot and many more, old and new.

Ignis, Ventus, Fulmen, and Nix came back to Earth once more to request their assistance in this. Unfortunately, the others had to refuse; they were too busy with their own lives to become Precure again. Akemi understood this; Chiaki had her arching, Minako had her fencing, and Kaori had her everything. They couldn't possibly, but Akemi could.

So, she became Cure Fleur once again. Unfortunately, her sheer social anxiety resurfaced, and she couldn't find anyone to socialize with at the meetings. She did meet Natsuki Hanakoto, and they've been friends since then... Or something like that. Although, the rest of the Blooming Precure will probably make several cameos later.

Appearance
Akemi is a very short and thin girl, with a delicate kind of feeling to her. Very flat-chested and petite for a girl her age. She seems to cut her hair often to keep split ends away and her bangs straight. She has dark red hair and darker red eyes, and very pale skin. No one's entirely sure if she dyes her hair or not, even if she claims otherwise. Her wardrobe mainly consists of dresses, floral prints, frills, and pink-red colors.

As Cure Fleur, her hair gets longer and fluffier, and looks a bit like a single flame. Interestingly, her bangs stay exactly the same; blunt and perfect. Her illnesses seem to disappear when she transforms, and she's said before that being a Precure made her happy. Her outfit matches the others, in red and pink, and her Cure Flower Brooch... Somehow hangs onto her hair.

Personality
Akemi's the token protagonist... Or at least she would be, if she wasn't so far from the ideal protagonist idea. She's a shy girl who avoids speaking to others, but the others urged her to open up to other people. Despite being sickly and having severe asthmatic bronchitis, she's very energetic and outgoing when she really wants to be. Additionally, Akemi gets scared by many things, but nothing rational. She loves horror movies, but gets scared at sudden but mundane noises, such as a door slamming shut. Cries a lot.

Her breathing problems hinder her in athletics, but what she doesn't have there, she makes up in the academics department. She's currently the student council vice president of Flores Academy, and a member of the gardening club. Akemi isn't a fan of sports at all, so she avoids them whenever possible. Also, she's usually the one who settles debates between her teammates, mostly Chiaki and Kaori.

Relationships
Akemi's older sister, who's in her last year of high school. Contrary to Akemi, she's slightly irresponsible and a bit lazy. She and Akemi have a very good relationship, even though she tends to make fun of her younger sister. Tsubaki annoys Akemi sometimes, but they bond over flowers and friendship troubles. Tsubaki dates around a lot, which Akemi thinks is irresponsible, but doesn't scold her for it. Shizuko and Hiroshi, Akemi's parents, are both high-ranking employees in the same company, and are often off on business. Tsubaki would take care of the household, but she ends up falling asleep as soon as she comes home. Thus, Akemi's the one who ends up taking care of everything. Akemi thinks Chiaki is a great rolemodel for proper young ladies everywhere! Idolizes her a lot and thinks she's really pretty and nice. Even before they became Precure, they went to the same primary school, and Akemi already admired her. Although, she does get annoyed when she and Kaori fight, and often scolds both of them after they settle down. She aspires to be as athletic as Kaori one day, and admires her ability to be in such a large amount of clubs. Akemi's very sensitive to strong scents but likes Lily Perfumerie anyways, just because it belongs to Kaori's families. She's asked Kaori to give her 'special training' more than once. Just like with Chiaki, Akemi gets annoyed when they fight and scolds them after they settle down. Has a huge crush on her. Akemi admires everything about Minako, who often finds Akemi staring at her in class. Minako's very oblivious to this however, and doesn't realize how in love Akemi is with her. She also admires Minako's responsibility and fencing skills, and tends to call her 'The Prince' as well. Akemi thinks that she's super pretty and perfect and just really loves her.
 * Tsubaki
 * Parents
 * Chiaki
 * Kaori
 * Minako

Cure Fleur
"The flower shining in the brilliant flame! Cure Fleur!"

Cure Fleur (キュア フルール Kyua Furūru) is Akemi's alter ego. Contrary to how she is as a civilian, Cure Fleur is a brave and graceful person, mirroring her normal fearfulness and clumsiness. She controls the power of flowers, specifically cherry blossoms, and fire. To transform, she needs her Cure Brooch (キュア ブローチ Kyua Burōchi).

She's first unable to control the sheer power that Precure possess, but is determined to get over this. The other Blooming Cures help her harness the power, and with this power she's able to use Fleur Flare. Later, when they all get their upgrade items during episodes 12-16, they're able to use Verdant Assault. They get an upgrade at episode 36-40 which allows them to also use Flourishing Garden.

Transformation
The Fleur Brooch is taken off of her shirt/wherever she put it, she shouts the transformation phrase, "Precure! Floral Change!", and taps it once on her hand to produce arm protectors, twice on her legs to produce shoes, and thrice on her body to produce her dress. Finally, the fourth time is used to hook itself onto her hair, and the girl's hair then changes length and color, and her eyes become a brighter shade as well. After transforming, the girls fly down from the sky, land on their feet and introduce themselves, and declare their battle cry, before striking a final pose.

Power-ups
In Episode 16, Akemi's the last one to get her unnamed powerup. It causes her uneasiness, and she's fairly uncomfortable with having to rely on the others to defeat the monster, being the leader cure. This is the focus of her upgrade episode, and the power of her willingness to protect others gives her the Phoenix Feather and the ability to use Crimson Inferno.

In Episode 36, she's the first one to get her powerup, contrary to last time. The focus is on how easily scared Akemi is and her lack of courage. She ends up having to get saved by others a lot, and this causes her to become less focused than usual. After school, Akemi decides to take a walk after school, but she meets Atropa, Belladonna, and their Titanarum. Akemi transforms, but the Titanarum's too strong for her to defeat. They mock her lack of strength, but she argues that she'll never give up. Suddenly, she feels a surge of power and defeats them with Hanachirusato and Fleur Incendier.

Lovely Mode
Lovely Mode (ラブリー モード Raburī Mōdo) is a form of Cure Fleur in the movie, Blooming Precure: Falling in Love?! The Flower of Everyone's Hearts. After witnessing the girl Akemi thought she was in love with turn into Nightshade, they tried to purify her with Flourishing Garden, which didn't work. With the power of the Miracle Petal Lights, she transformed into Lovely Fleur (ラブリー フルール Raburī Furūru) and purified Nightshade.

Her hair somehow gets longer and flowier, and she wears a princess-like floral dress, and uses a vintage-style pink rose fan to fight. Her attack in this form is Flower Embrace. (フラワー エンブレイス Furawā Enbureisu)

Eternal Blossom

Eternal Fleur (エターナル フルール Etanaru Furūru) is the Eternal Blossom (エターナル ブロッサム Etanaru Burossamu) form of Cure Fleur, their final upgrade. They transform into this form using the Blossom Jewelery (ブロッサム  ジュエリー Burossamu Juerī). The outfit becomes several shades lighter, though not the pastels you'd be thinking of. The outfit itself is hugely changed; it's skirt becomes longer and layered, and the back of the skirt lengthens to the back of their knees. They all have a set of white wings as well, with a rose gold tiara.

Etymology
Maragi (マラギ) is an attack from the Shin Megami Tensei series, coming from the basic multiple opponent fire spell.

Akemi (朱美) can be written in many different ways, but this particular writing means "vermillion beauty," referring to her theme color.

Songs
Akemi's voice actor, Kugimiya Rie, has participated in several image songs for the character she voices. Many of them include performances with Kana Hanazawa, who voices Magaru Chiaki, Kanako Miyamoto, who voices Mazio Kaori, and Tomatsu Haruka, who voices Mabufu Minako.

Solos

 * Burning Revolution [バーニング レヴォゥチ音 Bāningu Reboryūshon]
 * Summer-colored★Miracle [夏色★ミラクル Natsuiro★Mirakuru]

Group Songs

 * Floral Love Letter [フローラル ラブレター Furōraru Raburetā] (with Tomatsu Haruka)
 * Whereabouts of The Future [未来 の ありか Mirai no Arika] (with Tomatsu Haruka)
 * Sparkle! Blooming Days ~Blooming Pretty Cure Together~ [キラキラ! ブルーミング デイズ ~ブルーミング プリキュア いっしょ~ Kirakira! Burumingu Deizu ~Burūmingu Purikyua Issho~]
 * Dreaming Flowers ~Blooming Pretty Cure Together~ [ドリーミング フラワーズ ~ブルーミング プリキュア いっしょ~ Dorīmingu Furawāzu ~Burūmingu Purikyua Issho~']
 * Tomorrow's Colors ~Blooming Pretty Cure Together~ [明日の色 ~ブルーミング プリキュア いっしょ~ Ashita no Iro ~Burūmingu Purikyua Issho~]
 * Power of Love [愛の力 Ai no Chikara]
 * Flower of Courage [ 勇気の花  Yuuki no Hana]
 * Precious Things [たいせつなも Taisetsu na Mono]
 * Maze of Dreams ~Garden of Glass~ [夢の迷路 ~硝子の花園~ Yume no Meiro ~Garasu no Hanazono~]

Trivia

 * Akemi is the first canonically MOGII leader cure, as it's stated in canon that she prefers girls to boys; her canon sexuality, according to Wikia user Kururin, is firmly homosexual.
 * She may or may not fall in love with every single cute girl she sees. A hopeless romantic, really.
 * She's also very fond of the Persona series, although it's a guilty pleasure and no one really knows about it.