Kanade Minamino

Kanade Minamino (南野 奏 Minamino Kanade) is one of the four main Cures in the series Suite Pretty Cure♪, along with Hibiki Hojo. Like Honoka Yukishiro, Kanade excels at studies, but she is not good at sports. She is something of an idol in her school and dreams of being a patisserie when she grows up and taking over her parents' cupcake shop, the Lucky Spoon. She also has a strong love for cats and an affinity for their paws. Kanade's alter ego is Cure Rhythm. Her catchphrase is "I'll show you my spirited recipe!"

Appearance
Kanade has olive eyes and chest-length, slightly curled dirty blonde hair partially held up in a ponytail by dark pink baubles. Casually, she wears a white long-sleeved shirt beneath a raspberry ruffled top and baby pink miniskirt, matching the small ribbon and heart ornament beneath the chest. This is paired with dark raspberry flats and white stockings. In the summer, she switches to a puffy-sleeved white t-shirt featuring pink cuffs and heart design, and a three-layered bright pink skirt worn with white socks and pink sandals. In the movie, she wears a teal dress beneath pale green camisole with an emerald ribbon at the top, white socks, and light yellow loafers.

As Cure Rhythm, her eyes brighten and her hair turns light blonde, entirely worn up in a curled ponytail held by a braid. Her bangs are longer and she gains a white rabbit-ear bow on a headband, adorned by a pink heart. She also gets a white ribbon choker and pale pink heart earrings with a light pink heart hanging from it. Her frilly white mini-dress consists of pale pink detail and puffed sleeves with a ruffled trim to accent the neckline. Her Cure Module rests at the center with a white and pink bow. Her skirt consists of two frilly white layers, pleated pale pink and white layers, and a matching colored peplum with a pink ribbon on the right corner. She also gains white ruffled wrist pieces with a pink heart and pale pink ribbon, and a pair of white and pink boots with a pale pink sole, toe, and accents.

As Super Cure Rhythm, her dress, wristbands, and boots all get longer while her hair becomes longer and brighter.

Personality
In comparison to Hibiki, Kanade is shown to be mature and calm. She is naturally quiet, but not out of shyness; showing a temperamental side when flustered or annoyed. She is also very stubborn and struggles to admit to being wrong or at fault, and due to feelings of inadequacy, she can become competitive and set on difficult short-term goals.

However, Kanade is also friendly and feminine. She is good at cooking and baking and loves to make others happy with her elegant, motherly approach to things. While she can be stern with those she cares about, her fussing incidentally pushes them away until realizing she means no harm.

At times she can also show a more girly personality, usually when dealing with her feelings for Ouji.

Early Life
When Kanade and Hibiki were young they used to be best friends and would play together all the time. They used to go to an old church to listen to music and sing together. This all changed at their school entrance ceremony. Hibiki was waiting for her under a sakura tree, where they had promised to meet on the first day of school so they could go to school together, but Kanade never showed up. When Hibiki got to school, she saw that Kanade had completely forgotten and was talking and laughing with other people. But in reality, Kanade didn't forget. Instead, they had both had a misunderstanding and had waited under different trees.

Becoming a Cure
When Hibiki went to visit the old church she and Kanade used to play in, she met Ellen, Siren's human form. Ellen looks into Hibiki's heart and sees Hibiki's emblem, a G Clef. Siren then tries to steal Hibiki's emblem. She runs out of the church only to find herself cornered by The Trio the Minor and Siren. Suddenly, Hummy, the fairy from Major Land, falls from the sky with seven Fairy Tones. Shortly after the commotion, Kanade approaches and sees Hibiki, the trio, Hummy, and Siren. Kanade came to church so she could listen to the record she and Hibiki used to listen to when they were young. Siren sees Kanade's emblem which is also a G Clef. The Trio the Minor then surrounds Kanade, wanting to steal her emblem. Siren and the trio attempt to steal their emblems, but fail because their emblems reacted upon touch. Suddenly, Hummy and Siren spot a note on Kanade's record. Hummy tries to obtain the note but was stopped by Siren when she turned the record into a Negatone. Both Hibiki and Kanade are enraged, their hearts connecting, then suddenly, their emblems come out of their hearts and transform into Cure Modules. Hummy then tells the two girls how to transform. Hibiki and Kanade then transform into their new Cure forms Cure Melody and Cure Rhythm.

Mending their Friendship
After Hibiki and Kanade witnessed Siren turn their precious record into a Negatone, the two of them transformed into Pretty Cures. But their first attempt at fighting the Negatone was unsuccessful because their hearts were not in sync and end up in failure. After the battle, both Kanade and Hibiki explained to each other more about their friendship and the broken promise, which Hummy understands a bit later on.

The next day, Hibiki and Kanade saw a little girl crying under the same cherry tree that Kanade waited under years ago. She approached her and led her to her friend who was waiting under a different tree. Both kids were happy to see each other until Siren, the Trio of Minor, and the Negatone they fought earlier appeared. The Negatone started to spread it's Melody of Sorrow throughout the school, which caused sadness to everyone. Both Kanade and Hibiki settled their differences and transformed to fight the Negatone with no avail. But after the two of them worked things out, they were able to control their power and their hearts were in full sync as they purified the Negatone using the Passionate Harmony attack and reverted it back into their old record and the scattered note, which went into Dory's gem. After the battle, the two girls were now determined to protect Kanon Town and collect the scattered notes.

Passion for Cooking
In episode four Kanade is planning to enter a cooking contest but doesn't know what kind of cake to make. She has Hibiki taste all her cakes but gets mad when Hibiki doesn't take the time to figure out each cake's individual taste, however when Kanade is tricked by Minor Land and changes her style of cooking completely she and Hibiki argue and the day afterward Kanade returns to her original cooking style and the cake she makes for Hibiki gets turned into a Negatone. Kanade defeats the Negatone and she and Hibiki go to her house to eat the cake she made and her parents taste it and say it's delicious and so does Hibiki.

Losing the Notes
In episode 20, Kanade and Hibiki noticed that Hummy was acting different and don't know why. When they meet Souta and Ako again, they said that they saw a black cat and a white Kitten together. Now the Pretty Cures know why Hummy was acting different and discovered she is being tricked by Siren. They tried to tell Hummy, but Hummy didn't believe them and believes that Siren is her friend. Later, Hummy gathered the Fairy Tones and go to see Siren, but Dory and Rery found Hibiki and Kanade managed to find Hummy. Suddenly, the 3 Minors found Hummy and Siren and the jar that carried the Notes and turned the Jar into a Negatone. Hibiki and Kanade transformed into Pretty Cures to beat the Negatone, but the Negatone is filled with so many Notes, they cannot beat its strength. But Siren tricked the notes in the Negatone to turn against each other and the Pretty Cures destroyed it with their final attack. All the notes were back in the Fairy Tones and gave them to Siren, but Siren took them all and told Hummy that she only tricked her to give her the notes and flew to Minor Land. Hibiki and Kanade were helpless and in despair, but Hummy believed that Siren is still her friend.

Birth of Cure Beat
When Mephisto decided to bring the Melody of Sadness, he transformed the town square into a concert and gave out a Pulse of bad music to make the people go away. Hummy was in an alley calling to Aphrodite that she believes in Siren and left to practice her singing. Hibiki and Kanade passed and saw her running from the Alley. When they were about to chase her, Aphrodite called to them. When they met her, they think she was beautiful and realized she was Queen Aphrodite. She introduced herself and tells them that Hummy still believes in Siren. Hibiki and Kanade can't believe Hummy still believes in Siren, even though she did something horrible. Aphrodite asked if one of them turned evil, will they stop believing in each other. Hibiki and Kanade said no and Aphrodite said that Hummy is like that and still believes in her. They got to the town square, they saw the Legendary Score and the worst concert is almost starting. Hibiki and Kanade don't know what to do without Dory and Rery, but then Mephisto appeared and kidnapped Hummy and on the top of the Tower and the Fairy Tones were in there. Mesphisto said that if they do anything, he'll hurt Hummy. Hibiki and Kanade had no choice but to stand and let the world be in sorrows. Just as Siren was going to sing the Melody of Sorrows, Hummy told her that they're best friends and everything is going to be all right and began to sing making Siren touched and Hummy reached her feelings to her. While Mephisto tortures Hummy the trio watch with fright until she is able to be broken free by the Fairy Tones. In this time, Kanade became Cure Rhythm again and the battle resumed, being given a hand by Cure Beat - who saves Hummy before leaving.

Cure Rhythm
Cure Rhythm (キュアリズム Kyua Rizumu) is the alter Pretty Cure ego of Kanade. She transforms using her Cure Module, along with Fairy Tone Rery.

Cure Rhythm and Cure Melody can perform an attack together called Passionate Harmony, though, with the Fantastic Belltier, she can perform Music Rondo, an individual purification attack. With Cure Muse's help, Cure Rhythm is now able to use a powered-up attack known as Fantastic Piachere. Also, after Melody and herself settle their differences with each other, they are able to perform the group attack Music Rondo Super Quartet. This attack can be used when both Belltiers are in CrossRod mode.