Minami Kaido

Minami Kaido (海藤みなみ) is one of the four main Cures in the series Go! Princess Pretty Cure. She is a 14-year-old girl and has a strong sense of responsibility as well as caring for others like an older sister.

Minami's alter ego is Cure Mermaid (キュアマーメイド), the Princess of the Sea.

She is famous for having the same name as Mirei Minami, Kotori Minami and Minami Hateruma. She is also famous for being a recommended character for Battle for APTYCAG, with her letter being [Q]. Bloo Sawaizumi tried to replace her with Miki Aono.

Appearance
Minami has sharp blue eyes and long turquoise hair with a portion of it braided across her head and worn over the left shoulder. Casually, she wears a pale blue blouse with a ruffled lilac ribbon around the neck, paired with a blue pencil skirt and blue heels with a lilac bow on the foot. In the movie, she wears a pale blue shirt with a pale indigo ribbon around her neck paired with a folded blue and red plaid skirt, dark navy tights, and dark blue shoes. During summer, she wears a blue dress with a lighter blue top over it and white sandals. For winter she wears a light purple buttoned top with a pearl necklace, a long blue skirt, gray stockings, and blue heels.

As a child, her hair was shorter, and her braided hair was tied with a pink ribbon. She also wore a swimsuit that consisted of pale blue and white stripes as well as two layers of blue frilled shirts.

As an adult shown in episode 50, she succeeded in becoming a marine biologist and wears a white lab coat. Her hair is shown worn in a long braid.

As Cure Mermaid, her eyes brighten and her hair grows into a curled ocean blue ponytail that has a blue ombre further down. Her bangs are mostly braided to the side with purple streaks, and she has four curled strands. She wears a gold tiara with a pink seashell adorned by a blue gem and a pale blue ribbon. Her pearl earrings have shells hanging from them. Her top is blue, white, and azure with a white and light blue collar held by pink pearls around the neck and in the middle, held by a gold sphere. Her skirt is light blue with pale pink ribbons circling it and a longer dark blue layer with a belt of pale pink pearls. Flowing from the back are two blue ribbons resembling fins. She also wears white arm warmers that extend past her elbows and white and blue knee-length boots.

In her Mode Elegant Halloween, Mermaid now wears a full dress with a pale yellow and white top that exposes her collarbone with the pearl accents on the top turning white. On her waist is a yellow flower with two light blue ribbons flowing from it. Her arm warmers are slightly looser and now have an additional ruffle. Her tiara is replaced with three yellow flowers and a thin green vine sticking out.

Personality
Minami is a sophomore at Noble Academy who is nicknamed as the "Academy's Princess". She has a strong sense of responsibility who can sometimes be strict as well but cares for others like a caring older sister. She dreams of becoming a respectable person who can be useful to others. Initially, Minami struggles between her own dream and expectations from her family, but soon learns to make her own decisions and follow her own dream.

Relationships

 * Haruka Haruno - At first, she told Haruka off when she was late to the Welcome Ceremony to reflect on her actions. After that, Haruka asked her to teach her ballet and she agreed. They spent some time together when training. When Haruka sprained her ankle, Minami helped her and told her how she's not perfect. When she saw Haruka transforming and having problems with a Zetsuborg, she tried to protect Haruka, which resulted in her becoming a Pretty Cure. They then became good friends.


 * Kirara Amanogawa - Kirara is the first person to call her "Minamin" without adding -san or -sama honorific like the other students, even though Kirara is still not very close with Minami, they do share a friendly relationship.


 * Wataru Kaido - Minami's older brother.


 * Tina - Her best friend. She really cares a lot about Minami. When she goes to the resort, they swim together in the sea. During a battle against a Zetsuborg, Tina took a hit for Cure Mermaid that nearly killed her. Mermaid was hoping that Tina would pull through and the Miracle Bubble Dress Up Key appears, healing her and Tina's wounds.


 * Towa Akagi - In episode 25, Towa and Minami started to form a deeper friendship when Minami comes to Towa's aid when she has a nightmare because of her fear of the darkness and the resurfacing of her memories as Twilight. Minami helps her to try and overcome that fear and that she should depend on her friends and the rest of the team. When Shut ambushes the Cures' firework celebration, he sees Towa and recognizes her as Twilight and tries to get rid of her when Minami defends her and tells Shut that she is now Akagi Towa. She precedes to help Cure Scarlet in defeating the Zetsuborg.


 * Kimimaro Ijuin - Minami has known Kimimaro since their childhood. Despite this, she didn't let him get away with ending her friendship with Haruka. After rescuing Kimimaro from Stop &amp; Freeze, she accepted his apology before he departed for England.


 * Asuka Kitakaze - Both Minami and Asuka share a love for the ocean, and they befriend each other quickly. Also, Asuka is the person who has actually helped Minami to reconsider her dream and become a marine biologist.

Etymology
Kaido (海藤): Kai (海) means either 'sea' or 'ocean' which is probably a reference to her name, "Mermaid", since mermaids live in the sea. Do (藤), read as "Fuji", means 'wisteria'.

Minami (みなみ) means 'south'. But it can also be read as "beautiful wave".

Cure Mermaid means the legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish.

List of Appearances

 * Minami and the Sandman
 * Battle for APTYCAG
 * Evelina's Ghost Festival
 * The Good Halloween Festival
 * Good? Wicked?
 * The Grand Halloween Festival
 * The Good Halloween Festival (2021)
 * A Magical Story