The bonds of our hearts connect the puck!
PuraOre! is a multimedia project created by CyberAgent and DMM Games. The project includes PuraOre! ~Pride of Orange~, an anime produced by CAAnimation and C2C that aired between October and December 2021, and PuraOre! ~Smile Princess~, a free-to-play Mobile Phone Game developed by EXNOA that lasted from March 15, 2022 to November 30, 2022 in Japan. Following the game's closure, an offline version allowing players to view illustrations and the game's story was made available until March 1, 2023.
Pride of Orange follows Manaka Mizusawa, who convinces her younger sister and friends from her junior high school's Embroidery Club to join an ice hockey class hosted by the Nikko Dream Monkeys women's hockey team. Most of them immediately fall in love with the game, leading to hockey becoming a central part of their lives. During their journey to become a real hockey team, they befriend Yu Kiyose, former ace for the Division A team Kushiro Snow White who had a falling out with her teammates and tried to give up ice hockey as a result.
Smile Princess, on the other hand, puts players in the role of a general manager who puts together a U-18 hockey team to challenge teams from all over the world.
PuraOre! features character designs from Craft Egg of BanG Dream! fame. The real-life men's hockey team Nikko Ice Bucks were consulted for Pride of Orange, with the Dream Monkeys being a very loose fictionalization of the Ice Bucks.
PuraOre! contains examples of:
- 10-Minute Retirement: Yu tries to leave the sport of hockey after quitting Snow White; however, Manaka and Yoko help Yu discover that she's not ready to give up on hockey and convince her to join the Dream Monkeys.
- Aborted Arc: Smile Princess made it less than halfway through its intended story before shutting down, with 8 of its 15 chapters having their scripts dumped in text-only form in the offline version of the app.
- All There in the Manual: The manga PuraOre! Pride of Orange Preseason ~Nusami Bridge~ explores Yu's backstory and reveals the incident that led to her quitting Snow White: her team let up a game-tying goal with 55 seconds left in the 3rd period, forcing Yu to make an incredible individual play to win the game. The team's joy in winning that way irritated her enough to lash out and ultimately quit.
- The Anime of the Game: Zigzagged. The anime came first but is clearly meant to tie into the mobile game, with the final shot of the anime encouraging viewers to play the game to continue the story.
- Artistic License – Sports:
- The players have their given names listed on their jerseys instead of their family names. One might chalk it up to Japanese typically listing their family names before their given names... except Maya Walker, a Canadian, has "Maya" listed on her jersey instead of "Walker".
- The optimal hockey "shift" (jump onto the ice, make a play or two, return to the bench to be replaced) is generally agreed to last 40-60 seconds. Manaka and friends play three ten-minute periods against Yamanashi with absolutely no substitutions. Forget losing 9-1, they're fortunate to have not fainted on the ice.
- During the Dream Monkeys' power play in the final episode, Nao very clearly takes the puck from outside of Snow White's blue line and passes it back in to Yu who was waiting in the offensive zone; in a real game, the play would've been deemed offside and a faceoff would have been forced outside of Snow White's zone.
- Smile Princess predictably takes liberties with the sport:
- The characters don't wear helmets, likely in a bid to make the characters more distinct and recognizable. Helmets have been mandated at almost all levels of hockey for decades due to the obvious health concerns.
- Offside rules aren't observed.
- Teams consist of two "sets", with each set consisting of three skaters, two defensemen, and one goalie. This setup is very different from real life hockey, which arranges players into (ideally) four forward lines, three defensive pairings, a starting goaltender and a backup goalie.
- The game skips overtime and goes straight to the shootout (known as "Game Winning Shot" here) in case of a tie. The shootout behaves like the extra rounds of the shootout in real-life hockey, skipping the three mandatory rounds.
- Beach Episode: The Dream Monkeys enjoy summer vacation during the seventh episode, which includes a trip to the beach.
- Broken Win/Loss Streak: The Dream Monkeys apparently went through several years of bowing out in the first round of Championship B prior to Manaka and friends joining. They win the tournament this time around.
- Call-Forward: The anime ends with Manaka poking the puck past Snow White's goalie in the last second to end a tournament. Chronologically, this predates the first episode, which starts with Yu shooting a one-timer past Team Canada's goalie in the last second to end a tournament.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Quite literally and played for laughs. Yoko repeatedly calls Yu in an attempt to get Yu back into hockey, resulting in Yu blocking her phone number — only for Yoko to already be waiting outside of Yu's house.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Manaka and friends get absolutely clobbered by Yamanashi Ice Hockey Club in a 9-1 blowout; however, the girls are elated to have been able to play the game and score at all, to the point where two Yamanashi players remark that it doesn't feel like they even won.
- Snow White defeated the Orca Fighters 18-1 in their first Championship B matchup, though we only get to see the scoreboard in the aftermath.
- Dark Horse Victory: Japan defeats Canada in the World Cup of Hockey during the first couple of minutes of the anime. For some real-life perspective, anyone except the US defeating the Canadian women's national team is considered an upset, much less a nation that has never finished higher than 6th in any top-level worldwide tournament.
- A Day in the Limelight: Smile Princess has the Main Story that chronicles the creation of the Japanese national team (set after the events of Pride of Orange), but there are also Team Stories for each six-man "set" on top of individual episodes for each player.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Pride of Orange's opening theme, "Fight oh Fight", was performed by several of the anime's voice actresses under the group name SMILE PRINCESS.
- Down to the Last Play: PuraOre features multiple game-winning goals that happen in the last minute of the 3rd period.
- The anime starts with Team Japan putting a last second goal past Team Canada to win the World Cup of Hockey.
- Manaka tucks in the Championship B tournament-winning goal in the last second of the 3rd period against Snow White.
- Deconstructed in the prequel manga, since Yu is pissed that her team finds it acceptable to win a game at the last second after having given up the lead a few seconds prior.
- The Faceless: Outside of Snow White, none of the opposing teams the Dream Monkeys face off against have visible faces under their helmets. This also happens to the Dream Monkeys themselves when in action in several shots.
- Fictional Counterpart: The three most notable teams are loose fictionalizations of actual teams in Japan:
- The Nikko Dream Monkeys and the minor Ice Bucks team featured in the sixth episode are a decomposition of the real Nikko Ice Bucks, a men's team who contributed their expertise to the creation of PuraOre. The Dream Monkeys have a similar logo, they play at the same Nikko Kirifuri Ice Arena as the Nikko Ice Bucks, and the banners inside of the rink are only slightly modified from the Ice Bucks' banners.note The fictional Ice Bucks use a Palette Swap of the real Ice Bucks logo.
- Kushiro Snow White is a stand-in for the East Hokkaido Cranes, a men's team based in Kushiro.
- The West Tokyo Ice Rabbits are a fictionalized version of the Seibu Princess Rabbits, Japan's most successful women's hockey team.
- Genre Mashup:
- PuraOre! is a cross between a Slice of Life and ice hockey anime, with a hint of Idol Genre.
- In-universe, Yoko's plan to boost hockey's standing in Japan is having a team of successful female players that can double as idols.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: This applies to all of Manaka's original circle of friends, who were part of the Embroidery Club but decide to take up ice hockey of all things.
- Gratuitous English:
- This comes with the territory of an anime focused on a sport largely played in North America, with one episode revealing that Manaka has difficulty keeping up with all of the English words and phrases involved. The girls also like to compliment each other in English for a good hockey play, such as "Nice shot!", "Nice assist!", and "Nice defense!".
- To drive home the fact that Maya is a foreigner, her very first spoken line is asking "What's wrong?" in English. She also frequently exclaims "Okay!" when she receives a pass.
- Heroic BSoD: Naomi goes through a rough patch after a Tomita Phoenix player bumps into her, causing her to fall into Riko who sprains her ankle in the collision. Naomi misses multiple defensive assignments afterwards, prompting Yoko to bench her for the remainder of the period. Naomi regains her resolve after talking to a distraught Riko in the locker room.
- History Repeats:
- Yu has a falling out with Snow White and ultimately leaves when she decides that they've been relying too much on her skill, with her concerns being proven right by the team being relegated to All-Japan Championship B in her absence. Later, Eri — who was one of the teammates that Yu got into an argument with — chastises the team for relying too much on Maya, the irony of it not being lost on Eri.
- Naomi quit figure skating because she crashed into another skater at practice, developing a fear of colliding with someone on the ice. The episode in which Naomi reveals this ends with Naomi being bodychecked into Riko, causing the latter to sprain her ankle.
- How We Got Here: Played with. The anime starts with the main characters as members of Japan's national U-16 team, securing a win over Team Canada in the finals and going into an idol routine, but then rewinds to them being total newbies. That being said, the anime stops at the Dream Monkeys reaching All-Japan Championship A before skipping to the game in the first episode, leaving a huge gap in the story for Smile Princess to fill. The mobile game itself uses the exact same scene when it needs to download new data, including the lengthy download that is initiated the very first time that the game is booted up, effectively applying the trope there as well.
- Insistent Terminology: The "stretches" that Yoko makes the Dream Monkeys practice are actually dance moves, which practically every girl comments on but Yoko insists is not the case. This is part of her plan to include an idol routine with every major Dream Monkeys victory to raise the profile of hockey in Japan.Manaka: "EHHHHH?! All that stretching was a dance!"Ayaka: "All that dancing was a dance."
- It Only Works Once: Two during the final game:
- Maya beats Kaoruko down low for the first goal of the game. When Maya later gets a breakaway on Kaoruko, the latter remembers that Maya likes to shoot low and shuts her down.
- Snow White heavily guards Yu, the Dream Monkeys' best player, who responds by passing to Manaka for a clear shot that goes in. When Yu tries it again on the power play, Eri catches on and intercepts it.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to other fictional portrayals of ice hockey, there is very little body-checking and absolutely no fights on the ice given that the show depicts women's youth hockey where both are illegal. The two instances of a deliberate hit being laidnote are also the only two penalties called over the course of the anime.
- Moose and Maple Syrup: Maya Walker, who takes Yu's place in Snow White fits the stereotype about hockey. The fact that she's a Canadian immediately marks her as The Ace, since Canada is largely seen as the top hockey nation on the planet.
- Oh, Crap!: This is the Dream Monkeys' reaction to Maya Walker's first shot against them, which is implied to have come from way out, zips past Kaoruko, and rings off the crossbar of the net.
- Out of Focus: To an extreme degree; you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Dream Monkeys consist solely of the main cast given how little screentime the senior members of the team receive, including both the team's captain and one of team's assistant captains. The only noteworthy role that any of the other teammates play during the Championship B tournament is when Riko is injured against the Phoenix and Shino Ukita is forced to play with Manaka and Yu in her place. And that's for the ones that are even named; the team picture taken after the Dream Monkeys win the Championship B tournament features five Dream Monkeys players that aren't seen anywhere else.
- Put on a Bus: Mami Ono, part of Manaka's original circle of friends, is forced to move to Tokyo very early in the series. She does come back to visit them in a later episode, however.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Mami's friends decide to arrange a hockey game before she moves to Tokyo, with Yoko setting them up with a junior team that has been playing since grade school. Despite their three months of training, they are completely overwhelmed by the speed of the game and give up nine goals between three 10-minute periods of play.
- When Yu decides that she wants to single-handedly drive the Dream Monkeys' offense, the Ice Bucks simply double-team her leading to turnovers and eventually a penalty. She learns her lesson by the end, and you would think that the Dream Monkeys would make a triumphant comeback in the game — nope, they still lose because Yu's selfishness put them too far behind to make up.
- Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Smile Princess gives each version of a character one of three attributes: Skill, Mind, and Body. The attribute wheel in this case is Mind beats Skill beats Body beats Mind.
- Theme Naming: "Smile Princess", both the voice actor/idol group and the mobile game, is a reference to the "Smile _____" naming scheme common to Japanese women's hockey and associated programs.
- True Companions: The Dream Monkeys all become close over the course of the anime, but Riko's and Naomi's friendship goes even further back. In the past, when Naomi became insecure about hockey and quit, Riko who is much more enthusiastic about the game quit as well because she didn't want to play alone. Before the game against Tomita Phoenix, Riko helps Naomi become more confident in defending; when Riko is injured in the ensuing game and Naomi finds her crying in the locker room, Naomi repays her by shutting down the other team and playing a large role in the Dream Monkeys pulling off the victory.
- Whole Costume Reference: Tomita Phoenix's jerseys are quite literally Los Angeles Kings jerseys with a slightly modified logo. To a lesser extent, Team Japan's away jersey bears more than a passing resemblance to the Philadelphia Flyers' away jersey.
