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Caren (かれん Karen) is a supporting character in the anime and manga Mermaid Melody. Her debut is marked in episode 21. The episode that centers around her is episode 67.
History[]
Pichi Pichi Pitch[]
Caren is Noel's younger twin sister; however, they both live in different parts of the oceans and have never met. Even so, she cares a great deal about Noel without knowing what she is really like. When she is told from her servants that her sister was captured by Gaito, she vows to find her no matter what. Even though it was not true, Caren believed that Rina abandoned Noel and let her be captured. Noel, however, was in fact sacrificing herself to let Rina escape. Due to the misunderstanding, Caren was hostile toward Rina for a long time.
Caren took part in a talent show in episode 21 where she won first prize (a plasma TV), which is the first time the other mermaids really took notice of her. She appeared again in Taro's welcoming party and makes Taro falsely suspect she is Sara, the mermaid he fell in love with years ago and tries to follow her. He never actually manages to ask her about it on that episode however.
When Lucia, Hanon, and Rina were in a pinch against the Water Demons, Caren transformed into her idol form and appeared to everyone, where she used her extraordinary singing voice to drive away the Water Demons, saving the trio in the process. Lucia, delighted that the trio had found another mermaid princess, asked Caren to join them, but she refuses, insulting them in the process.
After the misunderstanding between Rina and Caren is resolved, Caren forgave Rina about Noel; however, she still refuses to join the other princesses and instead decides to go on to look for her sister on her own.
Caren finally finds Gaito's moving castle thanks to the help of Lucia, Hanon and Rina, who were also searching for the castle. Caren is stuck in a black mist just after the Black Beauty Sisters are defeated and is almost captured, however she is saved by the other princesses, which leads to the castle disappearing again.
Eventually Caren stops her hostility toward the mermaids but does not join them until they go fight against Sara, the Water Demons and Gaito. When they find the kidnapped Noel and Coco, Caren immediately swims as fast as she can to rescue Noel and hugs her, even going as far as calling her 'Onee-sama', a respectful way of calling an older sister. In a way, Caren's main goal to rescue Noel was finally over. She later helps to defeat Gaito, along with the other six mermaids.
Pure[]
Caren returns to her kingdom to rebuild it with its mermaids. Afterwards, she and her twin sister helped to rebuild Rina's kingdom as well. She also finds a love interest in Subaru and they are shown researching the mysterious temperature rise in the Antarctic Ocean. Caren also has a penguin friend name Pipi who helps her contact the other princesses to save Lucia and the Legendary glacier.
Caren's attitude sees a big change in the second season; she loosens up a little and becomes more caring to the other princesses. She comes to help them in the summer vacations where we find that she also has interest in playing beach volleyball.
Personality[]
Caren was shown to be a very mysterious character, as seen when she made cameo to minor appearances for five straight episodes without her identity being revealed. Most of the time, she is calm and mature; however, she acted coldly towards the other mermaid princesses when they first met. Caren loves her twin sister, Noel, very much, long before she even met her. However, she was upset when she learned that her sister was held prisoner at the hands of Gaito. In addition, she held a grudge against Rina (who was with Noel when she was captured) after she was misinformed over Rina abandoning Noel when Gaito attacked the two mermaids. It was not until she saw how far Rina (with Lucia and Hanon's help) went to rescue her from the Black Beauty Sisters that she finally forgave and acknowledged that she had been misinformed. Despite this, she retained her cold nature somewhat, preferring to search for her sister alone.
Despite her cold, hard nature, Caren is very loyal and cares very much about her friends' safety. Throughout the course of the first season, she has shown to take different kinds of action to keep her mermaid friends safe. For instance, she used the full power of her pearl to save the trio from the Black Beauty Sisters, baited herself to lure out the Dark Lovers out of the Pearl Piari in episode 39, and later joined the main trio to eventually infiltrate Gaito's castle, rescuing her beloved sister along the way.
After Noel's rescue and Gaito's defeat, Caren's personality changed quite a bit (presumably because she now knows her sister is safe once again). Though slightly still arrogant, she is much kinder, closer, and more open to having fun with the other mermaid princesses. She also was shown to enjoy teasing Rina sometimes about their past experiences and former animosity with each other. Her caring side can be shown towards her feelings for Subaru, whom she loves but decides not to pursue because she worries that being a mermaid princess and often having to fight against evil would put his life in danger.
Caren seems to have rather quick reflexes and reactions, such as quickly warning about the dangerous bubbles in episode 27, pushing Lucia out of harm's way in episode 51, and later intercepting a fast volleyball shot that was headed for Lucia in episode 68.
On a side note, she seems to love eating human food, especially okonomiyaki as shown in episode 35 and Pure episode 19.
Appearance[]
Caren has long, dark purple hair with curled ends, and her eyes are purple, just like her hair. Caren is also taller than most of the other mermaid princesses. She has a birthmark on her left cheek.
Forms and Aspects[]
Caren, just like the other mermaid princesses, has three forms. This includes her human, mermaid and idol forms.
Human Form[]
In her human form, Caren has dark purple hair with ringlets and pale skin as well as medium brown eyes. Caren like other mermaid princesses wears a necklace around her neck carrying a purple shell, containing her precious, purple pearl. Her hair in human form is darker than her hair in her mermaid form.
Mermaid Form[]
Caren follows the trend of all the other mermaid princesses, two pearl bracelets around her right wrist and long dark purple tail.
Idol Form[]
Lastly, there is her idol form called 'Purple Pearl Voice'. Her costume is a white short strapless dress with black purple ruffles down the one side and it is above knee length with purple trim at top. Her bow is the same color as her hair, but in a darker shade. Her gloves are white with purple cuffs that extend to her mid arm and her high-heeled boots have the same colors. She has a purple seashell barrette in her hair. Her idol form is very similar to Noel's form, due to them being twins.
Powers[]
In the anime, Caren shouts 'Purple Pearl Voice!' to transform. In the manga, she can transform at will with no incantation. In her idol form, like Lucia and the others, Caren can use her singing voice to get rid of enemies. In manga, at the end of her songs, she uses 'Cutie Hot Pitch' whereas in the anime, she uses Lucia's 'Love Shower Pitch!'
List of songs sung by Caren[]
Transformations[]
Caren transforms by saying "Purple Pearl Voice".
Idol[]
In Pure, her transformation differs.
Super Idol[]
Naming[]
Her name is frequently misspelled as Karen, however this is the result of incorrect translation. All official merchandise in Latin based languages lists the character's name as Caren.
Trivia[]
- Caren shares a lot of similar characteristics with Noel (such as the idol dress design) due to being twins, albeit mirrored.
- Caren sang a solo version of Legend of Mermaid in episode 26.
References[]
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Anime Characters
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Mermaid Princesses | Lucia Nanami • Hanon Hōshō • Rina Tōin • Caren • Noel • Coco • Seira • Sara |
Supporting Characters | Aqua Regina • Kaito Dōmoto • Hippo • Nikora Nanami • Madame Taki Tarō Mitsuki • Rihito Amagi • Michal Amagi • Nagisa Shirai • Masahiro Hamasaki |
Season 1 Villains | Gaito • Izuru • Eriru • Yuri • Maria • Sheshe • Mimi |
Season 2 Villains | Michel • Sheshe • Mimi • Lady Bat • Lanhua • Alala • Fuku • The Great One |
Minor Villains | Beyrich's Slit Shell • Bubble Crab • Galeos • Giant Jellyfish • Ice Fairy Lionfish • Mehikari • Napoleon Fish • Sardines Sea Cucumber • Sea Snake • Tachi Brothers • Tropical Fish • Water Dragons |
Minor Characters | Auri • Ayaka • Coral Spirit • Jennifer Houston • Kashiwagi • Kōsuke Sakiya • Makoto • Mami • Meru • Meru's Mother • Maki Minke • Momo • Pipi • Kura-chan • Richard • Ryo • Saori • Somegorō • Subaru Yukie • Yuya Ishibashi |