User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 37 (Sub)

Episode 36 (Sub) | Table of Contents '''Japanese title: “Fix that Pickiness! Carrots VS Aguri”'''



I’m slightly worried about this episode. It’s going to be about Aguri getting over her dislike of carrots in order to teach Ai to eat carrots. That sounds a lot like episode 35, which was about Makoto getting over her fear of the dentist in order to teach Ai to properly care for her teeth. But since all of the past episodes in the Blood Rings arc have been good, I doubt that this one will just be a rip-off of episode 35.

Real quick, before I start the episode, I’d like to butt in and note my opinion on carrots. I personally think that although carrots aren’t disgusting, they taste really bland. It’s almost like they taste like nothing at all. I can eat them just fine; they’re actually one of the few vegetables that I will eat. I just won’t enjoy them, especially without dressing. But I hear that carrots in Japan are outright bitter instead of just tasteless. Not that I’d know, because unfortunately, I’ve never been to Japan.

The episode starts at Mana’s house, where the protagonists and Ai are eating together. Rather than milk as usual, the girls have given Ai carrot porridge to eat because her teeth are growing in. Mana also summons juice for Ai using her Magical Lovely Pad. We’ve never seen the Pad being used for anything other than attacks before, so Arisu is surprised.

Ai drinks the juice and eats a bit of the porridge. However, she doesn’t like the porridge at all and refuses to eat anymore. Aguri tells Ai that she won’t become a splendid young lady if she doesn’t eat her carrots and gives her some of her own curry-covered carrots to try. Rikka, however, tells Aguri that Ai is too young to have curry just yet, and Ai insists she was kidding. This leads the others to figure out that Aguri also doesn’t like carrots, much to Aguri’s chagrin.

We get the opening theme, and with it more previews of the ''Doki Doki! Pretty Cure'' movie.

Not only do we see the clarinet-holding villain from last time, we also get introduced to three new guys. Plus, there’s a hint of Mana and Nikaidou getting together, even though that’s never really been foreshadowed in the show itself. Unless you count episode 1, where Mana guilted Nikaidou into not cutting in line. Maybe he obeyed her because he had a crush on her? But you’d think the love interest of the main character would appear a lot more often than Nikaidou does. It should also be noted that we never do see who Mana marries as an adult in the trailers…

After the opening theme and the sponsor card, we cut back to Mana’s house, where Rikka asks Aguri why she doesn’t like carrots. Aguri says that she hates everything about carrots, from their smell to their “yucky sweetness”. This gets Ai even more repulsed by her carrot porridge. Arisu even notes that Ai now hates carrots just as much as Aguri does. Makoto tells Aguri that just like she did at the dentist, Aguri has to set a good example for Ai. If she doesn’t eat carrots, Ai won’t, either. Since it’s for Ai’s sake, Aguri becomes determined to overcome her disgust towards carrots.

We get the title card. Then, when we once again return to Mana’s house, the fairies try to feed Aguri carrots. Unfortunately, Aguri just can’t make herself eat them, and she even shoves some of the carrots into Mana’s mouth on accident.

Rikka then tries her own way of getting Aguri to eat carrots: giving the girls a nutrition lesson. She takes the girls into an empty classroom at school and gives them a freaking PowerPoint on the various ways in which carrots are nutritious! Aguri is taking notes, but Lance and Raquel are falling asleep.

Mana, in fact, gets so bored that she changes into a carrot suit (somehow) and runs into the classroom to interrupt the lecture. She tells Aguri that she’s the carrot fairy and that she’s here to teach her all about carrots. But rather than entertaining Aguri, she just makes matters worse by scaring the girl out of the classroom.

Back at Mana’s house, Aguri is binging on sweets because she’s so ashamed of her inability to eat a simple vegetable. Arisu tries to cheer Aguri up by saying that it’s cute for a kid like her to be picky, but Makoto says that it’s Ai’s problem, too, and they have to fix it.

Then, conveniently, Aguri spots a picture of a man holding carrots. According to Mana’s grandpa, it turns out that it’s a picture of the farmer who supplies the Aida family restaurant with carrots. This gives Mana an idea.

But before we can find out what Mana’s idea is, we cut to the villains’ hideout, where Marmo has made a vegetable plate for Bel. She wants to show how good of a subordinate she is to Bel so that he’ll take her Blood Ring off. Bel instead electrocutes her because, as it turns out, he hates carrots as well. He tells her that if she wants to impress him, she should defeat Pretty Cure. But it turns out that it’s Ira who heads out. Can’t have the same villain two weeks in a row, after all. Unless it’s Leva or Gula, but you all know how well things turned out for them.

Back with the girls, it turns out that Mana’s plan was to take them to the carrot farm. They’ve even invited Aguri’s grandmother, who is happy that they’re finally teaching Aguri to eat carrots. Much to Aguri’s embarrassment, she tells them all about how whenever she makes food for Aguri, she always leaves all the carrots behind.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Then, we finally meet the carrot farmer himself: Aki Kadono. Well, he’s not the only one, but he seems to be the boss. To Aguri’s disgust, Aki loves carrots more than anything else in the world and even eats one right in front of Aguri.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Aki tries to get Aguri warmed up to carrots by putting all five girls to work cultivating them. First, they have to till the ground using hoes. Aguri hates the idea of “cultivating her enemy”, but Mana is all fired up. When Aki praises her spirit and tells the others to work just as hard, Aguri becomes determined and tills the soil as fervently as Mana.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">That was the easy part. Now, it’s time to fertilize the soil. Aki enthusiastically shows off what to do: reach into a bucket of animal poop with your bare hands and throw the poop all over the soil. Everyone is hesitant, but Aguri is the first to put her hands in the feces and throw it around.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">As the team continues to sling poop everywhere, it turns out Aki is so pumped up about farming carrots that he even names each carrot he farms! Ai points out that one of the carrots has a bug on it. She doesn’t say it in that many words; she just points and says, “Bug! Bug!” Aguri’s grandma tells Ai and Aguri that the bug is eating the carrot because it’s just that delicious. Ai seems to be a bit more open to the idea of carrots being delicious, but Aguri is still uneasy.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We get the eyecatches. Then, back at the farm, the girls pull up carrots that are ready for harvest. Afterwards, they sit down, catching their breath after a hard day of work. Aki tells Aguri that the harder people work, the more delicious the carrots they farm are, and that he loves sharing delicious carrots with everyone. He offers carrots to Aguri. She doesn’t take any, but Mana takes one and is stunned by how good it tastes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Eventually, Aguri grabs a carrot, but she doesn’t eat it. Mana tries to feed one to Ai, but the baby still refuses.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Then, Ira appears and is amused to find that Ai hates carrots just like Bel does. He then spots a little boy complaining that he hates vegetables and wants to go home and eat cake. His mom calms him down by saying that if he doesn’t eat his vegetables, he won’t grow up big and strong. But it’s too late, as Ira turns the boy’s Psyche into a gingerbread house Jikochuu.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Everyone’s scared by the monster, except, strangely enough, for Aguri. She’s in awe of how well the candy on the house is constructed and can’t help but drool at the sight of the Jikochuu.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The Jikochuu stomps around, destroying some of the carrots. This enrages Aki, who runs up to fight the Jikochuu armed with only a carrot. Meanwhile, the girls go into a greenhouse to transform in private. After the five warriors jump into battle, Cure Heart punches the Jikochuu away from Aki and, as usual, says her catchphrase.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Much to the girls’ shock, they find that Aki has fainted, even though he’s still standing somehow. Aki drops his carrot due to being unconscious. Realizing how much bravery it took for him to stand against the Jikochuu, Cure Ace takes the carrot and tells Aki to leave the fight to them.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The door of the Jikochuu opens and emits a gaseous aura filled with candy. Ai is lured into the house by the smell. The warriors try to chase after Ai but are blocked by a bolt of lightning from Ira’s Blood Ring. Only Cure Ace is able to go after Ai. The door shuts and locks, trapping both Ai and Ace inside the Jikochuu. The candied interior of the Jikochuu disappears, leaving the two girls in darkness. Suddenly, a giant carrot appears and tells Ai to eat it. This scares Ai so much that she starts crying, powering the Jikochuu up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">A surprisingly well-animated fight sequence ensues. The Jikochuu shoots candy at the team, which Cure Sword destroys using Sword Hurricane. Cure Rosetta, Cure Diamond, and Cure Heart then engage the Jikochuu physically, and Heart calls to Ace and asks if she’s okay. Ace and Ai are unharmed, but they’re still terrified because now there are multiple carrot monsters.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ai cries even more, making the Jikochuu even more powerful. It shoots more candy, which hits the girls this time. From the inside of the Jikochuu, Ace hears them cry out in pain.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">As the carrots continue to harass Ace and Ai for not liking them, Ace thinks back to how Aki said that his goal was to provide something delicious and nutritious for everyone. She tells the carrots that it was a mistake for her to hate carrots. Carrots have a lot of love poured into them as they’re cultivated, which makes them symbols of love. Seeing it this way, Ace finally gains the courage to bite into the carrot she’s holding. This causes the carrot monsters to turn into cute carrot angels. The angels fly around with Ai, cheering her up. What’s more, the carrot Ace ate has filled her with the energy of love, powering her up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ace uses Ace Shot to burst the door open, allowing her and Ai to escape from inside the Jikochuu. With all five Pretty Cures reunited and the Jikochuu weakened, the team finishes things off with Lovely Straight Flush. With Ace Shot and Lovely Straight Flush being performed almost back-to-back, I’m only realizing now just how similar their background music is. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s very close.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ira teleports away and the boy’s Psyche returns to him. In other news, the sky is blue and this article exists. With the fight over, everyone gathers around to eat some fried vegetables. Much to everyone’s amazement, Aguri tries a carrot and… finds it so delicious that she wonders why she never tried it before…? But Aguri said earlier that she hated the carrots’ yucky sweetness. How did she know they were sweet if she never ate them before? This actually takes some of the punch out of today’s lesson. I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried all of the food I hate at least once, and I only know that they’re disgusting because I’ve tried them. What about the kids in the audience who know for a fact that the food they dislike is disgusting and know for sure that they won’t be pleasantly surprised like Aguri was?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Ai wants carrots, too, since Aguri liked them so much. Mana gives her carrot soup, and Ai suddenly finds carrots delicious now, even though she tried them and hated them earlier. Though this is something I’ll give a pass on because I can actually buy it happening. When I was little, I absolutely hated broccoli. But one evening when I was a kindergartener, one of my teachers came to my house and persuaded me to try broccoli, telling me that it would make me smile. I finally tried some, and from that evening on, broccoli was one of my favorite foods. I still enjoy eating it today. If we all had that sort of influence in our lives, maybe there wouldn’t be any such thing as a picky eater. …But don’t make me eat cherry tomatoes. Those are horrific.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Anyway, before the episode ends, we get a final scene that is actually plot-relevant again! It turns out that Regina has been sleeping in that bubble from episode 23->17 this whole time, and she finally wakes up. Ace Shot must have screwed her up really badly, because when Ira, Marmo, and Bel were hit by My Sweet Heart and Heart Shot, they were only incapacitated for about a week. Regina seems to have been in a coma for months!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Still, out-of-universe, it’s a pretty flimsy excuse for having the best villain of the season by far gone for 14 whole episodes. For what – Leva and Gula? Honestly, all of other villains sans Bel pale in comparison to Regina. Ira, Marmo, Leva, and Gula had some comedic moments, but they’ve never been all that memorable. The only exception was Ira bonding with Rikka/Rachel in episode 26->20, but the show seems to have completely forgotten that that episode ever happened.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall: Despite all that, this is still a good episode. Sure, it was pretty similar to episode 35 and ultimately wasn’t as good as it. But it was still fun to see the childish side of Aguri. It goes to show that even though she tries to act like the most mature member of the group, she still is only a fourth-grader.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">It’s also interesting that this episode highlights the similarities between Makoto and Aguri. When you think about it, they’re a lot alike. Both hail from the Trump Kingdom. Both were originally harsh towards the other girls but eventually warmed up and befriended them. Both originally were serious all the time, but they slowly learn to loosen up. I hope we get to see Makoto and Aguri interact more going forward.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Next time: Bel turns Ai into a Jikochuu!