User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 4 (Sub), 3 (Dub)

'''Japanese title: “I Must Refuse! I Will Not Become a Pretty Cure!!”'''

English title: “And Clara Makes Three”

Big news, everybody! Remember that scene at the end of the Japanese episode 3 where the team realized Lance went missing? Well, it got moved to the beginning of this episode 3 of the dub. Still, it’s only one scene, so I don’t truly consider episode 3 of Glitter Force Doki Doki to be a combination of episodes 3 and 4 of ''Doki Doki! Pretty Cure''. With that aside, let’s jump right in!

The scene starts with Mana/Maya being happy that Rikka/Rachel is fighting by her side. Mana says that she knew Rikka could transform, while Maya says that nobody would be a better partner than Rachel. Rikka/Rachel is uncertain as to whether she should really be on the team, but Raquel/Rory cheers her up. Raquel wishes Rikka good luck as a Pretty Cure, while Rory says that nothing could be wrong if she has him as a partner.

Sharuru/Kippie says that now, all they have to do is find a partner for Lance. It’s at this moment that everyone realizes that Lance has been gone this whole time. While Raquel calls out for Lance, Rory has the humorous line of says that Kippie was “on Lance duty”. Rikka/Rachel asks how long Lance has been gone, and Mana/Maya says that the last time she saw him was after school yesterday. The whole group then panics because Lance is missing.

Just then, Arisu/Clara’s car arrives, and her butler, Sebastian, lets her out. Arisu says that Mana and Rikka seem to be in trouble, while Clara cheerfully asks Maya and Rachel what’s going on. Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel are shocked to see Arisu/Clara. While Arisu bids good day to the two, Clara asks if they lost something and if she can help. The scene ends with Sharuru/Kippie asking who Arisu/Clara is.

That, my friends, was the last scene of ''Doki Doki! Pretty Cure episode 3 and the first scene of Glitter Force Doki Doki'' episode 3. While the sub follows this up with the ending theme and the start of episode 4, the dub follows this up with the opening theme. Confused yet?

The first scene of ''Doki Doki! Pretty Cure episode 4 and the second scene of Glitter Force Doki Doki'' episode 3 is a flashback to when Arisu/Clara was in elementary school. Two boys are holding Arisu/Clara’s colored pencil set up high where Arisu/Clara can’t reach it, and she’s begging for them to give it back. Unfortunately, little Clara isn’t well acted here. Anyway, back to the story. In the sub, the boys are stealing Arisu’s colored pencils because they thinks she’s showing off her wealth with her 72-pencil set; in the dub, they say that if Clara’s rich enough to afford her colored pencil set, then she’s rich enough to let them take it and buy herself another one.

The bullies are interrupted by Mana/Maya, who calls them out for bullying a lone girl. Little Mana’s voice acting is a bit stilted, too, but it’s not as bad as little Clara’s. Mana/Maya is accompanied by Rikka/Rachel, but the latter doesn’t say anything. Arisu/Clara is in awe, and she expresses her gratitude for Mana/Maya coming to save her.

The flashback ends, and Mana/Maya is at Arisu/Clara’s mansion. Sebastian serves Mana/Maya some tea. In the sub, Sebastian says that it’s served with some jam; in the dub, he says that the tea comes from the Himalayas. When Mana/Maya tries the tea, Mana says that it’s delicious, while Maya says that it’s hot. Rikka/Rachel is by her side and also having tea. Rikka says that the tea has a spring flavor to it, while Rachel says that Maya was too excited to try the tea.

It should be noted that in the dub, Sebastian has a British accent. In the sub, he doesn’t seem to have his own accent.

Anyway, Sharuru/Kippie and Raquel/Lance scold the two for prioritizing tea over searching for Lance. Mana/Maya tells the two to be patient. Then, Rikka says that their monthly tea party was last week, while Rachel says that their tea party isn’t supposed to be until next week. Rikka/Rachel asks if there’s anything that Arisu/Clara wanted to talk about with them. Arisu/Clara says that there is; she wishes to talk to them about Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force. In shock, Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel both choke on and spit out their tea. The dub adds dialogue after this where Maya says, “The- The what!?” and Rachel says, “Excuse me!?”

The sub has its opening theme, while the dub just awkwardly fades from an exterior shot of the mansion to black to the same shot of the mansion. Additionally, while Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel are asking about how Arisu/Clara knew about their magical activities, shots of the mansion’s interior are removed from the dub.



Naturally, Mana/Maya and Rikka/Rachel are shocked to learn that she of all people is the fourth Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Warrior. And with that, the episode ends.

Overall: This was a much better episode than the previous one, both subbed and dubbed. For the sub, there actually was a fight this time, rather than Rosetta only debuting because of Heart and Diamond being stupid. This made Rosetta feel a lot more necessary. Speaking of necessity, Diamond still feels like she isn’t really needed. The most she did was punch a Jikochuu/Distain once. It was only Heart and Rosetta/Clover who performed major attacks. But anyway, the dub is better here too because this episode isn’t a combination of episodes like the previous two. Only a few shots were removed, not entire scenes, so it felt far less choppy than episode 2 of Glitter Force Doki Doki.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">That being said, I have a minor problem and a major problem. The minor problem is that Rosetta/Clover got over her fear of violence surprisingly quickly. As soon as she transformed, the worst problem she had was apologizing to the Distain, and that didn’t even happen in the original Japanese version. The major problem, though, is the voice acting in the dub. Some of the voice actors in Glitter Force Doki Doki are completely on-point (the voice actors of Rachel, Ira, Bel, Kippie, Rory, and the Distains). However, others either have some moments where they sound stilted or they just don’t ever sound quite right. In the former category, I’d put the voice actors of Maya and Marmo. In the latter are Clara and Lance. With Clara’s debut as a major character, the fact that her voice sound just so artificial really sticks out. It’s a shame; Clara does sound like a reserved rich girl, but she also sounds so affected! With Lance, the problems isn’t so much that he sounds affected as it is that his voice itself just doesn’t fit his character. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lance is a cute little toddler, and thus should not have the voice of an adult male. It’s just distracting. I hope that the quality of the voice acting improves like it did in the first Glitter Force. Otherwise, I’ll just be disappointed; the voice acting was one of my favorite things about Glitter Force.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Next time: The trio investigates Makoto/Mackenzie and tries to get her to join their team!