User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 25 (Sub), 19 (Dub)

Episode 24 (Sub), 18 (Dub) | Table of Contents '''Japanese title: “A Gorgeous Transformation! A New Heroine Arrives!?”'''

English title: “Those Who Defend You”



Hey, welcome back. The past few episodes here have been very serious. From the plot arc with Regina to Makoto/Mackenzie’s doubts about herself to Queen Ange/Princess Marie Angelica’s fate worse than death, things have been pretty dire. This episode, though, seems to be taking a more light-hearted tone, or at least that’s what the preview indicates. Let’s jump on in, shall we?

As always, there’s an added recap narrated by Maya.



For some reason, when Rosetta/Clover Reflection absorbs the beam, the dub adds the sound of breaking glass. I wonder if that's supposed to imply that the shield is cracking under the force of the beam?

 Rosetta/Clover Reflection makes the artificial Commune/Pad explode, turning Madame/Marmalade back into Marmo. Marmo complains about Rosetta/Clover taking away her alter-ego before teleporting away. In the dub, Marmo is usually well-acted, but the dialogue in this particular spot is kind of stilted because Marmo says all three of her lines in the exact same pitches.

 Ace congratulates Rosetta/Clover. Cure Ace says that Cure Rosetta is a warm yet strong girl; Glitter Ace says that Glitter Clover always had this great power and it was just waiting to be unlocked. This causes Sebastian to cry. In the dub, mental dialogue is added where Sebastian thinks, I love a happy ending!

 The episode ends at Arisu/Clara’s mansion. Arisu/Clara apologizes for breaking Sebastian’s Commune/Pad. Sebastian doesn’t mind at all, saying that Arisu/Clara didn’t need him to use it anyway. Arisu/Clara says that one thing she does need Sebastian for is making amazing tea, and she hopes that he’ll continue serving her for a long time to come. Sebastian says that’s what he wants as well. With this, the episode ends.

 Overall:  This episode was great on its own. However, it wasn’t a great Arisu/Clara episode. The past few episodes have been focusing on the personal development of the main characters. Episode 23->17 focused on Mana/Maya, episode 24->18 focused on Makoto/Mackenzie, and next episode is going to focus on Rikka/Rachel. But this episode didn’t focus as much on Arisu/Clara, who has been ignored for a while, but Sebastian instead. Arisu/Clara’s conflict about not being a good enough warrior was shoehorned into her own plot-important episode. And her fight against Cutie Madame/Glitzy Marmalade was pretty anti-climactic, although the upgrade to Rosetta/Clover Reflection was awesome. Rosetta/Clover was finally able to finish a battle by herself!

 That being said, Sebastian was an engaging character to watch. He’s already been a pretty memorable side character, but this episode is his day in the limelight. We get more insight into his relationship with Arisu/Clara. And rather than being hypercompetent at times, we see that he, too, can fail comically or cry with joy. He now truly seems like a human being.

 Plus, although his Pretty Cure/Glitter Force form wasn’t really used, Sebastian is technically the first male Pretty Cure/Glitter Force warrior in the franchise! Some fans of the sub don’t consider Sebastian to be a “real” Cure because his name was never stated to be “Cure Sebastian”, he did transform with a Lovely Commune, which makes him a Pretty Cure in my book. And in the dub, he is explicitly Glitter Sebastian. It’s great to see that Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force isn’t a girls only club, and that a man doing such a traditionally feminine activity as transforming into a magical girl warrior is portrayed in a positive light.

 What’s more, Marmo was very entertaining in this episode, too. At the beginning of the series, I complained about Ira and Marmo being bland. But I feel that in the past several episodes, they’ve had their memorable comedic moments. I liked episode 19 because of how much charisma the Jikochuu/Mercenare Trio had when playing off each other and the main characters. Ira had some pretty entertaining banter with Leva/Riva and Gula/Gura in episode 23->17, too. And now, Marmo is quite memorable for being an evil Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Warrior with plenty of personality to boot! Ira’s probably going to get similar moments, as next episode is going to focus on him. So far, Ira and Marmo still aren’t as memorable as the Bad End Trio from Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force, but I no longer consider them to be boring villains.

 Next time:  Rikka/Rachel bonds with Ira while wondering whether she really wants to be a doctor!