User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 26 (Sub)

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'''Japanese title: “Summer Festival! The Big, Big Flower Blossoming in the Night Sky!”'''

This episode concerns a Japanese holiday called the Summer Festival. This is a type of Japanese festival. Japanese festivals don’t have set uniform dates; each neighborhood chooses its own date and customs. Summer festivals have occurred in several Pretty Cure seasons. They take place at night and involve numerous food and game booths.

The focus on this foreign holiday is likely why this episode wasn’t dubbed. However, episode 21->18, which focused on another Japanese holiday called Tanabata, was dubbed. Why did 21->18 get localized but not 26? I have two guesses. First of all, 21-&gt;18 was a plot-important episode; Joker/Rascal kidnapped Candy, setting off the chain of events requiring the team to face Pierrot/Nogo. Second, the only ones celebrating Tanabata are the main five. In the dub, it’s implied that the other girls are only celebrating it to get to know Chloe’s culture better (Chloe says her family celebrates the holiday). This means the dub doesn’t have to explain why a huge crowd of Americans is celebrating a Japanese holiday. In this episode, I’d imagine they’d have to.

Anyway, on to the episode! We start right in the festival, where Candy is admiring Miyuki’s clothes. Miyuki explains that it’s a yukata, a traditional Japanese outfit worn during the summer, on outdoor events, at traditional inns, and after baths.

Then, Akane and Nao come over. Miyuki admires their yukata. Akane says proudly that her dad bought it for her when she hugged him. Nao, however, is more embarrassed by wearing such a fancy outfit, but Miyuki tells her the yukata suits her.

Yayoi and Reika join, too. Akane says that Yayoi is cute and that Reika looks like a yamato nadeshiko (a traditional Japanese personification of the ideal woman: she’s usually of a high upbringing, polite, and loyal to her father or husband, but she’s also got inner strength and is determined to protect those she loves by subtly manipulating others. I can’t explain it well; the link leads to an article that does a better job. Suffice it to say that Reika sounds like one of them).

At Candy’s insistence, Miyuki uses the Dress Décor to give Candy her own yukata. What bugs me is that now, the Dress Décor has been used twice, but the other Cure Décor from episode 24->21 hasn’t been used at all. Plus, there’s the Cure Décors from last episode to acknowledge. Will Toei be able to incorporate all three unused Cure Décors this episode!? Keep reading to find out!

After the opening theme, we return to the festival. We get a look at some games, and then we see Nao’s dad (who, by the way, is shirtless and covered in sweat – are we supposed to be attracted to her dad!?) playing drums in a group. Nao cheers him on, and Candy asks what they’re doing. Miyuki tells her that they’re taiko drums (taiko is actually the Japanese word for drum, but outsiders use the term to refer to a subset of drums called wadaiko. Ensemble drumming, seen here, is called kumi-daiko.)

Like me (and hopefully you), Candy is excited by all the new things she’s never seen before. The girls are excited to show her everything. They tell her the biggest event is the fireworks. Candy asks what fireworks are, and Miyuki describes them as big flowers that explode in the sky. After that, the girls run off to see what there is to see.

We get the title card. It translates the title as, “Summer Festival! The Giant Flower Blossoming in the Night Sky!” However, the title contains  ōki,  the Japanese word for “big”, twice.

After that liberty, we return to the summer festival once more. Miyuki introduces Candy to cotton candy, and she loves it. Meanwhile, Majorina is eating a candy apple and is shocked that it’s better than her poison apples. She looks around at all the people, anticipating bringing a Bad End to all of them.

Then, she spots the main characters. They’re playing a traditional summer festival game where you try to catch as many goldfish as possible in bowls without ripping the net you’re using to catch them. Reika happens to be extremely skilled at this game. Candy tries, too, but she immediately rips the net and gets frustrated, only calming down when Miyuki gives her another net.

Majorina refuses to lose, and after much effort, she catches a goldfish. She wants to eat it, but the man running the station tells her she can’t eat goldfish. Majorina angrily dumps the goldfish back in the pool, saying there’s no point in catching fish if she can’t eat them.

The girls visit another game. This one involves shooting a cork out of a gun. If you knock over a prize with the cork, you get to take it home. Nao shoots for some milk and caramel candy and wins it. Akane then shoots and hits a portable gaming system, but it doesn’t fall over, so she doesn’t get it. Miyuki and Candy then try together. Candy wants an elephant toy, but they accidentally knock over some natto gyoza candy instead. Yayoi is impressed, but Candy is upset. Majorina tries, too, but instead of getting the natto gyoza candy she wanted, she wins a trip to Guam instead and gets mad at the guy running the stand.

The girls then visit a guy who makes candy shaped like anything. (I wonder how many inappropriate requests he gets?) They’re amazed. Miyuki asks for a candy stick shaped like Candy. Once he’s done, she gives it to Candy. It should be noticed that while Miyuki passes off Candy as a plush, Candy speaks in front of the candy man multiple times and he somehow doesn’t notice.

After that, they go yo-yo fishing (using hooked sticks to fish for balloon/yo-yo things?), which gets the slideshow treatment. Meanwhile, Majorina is moping about how nothing is going right for her. We cut back to the girls sitting on a bench. As they discuss which delicious foods they should try, Candy is distracted by a mask stand and runs away. It’s only after this that Reika realizes she’s gone and Miyuki looks around for her. Meanwhile, a man confuses Candy for a prize in a game he’s running, and Candy panics as she’s placed on a table and has to act as a toy.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;text-indent:.5in">The eyecatches show Princess Sunny and the same picture of Candy and Pop as before.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;text-indent:.5in">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;text-indent:.5in">Overall: The summer festival hijinks were a blast to watch, but the fight scene and the ending were rather lackluster. I already went into the fight scene, but the firework montage just wasn’t that impressive or heartwarming, and Miyuki’s narration at the end felt tacked on. The part before the fight scene is still great, though. To be honest, Saban could have dubbed this episode. Sure, American towns don’t celebrate Japanese festivals, but it could have been explained as Chloe using her prowess as the student council vice president to create a replica of a Japanese festival to unite the students and their parents while educating them about her family’s culture.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;text-indent:.5in">Next episode: The girls visit Miyuki’s grandmother’s house!