User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 23 (Sub), 20 (Dub)

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'''Japanese title: “Pierrot Revived! Pretty Cure is in Serious Trouble!!”'''

English title: “Into the Shadow Realm!”

Fun fact: this is the last episode of the first season of Glitter Force. The dub of this season of Pretty Cure was split into two parts. The first 20 episodes of Glitter Force (the first season) were put on Netflix on December 18, 2015, and the last 20 (the second season) were published on August 26, 2016. In Japan, the entirety of Smile Pretty Cure! is categorized as one season, and one episode was released every week. Anyway, on to the actual episode!

The episode begins with a flashback to a happy Candy and the girls agreeing to go rescue her. In the sub, Candy says her wish she made two episodes ago (“I wish to always play with Miyuki and the others!”) and Miyuki says that she wants to be with Candy and the others. In the dub, Candy laughs and Emily says that they’re going to rescue Candy because the Glitter Force without Candy is like “an ice cream cone without sprinkles.” I’ve never had an ice cream cone with sprinkles. Sprinkles are inconvenient, and they don’t taste near as good as other ice cream toppings. Anyway, as usual, the flashback to the girls is silent save for Miyuki’s voice-over in the sub and has dialogue along with Emily’s voice over in the dub.

We cut to the Bad End Kingdom/Shadow Realm, where a crying Candy is still tied up. In the sub, Candy is silent; in the dub, she thinks that her friends are coming. Then, Wolfrun says that Pierrot will be revived soon, while Ulric tells Candy the Glitter Force isn’t coming to save them. Akaoni/Brute dares Pretty Cure to arrive, and Majorina/Brooha says that they’ll defeat them. We cut back to M ärchenland/Jubiland, where Miyuki/Emily essentially says, “Let’s go save Candy!”

We get the opening themes. Then, in the sub, we get the title card. Then, we cut to the girls and pop flying to the Bad End Kingdom/Shadow Realm. Pop has transformed into a giant hawk, and is letting the girls ride him (so, what was his deal in episode 21->18?). Pop says he sees their destination. Miyuki says, “That’s…” while Emily says, “We’re here!” Dialogue is added where Pop says, “The Shadow Realm!”

Everyone lands, and Pop transforms back to normal. In the sub, Miyuki says, “So this is the Bad End Kingdom,” and Reika says that it’s eerie; in the dub, Emily says that the Shadow Realm “is, like, the worst place ever,” and Kelsey says it’s probably in the dictionary’s listing of “depressing.”

Wolfrun/Ulric calls to the group, saying that they’ve been expecting them. The fog clears, reveaing him, Akaoni/Brute, and Majorina/Brooha. Dialogue is added where Chloe shouts, “It’s you three goons!” Majorina tells the girls not to get in the way of Pierrot’s revival; Brooha tells them not to think they can stop Nogo’s revival. Miyuki/Emily asks where Candy is, and Wolfrun/Ulric tells her, pointing to the tower. Wolfrun calls Candy a lamb; Ulric calls her a pipsqueak.

Miyuki shout’s Candy’s name; Emily shout’s Candy’s name and threatens the villains if they dare to hurt her. In the sub, Akaoni tells them to go and save Candy, and Wolfrun says they can do so as long as they can go through them first. In the dub, Brute and Ulric goad the girls into fighting them. Miyuki says that they will save Candy; Emily says that the Glitter Force will crush the villains before they crush them. Miyuki/Emily then prompts the team to transform, and they do so. Unusually, the sub cuts out all of the transformation, only showing the girls activating their Smile Pacts, their introductions, and the catchphrase. The dub, however, shows the usual cut of the transformations. Also, Peace chooses scissors.

Sunny and March/Spring tell Happy/Lucky to go save Candy and let the other four handle the villains (Glitter Sunny starts speaking earlier than Cure Sunny). Happy/Lucky protests, but Beauty/Breeze tells her that rescuing Candy is their first priority and Pop tells her to go save Candy. Happy/Lucky finally agrees. She tells everyone, that they aren’t just going to rescue Candy, but they’re going to bring everyone home. The five girls all pinky-promise on it.

Wolfrun/Ulric asks them when they’re going to stop. Wolfrun says that both they and Candy are going to die, while Ulric says that if the Glitter Force isn’t going to initiate the attack, they’ll have to do so instead. The three villains leap down to start the fight; however, Pop pulls some tiny bags literally out of nowhere. In the sub, they’re smoke bombs; in the dub, they’re a “pixie dust smoke screen”. That deus ex machina creates a huge cloud of smoke around the villains, allowing Happy/Lucky to escape unnoticed. Dialogue is added where Glitter Breeze cheers on Glitter Lucky.

Sunny says that Wolfrun/Ulric is going to have to fight him. In the sub, Cure March and Cure Peace say the villains aren’t getting past them; in the dub, Glitter Spring and Glitter Peace say that they’re going to have to go through them to get to Lucky.

Joker/Rascal looks on, laughing and mocking the girls’ pointless friendship. Joker doesn’t speak while Happy/Lucky jumps up to him, but Rascal does. When Happy/Lucky arrives, he prepares to attack her, but Beauty/Breeze blasts the cards out of his hand. This allows Happy/Lucky to run away from the scene (silent in the sub; telling Candy she’s coming in the dub).

As Joker/Rascal plummets into the ground, Beauty/Breeze says she knew he’d wait until the end to come in, and tells her that they and Candy are going to return home together. In response, all four villains summon a Bad End at once.

In the sub, Wolfrun says he’ll douse Cure Sunny’s brilliant sun, and she says she’ll make a sweater out of his fur; in the dub, Ulric says that Glitter Sunny is about to be permanently eclipsed and Sunny dares him to try and calls him a “mangy old fleabag.”

In the sub, Akaoni tells Cure Peace that he’ll destroy her and calls her a crybaby, and Peace tells Brute that she may be a crybaby, but she’s brave; in the dub, Brute says that he’ll turn Glitter Peace into “Glitter Pieces”, and Peace tells him that she’s tougher than she looks.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">In the sub, Majorina asks Cure March if she can defeat such an uncooperative witch as her, March says it’ll be a straightforward match, and Majorina says, “It’s Majorina time!”; in the dub, Brooha asks Glitter Spring if she’d attack an old, helpless woman, Spring says she isn’t helpless, and Brooha says Spring’s right and shouts, “Let the fun begin!” Then, Majorina/Brooha turns into a young, well-endowed woman. March shouts that Majorina grew old; Spring shouts, “Talk about a makeover!” A shot of Majorina/Brooha’s newfound boobs is removed in the dub.

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall: This episode can be thoroughly summed up in one word: EPIC. There was nary a moment without exciting action. The girls were really challenged this time, even more so than in episode 20->17 during the fight with the invisible Majorina/Brooha and Akanbe/Buffoon. Just look at how many EPIC FIGHTS I mentioned! Plus, Pierrot/Nogo was quite threatening, even if he was quickly dispatched by Rainbow Burst. The fact that he’s a giant clown who lives in lava and has the ability to destroy entire planets – or, if we’re going by the dub’s book, the entire universe – is just staggering. There’s always something about lava in particular that makes scenes all the more eerie. Perhaps it’s that one touch can kill you before you can get out, perhaps it’s the idea of how powerful you’d have to be for something like that to not kill you, perhaps it’s the fact that you’re always standing right over it and it can come up in a volcanic blast that can kill people off at any time and even screw up the weather of the entire world.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Another focal point of the episode is Rainbow Burst. It was absolutely beautiful, and I always like it when Cures get new clothes. Also, even if the opening theme itself is bland, for some reason, the extended version makes for an awesome background piece. Maybe it’s that I like the verses better than the chorus, or maybe I’m a sucker for key changes. But whatever it is, it seems the opening theme of the dub is like salt; not too much to speak of on its own, but it’s better when paired with a visually striking attack.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Next episode: The girls transform into fairies and go back to M ä rchenland/Jubiland!