User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 26 (Sub), 20 (Dub)

Episode 25 (Sub), 19 (Dub) | Table of Contents '''Japanese title: “How Do You Really Feel? Rikka’s Worries Reappear!”'''

English title: “Searching for a Dream”



Believe it or not, Ira actually seems to be a pretty popular villain with the audience. I wouldn’t call him a fan favorite like Regina, but he still does have quite a few fans, especially in the comments sections of the. And I think this episode is why. From what I hear, this episode is going to have Rikka/Rachel befriend Ira. I can’t wait to see a new side of him, so I really hope this episode is as great as everyone says!

This episode doesn’t start with a flashback narrated by Maya. Weird, but okay. Although I don’t mind the flashbacks at all, it is a pain having to make a bunch of screenshots of them.

Instead, we start in class, where the teacher is asking people what they want to be when they grow up. Mana says she wants to become the Prime Minister of Japan and make everyone smile. Maya is a lot more Orwellian; she says she wants to be President of the World and make unhappiness illegal. Maya’s weird. I really hope she doesn’t come into power if she really wants to do that.

Mimura/Melvin, the guy who lost his wallet in episode 1, says that he doesn’t know what he wants to be yet. He likes that Rikka/Rachel already knows her dream: being a doctor. Rikka/Rachel, however, is unsure why she wants to be a doctor, or even if she wants to be one. She doesn’t voice these concerns, though; she just thinks them.

We get the opening themes. In the sub, the opening still hasn’t been updated to include Cure Ace. You think it would have happened by now. Maybe they’re just waiting until Ace joins the team for real rather than just stepping in from time to time.

We then cut to the four girls hanging out at a restaurant. Japanese text is removed from signs. These signs appear later on and they’re edited each time they appear. I’ll just screencap them all once so you know what they look like in both versions.



 The two begin to eat. I just realized that there are only two dishes. What is Raquel/Rory going to eat?

 Anyway, Ira tries to dig in, but he drops the spoon because his arm is hurting. Raquel/Rory picks up the spoon for him. Raquel sternly tells Ira that he needs to be careful since he’s injured; Rory is a complete jerk and asks if Ira’s too weak to feed himself and if he needs to be fed like a baby. I guess it does make sense in context for Rory to be rude since he still views Ira as a villain.

 Ira is very nice to Raquel/Rory. He thanks the fairy/pixie for helping him out. This causes Raquel/Rory to blush. Dialogue is added where Rory says that he was joking.

 Rikka/Rachel decides to help by spoonfeeding Ira. We don’t see this, though. Instead, Raquel/Rory angrily flies away and seethes that his friend is pampering their enemy. Suddenly, Raquel/Rory gets the daylights scared out of him when Sharuru/Kippie and Lance appear. They wanted to hang out since he and Rikka/Rachel were free that day. The two ask why Raquel/Rory is so upset. He doesn’t want them finding out about Ira, so he tries to convince them that everything’s fine. He’s obviously panicked, so it doesn’t work. Naturally, when the three fairies/pixies come down, they’re shocked to see Rikka/Rachel spoonfeeding a Jikochuu/Mercenare.

 The sub shows the eyecatches. Then, we cut to outside, where all four girls, all four fairies/pixies, and Ira have met up. Mana/Maya and Arisu/Clara are surprised but pretty happy about the turn of events. However, Dabi/Davi and Makoto/Mackenzie still see Ira as dangerous and think that he could strike at any minute.

 Aguri/Natalie then appears without warning like she usually does. The others aren’t even surprised this time. She agrees with Dabi/Davi and Makoto/Mackenzie and says that Ira is always dangerous and will always be evil. As a precaution, she transforms into Cure/Glitter Ace. Ace doesn’t say her catchphrase like before. Instead, she summons her Love Kiss Rouge/Glitter Sparkle Stick and points it at Ira. Ira’s completely shocked at Aguri/Natalie’s transformation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Rikka/Rachel gets between Ace and Ira and asks Ace what she’s thinking. In the sub, Ira says Rikka’s name; in the dub, Ira has a funny moment where he angrily thanks Rachel for standing up to Ace.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Ace says that someday, Ira will regain his memories and attack Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force now. She says that it’s better to get rid of him now, when he’s unable to attack.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> The weather seems connected to Rikka/Rachel’s mood, because right then, the sky turns dark and it starts raining. In the sub, the others stare in silence at Ira, Rikka, and Ace. In the dub, dialogue is added where Rachel demands that Ace put the weapon down.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Ace demands that Rikka/Rachel step aside, but she vehemently refuses. Even though Ira has done so many bad things, she can’t leave an injured, helpless person to fend for himself. Raquel/Rory flies up to Rikka/Rachel and says that he agrees with her. This comes completely out of nowhere. Just minutes before, he hated the idea of her cozying up with Ira. Why the sudden change? At least in the dub, Rory still shouts that it’s a crazy idea, but the change is still sudden and unexplained.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> And Raquel/Rory isn’t the only one. Everyone else stands with Rikka/Rachel, too. Even Makoto/Mackenzie does, which is just as unexplained. It makes the least sense for her because it was her kingdom that Ira destroyed. He, Marmo, and Bel laid waste to the only world she had ever known. Now that I think of that, imagine if Hitler got amnesia after having committed the Holocaust and somebody cared for him and tended to him since he was hurt. Imagine if that person’s friends sided with him, and one of those friends was a Jew. I know that in this case, the tragedy is reversible because Jikochuu/Distains can be purified. But there is still a lot of structural damage throughout the Trump Kingedom/Splendorius, and it will take a lot of time for the kingdom to go back to the way it was before. When you think about that, Ace’s point of view makes a lot of sense. The show is really downplaying Ira’s past deeds so that Rikka/Rachel can be the hero and Ace can be the villain.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> But wait! Ace isn’t the real villain! Gula/Gura has entered the scene, and he’s ready to fight. Rather than helping the other four out with this clearly powerful foe, Ace just leaves them behind. Cure Ace tells Rikka to show her how far she’ll go for her beliefs; Glitter Ace says (in a particularly villainous fashion) that Rachel can have it her way and that she’ll come to regret her decision. Then, she teleports away in a flurry of rose petals. I didn’t know Pretty Cures came naturally with that power.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Gula/Gura shoots a laser out of his mouth, which the others dodge. Rikka/Rachel pushes Ira away from the beam, and he hits his head. However, Ira is fine, and Rikka/Rachel assures Ira that she will protect him. The group then transforms into Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force. Ira is shocked to see that Rikka/Rachel transformed, too, and he admires how pretty she looks in her new form. Then, he suddenly gets a quick, blurry snapshot of one of his memories.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Heart does her catchphrase. This causes Ira to have another memory, this time of Heart. In the sub, he remembers hearing the phrase “Pretty Cure” before; in the dub, he remembers the phrase “doki doki”.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> In response to Heart’s catchphrase, Gula says that he’s going to eat their doki doki, while Gura says that he eats doki dokis like them for breakfast. Then, there’s a big fight scene between the girls and Gula/Gura. Remember how last episode’s fight scenes were lackluster, which just threw away the potential that came with Cutie Madame/Glitzy Marmalade? Well, maybe they were saving the budget for this one. The fight is well-animated and nicely choreographed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> A bunch of dialogue is added throughout. As Gula/Gura charges on his hands and feet towards Heart and Rosetta/Clover, Gura shouts, “You brats!” As he punches the two, Gura says, “Beat it!” As Diamond and Sword/Spade lunge to attack Gula/Gura from behind, Glitter Diamond says, “Now! Get him!” And as Gura catches them both by the legs and throws them away, he shouts, “Nice try!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Also, as Ira is watching, he wonders what’s going on in the sub, while he feels like he’s been here before in the dub.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Gula/Gura prepares to shoot another mouth laser at Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force, but Ira is standing between them. He asks Ira what he’s doing here. Hearing Ira’s name is what finally causes Ira to regain his memories. In the sub, he just gasps as he remembers everything; in the dub, he monologues over it, saying that Ira is him and becoming angry at the Glitter Force.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Gula/Gura finally fires his laser. But since Ira now remembers he has powers, he punches the laser into the sky. He’s not doing this out of a desire to protect Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force, though. In fact, he wants to be the one to defeat them.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Sword/Spade and Diamond are shocked. In the sub, Cure Diamond stares silently at Ira for a few seconds; in the dub, dialogue is added where Glitter Heart (happily, for some reason) says that Ira’s memory is back.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Surprisingly, Diamond is happy that Ira has regained his memory, even though it means that he’s going to attack them. In the sub, it’s not really clear why; Cure Diamond just says that this must be her true feelings. In the dub, Glitter Diamond is glad that her patient has fully recovered.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Gula/Gura jumps towards the girls and tries to punch them. At the same time, Ira attacks them with a blast of wind. This ends up messing things up for the villains; since the wind blows the girls away, Gula/Gura’s punch misses. For some reason, Diamond thinks that Ira tried to help them, even though Ira explicitly said, “Take that, Pretty Cure!” in the sub and “Take that, Glitter Force!” in the dub. Though Diamond might have a point. Despite saying that he wanted to defeat Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force, Ira teleports away instead of trying to get in Gula/Gura’s way.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Diamond is so happy that a blue aura appears around her. On cue, Ace comes back in. Cure Ace says that Cure Diamond has realized her true feelings; Glitter Ace congratulates Glitter Diamond on becoming stronger. She then does her usual five oaths/rules thing. Cure Ace, who still can’t count, says that the first oath of Pretty Cure is that a Pretty Cure must trust herself and have no regret over her actions. Glitter Ace says that the fourth rule of the Glitter Force is to trust yourself even when others don’t.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Diamond realizes that when Ace was threatening Ira and scolding her for wanting to protect him, it was all an act to make her face her true feelings. She thanks Ace for her advice. Ace says she wonders why Diamond is thanking her. I don’t know whether this is Ace being sarcastic or if it’s her secretly telling Diamond that she should thank herself.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> The epic fighting continues! Gula/Gura charges toward Diamond, who proceeds to beat the big guy up. After wiping the floor with him, she jumps to the top of a bridge. Even though Gula/Gura surely can’t hear her from all the way down there, she… does her catchphrase!? She does!! With the diamond sign with her hands and everything! They haven’t forgotten about her!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Well, maybe she doesn’t have a catchphrase in the dub. See, in the sub, Cure Diamond says what she said during her debut in episode 3: “I, Cure Diamond, shall cool your hot head down!” In the dub, Glitter Diamond says something completely different. In episode 2, she said, “My diamond power will make you see the light!” But here, she says, “Well, Glitter Diamond’s here to finally knock some sense into you once and for all!” which is a lot cooler.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> After finally getting to say her catchphrase, Diamond and Ace finish the fight. This time, Ace uses the blue version of Ace Shot. Much like the purple and yellow versions, it immobilizes its target. Specifically, it traps Gula/Gura in a bubble.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Diamond then uses Diamond Shower, but Gula/Gura has other plans. He sticks his head out of the bubble and eats the icy beam coming out of Diamond’s Love/Glitter Heart Arrow. Diamond isn’t fazed for long, though. She just keeps the beam going and going, fattening Gula/Gura up. The real punishment comes after the attack, where Gula/Gura gets really bad brain freeze from eating all of that ice. He’s in so much pain that he gives up and teleports away, causing the bubble to pop.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Everyone, even Ace, congratulates Diamond. Cure Heart congratulates Cure Diamond on leveling up; Glitter Heart jokingly asks Glitter Diamond to let the others fight too next time. Ace is proud of Diamond, but she makes sure to tell Diamond not to let her guard down around Ira. Diamond agrees that Ira is a threat and says she’s ready for whatever happens next. With that, Ace and Dina teleport away, just in time for the storm to stop and a rainbow to appear in the sky. Dialogue is added where Glitter Heart asks the others if they think Glitter Ace could use a hug.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> We cut to Ira standing on a building’s roof at sunset. He unwraps the bandage around his arm and throws it into the distance. Then, he teleports away. In the sub, this scene is completely silent. There’s no dialogue or background music, and you can tell Ira’s malevolent intentions just by his actions. I guess that was too complex for the dub; can’t have the kids thinking for themselves, after all. Instead, Ira inner-monologues throughout the scene. He thinks he doesn’t need the bandage anymore and chided Rachel for tending to him despite knowing he was her enemy.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> We cut to Rikka/Rachel’s house, where her mom and dad are home at last. Dad got Rikka/Rachel some dolls from the island he visited as good luck charms. Rikka snidely wonders what sort of souvenirs they are; Rachel says that Dad didn’t have to get her gifts.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Rikka/Rachel tells her parents that she’s decided she wants to be a doctor. Rikka says she just wasn’t prepared to face said dream until now; Rachel says she now knows it’s her dream instead of her mom’s. Mom asks if anything happened while Rikka/Rachel was alone. Rikka/Rachel doesn’t answer and just smiles – silently in the sub, giggling in the dub.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Overall:  This was an even better episode than last time! Just like I thought, this episode made Ira, a sort of forgettable villain, into a quite memorable one. It seems we’ve got two reforming villains in our cast list now. Speaking of which, where has Regina been all this time? Regina was a huge focus for several episodes in a row. Mana/Maya’s power upgrade episode focused on her! But since then, Regina has been nowhere to be found. Mana/Maya hasn’t even mentioned her. I guess she did get over her lost friend pretty quickly after all.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> But anyway, I do like Ira and Rikka/Rachel’s interactions here. It goes to show he isn’t just an evil kid. In fact, I do think that even after regaining his memories and turning evil again, Ira has changed. His voice acting became a lot deeper and calmer after he got amnesia, and he still sounds like that even after turning against Diamond and the others. I also like the moral dilemma brought up between Rikka/Rachel and Raquel/Rory. It’s always a tough decision to help someone who has wronged you. But I feel like Rikka/Rachel’s kind actions will eventually influence Ira, causing him to eventually join the side of good and giving them a power boost that wouldn’t have happened if she’s just left Ira to die.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> I also like how over the past few episodes, Ace’s relationship with the others has been developing. In her first episode, she was extremely mean to Mana/Maya, beating the poor girl while she was down and expecting Mana/Maya not to grieve over Regina. In her second, she wasn’t horrible to Makoto/Mackenzie, but she was still stern towards her, and her message would have been better taken if she had been nicer about Makoto/Mackenzie not putting her heart into her work. With Arisu/Clara, she was nicer still. In the sub, she didn’t even criticize Cure Rosetta at all and simply said that she knew what had to be done. Plus, for the first time, she visited the group not to criticize them but to discuss other Pretty Cure/Glitter Force matters. Now, she’s actually very nice to Rikka/Rachel at the beginning of the episode. Though she does turn stern later, it’s made clear at the end that this was just a ruse. With next episode focusing solely on Ace, I can’t wait to see her finally become a true friend of Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Next time:  Aguri/Natalie invites the others to a tea ceremony!