User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 19 (Sub)

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Japanese title: "Papa, Thank You! Yayoi’s Treasure"

This episode sounds like it’s going to be great! More character development for Yayoi, tugging the audience right in the heartstrings… I’m so excited for this one! I only wonder why it wasn’t dubbed…

The episode starts in class on a rainy day, with the teacher and Reika assigning homework: each student must ask their parents where their name comes from. Akane throws a fit about getting homework and Nao considers the assignment embarrassing; however, Miyuki thinks it will be fun. However, Yayoi fidgets, seeming upset.

The theme song happens. Then, we cut to the Bad End Kingdom. Wolfrun is looking through a name book and looks up his name for fun. Surprisingly, he finds it and reads what the name means: “Impatient, violent, liar… No one loves him so he loves no one back.” (Direct quote from sub) Wolfrun gets mad and tears the book in half, saying that he’s Wolfrun because he’s a wolf, and that love is unnecessary since a Bad End is coming.

You know, speaking of name meanings, I’ve decided to find out the meanings of the names of the main characters. Let’s look at the Pretty Cure Wiki!


 * Miyuki means different things based on the kanji used to spell it. Because Miyuki’s name here is spelled in hiragana, the meaning is ambiguous. The meaning here is likely “happiness” or “beautiful happiness” due to her Cure name, though it can also mean “beautiful fortune”, “good fortune”, “deep snow”, “beautiful snow”, or “beautiful reason for history”. The fortune-related definitions may have to do with why Cure Happy is Glitter Lucky in the dub.

 o   Hoshizora, Miyuki’s family name, means “starry sky”, which has to do with Cure Happy’s light-related powers.

 o   Emily means “rival”, “laborious”, or “eager”. This could be about how Emily never gives up. Also, Emily is one of the top ten names in America.


 * Akane means “Madder Red”, an intense red having to do with the sunset. This relates to Akane’s intense passion and her Cure/Glitter name.

 o   Hino can mean “sunny field” or “of the sun”, further relating to Cure/Glitter Sunny.

 o   Kelsey can mean “brave”, “ship’s victory”, or “Cenel’s island”. This seems to be more of a water-themed name. I believe that some of the English names may have just been chosen at random…


 * Yayoi is the old name for March in Japan. I wonder what reason this episode will give that Nao shouldn’t have been named Yayoi instead?

 o   Kise means “yellow river rapids”. I’m not sure what rivers have to do with Yayoi, but the “yellow” part definitely fits with her color scheme.

 o   Lily comes from the flower name, meaning “pure”, “innocent”, or “cute”. Definitely fits!


 * Nao means “straight” or “straightforward”. This describes her personality, as well as Cure March’s introductory phrase (“A straight-up bout!”).

 o   Midorikawa means “green river”. “Green” has to do with her color scheme. Interestingly, all seasons from Suite to KiraKira except for Mahoutsukai have at least one character with the kanji for “river” in their family name.

 o   April is the fourth month of the year, having to do with her identity as Glitter Spring.


 * Reika, like Miyuki, has many meanings depending on the kanji used. It can mean “beautiful”, “flower”, “wise”, “elegant”, “beautiful summer”, “sound of jewels”, “rule”, or “excellent”. The “beautiful” meaning relates to her Cure name.

 o   Aoki means “blue wood” or “blue tree”. Are there even any blue trees that exist??

 o   Chloe means “green herb” or “fresh blooming”. This is more fitting for April, but April is a better name for April than Chloe.

Well, that was fun! Anyway, we get the title card, and then we cut to Yayoi’s apartment at night. (It’s still raining, by the way.) Yayoi’s mom just arrives then, and Yayoi announces that the soup is ready. As her mom helps her with dinner, Yayoi asks her mom why she got named Yayoi. Her mom responds that her grandma and grandpa came up with suggestions, but her dad rejected them all and named her Yayoi. He was always stubborn like that. Her mom doesn’t know why he was so adamant about Yayoi’s name, but she remembers he told Yayoi about it. Yayoi hasn’t talked with her father since she was five, so she doesn’t remember much about him. Yayoi’s mom says it’s okay if she doesn’t remember much, but Yayoi is upset.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to Miyuki’s house, where Miyuki uses the Lipstick Décor to summon hair-styling tools to do Candy’s hair. She asks Candy why she was named Candy, and Candy simply responds that no matter what, she’s Candy. Her dad then comes home, and she’s excited to ask him about her name.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">However, we never see her ask him. We cut to the Akane restaurant, where Akane asks her dad where her name came from, and her dad gets mad that she’s asking him at such a busy time. They argue for a bit until Akane’s mom announces they have to make 100 okonomiyaki and they panic to get that all made.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to Reika’s house, where Reika asks her grandpa about her name and he agrees, and then to Nao’s house, where Nao’s siblings are sleeping and Nao asks her rough-around-the-edges father about her name.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We then cut to Yayoi’s bedroom. When looking through the namebook, she finds that Yayoi means March. She then has a sudden flashback to a shadowy building and the shadow of tree branches. However, she can’t remember anything useful.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We then cut to school the next day (still raining), where the girls announce the meaning of their names. Miyuki says her parents named her Miyuki (meaning “happiness”) because they wanted her to find happiness no matter what, and Akane says she grew up to fit that name perfectly. Reika writes the kanji for her name on the board (meaning “flower beauty”) and says her grandfather named her Reika because he wanted her to be as lovely as a flower and to have a beautiful heart, and Nao is amazed at her knowing the meaning of the characters in her name.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Then, Yayoi stands up and nervously says that Yayoi means the third month of the year, when plants bud and new lives and new days begin. Miyuki says that it fits because Yayoi is always lively, and Yayoi agrees and quickly sits down.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to the girls walking home from school (still in the rain; thank goodness for the Umbrella Décor!). Yayoi tells the others that she had to look her name up herself because her father is dead. Akane tells Yayoi that her father wanted a name starting with “A” because it would be easy to start with and her mother said the sky was an akane color the day she was born and she wanted Akane to have a beautiful heart like the beautiful sky. Akane says she may be exaggerating, but Miyuki says she likes it. Then, Nao says that her father wanted her to be straightforward and honest, so he named her Nao.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to the girls sitting in the park. Yayoi tells them that she used to remember a lot more about her dad, but now she barely remembers anything. She says she sometimes thinks about what her father thought of her, and Miyuki says he probably loved her more than anyone else. Nao and Reika suggest that Yayoi talk with her mom about her dad, and Yayoi agrees to do so.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We get the eyecatches, which show Cure Peace and Candy. Then, we cut to Yayoi’s mom, who is working at a Father’s Day fashion show. This kind of makes me sad; in the dub, Ulric promised to return for Father’s Day, but now only Wolfrun will be able to.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Because Yayoi’s mom is busy talking, Yayoi figures she’s busy and turns around to leave. However, her mom calls to her before she can make her exit. All the while, the other four are spying on her. We cut to inside the fashion show. Yayoi and her mom are talking while the show is going on, which I find to be very rude. Can’t they go outside?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Anyway, Yayoi’s mom tells Yayoi that her dad was awkward and had trouble expressing love. However, when Yayoi says she’s worried about her memories slowly disappearing, Yayoi’s mom gives her Dad’s treasure: a Father’s Day gift Yayoi gave him when she was young. It’s a drawing and origami, with the message, “Thank you, Papa!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">However, Wolfrun is hiding in the ceiling (it’s never explained why) and getting sick of the displays of love, so he summons a Bad End. The other four, who have followed Yayoi into the building, notice as well. Wolfrun then summons a red-nosed Akanbe out of Yayoi’s origami fox, and the girls transform (Cure Peace chooses scissors).

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The Akanbe destroys a window on its way out, but the girls follow it, surrounded by lasers just like at the end of their transformation, and kick it around. However, the Akanbe regains its bearings (at Wolfrun’s prompting) and kicks and throws the girls to the ground. Happy, Sunny, March, and Beauty all try to attack, but the Akanbe does away with all of them.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Peace is upset that the girls are hurting her dad’s present; however, she also intervenes to stop the Akanbe from hurting them. She falters, unable to attack the Akanbe, and it punches her aside. Peace lands on her feet and skids on the rain-covered bricks. As she looks at the bricks, she flashes back to the building and the shadows she remembered earlier.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">This time, she remembers everything. A young Yayoi wants to have a “wedding” with her father in an empty church. He agrees. As they walk down the aisle, Yayoi tells him to keep it a secret from her mom. Her dad tells her that it’s like he’s watching her future wedding.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to Yayoi and her dad sitting in the pews. He tells her that he came up with her name when looking at her newborn face. Her mother’s name, Chiharu, means “a thousand springs” and that her mom is kind like a spring (whatever the heck that means). He wanted his daughter to be just as kind as Chiharu, so he named her Yayoi, a type of spring.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We then get a very touching montage of a young Yayoi hanging out with her father as Cure Peace looks on. She tells him that she’s sorry she couldn’t remember him at first, and that he loved her very, very much.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">In the present day, the rain disappears. Peace turns around and faces the Akanbe, saying that her father gave her love so she could be kind to others, and that kindness is how people show their love for each other. Wolfrun tells her that love is powerless and without form and tells the Akanbe to finish her off. Peace, however, decides to give Wolfrun her dad’s love since Wolfrun never felt love of his own. She kills the Akanbe with Peace Thunder. This time, rather than screaming in shock as she’s done every time she’s used Peace Thunder before, Peace simply cringes. Wolfrun says he’ll remember this and teleports away. Everyone goes back to normal, and Happy catches the Cherry Décor. It goes into the Décor Décor, leaving only one Cure Décor to be gathered.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">We cut to the church, where Yayoi tells her mom about the “wedding” with her dad. Yayoi asks her mom if she’s become kinder, and her mom says that she felt his love, so she’s grown up to be very kind. Yayoi tells her mom she loves her name, and her mom says she loves her name, Chiharu. Akane and Nao, hiding a ways away, say they love their names, too. Reika says that names are the first bit of love children get from their parents, and Candy says it’s eternal love. Yayoi thanks her dad, and the episode ends.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall: Man, this episode was just as great as I thought it would be! It was very sentimental, and the rain definitely helped with that. We got to find out more about Yayoi, and her realizing the love her father gave her was beautiful to watch. This episode was simple, but man was it great.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Now, here’s the problem: why wasn’t such an awesome episode dubbed? Perhaps it was because of the possible pedophilic implications with Yayoi and her father’s “wedding”, but that could have been easily edited. Perhaps it was   the creators of Glitter Force only being able to make 40 episodes, so they had to choose the 8 episodes that would have impacted the audience the least to have missed, but then I think they would have chosen an episode not as wonderful as this one.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">You want to know my theory? I think Saban thought that Yayoi remembering her dead father would be too much for little kids. Even though some kids do have dead parents. Even though kids definitely know what death is, and have likely experienced the death of their grandparents or great grandparents. Even though other kids’ shows and movies have shown death, even onscreen. You know, one of the things I liked about Glitter Force is that, unlike worse dubs, it doesn’t dumb things down. You learn the exact same things from Glitter Force as you would from Smile Pretty Cure! I fear that I’m going to have to amend that statement. Saban, despite the dub’s flaws, it’s still good. You’ve done a commendable job with it for the most part. I expect more from you than looking down on your audience.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Next episode: Miyuki/Emily and Akane/Kelsey become invisible!