User blog:GlitterInformer/Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 30 (Sub), 22 (Dub)

Episode 29 (Sub) | Table of Contents '''Japanese title: “The Final Trial! The Legendary Pretty Cures!”'''

English title: “The Crystal Mirror”



Last time on ''Doki Doki! Pretty Cure'', in a very good episode that was unfortunately cut from the dub, Aguri Madoka told the other Pretty Cures that it was time to face their final challenge. This episode, the dub awakens from its two-episode slumber as we discover more plot-relevant information!

Although episodes 20 and 21 of the dub have not had the usual Maya-narrated flashbacks, this episode restarts the trend. Here’s the added flashback:



The punch has a lot of force behind it, but it doesn’t even budge Melan/Mora. What’s more, Heart expends so much energy performing the punch that she faints and de-transforms. Right before she falls, the dub adds dialogue where Glitter Diamond says, “Heart, are you…” However, after the fall, the dub removes dialogue where Cure Diamond shouts Mana’s name. Melan says, “Why you…” in a menacing tone, while Mora says that Glitter Heart’s performance was remarkable.

Suddenly, the Crystal Mirror glows. The dub adds dialogue where Glitter Diamond calls Maya’s name and Mora says, “I have only seen such determination once before…”

Then, the woman herself appears. In the Crystal Mirror, there’s now an image of the mean green mother herself: one of the legendary Pretty Cures/Glitter Warriors from millennia ago. Well, actually, she’s green and pink. Although her silhouette was green in the flashback and she has green hair, her eyes and outfit are pink, which makes her resemble Heart. The image of the green kid only appears for a bit, though. After she smiles at Melan/Mora, the image disappears and the Crystal Mirror is back to normal. In the sub, the girl is silent; in the dub, she giggles.

After the reflection disappears, Melan/Mora exclaims the ancient warrior’s name.

Name Change: In the sub, the green Pretty Cure is Cure Empress. In the dub, it’s Glitter Empress. Unlike our main characters, who are based on playing cards, Empress is based on a tarot card. According to Wikipedia, the Empress is a motherly, feminine leader who represents romance, creation, nurturing, and birth. This may reflect Cure/Glitter Empress’s implied status as leader of the original trio, and that she and her teammates were symbolically the “mothers” of all warriors who came after them.

In the sub, there’s a silent period where Melan looks down at the unconscious Mana and then gasps. In the dub, dialogue is added where Mora thinks, “This little girl? So be it.”

We cut to outside the cave, where Mana/Maya wakes up. Right after waking, she thinks they’ve lost again and jumps right up, thinking of ways they can win their third fight. Then, Arisu/Clara shows her that they’ve gotten the Crystal Mirror at last.

Melan/Mora, now back in fairy/pixie form, is there as well. She tells the girls that long ago, during the original war against the darkness, there was a time when all seemed lost. Everyone had lost hope, except for Empress, who had told Melan/Mora that she would never give up. Melan/Mora tells Mana/Maya that she reminds her of Empress.

While Aguri/Natalie thanks Melan/Mora, Sebastian looks through his goggles and sees a Yotsuba helicopter flying in to take them home. Mana/Maya invites Melan/Mora to come home with them and help them fight the Jikochuu/Mercenares. Melan/Mora says that she’s been a warrior for too long, and that the future era belongs to the new Pretty Cure/Glitter Force. This makes no sense. I get that you want to retire, Melan/Mora, but don’t you think stopping the literal end of the world is a bit more important? I mean, you’ve been all alone on the island for long enough. You don’t need that much more retirement, do you? I can tell this is just the writers not wanting to have Melan/Mora completely destroy all suspense, because she’s by far the most powerful warrior in the season so far. If she were to join the battles, they’d be won almost effortlessly.

As the helicopter flies away, Melan/Mora puts a bouquet of flowers by a mound of rocks that is implied to be Empress’s grave marker. She looks into the sky and tells Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force that their true trial is only beginning. And with that, the episode ends.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall: This episode was great! The stakes are really ramping up, and Melan/Mora is by far the most powerful adversary the girls have fought yet. Unlike any of the villains they’ve faced so far, they didn’t even come close to defeating her. She just stopped because Heart’s determination reminded her of Cure/Glitter Empress. Speaking of which, although we don’t know much about Empress, it was cool seeing the original Pretty Cures/Glitter Force warriors of this universe. Empress seemed like a cool kid.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The only problem I have with this episode is that it focused too much on Heart. It felt like only Heart proved herself worthy, and the others only got the Crystal Mirror because they were on her team. It makes sense that Ace was out of the game, but weren’t Diamond, Rosetta/Clover, and Sword/Spade just as determined as Heart was? Unfortunately, I hear that the overly-focusing-on-Heart problem is only going to get worse next episode…

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Next time: Leva/Riva and Gula/Gura turn everyone in the city into Jikochuu/Distains! Why didn’t they do that earlier!?