User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 18 (Sub), 16 (Dub)

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Japanese title: "Nao’s Feelings! The Baton that Connects Everyone’s Bonds!!"

English title: "The Great Relay Race"

Interestingly, the Japanese preview for this episode emphasized Nao, while Netflix’s preview emphasized Lily. Also, I’m curious as to how a single relay race is going to sustain an entire episode. However, this show has been very entertaining so far, so I doubt the fun train will stop now!

We begin with a race. There’s a quick establishing shot, a quick shot of the girls getting ready, and then the whistle blows and everyone gets going. Nao/April quickly dominates the race, leaving Reika/Chloe, Miyuki/Emily, and especially Yayoi/Lily lagging behind. Yayoi just grunts and groans in effort; Lily complains (barely audibly) that her legs are short. However, Akane/Kelsey refuses to give up. Shots of Akane/Kelsey and Nao/April are darkened. They’re quick, so the screenshots don’t match up exactly.



Nao/April starts running, and Yayoi/Lily passes the baton to her. Yayoi shouts Nao’s name, while Lily shouts at April not to forget the baton. After Nao/April catches it, Yayoi/Lily stops, and Miyuki/Emily hugs her. Then, Nao/April has an inner monologue. Nao thinks that she has to combine everyone’s powers, while April says that Lily gave them a chance and she has to bring it home. She catches up with everyone Yayoi/Lily fell behind.

Nao/April gets very close to the purple competitor. Yayoi/Lily cheers her on (shouting her name in the sub and shouting “RUN!!” in the dub). Nao/April is motivated enough to go in front of the purple competitor… only to trip and fall. Even though she gets up and runs after falling, she still finishes in last place. After she stops running, she cries. Nao is silent until she quietly apologizes to the other four; April inner-monologues that she let everyone down when they were so close.

To Nao/April’s surprise, the other girls (aside from Reika/Chloe, for some reason) hug her and congratulate her (Kelsey commenting in the dub that nobody lost a limb). The others cry, too (though in the dub, Emily and Kelsey don’t sound too much like they are). Reika/Chloe is standing to the side and crying a bit (I guess she’s not much of a hugger!). Reika says that they connected the baton to the very end, while Chloe says she remembered to run forward once in a while.

Nao says she’s thankful they all got to run in the race together, while April asks if they really aren’t disappointed. Reika/Chloe joins in on the hug, and the rest of the class runs to congratulate the team. We get a montage of the girls crying some more and everyone celebrating. In the sub, this is silent; in the dub, Emily says that April was right and that having fun is more important than winning, and April replies that Team Glitter Force is the best team she could possibly have. And then the episode ends!

Overall: When I first read the synopsis of this episode, I thought I was going to be bored. That was far from the case. This episode was well-written and well-dubbed. Also, the focus on two characters, Yayoi/Lily and Nao/April, made it interesting. I identified with Yayoi/Lily’s lack of faith in herself (especially considering this is the second time this series she’s been bullied), and Nao/April’s failure at the end reminded the audience that there is no one weak link and everyone is capable of messing up. It was well written, well done, and really emotional at the end. What a great time!

Next episode: Yayoi finds out more about her deceased father!