User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Final Thoughts

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Hello, everyone. This is it. I’ve been working on this sub/dub comparison for about a year now, and it’s been a long, fun ride. I’ve still got an Around the World review to do that compares international dubs of Smile Pretty Cure!  This has been taking a very long time, so it’s going to be a long while until it’s uploaded, and that’s if it’s even uploaded at all. I’m going to prioritize the upcoming sub/dub comparison between Doki Doki! Pretty Cure  and Glitter Force Doki Doki  instead.



So, what will these final thoughts consist of? First, I’ll go over the plot of the original Japanese version and how it stands on its own. Then, I’ll go into each of the major characters and state my opinion on their character traits and roles in the plot, as well as their acting in both the sub and the dub. Finally, I’ll give my overall opinion on Glitter Force  and list its major strengths and weaknesses. With that, let’s begin!

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<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">Thoughts on Smile Pretty Cure! <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">I’ve discussed <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> in depth when comparing it to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, but to discuss how I feel about the series as a whole, I feel that it would be best to take this opportunity to compare it to other seasons of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">What makes this season unique compared to the other three before it is that its major storyline takes a backseat to everything else. It has the basic <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">plotline: an evil kingdom led by an evil monarch wants to wreak destruction on the Earth, as well as another world inhabited by fairies. At least one fairy comes to Earth and helps a group of girls there transform into Pretty Cures to fight it. The first few seasons didn’t tend to get much deeper than this, with the only exceptions being the occasional arc where one or two villains would slowly convert to the good side.

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Starting with the sixth season, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fresh Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, this started to change. In <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fresh <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Heartcatch Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Suite Pretty Cure♪ <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, the plot didn’t go in a straight line from the first attack by the evil kingdom to the evil kingdom’s defeat. There were plot twists, character arcs, and developments greater than just the Cures defending one world and defeating another.

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> goes back to the old ways. Instead of focusing on the overall plot, it focuses more on characterization and self-contained plots within each episode. This is likely because of the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. The earthquake was the most powerful earthquake that has ever been recorded in Japan, and the resulting tsunami killed over 15,000 people. Over a million buildings were damaged. It’s little wonder that in the aftermath of this disaster, the people of Japan wanted a lighter season of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. The head writer of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yonemura Shōji<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, delivered in 2012. He simplified the plot and character arcs in order to create something nice and fluffy for everyone to enjoy.

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">I feel that Yonemura’s approach created a unique and memorable season of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. The lack of a complex, overarching plot leaves room for characterization, interactions, and fun single-episode plots. Something that <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">does very well is developing and balancing all of its many characters. It’s quite common for seasons of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> to focus on some characters more than others, leaving a few characters extremely lacking in characterization and development. Even if it’s a season in which all characters are focused on equally, there tends to be many episodes in which some of the main characters feel like they’re just there. I think this happens because with a bunch of episodes focusing on the main plot and another bunch focusing on characters individually, there isn’t much room for episodes that show the group interacting together. Because <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">’s main plot isn’t that big, relatively few episodes are spent on it, leaving time for memorable moments that develop the characters of everybody in the group.

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Speaking of memorable moments, there are <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">plenty <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">of them. There are so many great moments in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">: the episode about Yayoi’s dad, the deliberation over whether to go to the Bad End Kingdom or stay home, the episodes spent in the Ball of Neglect, Miyuki turning into a robot, Akane’s crush on Brian, the group entering “Cinderella”, Cure Beauty’s epic swordfight with Joker in episode 43… the list goes on and on. And the plot, despite its simplicity, isn’t nonexistent either. It isn’t progressed often, but when it hits, that’s memorable as well. The villains are given motivations, Joker and Emperor Pierrot are major threats, and the ending is emotional despite ripping off <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure All Stars DX3 <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. The characters themselves are memorable. Almost all of them have unique traits, and their personalities are vibrant whether alone or together.

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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Although the season has some problems here and there (FUJIWARA not being funny, the Cures repeatedly forgetting how to defeat a Blue-Nosed Akanbe, and an extremely repetitive joke in episode 35), I don’t have many major criticisms of it overall. Those that I do have belong more in the character section than in here, as they concern specific characters. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> may not break many boundaries, but it bounces so energetically within them that it’s a joy to watch. I give it four out of five stars. ==<span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Characters == <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Here’s where we cross the bridge from <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. As I said above, characters are a huge part of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, so the quality of the show in general is dependent on the quality of each of the characters. Not only will I be going into my opinions of each character, but I will also be judging the performances of the Japanese and English voice actors for each. For the sake of consistency, all names will be in the western order from here on out. Let’s start with the titular team, shall we? <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> ===<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;color:#434343;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure/The Glitter Force ===
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Miyuki Hoshizora/Emily <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is easily the least interesting of the main five, in my opinion. That’s not to say that she’s a bad character. I feel that she’s entertaining to watch and a good role model. I especially liked her in episode 13->12, where even though a bunch of bad things kept happening to her, she was always happy because she was having fun with her friends. Miyuki/Emily becomes less of an interesting character, however, when the other seasons of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> are taken into account. This is because the vast majority of pink Cures (a.k.a. leader Cures) in the franchise have very similar personalities. They’re all airheaded, clumsy, impulsive, loud, usually cheerful, and social. They’re the glue that holds the team together, and they never give up. The only differences between them is their main interest, if they have one. Saki’s is softball, Ichika’s is making sweets, Hikaru’s is space, and here we have Miyuki, whose passion is fairy tales. So far, the only pink Cure I’ve found that doesn’t fit this model is Tsubomi Hanasaki, the protagonist of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Heartcatch Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> This means that Miyuki is no exception to the rule. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> has a wide variety of different personalities most of the time. It’s a shame that this doesn’t apply to the team leaders as well.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Miyuki is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Misato Fukuen<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Fukuen has a lot of experience and can put on <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">a variety of different voices<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, going all the way from deep and boyish to high-pitched and cutesy. Miyuki’s voice is all the way at the latter end, but it doesn’t get annoying except for one quick moment in episode 47, when the whole group calls out, “CANDY!!!” The best part of Fukuen’s job is how emotional she is. From the very beginning, Fukuen is able to go from quiet to shouting, and it never sounds artificial. There are even some moments where Fukuen is screaming so loudly that she probably permanently damaged her vocal cords, but she pulls it off without a hitch. Great job here.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Emily is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Laura Bailey<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Bailey is an extremely busy voice actress with a huge list of roles in video games and anime. I wasn’t able to find a compilation video of her roles like I was with Misato Fukuen, but I did get to see a few anime roles she’s played (Evangeline in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mahou Sensei Negima! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, Maka in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Soul Eater <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and Kid Trunks in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Dragon Ball Z <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">). Like Fukuen, she’s got a lot of range. She can even put on a British accent as seen with Evangeline, although you’d have to ask a British person how good it is. As Emily, she mostly does a great job. There are a few moments that are lacking, though. For example, her acting sounds artificial sometimes in the first episode. Also, sometimes during extremely emotional moments, Emily’s voice doesn’t have the same amount of sadness in it as Miyuki’s. Overall, though, she does a commendable job, and Emily sounds just as high-pitched, energetic, and bright as Miyuki does.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Akane Hino/Kelsey <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is unique within the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> franchise, which is an increasingly difficult task considering just how many Pretty Cures there are (over 100!). It’s clear that she’s based on Rin Natsuki/Cure Rouge from the earlier <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yes! Pretty Cure 5 <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Both are red (red-ish, in the case of Akane), have fire powers, and love sports. What makes Akane unique, though, is her love for comedy. While there have been plenty of funny Cures in the franchise, I don’t recall a Cure regularly going out of her way to make jokes. Another thing that makes Akane unique among the other Cures is that she is the only Pretty Cure to speak in the Kansai dialect. Like most of the other Cures, Akane/Kelsey doesn’t just have one main trait; she has a lot of things that flesh her out as a three-dimensional character. Akane/Kelsey loves volleyball, she works at an <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">okonomiyaki <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> restaurant, she loves teasing people, and she has a rivalry with Nao. I’ve heard some people complain that the characters in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> are one-dimensional and stereotypical, and Akane/Kelsey is one of many characters that show that this, in my opinion, is just plain wrong.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Akane is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Asami Tano<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. She seems to be a singer and rapper, not just a voice actress. Interestingly, much like Akane, Tano has a Kansai dialect. Because of this, Tano’s characters also speak in this manner. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">This video<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> shows some roles she’s played, and almost all of them sound recognizably the same as Akane. Like Misato Fukuen, Asami Tano does a great job. Her voice perfectly fits Akane’s tomboyish and playful personality, and she’s also great at acting whatever emotions are necessary. I think that before we get too far ahead and I keep repeating myself, I should get this out of the way: there’s only one voice in the Japanese version that isn’t great, and that’s the voice of the old man fairy with the axes in episode 24. That guy’s voice was not great at all.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Kelsey is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Colleen Villard<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, also known as Colleen O’Shaughnessy. Villard is best known for voicing Tails in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Sonic <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> video game series. Like Tano, Villard does a great job of capturing Kelsey’s playful and sporty personality. I just wish that Kelsey could have had a unique accent like Akane, but that’s the director’s decision and not Villard’s.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yayoi Kise/Lily <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is my favorite of the five main characters, Reika/Chloe being a very close second. What I love about Yayoi/Lily is that she’s an underdog who is prone to failure. Usually, only pink Cures are underdogs, but Yayoi/Lily puts a new twist on it. Rather than being airheaded and cheerful like a typical pink underdog, Yayoi/Lily is shy and lacks confidence but nonetheless has talent and works hard. This makes her failures (e.g. her honorable mention in the school poster contest) that much more resonant with the audience, making Yayoi/Lily a very sympathetic character. She isn’t just an underdog crybaby, though; behind that shy exterior is a strong passion for superheroes. Her love of anime and live-action kids’ shows gives her personality a unique flavor that provides for fun interactions with the rest of the cast, the epitome of which is the Cures piloting Happy/Lucky when she turns into a robot. Yayoi/Lily is an anime character who is a huge fan of anime, a character type that hasn’t occurred before or since in the entire <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> franchise. She’s sympathetic, relatable, and as much of an anime fan as the viewers. What’s not to like?


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yayoi is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Hisako Kanemoto<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Like Misato Fukuen, Kanemoto is capable of putting on multiple voices so distinct that one can hardly tell they’re all from the same person. For Yayoi, Kanemoto puts on her cute voice, one that’s shared with a few of the other characters she’s voiced. Yayoi’s voice is high-pitched and soft. Kanemoto is perfectly capable of getting loud when she needs to be, whether Yayoi is fangirling over a show she likes or crying when everything is going wrong. Kanemoto’s goal here was having a cute voice, as not only is Yayoi’s design small and cute, but it’s common practice for yellow Cures to be the cutest members of their teams. Having a high-pitched voice is the tried-and-true method for making a character cute, and that’s definitely what Kanemoto achieves. Great work here!
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Lily is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alex Cazares<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Cazares doesn’t have a lot of experience when compared to the other voice actors here. She doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, so at first I thought that Lily was her only major role. I later found out that she’s been in other shows, like <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Boss Baby: Back in Business <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. This is a part of the review that I was excited to get at, because few people have good things to say about Cazares’ portrayal of Lily. Common criticisms are that Lily’s voice is too low and too old. I’m in the minority here, as I actually really like what Cazares did here. As I said above, although Kanemoto did a great job voicing Yayoi, she went the tried-and-true route of making a character cute by giving them a high-pitched voice. Cazares does something completely different: she gives Lily a low, quiet, and raspy voice that turns out equally cute. There are moments where Lily is too raspy, and in episode 3 Cazares underperforms. Overall, though, Cazares took an experiment, and I declare it to be a success.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nao Midorikawa/April <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> started out seeming like she was too perfect. However, as early as episode 7, she became fleshed out and far more interesting. Nao/April, like Akane/Kelsey, is incredibly three-dimensional. She’s as sporty as her red/orange counterpart, but her personality is entirely different. Nao/April is motherly to her numerous siblings and enjoys taking care of them rather than feeling burdened. She’s also a talented soccer player and an incredibly fast runner. Nao/April is far from flawless, however. She’s terrified of bugs and ghosts, she’s far too competitive with Akane/Kelsey, and in episode 18->16, she trips and falls, losing her class the girls’ relay race. She also has the quirk of having girly tastes, but that’s not a flaw, just something I wanted to add. One thing I wanted to see more from her is her supposed bluntness. In the Japanese version, Nao’s name means “straight”, and it’s supposed to represent her straightforward nature. The only time her supposed straightforwardness ever came into play, however, is episode 4, where Nao/April told off some bullies. After that, it just disappears. You’d think that if Nao/April really were so honest at heart, she’d be conflicted over keeping her magical girl identity a secret from her family. This informed attribute isn’t a problem in the dub, however, as it never claims that April is straightforward and blunt.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nao is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Marina Inoue<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Inoue has her fair share of male roles, but she’s got just as many girls under her belt as well, which she has a wide variety of voices for. 22 of Inoue’s characters, including Nao, can be found <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">here<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. For Nao, Inoue puts on a somewhat deep voice, giving a calm, mature feel to Nao’s character. Inoue is great at emotional moments, as shown in episode 18->16 and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">especially <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> episode 42->34.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">April is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Danielle Judovits<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Judovits is not only a voice actor, but she’s had theater roles and is a very talented singer. Judovits’ acting job is quite similar to Inoue’s in that April has a calm, deep voice. Occasionally, there are moments where April’s voice is indistinguishable from another character’s, but overall, she does a fine job.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Reika Aoki/Chloe <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is my second favorite of the main characters, as I mentioned earlier. Of all of the characters, Reika/Chloe is the least flawed, but she makes up for it via her character quirks and her numerous moments of sheer awesomeness. Starting with her debut in episode 5, Reika/Chloe is shown to be a clever fighter who sees the smallest details and uses her intellect to create genius, battle-winning strategies. My personal favorite is in episode 20->17, where she reveals the location of an invisible Akanbe/Buffoon by making it snow. In fact, due to being the strategizer, one could say she’s the true leader of the team. Reika/Chloe doesn’t just have brains, though; she’s a strong fighter who has gone one-on-one with the powerful Joker/Rascal and emerged victorious in an epic fight. She’s strong in hand-to-hand combat, but her standout moments are with her weapons: ice swords and a bow and arrow. What’s more, Reika/Chloe is not just awesome, but fun as well. She’s prone to taking things seriously to a comedic extent, especially when the Path is involved. Additionally, she has her moments of airheadedness, such as forgetting to run forward while practicing for the relay race. Overall, Reika/Chloe is an unforgettable character who will go down in history as one of the most epic Cures that ever was.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> ===<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;color:#434343;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Allies ===
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Reika is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Chinami Nishimura<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Unlike Inoue, who makes Nao sound mature by making her voice deep, Nishimura goes for a soft and dignified voice that is still high pitched. This shows that Reika, although one of the two “adults” of the team, still has her own character. Nishimura does a great job of making Reika sound slightly detached due to her high intelligence. Most of the time, she’s quite calm when voicing her. However, Nishimura has no problems with being extremely emotional when need be. This is best shown in episodes 43->35 (where Reika confesses to never wanting to leave her friends) and episodes 48->40 (where the whole team breaks down at the prospect of leaving Candy and Pop forever).
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Chloe is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Kate Higgins<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Higgins has a lot of voice acting experience in anime, western animation, and video games. You may know her as the former voice of Tails in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Sonic <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> series, Ami Mizuno in the Viz dub of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Sailor Moon <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and Mayor Pauline in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Super Mario Odyssey <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. (Please don’t tell me I’m the only one who can’t help but think of Glitter Breeze whenever I hear “Jump Up, Super Star!”.) There’s not much I can say about Higgins’ performance that I haven’t already said about Nishimura’s. Overall, Higgins does as great of a job portraying Chloe’s intellectual and serious character. There’s only one problem: she doesn’t get as emotional as Nishimura does in the crying scene in episode 43->35. It’s a small issue, though.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Candy <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is one of my favorite mascots in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> franchise. Most of the mascots in the franchise are done pretty well, in that most of them have distinct, memorable personalities and have a constant presence in the show. That should tell you how favorable it is when I say that Candy stands out among them. What I love about Candy is her character arc. She’s never unlikable, but she does become a much better fairy/pixie over the course of the season. At the beginning, Candy means no harm, but she is somewhat spoiled, immature, and unintentionally insulting. She’s not perfect, but given that she’s about six mentally, I don’t see why anyone would blame her. Over time, though, her human friends teach her how to share with others and prioritize others over herself. She also learns more about human culture and the importance of taking her mission seriously. By the end, Candy has grown leaps and bounds from where she’s started and is now ready to ascend to the throne. Candy may not be the protagonist, but one could say that <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">/ <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is her coming of age story. It’s clear that she has the best character arc out of anybody else in this season.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In the Japanese version, Candy is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Ikue Ōtani<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Ōtani has a <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">huge <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> amount of acting experience. By far, her most notable role is Pikachu in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pokémon <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> anime. It’s clear that Ōtani has a talent for voicing adorable characters, and her performance as Candy is no exception. Candy’s voice is so cute! And she’s well-acted, too, as Ōtani pulls off emotional scenes without a hitch.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In the English version, Candy is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Debi Derryberry<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. This is another section that I wanted to get to, but it isn’t for as happy of a reason as with Alex Cazares’ portrayal of Lily. If you’ve read the whole sub/dub comparison, you know that I did quite a bit of ragging on Candy’s voice acting at the beginning of the series. She was never bad all the time, but for the first third or so of the series, Candy sometimes had moments where her voice acting was jarringly unconvincing. Sometimes, Candy’s excitement felt forced; other times, Candy’s fear felt half-hearted. It’s especially weird because Derryberry is just as experienced as most of the other actors in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Personally, I feel that she has a mixed track record; though I do like her portrayal of Jimmy Neutron in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, her portrayal of Zatch Bell in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Zatch Bell <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is distractingly under-acted. Fortunately, Derryberry improves over the course of the series. Around episode 6, Candy has good episodes and bad episodes. By episode 14->13, Candy’s voice acting was just as good as that of everybody else. There are still occasional moments where Candy is under-acted (most notably in the last two episodes, where Candy crying sounds jarringly fake), but Derryberry definitely improves over the course of the series. I just wish she could have given solid performances throughout the whole show, not just the last two thirds.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pop <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is a cool guy. Generally, I find that older male mascots seem to be fan favorites, and hardly a soul out there wouldn’t agree that Pop is a powerful fighter, a cool personality, and a fun character to watch. Pop is unique amongst the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> mascots due to his self-disciplined <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">samurai <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> personality. He’s also one of the rare mascots that is capable of fighting alongside the Cures, though he isn’t the only one. Pop only rarely appears, but when he does, it’s a signal that something exciting and plot-relevant is about to happen. In relation to Candy, Pop serves as a personification of the mature figure that Candy is destined to eventually mature into. Unfortunately, this means that Pop doesn’t have a character arc himself, making him not as interesting as Candy in my book. (I don’t think you’ll find anybody else who ranks Candy above Pop, so enjoy this while you can.) He’s still a good character, though.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In the Japanese version, Pop is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Daisuke Sakaguchi<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. He’s best known for his roles in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mobile Suit Victory Gundam <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Gintama <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Clannad <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Paprika <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">I <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> know him best as Quiche in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tokyo Mew Mew <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and you will not believe how weird that is for me. Most of his roles have the same nasal, somewhat cute voice, as shown <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">here<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. It fits Pop very well, as Pop is cute but still traditionally masculine. And no, I don’t care that Pop doesn’t like being called cute. He can just accept the fact that he is.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In the English version, Pop is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Todd Haberkorn<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Haberkorn has a heck of a lot of major roles in popular anime such as <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fairy Tale <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Hetalia: Axis Powers <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">xxxHolic <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Haberkorn goes for an entirely different feel than Sakaguchi; while Sakaguchi sounds serious, he mostly sounds normal. Haberkorn, however, gives Pop a more stuffy-sounding voice that’s a bit more cartoonishly serious. Both approaches are great. Haberkorn does an excellent job when Pop is calm or stern (which is what usually happens). However, when Pop is sad, Haberkorn’s voice just doesn’t have the same emotion in it that Sakaguchi’s does. This really holds Pop back, especially in episode 22->19.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Royale Queen/Queen Euphoria <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is awesome despite her small role in the show. I know I didn’t comment on her character too much during the sub/dub comparison, but now that I’ve reflected on her, I’ve realized that she’s the true heroine of the show. Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force may bust their butts in physical fights, but the Queen calmly and knowingly sacrifices her own life to save them and her daughter. Note that in episode 23->20, there’s a long pause between the team first filling the Décor Décor/Charm Chest and them gaining Rainbow Burst. In hindsight, you can tell that this was because the Queen had to make a very difficult choice: use the Cure Décors/Glitter Charms to revive herself, or use them instead to save the warriors who worked so hard for her. She must have known from that moment that by saving them, she’d ensure her own death. But she did it anyway, and this was <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">after <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> previously sacrificing herself to seal away Pierrot/Nogo in the first place. Now <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">that’s <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> formidable. By far, the Royale Queen/Queen Euphoria is the best mother in the entire <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">franchise.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Royale Queen is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Sumi Shimamoto<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. She’s had her fair share of roles, and her most important ones are Nausicaä in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and Kyoko Otonashi in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Maison Ikkoku <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Interestingly enough, this isn’t Shimamoto’s first time voicing the queen of another land; she also voiced Queen Candy in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Sugar Sugar Rune <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Shimamoto’s voice suits her character well. It’s a bit higher pitched than one would expect for a regal character, but this helps to underscore her femininity. Her tone of voice is constantly calm and graceful. Overall, Shimamoto does a nice job. There is one thing I’d like to note: Shimamoto <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">doesn’t <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> voice the Smile Pact like I thought she did. Instead, Ikue Ōtani, Candy’s voice actress, does. I had no idea!
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Queen Euphoria is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mary Elizabeth McGlynn<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. McGlynn has had quite a few anime roles, as well as a small number of roles in American media. In <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, McGlynn does a stellar job. Not only does she voice Queen Euphoria, but she also voices Brooha and the protagonists’ teacher, Ms. Mason! (Ms. Mason is not a major enough character to be included in this section, by the way.) I had no idea that she had so many roles in this show until I started making this document, which goes to show just how good she was at creating distinct voices for her characters. McGlynn does such an excellent job that her performance as Queen Euphoria is <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">better <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> than that of the original Japanese version! Don’t get me wrong: Sumi Shimamoto does a good job as the Royale Queen. But McGlynn goes one step beyond her by giving Queen Euphoria a distinct, memorable voice with a lot of character. Her deep British accent carries not only feminine regality but also authority. It’s about as queen-like as things get.

===<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;color:#434343;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> Villains ===
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Wolfrun/Ulric <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, like most of the villains in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, started off bland. All we knew about him at the beginning was that he was an anthropomorphic Big Bad Wolf who wanted to bring an unhappy ending to the world. In other words, he was just a generic bad guy. Fortunately, things changed pretty quickly. What makes Wolfrun/Ulric a memorable villain in the end is not his character alone, but the way he interacts with others. Memorable moments include him being kicked out of a fancy restaurant in episode 10, him failing to sink Miyuki’s grandmother into despair in episode 27, and him and Akaoni/Brute playing with action figures together in episode 35->28. He tries to be a menacing villain, and most of the time, he succeeds. But when he doesn’t, it turns out really funny.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Wolfrun is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tomoyuki Shimura<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Shimura’s voice for Wolfrun is full of character. Wolfrun’s voice is best described as sounding like a high-school delinquent. He has that laid-back attribute to his voice but still clearly sounds evil. It’s a good voice. Even better is that in the Japanese verison, he has a distinctive, growl-like laugh. This is more of a directing thing than an acting thing, but it’s a shame that Ulric doesn’t have a signature laugh too.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Ulric is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Keith Silverstein<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Silverstein matches McGlynn for acting talent and even voices the same amount of major <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> characters as her! He’s also the voice actor of Brute and Rascal. Much like with McGlynn, I had no idea all three of these characters all had the same voice actor until I found out on the Internet. Silverstein does an excellent job as Ulric. His voice is so smooth, evil, and cool. Oddly, it’s much lower in episode 1 than it is in the rest of the show, but it’s no better or worse either way. Hooray for Keith Silverstein!
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Akaoni/Brute <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> suffered from the same problem as Wolfrun/Ulric at the beginning: he was evil, and that was it. Actually, that <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">wasn’t <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> it; at least not in the dub. Unlike Akaoni, Brute is shown to be somewhat dimwitted, as he has a tendency to get basic sayings wrong. This added character trait fleshes out Brute more than Akaoni, and because of this, I like him better in the dub than in the sub. Fortunately, as the show goes on, both Akaoni and Brute get more characterization. Akaoni/Brute takes great pride in being an oni/troll, and he loves to have fun when he’s not plunging Rainbow Hills into despair, as shown by him fanboying over Blue Oni in episode 34, surfing in episode 25->22, and playing with Wolfrun/Ulric in episode 35->28. He starts out forgettable, but by the end of the show, he’s quite memorable, even more so than Wolfrun/Ulric.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Akaoni is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Hiroshi Iwasaki<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Iwasaki does a great job throughout. At first, when we know nothing about Akaoni’s character other than that he’s evil, Iwasaki does a great job of sounding evil, but there isn’t much else remarkable about his voice. Once we get to see Akaoni being enthusiastic and having fun, Iwasaki does a great job of reflecting that. When Akaoni’s happy, Iwasaki tends to make his voice higher-pitched. Overall, Iwasaki’s voice is full of passion, personality, and fun.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Brute is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Keith Silverstein <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. As Brute, Silverstein goes for a completely different feel than Iwasaki. He gives Brute the voice of a dumb muscle character, underscoring his added dimwittedness in the dub. It’s no worse of a voice than Iwasaki’s, and I like that Silverstein did something unique here.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Majorina/Brooha <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is easily my favorite of the trio. Like the other two, she starts out blandly evil. However, as early as episode 8, she becomes one of the most memorable villains in the franchise. What makes Majorina/Brooha stand out is that she has her own niche when it comes to the narrative. Many episodes revolve around her losing a magical invention and trying to get it back, all while the invention wreaks havoc on Earth. Not only does this repeated plot structure provide memorable episodes, but it also fleshes out Majorina/Brooha’s personality. Much like Akaoni/Brute, she enjoys having fun while off-duty; for example, she loves herself some <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">natto gyoza <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">/mustard and garlic candy. She also gets mad at the other two villains in the trio quite often, and she takes pride in her younger form. Her younger form <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">is <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> cool, by the way. What’s even cooler is her ongoing relationship with the policeman. Every time the two met each other, fun times ensued for the viewer. I wish there were more scenes with the two.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Majorina is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Miina Tominaga <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, whose real name is <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yoshiko Matsumoto<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Tominaga does a great job sounding like a raspy old woman while still being emotional and lively. She also has a distinct voice for Majorina’s younger self that sounds lower-pitched and much younger. Overall, she does a great job reflecting Majorina’s personality and multiple forms, and she gives older Majorina a memorable and iconic voice.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Brooha is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mary Elizabeth McGlynn <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. McGlynn does an even better job than the already great Tominaga because not only does she sound old and witch-like, but her voice acting is so over the top! You can tell that McGlynn is having a blast as Brooha. Like Tominaga, McGlynn also gives Brooha’s younger self a distinctly separate voice. Oddly, young Brooha has a southern accent, even though old Brooha doesn’t. It sounds great, but it’s still an unexpected choice. I wonder if McGlynn put on the southern accent so that young Brooha’s voice would be separate from Ms. Mason’s voice.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Joker/Rascal <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is not just my favorite villain in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">/ <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, but my favorite villain in the entire <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> franchise. I love it when otherwise light and happy franchises get really dark, and Joker/Rascal is easily one of the darkest and creepiest villains in the franchise. First of all, he makes a lot of creepy faces, the first one being as early as his first appearance in episode 6. Second, he has a lot of creepy moments, most noticeably in episodes 22->19 (after fighting Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force for the first time), episode 32->27 (when Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force is trapped in a fake world without problems), and 43->35 (demoralizing Cure Beauty/Glitter Breeze when she’s conflicted over whether or not to go to school in London). Third, he’s quite the powerful opponent, and it’s always tough for the protagonists to defeat him. In fact, Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force never defeats him for good; he sacrifices himself in order to strengthen Emperor Pierrot/Nogo. Fourth, Joker/Rascal is the most chillingly <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">evil <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> of all of the villains in this show. He doesn’t hesitate to put his subordinates in mortal danger (at least in the sub), and he seems to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">really <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> enjoy doing evil. Finally, Joker/Rascal only appears during plot-relevant episodes, so whenever he makes an appearance, you know that important things are about to happen. Overall, Joker/Rascal is memorable for being an extremely vile villain, especially in comparison to his surroundings.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Joker is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yūji Mitsuya<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Mitsuya not only voices anime characters, but he also is known for voice acting in Japanese dubs of American films. For example, he plays Timon in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Lion King <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and Marty McFly in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Back to the Future <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> trilogy. Additionally, Mitsuya came out as gay in 2017. That’s cool! Anyway, back to the topic: Joker. Mitsuya provides a high-pitched, somewhat feminine voice for Joker to underscore the playful persona that Joker puts on when dealing with others. When Joker is in private, Mitsuya noticeably changes his voice, becoming lower-pitched and more serious. It’s still obviously Joker speaking, but it’s a nice touch to see this character having two personalities. What’s more, Mitsuya’s voice is just as creepy as the character he’s voicing. Overall, Mitsuya does a great job.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Rascal is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Keith Silverstein <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. As Ulric and Brute, Silverstein went in a different direction than the Japanese voice actors of those characters did. As Rascal, however, Silverstein goes for the same feel that Yūji Mitsuya did, and he imitates his style wonderfully. He really sounds like Mitsuya would if he were American. There are only two problems. First of all, there’s one line in episode 32->27 that isn’t very well acted (“Two for the price of one! Perfect!”), but that’s only one line in the whole show, so who cares? Second of all, Rascal has the same voice whether he’s talking to others or talking to himself, so he doesn’t have the nuance of having public and private personas. That’s probably more of a directing issue than an acting issue, but it’s still a shame that this aspect of Joker/Rascal’s character isn’t present in the English version. Still, Silverstein does an excellent job as Rascal.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Bad End Pretty Cure/the Glitter Shadow Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> could have been excellent, memorable villains despite only appearing in two episodes. Unfortunately, they ended up simply being wasted potential. Evil versions of the main heroines are always an exciting concept. Because of this, the concept has been done before with Dark Pretty Cure 5 in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Yes! Pretty Cure 5 <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> movie and Mirage Pretty Cure in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Heartcatch Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and it would later be done again with Cure Unlovely in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Happiness Charge Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> Unfortunately, the fights between the good and evil versions of the main characters weren’t memorable in the slightest, and most of the evil counterparts didn’t reflect the originals’ personalities at all. To be fair, I do like the personalities of Bad End Happy/Shadow Lucky and Bad End/Shadow Peace. Bad End Happy/Shadow Lucky loves being happy as much as Cure Happy/Glitter Lucky does; she just happens to get her happiness from the suffering of others. Bad End/Shadow Peace is just as playful and prank-loving as Cure/Glitter Peace, and she even pretends to be shy like the latter genuinely is; she’s just evil at the core, while Cure/Glitter Peace just wants to make others happy. Unfortunately, the other three evil warriors had very little in terms of personality. They were evil and wanted to be the only versions of themselves, and that was all there was to them. In the sub, Bad End Beauty had the added trait of taking great pride in her beauty, but since Cure Beauty never focused on beauty despite her name, Bad End Beauty’s vanity comes completely out of nowhere and doesn’t reflect her good counterpart at all. Overall, had these other three just had some thought put into their dialogue, they would have been memorable villains. As it is, Bad End Pretty Cure/the Glitter Shadow Force is merely a poor implementation of a stellar concept.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In both the Japanese and English versions, the Bad End/Shadow warriors have the same voice actresses as their good counterparts. I will give credit where credit is due; every single one of the actors does an excellent job as their evil character. Each evil warrior sounds similar enough to their good counterpart to make it clear that she’s an evil reflection of her, yet still smug and evil enough to make it clear that we aren’t dealing with the same person. Props to all ten of the voice actresses for putting effort into their acting, even if the same wasn’t done for the writing.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Emperor Pierrot/Nogo <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is ultimately the most forgettable of the recurring villains. He <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">does <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> quite a few memorable things; in fact, pretty much everything he does (emerging from a sea of lava, summoning the Titans of Despair/Shadow Giants, summoning regenerating monsters, sending the protagonists to the land of despair, turning into a black hole, causing a volcanic apocalypse…) is memorable. The only problem is that he himself doesn’t have very much in the way of characterization. He’s evil, and that’s it. The question is, where did he come from? Why does he want to commit evil deeds? How did he recruit Joker/Rascal? The dub doesn’t even say what he <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">is <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> (in the sub, he’s the living embodiment of humans’ negative emotions). Ultimately, Pierrot/Nogo doesn’t get characterization, so his underlings ultimately trump him when it comes to characterization and memorability.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Emperor Pierrot is voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tesshō Genda<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, whose real name is <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mitsuo Yokoi <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Not only does Genda have a wide variety of anime roles, but he is also the current Japanese voice of Tigger in the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Winnie the Pooh <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> series, and he commonly voices Batman as well. As Pierrot, Genda does a good job of sounding evil and menacing. There’s not a single instance where Pierrot is poorly acted. Unfortunately, although Genda does a fine job, his voice isn’t particularly memorable.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Emperor Nogo is voiced by... wait a minute, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">who <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">is he voiced by? One thing I forgot to mention is that although <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> does list its actors, it’s not in the show itself, but rather in the “Details” section on Netflix’s <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">page for the series<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. What’s more, the English voice actors are not listed along with the roles they play, so I have to use Wikipedia and this wiki to figure out who voices who. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">And there’s no information whatsoever on who plays Emperor Nogo. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> This is a <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">huge <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> shame, because whoever voiced Nogo did a really good job. I didn’t really mention it during the sub/dub comparison itself, but Nogo’s voice actor completely hams it up the whole time. It’s a wonder to behold. While Nogo doesn’t have much in the way of written personality, you just have to admire how much joy he has in bringing about the apocalypse in the dub. Whoever voiced Nogo truly deserves credit for his great performance.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Akanbe/Buffoons <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> are your typical monsters of the week as far as <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> goes. Every season has a monster that is summoned every week. Generally, they’re made from an inanimate object, and they are only capable of saying their names. There are exceptions, but the Akanbe/Buffoon is not one of them. The only unique thing about Akanbe/Buffoons is how many types of them there are. There’s the regular red-nosed one, the blue-nosed one, the occasional yellow-nosed and green-nosed ones, the Super Akanbe/Buffoon, the Hyper Akanbe/Twilight Buffoon. Other than that, these monsters stick to the formula. There’s nothing wrong with that, though, as the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Pretty Cure <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> monster-of-the-week formula is tried and true. There’s a lot of potential that comes with turning random objects into monsters, and Akanbe/Buffoons generally utilize all of it. Each one has a different set of powers that are generally used in creative ways. It really helps when it comes to making every weekly fight scene a good one.


 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Akanbe are voiced by <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Hirō Sasaki<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Playing a monster that is only capable of shouting its own name is a very tough role, and Sasaki pulls it off without a hitch. I’m not sure if I would be able to pull off shouting, “Akanbe!” over and over again in an evil monster voice. The fact that Sasaki not only does so but maintains suspension of disbelief without ever slipping up acting-wise is a huge testament to his acting ability.
 * <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Buffoons, much like Emperor Nogo, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">are voiced by an unknown actor <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. Much like the man who played Nogo, the man who played the Buffoons goes above and beyond in his role. The first thing that makes this unsung hero even better than Sasaki is that he doesn’t just do an evil monster voice; he makes his Buffoons sound like, well, buffoons. This idiotic touch gives them a hint of personality that isn’t present in the original. But the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">real <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> reason that I have such a high opinion of this anonymous actor is because he completely steals the show in episode 16->15. As a reminder, this is the episode where the Buffoon is capable of full speech and gives the Glitter Force a quiz. Without the constraint of only saying, “Buffoon!”, you can tell that our mystery man is having a blast playing the Buffoon host of the quiz show. Even more so than with Nogo, it’s a wonder to behold.

==<span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">How does <span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> compare? == <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In my opinion, voice acting is by far the most important part of any dub. Some people place the most importance on how faithful a dub is to the original version, but personally, I can’t get into the most faithful dub in the world if it it’s poorly acted. Bad acting is distracting from the story and it shatters my suspension of disbelief. Conversely, even if a dub has plentiful flaws and malign deviations from the original, I can still get into it and enjoy it if it’s acted well. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is the perfect example of this type of dub. It’s far from flawless, but you can tell that the actors care about this work and are doing their best to make it a great experience for everybody. As I discussed above, the characters generally are as well acted as their Japanese counterparts, and some of them are even better acted in the dub. But as important as acting is, it isn’t everything. In this section I’m going to go into all of the aspects of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> that aren’t voice acting. I’ll tell you how I think <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> compares to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and all of the ways it could have been improved. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">First of all, let’s go into what <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> does well. This list is ordered from least awesome to most awesome.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">
 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Added comedic lines. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> has a lot of attempts at humor that aren’t present in the original Japanese version. Some of these fall flat on their face (for example, Kelsey’s book pun in episode 24->21). Others don’t make me laugh, but they aren’t cringeworthy; they’re just there. But occasionally, there are lines that really do make the experience that much more enjoyable. Key examples are in episode 8 and episode 35->28; in case you haven’t read the articles for those episodes yet, I won’t spoil the jokes for you. The crowning example is also in episode 35->28; where the Japanese version, had a boring, annoying, and repetitive joke, the English version changed the dialogue to make the scene actually entertaining.
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Capturing the general feel of the original. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> Don’t get me wrong; I don’t consider <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> to be a particularly faithful dub. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have done away with 8 episodes and it wouldn’t have made big changes to 4 more. But I think that about three quarters of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is perfectly faithful to the original save for name changes. Even when episodes are heavily edited, I still feel like I’m experiencing the same humor, watching the same characters, and getting the same messages. In a way, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> really is <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> It’s just in a different flavor.
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Putting its own take on things. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> Faithfulness isn’t the only stick with which to measure a dub. In fact, the reason I love doing this sub/dub comparison is because I feel that a dub as <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">un <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">faithful as <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> unlocks a whole new world. With new names and new choices, it’s a completely different way to experience an anime. Part of the reason that doing a sub/dub comparison involving <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> appealed to me is because I anticipated that <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> would differ drastically from the original Japanese version. Differences aren’t bad in and of themselves; sometimes, they’re just different. For me, the vast array of differences between <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is my favorite part of watching the dub. I never know what new dialogue change or paint edit is around the next corner. Every episode is an adventure. From this standpoint, no matter how bad the changes in <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> get, no matter how much quality content is removed or how much cringeworthy dialogue is added, the dub will <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">always <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> be fun because it’s a brand new experience. Even when I’m disappointed with <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, I still do love it because it’s so unique.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Unfortunately, despite its many strong points, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is still ultimately inferior to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> I love them both, but the fact is that not all of the changes <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> makes are good. Some of them significantly detract from what could have been a thoroughly excellent dub. Here is a list of flaws with Glitter Force, organized from least disappointing to most disappointing.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">


 * 1) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The added dialogue. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> Adding dialogue isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. However, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> goes out of its way to get rid of every moment of silence that exists in the original. There are only two moments of silence in the entirety of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">: a small, added bit of silence in episode 5 and a shortened bit of silence in episode 44->36. This really gives me the feeling that the creators of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> believe that children watching the show won’t be entertained unless there is dialogue every second. It feels a bit like I’m being condescended to. However, this is only really a nitpick. The worst of the added dialogue is in the transformation sequences… and I’ll get to <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">that <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> later in this list.
 * 2) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Asia-Pacific Expo. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> The very idea of a perfect replica of both Kyoto and Osaka existing in the United States is completely and utterly ridiculous. It would have been much easier to suspend my disbelief in episodes 13->12 and 14->13 had the Glitter Force gone on a field trip to the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">real <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> Kyoto and Osaka. It still would have been a stretch to afford such an expensive field trip, but at least it would actually be possible in the real world. Like the added dialogue, though, this is only a minor flaw. The two episodes that the Asia-Pacific Expo appears in are still enjoyable, so it doesn’t significantly detract from the show.
 * 3) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The eight removed episodes. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> From what I hear, there was a good reason for <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> having only 40 episodes while <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> has 48. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> wasn’t intended to be released on Netflix; it was supposed to air on Nickelodeon. The thing is, Nickelodeon requires that all of its shows be released in seasons of 20 episodes each. Because of this, Saban had to round down to 40 and cut off 8 episodes. This is one of the major reasons why <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> isn’t as good as <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">; 4 hours worth of content simply didn’t make it across the Pacific. All eight of the removed episodes were enjoyable and fun, though some were just okay (e.g. episode 17) while others were masterpieces (e.g. episode 19). What’s more, it’s quite clear even to people who only watch the dub that there are holes in the story. The Wheel of Doom skips clicks, and in the first season, Glitter Charms appear out of nowhere. It <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">could <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> be assumed that these adventures happened off-screen, but it’s still distracting. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is clearly incomplete, and it’s a major flaw.
 * 4) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The heavy editing. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> I said above that approximately three quarters of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> are faithful to the original. The one other quarter, however, is a significant amount. Most of it is made up of the eight cut episodes discussed above. However, there are four episodes that are so heavily edited as to make up the rest of the quarter: episodes 1, 30->25, 42->34, and 48->40. The latter two overlap with the next point on this list, so I won’t be discussing them here. Episodes 1 and 30->25, however, are just plain heavily edited, and for no good reason whatsoever. I’ll be honest; episode 1 wasn’t <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">too <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> bad. It had an added dream sequence and some minor things cut to made way for it. What really made no sense was inserting a sequence where the backstory of the show is told, when the <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">exact same story <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> would be told just five episodes later with the exact same footage. Additionally, Emily’s dream sequence and Queen Euphoria’s exposition of the backstory spoiled some footage from upcoming attacks in the series. The <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">really <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> bad episode, though, is episode 30->25. For absolutely no reason whatsoever, the first half of the episode is eaten up by a clip show of fights that took place in the first half of the show. There wasn’t even anything particularly special about the fights that were chosen. What’s more, these days, clip shows are completely pointless; on Netflix you can easily switch between episodes with only 2-3 clicks. If the audience really wanted to see those fights again, they could just go to the episodes where they occurred. But the clip show occurs anyway, and at the cost of a huge portion of the girls’ humorous and entertaining trip around the world. I’m not saying that all edits are bad. However, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">these <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> edits are bad because they detract from the actual stories of the episodes they occur in.
 * 5) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The censorship. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> doesn’t engage in censorship that often, but when it does, it feels insulting. I know that the creators don’t mean the audience any harm; in fact, they’re trying to keep them from getting upset or scared. But here’s the thing, anybody who’s been watching <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> far enough to get to the censored parts in the first place already <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">has <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> been scared, so it’s too late to protect them. The kids who have gotten to episode 39->31 (the first instance of censorship in a dubbed episode) have already faced Rascal’s many creepy moments, the emotion-sucking world of the dream ball, and Emily’s nightmarish fish-eye lens face in episode 13->12. All censorship does is condescend to the kids who have gotten through so much to get to the end of the series. The first possible instance of censorship is the removal of episode 19, the episode concerning Yayoi’s dead father, from the dub. This may not count as censorship, though, as Saban did have to choose 8 episodes to throw in the trash. So I’m only going to go over censorship that occurred in dubbed episodes. We have episode 45->37, where Joker saying that the Hyper Akanbe noses could kill the subordinates is changed to him saying that the noses “could be dangerous”. This is the least disappointing instance of censorship. Then, we have beautiful, touching emotional sequences being removed so as not to make the kids cry. This occurs in episode 42->34, where we don’t see Glitter Spring break down upon thinking that her siblings are dead, and in the final episode, where the Glitter Force does not burst into tears after presumably saying goodbye to Candy forever. But the very worst instance of censorship has to be when <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> goes from overprotective to immoral. I’m talking about episode 39->31, where a quick instance of Yayoi having romantic feelings for Prince Reika is removed. I tried to pretend it wasn’t homophobia. I made excuses: perhaps they just did it to cut down on time because the episode was originally going to air on TV. Or maybe them showing Lily blushing from far away was a sign that they didn’t disapprove of homosexuality. I simply didn’t want to believe that this show I had been enjoying so long would actually promote a homophobic message. But the fact is that there is no other reason for Saban to get rid of this quick moment of lesbian subtext other than homophobia. Five seconds can’t possibly be enough to have to cut down for time. Now, to be fair, this probably isn’t <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Saban’s <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> homophobia. It may be that since about ⅓ of the American population is opposed to homosexuality, Saban thought that including gay subtext would cause them to lose money. It may also be because Nickelodeon’s policies were against homosexuality in their shows; I did hear about them refusing to air a show because its protagonist had two dads. But if Saban had any say in this at all, then it really does set a bad example for the children who are watching the show. Censoring homosexuality carries the implicit message that homosexuality is bad enough to be worth censoring. Kids need to learn that it’s important to tolerate people of all sexualities, and if <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> hadn’t censored that romantic moment between Yayoi and Reika, the young children watching would realize that being gay is not only okay, but normal as well. It would have had a positive impact upon all who watched it. As things are, Saban simply gave the (hopefully unintentional) implication that they are bigoted against gay people. But this isn’t the worst of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">’s shortcomings. This next one is...
 * 6) <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The glitter-tastic dialogue. <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> All of these other flaws are tolerable. In fact, if you only watched the dub, you probably wouldn’t even notice them, so you’d still enjoy the show as much as I did. But this one flaw here is the reason why I can’t go out and recommend this dub to my friends. It’s the reason why I’m ashamed to admit to my peers that I’m into <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. It’s the cringeworthy dialogue, most prominently during the transformation sequences. If it weren’t for lines such as “Poof, poof, poof! I’m glittertastic!”, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell other people, “Look, I know the title sounds super-girly, but <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is a great show that I highly recommend.” But the fact that some parts of this show are simply inundated with over-the-top girly lines that use the word “glitter” way too often makes it hard for even those who like the show to watch it. How do I recommend <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> to a friend when the very first scene contains lines such as, “Magic glitter puff! Here we go!”, “It’s like a fairytale!” “With girl power!” “And makeup!”, “Glitter power!” In fact, the 1 minute, 20 second first scene of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> contains the word “glitter” six times, with an average of one “glitter” every 13.33 seconds. I’ll be honest, I sometimes muted my computer during the transformation sequences because the dialogue was just that hard to listen to. Ultimately, although the awful dialogue only occurs for a small portion of the show as a whole, it’s enough to poison the entire show so much that it is hard to watch this otherwise enjoyable dub. It’s easily the worst flaw that <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> has.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">To sum this whole section up, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is far, far from perfect. But there is so much that is good about it that it outweighs the bad, and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> is ultimately a fun, enjoyable experience. While I do recommend watching it alongside <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> because it’s its own experience, I understand that for some people, the bad things about <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> are so prominent that they can’t enjoy the good things about it. I fully respect these people’s opinions. Ultimately, whether or not you like <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> as much as I do will come down to how much glitter you can take. I give <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> three out of five stars.

Overall
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">So, this is it. We are at the very end of the sub/dub comparison. I’m sorry for making you wait so long for this article, but there was just so much to write! Before I go, I’d like to give a quick shout out to FiddleTwix, an online blogger who does reviews of anime on her Wordpress site, <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Anime Madhouse<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">. It was her <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">sub/dub comparison of <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tokyo Mew Mew <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Mew Mew Power<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> that inspired me to do my own sub/dub comparison. I love how thorough she is about every single change that occurs, and I tried to do the same in my own series. Right now, FiddleTwix is doing [https://fiddletwix.wordpress.com/sub-dub-comparisons/smile-precure-glitter-force-sub-dub-comparison/ <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">her own comparison between <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Smile Pretty Cure! <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;"> and <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;text-decoration-skip-ink:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Glitter Force ]<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, and I highly recommend you check it out. <p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">And with that, I am finally done with this sub/dub comparison once and for all. I’ll see you in the sequel; it’s sure to make your heart go <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">doki doki <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">.