User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 21 (Sub), 18 (Dub)

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'''Japanese title: “Wish Upon a Star! Everyone Together Forever!!”'''

English title: “Wish Upon a Star”

Another exciting episode of Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force! This time, we have a Japanese festival that is, for some reason, being celebrated in New Jersey, and a ramped-up threat from Joker/Rascal! Let’s begin, shall we?

We start the episode with Miyuki/Emily looking out a window of her house on a bright and sunny day. Both are anticipating the aforementioned Japanese festival.

Name Change (sorta): In the sub, the festival is Tanabata, a holiday that takes place each August. According to legend, there are two lovers, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who are only allowed to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar. Japanese people celebrate this holiday by writing their wishes on little pieces of paper and hanging them on bamboo. The dub refers to this as the Star Festival. However, according to the Wikipedia article I linked you to, the Star Festival is just another name for Tanabata, so it isn’t that much of a name change.

Miyuki says that the weather is nice, while Emily asks Candy if she’s ready for the Star Festival. Miyuki/Emily then says Tanabata/the Star Festival is coming up, and that she hopes to see a lot of stars (specifically shooting stars in the dub).

Then, a blue book flies through the sky right towards Miyuki/Emily, and she eventually realizes that it’s Pop (YAY!!). However, she doesn’t get out of the way in time, so the book slams into her face. It takes Emily longer than Miyuki to realize the book contains Pop. Right as Pop comes out of the book, Candy leaps up and engulfs him in a hug. As Miyuki hits the floor, she says “Ultra-happupu”, a fusion of her two catchphrases: “Ultra-happy”, which she says when things are going well, and “Happupu”, which she says when they aren’t. Emily instead says that she needs to learn to duck.

We get the opening themes. Then, we cut to the Bad End Kingdom/Shadow Realm. The episode title is added in the dub over the establishing shot. Joker/Rascal, floating above a pond, touches his toe to the surface, and an image of the Wheel of Doom appears. The water sound originally made when he touches the surface is changed to, well, I don’t know what exactly the sound is, but it’s much harsher.

Name Change: Finally, we get a Japanese name for the Wheel of Doom! It’s the Bad Energy Memory in the sub (weird name, I know) and, of course, the Wheel of Doom in the dub. I like “Wheel of Doom” a lot better than “Bad Energy Memory”.

Joker/Rascal announces that the Bad Energy Memory/Wheel of Doom only needs two more clicks until Pierrot/Nogo is revived, and after that, the world will be all out of happy endings. As he does this, he pulls a 2 of Spades card out of his deck and turns it into a rose, which he makes rot.

We get the title card in the sub. Then, we cut to the Mysterious Library/Library of Legends. Pop greets our five leading ladies while Candy dances around with a turban head. Reika says it’s been too long (darn right it has!), while Chloe says that Candy’s the happiest to see him. Akane/Kelsey gushes over Pop’s cuteness, and Pop slaps her hand and announces that as a manly warrior, he is most definitely not cute. Dialogue is added where Kelsey says, “Gee, sorry.” Yayoi calls Pop cool; Lily says he’s fierce. Pop, flattered, does his usual schtick of walking backwards and tripping. Akane asks what Pop’s doing; Kelsey sarcastically says he sure is fierce.

Nao asks why Pop came; April asks if there’s any news from Jubiland. Pop then remembers his purpose in coming to Earth and opens the Cure Décor/Charm Chest. In the sub, he congratulates the girls for collecting so many Cure Décors; in the dub, he says he came to see how many they collected, with no congratulation in sight. Reika/Chloe says they’ve collected a lot (Reika says they have 15; Chloe just says it’s almost full).

Pop says that when he heard they only had one Décor/Charm left to collect, he had to come over (though he only disbelieved Candy about the news in the dub). Akane/Kelsey happily exclaims that after they find the last Décor/Charm, The Royale Queen/Euphoria will be revived. Pop says she’s right, and that with the queen revived, M ä rchenland/Jubliand will be able to defend itself from Pierrot/Nogo’s forces.

In the sub, Yayoi says, “Emperor Pierrot…” and Nao says he’s the man who wants to bring a Bad End to the Earth; in the dub, Lily says his name is scary and April says what Nao said as well as that they don’t know what Emperor Nogo is after. However, Miyuki/Emily is not so somber. She pulls out the pink book Candy arrived in, the one with the story of The Royale Queen/Euphoria and Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force in it. She believes that since Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force are the protagonists of the story, they’ll be able to write whatever they want in its blank pages.

In the sub, when the other girls react by smiling, it’s silent; in the dub, Emily says that the only one who won’t have a happy ending are the bad guys. In the sub, Candy says, “Ultra-happy!”; in the dub, she says she can’t wait to read the book Emily envisioned. Akane/Kelsey agrees with Candy. Miyuki/Emily says that in the meantime, they should all wish for a happy ending for Tanabata/the Star Festival and hang the wish on the Wish Tree (the leafy piece of bamboo people hang their wishes on for Tanabata).

In the sub, Pop asks what the Wish Tree is; in the dub, he is shocked that that’s a Wish Tree and says it look more like bamboo. Candy thinks it’s pretty. Miyuki, not having mentioned the Wish Tree before, explains to Pop what it is; Emily says that the Wish Tree was Chloe’s idea.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Name Change: The sub refers to the bamboo as Tanabata bamboo, while the dub calls it the Wish Tree. According to Wikipedia, Tanabata bamboo is a type of wish tree. There are several other cultures that also make wishes on trees.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">In the sub, Candy asks what Tanabata is; in the dub, she asks why the stars are having a festival. Nao/April tells Candy the story of Orihime and Hikoboshi, the two stars that can only cross the Milky Way to meet each other on Tanabata (April refers to Hikoboshi as “Boy Star” and Orihime as “Girl Star”, and says that Chloe taught her about it. Further implications that Chloe is Japanese!). Nao also says that Tanabata is July 7th (which was the actual date of Tanabata in 2009, the year Smile Pretty Cure! aired); April doesn’t mention a date. Reika/Chloe explains that the festival involves writing one’s wish on a slip of paper (Reika refers to it as a tanzaku) and attaching it to a bamboo tree.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">In the sub, Pop is interested to have found out about one of Earth’s traditions; in the dub, he says that spending all night wishing sounds wonderful. He says that in M ä rchenland/Jubiland, there’s a similar festival.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Name Change: In the sub, the festival is called Pegasus Day. In the dub, it’s Pegasus Night.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Yayoi/Lily is curious for more information, and Akane/Kelsey makes a flying motion. Akane asks if a Pegasus flies like the gesture she’s making; Kelsey asks if a Pegasus is a flying horse. Pop responds by transforming into a Pegasus with a horn. In the sub, Pop says, “Poof!” as he transforms and approximates a neigh after doing so; in the dub, he says, “Alleyoop! Pegasus transformation, away!” as he transforms and afterward says he’s actually a winged unicorn and asks the girls, “Aren’t I pretty?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The girls are all amazed, and Miyuki/Emily asks if she can ride Pop the Pegasus. Pop refuses to answer (in the sub, he doesn’t even acknowledge the question; in the dub, he says, “Maybe later.”) He then explains what Pegasus Day/Night involves. All the citizens of M ärchenland/Jubiland light candles in order to make a wish. In the sub, Pop says that according to legend, the Pegasus makes the wishes come true; in the dub, Pop says that the Pegasus definitely makes the wishes come true, no questions asked, and that he always wishes for pizza. Also, the Pegasus is implied to be real in the sub, whereas Pop refers to it as a constellation in the dub.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Reika/Chloe says that Pegasus Day/Night is a lot like Tanabata/the Star Festival, Nao/April says he came on just the right day, and Yayoi/Lily says there’s going to be a lot of shooting stars tonight, which only happens once every hundred years. Miyuki/Emily says that they’re going to celebrate both Tanabata/the Star Festival and Pegasus Day/Night tonight. It turns out she’s sitting on Pop while saying this. Yayoi/Lily and Candy both try to get on his back, too, and an angry Pop goes back to normal.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Miyuki/Emily apologizes. In the sub, Candy asks if Pop is okay, Pop says Miyuki is heavy, and Yayoi says, “No.” (Why does she say that? What does it mean? If anyone knows, please let me know); in the dub, Candy asks if they were too heavy, Pop says he’s glad he’s not a horse, and Lily apologizes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">In the sub, Akane invites Pop to write a tanzaku, and Pop asks what a tanzaku is; in the dub, Kelsey invites Pop to make a wish with them, and Pop asks, “For reals?” (that’s a bit too informal for our great warrior Pop, Glitter Force). Reika/Chloe tells Pop to write his wish on a piece of paper and stick it to the wish tree, and Nao/April says that they can watch the shooting stars afterward.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Candy asks Miyuki/Emily how many wishes she’s allowed to write, and Miyuki/Emily says Candy can write as many as she wants, much to Candy’s delight. Nao/April says she’s already written her wish: that The Royale Queen/Euphoria be revived. The text is changed on her slip of paper. Jeez, Glitter Force, Comic Sans MS is obviously not handwriting! Couldn’t you just get someone to use a digital tablet and handwrite on the image??

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Overall: DAMN. I love it when a story gets dark, and I wasn’t expecting Smile, one of the lightest and happiest seasons of Pretty Cure, to have such a dark ending. I figured that since we were nearing the middle of the season, the stakes would have to get higher, but Candy getting kidnapped? The girls’ anguished screams as she disappears? The last juxtaposition of Candy’s past cheer and present distress? Man, this episode was pretty serious. Neither Smile Pretty Cure! nor Glitter Force are as cutesy-tootsy as they sound.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">I do like that we got another taste of Japanese culture in Glitter Force. I suspect the reason this episode wasn’t dropped is because it’s important to the plot. Plus, the fight was quite difficult, but nowhere near as perplexing as last episode’s invisibility stunts. I am very excited for next episode.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Next time: The girls go to M ä rchenland/Jubiland to rescue Candy! The darkness sensors are reaching higher levels…!!