Doki Doki! Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Doki Doki SDC: Episode 5 (Sub), 4 (Dub)

Episode 4 (Sub), 3 (Dub) | Table of Contents | Episodes 6 & 7 (Sub), 5 (Dub)

Japanese title: “No Way! That Girl is Cure Sword??”

English title: “The Glitter Spotlight”

Welcome to the episode where Cure Sword/Glitter Spade factors into the plot again after being left out for episodes on end! It starts with Makoto/Mackenzie in a concert performing for everybody. Here, I was worried that they’d just cut out all music Makoto sang so they wouldn’t have to go through the effort of dubbing it (as shown by all insert songs being removed from the original Glitter Force). But they just replace it with a new song. In fact, I like the dub version better. Makoto just tunelessly shouts the lyrics to a prerecorded song, making it sound like she has no singing talent. Mackenzie, on the other hand, shouts out pumping-up phrases like “Hey everybody!” and “Can you feel the power?” as the backup singers sing, so it makes it sound like she just isn’t singing at that moment but could if she wanted to.

It turns out that Mana/Maya, Rikka/Rachel, and Arisu/Clara are reading in a magazine about Makoto/Mackenzie. This, of course, means visual edits!

Rikka/Rachel is reading about Makoto/Mackenzie’s quick ascent to stardom and how her debut album sold over one million copies. She wonders if this idol could really be Cure Sword/Glitter Spade. Arisu/Clara replies that during the attack on Clover Tower, Makoto/Mackenzie and her manager were not seen leaving the observation deck. When Rikka/Rachel remains suspicious, Sebastian shows that they have Makoto/Mackenzie’s fingerprints and DNA, and it all matches with that of Sword/Spade. In the sub, Sebastian also has her shoe size; in the dub, he has her footprints.

Mana/Maya is so excited about her favorite singer being a Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Warrior that she runs off to introduce herself to her. Rikka/Rachel stops her by pointing out that they don’t even know where Makoto/Mackenzie is and adds that even if they did, there would be no way they could meet up with such a famous celebrity. Arisu/Clara says they can take care of it, though. The dub adds dialogue where Rachel asks if there is anything Clara can’t do.

Then, both versions have their opening theme. How long has it been since the themes were last in sync like this? The scene after this takes place in the villains’ hideout, where Ira is complaining about yet another Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Warrior appearing. He tells Bel that there will be 100 warriors before they know it. Bel tells Ira that he might step in if there are 1000, and Ira gets mad at Bel for being lazy.

A magazine that Marmo is reading is edited.

Marmo says that rather than waiting for even more warriors to appear, they should go out and defeat the four of them right then. In the sub, Marmo says that her original plan was to let them run amok until they found clues about “the princess”, but that she’s changed her mind.

The sub shows the title card. Then, we cut to the team standing outside of a TV studio. Japanese text on the building and on a sign outside is removed in the dub.

Arisu/Clara says that Makoto/Mackenzie is inside the building, shooting a music video. In the sub, Sharuru is amazed that they’re going into a TV studio; in the dub, nobody but Clara speaks.

We cut to a panning shot of the inside of the building. The dub cuts out most of the pan so as not to include Japanese text.

Rikka/Rachel and Mana/Maya wonder how they are going to get through a hallway guarded by a security officer. They’re shocked when Arisu/Clara walks right through without a care. Mana/Maya assumes that they can just follow after and is surprised when the guard stops her. Fortunately, Arisu/Clara gets them in by saying that they’re her friends. Allow me to interrupt by saying the guard’s dub voice is weird. He sounds like a lower-pitched Winnie-the-Pooh.

In the elevator, Rikka/Rachel asks what Arisu/Clara did to get them all into the facility. Arisu/Clara explains that this television studio is owned by her father’s company. In the sub, Mana realizes that the studio is called Yotsuba TV and Rikka says that they should have known based on the name; in the dub, Maya sarcastically says that they should have known and Rachel says that must be how Clara knew Mackenzie would be here. Additionally, a shot of Mana thinking about footage from Yotsuba TV is removed due to the Japanese text.

The three enter the room in which Makoto/Mackenzie is filming. Oddly, despite them supposedly filming a music video, Makoto/Mackenzie is just shouting along to one of her songs. In the dub, there’s not even any lyrics, and it sounds more like Mackenzie is recording a workout video than a music video. Somehow, the director thinks that this “music” video is great and declares it the final cut for the day. I wonder if we’ll ever hear Makoto/Mackenzie actually sing?

Makoto/Mackenzie starts to exit the room along with her manager. Makoto wishes her coworkers good luck on the show; Mackenzie thanks them for their work. As she’s leaving, Mana/Maya fangirls over Makoto/Mackenzie, and mental dialogue is added where Maya thinks about how unbelievable it is that she’s “breathing the same air” as her idol. It should also be noted that Mana has a nickname for Makoto: “Mako-pi”. Maya does not have a nickname for Mackenzie.

Rikka/Rachel reminds Mana/Maya to focus on what they’re really there for. Then, Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara awkwardly stare at each other for a while. In the sub, this is silent; in the dub, Rachel and Clara make “Hmm?” noises at each other. Then, Rikka/Rachel asks what the plan is. Arisu says there is no plan; Clara says that she thought Rachel had a plan. Rikka/Rachel loudly freaks out about this, causing all of the set workers to look at her. Arisu/Clara and Rikka/Rachel are embarrassed. The dub cuts out a shot of Rikka bowing in apology, as bowing isn’t used for that purpose in the United States.

The set workers turn away. In the sub, one of them tells everyone to prepare for the next rehearsal; in the dub, he tells them to prepare the next set. Arisu/Clara then tells Rikka/Rachel that she’s sure that Mana/Maya will come up with something. Rikka/Rachel is then shocked to find that Mana/Maya is gone. Rikka/Rachel calls Mana/Maya’s name multiple times, but is stopped when the set workers literally growl at her for making so much noise. In the dub, one of them verbally lambasts her for being so loud. Additionally, the dub cuts out a shot of both Arisu and Rikka bowing.

We cut to the outside of another room. A sign outside the door is edited. (Note: "-sama" is an honorific added to the end of a Japanese name. It is used to convey great respect.")

Makoto/Mackenzie asks her manager what her schedule is like for the rest of the day. In the sub, the manager says that she has a fashion shoot in an hour, a radio guest appearance afterward, five interviews to do on the train there, a meeting about her new album that night, and an update to give to the fan club. In the dub, she says that Mackenzie has a fashion magazine shoot in an hour, a downtown TV talk show appearance afterward, radio interviews to do in the car on the way there, a costume fitting that night, and a message to send to her fan club’s newsletter. In both versions, Makoto/Mackenzie also has a bunch of autographs to sign.

Makoto/Mackenzie agrees to get started right away. Her manager worries that she’s too busy, but Makoto/Mackenzie says that she’s okay because it’s all for her fans. Makoto/Mackenzie’s manager leaves to get a drink (water in the dub). Alone, Makoto says she has no time to be tired, while Mackenzie says she has no time to take a break.

Then, somebody knocks on the door. Makoto/Mackenzie thinks that it’s her manager (Makoto asks if she forgot her wallet; Mackenzie calls her Davi, which I’m sure won’t be important later). It turns out that it’s Mana/Maya. Makoto/Mackenzie is shocked to see the girl from episode 1 and is even more shocked when she tells her that she’s Cure/Glitter Heart. Mana/Maya goes on to enthusiastically ask Makoto/Mackenzie to join their team, telling her that she has a lot more experience as well as two teammates. Mana says that she loves how Makoto can be so cute yet have such a powerful voice (if only!), and that the team would be a thousand times stronger with her on it; Maya says that she’s Mackenzie’s biggest fan and that she, Rachel, and Clara can be her backup vocalists.

Makoto/Mackenzie clenches the back of her chair but doesn’t say anything. While Mana is prompted to ask if Makoto really is Cure Sword, Maya promises to keep Mackenzie’s secret identity a secret. Makoto/Mackenzie then gets up and scolds Mana/Maya, pretending not to know about the Glitter Force and telling her not to just nose around wherever she likes in a professional TV station. This causes Mana/Maya to tear up. Then, the two are interrupted by Makoto/Mackenzie’s manager, who recognizes Mana/Maya. She’s followed by Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara. Makoto/Mackenzie snaps and yells at the three girls to leave her dressing room. As Arisu/Clara leaves, dialogue is added where Mackenzie says very rudely, “Good-bye.” Additionally, animation of Arisu bowing is removed; instead, it’s kept as a still frame of Clara standing.

Once Makoto/Mackenzie and her manager are alone, the ensuing conversation is changed. In the sub, the manager says that she wasn’t expecting the three to let themselves in, Makoto says that she doesn’t trust Mana, and the manager says that nonetheless, she felt Mana’s passion for Makoto. In the dub, the manager says that Maya was really determined, Mackenzie says that Maya is better described as crazy than determined, and the manager says that Mackenzie shouldn’t speak that way about one of her fans.

Somewhere else (I don’t know where), Rikka/Rachel scolds Mana/Maya for barging right into Makoto/Mackenzie’s dressing room. Arisu/Clara tells Rikka/Rachel not to be so harsh, as Mana/Maya already knows that what she did was wrong. Mana/Maya is still sad about the encounter. She’d always made friends with things as simple as a handshake, so she thought the same would happen with a fellow Pretty Cure/Glitter Force Warrior. In hindsight, she realizes she forgot that to be friends, people have to understand one another. Mana/Maya only thought about herself when she barged into Makoto/Mackenzie’s room, and she disrespected Makoto/Mackenzie’s greatest passion: her singing.

It turns out that the manager has followed them. In the sub, she says that Mana is right and that it’s Makoto’s passion for her music that makes it resonate in the listeners’ hearts; in the dub, she tells Maya not to feel bad and that as her manager, she knows that Mackenzie gets really focused on her music. Rikka/Rachel and Arisu/Clara are shocked to see the manager.

The sub shows the eyecatches. Then, we see some filming going on. A sign in the filming room is edited.

The team is finishing up filming another idol, and the trio of girls are led in by the manager to watch. In the dub, the singer is performing “Wake Up, Shake Up”, the first and best ending theme of the first Glitter Force. Not only is it nice to hear that song again, but it also means that we finally get singing in an episode that is supposed to be about a singer!

The woman stops dancing (and singing in the dub), and the crew prepares to move on to filming for Makoto/Mackenzie. Then, what do you know?? Makoto/Mackenzie actually sings!! I was expecting Makoto to sing eventually, as I’m aware that Makoto’s voice actress has an entire Doki Doki! Pretty Cure vocal album to herself, but I was not expecting Mackenzie to be singing as well! It’s a good thing that Saban wasn’t too lazy to create an original English song. The Japanese song is called “Songbird” and it’s about how Makoto hopes that her music will resonate with others. The English song is unnamed and it’s about Mackenzie and her friends dancing together.

Back in the room they were in before, the manager tells the group that although Makoto/Mackenzie is often antisocial, she has a strong desire to put a smile on everyone’s faces with her music. In the dub, the manager also says that the smiling Mackenzie who dances for everybody is the real her, not the rough and unfriendly Mackenzie. The manager tells Mana/Maya that she must also feel a desire to make everyone happy.

In the sub, Mana tells the manager that she wants to apologize; in the dub, Maya asks the manager to tell Mackenzie that she’s sorry and the manager says that Maya can do it herself. She tells her that she’ll arrange a meeting between Mana/Maya and Makoto/Mackenzie, and the group is delighted.

It turns out that the team didn’t really return to the room they were in before; that whole conversation about Makoto/Mackenzie happened before they entered the filming room and Mana/Maya was just flashing back to it. As Makoto/Mackenzie continues to perform, the singer who came before her gets jealous of the attention that Makoto/Mackenzie is getting. Up close, it turns out that this singer has ginormous lips. I’ve never seen lips that big in real life.

The singer’s jealousy causes her Psyche to get a dark splotch on it. She then realizes that Makoto/Mackenzie is better than her and that she needs to practice to become that good, and her dark splotch fades to a tiny speck. That speck is enough for Marmo to appear behind her, extract her Psyche, and turn it into a star-shaped Jikochuu/Distain. The Jikochuu has a male voice; the Distain has a female voice. Additionally, while the Jikochuu affects the sound of a rich, entitled woman, the Distain sings a lot.

Anyway, the Jikochuu/Distain plows into the set, destroying it. Makoto/Mackenzie leaps out of the way and trips. The crew evacuates the room in a panic (in the dub, one of the men has the humorous line of “That’s a wrap! See you Monday, everyone!”). Mana/Maya, Rikka/Rachel, and Arisu/Clara transform, determined to save Makoto/Mackenzie. Oddly, despite there being three transformation sequences now, each one is played in its entirety. A quick edit to note: while the sub plays the same music throughout all three transformations, the music cuts off and changes between each transformation in the dub.

Before the fight scene begins, I’d like to note something that I probably should have last time. Whenever Rosetta/Clover appears on screen, the yellows of her outfit are darkened just as in her transformation and attack. I’m not going to screenshot every shot of her, as this would take way too long and be redundant.

Heart gives her catchphrase to the monster. In the dub, Glitter Heart even says, “Feel the Doki Doki!” just like in episode 1! Marmo then orders the Jikochuu/Distain to attack. In the sub, the Jikochuu shocks the group by asking if they’re a new idol unit and saying that it must pluck them out while they’re young. In the dub, the Distain asks which of the girls wants its autograph first and then attacks upon realizing that none of them do.

First, the Jikochuu/Distain slams into the group (with the same footage as used twice before, I might add), but they dodge. Then, it shines so brightly that the trio can’t see. It takes this opportunity to slam into them, knocking them into the wall. As this happens, the Jikochuu says that the throne of stardom is its, while the Distain says that it’s a supernova.

With Heart, Diamond, and Rosetta/Clover incapacitated, the Jikochuu/Distain makes its move on Makoto/Mackenzie. First, it blinds her by shining again and knocks her into the wall just like with the other three. Then, it spins rapidly and prepares to slam into her (saying “Rival Crush!” in the sub, while singing wordlessly in the dub). It’s blocked from hitting her by Heart, who has gotten up to save her idol. Makoto asks why Heart saved her, while Mackenzie is simply astonished that she did. Heart says that she won’t let the Jikochuu/Distain interfere with Makoto/Mackenzie’s performance since she knows that her music is very important to her. This resonates with Makoto/Mackenzie. With much effort, Heart flings the monster into the wall, where one of its sharp points becomes embedded.

In the sub, Marmo says she isn’t good with mushy stuff; in the dub, she tells Heart and the others not to celebrate just yet. She orders the Jikochuu/Distain to attack once more. It continues its tried-and-true method of blinding then slamming, which works very well against the warrior trio. Just as the monster is about to finish them off, though, the lights suddenly go off. Then, a spotlight activates, illuminating the suddenly-arrived Cure Sword/Glitter Spade.

The Jikochuu/Distain shines in Sword/Spade’s face. Rather than flinching, Sword/Spade simply closes her eyes and then kicks the Jikochuu/Distain into the wall. When Marmo gets angry, Sword/Spade says that she can battle that Jikochuu/Distain with her eyes closed. The fight then starts to get really awesome, as the two combatants leap into the air and Sword/Spade dodges and gives rapid-fire kicks with minimal effort. In the dub, dialogue is added where the Distain says that it’s a big, bright star and Glitter Spade says that it isn’t particularly bright. The battle ends once and for all when Sword/Spade and Dabi/Davi finish it off with Holy Sword/Sparkle Flash. As the Jikochuu is purified, it gives the usual, “Love, love, looove!”; the Distain instead tells Spade that it’s her biggest fan.

The purified Psyche enters the body of the singer. In the sub, she asks what she was doing; in the dub, she asks if she missed the end of Mackenzie’s song. Marmo teleports away in anger. Heart walks up to Sword/Spade and thanks her for saving them. Sword says that she just didn’t want the Jikochuu running wild, while Spade says quite rudely that somebody had to stop it. As Sword/Spade walks away, dialogue is added where Spade says that she may see them later.

Later, at somebody’s house (either Mana/Maya’s or Rikka/Rachel’s), the group is watching a live broadcast of a TV show, which is showcasing numerous singers.

Name Change: In the sub, this show is called Music Xanadu. In the dub, it’s called Pop Galaxy.

Among these signers is Makoto/Mackenzie. The three girls are happy to see that Makoto/Mackenzie is fine and that her work is going along swimminly. Mana/Maya is still disappointed that she didn’t get to apologize to Makoto/Mackenzie, but she’s still in a better mood overall.

The girls are surprised to suddenly hear the door open and close. When they go to investigate, they find a letter left on the floor and a cat-like silhouette beyond the door’s window. The letter has Mana/Maya’s name written on it, so naturally, it’s edited in the dub.

In the sub, the letter is signed “DB”. In the dub, it’s signed “Davi”. You aren’t putting any effort into hiding this plot twist with the manager, are you, Saban?

Mana/Maya opens the envelope and everyone is shocked to see what’s inside. In the sub, the contents are undisclosed; in the dub, Maya exclaims that they have three tickets.

We cut to a concert, where Makoto/Mackenzie is holding a handshake session. Japanese text behind her is edited away and replaced with spade symbols. Although there are many shots of this background, it never shows the full text, so I can't tell what it says. To eliminate redundancy, I'll show you just one shot.

Makoto/Mackenzie’s manager is delighted to see that Mana/Maya has arrived. She’s come to apologize at long last. Makoto is simply surprised to see Mana again, while Mackenzie coldly says, “It’s you.” In the sub, she bows as she apologizes. The dub cuts her bowing out, so Maya apologizes later than Mana.

Mana/Maya says that she should have known better than to barge in on Makoto/Mackenzie’s work. After all, both of them have the same end goal: they want to make everyone happy. This moves Makoto/Mackenzie. Upon Mana/Maya’s request, the two shake hands. This sentimental movement is ruined in the dub with two rude people shouting at Maya to hurry up because they’re waiting in line. Mana/Maya thanks Makoto/Mackenzie. She’s about to leave when she suddenly remembers that she brought some of her dad’s food for her idol. In the sub, Mana brings Makoto peach buns; in the dub, Maya brings Mackenzie sticky buns.

At the very beginning of the line, a guy is holding a sign that’s edited in the dub.

Mana/Maya runs back to Arisu/Clara and Rikka/Rachel. Rikka/Rachel is happy to see that the meeting went well. The ensuing dialogue is changed. In the sub, Arisu says that Makoto still seems to have doubts, Rikka agrees, and there’s no dialogue as Makoto looks upon the three uneasily. In the dub, Clara says that she’s still sure that Mackenzie is Glitter Spade, Rachel sarcastically compares Clara to Sherlock Holmes, and Maya excitedly tells them all the details of her handshake with Mackenzie and Mackenzie looks on. With this, the episode ends.

Overall: I’m glad to finally see Makoto/Mackenzie in action after so long. She’s an interesting character with a lot of potential. It’s interesting to see how she hides her true feelings from others, and how her rough exterior is just her way of trying not to trouble those close to her. That being said, Mackenzie is too rough. Makoto was just standoffish, and the only time she was actually rude was when Mana entered her dressing room without permission. It’s understandable. Mackenzie, however, seemed to go out of her way to be far ruder than necessary. She took almost every opportunity to be coldly sarcastic to Maya. I understand that Mackenzie has a lot on her plate and that she feels guilt for failing to save her kingdom, but that’s still no excuse for the way she talks to one of her biggest fans. Hopefully, Mackenzie gets better.

The voice acting has gotten better, at least, even if only for the fact that Clara speaks less and Lance only has one line. Even with this, Clara does seem to be somewhat less stilted sometimes. I'll give credit where credit is due, though. First of all, this episode makes it clear that Debi Derryberry has improved far from her role as Candy in the first Glitter Force. We get to see a lot of emotion from Maya this episode, and Derryberry pulls it off well. Secondly and most importantly, the singer whose Psyche was turned into a Jikochuu/Distain has the best voice acting of the episode. Even though she does have a weird character design, it's a shame that she probably won't be appearing in later episodes.

Next time: Makoto/Mackenzie comes to Mana/Maya’s house to film a cooking show!