I’m a little behind on Healin’ Good Pretty Cure. That’s fine; that tends to happen when I’m trying out during premiere gate (though it’d be better if it didn’t). Let’s catch up a little.
In this episode, the Healing Animals spot a Daruma doll outside a tea shop and Rabirin hides the fact that she likes it in fear of being made fun of by Nyatoran. Nodoka finds out about this and offers to help her partner get a replica of the doll from a promotional event held at the shop. When Nyatoran finds out about this, Rabirin gets embarrassed and throws the doll away, angering Nodoka and causing a rift between the two of them. Things get worse when the Cures are called into action and Nodoka and Rabirin aren’t able to transform together (the usual sequence is even altered for this one occasion which is a nice touch).
While the spotlight is on both Nodoka and Rabirin, I feel the episode serves the latter’s character more. Nodoka feels she could’ve read her partner’s feelings better and I’m inclined to agree with that but honestly, the quarrel is Rabirin’s fault. She tries to keep her fondness of the Daruma doll to herself so it’s on her that her decision would come back to haunt to her and she doesn’t own up to it. I can’t blame Nodoka for getting mad when Rabirin throws the doll away. She supports her friend about her interest and spends days getting that doll for her. The two of them bond over it; for Rabirin to throw it away (literally even), it feels like a betrayal to Nodoka.
I really like that Rate gets involved here, convincing the two of them to make up. She even throws a mean (albeit still adorable) look at Rabirin when the latter tries to back out. It’s fitting. Rate lives with Nodoka and is arguably as close to her as Rabirin is; the quarrel affects her just as much as it does for the two involved in it. It’s also nice to see her do something while there’s a monster running amok. She usually does nothing since the MegaByogen’s presence makes her gravely ill. Come to think of it, that makes it even more impressive that she goes out of her way to help Nodoka and Rabirin. That has to require a lot of energy on her part.
Since this episode is squarely about Nodoka and Rabirin, the other characters don’t have a whole lot to do. You get a scene where Nyatoran apologizes for making up fun of Rabirin’s fondness of the Daruma doll though it’s awfully brief. I was honestly expecting Hinata to scold Nyatoran for his behavior. Maybe she did offscreen though I would love to see it. Frankly, the character who enjoys the most spotlight the most after Nodoka, Rabirin, and Rate is the cafe owner. It’s fun seeing him get happy that someone appreciates his Daruma doll and I honestly did feel bad for him when he thinks Nodoka and Rabirin have stopped showing up to his cafe during the two’s quarrel with each other.
While the villains aren’t that prevalent this episode, you do have a scene where Batetemoda is trying to buddy up with Daruizen to little success. More and more, it’s becoming obvious that Batetemoda has an agenda of his own. It wouldn’t surprise me if Daruizen actually sees through the ploy. He seems smart enough to figure it out.
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