Dokidoki! Precure Episode 4: Cloverfield

Alice is the focus this week, as is customary when introducing new members of the Precure team. Initially, she refuses the call, opting to produce the ~~idols~~ Precure. This apparently means destroying any recorded evidence of their existence and driving Cures Heart and Diamond to the scene of the action. Why the Cures can’t ride inside the car instead of on the roof is a mystery to me, I just assume vehicles have not yet been built that can withstand Precure amounts of gar-moe. Mana wavering when she says her catchphrase as Alice’s car drifts to a stop was great. Dokidoki! Precure seems to be the most self-referential Precure of the ones I have seen and I love it.

Later in the episode, Lance confronts Alice about not assisting Heart and Diamond, which is pretty ballsy for a fairy. It’s rare for a fairy to berate their partner unless it’s the genki girl (e.g. Erika, Nagisa, Love, etc.), so I was surprised at how direct Lance was. Now, refusing the call is nothing new to the franchise, but it turns out Alice’s reason for not becoming a precure is quite convincing. It’s not that she doesn’t have time or she doesn’t believe in herself; she’s afraid she’ll get carried away and succumb to bloodlust. Not only was she taught multiple martial arts, but she’s snapped and taken out a group of people for threatening Mana and Rikka. Alice just might be the most bad-ass Precure to date.

Alice reconciles her hang ups by remembering the words of her grandfather and that she can use her power to protect those she cares about. It’s awfully reminiscent of a certain uncle telling a certain scientific Peter Parker that great power comes with great responsibility. So she busts out her Precure form and starts wiping the walls with the very racially sensitive and exceedingly ghetto fabulous boombox Selfish. After Rosetta use a noise-cancelling move developed by Bose to nullify the Selfish’s attack, Heart steps in and delivers the finishing blow.

Never change, Commie subs

In the end, Mana and Rikka welcome Rosetta to the Precure team, leading them to discuss the enigmatic Cure Sword. The girls don’t have access to the eye catches, opening, or episode previews, so they’re surprised to find that Alice has a lead on Sword’s identity. That’s right, Dokidoki! Precure is the mystery show Hyouka wishes it could be.

[4] Comments

4 Responses to “ Dokidoki! Precure Episode 4: Cloverfield ”

krizzlybear says:

February 26, 2013 at 12:49 pm

Interesting connection with Cure Spider. Power is definitely a responsibility in this show, since the consequences of becoming a PreCure are reasonably discussed within the first few episodes of the series. Rikka is hesitant of her ability to make use of the power that may be potentially granted to her, and by extension, she is the most skeptical of the benefits associated with becoming PreCure. Alice is more than welcoming of the power, but is well-aware of her own abilities such that she believes that she’ll do more harm than good if she becomes a PreCure.

Both girls’ approach to deciding to join the team fall on opposite sides of the same power coin. Cure Sword, by virtue of already being a precure, is surely to add another dimension by way of backstory and whatnot. Looking forward to it.

[Reply]