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baileypie-writes · 6 months ago

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~Why Glitter Force is Problematic~

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In case you don’t know what Glitter Force is, it’s the English dub of the anime Smile Pretty Cure; the 9th season of the Pretty Cure franchise. It was produced by Saban, and released on Netflix in 2015.

Not long later, they made another dub. Only this time, with the season DokiDoki! Pretty Cure, which they changed to Glitter Force Doki Doki.

Instead of keeping everything the same, Glitter Force changed way more than necessary, making it racist and implied to be homophobic.

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First off, I just wanna point out that Saban was a problematic company. They were criticized for their questionable, race-related choices when it came to casting for Power Rangers(the whitewashed version on Super Sentai). They also harassed one of the actors David Yost, for his sexual orientation so much, that he left the show. Lastly, the president of the company, Haim Saban, supports Israel. So Saban is not a good company.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the changes.

~1. Name Changes~

Saban decided to remove all Japanese culture from Smile and DokiDoki! Pretty Cure; whitewashing it. They renamed almost everything, even things that didn’t need to be.

Smile Pretty Cure Name Changes:

Miyuki Hoshizora/Cure Happy - Emily/Glitter Lucky(Glitter Pink in some dubs)

Akane Hino/Cure Sunny - Kelsey/Glitter Sunny(Glitter Orange in some dubs)

Yayoi Kise/Cure Peace - Lily/Glitter Peace(Glitter Yellow in some dubs)

Nao Midorikawa/Cure March - April/Glitter Spring(Glitter Green in some dubs)

Reika Aoki/Cure Beauty - Chloe/Glitter Breeze(Glitter Blue in some dubs)

King Pierrot - Emperor Nogo

Joker - Rascal

Wolfrun - Ulric

Akaoni - Brute(was also changed from a demon to a troll)

Majorina - Brooha

Akanbe - Buffoon

Cure Decor - Glitter Charm

Smile Pact - Glitter Pact

Decor Décor - Charm Chest

Princess Candle - Princess Wand

Märchenland - Jubiland

Bad End Kingdom - Shadow Realm

Nanairogaoka Middle School - Rainbow Hills Middle School

Candy and Pop’s names were kept, I’m assuming because they were already English.

DokiDoki! Pretty Cure Changes:

Mana Aida/Cure Heart - Maya Aida/Glitter Heart

Rikka Hishikawa/Cure Diamond - Rachel/Glitter Diamond

Alice Yotsuba/Cure Rosetta - Clara Yotsuba/Glitter Clover(this one makes no sense to me)

Makoto Kenzaki/Cure Sword - Makenzie Mack/Glitter Spade

Aguri Madoka/Cure Ace - Natalie Miller/Glitter Ace

Joe Okada - Johnny

Princess Marie Ange - Princess Marie Angelica

Ai - Dina

Sharuru - Kippie

Raquel - Rory

Dabyi - Davi

Jikochuu - Distain

Leva - Riva

Gula - Gura

King Jikochuu - King Mercenare

Lovely Commune - Glitter Pad

Cure Lovead - Glitter Charm

Love Heart Arrow - Glitter Heart Arrow

Magical Lovely Pad - Glitter Crystal Pad

Oogai Town - Seashell Bay

Oogai Middle School - Seashell Bay Middle School

Trump Kingdom - Splendorious

These aren’t even all the changes. They changed all the names of the attacks as well.

~2. Cut Episodes~

(There are more that are included in different sections)

Again, Saban wanted no Japanese culture in the dub. So any episodes that contained too much Japanese culture were cut. Some were cut for other reasons. In total, Glitter Force cut 8 episodes. 13 full episodes were cut in Doki Doki, while some were stitched together in other episodes. In total, there are 19 less episodes in Glitter Force Doki Doki.

Here are the sources I used for guidance!:

Glitter Force, Glitter Force Doki Doki

Glitter Force:

• Episode 10: It centers around Akane’s family restaurant, which serves okonomiyaki, a Japanese food. This food appeared once or twice in Glitter Force, but they referred to it as “Japanese pizza”. This isn’t even what the food is. It’s more like a savory pancake.

• Episode 17: It contains a Japanese comedy show. It also contains real life Japanese comedians. So while Saban probably would’ve cut it regardless, they most likely didn’t have the rights to use it anyway.

• Episode 26: It’s focused around a Japanese summer festival. This obviously includes Japanese food, clothes(yukatas) and games.

• Episode 26: It takes place at Miyuki’s grandmother’s house in Japanese mountains. We see rice fields, which I guess is enough of a cultural difference. There are also yokai mentioned, which are Japanese monsters/ghosts.

• Episode 33: This episode takes place on the set of a Japanese edo-period drama. Obviously, this has tons of Japanese culture.

• Episode 34: It’s about the Cultural Festival at the characters’ school. Cultural Festivals are not a thing in America. It also includes characters from Japanese fairy tales.

• Episode 36: Akane is assigned the task of showing an English exchange student around the school. She teaches him Japanese, and shows him the culture.

There were episodes with Japanese culture that stayed in the Glitter Force. And some of those were episodes 13 and 14(episodes 12 and 13 in Glitter Force) where the girls go on a field trip to Kyoto and Osaka. Although, in Glitter Force, they call it the “Asia Pacific Expo”. Now Saban, I don’t know if you know this, but Asia is a continent with many countries. And each one has its own unique culture. So you should’ve just called it the “Japanese Expo”.

They also kept episode 21(episode 18 in Glitter Force), which is about Tanabata, a Japanese festival. Probably the only reason they kept this in was because it contained a very important plot point. Although, important plot points didn’t stop them from cutting episodes in Doki Doki.

The way they treated the holiday in Glitter Force was pretty normal. They did rename the festival from Tanabata to the Star Festival. But besides that, they pretty much portrayed what the holiday is about accurately. They even explained the story behind it correctly(I believe. I’m white, so please correct me if I’m wrong). As a kid, I wasn’t confused at all. Sure, it was a holiday I’d never heard of, but it was explained, so I was fine. So this proves even further that keeping the rest of the Japanese culture would’ve been perfectly fine. So cutting it really wasn’t necessary.

Lastly, I just want to point out how in episode 2 of Glitter Force(whether intentionally or not), they basically poked fun at the traditional Japanese greeting. In Smile Pretty Cure, Miyuki hows Candy how they greet people, which is by bowing. However, in Glitter Force, it’s Candy showing Emily how the pixies in Jubiland, the weird fantasy world, greet each other. While doing so, they say “Hello, my friend! I am happy to see you!” in silly voices. The way this is done and said implies that what they’re doing is funny and weird. So they turned a normal thing to do in Japan into that…

Glitter Force Doki Doki:

• Episodes 12 and 41 were cut for seemingly no reason. At least, not for any I could find.

• Episode 14: Includes Karuta, which is a Japanese card game.

• Episode 19: Not sure why this was cut, but a section of it was used in episode 14 of Glitter Force Doki Doki,“Royal Crystal Chaos”. Saban liked to combine episodes together.

• Episode 28: It’s about a Japanese summer festival. We’ve been over this previously.

• Episode 29: The characters are preparing for their school’s Cultural Festival. It also shows the fairies turning into humans. So more episodes had to be cut because of that.

• Episode 32: The actual Cultural Festival.

• Episode 33: The only reason I can think of why this was removed, was because it talks about Alice being a sickly child in the past. It’s a shame it was cut though, because it includes the story of how Alice became friends with Mana and Rikka.

• Episodes 34, 35, 37 and 38: Ai’s character arc. No idea why Saban wanted to cut it, but they did.

• Episode 36: Ai’s character arc, and it includes Raquel as a human, which was only previously featured in an episode that was cut. So it wouldn’t make sense to keep it.

• Episode 40: Includes a full singing performance by Makoto. Saban most likely cut it because they were lazy, and didn’t want to write a whole new song.

• Episode 42: Includes the fairies as humans. Again, with no context as to how they gained this ability, it would’ve been confusing.

~3. Toned Down/Removed Emotional Scenes/Episodes~

For some reason, Saban decided that children can’t handle anything too emotional. So any scene or episode that seemed “too much” to them was toned down or cut completely.

Examples:

• In episode 42(34 in Glitter Force) Cure March’s siblings are caught up in the middle of a battle. A big attack heads towards them, and March isn’t able to stop it in time. The attack hits, and a big cloud of dust envelops the children. Luckily, when the cloud clears, it’s revealed that the other Cures stopped the attack, saving the kids. In Smile Pretty Cure, there’s silence leading up to the reveal, making the viewers believe that the children are seriously injured, or worse. However, in Glitter Force, we hear the kids talking before the dust clears, saying “Hey, we’re okay!”. This ruins the suspense and emotion of the scene.

Shortly after, all March’s sibling run to her, hugging her. They’re all crying, and share a happy, emotional moment together. In Glitter Force, however, this moment is once again ruined by dialogue. The littlest brother asks why everyone is so sad, and a sister tells him that they’re not, and that they’re crying because they’re happy. That was completely unnecessary. And frankly, I think kids could tell that they were happy tears.

• There was episode about Yayoi that was cut, which was episode 19. In it, it reveals that her father had passed away when she was young, and that she desperately wants to remember him. Though being young when he passed, she can’t remember that much, making her upset. Her father’s death is never shown, and it’s never said how he died. Glitter Force cut this episode out, because heaven forbid death be mentioned. Even though characters die in basically every Disney movie, and it’s fine. I think this episode is important, because it could be relatable for children who’ve lost family members of their own. It could even give them a sense of comfort. So Saban cutting it out is just really stupid.

Added after @glittercakes mentioned it

(Thanks for letting me know about this!)

• In the final episode, Candy has to go back to her homeland, so she says goodbye to the girls. Candy is crying a lot, but the girls just smile, letting her know that it’s okay. When Candy’s gone, the girls break down, finally allowing themselves to cry. It’s a very sad moment, which makes the reunion even better. But in Glitter Force, the girls stay smiling the entire time, even after Candy leaves. Emily even goes as far as to call her dramatic.

All these changes paint the picture that kids are too sensitive, and should only watch things that are happy 100% of the time. This is just ridiculous to me. Having emotions other than happiness in children’s shows is important, because it teaches them that it’s okay to be upset or sad. Having everything happy all the time, even when it shouldn’t be, teaches unhealthy lessons to children, like “it’s not okay to cry”. That’s what toxic positivity is, and it is not a good thing.

• This last point isn’t specifically about cutting emotional scenes, but I thought it was important to add. Smile Pretty Cure includes many life lessons in their episodes. These are obviously meant to teach children how to be better and kinder in life. However, in Glitter Force, they often twist the lessons to make them into funny cartoon shenanigans. I don’t see the point in doing this at all. Including life lessons in children’s media is genuinely useful and important. Taking out the whole point of the episode leaves no value in it.

~4. Homophobia~

There are a few, minor details that were completely unnecessary for Saban to edit out, which gives the impression of being homophobic.

Examples:

• In episode 39(episode 31 in Gitter Force) where the girls get transported into the fairytale “Cinderella”, Reika gets casted as the Prince, since there are no boys. In Smile Pretty Cure, Miyuki, who’s casted as Cinderella, sees her as charming. However, in Glitter Force, all their interactions and dialogue are done in a joking matter, making sure the audience knows that they don’t like each other like that. That was unnecessary, as in the original, it’s never implied that they shared romantic interest. They were just following the story. In another scene, Reika catches Yayoi when she falls. We see Reika from Yayoi’s point of view, and there are the classic anime sparkles, insinuating that she sees her as incredibly handsome. She’s seen blushing a moment later. These tiny details were cut in Glitter Force. Because heaven forbid that a girl finds another girl handsome.

• In DokiDoki! Pretty Cure episode 10(episode 8 in Glitter Force), we really get to see Rikka and Mana’s friendship in greater detail. Rikka always makes sure that Mana is being responsible, and keeping her on top of things. Her fairy partner, Raquel, compares Rikka to being Mana’s wife. This wasn’t insinuating romantic interest. It was just comparing her traits to traits of a stereotypical wife. But of course, Glitter Force can’t have anything related to two girls being together. So they changed the comparison to Maya’s mother.

• Episode 44 of DokiDoki! Pretty Cure was cut, and there’s only one reason that I can think of as to why. Everyone is being super affectionate to Mana. Some people, including girls, even blush at her. That could imply them having a crush on Mana, I guess. And of course, to Saban, girls can’t love girls.

These changes may be minor, but that’s exactly what makes it homophobic. They were tiny scenes that weren’t made to be taken super seriously. But the idea of two girls liking each other bothered Saban so much, that they felt the need to edit them out. And the previously mentioned situation with David Yost proves that this was intentional homophobia.

~Conclusion: Stop Supporting Glitter Force~

The amount of people who still support Glitter Force really pisses me off. Like, I get if you didn’t know about Smile Pretty Cure. But there are people who know that Glitter Force is problematic and still watch it like nothing’s wrong with it. They either deny that it’s problematic, ignore it, or simply don’t care.

“But they made it easier for English kids to understand!”

I’m sure kids would’ve understood just fine if they kept the Japanese culture. Kids aren’t so sensitive, that the moment something is slightly different, they shut down. I mean, look at Disney. They explore different cultures in their movies all the time, and are still the most successful movie company in the world. Mulan and Encanto are super popular, despite the fact that they take place in and contain culture from China and Colombia. So if Glitter Force kept the characters original names and the culture, I’m sure the kids couldn’t care less. Besides, it’s important to teach kids about different cultures, so they don’t grow up to be ignorant.

The only time anime was edited this heavily was in the 90s-early 2000s. And they did it because anime was so new and strange, so they thought no one would watch it if it wasn’t more American. But Glitter Force was released in 2015. At that point in time, anime was receiving a huge rise in popularity. So Japanese culture was much more normalized and understood in the west. So all those changes were even more unnecessary.

As an American, I can say that we don’t need everything to be tailored to be like us. The very idea is just ridiculous to me. And it’s the same for every other country. Just accept things for the culture they are.

“But it was my childhood!”

It was mine too. And I understand that it can be hard to let go of something you grew up with. But the thing is: you don’t have to! You can just watch the original! Even if you don’t have a VPN, or don’t have the bravery to pirate it(which isn’t nearly as dangerous as it sounds, if you know good websites), there’s really no reason to continue watching Glitter Force. There are plenty of fandubs out there that you can watch legally, and are way more accurate than Glitter Force! Smile Pretty Cure can still give you the same sense of nostalgia as well. It did for me, at least.

Choosing to ignore, excuse or not care about problematic behavior, simply because something was your childhood is a very immature thing to do. Especially in this case, where you can just watch the original. I promise you, Smile Pretty Cure is honestly so much better!

The very last thing I want to point out is that Smile Pretty Cure was made to aid the children who suffered from the 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan. The overall theme of the show is happiness, with each Cure being named after something that makes people happy. And the anime’s title, Smile Pretty Cure, is a reminder that smiles can help you through tough times. So the fact that Glitter Force takes that meaning away is just awful.

Thank you for reading all this. I didn’t even get to go through all the changes Saban did, but I went through the most important. Let me know if this informed you in any way!

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~~baileypie-writes

#baileypie-writes #pretty cure #precure #smile precure #smile pretty cure #glitter force #glitter force stans dni #dokidoki precure #dokidoki pretty cure #glitter force sucks #glitter force doki doki

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