Oh man this episode was a doozy, and I absolutely loved every second of it. I am soooo happy we finally got some backstory on not just Daruizen but the origins of the Pathogerms as well!
I don’t think I have mentioned it in any of my previous entries, but funny enough this is what I said to Berry last week when were were discussing Daruizen’s and Nodoka’s potential connection with each other:
“…I mean, unless Daruizen is supposed to be a manifestation of her illness, but that feels like a bit of a stretch since Rabbi knew him before she met Nodoka..”- Eva.
And lo and behold, DARUIZEN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER ILLNESS. He was one of the parasite seeds that we have seen come out of those Mega Pathogerms, and chose Nodoka to be his host.
In other words, Nodoka was never born sick! She was a victim to one of the many parasites that Queen Teatinu and the other Healing Animals were not able to keep in check. Those who were not purified at their initial stages were left to their own devices and evolved. The King, Daruizen, Guaiwaru and Shindoine are all living examples of that.
Daruizen assumed his current evolved form when the King called upon them. This explains why Rabbirin knew him for a bit before she had met Nodoka. But while the precise time frame remains unclear, if there’s one thing we know for sure: is that once the parasite has grown enough to actually be able to leave the body and take its own intelligent form, this also frees the host from its side-effects. We saw how Nodoka seemed to have made swift recovery once Kedari had left her body, so I am left to assume once Daruizen done the same, it had a similar affect. But it probably took longer because she required rehabilitation before she could be released due to how long he was with her for. After-all, he wasn’t just with her for a few months, but at least few years.
This was just as much of a surprise to Daruizen as it was for Nodoka once he shared the revelation with her. He wasn’t expecting Kedari to share an uncanny resemblance with him, but that was how it triggered the memories of his origins.
And now that he remembers, man this is where things are going to get real interesting because Daruizen was with her for as long as she has been sick. In other words, he has quite an intimate history with Nodoka. It makes me curious about how far he is willing to try and remember his time with her. I kind of want to see them explore what his emotions were like, because I find this premise to be quite fascinating, especially since Latte told us the Pathogerms were suffering in Nodoka’s body. (What she meant by that is unclear since it was overshadowed by the girls focusing on the precure’s powers fighting against it. But there is a possibility that she may be able to hear the Pathogerm’s voices too.)
Another interesting development is how Daruizen may be aloof and not known to be particularly invested or interested in anything, and yet here he is completely engrossed in this experimentation. I really want to know more about what’s running through his head, including how he felt when the King call them to his side. Did he go to him out of pure instinct, or was it the promise and ambition of making the world their own? I am so curious, but I must be careful not to get too ahead of myself.
Needless to say, it is going to be very interesting to see what becomes of this relationship between Daruizen and Nodoka. Suddenly it has become very personal for both of them since they share a connection unlike any other. That is why I am not surprised that Nodoka feels like it is her responsibility to deal with Daruizen, just as he is now more invested in her.
But now that we know Daruizen’s origin was from a parasite, I can’t help but be worried about his fate. Based on what we have seen from Batetemoda and Kedari, they just disappear. I know he is the bad guy right now, but I would be very sad to see that happen to him too. So I am kindaaaaaaa hoping there’s a way around this for him… He is too good of a character to just kill off. Obviously because he is my bias, I would like to see a path to redemption/happy end for him, but I am not exactly sure how that would work… I love him as an antagonist, but I also don’t want him to see him dead at this end of all this.
In all, I am absolutely loving this approach of making the Pathogerms actually have an impact on their lives long before they even get involved with becoming Precure. Everything that has happened thus far is the result of unfinished buisness between the Pathogerm King and the Healing Animals.
As awesome as this episode was, I would be lying if I said this was the perfect. I am sure I am not the only one who was disappointed to see Kedari be purified today. I would have loved to see him be added to the squad for a bit longer. It was fun to see him give everyone a run for their money, including Asumi. His freakish boneless body was no joke. However we definitely saw a difference in power level today between a half-grown Pathogerm like Kedari and a “mature” Pathogerm like Daruizen. When the girls decided they would take this opportunity to purify Daruizen, he gave them a taste of just how powerful he actually is, and of course that was fun to see.
But if there was one thing that kind of caught me off-guard today, it was the King giving Daruizen crap for supposedly slacking off for a few days. Like dude, he is running experiments to make things more productive and you are complaining about his lack of work? Good grief, I think it’s fair to say based on everything we have seen so far, he is the one who has been getting the most work done up until now! If there’s anyone to scold, it has to be Shindoine because we have hardly seen her do anything productive! At least Guaiwaru is trying to do things, even if it means stealing ideas.
Now we just have to wait and see if the King will go forward with Daruizen’s recommendation to focus on rapid evolution. I think it would be foolish of the King not to do it, especially with OP Asumi in the mix. The Pathogerms need more hands on deck, and the best way to do that is to add more intelligent recruits like themselves. The trick is to pick unsuspecting targets so they all have the time to properly mature so that they don’t end up half-born like Nebusokku and Kedari– but even then, get more like Kedari or even like Batetemoda for that matter, and they will create a real headache for the girls. do hope they will go forward with this plan because this would be a great way to kick things up a notch leading up to the King’s revival, which I am expecting to happen very soon.
And finally the last thing I would like to note is, what happens if they decide to target each of the girls besides Nodoka? Frankly I think the one who is at the highest risk right now is Asumi. She isn’t Human to begin with, so if they manage to get Mega Fragment in her, just how powerful would the Pathogerm be? Or is she so OP, that a fragment wouldn’t even be able to develop within her?
I am really looking forward to the future developments, until then, see you next week!
It looked like to me he was born a virus spider seed(?) that who then LATER infected Nodoka and hosted her body until evolved into a form on King Byogen’s orders. That’s what it looks like to me, at least.
I just call those things a parasite because I don’t know what else to call it, haha. XD But yeah, he did infect Nodoka. It’s quite facinating to see them have a conscious that early on, though it seems most of them don’t remember this particular experience.
Damn, Healin Good Precure is really on its A game this week, and provided an answer to a question I had throughout its whole run so far! I think it might replace Suite as my third favorite Precure series if it keeps this level of quality up!
Although I am of two minds on the reveal: On one hand, I did kind of wish Nodoka had an actual illness, something like cancer or leukemia or some respiratory infection, as something like that could give kids who are going through similar illnesses someone they can relate to, and give Nodoka a much more exploitable weakness. But on the other hand, it was really ballsy of Toei to go with this idea, and even managing to get some good mileage out of it, both for this episode and maybe in the future. It also gives Nodoka a much more personal stake in the whole saving the world business, something I always appreciate. Seriously, this is what I wanted in seasons like Happiness Charge! Favoring actual, nuanced character development and not being afraid to do something different over relying on cliches and trying to be something it isn’t.
Yeah I share the same sentiment about Nodoka not actually being born will an illness. While they were able to provide a fair and solid explanation for it, I too think it is a bit of missed opportunity. It would have been a great for those kids to have a character to connect with.
Healin’ Good Precure is definitely contesting its position in my top ranks with Go Princess, and I am pretty sure it will take the crown after all of this. The writing for this series has been absolutely fantastic. I am very excited to see how everything is going to develop! I can’t stop thinking about it!
Although one thing did confuse me: Did Fontaine give Kedari his name, or did the latter actually introduce himself? I don’t think the show gave him a name, and Fontaine suddenly calling him Kedari just seemed jarring to me.
I’m pretty sure he introduced himself as Kedari since the girls were calling him “Daruizen’s look-alike”.
I kinda wonder about the Pathogerms themselves and their King. Their King called the Healing Animals “hateful”. Not stupid or any kind of insult. Just simply hateful, which kinda makes me wonder if all the Pathogerms are just trying to survive and live especially since Latte says they suffer in a host body. Maybe they want to live but they only know how to live and grow through suffering, which is a bit unfair to them. Maybe Nodoka will see this and want to help them instead?
Also I like how it seems like Darui also heard Nodoka’s parents call out to her and when they do, his face looks sad even kinda sighing or grunting quietly when he remembers this. As if perhaps he might be a little envious that people and animals live in a world where they are loved and not threaten to be destroyed like they are. I mean granted, the Pathogerms are threatening their lives, but maybe to them, everyone else are the enemies that seek to destroy them as the Pathogerms just want a world they can thrive in. Maybe it’s possible for them to compromise and create a world they can survive in eventually?
I have been thinking about this a lot too and was planning to make a follow up on it in next week’s entry. One party is well liked because they are the “good guys”, while the other is despised for the pain they inflict onto others making it easy to slap the “bad guys” label onto them. But like you said, it’s unfair because that’s the only way they know how to survive, not to mention it can’t be helped that they were born that way too.
I am on the same page as you: When the King described the Healing Animals as “hateful”, and announced to make the world their own, perhaps the Pathogerms are envious of what the Healing Animals have, and they all wish to create a place where they can finally belong. I also believe that scene when Nodoka and Rabbirin both shouted, “GET OUT”, really put into perspective the struggle Pathogerms face everywhere they go, including those who are just instinctively trying to survive.
So I would be delighted if they were to go in that direction because it create a grey area that adds more depth to the motives of the Pathogerms.
I also thought Daruizen’s expression when he heard Nodoka’s parents call out to her was very interesting. There was a softness and mixed emotions we haven’t seen from him before. But that was quickly overshadowed when he finally connected the dots. That’s why I am so curious about how he is going to behave around Nodoka, and what kind of series of emotions he will go through if he really does try to remember more about his own past during his time with her.