Healin’ Good Precure Episode 33

Man this episode had me nervous and excited from start to finish because I just didn’t now how it was going to unfold! When Nodoka’s doctor who had taken care of her while she was hospitalized came to visit her, he revealed he is quitting his job because of his frustration and grief of being unable to identify Nodoka’s illness.

This of course made Nodoka extremely upset because she knows there was no way he could have done so since the cause was because Daruizen, a Pathogerm had been using her body as a host. The moment that happened, all I could think of was, ‘Oh god, she is going to be so mad at Daruizen, she might lash out at him.’ I mean, she even rushed over to Rabirin to ask if she could tell the doctor about the existence of the Pathogerms so he wouldn’t blame himself. Obviously she couldn’t, but luckily none of that happened because the doctor was able to explain he is just changing careers, from a doctor to a researcher on diseases so he can help find a cure for many different kind of diseases that they have yet to understand and learn about. And then when it came to the confrontation with Daruizen, Nodoka was surprisingly quite level-headed and mature about the whole situation as she was very much focused with the task at hand, of rescuing Dr. Hachisuka.

And I gotta tell you, this week’s encounter did not disappoint. As many of us suspected, Daruizen was heavily pressured by the King to evolve, but the best part about this episode was getting an emotional response out of him. Daruizen is known for is cool-under-fire personality, and cocky poker-face, so I am absolutely thrilled that we are finally starting to see more of what lies in his heart, both his insecurities and beliefs, and perhaps what he may be unconsciously longing for.

It is very intriguing how he takes the notion of not giving up, and supporting others so personally, and was even shown to be taken aback when she explained what it means to live. Like realistically speaking, Nodoka doing her own thing and preaching her own ways shouldn’t bother him, and yet it does. It triggered him to engage in a fight with her just to express his frustration and opinion on the matter. And boy, was he aggravated.

“By working for others, what do get? You’re better off thinking only of yourself!” – Daruizen
“Maybe you can’t understand. But we help and support each other. That’s how we live!” – Nodoka

(Note: Bold bit got a reaction out of him.)

Daruizen doesn’t understand what it means, or what it is like to help and support another, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. From the very beginning, it was always about himself. His own survival, his own decisions, his own purpose. But we know even that can be difficult for him to do when he serves the King. Just as we saw today, he was pressured into absorbing the fragment to evolve like the other two. And frankly, while he doesn’t regret absorbing it, if Daruizen had any choice in this matter, he probably would have pushed it off to a later date. So he did the only thing he could do in the situation, he took it with the mentality he was doing it for himself and nobody else. You can also argue that was his way of taking back control of the situation, since his feelings didn’t matter to the opposing party.

There is also the fact the environment he doesn’t have any real examples of what it means to receive help and support from others and vice versa. He is kind of forced to look out for himself because nobody else will. The relationship each of the Generals have with the King feels completely one-sided. I think we can all agree the King gives off the impression he thinks of them nothing more than pawns in his grand scheme of taking over the Earth. Shindoine is only doing this in attempt to receive the King’s love, Guaiwaru just wants to be acknowledged, Batetemoda sought promotion, so this really leaves Daruizen to be the only exception to have shown little to no interest in receiving attention from the King at all. He pretty much just does job so he doesn’t get in trouble for it, and the times he was motivated were purely driven by his own interest in the matter.

So I am curious to see how Daruizen will behave from here on out after having witnessing what it means to support and help another. I imagine it will be something that might plague his mind and possibly even draw comparison to the his fellow Generals and King’s group dynamics to the Precure. But there was also a thought that crossed my mind, a curious idea of what would happen if the Pathogerms were to apply this wisdom to their own group. What if they were to stop acting like rivals and decided for the sake of achieving the King’s grand ambitions of taking over the Earth, they will work together as a team in attempt to accomplish it? Of course there is certainly a twisted way this could unfold, with the manipulative notion of the King absorbing them to obtain greater power, but the idea of the Generals putting aside their differences to unite and work together properly could be a very fun development.

That being said, I don’t expect him to share such a thing, at least not any time soon. Daruizen is not sold on it yet, so he has no reason to take the initiative to suggesting it to the others. But I do wonder if it might bug him enough to want to observe it further, provoked to the point he might even be driven to try and prove that Nodoka is wrong by putting that belief to the test. It will depends on how much it bugs him and whether he really has enough freedom at the moment to even do that though. But since it really got under his skin him today, it is certainly no longer outside the realm of possibilities.

Another curious observation was Daruizen’s interest in Nodoka knowing the target. Of course this wouldn’t be the first time he has attacked people close to her (such as her mother, WHELP), but this is the first time it seems to matter to him. I can only guess it’s because he now knows about their unique history, it becomes a bit more personal.

And finally, I can gush about Daruizen’s evolution because he looks absolutely amazing. He kind of lost his baby face and now looks like a rebellious teenager. His hair grew longer, he still has the earrings (good to see, I like them hahaha), and his outfit is looks even cooler. I really like the blue accents he has, and his facial markings are quite interesting with the way they are pink with a green outline, and most importantly, he has a blue flower on him.

Now, there are a couple of really interesting things that does make sense out of the flowers’ subtle details. So here’s some food for thought!

Last week when I saw Daruizen’s blue flower in the preview there were two things that crossed me mind. One, was the meaning behind the blue flower and two, (though I will admit, this is might be a stretch varying on how you see it), is how the blue flower’s arrangement on his outfit has an uncanny to resemblance Nodoka’s flower barrette. Now I don’t believe I have ever mentioned this in my entries, (as I usually focused more on Daruizen’s earrings, so if I did, it might have been in the comment section), but one of the things that have been weighing on my mind for a very long time is in fact Nodoka’s hair clip. One reason for that was because it has the same flower shape as Daruizen’s earrings, but another is the fact it seems to be given the attention to detail. The most memorable occasion was when Nodoka was sent back to the hospital after being stabbed by the Mega Part, and was seen left on the bedside table. For that reason I went back to revisit Nodoka’s hospital scenes, and as I was looking for clues it finally suddenly dawned to me the how the flowers in her room were foreshadowing her connection with Daruizen  as early as the first two episodes.

• • Episode 1: We saw Daruizen in front of the flower garden
  • Episode 2: The flowers in Nodoka’s hospital room consist both those flowers garden, but also a single blue one alone in a vase.
  • Episode 28: We see that the lone blue flower has been swapped out for a white one, but the other ones in a group are consistently the same.

I believe the colorful flowers are part of the daisies family, but because there’s so many variations of them I don’t really see the point of focusing on their meaning. Instead I consider their colorful presence as a more important clue. But to their left, there is a single flower. The first time we see it is in episode 2, and it’s a blue one. Next time in episode 28, that blue flower is now a white flower.

At first I thought maybe based on the shape it might have been a carnation, but after looking it up, there’s no such thing as a blue carnation (apart from Moondust, which is more of a purple hue). And it’s definitely not Forget-Me-Not, so for sanity sake, let’s just roll with the idea that the blue flower that was swapped out with a white one were both in fact roses.

• Blue Roses represents mystery, the impossible, unreachable, unattainable or unrequited love. If you were to give a blue rose to someone and you are saying “you are extraordinarily wonderful and unique.” It can also be attributed to “desire” and even “lust”.
• White Roses are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings, but their quiet beauty has also made them a gesture of remembrance. Suited to reverent occasions, the white rose is a fitting way to honor a friend or loved one in recognition of a new beginning or a farewell. Their pure color conveys respect, pays homage to new starts, and expresses hope for the future. When the occasion calls for reverence a bouquet of white roses is a perfect way to say, “I’m thinking of you.”
  – Source

If they happened to be Roses, what makes these two so interesting are the meanings they hold in each of their respective scenes. The Blue Rose’s, “mystery, the impossible” was present during the time nobody, not even the doctors could understand the source of Nodoka’s illness. Meanwhile in the scene with the White Rose, Daruizen is seen leaving Nodoka’s body. In that sense the flower could attribute to this event marking a farewell, and new beginning and hope for the future for both of them.

So what would it mean if Daruizen is in fact wearing a Blue Rose?

Well let’s first start off with what Cure Grace’s “hot pink” rose means, because that took actually matches her character perfectly. A “hot pink” rose can symbolize gratitude, appreciation, recognition and “thank you”. This makes a lot of sense because she even said so herself, how important it is to pass her gratitude of those who helped her, forward.

For Daruizen’s case, we can all agree mystery fits him well, but now that it has been confirmed he is someone who looks out for himself because he feels there is no purpose to help others because he has never gotten anything in return. That’s where unrequited description does match his character.

Alright I’m done with my flower analysis. Thanks Heartcatch.

Overall this episode was fantastic and this is probably my favourite fight to date because it was absolutely spectacular to watch. Daruizen’s Giga Pathogerm definitely came off as much stronger than Guaiwaru’s, so that really does leave me with the impression Guaiwaru might actually be the weakest one of the trio. Similarly to Shindoine’s monster, this one had sent both Chiyu and Hinata flying off the cliffs (poor Hinata she has been getting a real beating these past few weeks), and even Asumi had a difficult time hanging in there on her own. But the best part was when Nodoka and Daruizen went head to head again. Who doesn’t love it when they fight? It’s so spicy, but this was really the first time we actually got to see them duke it out for real.

Nodoka was sooooo freaking cool today. I absolutely loved her fierce look and her unwavering convictions to continue to fight, even when things looked like they were going south. This was definitely the most beautiful we have seen of her to date. And can we just take moment to appreciate the location which the battle took place? I absolutely love that they had the freedom to just go wild with it because there was nobody else to worry about being caught in the crossfire. Daruizen’s engagement was equally as pleasing to watch, because not only he was freaking relentless in the fight (he had some wicked moves), I am so glad we are finally starting to see him lose that cocky poker-face and reveal more of the different layers he has been hiding away. You don’t have to like Daruizen, but I think we can all agree he is such a facinating character because he has so many layers waiting to be revealed.

Next week it’s Chiyu’s turn to be in the spotlight and Shindoine will be back in action. I think I have the estimate down right given the next one after that should probably be a Hinata focused episode. And then the one after (episode 36) will probably be the King’s return given how much damage the generals have been able to get down with these Giga monsters. That’s just my rough estimate though.

Anyways I will wrap it up here because this sure became a lengthy entry ahahaha!
I regret nothing! I have a lot of feelings about this series, so I can’t stop thinking about it!

See you next week!