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”Oh Jikochu who knows no love, I, Cure Heart, will make your heart race!”note 
Click here to see the Glitter Force Doki Doki visual 

”Listen to the heartbeat of love! DokiDoki! Pretty Cure!”
DokiDoki! Pretty Cure

DokiDoki! Pretty Cure is the tenth entry in the Pretty Cure franchise. It was aired between February 3, 2013 and January 26, 2014, and stars a four-girl team with a playing card motif. It is preceded by Smile Pretty Cure! and followed by HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!.

In the magical Trump Kingdom, everyone lived in harmony under the guidance of their ruler Princess Marie-Ange. That was until the day that an evil force known as "Jikochuu"note  attacked the kingdom, corrupting the hearts of its people and defeating its sole protector, Cure Sword. Though Marie-Ange managed to escape to Earth, she immediately went missing and her kingdom fell to the evil of Jikochuu.

Mana Aida is the busybody Student Council President of Oogai Middle School who suffers from a serious case of Chronic Hero Syndrome. When the agents of Jikochuu descend upon Earth, she has a chance encounter with one of the fairies fleeing the Trump Kingdom, and transforms into one of the legendary warriors known as Pretty Cure.

As Cure Heart, Mana is soon joined by three others: Rikka Hishikawa (Cure Diamond), her best friend and the put-upon Student Council Secretary; Alice Yotsuba (Cure Rosetta), a corporate heiress and their childhood friend; and Cure Sword, now going under the name "Makoto Kenzaki", whose prosperous idol career masks her pain and regret over her failure to protect her realm.

In contrast to the preceding season, DokiDoki! PreCure has a Myth Arc that runs throughout the series. As the story progresses, the Cures encounter mysterious shopkeeper Joe Okada, magical baby Ai-chan, amoral villainess Regina, and their enigmatic new ally, Aguri Madoka (Cure Ace).

An English adaptation, under the name Glitter Force Doki Doki, began steaming on Netflix from August 18, 2017 to November 10, 2017. This makes DokiDoki the third installment of the franchise to receive an English dub, after the original Futari wa Pretty Cure and the preceeding Smile Pretty Cure!.

Like the original Glitter Force, which was adapted from Smile, the English version changed the character's names and cuts down the number of episodes from the original version's forty-nine. The first season reduced the first twenty-one episodes to fifteen, while the second season again cuts the remaining twenty-eight episodes to fifteen. Saban Brands is credited with the production of the English version, but the Glitter Force trademark was transferred over to franchise creator Toei Animation prior to the dub's announcement, and is the last PreCure season to be dubbed by Saban Brands. In 2018, Hasbro owned the rights to the program alongside other Saban Brands entertainment assets, such as Power Rangers, My Pet Monster, Luna Petunia and other entertainment brands.


Tropes:

  • Absurdly High-Stakes Game: Episode 19. Regina wages the red Royal Crystal, while the Cures wage the rest of the Crystals. The Royal Crystals are the key to restoring Trump Kingdom. As expected, Team Selfish cheats like there is no tomorrow.
  • Absurdly Long Stairway: In the first episode, Mana runs up an extremely long staircase all the way to the top of the Clover Tower (which is similar to the real life Tokyo Tower) in order to fight a monster, even though she hasn't become a Pretty Cure yet at that point.
  • Actor Allusion: Kumiko Nishihara also voices Renne, who is always seen carrying a stuffed rabbit doll. Charle is a rabbit-like fairy, and her human form has almost exact same hairstyle as Renne's.
  • Aerith and Bob: While 4 of the cures have traditional Japanese Names, Alice is the only member who has an English sounding name.
  • All for Nothing: Episode 46. It's revealed that the King of the Trump Kingdom decided to release the Sealed Evil in a Can in order to find a cure for Marie-Ange's illness (which was implied to come from the sealed evil in the first place). The evil turns the King into King Jikochuu, and Marie-Ange divides her own existence to keep herself from becoming a Jikochuu which essentially renders the King's sacrifice meaningless.
  • And the Adventure Continues: The last scene has the six heroines get called to stop a falling satellite, showing that a Cure's work is never really done.
  • Animate Inanimate Object: Silver Clock from the movie. There's also Clarinet, who is the movie's true villain.
  • Animation Bump: Certain battles have these, but Cure Ace's Transformation Sequence stands out as having some of the best animation for a transformation sequence in the franchise to date, having practically a movie quality level to the animation. The episode she finally shows off her skills in, Episode 23, has a somewhat higher animation budget than did most of the previous episodes.
  • Apocalypse Anarchy: Exploited. When King Jikochuu invaded the Trump Kingdom, everyone went into every-man-for-himself mode, thus greatly increasing the number of invading Selfishes. Bel even lampshades it as part of his Breaking Speech.
  • The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: When King Jikochuu invades Earth, the citizens of Oogai do their best to help each others and minimize casualties, thus greatly weakening the Selfishes, allowing the Cures to make a Shut Up, Hannibal! to Bel.
  • Artistic License: A weather example. In episode 26, Ira gets struck by lightning and gets amnesia. Lightning does not cause amnesia.
  • Artistic License – Space: A good half of episode 41. Where to begin...
    • Cure Batman Can Breathe in Space: Magic or not, it stretches suspension of disbelief that Cure Rosetta can go to outer space 1) using a very small shuttle, 2) only protected by her magic dress, 3) bringing a plant in a pot without it being destroyed.
    • Space Is Air: Her rival Reina then bring the other Cures with her... on a propelled airplane! And all the characters can speak with each others sans magic... as though their voice can go through vacuum!
    • Keep in mind that Reina is a perfectly mundane human and her propelled airplane is also perfectly mundane! How is she not freezing to death or being hit by radiation up there?
    • Reckless Behavior IN SPACE: They even bring Cure Ace along, knowing the limitation of her Minutes of Power! Thankfully, the battle ends quicker before it can happen.
  • Ascended Extra
    • Kanako Miyamoto (Makoto / Cure Sword) had a minor voice role in Yes! Pretty Cure 5 (As Herself!) and performed music for the franchise. Now she's voicing a main character.
    • Rie Kugimiya (Aguri / Cure Ace) had a previous stint as Evil Knockoff Dark Lemonade (from a movie of the same show). Now she's voicing a real Pretty Cure.
  • Back for the Finale: Everyone who has ever been helped by Mana and friends are back when King Jikochuu invades Oogai.
  • Background Music Override: Whoa look, a rare non-video game example. During episode 20 as the Cures are setting off to find the Royal Crystals in a remote and dangerous mountain, their Transformation Sequence is overlaid by a particularly solemn Background Music that has been playing since the previous scene. The result is haunting. Has also been used a few times since then.
  • Bad Guy Bar: As the villains HQ. It even has a sleazy Film Noir saxophone musical motiff in its background.
  • Batman Gambit:
    • Reina attempts one on Alice Yotsuba in episode 13. It doesn't work.
    • In episode 32, Bel has a shiny pair of Blood Rings for Mammo and Ira, and he playfully teases them into putting them on. It works.
  • Befriending the Enemy: Regina has been successfully redeemed by Cure Heart and the other Pretty Cures by befriending her more than once. The first time immediately after Cure Heart beats her in a fight. Regina has for various reasons turned back to evil several times, only for the show to to start their friendship over and have her turn good again.
  • Big "WHAT?!": Episode 48 gives us two. One after Mana reveals herself as Cure Heart, resulting in THE ENTIRE TOWN OF OOGAI to shout in shock and another after a Giant Lance comes out of a Rosetta Balloon, much to the surprise of the Cures, Regina, and the mascots.
  • Bigger Stick: The Selfishes keep bringing new methods to create more powerful Monster of the Week. In turn, Ai-chan keeps granting the Cures new and interesting Loveads to allow them new finishers.
  • Birthday Episode: Episode 42.
  • Bittersweet Ending/Earn Your Happy Ending: Proto-Jikochuu is defeated, forcing the Selfish Trio to go back to sleep, and Trump Kingdom is restored, but Marie-Ange can't return to her old self. Fortunately, most of her essence goes into Ai-chan, while Aguri and Regina are allowed to continue their existences. Also, Trump Kingdom and Earth has become permanently connected via dimensional rift, averting the usual But Now I Must Go part of the ending.
  • Bloodier and Gorier: A mild example. The Non-Serial Movie has a scene where a character is bitten. Blood is seen dripping from the character's wounds.
  • Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Regina forces the Selfish Trio to put one on for her in Episode 16. The skit consists of them arguing over who gets to be the Boke...and they do a poor job.
  • Breaking Old Trends: When it comes to additional Cures, they are either villains who turned good or already established characters. Cure Ace, however, was a character who just appeared on her debut with no previous foreshadowing.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: During the Non-Serial Movie, Aguri turns to the audience and asks them for help.
  • Broken Aesop: The show tries very hard to push the message of how being selfish is wrong and you can only truly be happy by helping others, yet two episodes argue against the moral with the counterargument of "being selfless can lead to burnout and cause more harm than good", as one episode has Mana being put out of commission because she overworked herself helping everyone over every little thing, and Princess Marie-Ange's attempt to be selfless to her people conflicted with the love of her father (who was corrupted into King Jikochuu), thus was unable to fully commit to the needs of the many leading to her dying and the kingdom getting destroyed. And that's not going into the fact that Mana solos the Big Bad while preaching the "being selfish is bad" message, especially since before then, every other Pretty Cure season has the final battle be a group effort between the heroes in order to put the main villain down, yet here the other Cures are hit with The Worf Effect with their only purpose being to give Mana an Eleventh Hour Super Power.
  • Broken Masquerade: Episodes 47 and 48, mostly because you can't cover up a giant demon attacking your city. And then Mana goes and blurts out her real name while fighting as Cure Heart.
  • But Now I Must Go: Simultaneously subverted and played straight in the ending. A dimensional rift has been opened between both Earth and Trump Kingdom, meaning the Cures and their fairies will never have to part ways. Played straight with the Selfish Trio — without Proto-Jikochuu to sustain their existence, they will be forced to go to sleep again, and the three were last seen acknowledging their fate before disappearing for good.
  • By the Power of Grayskull!: "Pretty Cure Love Link!" and "Pretty Cure Dress Up!"
  • Calling Your Attacks: A Precure staple, really.
  • Cassandra Truth: Rikka didn't believe Mana when she first told her she was a Precure and it took her transforming in front of her to believe her.
  • Casting Gag: In Episode 38, Ira and Mamo do a Kamehameha. Mayumi Tanaka voices Kuririn/Krillin.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: Episode 7, which showcases what is probably the darkest backstory of any Pretty Cure series to date. In full detail no less, while previous series merely only implied what happens.
  • Character Catchphrase: Mana's "kyun~kyun~".
  • Chekhov's Gunman:
    • Yashima, the girl who gets sick during the bus trip in Episode 1, appears again as Raquel's Precocious Crush in Episode 36.
    • Jun deserves a LOT of credit for preventing some people from becoming Jikochuus in Episose 47.
  • Childhood Friends: Mana and Rikka have been friends since they were at least two. And then with Alice since they were six.
  • Cliffhanger: This is how the show makes every episode tie into it's Myth Arc. If nothing plot-relevant happens in an episode, the episode will generally end in a plot-relevant cliffhanger.
  • Combat and Support:
    • Combat: Cure Heart, Cure Sword
    • Support: Cure Diamond, Cure Rosetta
    • Balanced: Cure Ace
  • Combination Attack:
    • "Precure Lovely Force Arrow" and later "Lovely Force Reflection" (Combination Defence?) Then there is "Precure Royal Lovely Straight Flush", the upgraded form of the Combined Energy Attack.
  • Combined Energy Attack: Cure Heart's "Precure Lovely Straight Flush", where she takes the power from the other Cures.
  • Continuity Nod
    • Episode 16: The Cure Loveads summons small sheeps jumping above a fence, similar to the Jikochuu in Episode 8.
    • Episode 18: Makoto drinks and holds her ice tea in a similar way like in the ice tea advertisement from Episode 1. There is even the advertisement poster in the background.
    • Episode 23: Mana scolding a Jikochuu is similar what she did in Episode 1. Cure Heart's backwards salto looks like a mirrored version of Cure Sword's from Episode 1, even the Background Music is the same. Two new villains, Leeva and Gula, are introduced and summon two Jikochuus, like Ira and Mamo did in Episode 1.
    • The idol who became a Jikochuu in Episode 5 reappears in Episode 40, where she gives Makoto a "Eureka!" Moment.
    • Alice's rival Reina from Episode 13 returns in Episode 41.
    • Aguri's friend from Episode 28, Eru, makes an appearance in Episode 45 telling the Cures that Aguri may have gone missing after she delivered a drawing to Eru.
    • As mentioned, almost every character that the Cures helped over the course of the series come Back for the Finale.
    • Mana's friends who were protected by the Cures during the Jikochuu's attack in Episode 32 remember the event in Episode 47. Complete with them recognizing Cure Heart. Even before that, Yashima notices them in Episode 36.
    • The Badass Boast Mana delivers in Episode 21 is said again in Episode 48.
    • Nikaidou's using First-Name Basis on Mana was first shown in Episode 3. He did it again in Episode 48, twice: once during his Skyward Scream and once again when Mana's Muggles friends rushed to her just after Regina confessed her love. The latter one is buried within everyone else's "President!", but it's noticeable enough. And in Episode 49, he did it all the time!
  • Counting Sheep: Episode 8's Jikochuu. And Episode 16's Cure Loveads.
  • Darker and Edgier: Implied with the Downer Beginning, as stated below.
    • Just one example is that Regina was successfully forced back into the villain team after having just defected, a stark contrast to previous Dark Magical Girl's in the franchise.
    • And then it's demonstrated in episode 31 that for the first time in several seasons, Anyone Can Die as far as the villain squad is concerned.
    • Episode 46 goes even further, having arguably the Darkest Origin story of any character, whether hero or villain, in the series to date, and the true from of the main villain is....Quite Terrifying, to say the least.
  • Darkest Hour: Episode 31 is the first one. Leva and Gula infect all of Oogai's citizens with their Jikochuu seeds and slowly turn them into Jikochuus. They beat the Cures down and break the Magical Lovely Pad. Even after the happy end, Leva and Gula are killed in a cruel way by Bel.
    • Episode 46: The Origins of King Jikochuu are revealed and he finally regains his full power, and heads into the human dimension to destroy it like he did with the world the Trump Kingdom is inhabited in.
  • Dancing Theme: "Kono Sora no Mukou / Beyond The Sky". Beginning with Episode 27, "Love Link".
  • Demoted to Extra: The Selfish Trio usually get this when other villains are introduced. Even in the new opening, they are replaced by Aguri. They generally come back when the other villains leave.
  • Detect Evil: The fairies can detect the existence of Selfishes from quite a distance, allowing the Cures to speedily dispatch the monsters. The fairies lose this ability when they are in human form.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Alice plays the opening theme on the piano in episode 13. It happens again in episode 16 when Regina and Ai dance while Charle plays an instrumental of the first ending theme.
  • Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Regarding Melan:
    Mana: It's a dinosaur!
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Episode 20. The way Mana ask Regina to resolve things with her father sounds like Mana is trying to propose a marriage to Regina. There are tears and hugs, it's as though the father will veto the 'marriage proposal'.
  • Downer Beginning: The anime begins with the complete loss of the Trump Kingdom and the total defeat of Cure Sword. Episode 7 later shows in detail what happened, and it's absolutely horrifying, particularly in a kids' show. Then Episode 46 shows that things were even worse than imagined...
  • Dreadful Musician: Tip: In case Mana expressed a desire to sing, go run to the corner and cover your ears. You'll thank us later.
  • Dub-Induced Plotline Change: Oh maliciously. Due to a lack of budget (and general lack of interest in the source material), Saban Brands opted to heavily cut down and straight up remove entire episodes from the original 49 episode run for the English dub (the total dubbed episodes is 30). While you can still follow along with the first half, the second-half becomes nigh-incomprehensible due to having two of its arcs missing, made even worse is that Toei wrote this season in a way where one can't really afford to abridge it down in any capacity less the viewer misses something important.
  • Dub Name Change: For Glitter Force Doki Doki:
    • Mana Aida/Cure Heart -> Maya Aida/Glitter Heart
    • Rikka/Cure Diamond -> Rachel/Glitter Diamond
    • Alice/Cure Rosetta -> Clara/Glitter Clover
    • Makoto Kenzaki/Cure Sword -> Mackenzie Mack/Glitter Spade
    • Aguri Madoka/Cure Ace -> Natalie/Glitter Ace
    • Reina Itsutsuboshi -> Nellie Knotty
    • Oogai City -> Seashell Bay
    • Trump Kingdom -> Splendorious
    • Lovely Commune -> Glitter Pad
    • King Jikochu and Jikochu -> King Mercenaire and Disdain
    • Sharuru and Rakeru -> Kippie and Rory
    • Averted for all the other villains and Sebastian.
  • Electric Torture: How King Jikochuu tries to keep Regina under his will.
  • Evil Laugh:
    • Surprisingly, this is invoked by Mana of all people in Episode 7, as a counter-Evil-Laugh to show Bel that he has not broken her hope yet.
    • Leva, Gula and Bel in Episode 31.
  • Evolving Credits: Beginning with Episode 27, with the addition of Cure Ace.
  • Excited Episode Title!
  • Expy:
  • Eye Catch: Before Episode 7 the outgoing and incoming catches were the same. Episode 7 then changes the incoming catch to a new sequence. Episode 27 changes the outgoing catch entirely, with the incoming one being slightly changed by adding Cure Ace at the end.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Mana and friends ignore the very obvious display of Regina's power to wither the roses in episode 13... because they are too busy trying to find similarities between her and Princess Marie-Ange. And later, they ignore the fact that Regina's eyes turn red. Even a minor character has immediately noticed the glow in her eyes.
  • "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: In episode 48 the characters actually enter King Jikochuu (through the mouth) in order to find his heart.
  • Festival Episode: In Episode 28. It happens in every season.
  • Filler: The creators are a bit sneaky about this. There are episodes that would be filler if they didn't end on a Cliffhanger that sets up the next episode.
  • Flashback: Episode 7 shows the fall of the Trump Kingdom. Similarly, about half of episode 18 is spent showing the life of Princess Ange, up to the destruction of Trump Kingdom from Jonathan's point of view.
    • Whole Episode Flashback: Most of episode 46 is devoted to showing the history of King Jikochuu and Princess Marie-Ange.
  • Fleeting Demographic Rule
  • Foil: Mr. Aida is completely okay with Mana being with Regina. King Jikochuu on on the other hand, won't let Regina be with Mana.
  • Forced into Evil: The origin of the Big Bad is heavily steeped in this. A loving father is driven to his limits and ends up unleashing a sealed evil because his only daughter fell dangerously ill. Many parents would understand his choice.
  • Foreign Re-Score: Much like with Smile's dub before it, Takaki Hiroshi's score (along with all the Image Songs) was cut and replaced with a more generic western-pop soundtrack.
  • Foreshadowing: In Episode 1, Makoto is seen in an ice tea advertisement. The ice tea is called "Ace Tea". Guess the name of the Fifth Ranger.
    • When the girls gather the Royal Crystals, a subtle hint about the future appearance of Cure Ace: The red Royal Crystal is the cause why Regina became more evil.
    • The Yotsuba has a camera that can capture the transformation of the Cures. Thanks to even further 'advance of science', Sebastian is able to create an artificial Commune.
    • In Episode 36, Mana says that Raquel's real love is Rikka. Of course, she's right. After his heart got broken, he develops his true crush on Rikka, again.
    • See the WMG page for all the foreshadowing regarding Aguri, Regina, and Marie-Ange's connection.
    • The biggest foreshadowing comes for the climax: in every episode, in regards to the Monster of the Week (except for the ones Regina forceably darkens), the person the Jikochuu is formed from has a selfish thought/expression of emotion which darkens their heart and then lessens as they remind themselves to not be so selfish. This doesn't prevent them from being the Monster of the Week, but it definitely hints that despite certain enemy's assurance of Apocalypse Anarchy during the Darkest Hour, the residents of their city just need some reminding before they turn around and fight back against cruel and selfish thoughts by helping each other.
  • Friendly Enemy: Regina and Mana, and usually it's Regina who takes initiative. The rest of their respective sides, not so much.
  • Frilly Upgrade: Par the course of every Precure movie, Mana will gain a new form that is base on her mother's wedding dress.
  • Funny Afro: The five girls get afros after they are defeated by Melan. Makoto got the worst/funniest afro.
  • Funny Background Event: Heart, Rosetta and Sword have caught the falling Diamond, but Sword couldn't catch her legs, so her head got hit by the legs.
  • Fusion Dance: The "Beast" modes of the Selfish Trio, essentially combining themselves with a Jikochuu.
    • Later, Leva and Gula do this with each other in their final battle.
  • Genre Throwback: In the spirit of their last localization attempt, watching Saban’s Glitter Force Doki Doki is akin to stepping into a time capsule. In a climate where their dubbing peers had largely abandoned such practices, viewers are greeted with heavy censorship, edits, all character names changed to more “Western” ones and episodes outright cut from broadcast, among others.
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Episode 8 has Cure Heart and Cure Sword do it to each other when a Jikochuu tries putting them to sleep. Subsequently, Cure Diamond and Cure Rosetta pull each other's cheeks to get themselves awake.
  • Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: All of the Cures and the mascots except for Ai does this to Bel in episode 39.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: The majority of episode 16. With the addition that Bowser wants Mario all for herself while trying to kill Luigi, Yoshi, and Princess Peach.
    • In the manga version, Regina actually watches Makoto's Snow White performance like a good girl. She's not trying to crash it, mainly because she's having a good time watching it with Mana.
  • Good All Along: Reina during Episode 41. Despite making troubles all the time for Alice, Reina actually wants to be her friends. Furthermore, she genuinely loves the flowers and takes good care of them. She also helps the other Cures get to outer space to help Rosetta fight Regina.
  • Gotta Catch 'Em All: The Cure Lovies don't actually fit the trope as they're not really found; new ones are given out when needed. The Royal Crystals, first appearing in Episode 13, are a straight example.
  • Grey-and-Gray Morality: In a series involving the Seven Heavenly Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins, even a couple of the protagonists have to deal with their own vices (specifically, wrath for Alice and pride for Makoto), and at least a couple of villains are shown to be not all bad.
  • History Repeats: The Proto-Jikochuu will always be defeated by the Cures. Ten thousand years ago it was defeated by Cure Empress, in the present time it's defeated by Cure Heart. The Proto-Jikochuu even come to this realization by itself.
  • Hostage for MacGuffin: Episode 17. Either Mana give the Royal Crystals to Red-Eyed!Regina, or her petrified friends get it. But thankfully Sir Joe breaks the stand-off.
  • Human Alien: Episode 7 reveals the Trump Kingdom's population was this - in the fantasy sense, not the science-fiction sense.
  • Humans Are Flawed: This seems to be the theme of the series, with Alice and Makoto each having to deal with their respective vices (wrath for Alice and pride for Makoto) and the Big Bad himself revealed to be the ruler of Makoto's country and a flawed individual who went crazy one day when his daughter became ill.
  • Hypocrite: Makopi's royal guards (i.e. her hardcore fans) say that they will protect Makopi's privacy at all cost. To this end, they are following Makopi everywhere to make sure that no one do anything funny to her, and one of them later turns Jikochu after he feels that his intent is "impure". Well young man, which part of being a creepy stalker is "pure"? It's hard to see this episode as anything but a Take That! against the wota.
  • Hypocritical Humor: In Episode 17, Makoto asks Mana not to tell Regina about their search for the princess or the Royal Crystals. Then Makoto blurts out that a statue looks just like the princess.
  • Imprinting: When Ai-chan hatched from her egg in Episode 8 , she considers the girls her mothers for the rest of the series, especially Mana Aida.
  • In the Name of the Moon: See the page quote. This trope is more present in this season than in other Pretty Cure series in that each Cure also has an additional two-line speech post-transformation (usually delegated to Cure Heart alone if multiple Cures are transforming together).
    It seems like you've lost your love, oh sad Mr. <Monster of the Week>! I, Cure Heart, will set your heart racing again!
  • Ironic Name: Regina's name is Italian for Queen, despite the fact that she is in fact a Princess.
  • Jerkass: Reina from episode 13, though there's a one-off line before her heart is used by Mamo that she wants friends like Alice does but that's only her last line in the whole episode and it's not revisited afterwards. She gets better in Episode 41 though.
  • Killed Off for Real: Leva and Gula are the first minions since Dark Precure who have died in the Pretty Cure franchise; Sabaaku died after his Heel–Face Turn and Joker was willingly absorbed by Pierrot.
    • Princess Marie-Ange turns out to be a Downplayed case. She IS gone by the end of the series, but the aspects of her continue to exist.
  • Lack of Empathy: King Jikochuu, the Selfish Trio, the Selfish Duo and Regina. The latter gets better. Then the former wrecks that.
  • Last Episode, New Character: Proto-Jikochuu, the Final Boss of the series, finally showed up at the beginning of the final episode after possessing Bel and gets quickly killed off by Cure Heart once she goes Parthenon Mode.
  • Legacy Character: Episode's 30 Melan, and her deceased partner Cure Empress who shows up in a Flashback. Quite likely there will be one for the other two Mac Guffins as well.
  • Lotus-Eater Machine: The Non-Serial Movie involves the characters getting trapped in one. (It's not a particularly good Lotus Eater Machine though; Mana's LEM lacks versions of Rikka and Alice, and vice versa.)
  • Lower-Deck Episode: Episode 25 revolves around Sebastian's attempt to shoulder some of Alice's burden. The ensuing trainwreck (mostly caused by Mamo) makes for one of the funniest episodes in the history of Pretty Cure. It's still important to the plot, since Cure Rosetta gets both a Power-Up and Taking a Level In Badass.
  • MacGuffin:
    • The Royal Crystals.
    • The Three Regalia: Miracle Dragon Glaive, Magical Lovely Pad, Eternal Golden Crown.
  • Magical Security Cam: How could Alice capture the footage of Mana transforming into Cure Heart?
  • Magic Skirt: Averted. At least four of the Cures actually wear Modesty Shorts, but Cure Heart is most obvious example who is seen to wear shorts, outside of the first ending.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: In-universe. Veteran actress Ohtori (the Evil Queen to Makopi's Snow White) seems to be mean at first, but it's mainly due to her dedication to her profession. She doesn't have enough Selfishness, as Regina can attest.
  • Meaningful Name: The names of several characters fit their personality.
  • Mentor Mascot: One for each Cure, much like in the original, Splash Star and Heartcatch.
  • Midseason Upgrade: Episode 11 introduces the Love Heart Arrows (which are actually bows). Notably, only Cure Heart and Cure Sword actually use the Love Heart Arrows like bows in their attacks; Cure Diamond taps hers like a tambourine, while Cure Rosetta draws a circle with the bow to form her barrier.
    • Episode 15 gives another upgrade to the Love Heart Arrows, allowing the Precure to use their Combination Attack. (They all use the Arrows as bows for this attack.)
    • And in Episode 31 the Cures get the Magical Lovely Pads, which give them all new attacks.
    • The villains get one in #32, when Ira and Mamo get the Blood Rings.
      • In #38 they lose the Blood Rings, but then in #39 Regina gets the Miracle Dragon Glaive.
    • The Magical Lovely Harp in Episode 40, giving the Cures a new Finishing Move.
  • Minion Shipping: In episode 27 Leva suggests to Gula that they try using a team attack against the Cures, saying that he's curious about Gula's "wild side". Gula blushes and says he likes Leva's top hat. Later in the episode, they summon a Selfish while in a pose that resembles the Love-Love Tenkyoken.
    • Ira ships Mamo and Bel when the three of them are sitting in a park filled with couples in Episode 36.
  • Monsters of the Week: The Jikochuu, who are born from selfish feelings in human hearts.
    • Episode 11-14: Bel, Ira, and Mamo fuse with a dark Psyche (a corrupted heart) instead of simply making a ordinary Jikochuu out of it. This type is called Beast Mode.
    • The ordinary Jikochuus come back in Episode 15 thanks to Regina, who can make stronger Jikochuu even if the victim doesn't have any selfish feelings. (Although Regina claims all humans are selfish anyway). Those Jikochuus are even more stronger than the Beast Mode Jikochuus.
      • The ordinary ones summoned by Leva and Gula are summoned on the same way as the Selfish Trio does, but their Jikochuus seems to be on the same level as Regina's.
    • Episode 27 introduces a new type of Jikochuu which is summoned by two villains instead by a single one. It's much larger and stronger. They called it a "combined Jikochuu".
    • Episode 32 introduces another new type of Jikochuu summoned with the Blood Rings.
    • It's actually rare in the franchise that two Monsters of the Week appear in one episode (not counting the monster crowds and splitting), but two Jikochuus were summoned in Episodes 1, 2 note , 4, 9, 23, 25, 27, 34 and 43, respectively. Previous series have had less episodes with double summons. (Some of these episodes even had two monsters at the same time).
  • Monumental Damage: The Clover Tower is destroyed by Proto-Jikochuu's Wave-Motion Gun. Its future owner Cure Rosetta try to block the wave with her magical shield, but it's to no avail.
  • Mood Whiplash: The first episode starts with Cure Sword fighting a desperate battle against three Jikochuu. Then she watches as the kingdom falls with her in tears. Cut the upbeat opening theme.
    • In episode 31, the girls and their families have a heartwarming dinner together in Aida's restaurant, then the scenery changes to Leva and Gula's death. And then the upbeat ending theme starts.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: The games in episode 19 are like this. Precure finishers are used to play football, bowling, and dodge ball.
  • Murderous Mannequin: The movie entry casts a trio of discarded objects as the villain's main forces. They are given life through the sound of the magical clarinet. The one female member of the group is Mannequin Carmine, a mannequin dressed in red and with a star drawn over her left eye. She's physically very strong and has a bigger form with ribbons adding extra volume to her lower limbs.
  • Musical Spoiler: In episode 15 the music let's you know that the standard Finishing Move isn't going to work.
  • Myth Arc: It's notable that, there is no single pure Filler episode. Something always happens to continue the plot, even if it's a fairly minor event (such as Makoto transferring to Mana's school in episode 10, or Regina's first appearence in episode 12, or individual Power Ups.) It has its own page.
  • Mythology Gag: So many, it has its own page.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Blood Rings.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Episode 46. Congratulations, Trump Kingdom King, you have saved your daughter but condemned all of your nation. And one of your minions made your beloved daughter essentially commit suicide, so it was All for Nothing.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Also in the finale arc. The Big Bad is expecting his invasion to trigger Apocalypse Anarchy just as it had in the Trump Kingdom, preying on humans' natural selfishness. However, his army has created so many monsters from the townspeople's selfish desires, which were subsequently purified by the Cures, that when he invades and expects rioting and backstabbing to occur, the townspeople are instead helping each other!
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: Reina Itsutsuboshi and her groupies. She laughs like that since childhood.
  • No Communities Were Harmed: The "Clover Tower", which is an obvious stand-in for the Tokyo Skytree.
  • Nonindicative Name: Cure Sword's attack, Holy Sword, doesn't quite involve an actual sword, instead being more of a Spam Attack.
    • Also, the Love Heart Arrows are bows, or at least look like them. No-one really knows what Diamond and Rosetta use them as.
      • Diamond uses it as a tambourine, and Rosetta's is a shield handle.
    • Again, Rosetta Reflection doesn't actually reflect. It just defends, pre-upgrade, anyway.
    • And, following the pattern, Ace's Love Kiss Rouge is actually lipstick. But at least Ace Shot is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
    • Still following that pattern, the Lovely Straight Flush is made of the four Aces of each suit and a fifth suitless Ace. Most certainly not a straight flush. Is, however, a five of a kind, which is in fact a higher hand in the variations of poker in which it is possible.
  • Non-Serial Movie: Titled Mana's Getting Married!!? The Dress of Hope Tied to the Future!
  • No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup/Reed Richards Is Useless: Sebastian creates an artificial Transformation Trinket which gives the user powers equal to the Precure. Narratively, it only exists so Sebastian can have a Day in the Limelight and hit the Sidekick Glass Ceiling when the device is destroyed.
  • No-Sell: Monsters of the Week created by Regina and the Selfish Duo are more powerful than the ones created by the Selfish Trio.
  • Numerical Theme Naming: Almost all of Mana's friends, including Reina since she's Alice's friend, have kanji for numbers in their name. note . They're Playing Cards' numbers, and Momota's 100 is from 10^2.
  • Ojou: Alice and Reina are so ridiculously rich, they can fly with a small rocket or a plane to the stratosphere.
  • One-Steve Limit: Six aversions, three intra-franchise and three meta:
    • Cure Ace's real last name is the same as the first name of Komachi/Cure Mint's older sister.
    • Mana's mother Ayumi shares the same name with Love's mother, Cure Echo and a HeartCatch Pretty Cure! character.
    • Mana's father Kentaro shares the same mane as a minor character from Fresh Pretty Cure!.
    • The voice actresses of Charle and Regina share the same given name "Kumiko".
    • Ira and Mamo have voice actresses who share the surname "Tanaka".
    • Joe's and Momota's voice actors share the surname "Sakurai".
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The strict and level-headed Aguri is reduced to a crying mess when she finds out that everything she believed about her life was a lie in episode 43.
  • Origins Episode: Episode 46 is this for Marie-Ange and King Jikochuu.
  • Out of Focus: Compared to other Precure installments, Dokidoki definitely give the least screen time for the fairies. Character Focus (looking at you, Regina) can be blamed for this phenomenon.
  • Playing Card Motifs: The Cures. Mana/Cure Heart is hearts, Rikka/Cure Diamond is diamonds, Alice/Cure Rosetta is clubs and Makoto/Cure Sword is spades. Then there's the Sixth Ranger Cure Ace.
  • Power Dyes Your Hair: The Precure, of course. Regina, too.
  • Power Gives You Wings: The Cures when using the Magical Lovely Harp. This is a tremendous help during episode 41, all things considered.
  • Power of Love: All Cures have different kind of love powers.
    • The Jikochuu of Episode 10 is a villainous example.
    • Raquel gets a massive one in Episode 36.
  • Punished for Sympathy: In episode 16 Makoto, who hates seeing wrongdoers go unpunished, calls out Mana and even abandons her for trying to befriend Regina, who shares the blame for destroying Makopi's country.
  • Put on a Bus: Regina and Joe since Episode 23.
    • The Selfish Trio are slowly Put on a Bus. First Bel, then Mamo, and finally Ira.
    • The Bus Came Back: Bel comes back in Episode 31. He is first seen in the prologue when Leva and Gula are ready for their ultimate battle. He then appears at the episode's end and kills them off by absorbing their evil energy. Ira and Mamo come back in the following episode.
      • Regina is back in Episode 37.
      • Subverted with Joe in Episode 39. It's just Bel in disguise.
      • In Episode 44 the true Joe is finally back.
  • Reality Subtext: invokedIn the Non-Serial Movie, the villain takes over a film projector and uses it to trap people in a memory-movies Lotus-Eater Machine. So it's a movie where the bad guy traps people in movies.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Regina's blue eyes turn red when she gains the red Royal Crystal. And then she becomes really evil.
    • The Blood Ring Jikochuus have red eyes instead of yellow.
  • Red Herring: Zigzagged. The show initially indicates either Marie-Ange or Ai-chan to be Cure Ace. It's actually Aguri... except Aguri and Regina are actually incarnations of Marie-Ange's fractured psyche, with Ai-chan as her physical remains.
  • Red Herring Twist: A blue bird is seen watching the Precure when they recover a Royal Crystal. Episode 18 quietly reveals the bird belongs to Joe.
  • Refusal of the Call: Subverted; Rikka initially refuses to take the Cure Lovies that the mysterious shop owner gives her, but he insists that the Lovies chose her. Ultimately, she accepts the Lovies, and becomes Cure Diamond as a result.
    • Played straight with Alice, who refuses the offer the become a Pretty Cure because she was afraid of her own rage overtaking her while in battle, as it did before in her childhood. She eventually becomes Cure Rosetta after a heart to heart speech with Lance and Sebastian
  • Remember the New Guy?: Episode 46 introduces the King of the Trump Kingdom, who existence hasn't even been mentioned until then. On the other hand, he turns out to be King Jikochuu... and there were hints that King Jikochuu was the father of Marie-Ange, making this trope Zig-Zagged.
  • The Republic: Trump Kingdom is converted into Republic of Trump in the ending.
  • Revive Kills Zombie: The Cures' finishers can be used to undo the magic of the Selfishes, such as reverting the petrification effect during episode 17.
    • What's heartbreaking is that Cure Heart is unable to use this function against Brainwashed and Crazy Regina, due to sheer shock she is experiencing.
      • Cure Ace attacks Regina with her purification attack, but Regina doesn't get better. Instead, she takes a lot of damage. So maybe there was a reason why Cure Heart didn't use her finisher on Regina.
  • Rich Bitch: Reina Itsutsuboshi from Episodes 13 and 41. She gets better in the latter.
  • Running Gag: Most of Ira's bowling throws are gutters. Interestingly, he threw only strikes when he was shown playing bowling for the first time.
    • Joe Okada appears out of nowhere, surprising the Precures. When the girls ask Joe about mysterious or specific things, he suddenly exclaims that he has other things to do and disappears.
  • School Festival: Mana's school has been preparing one since Episode 29. The actual event happens in Episode 32.
  • Secret-Keeper: Second time ever since Fresh Pretty Cure!. Sebastian, Alice's butler, is the only human who knows about the world of PreCure. That is until in episode 41, Reina gets the chance to find out, and by episode 48, the Cures' family and friends, courtesy of Cure Heart shouting out her true identity out loud for them to hear it.
  • Seiza Squirm: Episode 27.
  • Sentient Vehicle: Purple Buggy from the movie.
  • Sequel Episode: Episode 36 is basically one to episode 29.
    • 41 is one for episode 13.
  • The Seven Mysteries: Ai and the Fairies end up causing this when the former is left in the latter's care at school.
  • Sixth Ranger: Cure Ace, who arrives at the end of episode 22 to save the Cures from a brainwashed Regina.
  • Shout-Out: So many, it has its own page.
  • Show, Don't Tell: There are several character traits that appear since early episodes and not outright stated as their habits, only for the fans to catch on through consistent use of such traits. Things like Mana always twists a small strand of her hair when lying, Rikka's liking for frog-themed items, Alice being a Kaiju fan, and Charle is a Well Done Partner Gal to Mana are always there through subtle animation.
  • Shrinking Violet: Jun Saotome is a male example.
  • Slumber Party: In Episode 33.
  • So Last Season: Since the Precures gain their Love Heart Arrows in Episode 11, they don't use their first attacks anymore.
    • Rosetta Wall is later used again a few times.
    • Subverted during the Grand Finale, the Precures use their old attacks and they work. Especially Cure Heart's My Sweet Heart, which she uses to purify and kill Proto-Jikochuu.
  • Spit Take: Mana and Rikka's off-screen reaction to Alice wanting to talk about Precure.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Some fans feel this way about Mana, due to her being the only one to finish off the Monster of the Week after the power-ups arrive. The introduction of the Combination Attack in episode 15 rectifies this, somewhat.
    • It doesn't help that Mana has defeated twelve Jikochuus in the first fourteen episodes.
    • And then, the group finisher move Lovely Straight Flush features Diamond, Rosetta, Sword and Ace giving their powers to Heart. And she's the only one who calls their group attack.
    • Inverted in Episode 44. Mana isn't even on screen for much of the episode, yet she ends up being the central focus of every character. Even Ira calls Mana by her name instead of "Cure Heart".
    • Even the staff was said to have the most emotional attachment to Mana/Cure Heart over the other characters.
    • The final episode has Cure Heart getting a new form from the powers of the team AND the Three Sacred Treasures to defeat Proto-Jikochuu all by herself.
    • Regina is also this to the Selfish Trio. They haven't appeared as villains of the week since episode 15, aside from episode 19 where they only appear as Regina's fellows. They get better in Episode 20, but Regina is still in the centre. Later on, Regina is Put on a Bus, but the Trio gets replaced again by the new Selfish Duo.
      • And then the Duo is killed by Bel, bringing the Selfish Trio back in the spotlight. And then Regina comes back.
    • One of the story arcs present in the season is the Five Pretty Cure Vows Arc, in which everyone gets A Day in the Limelight as they overcome their own weaknesses and become stronger as a result... well, everyone as in Mana, Rikka and Makoto. Alice's episode has her Out of Focus for a majority of it while Sebastian and Mamo overtakes most of the plot.
  • Stock Footage: Present, but there's an amusing subversion in episode 15. Regina yells "Cut!" during Cure Sword's attack animation, causing her to suddenly stop in shock.
    • Episode 35 has another subversion. The Cures do their team pose, but then find Cure Sword is missing.
    • And in Episode 36 Raquel interrupts Cure Diamond's attack.
  • Story Arc: While every episode so far contributes to the larger Myth Arc (even if only in a minor way), they also break down into smaller arcs.
    • The first ten episodes can be thought of as an introductory arc. The first four episodes introduce Mana, Rikka, and Alice. Episodes 5 through 7 revolve around Mana's attempts to befriend Makoto. Episodes 8 and 9 introduce Ai-chan, while episode 10 rounds out the arc when Makoto transfers to Mana's school.
    • The next arc starts with the Mid Season Upgrades in episode 11 and the first appearance of Regina in episode 12. It then focuses on both Regina and the collection of the Royal Crystals. It culminates in the Cures going to the Trump Kingdom to pull off a big rescue in episode 21.
    • Then, the end of episode 22 segues into the next arc with the appearance of Cure Ace. The next few episodes are about her attempts to "help" the other Cures. She joins the team formally in episode 27, and the arc concludes in episode 31 with the arrival of the Midseason Upgrades and the deaths of Arc Villains Leva and Gula.
    • The next arc (episode 32 - 38) introduces the new Precure attacks and the Blood Rings. It focuses on Ai-chan's growth and her new role in the story.
    • Episode 39 begins the final arc of the story, focusing on the return of Regina, Aguri's backstory, the return of Joe, and the finding of the last treasure, the Eternal Golden Crown. It culminates in the final battle.
  • Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Wanting to help the Precures, Sebastian is able to reverse-engineer their Transformation Trinkets and create one for himself, though it gets destroyed shortly afterwards.
  • Supernatural Gold Eyes: Everyone in the Selfish Trio has this, in addition to white (or white-ish) hair. The Selfish Duo and Jonathan Klondike, too.
  • Take That!: The Jikochu formed from an adult-male fan of Makopi (conforming to almost every negative stereotype of Idol-fans) could either be read as a less than friendly nudge from the show's Director on how pathetic the Idol Singer fan-community (IE. grown men paedophiles fawning over barely pubescent girls) really is...
  • 10-Minute Retirement/Turn in Your Badge: Mana winds up so distraught over Regina's brainwashing she ends up losing her nerve, prompting Cure Ace to confiscate her Transformation Trinket during Episode 23, until Mana gets her pep back.
  • Thanking the Viewer: The last thing viewers see is a pastel frame with the Cures, their Mentor Mascots, and Regina doing exactly this while looking directly at the viewers. It's even the trope's image.
  • There Is Only One Bed: Mana with Rikka. Mana with Makoto (implied). Mana with Regina, even holding hands.
  • This Is a Drill: The caries Jikochuu in Episode 35 has one. Because Makoto is afraid of dentists, the drill scares her so much that she refuses to transform... at first.
  • This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: Rikka's reaction to seeing Mamo donning the Cutey Madam persona. In the original Japanese, it's something along the line of "I can't tsukkomi to this".
  • Those Two Guys: Mana's classmates, Nikaidou and Momota.
  • Threshold Guardians: Melan, for Cure Empress' regalia, the Magical Lovely Pad.
  • Timey-Wimey Ball: Pops up in the Non-Serial Movie. Apparently destroying the future can alter the present.
  • Too Dumb to Live: The Rich Bitch Reina tries to make Alice angry, just so that Alice would be disqualified in the Rose Lady Contest, without thinking about the consequences... like her personal health. Inverted though, fortunately for Reina, Alice has been matured enough to not getting angry easily.
    • Episode 46 played this trope for drama, as King of the Trump Kingdom's attempt to save Ange resulted with him becoming King Jikochuu and his kingdom being assimilated.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Reina Itsutsuboshi in Episode 41.
  • Tractor Beam: Appears in the Non-Serial Movie to capture people, Alien Abduction style. (No actual aliens though).
  • Training Montage: Episode 14 has one for karuta, of all things. There's even a scene where Alice is riding on a bike and the other girls are running after her.
  • Transformation Trinket: The Lovely Communes. And the Love Eyes Palette.
  • True Love's Kiss: In episode 22 Rikka suggests that Joe should kiss the princess to wake her up. It doesn't work.
  • A Twinkle in the Sky: Invoked by Regina when she throws the spider Jikochuu to the sky in Episode 21.
  • The Unmasqued World: By the end of the series, Trump Kingdom and Earth are permanently connected via dimensional rift. Also, the existence of magic in general and Precures in particular become known to the general public, who appoint them to protect the world.
  • Victim of the Week: Unlike HeartCatch Pretty Cure!, the victims are not in focus of the episodes. Most of them are even lesser than minor characters, they are just background characters. Sometimes, there are even two (see Monster of the Week above).
  • We Are "Team Cannon Fodder": As the season progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious just how much the story depends on the actions of Mana and Aguri in order to get anything done. It comes to a head in the Non-Serial Movie and the final episodes, where everyone suffers from Motive Decay and admits they're only really fighting for Mana's sake, culminating in Mana getting exclusive final forms and soloing the main enemy without any help, and Aguri's massive stake in things being the result of her being the reincarnation of Marie-Ange's selfless half, so she has to move the plot along regardless. The Glitter Force dub ends up making this issue worse, due to the removal of 19 full episodes from the original Japanese version.
  • Wham Line: In Episode 6, when they're fighting a pig Jikochuu, it bursts through a wall, attempting to get to the omurice they made with Makoto, for Makoto to glare towards D.B, who gives a simple statement about Makoto's determined glare...
    D.B.: I was waiting for that look from you...
    She turns into Makoto's henshin device, confirming she's Cure Sword.
  • Wham Episode: Episode 17: Joe Okada pulling a Big Damn Heroes and revealing his true identity.
    • Episode 22: Regina is turned back to the side of evil, and Cure Ace has to save the Cures from being killed by her.
    • Episode 31: Leva and Gula are killed by Bel who drains their evil energy into his lollipop.
    • Episode 39: Regina is able to wield the Miracle Dragon Glaive.
    • Episode 43: Aguri was actually found by her "grandmother" when she Came from the Sky as a baby. She then promptly aged up to the age of nine. Whatever Aguri is, she's not an ordinary human-turned-Magical Girl.
    • Episode 45: Aguri and Regina are two sides of Marie-Ange, representing her devotion to kingdom and father, respectively.
    • Episode 46: Hoo boy. Where to begin? King Jikochuu is Marie-Ange's father. Marie-Ange split her Psyche into Regina and Aguri, while her body became Ai. Also King Jikochuu finally frees himself and attacks Earth with Regina, who is no longer Brainwashed and Crazy.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Bel wonders aloud why Regina, who is King Selfish' daughter, don't simply beat up the Cures and take their Royal Crystals. Regina's answer is that she wants to have lots of fun with Mana, and the proposed solution is no fun. Cue the Absurdly High-Stakes Game in episode 19.
    • Episode 46 contains an inversion. A flashback has Bel asking Marie-Ange why she only sealed King Jikochuu instead of using her powers to kill him. It's a rhetorical question; Bel knows that King Jikochuu is actually Ange's father and mocks her for putting her family before her kingdom.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: The devastation of the Trump Kingdom have permanently displaced Makoto. Yuri, at the very least, still has a place to call home and a country to defend— Makoto doesn't even have that.
    • Averted in the finale where the Trump Kingdom is restored and permanently connected to Oogai Town, so she can go to and fro whenever she likes.

Alternative Title(s): Doki Doki Pretty Cure, Glitter Force Doki Doki

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Aguri

Aguri hates carrots.

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