Nodoka's Choice! Something To Protect is the 42nd episode of Healin' Good♡Pretty Cure, and the 824th episode overall of Pretty Cure.
Daruizen evolves into a final form to take vengeance on Cure Grace.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: While looking out for others is nice, it's also important to care for yourself.
- Appetite Equals Health: Nodoka's bizarre behaviour starts with her not eating breakfast.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Cure Grace shoots off several of these to Daruizen when he tries to gaslight her, asking if what he would do once he finishes healing inside of her and if he would change for the better. Daruizen’s reply is to only get more enraged and attack, showing that he has no intention of changing and only intends to continue what he was doing after he’s healed.
- Beyond Redemption: Cure Grace comes to this conclusion about Daruizen after her Armor-Piercing Question enrages him into attacking, firmly cementing to her that her earlier refusal to help him was the right choice.
- Calming Tea: Asumi makes some tea to try and help Nodoka.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Daruizen pleading to Nodoka to let him hide in her body when he was in trouble, gaslighting her when she refuses and then outright attacking her to try to force himself into her body is eerily similar to an abusive ex-boyfriend trying to force his former victim into helping him as he ‘owns’ her.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: As Nodoka's behaviour becomes more and more lost, her eyes go completely blank.
- Entitled to Have You: A disturbing variant of this, as Daruizen believes that he is entitled to enter Nodoka’s body and it’s her responsibility to help him, regardless of how he has no intention of changing or her health would be negatively affected by him again.
- Heroic BSoD: The ending of the last episode had sent Nodoka into a big one, as while part of her wants to help Daruizen and she knows her responsibilities as a Cure, she is also very understandably terrified of having Daruizen back in her body due to how sick he made her both in her childhood and earlier in the season, and doesn’t want to end up like that again, thinking it is selfish of her. Rabirin is able to convince her that it’s not wrong of her to refuse him, and realizing that he has no intention to change snaps her out of it for good.
- Secretly Selfish: Subverted: Nodoka admits she sees her reasoning for abandoning Daruizen to be this; She’s afraid that he will just make her sick again and doesn’t want to be in that amount of pain ever again. However, as Rabirin points out, it isn’t selfish of her to look out for herself, as she has a right to live an happy, healthy life, and Daruizen had done nothing to deserve her help. And the fact Daruizen only intended on using her and then continuing to cause trouble only reinforces the fact that Nodoka was right to refuse him.
- Special Edition Title: The ending contains previews for both Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure and Healin Good Pretty Cure Go Go Big Transformation The Town Of Dreams.
- Wham Episode: Daruizen is defeated, and King Byo-gen absorbs him into his body, killing Daruizen and causing him to evolve.
