Doki Doki Precure Ep 44: The Trap Before Christmas

Bel reported to Regina that King Jikochu is gaining strength everyday and will be reviving soon. She came up with a plan to isolate Mana in order to defeat the other Precures.

Christmas is drawing near and Mana was excited about it. Two suspicious students approached Mana claiming she is nominated to be in the Student Council Head Speech Contest. Mana accepted it and learned the contest is on Christmas Eve.

Rika ensured her she will take care of the council matters while she go for the contest. On Christmas Eve, Mana went with the two students while Rika and Makoto handle the paperwork in the council. When Mana arrived at the venue, Regina and Bel was there and trapped Mana in a magic cage. The two students are actually Ira and Mammo in disguise.

Regina claimed she trapped Mana here so that she can defeat the others since Mana is the soul of the team. After finishing the paperwork (with encouragement from Mana's cliff notes), Rika and the others went to town to enjoy the holiday atmosphere.

The Jikochu generals spotted the girls and Regina turned a popcorn seller into a Jikochu. The girls transformed and Regina told them that the contest was a set up and Mana is now trapped. The Precures fought back and surprisingly overwhelm the generals. Meanwhile, Cure Heart was rescued by a familiar person...

Cure Diamond told Regina that they won't get disoriented even if Mana is not with them. She also claimed that Regina is still thinking about Mana all these while despite everything that has happened. Regina was so confused that she accidentally blurt out she like Mana. Cure Heart arrived and hear everything. She was so happy that the Jikochu was even weakened by Regina's emotions.

Regina immediately flared up and recharge the Jikochu's power again. The Precures then used Royal Lovely Straight Flush to defeat it. Cure Heart called out to Regina to accept her true feelings however Regina is conflicted between Mana and her love for her father. Suddenly King Jikochu's voice called out to Regina and she retreated.

As everything went back to normal, Joe appeared to greet the girls...

This episode focused on Rika's bond and trust with Mana. Motivation and Kindness can only help so much but without a good assistant like Rika, Mana will have failed as a Student Council Head a long time ago. I know Mana left some encouraging notes and even a lunch box for Rika when she went for the contest which show her appreciation for Rika's help all these times. (One plot hole I do notice, shouldn't Sharuru be able to communicate with the others if she become a phone and told them about the trap?)

The second half of this episode is about Regina's emotions. Cure Diamond figured out that she still think about Mana (whether in a good or twisted way) all these while. However she still doesn't know what to do with these new emotions. But I am guessing King Jikochu will pull one last trump card at Regina to prevent her from becoming good again.

In the next episode, Joe is back and claimed to have found the last Sacred item-The Eternal Golden Crown. Aguri's friend Eru returned and a final confrontation between Cure Ace and Regina including the truth of their origins will finally be revealed! (Only five more episodes before the finale!)