WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 28 of Healin' Good Pretty Cure, "Suffering Again?! Daruizen, You Are...," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Asumi Fuurin has been adjusting to life on Earth. She learned about positive feelings initially, but in recent episodes has learned of negative emotions such as frustration and fear. Perhaps Asumi learning these concepts back-to-back foreshadowed a catastrophe was about to occur, as Episode 27 ended on a major climactic moment with Nodoka getting stabbed by Daruizen with a Mega Part fragment. Now, in Episode 28, we see the aftermath of this action as Nodoka falls ill and is sent to the hospital, leading to a bizarre mid-series twist.
It's important to recall this isn't the first time Nodoka has fallen ill. At the beginning of the series, she and her family move to Sukoyaka City for a fresh start after Nodoka overcame an unknown sickness. Her parents worry she may have relapsed, and as they suspected, when Nodoka gets checked by her doctor he confirms the cause of her illness is yet again unknown, at least to her parents. The Pretty Cure and healing animals are now aware that Nodoka's illness both in the past and present was caused by the Byogens, but what they didn't consider was the symbiotic bond a host body like Nodoka's has with their virus.
The Byogens want to live on Earth comfortably, but to do so would require them to infect the Earth and endanger everyone else who lives on it. Once the Pretty Cure appeared, the team of Byogen generals decided to up their game by utilizing Mega Parts to power up their virus enemies. Daruizen previously used one to enhance a sparrow's potential and turn it into Nebussoku, meanwhile, a Mega Part was also used to create Batetemoda as well. It appears these parts, especially when used on living animals, are able to create sentient beings out of them. Thus, Daruizen figures he should use a part on a strong host to see if that would entail an even stronger Byogen body. There is no mightier host than a Pretty Cure in this series, thus Cure Grace was the perfect target for this task.
While Hinata, Chiyu and the healing animals fret over Nodoka's condition they discuss how even though Teateine worked hard to purify the Byogens, she did not purify them all. The team suspects the Byogen who attacked Nodoka as a child was likely one who Teateine had missed during purification. But where is that Byogen now?
Following this introspection, the team meets up with Nodoka at the hospital. Voice actress Aoi Yuuki does a tremendous job here portraying Nodoka's weak condition. Rabirin feels utterly helpless as Nodoka lies sick in bed, but even in sickness, Nodoka portrays strength as now she knows the cause of her illness. As she touches Rabirin's paw, something inside of Nodoka starts to react, as she fights the Byogen part growing inside of her. Perhaps thanks to being a Pretty Cure, and also experiencing this illness before, Nodoka is able to get rid of the Byogen specimen growing inside her.
The team is excited for Nodoka's return to health, but quickly realize that the Byogen Nodoka hosted inside her body is alive and they need to defeat it. When the half-grown body appears, it shocks not only the Pretty Cure but Daruizen as well. Kedary, the general Nodoka hosted inside her, looks a lot like Daruizen, almost like he could be his younger brother. As the Pretty Cure fight this flexible creature, Daruizen thinks to himself and recalls a memory from long ago, to when he was a MegaByogen creature. He then remembers he was the one who had infected Nodoka as a child. After the team purifies Kedary, Daruizen informs Nodoka, she was the one who hosted him inside her.
Despite his humanoid form, Daruizen is still an evolved virus. The scenario is a bit bizarre if overthought, as one could make an analogy to childbirth here, with Nodoka essentially being a mother to Daruizen. Luckily, the show is careful to describe Nodoka as a host of a virus, and she does not use the word child to describe Daruizen and Kedary. As her parents rejoice over Nodoka being healthy again, Nodoka gains a new resolve to cure Daruizen.
