Sailor Moon Crystal: Act IV - Masquerade Dance Party
Previously, Act III: Rei, Sailor Mars
We begin this episode with Luna looking at the bios of the three Sailor Guardians she’s found so far. She then looks at an image of Mamoru and wonders if he is a friend or a foe. He’s listed as a “Suspicious Character” and she puts him on the blacklist. We then immediately roll into the opening credits.
We are greeted next with the sounds of Luna furiously trying to wake Usagi up; to her great credit, Usagi fell asleep listening to a manga, so that’s understandable…I guess. After glancing at the clock, she berates Luna for not waking her up earlier before sprinting downstairs, grabbing her bento, doing a quick hi-bye to her mom (who was reading about Sailor Moon in the newspaper and comparing her to her daughter), and heading to school. On the way, the two notice a security checkpoint for the dignitaries that arrived in the last episode; moments after commenting on the amount of police, Usagi is almost run over by a speeding car. She wishes she could transform into a marathon runner, and Luna immediately shoots down that idea. Usagi makes it to school - on time for a change - and begins talking to Naru about the traffic and the arriving dignitary; her name is Princess D, and she is the ruler of the largest resource-producing country in the world.
Later, Rei and Ami are at the arcade, where the former is in awe of the latter’s intelligence. Rei comments that this is her first time in the arcade, and Ami mentions that Usagi was the first person to bring her in there as well. Rei wonders aloud where Usagi is, and Luna tells then she’s in detention for falling asleep in class (typical Usagi). The two decide to play a game of Sailor V while waiting. Rei struggles at first, but she defeats the evil knight with some help from Ami. Usagi shows up later, and Luna begins telling them about the Evil they’re fighting; she’s not entirely sure where they come from, but their mission is to defeat the Evil and protect their princess. The princess’ power is shielded to keep the Evil from finding her as well as the “Legendary Silver Crystal.” Ami comments that the Evil is looking for it as well, and Luna tells them that all five Sailor Guardians awakening their memories is the key to breaking that seal. Usagi decided to stop paying attention to what was going on and jumped to playing Sailor V instead; this gets her a stern berating from Luna, causing Usagi to lose the game.
Umino and Motoki come into the arcade after chatting about the traffic, and Umino becomes a bit of an expy as he gives Usagi more info on the princess, including a rarely seen picture of her. Usagi doesn’t skip a beat, wishing she could go to the party that night. Rei tells her that it wouldn’t be a good idea, because she’s got a bad feeling about this. Meanwhile, in the Dark Kingdom, Jadeite is being berated by Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoisite due to his failures to get the “Legendary Silver Crystal.” Privately, she wonders if the crystal has enough power to revive their ruler and help them in taking over the world.
Usagi makes it home from the arcade just in time to see her father Kenji getting dressed up to go to the dinner party for Princess D. She asks her dad to take her with him, and he says she’ll see it on the evening news. Usagi looks disappointed at this for a moment before remembering that she has a magic pen that can transform her into anything she wants. She uses that pen to transform into a princess - much to Luna’s chagrin - and they head to the dinner.
After the break, the three Guardians are dressed up in their best formal clothing (Usagi in her transformed princess garb, Rei in a red formal dress, and Ami in something that looks like it came from Little House on the Prairie) and walking towards the embassy. Rei and Ami wonder how they’re going to get in, and Usagi says she has a plan; said plan entails walking straight through the front gate. The plan goes off without a hitch…until they’re stopped by the security guard. Turns out the embassy has a strict “no pets” rule, and that means Luna! Luna protests as loudly as she can while pretending to be an ordinary cat, and the three princesses stroll inside the embassy. Usagi goes berserk with glee at the fact that the party is actually a Masquerade Ball, and whatever decorum she may have possessed goes out the window as she goes to find someone to dance with. Rei and Ami let her go while they look for Princess D instead. Usagi sprints by a group of guys dressed in tuxedos, and her dad sees her; he comments how much the girl looks like his daughter and wonders if Usagi will look like her when she gets older (Yes, Kenji; the answer is yes).
Usagi finds the ballroom, where she watches the people dancing; she walks around blissfully until she bumps into a partygoer. The woman excuses herself and walks off, but Usagi realizes that she got splashed. She furtively tries to find her handkerchief; failing to find it, she goes to find something to dry her dress off. A man in a tuxedo sees her run off and picks up her handkerchief. Elsewhere, Rei and Ami stumble across Princess D going into another room with her adviser. Rei almost immediately picks up a bad vibe from the adviser. We then go back to Usagi, who is sad because she is unable to find her friends and she doesn’t have anyone to enjoy the ball with. Enter Mamoru who offers to dance with her; he instructs her on exactly what to do, and the two share a beautiful dance together. Unfortunately, the dance is interrupted when he notices Luna watching the two from the balcony. Luna begins chastising her for falling for someone she doesn’t know, then stops when she notices that Usagi is blushing. Usagi hastily changes the subject by asking how she got there; Luna’s answer is that she got away via the balcony. Luna asks about Rei and Ami, and Usagi tells her that they went off after the treasure.
We are then greeted to Princess D, who is forlorn; she says that the people at the party only care about the treasure, and her adviser agrees, saying that she’s only out for the treasure. Rei and Ami burst in to stop her, only to find that the adviser is actually Nephrite! He uses his power to possess Princess D, and she takes off with the treasure. Ami and Rei transform into Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars, and the two Guardians go after the Princess. Princess D then drains the power from the partygoers, and Usagi and Luna get away just in the nick of time. Usagi tries to stop the Princess from escaping, but she shrugs her away and pushes her off the balcony. Luna cries out to her and sprints to help…somehow, but Mamoru flies past her and catches her. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars confront the Princess again, and she looks like she is ready to eliminate the two nuisances. Elsewhere, Usagi and Mamoru are hanging on for dear life, but Mamoru’s grip on the ledge is slipping. He does lose his grip, but they are saved by Luna’s quick thinking; she tells her to use her pen, and the pen transforms into a parasol, allowing the two to float harmlessly to the ground. Mamoru thanks her for saving him, and runs off so Usagi can transform.
The transformation is almost a failure, though; she remembers that her original tiara got destroyed in their last encounter with Jadeite. The feelings of warmth and love she felt for Tuxedo Mask from earlier in the night allow her to create a brand new tiara. This time, the transformation is complete, and she’s able to catch up with Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury so they can confront the Nephrite-controlled Princess. Sailor Mars tries to set his possession ablaze, but the attack fails. Tuxedo Mask appears and tells her that the only thing that can defeat the dark is the light; Luna picks up on that and tells her to use the tiara to reflect moonlight on the spirit. This attack proves to be successful, and the Princess is free and safe from harm.
We then see the Four Kings of the Dark Kingdom appear before the three Guardians. The Kings introduce themselves and threaten the Guardians; saying they’ll get the “Legendary Silver Crystal” by any means, and make the world obey their great ruler. Luna comments that they won’t allow that to happen, and the Kings give one final taunt before dissipating. Princess D awakens from her possession, but is unable to find her glasses. The three Guardians use that moment to make their escape, but not before Sailor Moon mentions how tired she is. We then go back to the ballroom, where Princess D reveals what this great treasure is: it’s a 2,000 karat diamond made in her own likeness. Ami and Rei comment that this isn’t the treasure they’re looking for, and Luna wonders where Usagi ran off to.
Usagi - still not transformed from her Sailor Moon gear - is on a bench fast asleep. Mamoru walks up to her and watches her sleep for a few moments. He then cups her face and gives her a kiss. The kiss is broken when Luna confronts Mamoru; she asks him why he’s always around. He says he’s also looking for the “Legendary Silver Crystal.” When she asks if he’s friend or foe, he says that he actually may be an enemy before hopping from the balcony.
The last scene of the episode shows a tall figure in a brown and white school uniform running in an attempt to avoid the oncoming storm. She comments that the storm is arriving, and hurries off as the episode ends.
This is the first episode that hasn’t introduced a new Guardian, which is fine. We’re given a lot of exposition on their mission, and we see quite a bit of character development from the principals. I also have to say that the big standoff between the Four Kings and the Sailor Guardians was well done. The only problem I have with the episode itself was watching Mamoru kiss a sleeping Usagi; that was a little bit creepy. Yeah, I know the history between the two, but…it’s very creepy if you’re unfamiliar with the characters and the story behind it, then it’s downright disturbing. That aside, this was a fun episode, and it was much needed.
As always, I want to thank our friends at the Sailor Moon Crystal fanpage on Facebook for providing the excellent screencaps. I couldn’t make this work without them!
Until next time…
