Sailor Moon Newbie Recaps: Episodes 114 & 115

We’ve been in High Octane Plot Mode for a while, but we take Episode 114 off this week to spend some time with the charmingly psychotic Mimete and attend (another) creeper-tastic Sailor Moon casting call. It had its moments, but felt almost out of place given the amount of linear storytelling that happened both before and immediately after it.

I like silly Sailor Moon, but at this point I’m so invested in what’s going on with Hotaru and the Death Busters that any breaks from it feel like time-wasting. The series seems to agree with me, because we went right back to the central story in Episode 115, with backstories told and alter egos unveiled. And at this point, that’s very much as it should be.

The Recaps

Episode 114 – Now That’s What I Call Groupies!

The Messilence is getting HANGRY up in here, so the Prof puts Mimete back on heart-stealing duty. She’s planned ahead this time and shows off her newest target: Araki Jinta, a.k.a. “Arajin,” the pop star sensation and wannabe actor.

He’s searching for a heroine to star beside him in his first film, and if you were wondering if the studios actually gave a damn about this production or if they were just cashing in a paycheck, wonder no more, because said costar will be chosen from among Arajin’s many squealing groupies, actual acting experience be damned. In fact it appears to be all about that bass and/or treble, judging by Arajin’s announcement:

Professor Petty okay FINE, Tomoe (alas, poor nicknames …) is starting to suspect Mimete’s just picking hot single celebrities so she can fawn all over them, but she lies to keep her job, the Prof praises her, and the two take a moment to appreciate Arajin’s abs. Then Mimete is out the door and ready to rock that audition!

So is Minako, actually, who loved Arajin before it was cool. She’s afraid the other girls will tease her about it, so she attends the audition in secret. Mina and Mimete meet and bond over how they both own the very first Arajin T-shirt from way back when he was so underground he could only throw concerts for prairie dogs.

All casting calls in the Mooniverse continue to be creepy as shit, especially when the director asks ninth-grader Minako if she’d like to come to his house for dinner HAHAJUSTKIDDINGBUTNOTREALLY. Predictably, both our superfans make it to Round Two.

Mimete’s torn between doing her job and ditching the Death Busters for a life of creepy casting calls (okay okay, #NotAllCastingCalls), but the glamor of fame is too much to resist and she vows to put aside her life of crime if once she becomes Arajin’s costar. Besides, she’s too nice a person to be a bad guy, right?

Then it’s time for the Auditiooooooooon … audition! Round Two makes even less sense than Round One: The audience votes for one candidate at a time without having seen or spoken to all of the candidates first, and the one who receives 80% of the vote wins, meaning the first girl could technically win without any of the others having a chance to go on stage, but how can you vote for the first girl without seeing the others, like maybe there’ll be a later one you like more?, so you hang on to your vote, but then suppose the last girl comes out and you realize you thought #3 was the best, but it’s too late now, she’s already been disqualified, so …

So of course no one actually wins (and I kinda get the feeling that was the whole point of this elaborate marketing stunt). Minako’s a little bummed, but she gets to meet the weirdly philosophical Arajin, so it all works out. Mimete, on the other hand, turns her eyes away from a life of fame to one of infame … y (shush), and lets all hell break lose.

Artemis couldn’t keep his kitty mouth shut about Mina’s secret auditions, though, so the other scouts are in the area and can sweep in to take out this week’s Daimon, while Minako gets her transformation on in time to save Arajin and prove who the REAL fan is around here, MIMETE.

The scouts win the day while the The Outsiders lurk in the corner and talk about the Death Buster’s plan. Pluto knows a thing or two about heart power, and fears their enemy may have already found the Messiah of Silence. Looks like it’s time to put on your big-girl skirts and get to work, then.

Episode 115 – My Own Worst Frenemy

Doctor Puu catches Chibiusa long enough to assure her they’re still friends and can hang out whenevs (literally, ’cause Time Lord), then the Chibs is off to visit her bestest bestie in the world! Kaori says Hotaru can’t come out to play and shoos Chibiusa away, but Hotaru’s having none of it since YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM, GAWWWD, and she dashes out of the house to find her friend.

And hooray, Hotaru finds Chibiusa! They’re together and it’s cute and now they can OH CRAP ASTHMA ATTACK.

Chibiusa is about to start hyperventilating herself, but fortunately Usagi and Ami come along and agree to take the now-unconscious Hotaru to the nearby hospital where Ami’s mom works. Demonstrating some good old-fashioned character growth, Chibs admits to feeling responsible for what happened (boy, those words never left my keyboard during R), while Usagi gently assures her that’s silly, and reminds her how much Hotaru cares about her.

And speaking of Hotaru, you know she’s a main character now because she gets her very own Dream Sequence Backstory Scene! Her life has been peppered with memory loss, and all those blank spots are filled with nastiness—murdering goldfish, bullying classmates, postings spoilers for EVERY episode of Game of Thrones on Facebook—which is why she eventually became the lonely, isolated girl she is today.

Hotaru wakes up to find Chibiusa holding her hand and smiling, but Hotaru’s more interested in getting the eff out of there than in thanking anyone for their help. Her father’s given her strict instructions to never see a doctor without his permission because, like, do you KNOW how high our copay is for seeing someone out of network?! (Yeahhh, U.S. health insurance jokes! We live wild and reckless lives over here at TMS!)

Hotaru and Chibiusa take their leave, only to run into Haruka chillin’ in the parking lot. She offers to give the two a ride … for about three blocks anyway, when she senses a Daimon’s presence and leaves two young girls alone in the dark in a convertible on a near-deserted street. Haruka, this may go without saying, but please don’t have children anytime soon.

Chibiusa figures out what’s going on and follows (poor, abandoned Hotaru), transforming along the way. Then she and Haruka get to bounce around fighting “U Tomodachi,” the Giant Kindergartner Daimon, until the Moonies arrive to help take back the heart belonging to {some actor so inconsequential that I forgot to write down his name}. Mimete flees, leaving her Daimon to MOE. THIS. MOTHER. DOWN.

And while it works on me (marking the first time I’ve ever felt bad for a Sailor Moon MoW), it has no effect on the scouts, so the Daimon flees … straight at Hotaru, who goes all Evil Eyes on it and shoves it away from the car before passing out. Speedracer Haruka gets there fast enough to see all this play out, but none of the others do, so they take out the Daimon and wake up Hotaru like everything’s gravy.

Everything is NOT gravy, though. Hotaru warns Chibiusa to stay away and flees into the night, and Haruka echoes this statement but doesn’t actually explain WHY they should do this and just BLITHELY assumes Team Friendship is gonna listen to her because she’s been SO HONEST with them in the past that OF COURSE they’ll do what she says and DAMMIT, HARUKA, this is some Mamoru-level uncommunicative bullshit right here, WHAT ARE YOU EVEN

… Anyway, the Moonies do the exact opposite of what Haruka told them to do (because why wouldn’t they?) and cheer Chibiusa on, encouraging her to talk it out with Hotaru later.

Haruka, you just lost one-and-a-quarter Tuxedo Mask’s worth of coolness. You best find a way to fix that in the coming weeks. Adorable childhood friendships depend on it.

This, That, and the Other

• Is it weird that I ‘ship Professor Tomoe and Mimete a little bit?

• Ikuhara must have realized how badly Minako got shafted the past two seasons, ‘cause he’s just giving her all the character filler episodes this time around, innit he?

• I like how the gals used a group motto for both of these episodes, even referring to themselves as the Sailor Team. This show always was better as an ensemble—glad the characters are realizing that, too.

• As much as Haruka pissed me off this week, I do heartily approve of her new Sassy Entrance Pose. She’s so frustrating, but … she’s so fun, too …

• The Sensei Next Door (What’s in a Name? Edition): In case you didn’t already know, “Hotaru” means “firefly,” hence Episode 115’s original title. (And no, the titles I post are not the original ones. Shocking, I know.)

• Hark! A plot point! When Hotaru seizes up, her spirit (or the evil spirit living inside of her, at least) appears to project itself into The Creepy Doll Room, acting as the Messilence and giving out orders to Professor Dad. You’d think this would mean I’d call Hotaru’s alter-ego “The Messilence,” but you’d be wrong, because obviously anyone who hangs out in a Creepy Doll Room has to be called Dolly. It is known.

Original prairie dog photo courtesy of makitani on Flickr; used here with modifications per creative commons license.

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Dee is a nerd of all trades and a master of one. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and East Asian studies and an MFA in Creative Writing. To pay the bills, she works as a technical writer. To not pay the bills, she devours novels and comics, watches far too much anime, and cheers very loudly for the Kansas Jayhawks. You can hang out with her at The Josei Next Door, a friendly neighborhood anime blog for long-time fans and newbies alike, as well as on Tumblr and Twitter.

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