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PGSM - Act Three
First, there is a summary of act two, but I already did that. Then the theme song. Then the show starts.
Ami and Usagi head over to Crown, where it is time for The First Sailor Senshi Quiz - with host Luna! (And by the way, the way Luna says "quiz" is totally adorable!) It comes complete with spot lights and a studio audience (Or at least canned applause).
Per usual, Ami being the smart one, wins, while Usagi... doesn't get any right. (Although if they gave partial credit she totally would have gotten something!)
Luna explains (Once Usagi asks) that the Mythical Silver Crystal is a jewel with great power - enough power to destroy the world if used wrong (Pay attention to that - it's important). Luna scolds Usagi for not paying attention, but I'm glad Usagi asked, since it hasn't been explained to the viewers at home yet.
Luna also reveals (by means of clips from episode one) that she's worried about this mysterious Sailor V. Just who is she anyway? A senshi? Their princess? Or something else entirely?
Luna leaves it at that, and gives Ami a pink cell phone that matches Usagi's.
Scene change to the temple seen at the end of the previous episode. The same girl in red and white is kneeling in front of a fire, when suddenly she opens her eyes, sensing something is wrong.
Meanwhile, outside, a vortex opens up in the sky, two hands reach out and grab a girl, pulling her through the vortex.
Some very fake looking crows circle over head.
Yes. Something is wrong.
At school, they provide plot explanation: Six girls have vanished from that same area, and they suspect the temple priestess - who reportedly has weird powers. Usagi hates stories like these, which only encourages her friends to try to scare her even more.
After that's done, Usagi invites Ami to join them, but Ami doesn't. She's friends with Usagi, but not the other girls - Although what she *says* is that she doesn't want to reveal that they are senshi...
As the two girls walk along after school, Usagi runs into the temple priestess, now dressed in a school uniform. And I mean literally. Usagi is good at that. She discovers that the girl has dropped her bracelet - it's labeled "Rei". Usagi picks it up and hurries after Rei - who heads back to the temple.
Meanwhile, the stupidest looking youma to date - a guy with an airplane for a head - is doing some sort of weird dance around the six unconscious girls.
Jadiete explains his plan to Beryl - that he'll be able to get the energy from these girls soon. Beryl tells him not to fail, and then strikes a dramatic pose.
Usagi reaches the temple with full intent to return the bracelet, but her friends stories come back to her and she panics, turning tail and running away from a rather puzzled Rei.
Back at home, she realizes she was silly and she'll try again tomorrow. (Usagi being silly? That's a first). Ami is working on collecting data for their investigation on the missing girls. She's rather puzzled by the informal way that Usagi and her mom act, but - after a very unflattering camera angle on Ami - she slowly starts to relax.
That night, Luna chases Sailor V, who still runs with her arms straight out behind her. Sailor V is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and run faster then.... well... a CGI stuffed animal. Hmm, maybe that's not much of an accomplishment. Luna wonders if she's the princess, for she has a crescent moon on her forehead. I guess that's like having a big sign over her head "Hey I'm the princess!"
The next day, Usagi tries again and goes to the temple to see the priestess being bullied by several other girls. They think that she is the cause behind the missing girls. They say that they saw a girl running from the temple yesterday.
Usagi jumps in then and says she was the girl and it was all a misunderstanding.
Somehow she gets the other girls to leave. The priestess walks off as well, but Usagi's "Rei-chan!" makes her turn around in surprise. She returns Rei's bracelet. Rei is polite but brushes her off, eager to get back to... staring into the fire I guess.
Ami calls Usagi and tells her to meet her at some building somewhere because she knows who the next target is. Ami, by the way, still calls Usagi Tsukino-san, which is formal.
Anyway, Ami reveals that all of the girls being targets were priestesses - so the two girls use their phones to disguise themselves as priestesses, in the white and red robes.
They hear a scream and, rushing over to investigate, find Rei standing rather suspiciously over a fallen priestess girl. She pulls out one of her cards and throws it at Ami and Usagi - who duck.
Turns out that Rei's real target was a swirling vortex of very scary leaves. (There certainly are a lot of those). She's happy that she has found out the one targeting the girls (A pile of leaves?) When the vortex opens again, a pair of arms come out and yoink her. Usagi grabs hold and both are pulled through, leaving poor Ami alone.
The two girls barely have time to get on their feet when the airplane monster looms over them.
Usagi tells Rei to run and hide - which she does, while Usagi transforms.... and fight scene! But this time it doesn't go well for Moon, and she winds up tied up in vines. Rei is about to run away when suddenly her bracelet glows red.
This is a perfect time for a scene change. Back in the real world, Luna tells Ami that if she transforms, she can open a portal to where Usagi and Rei are. So, Ami does so.
Moon knows that a glowing bracelet can mean only one thing - Rei's a senshi!
While Rei is still trying to figure out what that means, airplane-head blasts her with more dead leaves.
She emerges moments later, yells out "Mars power - make up!" and she becomes "Senshi of flame and passion - Sailor Mars!"
After the usual jumping and spinning, Mars decides she has had enough and, after yelling out "Youma - Taisan!" she blasts it with a fireball.
By this point, Mercury has opened the portal. Moon and Mars help the other girls through, but just as Moon is about to go through, a vine reaches out and grabs her, pulling her back.
Luckily, Tuxedo Kamen is on the case. He uses his cane to stab the vine and break it, then he pushes Moon through the portal just in time.
But once they're through, he just gets up and leaves without a word, once again leaving the girls wondering just who he is. Tux rescue count: 2
Luna welcomes Mars to the team. She has a sweet moment when she realizes that *this* is the reason she has these strange powers. She sneakily brushes a tear away before leaving with the other two senshi.
Back in the Dark Kingdom, Beryl is mad. Jadiete apologizes, but he's not the one she's mad at. It's the senshi. That's all there is to say about a lot of Beryl scenes in the first few episodes. "She gets mad"
Usagi is all excited to have Rei join their team, and she prattles on about all of the fun stuff they should do, but Rei shoots her down, saying that she doesn't want to be friends and stalks off, leaving two very stunned girls, and one very stunned plushie cat.
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