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PGSM - Act Six
A group of boys are playing basketball, and Usagi and her friends (not Ami and Rei) hurry over to watch and generally ooh and ahh over the boys.
They hurry over to get a closer look, when Usagi nearly gets hit with a low flying basketball. Some creepy looking boys come out and tease her a bit, throwing the ball at her so she can't pass by them.
She's about to get hit when a taller girl in a different uniform catches the ball, and throws it back at the bullies with enough force to knock one of them over.
She's not remotely intimidated by the bullies, and sends them fleeing without even breaking a sweat - or changing her expression for that matter.
Usagi tries to thank her, but the mystery girl just walks off without a word.
After the theme song, we go to the Dark Kingdom, where Beryl has just concluded that the Mystical Silver Crystal is not easy to find. (I guess she's been watching the show).
Nephrite gives this nice and passionate speech about how he won't give up. This seems to please Beryl, and she hands down assignments - Jadiete will continue to collect energy, and Nephrite will continue the search.
Nephrite is jealous... he doesn't know why Beryl is also paying attention to Jadiete.
It seems to me that even though neither of the two are very successful, they are amusing Beryl.
Jadiete prepares another youma. He's not about to let Nephrite become the favorite.
At lunch, Usagi's friends continue to ooh over the basketball player. Usagi agrees that he's nice, but he's no Tuxedo Kamen. While she is staring off into space, she sees the girl from before pass by. So now we get a bit of character explanation. She's a transfer student - and rumor has it that she got into a fight at her old school, so she was transferred her.
The new girl heads up to the roof to eat lunch. Ami and her nod to each other and then sit on opposite sides of the roof.
After school, Usagi finds her staring at a tree. She greets the new girl with her usual cheerful smile, and the two walk off together.
Usagi thanks her for her help, and says that she doesn't believe the rumors.
They do introductions "Tsukino Usagi, meet Kino Makoto."
Usagi promptly starts calling her Mako-chan.
When Makoto says something about wanting to go shopping, Usagi grabs her arm and yanks her down the street to a store, where they run around for awhile trying on shoes and hats.
When they finally break for a snack, Makoto reveals that her parents died when she was ten, and now she lives alone.
Usagi decides that this is a good time to introduce Makoto to her other friends.
Meanwhile, Rei and Luna are talking about how Rei can't use her sixth sense to locate Sailor V. (It's been a few episodes since we've seen her - she must be missing)
Usagi turns up and introduces Makoto, then sits back and waits for Makoto and Rei to become instant friends.
Rei senses something about Makoto, and it seems Luna does too. Which can mean only one thing - Makoto is the fourth senshi!
The next day, the girls are off swooning over the basketball player again. Makoto is watching too, although a bit of a distance away.
However, when he goes to make a slam dunk, he suddenly glows red... as do all of the girls watching him. They look puzzled for a minute but then go back to cheering. (Why no one notices that he turned red is beyond me...)
Later in class, Usagi's friends are swooning over the pictures they took of the basketball player. Their teacher takes them away, but then realizes that the subject of the pictures is nice to look at, so she shows the pictures around to the whole class.
Usagi sees Makoto in the background of the pictures and decides to ask her about it. Makoto denies having a crush on him, but Usagi says that she can tell that she does. After all, Usagi is an expert on these things. (She is?)
Makoto insists that she was only watching because she likes basketball.
When she gets home though, she finds a love letter in her mailbox - from the basketball player. He says that he wants to meet up with her at ten tomorrow in front of the fountain.
Makoto gets up, takes a deep breath and starts to make cookies. (Well, what else would you do upon getting a love letter?)
The next day, the basketball player starts acting strangely. And all of the girls from the day before come towards him, almost as if they are in a trance. This probably has something to do with them glowing red the day before.
At the appropriate time, Makoto, armed with a bag of cookies, waits at the fountain.
Over at crown, they are discussing either Makoto being a senshi or Makoto having a crush on a boy, although there seems to be some disagreement over which they are actually talking about.
Ami reveals that Makoto seems to be a good cook - she caught sight of her lunch.
Meanwhile, Makoto continues to wait... and wait... and wait... and wait. And then it starts to rain. So she stands there getting wet.
Until a voice says "Thanks for waiting"
When she looks up, she sees the three bullies from before. She has been tricked. Then there's a rather sad shot when she lets the bag of cookies she made fall to the ground and spill out all over the wet pavement.
Usagi and the other two come running to the rescue - or at least to come comfort her.
Makoto tells them that the basketball player reminds her of a boy at her old school... and then she sadly says that she's not meant to have these things. I'm assuming she means a boyfriend, not the soggy cookies that she throws out.
As she watches Makoto leave, Usagi decides that something needs to be done. The other two are in agreement as they dramatically whip out their cellphones.
They turn into three basketball players (I guess their phones can give them skills as well as change their clothes.) And they challenge the bullies to a game
Meanwhile, a very lonely and sad Makoto returns home to her empty apartment.
Something makes her turn around, and there's the basketball player. He says that she didn't come today, so he came by to get her. He invites her to come with him, and as soon as their hands touch, a red light surrounds her.
And she finds herself in a black and white world, full of zombie like girls. The basketball player is laughing manically and heads over to take their energy.
Good thing Makoto isn't in a trance. She grabs his wrist and scolds him, then punches him out. (Nice shot Mako-chan!) Knocking him over is enough to break the spell and send all of the girls home.
Usagi, Ami and Rei are doing a very nice job kicking the collective butts of the bullies in a game of basketball. Having senshi powers helps I think. My favorite part is the game winning basket, when Usagi slam dunks, stepping on the bully's face in process.
Meanwhile, the youma abandons the basketball player. The player screams and runs away, leaving Makoto alone to face the youma.
While it is choking her with a vine thing it shot around her neck, it's the perfect time for a flashback. She remembers losing her parents, her boyfriend, her friends... assorted other unidentified people.
She knows that everyone always leaves her.
She's interrupted from her reflecting by Sailor Moon, who has invaded her flashback. She takes Makoto's hand and her hension bracelet appears in a flash of green.
Just like the others, Makoto knows just what to do: "Jupiter Power - Make up!"
The Solider of Thunder and Courage, Sailor Jupiter, has arrived!
She wastes no time in using her Supreme Thunder (An attack that looks rather painful to execute... she leans down and sorta does the splits.) to blast the youma to bits.
Once the battle is over, she looks herself over.
Moon, Mars and Mercury come over to explain - Makoto is Sailor Jupiter, a senshi, one of their team.
She says she now understands why everything happened the way it did - it was so she would end up here, with them.
Then, all four of them pose in front of the fountain.
Now that all four are together they can find the princess, and the Crystal, and figure out stuff about Sailor V. Anything is possible!!
It's time for the third shitennou to make his entrance: He's also interested in Sailor V... for pretty much the same reason the senshi are. Could she be the Moon Princess?
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