Jewely and Naoko's Birthday Celebration 2014 - Day 7

Episode 41 (Season 1/ Sailor Moon Classic)
"I Won't Run from Love Anymore! Ami and Mamoru's Showdown" (Dub: "Tuxedo Unmasked")

Original Air Date: January 23rd, 1993 (Dub: October 31st, 1995)
Cast:
Sailor Moon/Usagi-Kotono Mitsuishi (Dub: Terri Hawkes)
Sailor Mercury/Ami-Aya Hisakawa (Dub: Karen Bernstein)
Sailor Mars/Rei-Michie Tomizawa (Dub: Katie Griffin)
Sailor Jupiter/Makoto-Emi Shinohara (Dub:Susan Roman)
Sailor Venus/Minako-Rika Fukami (Dub: Stephanie Morgenstern)
Tuxedo Mask/Endymion/Mamoru-Tohru Furuya (Dub: Toby Proctor)
Queen Beryl-Keiko Han (Dub:Naz Edwards)
Luna-Keiko Han (Dub: Jill Frappier)
Artemis-Yasuhiro Takato (Dub: Ron Rubin)
Ryo Urawa-Shinichirou Ohta (Dub: Eric Kimmel)
Reika Nishimura-Rika Fukami (Dub:Wendy Lyon)
Kunzite-Kazuyuki Sogabe (Dub: Dennnis Akayama)

The episode begins with a scene from South Africa. Motoki's girlfriend, Reika is there on an archaeological project. As she is digging, Endymion appears. He pulls out a dark crystal and traps her inside of it. You then see that he has trapped 4 of the Rainbow Crystal carriers inside the crystal. He then says that he needs to gather 3 more.

That same day in Toko, Ryo Urawa is in town and he decides to give Ami a call. He tells her to turn on the news. When she does, she sees there is a report of the artist, Yumemi, has gone missing. Since Ryo kept some of his psychic powers, he could foresee that the Dark Kingdom was trying to gather the Rainbow Crystal carriers again. Ami asks where he is so that she and the other senshi can protect him. He refuses to tell her cause he doesn't want to put her in danger. He then hangs up. Ami is left on the other line, very worried about him. As Ryo is leaving the pay phone booth, he unknowingly passes Makoto, who realizes that it was him.
In the Dark Kingdom, Kunzite is asking Queen Beryl why they are trying to gather the Rainbow Crystal carriers. Beryl explains that if they do so, they can summon the legendary shadow warrior and defeat the Sailor senshi.
The girls are all gathered at the Hikawa Shrine, and Ami is informing them of Ryo's phone call. Makoto says that Ami should go after him. Ami explains that she has no idea where Ryo. Makoto tells her that she say him downtown. Ami and Makoto then leave the Shrine to look for him, while the other girls stay behind to protect Rei's grandfather.
On the streets of Tokyo, Mamoru has found Ryo. When Ryo sees him, he already know who he is and knows that Mamoru is there to capture him. Ryo then screams out in the crowd. The people walking see Mamoru and crowd him, Ryo uses this to escape.

While looking for Ryo, Makoto tells Ami to cut the crap and admit that she has feeling for Ryo. Ami admits this but says that she doesn't have time for a boyfriend because of schoolwork and being a Sailor senshi. Makoto tells her that Sailor senshi can have fun too. 
They see Ryo across the street. Ami and Makoto follow him through the crowded streets into an alley. Unfortunately, Endymion has found them. Sailor Jupiter tells Mercury to take Ryo somewhere while she fights Endymion. Sailor Jupiter uses "Supreme Thunder" but he dodges it. They then use their hand to hand combat skills. Makoto sees Endymion about to punch her, but he stops and teleports away.

Sailor Jupiter runs into Usagi and Luna who had been looking for her and Sailor Mercury. They notice that the amusement park that is supposed to be closed, has all the lights on. They decide to head that direction.

Sailor Mercury and Ryo are hiding in the amusement park. Sailor Mercury asks why he wanted to come there. He admits that he's always wanted to come there with her on a date. He then tells her to escape and he will sacrifice himself to keep her safe. She tells him that she would miss him too much and it would hurt to have him gone.

Endymion then appears, and attempts to capture Ryo. Sailor Mercury uses "Shabon Spray" but Endymion still manages to trap Ryo in the dark crystal. 
Sailor Mercury demands that Endymion return Ryo. Endymion then turns into Tuxedo Mask to see if Sailor Mercury would still attack him. Mercury knows he's not their friend that they know and love, so she uses "Shabon Spray" again and fogs up his vision. She manages to steal the dark crystal and destroy it, setting Ryo and the other prisoners free.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter and Luna arrive. They are all impressed that Sailor Mercury managed to free the prisoners all on her own. Sailor Moon uses "Moon Healing Escalation" on Tuxedo Mask and returns him to normal. Their happiness is cut short when Mamoru disappears back to the Dark Kingdom.
We see Queen Beryl beginning her brainwashing process on Mamoru again. She vows that this time, he will be hers.

The next day, Ami and Ryo go on a date at the amusement park. While they are riding the ferris wheel, the other girls are complaining about having to wait. Makoto encourages them to just be happy for Ami. They all agree and continue to watch the couple from afar

I love this episode cause.....well I pretty much have it memorized. When I was younger, my favorite senshi was Sailor Mercury (she still holds a very special place in my heart), so I researched some of her episodes. I came across this one, but I had never seen it. This was back in 2001 when the internet wasn't quite what it is now. I went to FYE and found a Sailor Moon VHS tape and saw that it had this episode on it. I was ecstatic! So since it was the only Sailor Moon in my possession, I watched the tape over and over again, especially this episode.

Here is "Drive Me Mercury" from the Sailor Moon musical:

Help Naoko and I celebrate by following me on twitter: @jjewelyj

xoxo

~Jewely

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