Episode 5
Act 5:
Makoto: Sailor Jupiter
Airdate: September 6, 2014

The Bride Ghost Nephrite picks a mannequin out as his main Youma. After infusing her with power, the Bride Ghost awakens, and each night, she kidnaps a random male, (usually grooms but a few bachelors) possesses him, and then drains him of his energy and leaves him in the attic of the new Bridal Shop. Her bouquet turns into a weapon that fires black rose petals, which can both blind you and explode when set on fire. When her dress turns black, she can unleash a terrible green-gas power that traps humans and sucks their energy dry.

Makoto Kino Just about everything BAD has happened to Mako-chan, prior to the episode even starting. Let's recap: 1. Her parents died in a plane crash when she was little, about 6-ish. And sure, they left her with enough money to raise herself, but money can't replace nice parents. 2. Her boyfriend dumped her by parading around his new girlfriend… who used to be Makoto's friend. Asshole. 3. Because she's a "giant" at five-foot-six-inches tall, everyone treats her like a monster. She has more lies told about her than a tabloid celebrity. 4. She's fourteen years old, and already has had to move more than once ~ ALONE ~ and now lives in an apartment. Once more, she's ALONE. No family whatsoever, and apparently no moving company to rely on either. So now, here we are today, and what happens? Nephrite. Holy crap, the poor kid can't catch a break!

First apperance of Sailor Jupiter and the Moon Stick. This episode was temporarily banned from NicoNicoDouga. While not confirmed, the general rumor is that Tuxedo Mask seemingly kidnapping Usagi from her bed and the scene with Motoki and a passed out Makoto pushed the TOS of the website. The episode did return to Nico a few days later, uncut. The Bride Ghost is SCARY!! The Blu-Ray only adds green magic to her, but does nothing to quell the overall creep factor. Act 5 Guardians that appear but do not help in battle: Total Guardians: Final Blow from:

The episode begins where Makoto is walking in the rain to her new school. Also walking is Usagi, being chastised by Luna yet again for not being more aware of herself as Sailor Moon. Good grief, can we at least let the kid get an hour past breakfast before you let into her? Sheesh. Well Usagi fights back by chastising Luna about her weight, but just as she is about to get a good comment in, a car comes out of nowhere.

See the license plate? It's 12 x 5. December 5^th is Makoto's birthday ☺

Well luckily for us, Makoto grabs Usagi and pushes her out of the way in time, otherwise, this would have been the shortest Sailor Moon season in history. Makoto tells her to be careful, and then walks off. Usagi remarks that Makoto smelled very nice, and she blushes a bit.

I just get the feeling this was almost product placement.

Meanwhile, Queen Beryl starts to chastise (I'm using this word more than Sailor Mars.) Nephrite, but he quells her mood by telling her he's figured a way to target humans' most weak and yet energy inducing spot, love. And with that, we Segway to Naru.

Naru has just gotten back from a bridal fitting. No, sorry guys, she wasn't bridal shopping for her wedding to Nephrite. That's how the original anime might have gone. Instead, she was trying a dress on in place of her unnamed, unseen and not heard of again cousin. Her cousin is getting married, but neither she nor her husband have been well, so Naru ~ a perfect body double ~ tried the gown on in her stead. Umino tells Naru, Usagi and Yumiko that several men have gone missing from the new bridal shop, and suggests that Naru's soon-to-be-cousin-in-law is one of them, but Naru shrugs it off and says that her cousin will be a June bride. Usagi and Yumiko then daydream about being brides themselves.

But while daydreaming, Usagi accidently bumps into Makoto again. Makoto again warns her to be careful, only to be harassed by a teacher over not wearing the school uniform.

As Makoto walks away from the teacher, Umino spreads a rumor about Makoto being kicked out of a private school for fighting. At lunch time, more teens spread similar rumors about Makoto being super strong and violent. All Makoto really wants is to eat lunch in peace. But while trying to eat, Usagi approaches her and pretty much invites herself to Makoto's lunch. But before she can enjoy anything, a baseball almost beans Usagi in the head. Makoto catches it in time, and throws it back at the boys who knocked it. As Usagi gets comfortable, she compliments Makoto on her cooking, her earrings and her bento. Makoto has a flash of the Silver Millennium, but shrugs it off. Makoto confides in Usagi that nobody wants to have anything to do with her, and Usagi thinks that everyone making fun of Makoto is insane. Makoto feels really happy to have made a new friend, and she asks Usagi if she knows of an affordable grocery store and if there's an arcade anywhere. Of course, Usagi has to take her to Crown, where Makoto shows Usagi a hidden special move for Codename Sailor V.

Ami and Motoki join them, and Makoto starts to see her Senpai in Motoki. As Makoto blushes, Usagi asks Motoki if he has a nickname. Furu-chan is what he's known as at his college, so Usagi takes it upon herself to make up a nickname for Makoto.

Inadvertently, she also just named Makoto's future daughter.

Motoki tells Usagi the rumor about the cursed bridal shop. Ami, Usagi and Makoto head over there to gawk at the dresses. Makoto and Usagi muse that they want a pretty wedding gown when they get married, while Ami wants a traditional, white Kimono. But as they daydream, they overhear a couple of women talk about the rumor that one of the mannequins comes to life at night, and kidnaps an unlucky groom….

At sunset, Usagi and Ami take Makoto to Rei's shrine, just as Rei is feeding Phobos and Deimos. Instantly, Rei and Luna pick up on Makoto's energy. Just then, the girls overhear a woman praying and crying for the return of her lover, who has been presumed kidnapped by the mannequin Bride Ghost. Makoto is a little uneasy hearing Rei talk about how useless men are, so she decides to head home.

That night, Motoki is possessed by the creepy mannequin, and then starts to look for Makoto. Makoto is thinking of the boy who broke her heart, and how much Motoki resembles him, which makes her the perfect target.

But as Makoto is slowly being possessed, Mamoru is watching from afar.

Meanwhile, Usagi is in bed, dreaming about running through clouds. As she runs, she hears Tuxedo Mask's voice telling her to hurry. A bright light flashes, and when Usagi awakens, she finds Tuxedo Mask right in her window.

Which is totally fine, right? WHERE THE FUCK ARE HER PARENTS???

For serious, why is it that Luna is the ONLY person concerned that some strange man in a tuxedo just abducted a 14 year old girl from her bedroom??? I'm not joking around here, not once is this addressed by anybody ever, except Luna. Well fortunately, Tuxedo Mask isn't here to rape or kill Usagi, he actually leads her straight to Makoto, who is passing out after being possessed by a man in his 20's.

Aaaaaaaand this just looks rapey.

Ami and Rei appear, and transform with Usagi. After a brief speech, The Bride Ghost attacks the trio with black, explosive rose petals, which Sailor Mars destroys in the most badass way possible.

The Bride Ghost kidnaps Makoto, and as she holds her hostage, her white gown turns black. Nephrite appears, laughing about how humans are all about appearances and thus, easily fooled, and this triggers a flashback for Makoto to when her Senpai dropped her like a bad habit.






… Okay… if I'm walking home with you every day, packing you a lunch and wearing whatever you buy me… BITCH I AM YOUR GIRLFRIEND, WHO THE FUCK IS THIS SIDE BITCH WITH THE COWLICK?? I wish the scene had gone this route, but Makoto instead bowed out gracefully… by moving across town, changing her number and getting new friends. What an awesome example from a 14 year old, right?

Well this is all a bit much for her to remember, so she goes Emo for a minute.

But Sailor Moon yells to her that loving someone isn't foolish, and to believe in love and in her true self. The Bride Ghost zaps all three Guardians with her energy-sucking gas, knocking the three out for a bit. But Makoto feels reinvigorated, and flips the Bride on her ass. Nephrite tells her that believing in love will ruin her, but Makoto finds that statement to be encouraging.

That's right Mako-chan! Believing in love ruins your… okay wait, what? Whatevs, Luna sees the mark of Jupiter on her forehead, and tosses her a transformation pen, and Makoto becomes Sailor Jupiter!

And after 20+ years, she STILL transforms without underwear on.

Jupiter surprises Nephrite with TWO attacks, Flower Hurricane ~ which produces razor sharp rose petals, and Jupiter Thunderbolt, which is similar to her 90's attack of Supreme Thunder.


And with that, The Bride Ghost dies.

And is stripped naked before being disintegrated alive.

With that, Nephrite escapes, and all of the kidnapped men recover fully. Luna watches Tuxedo Mask leaving, and thinks about how his dragging Usagi out of bed just saved Makoto's life.

The girls go to a playground, and Sailor Jupiter informs them that the reason why she moved was because her Senpai broke her heart, and because she felt a calling here in Juban. The girls affirm she fits right in as Sailor Jupiter and…. Has anybody noticed how cool their gems look this season? I'm so used to seeing flat-colored buttons in place of a brooch, and yet in Crystal, every non-Moon Guardian has a sparkly brooch on.

Did anybody else catch that these last three episodes? Well no matter, we're all focused on the glowing cat.

Luna produces the Moon Stick, and announced that Sailor Moon is officially the leader of the Sailor Guardians, and must find and protect the Moon Princess.

If Luna just had a clue…

BONUS!!

If you saw the preview for this episode, then you probably noticed a big change in Mamoru:

It makes sense to change the background, since Mamoru is just across the street from Makoto when this scene takes place, though it sucks the sky had to be changed, but why was his book also altered? Was there a legal glitch in having him read from a Cloud magazine? I guess it makes a little more sense for him to read from a textbook, seeing as how he is in High School, but still, it makes you wonder…

Another note, when this episode first aired on NicoNicoDouga, it got flagged for inappropriate content, which led to the episode being banned from the website for a few days. While Nico never addressed what exactly got the episode banned, theories abound that the scenes with Makoto being passed out while an evil Motoki pins her to a wall suggest near-rape, combine this with the whole Tuxedo Mask kidnapping Usagi thing, and this could be why it was pulled. Crunchyroll and Hulu did not have any problems with the episode, and no edits were ever ordered. The Blu-Ray leaves the scenes alone.

Some things were changed from the manga. Nephrite lives, and originally, when Motoki is closing shop for the night, he's being helped by Endo, who does not appear in Crystal for a few more episodes. Also, originally usagi used the Luna Pen to transform into a groom when meeting the Bride Ghost, but this was likely taken out due to time issues, as each episode is only supposed to run 24 minutes. But the animators may have given us a spoiler. Check out one of the mannequins in the store, after Sailor Jupiter kills the Bride.

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