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SAILOR MOON CRYSTAL – ‘Act 2 Ami – Sailor Mercury’ Recap

Act 2 of Sailor Moon Crystal has appeared and this time around, we delve into the life of the blue-haired girl that we caught a glimpse of in the closing scene of the last episode.

We begin in a classroom filled with stunned students, mouths open, as the blue-haired girl solves an equation that takes up the whole chalkboard. When she puts the chalk down, she receives a test back with a perfect score, and we’re given her name, Ami Mizuno.

She doesn’t say a word until about the third of the episode has gone by. In fact, through the whole episode, we find out all about her from the gossip of other classmates. As she sits on a bench reading over notes, two boys walk on by gossiping that she has an IQ of 300, that she studies during breaks, and that they’ve never seen her with friends, of course, all within earshot of her.

As Ami walks along, Naru, Usagi, and a couple of nameless students discuss their latest test, with Naru teasing Usagi that she’s failed another one. As they laugh, Ami looks on, with a pensive, but sad look on her face, like she doesn’t know what it feels like to laugh.

The pang of sadness is interjected by the awesome theme song I just can’t get enough and when we return, we see a crystal ball that belongs to the main baddie of the series, Queen Beryl. She’s chastising the blond-haired guy from last episode, Jadeite, asking him when will he get the Legendary Silver Crystal for their great ruler. After an apology that’s filled with info on how he’s one of the Four Kings of the Dark Kingdom, he walks off to create another putty patrol monster.

As a nod to the original series, Jadeite poses with his hand in the air as he creates the monster that will be sent to harvest energy from humans.

Back in Japan, Usagi plops onto her bed, whining that she’s starving when she realizes that Luna has been staring at her all creepy like. Luna reminds her that it hasn’t been that long since she became Sailor Moon and that evil may come-a-knocking at any moment, that she has to find her allies and protect the Princess. As Usagi nearly cries about how scared she is about fighting monsters, she asks Luna if Tuxedo Mask or Sailor V could be her allies. The friendly feline reveals that she has someone else in mind and turns her head in thought.

As bun-head is asleep, Luna is on a magic computer, eyeing a profile of Ami Mizuno. Side note: if you stare into Luna’s giant eyes, you can also see the name of another potential guardian.

The next day, everyone at school seriously can’t stop talking about Ami. She’s got perfect scores in all subjects, and that it could be because she attends an after school program called suspiciously, Crystal Seminar. While one classmates ponders why she needs to study more when she has perfect scores, Usagi remembers her dad saying that the school is super expensive. It’s not a problem for Ami though according to the group. Her mother is a doctor and one even admits to being jealous of her smarts and money. Another states that Ami seems to be “too cool and kind of unfriendly,” especially since they’ve never seen her with friends. Ouch, you guys.

And just like before, Ami looks on as she’s far from the crowd, but close enough to hear what’s going on.

As Usagi walks towards the arcade, she sighs at her bad grades, but before she can crumple it up and throw it behind her, she spots Luna leaping from a tree and in front of Ami. Usagi thinks to herself as she watches Luna and Ami interacting, maybe this genius girl isn’t as unfriendly as everyone makes her to be and walks on over to say hello.

While Luna is being a fluffy cat, Usagi asks if Ami is ok. Ami, a bit stunned, stumbles over her words, before bun-head apologizes for her cat scaring her.

Ami, still kind of lost in her dream world, states that Luna suddenly came from the sky and thought she was an Angel. As Usagi looks at her and almost laughs at the thought of Luna being an angel, Ami apologizes and hands over Luna. As Usagi grabs Luna, their hands meet and this is when the scene gets a bit sexy.

We see a flash of the dream world seen in Act 1, Ami becomes a bit faint, while Usagi blushes and thinks to herself that Ami is kind of cute, before officially introducing herself and Luna.

Usagi then daydreams about how Ami and her will be friends so she can become a genius just like her. While this is happening, Ami waves her hand in front of Usagi, breaking her attention, but before she can say anything, Usagi invites her to the arcade.

It’s there when we find out that Ami is a beast at video games. It’s not until she beats the Sailor V game, when she realizes that a crowd has gathered around her, and feels a bit awkward, until Usagi gives her a giant hug and says she’s awesome. She has the most giant smile on her face. The game then spits out a reward, a blue pen, and of course, Usagi wants one too so she shakes the machine until one falls out.

As Ami points out that Usagi is funny, she realizes the time and leaves to go to Crystal Seminar. Before Ami goes off, Usagi tells her that she doesn’t have to be so formal when talking to one another.

Ami is now in front of a computer, working away when the teacher stops by and hands her a disc. Unbeknownst to her, the teacher is actually the monster Jadeite created, and is using the hard working minds of students to harvest dark energy.

The next day at school, Usagi invites Ami along to go with her friends to get ice cream. As she says yes, the monster flashes before her eyes and she immediately packs up and apologizes because she has to go. In the entrancing rush of leaving, Ami forgets her disc.

As Usagi and Luna are headed home to examine the disc, they past by the monster lady handing out fliers to the free seminar. Usagi gets a flier, looks at it, then balls it up before throwing it behind her. This is cue for a maskless Tuxedo Mask to get clonked in the face once more.

When he confronts her, he leans up real close to her face, asking if her cat was just talking. Usagi and Luna both freak out and Usagi grabs her cat and runs off before yelling bye. We then get a moment of Usagi wondering why her heart beats so fast whenever she sees him. Anyone else yelling the answer why?

Thanks to the keen detective skills of Usagi, she simply pressed a bunch of buttons, the duo discover that the disc is a brainwashing device and that Ami is in trouble. They head over to the seminar building, but it’s guarded by two men. To get in, Luna tells Usagi to use the magical pen she got at the arcade as it’s a disguise tool.

She manages her way in, because all it takes is a short pink dress and her carrying a cat (it’s a doctor’s outfit in Japan?), and confronts the baddie just in time to see her toss Ami’s fancy new pen. Still in a trance, Ami picks up the pen as Luna jumps in to claw at the beast.

As Luna yells at Usagi to transform into Sailor Moon, and after her transformation, it looks like a scene from another classic anime, Read or Die. There’s paper flying about, smacking Sailor Moon in the face, until the paper pins our heroine up against the wall. As the monster is about to slice up Sailor Moon, Ami “wakes up” and Luna is like “YES! I KNEW IT!” She yells at Ami to says “Mercury Power Make Up” and when she does, she becomes the all blue and powerful Sailor Mercury.

Ami can’t believe who she’s become, but Luna quickly snaps her out of it and Sailor Mercury performs a move that leaves the room all sorts of misty. The monster can’t see where to attack until Sailor Moon cries. As she’s about to get socked in the face, Tuxedo Mask comes in and grabs her, and then she finishes off the monster with her tiara boomerang.

As Ami and Usagi are walking along, Usagi tells Ami they’re going to be friends from there on out. Ami grabs Usagi by the arm, wanting to rush home so she can ask her all the questions in the world as bun-head sighs in tiredness.

The scene quickly changes to a dark hallway filled with candles. At the end of the hallway, a girl opens her eyes, and to be continued flashes across the screen.

That’s Episode 2 of Sailor Moon Crystal. It’s not as coincidental as the first episode, but it’s filled with tons more information than we could have needed. Perhaps it was done as a way to coincide with Ami’s intelligence? In any case, we now have two scouts ready to battle evil together. Hopefully we’ll get less of Sailor Moon crying since she now has Sailor Mercury to help her find courage.

What do you think of Act 2 Ami — Sailor Mercury? Let us know in the comments below!

Sailor Moon Crystal airs a new episode every first and third Saturday of every month on Neon Alley and Hulu.

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