EPISODE 028

Koino irasuto, Usagi to Mamoru ga sekkin?

(The Illustration of Love, Usagi and Mamoru Getting Closer? )

Original Air Date: 10-17-1992
Director: Yuji Endo
Animation Director: Kazuko Tadano
Writer: Megumi Sugihara

Did you notice...?
Screencaps

What's In This Episode?
Binah, Ginzuishou, Kurozuishou, Moon Stick, Nijizuishou, Orgel, Seven Great Youma, Yumemi Yumeno, Zoisite

In the Dark Kingdom's lair, Queen Beryl reminds Zoisite that of the seven Nijizuishou, two have been taken by "meddlesome outsiders," while only one is in her hands. Furthermore, three of the seven Great Youma have been defeated. She asks Zoisite if he takes any responsibility for these events, but he begs for a short grace period. He uses the Kurozuishou to show her the next target, a young girl, and says that he will obtain this Nijizuishou even at the cost of his own life. The queen reminds him that there will be dire consequences if he fails.

Usagi sits on a park bench with Luna, noting that autumn has definitely arrived and that there are couples everywhere. She wonders if Tuxedo Kamen is her friend or her enemy. Luna reminds her that he definitely is searching for the Ginzuishou, so they should consider him to be their enemy. Naru suddenly apears and tells Usagi to come with her. Usagi quickly follows, but accidentally drops the Moon Stick, which almost falls into the park's pond... until Luna manages to catch it. She can't believe that Usagi is so careless with the wand.

Naru takes Usagi to an art exhibit featuring the paintings of Yumemi Yumeno. Naru tells her that the artist's illustrations are really popular right now, and Usagi notices that there are many couples at the exhibit. Suddenly, Umino appears out of nowhere and says that it's because the illustrations are "illustrations of love." Naru tells Usagi that many people believe that having one of Yumemi's illustrations makes your romantic dreams come true.

The trio comes upon a picture of a beautiful woman that is supposedly a self-portrait of the artist. Usagi says that the picture totally fits someone who would do such artwork, and Umino says that the artist herself is a very mysterious, beautiful woman who never appears in public. Usagi laughs and says that she could actually turn out to be ugly.

Meanwhile, a strange woman wanders through the crowd, looking for inspiration in the various couples, although she finds no inspiration. Naru, Usagi, and Umino continue discussing the artist, and she overhears them as she walks past. They say that she hasn't put out any new work lately, and may be in a slump... but no one knows where she is. In reality, Yumemi is the woman who has been wandering through the crowd.

The group of classmates walks past one picture that makes Usagi stop and take notice. She tells her friends that the picture makes her feel very nostalgic for some reason. Outside the exhibit, Mamoru walks by and sees the same picture on the poster for the event. He is immediately reminded of a recurring dream he has in which he sees a mysterious princess with pigtails begging him to find the Ginzuishou.

As he is looking at the picture, Yumemi leaves the building, and he accidentally bumps into her, knocking her glasses to the ground. He helps her retrieve her glasses, and when she looks up at him, she excitedly says, "It's you!"

Inside the building, Usagi sees Mamoru talking to Yumemi through the window. She is very angry because Mamoru is with someone other than Rei, who he is supposed to be dating at the tiem. She decides that she cannot ignore what is happening, so she runs outside, telling Umino to be sure to walk Naru home safely... and asking her friends to buy a poster for her. Umino thinks out loud that he used to become sad when Usagi left him... but now he is excited to be alone with Naru. He wonders if he is a "man with many loves" and begins to blush. Naru teases him, asking him if he has a fever.

Outside, Yumemi begs Mamoru to be a model for her. Usagi walks up and accuses him of being with someone other than Rei, and he tells her that she has the wrong idea. When Yumemi sees her, she excitedly asks Usagi to model for her also, saying that Usagi and Mamoru fit her picture perfectly.

Usagi and Mamoru visit Yumemi's house. Mamoru says that he doesn't have a lot of free time, but Usagi teases him and says that college students goof off all the time anyway. She begins looking at some paintings and suddenly realizes that the woman who brought them to the house was Yumemi Yumeno, who had not previously introduces herself. Yumemi shyly says that she doesn't feel that she fits the image of someone who does the type of artwork she does. She explains that she portrays herself as beautiful, and asks Usagi not to tell anyone. Usagi is shocked that no one knows about her, and asks if she has any friends. She says that she does not, but she is happy as long as she can create good illustrations.

Yumemi brings coffee out and asks Usagi to sit next to Mamoru for a drawing. Both of them are shocked, and Mamoru refuses to be part of that kind of illustration. Yumemi begs him to stay, saying that she can't envision a drawing without models, and that she has had a hard time finding models lately. Usagi and Mamoru finally agree to sit for the drawing. Usagi thinks to herself that Rei would probably kill her for what she is doing. She looks at Mamoru, and begins to find him a little attractive... but she quickly gets rid of this thought and thinks about her devotion to finding Tuxedo Kamen. Yumemi begins drawing, expressing her positive feelings about the project.

Meanwhile, Luna is searching for Usagi throughout the city. She still has the Moon Stick.

Yumemi puts the finishing touches on the drawing. Usagi is excited, but Mamoru tells her to sit still... he says that he is only doing this out of respect for the good cup of coffee! Usagi asks the artist how she is able to draw so well, and she says that whenever she does an illustration, she wishes in her heart that whoever looks at the picture will become happy and meet someone wonderful. Usagi is sad that Yumemi doesn't have any friends, but she says it can't be helped because she is supposed to be beautiful, and if everyone finds out who she is, it will ruin everyone's dream. Mamoru coldly says, "A person who cannot even make herself happy should have other concerns than strangers' happiness."

Usagi shows Mamoru the drawing, which seems to show the orgel. Yumemi says, "This scene shows the girl handing her lover a gift as proof of her love. But somehow, whenever I draw these two, I always feel sad." Usagi says that it makes her feel very nostalgic, and it somehow makes her heart ache. Mamoru seems quite shocked after seeing the picture.

Meanwhile in Juuban, Zoisite plots about returning Yumemi to her youma form... she is the one who the Kurozuishou showed as the next Nijizuishou carrier.

[Commercial Break]

Yumemi walks Usagi home, and Usagi thanks her for her delicious homemade cookies. Yumemi apologizes for keeping her so late, and asks if she would have preferred Mamoru to walk her home, although Usagi becomes embarrassed and says that she misunderstands. As they are walking, they see two girls looking at a poster with one of Yumemi's illustrations, and overhear them commenting on how beautiful and wonderful she must be. When the girls leave, Usagi tells Yumemi that she is nice and really good at baking cookies... and a wonderful person! She tells her to cheer up before running home. Yumemi is quite flattered by the compliments.

Usagi runs home, thinking about what a great thing she just said, and hoping that Yumemi cheers up. Luna, who is waiting atop a nearby wall, calls out to her and throws the Moon Stick down to her feet, telling her that if she doesn't want it, someone else can take care of it. Usagi protests, saying that she only dropped it because she was thinking about Tuxedo Kamen. Luna says that she seems cheered up now, and says that Usagi's problems are so small and simple... and she recovers easily, too! Usagi gets angry and calls Luna a jerk, then runs off with the Moon Stick. Luna worries if she went too far.

Once Usagi has run a reasonable distance, she stops and thinks to herself, "Girls worry a lot because we're complicated!" Suddenly, the Moon Stick begins to respond... and the signal is coming from the direction of Yumemi's house! When Usagi arrives, Zoisite is already there, having broken through a window to gain entry to the house. He tells Yumemi, "Quietly hand over the Nijizuishou and revert back to being a youma." Of course, she has no idea what he is talking about, although she does comment that she finds him to be very beautiful.

He quickly uses the Kurozuishou to remove the green Nijizuishou from her and cause her to transform into the youma Binah. Usagi witnesses the transformation, and immediately uses her communication device to contact the other senshi and let them know what happened. All of the girls transform into Sailor Senshi, while Zoisite and Binah leave the house and head for a nearby construction site.

When they arrive, they are immediately confronted by Sailor Moon. Binah quickly tosses a feather into the air, which sketches the outline of a boulder above Sailor Moon. Shockingly, the boulder becomes real and drops on Sailor Moon... who narrowly dodges the attack. Binah continues this same ploy with larger and large boulders. Just as the largest one is about to crush Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen leaps in to rescue her by carrying her to safety. Zoisite flees the scene, but Tuxedo Kamen quickly chases after him.

Binah approaches Sailor Moon again, who begs Yumemi to remember her kind heart. Binah ignores her and attacks with ropes... which turn into snakes mid-air. Luckily, the Sailor Senshi appear, and Sailor Mars is able to destroy the snakes with her Fire Soul attack. Binah uses feathers once again to create large boulders in the air which come crashing down towards the senshi, but Sailor Mercury is able to temporarily obstruct the youma's vision with her Sabão Spray attack. Sailor Moon begs everyone to go easy on Binah, because Yumemi is a good person. She then runs to help Tuxedo Kamen.

Meanwhile, Tuxedo Kamen confronts Zoisite and tells him to hand over the Nijizuishou. Zoisite refuses, and throws a large crystal shard at Tuxedo Kamen. Luckily, Sailor Moon uses her Moon Tiara Action attack to destroy the crystal just before it hits him. Zoisite quickly disappears, and Tuxedo Kamen acknowledges that Sailor Moon saved his life. When she approaches him, she drops the orgel, which opens and begins to play soft music. She asks him if it is his pendent.

Tuxedo Kamen thinks back to Yumemi's drawing, which clearly showed a couple exchanging the orgel, and says, "Princes..." Sailor Moon asks him if he knows the princess, and tells him that she and the other senshi are looking for her. He says that he doesn't know anything, then picks up the orgel and gives it to Sailor Moon, telling her to hold onto it. She asks him if he would be willing to give her the orange Nijizuishou as well, but he tells her that he cannot give that up because it is significant to him, too. He says, "Even the Nijizuishou that you obtained... given the chance, I will take it without hesitation." He continues that with regards to Nijizuishou, perhaps he is her enemy after all. He then quickly flies away.

Meanwhile, the senshi are still doing battle with Binah. Sailor Moon arrives just in time to see Sailor Jupiter attack with Supreme Thunder, and she begs the senshi to stop attacking. Sailor Mars tells her that Binah is pretty weak now, so she uses Moon Healing Escalation to heal the youma, causing her to transform back into Yumemi.

Later, Yumemi asks Usagi and Mamoru to visit her at the Juuban Gallery after her art exhibition has closed. She has stopped wearing her large glasses, and she tells them that she has stopped hiding from the public. She reveals a new illustration to them in which they are the models. She also shows them her new, more realistic self-portrait... and thanks Usagi for giving her the courage to openly announce who she is.

Episode 028 - Did you notice...?

Some of Yumemi Yumeno's paintings are similar to artwork from Naoko Takeuchi's earlier manga called "The Cherry Project." The painting on the left is exactly like Naoko's illustration of the character Tsuzuki Masonori, while the painting on the right looks like the manga's main character, Asuka Chieri.

One of Yumemi Yumeno's paintings looks exactly like Nephrite and Naru.