Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: We are the super nerdy Sailor Guardians who fight for love and justice. And this is across the Mooniverse Foreign.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to across the Moon Iverse. I'm Maddie.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: And I'm Mike.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: And we.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Hey. I want to wish. I want to wish everyone a happy Moon Day.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Happy Moon Day.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: It is indeed Moon Day. Yes.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: We did it.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: So our episode today is. In my opinion, this is the most important, non canonical episode. This is. This is not from the manga. However, this is the most important episode we've had so far.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah. I made. Before we get started, I was looking into the list of Sailor Moon episodes, and I was comparing the original English translation titles to.
Compared to what we've gotten, which is like, you know, gosh, I'm not near any of them right now. I scrolled down too far. You know, Usagi versus Rey, Nightmare in Dreamland or.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Right, right, right.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: I'm just gonna read you up to today's episode, if you would indulge me.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: Certainly.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: So it starts with episode one, A Moon Star is Born. Episode two was not translated into English, so it doesn't have one. Episode 3, Talk Radio 4, Slim City 5 and 6 were not translated. Episode 7, so you want to be a superstar. Episode 8, Peter School Blues.
9 is Time Bomb.
10 is An Uncharmed Life. 11 is Nightmare in Dreamland. So that one kind of stayed pretty similar. 12 is cruise blues. 13 is fight to the Finish, Better Known as the End of jadeite.
[00:02:12] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: 14 is match point for Sailor Mo.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: 15 unnatural phenomena. 16 is wedding day blues. 17 is shutterbugged. 18 dangerous dollies. 19 who is that masked man?
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Right.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: 20 was not translated.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: 21 an animated mess. 22, worth a princess's ransom. And 23 and 24 very, very emotional episodes, as we've learned, with very emotional titles. But in the English translation, 23 was Molly's folly and 24 is a friend in Wolves Clothing. So there you go.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Very interesting.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah, some of them are really cheesy.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: Yeah. So in the English translation that I watch, this is season one, episode 24, Naru's Tears. Nephrite Dies for Love.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: Yes. Much more intense than a Friend in Wolves clothing.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: True. Yeah. I mean, it says it all right there. So this episode is very much about Naru and Upright. Yes, big time. And it's a good one.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: So it opens with the opening bumper. Is Sailor Moon doing her voiceover, and she says, sometimes girls just can't help falling in love, even when their intuition tells them wrong. And they'll Stand by their love. No matter how tough things get, when a girl is on the path of true love, I won't let anyone get in her way. I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the Moon, I'll punish you.
That's a pretty bold one. So Sailor Moon is basically saying that beyond the concepts of good and evil or right and wrong, she will defend somebody who's in love. I mean, it's definitely an interesting stance. You know what I mean?
[00:03:55] Speaker A: She is the pretty suited sailor, soldier of love and justice, Correct?
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: And so love is primary in that statement. Justice comes second.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And she even goes so far as to say that when their intuition tells them wrong. And no matter how tough things get, when a girl is on the path of true love, I won't let anyone get in the way. So we'll see if that is what comes to play here. So we open with where it looks like we're in a city park and Sailor Moon is stand. Or Usagi is standing there, and Naru is down at the bottom of the slide. She's got her arms are crossed, and they're resting on her knees, and she's got her head buried against her arms.
And Uzagi's like, I hate to see you so sad like this. I think you should just forget about him. Of course. Referring to Nephrite.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: And Naru says, like, Masato Sanjuin, as Naru knows him, right?
[00:04:48] Speaker B: Yeah. And Naru's like, I can't. Even if he's a bad person, I still love him. Although Naru has heard him called Nephrite by this point, she still thinks of it as Mr. Sandra Wing.
[00:04:59] Speaker A: I mean, you know, you have. Sometimes it's hard to switch when you learn somebody's name as something, and then. Yeah, and then you learn their real name.
[00:05:07] Speaker B: That's the way she's always known him. She's not going to necessarily just change names.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: It's like our friend Moon, whose real name is not Moon, but we met her through Final Fantasy, so we call her Moon.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: We call her Moon. Exactly. True story. Yep. Moon Child Fantasia. So then Naru says, usagi, you have someone you like. And then I love this. Usagi's like, me. Well, yeah, of course. I love. Of course.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: Of course. Why wouldn't I?
[00:05:32] Speaker B: She's always had some kind of boy crush going on. I love that. And Naru's like, so then you should understand exactly what I'm feeling right now. And Saki kind of looks conflicted at that statement. Like, Usagi's like, well, I don't know if I know exactly how you're feeling, you know?
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah. It's a little bit like, in a weird way, Naru is in an abusive relationship, correct?
[00:05:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Even though she's not in an actual relationship, she's just like, well, I know he's kind of evil and he kind of does bad things and he yells every once in a while, but I love him.
[00:06:06] Speaker B: Right. Although it is developing into a relationship. You know what I mean? They've had several encounters. I mean, that's how relationships are formed. They haven't pledged their love to one another, but it is, I would say at this point, it is a relationship.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: It is definitely the beginnings of a relationship, for sure.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: So then we cut to Nephrite's mansion, and Nephrite's sitting, legs crossed, in a very ornate chair, almost like a throne. It looks almost like a throne.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:32] Speaker B: And he's sitting there looking at the Dark Crystal, and he says, I don't understand. Why did the Dark Crystal react to Naru Osaka's energy? Is it the energy of her love for me? And then we have a flashback, you know, of them, of them having their times together. And then, you know, the end of the flashback is a close up on Naru saying, because I love him. I love him with all my heart.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: And then we cut back Nephrite and he's like, what nonsense. I love how Nephrite is so out of touch with his feelings for Naruto. You know what I mean? It's great to watch. He does transform throughout the episode. It's cool to watch. And then nephewtright says, now that I think about it, Sailor Moon knew that girl quite well. Which means Naru Osaka most likely knows who Sailor Moon really is. And he says, watch out, Sailor Moon.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: Which technically is true. She does know who Sailor Moon really is, which she just doesn't know that.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: She doesn't realize it. Sailor Moon. Exactly. So I had a question at this point. Why didn't Nepra just simply ask the stars for Sailor Moon's true identity? This seems like such a roundabout way to get her identity. The stars seem to know a lot. I think the stars could have told them who Sailor Moon's true identity is.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: I think the reason the stars aren't able to tell him Sailor Moon's true identity is the same reason why no one can tell Sailor Moon is Usagi when looking at two pictures of them.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: There's some kind of enchantment. Yeah.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: Yeah. There's some kind of enchantment. Because in Reality. It would be that office meme where it's like corporate needs you to tell us the difference between these pictures.
This is the same. Same picture, but magic happens.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Fair enough. So then it quickly cuts to Zoysight, who's spying on Nephrite.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: As always.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Zoysite says, such a creeper. He is such a creeper. As I thought. So that's the dark crystal, which could determine where the silver crystal is located. I don't know where they're getting their information because so far the dark crystal has not done so well.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: I mean, that is the whole reason that Nephrite created the black crystal so that it could find the silver crystal. But it just really. The only thing it's done is glow at Naru right now.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Exactly. It's the Naru Glowing crystal is what it is.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, so now we cut to Naru's home, and I want to talk about this real quick. Do they live above the jewelry shop?
[00:08:51] Speaker A: Yes, they do.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Okay, that's what I thought. And then on the wall of Naru's home, it says OSA P. You ever notice that?
[00:09:00] Speaker A: That's the name of the jewelry. It's the name of the jewelry shop. Yeah.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Name of the jewelry shop. Okay, that's what I figured. That's what I figured. All right, so now we cut to. We're in Naru's bedroom, and Naru's in bed asleep. Her bedspread is in solid color. It's not printed like Usagi's with bunnies and crescent moons. It's a solid color. Nara's a bit more mature, you know.
All right, so then we see the backlight silhouette of Nephrite appear projected on the curtains, which are drawn over some full length double sliding glass doors that lead out to the balcony. Nephrite is teleported to the balcony. So he's outside of her bedroom. We can see his silhouette from inside the bedroom. Nephrite sees a dark crystal, starts pulsating, and he says to himself, I wonder if it's possible that the silver crystal could be inside a human body and.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Interesting theory.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: First the crystal, then Nephrot, then Nephrite without opening the doors. It's kind of materialized inside the bedroom.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Would we say this is more or less creepy than Edward showing up in Bella's room in Twilight?
[00:10:04] Speaker B: This is definitely creepy how this whole thing goes down. I'm gonna go more.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: It's less creepy than Edward because Nephrite isn't like weirdly stalking her at this point.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: He's just kind of he's just looking for the crystal.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: He's on his mission. Whereas Edward was definitely there for Bella so that he could get his freak on. And that was creepy.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: True enough, true enough.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: 10 times better.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: I've only seen Twilight once, so I can't really chime in.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: I have. I. I have unfortunately seen it multiple times. Not of my own free will.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: That's what I figured.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: It's not a good franchise.
I wanted to. Real quick, just a little trivia about Jewelry Osapi. Osapi is actually Jewelry Osapi. The name is a little nod from the creator to her editor because Osapi was her nickname for him. Okay. Fumio Osano. So.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Huh?
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: How'd you know that?
[00:11:03] Speaker A: There are little. In the original print to the manga, there are little inserts every once in a while where Naoko, who canonically like in the little inserts, draws herself as a little bunny and she just shares stuff about, okay, her life and whatnot. So Osapi appears a couple of times and all this stuff, it's just like little. Oh, here's where I got this inspiration for this. And da da, da. Like cute little blurbs.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: Okay, so now they're in the bedroom and the dark crystal kind of floats over Naru and a blue circle pulsates and grows larger. And this repeats like shock waves as the crystal scans Naru head to toe. Now this is very interesting. On the first scan, the bedspread disappears. On the second stand, Naru's clothing disappears. And we have. So now we have a naked 14 year old girl. I mean, technically, just barely. Now listen, who just barely has her arm is. She's laying on her side so you can't see her breasts. But she is naked.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: And I'm like.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: This is. This is borderline child porn.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: Technically, it's a silhouette. You'd say that it's maybe similar to like. Like an X ray or something. A full body scan.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: No, that's not what it is.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Listen, by that logic, every transformation sequence is child porn.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: I don't. So let's just say it's risque.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: It is, it is. And you know, some anime can be problematic in that way.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: Yes, it can.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: Looking at you, cardcaptor Sakura, I can.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: Think of several off the top of my head.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: Because I am now, like, I am now up to my years in anime. I have seen so much anime since you introduced me to Sailor Moon. I have seen. I can't. I'm running out.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: It's a. As far as you know, I. I think as far as gateway drugs go, it's the best one.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Yeah. And what's so funny is that I started with this one, and I'm only 24 episodes into this one yet I've seen. I've seen four seasons of Attack on Titan. You know what I mean? I've, like. I've seen so much other anime, it's crazy.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: It's. I mean.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: Anyway, anyway, thank you, Madeline. Thank you.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: You're welcome. Happy to provide.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: It has been. It came in at a critical point in my life when I really needed it. All right, so the Dark Crystal scans Nauru's body, but there's no indication that the Silver Crystal is in her body.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Bupkis.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: Nephru grabs the Dark Crystal and he retreats to the balcony. And then, just then, Naru wakes up and calls out, Mr. Sandra. And Nephrite says, no, the man you know is Masato Sandrin does not exist. My real name is Nephrite. I can't lie to you any longer. Naru goes to get out of bed and reaches for the curtains, and he says, stay where you are and listen. And Nauru says, all right. And she stands still, staring at his silhouette. And he says, you are a wonderful girl. And thanks to you, for the very first time, I've learned what love actually is. This emotion doesn't exist in the Evil Organization I work for. In my world, we betray our allies. We kill each other for personal gain. I thought it was just the way to think how life was. I never expected it to be any more than that. But your love has opened my eyes. It's truly changed me. This is a big, big speech. Truly changed me. I'm now thinking of joining Sailor Moon and her friends to fight the Evil Organization. That's why I need you to tell me all you know of Sailor Moon and how to find her. So now he's lying to her. At this point, he's still thinking. He's still trying to use her to find Sailor Moon.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: As he's using the trees, using a half truth to get to discover Sailor Moon's location.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: There's a part of him that is actually, I think, considering joining Sailor Moon because he knows he's in trouble with. He's in deep shit. He's in deep shit with Queen Beryl? Yeah.
[00:14:56] Speaker A: Beryl's not happy with him at all.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: So he's thinking about jumping sides because his time is up on this side.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: He's like no eternal sleep for me.
[00:15:06] Speaker B: He knows that if he can. If he can destroy Sailor Moon, he Can probably get back into barrel graces.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Wait, here's the thing. If you, if you really like hindsight, after watching the whole episode, if you really look back at that speech that he gives her, it's kind of prophetic, as we'll see.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: You know, it's very Shakespearean in a way.
[00:15:27] Speaker B: I'll call out the moment that I think that. I think that Nephrite has gone fully good.
Nephrite has been an. He's been an agent of evil this whole time. And by the end of this episode, I think he goes fully good.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: He's like.
Yeah, he's like the. He's like the undercover agent, you know, where he's just like at some point during the movie, he's gonna be like, I've been compromised.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: He's also very much like Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. Yeah. Yeah. So I just watched Star. I just watched all nine of the Star wars this past weekend.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Ooh, that's a feat.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: It is.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: I haven't watched the last two. No, I watched. I haven't watched the last one.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: I watched kind of a let down.
[00:16:11] Speaker A: That's what I hear. I also haven't watched episodes two and three. So.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Yeah, they're a little. Those are a little tough to take too. They're just basically story filler.
[00:16:20] Speaker A: Yeah, they're basically.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Hey, here's Clone wars with huge, huge overblown battle scenes.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Anyway, we're talking about Sailor Moon.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: Sorry, both. Well, you know, and I don't think I've announced this officially on the podcast, but I'm engaged now.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: To Joe, who's been on the show. And I'm constantly meshing Sailor Moon and Star wars because Star wars is one of his favorite franchises. And our whole wedding theme is going to be some sort of combo of the two. So.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: So they kind of just.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: They. They float between one another quite frequently. Our theme right now is moonlit galaxy.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Nice. I love it.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Nerd wedding.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Woo.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Woo.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: So after he delivers his speech, Naru starts crying and she's like, I really don't know anything. I'm sorry. And then Nephrite's like, poor girl, believe me. Even though he already says that he's lied to her, he's like, don't you believe me? And Naru restates that she believes him, but she doesn't know anything. And Nephrite just says, how unfortunate. And then he disappears and Naru calls out, please wait. And she throws open the curtains to see that he's gone. And then she says, I want to help you, Nephrite. So now she's calling him Nephrite.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Made that transition real quick. If this were like a trans name change. Nephrite. Naru's an ally is what I'm saying.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: She's like, I will not dead name you, sir.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: And then Nephrite has reappeared on the balcony just off to the side. And he says now to watch and wait. If she does know Sailor's ruin identity, she'll contact her sooner or later. And you know, the deal of it is, is that Jadeite uncovered the Sailor Scout's true identity and he still got sent to the eternal sleep.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: True, but he discovered it. But he didn't defeat them, which was his job.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Exactly. So Nephrite is on the path. He's going to discover Sailor's new identity and then defeat her. That must be his game plan. Otherwise, what he's doing is a waste of time. Otherwise. Cause Beryl doesn't seem to care who they are. She just wants them gone.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: She's like, I want them gone. I want the crystal. I want everyone around me to stop being incompetent. I want to be able to stop doing these jazz hands.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: So then we cut from Nephrite on the balcony to a shot of Zoisight. And he's standing on the roof of a building. And we know it's a roof because there's a big water tower on the top of the roof. And he's standing next to a giant sign. It just says Happy. So I wonder what building in Japan is the Happy building?
[00:18:52] Speaker A: I don't know, but I love it.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: I love it too. I love that even in the detail, there's little neon tubes in the sign. It's fantastic.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: As a former sign guy, I really appreciate that Zoe said since My, my, that we hear it seems Nephrite has fallen in love with a human girl. And then a female Yoma says, Master Zoisite. And Zoisite addresses a trio of plant based Yoma. They're all like plants.
[00:19:17] Speaker A: Do you want to know what their names are?
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Well, they're called the Plant Sisters.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: Shocker.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: The one with the short blonde bob is named Grape. The one with the purple hair with the red money piece is named Hosenka, which is the same pronunciation. Hosenka means balsam flower. Okay, obviously I don't need to translate grapes. Grape for you.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: Grape. I got.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And then the last one with the long dark hair is Suzuran, which means lily of the valley in Japanese.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: We have a lily, a balsam flower, and a grape. I know. They have different attacks. I wonder. I didn't match up their attacks to Ishioma.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: You know, I didn't either, but now I want to.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: One of the attacks is thorns. The other attack is red. I'm going to say they're berries because they're plants. I'm gonna call them berries.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Might be grapes, even, but they're red.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: They're not green, or they're not green or red. Grapes exist, I suppose. I suppose. Red wine. Yeah, Red wine. Ga. Ga.
All right.
Zoiside says to the Yoma, were you listening? You heard what Nephrite said. And the Yoma said, what a fool. Let's take him out now. And Zoidsight says, now, hold on. Hold on a second. Remember, Nephrite is a powerful warrior. We need a plan in place before we pursue him. Uh, let's begin by taking that girl hostage and using her to lure him out. Good thinking, Zoidsight. Zoidsight's usually pretty impatient. That's. That's. That's. Seeing Zoisight actually use some strategy is refreshing. And. Yeah. Yep.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: Zoysite's so impulsive. He's. He's a bit of, like, a little.
I don't know if I'm using this word right, but. A ninny.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: Yes. Definitely a ninny. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:58] Speaker B: So then we cut to Nat. We cut to Naru sitting at the edge of her bed. She's like, what should I do? I want to help him, but I really don't know how. How to find Sailor Moon.
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: Then. Then what happens? God lets you talk a little bit.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: Then we cut over to Usagi late at night. Her mom wakes her up. Well, we don't see her mom, but we hear her voice say, usagi, you have a phone call. And Usagi's like, who the hell is calling me at midnight? And so she goes down and answers.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: The phone once again. It's a phone. It's a phone that's downstairs. And Usagi has to walk downstairs to answer it because it's a landline. You know, we're in the 90s. Yeah.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Cell phones didn't exist in the 90s in 92.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: Well, they. They did.
[00:21:36] Speaker A: Yeah. That was pre brick phones.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: I. I had my first cell phone in 94, and it wasn't a brick. It was a Motorola Flip.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: Ooh, fancy.
[00:21:46] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I was pretty cutting edge. I had to have one working in the industry I worked in.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Of course, my so expensive 60 cents a minute. That's how much it cost.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: My. My mom, she worked for Sprint when Sprint first started, so I got to see a lot of the evolution of phones.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: Of phones. Yeah, it was pretty rapid there for a while.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: It was. It was all right.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: So Usagi picks up the phone, and Naru is calling. Yeah, Usagi's speaking. Hello? Is anyone there? And Naru's like, usagi, sorry to bother you so late. Usagi's like, naru, what's wrong? And, yeah, and it's about Mr. Sanjuin. He just came by right now and asked where he could find Sailor Moon. Usagi gasps. Oh, God. And you know, he was in such a hurry, it seemed like he was in trouble. I feel so powerless. There's nothing I could do to help him. And Usagi's like, all business. And she's like, do you have any idea where he is right now? And Naru just starts crying.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: And Usagi's like, naru, are you crying? And Naru says, I'm fine. I shouldn't have gotten you out of bed. Just forget about it, Naruto.
The dark silhouette of Nephrite appears outside the half drawn curtains. And Usagi's. But Naru, she's like, I'm all right now. Just talking to you has calmed me down. Thanks for listening, Usagi. Usagi's like, are you sure you're okay? And Nephrite whispers to himself. Usagi. Usagi. Usagi. And so then we cut to Usagi and Luna running along a city street. Yeah.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: Trying to get to Naru.
[00:23:22] Speaker B: Luna's like, nephrit is keeping close tabs on Naru, so he must be up to something.
[00:23:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: And Usagi is panting and struggling to keep up with Luna. And Luna says, come on, Usagi, pick up the pace. We need to hurry. And Usagi's like, I don't have four legs like you.
Luna says, I'm going on ahead. And Luna just bolts away. And then Usagi says, all right, be careful. And then what happens?
[00:23:44] Speaker A: And then the world starts to go a little wonky. It's like Usagi had some mushrooms and didn't realize it.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: And the entire world goes a little wavy and weird, and she starts panicking. And she does the first thing that she can think of when the world gets crazy and warpy around her. She transforms into Sailor Moon. Because, you know, she needs to defend herself.
[00:24:06] Speaker B: Exactly.
It turns out that this is a perfect trap for Nephrite, discovering whether or not Usagi is Sailor Moon. And he proves that she is and he's like, haha. Yeah. He watches her transform.
[00:24:19] Speaker A: And he's like, I know who you are now. Way to fall right into my trick. And she's like, shit, can you not tell anyone, please?
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Yeah. And he's like, why should it matter now? And she's like, we don't see things the same way.
And he says. He's like, no. You won't be leaving here alive. And he conjures and then shoots a white ball of energy at Sailor Moon. She flies up and away. He shoots a second ball of white energy at her that sends her flailing away from him. And she ends up on her hands and knees and she pleads, somebody help me. And Nephre conjures a third white ball and says, now to end your life once and for all. Then what happens? Then what happens?
[00:25:06] Speaker A: There's a. There's a. There's a beautiful, like, Spanish guitar noise. A weird lightning bolt across the screen. And we see a red rose.
[00:25:17] Speaker B: Red rose pierces the sidewalk.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: Pierces the sidewalk. And Tuxedo Mask shields Sailor Moon from.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: And he says, the beautiful Sailor Moon will never suffer defeat at the hands of evil. Not while I'm around. And then Sailor Moon is Tuxedo Mask. My hero.
[00:25:36] Speaker A: Everybody's hero.
[00:25:37] Speaker B: Nephrite smirks. Tuxedo Mask. Nephrite smirks. And Tuxedo Mask jumps down to protect. To protect Sailor Moon from the next attack. And Nephrite raises his hand to begin another attack when his attention is suddenly drawn to the sound of a distressed Naru saying, no. Get away, Nephrite. Help. So she's calling out for him, and Nephrite looks around in the direction of the sound, and he says, that voice. And then Tuxedo Mask is like, strong. Nephrite.
And Nephrite says, seems I have matters to attend to. I can attack you anytime I want now that I know your true identity, Sailor Moon. So watch your back. And then a pick, a little pick. A white twister appears. And he twirls away. So he's been. He was in the middle of fighting Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon, and when he got called away by the sounds of Naru's voice, which shows you where his priorities are at.
[00:26:29] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:26:30] Speaker B: He leaves the battle to go, yeah.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: He's like, it's fine. I know that I could be potentially sentenced to the eternal sleep for not killing you right now, but I know who you are, so I can find you. I gotta go check in on this girl I might have feels for.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: And then Sailor Moon says, Sailor Moon's standing there. She's like, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? Luna's going to be so mad at me. And then I love Tuxedo Mask's kind of smart aleck response. You're a smart girl. I'm sure he'll figure something out. Well, Cellular Moon, with a flick of the wrist, he walks away.
[00:26:59] Speaker A: I love that man.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: He totally dismisses her conundrum about that. Her identity hasn't been compromised. You're a smart girl.
[00:27:07] Speaker A: Sucks that the enemy knows who you are anymore. You'll figure it out. Bye.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: And Sailor Moon just says, thanks for coming to save me.
Oh, yeah. So then we cut to Yoma flying away from Naru's house with a limp Naru in her clutches. We see Luna down on the ground looking up. And Luna's like, I'm too late. I have to inform the Sailor Guardians immediately. So Luna has seen Naru getting taken away by the Yoma?
[00:27:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:36] Speaker B: Ephraim materializes in Naru's bedroom to find Naru is gone. And there's a ransom note on the bed.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: Ta da da.
[00:27:42] Speaker B: They want the Dark Crystal in exchange for Naru Osaka. This has got to be the work of Zoisight. What a fool. Why on earth would I care about what happens to that girl? It's still in denial.
[00:27:51] Speaker A: I don't like her. Shut up.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: Yeah, so he crumples her anti note and it bursts into flames. And then we go to break. It's halfway through the episode. All right, you go ahead and take. Take it over from the break.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Okay, wait. First, I just need to know how old Nephrite is. I have to look this up. Is he 17?
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Yeah, we determined he's 17.
[00:28:11] Speaker A: Well, there you go. So that may. That his. His thought process.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: No, he's 19. It's Mamoru who's 17. Nephrene's 19. Nephrine's 19.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: But like, his thought processes make so much more sense. Because if you've ever dealt in for long instances with 19 year olds, it's true. Yeah, they think they know everything.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: And then a guy's not going to admit that he has feelings for someone.
[00:28:36] Speaker A: No, no, I don't like her. Whatever. I'm cool. I'm like an adult now.
[00:28:41] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: So I can do whatever.
[00:28:43] Speaker B: Yeah, it is good to keep that in mind. Because he just keeps denying his feelings for over and over again. It's getting a little tedious. So we come back from the break to ragtime.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: And they are Yoma. Have Naru all chained up and captured.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: And according to it, looks like it was a bar or like a pool or a pool hall or something before.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: There's a jukebox at a billiard table and.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: Weird place to keep. Keep a middle schooler, but, you know, whatever. Maybe it was the first abandoned building they found.
[00:29:19] Speaker B: Maybe it was a TGI Friday.
[00:29:20] Speaker A: It's like a speakeasy that just got shut down. They. All the Yoma are wondering if Nephrite's going to show up or if they can just finish Naru off because they're bored.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: Yeah. They got Naru's on her knees with her hands tied. There was hands tied off to her sides. She's in trouble. Yeah. And then suddenly. Go ahead.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: And then suddenly, who enters the scene? Nf, Right? He's here for the girl he totally doesn't like. Okay. And then he gets attacked immediately by all of the Yoma.
[00:29:51] Speaker B: True story.
[00:29:52] Speaker A: And he very, very deftly evades them. He's pretty smooth.
[00:29:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: And then he attacks two of them and then comes up on the last with a sword. Not really sure where he got that, but you know, he's got magic. And he says, you know, I'm never gonna hand over the black crystal. And then he steals Naru away.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: They intently stare at each other. Did you notice that? There's a long stare. And then it cuts to a wide shot of him carrying Naru away. Yeah, it's quite romantic. And Naru, thank you, Nephrite, for coming to save me. And Nephrite says, don't thank me. If he didn't know me, this wouldn't have happened. Which is true. You know what I mean? She's imperiled because of him.
[00:30:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: And he says, I don't even know why I saved you. Besides, I haven't been honest. I've lied to you this whole time. And knowing myself, I may continue to lie to you, which is pretty honest. That's pretty.
[00:30:50] Speaker A: Yeah. It's the most honest he's ever been. And then Naru goes, that's fine. You continue.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: She's so good for a dysfunctional relationship, isn't she?
[00:30:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:58] Speaker B: She's like, that's okay with me. As long as you always remain by my side, I can live with the lying. No, that is not how. That is not how. A healthy relationship.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: No, girl, please take.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: You can't have a relationship.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: She's more valuable. Okay, I understand that, like every other week you're getting kidnapped by some weird monster, and you probably feel like your whole life is up in the air, and this superhero keeps coming to save you, and you've got your plucky friends and all of this crazy shit, but that doesn't mean that you should accept lying.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: But you gotta give. You gotta give this to Naru, right? That is the perfect thing to say to any bad guy in love. I mean, I can handle the lying as long as you're by my side.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Still, though, girl have standards.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: Yes, I understand this for sure. Naru notices that Nephrite got injured by some thorns, and she pulls him off the main path and has him take off his jacket and rest it against a tree. And she makes a bandage of cloth torn from her pajamas.
[00:32:04] Speaker A: And notably, his blood is green.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: Correct. And Naru, as she's banding him up, says, on Third Avenue, there's this place that serves the best chocolate parfait. And Nephrite goes, chocolate parfait? And Naru says, yeah, you like it? And nephew goes, sure, why wouldn't I? And Naru stares him down, and she's like, that's a lie. And then she pauses. A sweet lie to make you think we have something in common. Naru finishes dressing his wound. Nephrite says, thank you, Naru. And Naru goes, anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me sometime. I know this is kind of a silly idea, but I've dreamed of going there with you to share a chocolate parfait together. And Nephrite says, sounds good. Let's do it. So this is the point at which I think Nephrit goes, totally good is when he agrees to go have the parfait. Yeah. And Naru says, you mean it? And Nephrite says, you think I'm lying? And Naru shakes her head and she goes, uh, no, I can't wait. And then there's a pause, and then Naru goes, oh, well, your evil organization gave you a day off, like maybe this Sunday. And everybody smirks and then starts to laugh. And Nara says, wow, I've never seen you laugh like that. And then the two of them start laughing together. And it's really kind of a cute moment.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: It's so sweet. It's like, isn't that sweet? They're going to go get chocolate parfaits.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: Laughs I love her joke. Will you evil organization give you the day off? And I think that's a pretty good joke.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: Do you have Sundays off? How's your boss feel about that? That's the Lord's day. Day of rest.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Unfortunately, their laughter is interrupted by a surprise Attack from the three Yoma. And Nep, right suffers a multi thorn penetration through his upper right chest.
[00:33:45] Speaker A: It's a pretty serious wound right through the shoulder area.
[00:33:48] Speaker B: Naru yells out, what have you done to him? And the Yoma says, you let your guard down. Those thorns will drain your energy until you meet your death. A fitting end for a traitor. If you don't want us to kill the girl too, then hand over the Dark Crystal. And Nephrite says, you can have it. Then Nephrite insists that Naru runs away. She's like, get away from here, you fool. And she should know by now she's not going to leave him. You know what I mean?
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, come on.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: This is not the first time where she. He's told her to run away, and she stays.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: That's right. She showed up. She showed up at the abandoned mall for you. Come on.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Exactly. So despite the fact that it's giving her zappy energy. Zaps.
[00:34:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. She's, like, got her hands around these thorns and is, like, pulling and crying and refusing to run away. It's a very emotional scene.
[00:34:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, one of the Youma is like, does that human think she'll be able to do anything? And then she actually starts making some progress at pulling the thorns out.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: One of the Yoma yells out, impossible. And another Youma yells, I'm going to finish both of you. And then casts berries at the couple. And when she casts the berry attack, Nephrite rolls over to protect Naru and takes the brunt of that attack too, which is very, of course, very valiant. And the red cloud of smoke engulfs the couple as the Dark Crystal drops to the ground. And a battered Nephrite asks Naru if she's all right. And then collapses. And then suddenly, Zoysite materializes. Well done, you three. The Dark Crystal is now ours. I'm sure he'll want to die with the girl, but we can't wait for that. Give him a good beating to finish him off. And then Zoisite just disappears. And Nephrit. Damn you. Zoysite and the Yoma are like, this should be fun. And Nephrite once again tells Naru to run. And once again, she refuses.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: And just as the Yoma are about to attack, who shows up? The girls?
[00:35:44] Speaker A: It's the Sailor Guardians. The Sailor Guardians. And they mean business.
[00:35:49] Speaker B: And so Sailor Moon says, stop right there. How dare you mess with two people who are in love. That's truly despicable. And Sailor Moon says, and now, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you. And then Mercury says, douse yourself in water and repent. And Mars says, in the name of Mars, I'll chastise you. So some new things called out before they attack. I love that.
[00:36:11] Speaker A: I love that Mars. It cracks me up every time. Like, douse yourself in water and repent. All right, that makes sense. But I will chastise you.
[00:36:19] Speaker B: It's just like I'll chastise you. Look out.
[00:36:23] Speaker A: I will make you feel so bad.
[00:36:25] Speaker B: About yourself, you have terrible self esteem. Terrible. Yeah, exactly. And then the Yeomans say, all right, we'll deal with you first. Now die. Guardians dodge thorns, waves and berries. Mercury counters with a bubble spray, which causes the berries to fall to the ground. And then the Yeoman can't see them anymore. And then we have a combination of.
The tiara turns into a flaming tiara. Yeah.
[00:36:47] Speaker A: MTA and Fire Soul.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah, Fire Soul and mta. And that one shot, the three Yoma, they disintegrate into black smoke. And Nephrite's crumpled on the ground. And he says, sailor Moon, it looks like your true identity will remain a secret after all. And then Sailor Moon says to says, don't die.
Naru is now cradling Nephrite. And Nephrite looks. Looks at Naru and says, I'm sorry. Don't think we'll be having chocolate parfait together. Which is super sad.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:16] Speaker B: And Naru says, please stay.
And Nephrite says, looks like I've continued to lie to you to the very end. I'm sorry. And he reaches out and puts his hand on her cheek, and it's very, very. There's tender music at this point. Did you notice this?
[00:37:33] Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
[00:37:34] Speaker B: The slowed down version of the opening theme song played with bells. So it's da da, da da.
[00:37:41] Speaker A: I believe it's the music box version of it is what it's called, or something similar to that. Because it's like a music box.
[00:37:48] Speaker B: Yeah. But instead of the normal.
[00:37:51] Speaker A: Very twinkly.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: And it's very accompaniment of instruments. It's very. It sounds like bells are a music box. Yeah. And it's slowed down. It's very sad.
[00:37:59] Speaker A: Very sad music. It is super sad. And everyone's crying and Nephrite is struggling, struggling.
[00:38:09] Speaker B: And then Nephrite says, thank you for being a part of my life. And at that point, his eyes close and he slumps away.
[00:38:15] Speaker A: And then he fades into sparkles.
[00:38:17] Speaker B: He turns into little sparkling balls and bubbles, multicolored balls and balls. And they start ascending away from Him.
[00:38:23] Speaker A: Yeah. And the part of Naru's pajamas that she used to. To bandage his cut falls to the ground and she just loses it. She is like. It is a. It's super emotional. And the voice actress who plays Naru just encapsulates that just devastating emotion of loss. And she's just crying and is like this. Why did this have to happen?
[00:38:49] Speaker B: And then she. The last thing she does is call out his name in a really emotional. Not fright.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: And then it fades to black. That's the end of the episode.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. It hits hard.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: So. Couple of points then. It is. It's. You know, it's a real downer. I mean, so for the first time that I can recall, Naru didn't faint or black out. She was. She was conscious for the entire exchange.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: And how. How would have been a mercy if she would have fainted? Her. Blacked out.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: Yeah. But no one took her energy.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: So then, true story. Yeah. I'm just saying that in this case, this. You know, she saw the entire exchange.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: And this is also the first death of a major character because we. We didn't. We didn't see Jedi go to the Eternal City. He just was God.
[00:39:35] Speaker A: Well, he. He was encapsulated in a crystal of sorts.
[00:39:39] Speaker B: Yeah. It's different than this.
[00:39:41] Speaker A: This is more like, theoretically, Jadeite could potentially be resurrected from the eternal sleep.
[00:39:47] Speaker B: Right. Nephrite's dead.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: He's straight up gone. No more fried eggs on the epaulettes. Nothing. He's just out.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: So he goes down in the good guy category, in my opinion.
[00:39:59] Speaker A: For sure.
Yeah. And it's. It's intense. They really did.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: I looked. I looked ahead. I look. I looked ahead in the manga because I wanted to see. This isn't how Nephrite dies in the manga.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: No, no, no, no.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: Because there is no. In the manga, there is no subplot of Naru and Nephrite. Nephrite dies at the hands of Sailor Jupiter in the manga. Yes.
[00:40:21] Speaker A: Who's Sailor Jupiter?
[00:40:23] Speaker B: Well, that brings us to next week's episode. Episode season one, episode 25, Jupiter the powerful Girl in Love.
[00:40:31] Speaker A: So exciting.
[00:40:32] Speaker B: So was there anything else you wanted to say about this episode?
[00:40:35] Speaker A: This is. This episode really, like, hits hard. And it is the first of many episodes where, like, you think. And. And when you really think about it, Nephrite's whole arc is not that many episodes.
But you get here, and the voice acting and the story that's been told, this really hits you hard. And then it's just.
It's Just like a.
[00:41:02] Speaker B: Because Naru is so. So sweet and innocent.
[00:41:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: One of the reasons.
[00:41:06] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. She's been nothing but wonderful this entire. This entire time. And it's just like, you know, and. And Usagi doesn't know what to do. She's just. She just feels bad for her friend, and she doesn't know how to advise her, because she can't fully advise her because that would be giving away her secret identity, which puts Naru in danger. And there's just.
[00:41:25] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:41:25] Speaker A: There's so many layers to it. And the emotional punch that this episode is just. It's a good taste of the depth of some of the episodes to come.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: I feel very good. I like it.
I'm in both feet. Yep.
[00:41:40] Speaker A: There's a lot of time. I mean, I have ugly cried watching this show, unsurprisingly.
[00:41:46] Speaker B: Well, I could. I could imagine, because I. I got a little choked up watching this episode when I watched it the first time. Yeah, obviously I watch it several times when I take my notes and stuff like that, but in my first watch through, I don't take any notes. I just watch it and watch it. I was preaching. Yeah. Yeah. I was definitely given the title. I was definitely wondering how it was going to play out. And I think they did a good job with it. Yeah, I think they did a good job with it.
[00:42:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: In telling a story in 22 minutes, which is basically the runtime of the cartoon.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: Take away the intros and all that and the outro and stuff like that.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: It's about 22 minutes of content. They did a good job of him going from bad to good and then him losing his life. Protecting. Yeah, he was protecting Naru. I think if he had been on his own. If he had been on his own, he probably would have been okay.
[00:42:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. He would have gotten out. He would have found a place. But he was so determined to make sure that she wasn't caught in the crossfire.
Even though he was responsible for getting her in the crossfire. But he acknowledged that.
[00:42:45] Speaker B: So still, even so, they didn't have to take her hostage and stuff like that. But, I mean, Zoiside had him killed. I mean, Zoisight's not, you know, Zoisite had him killed just to get the Dark Crystal. I mean, that's all he got out of that.
[00:43:01] Speaker A: Zoiside is quite the character. I'm kind of excited that. I mean, obviously, as you could probably surmise, they were kind of setting it up that we're now going to transition into Zoisight. Just like when Jadei was coming out, we started to hear from Nephrite, so it's going to be interesting.
[00:43:16] Speaker B: I expect him to be a lot less merciful, in a way. I guess we'll see.
[00:43:22] Speaker A: The plot is going to significantly thicken going forward. Now that. Because you get Jupiter next episode, which I'm very excited about because I love that character. She is wonderful. And then I'm excited.
[00:43:35] Speaker B: I'm excited to have a new scout, too. Yeah, I'm excited.
[00:43:37] Speaker A: There's a lot. There's a big gap between when Mars joins and when Jupiter joins, and then there's like a couple of episodes between Jupiter and whatever happens after that. So.
[00:43:47] Speaker B: Right.
[00:43:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So I'm just very excited. It's all right.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: You want to talk to our social media?
[00:43:53] Speaker A: Yeah, social media.
We're on Facebook, as many of you know, and you can find us at across the Mooniverse. It's facebook.com mooneycast of course we have. I did get rid of our Twitter account because I tried to move away from Twitter.
[00:44:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm for that.
[00:44:12] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But I am going to be setting up sometime in the near future a Blue sky account. And when that goes up, I will post that on our Facebook and have that for. For next time as well. Blue sky is just like, better Twitter, so it's less problematic. And then, of course, we have our website, which is across the Mooniverse. Castos.com We try to update our podcast as frequently as possible, but, you know, it's been an interesting, interesting couple of months for both of us. Sickness and busyness and a lot of stuff going on, but we soldier on because we want to see the end of this and we want everyone else to enjoy it as well.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:55] Speaker A: Yeah. So feel free to. Feel free to reach out to us. You can always use hashtag mooneycast for tags and whatnot. And yeah, we'll see you all next time.
[00:45:06] Speaker B: Yes, we will.
[00:45:07] Speaker A: That's so exciting.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: All right, everybody. Happy Moon Day.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Happy Moon Day.
[00:45:12] Speaker B: I'm out of here.
[00:45:13] Speaker A: Bye.
