“Dear Dark Kingdom, I'm writing you today to inform you that I, Sailor Moon, am officially quitting the Sailor Guardians and would like to join your group. Yours truly, Sailor Moon. Ha! Now I can finally have my revenge on Sailor Mars for the way she bullies me all the time! In the Name of the Moon, I'll punish you!”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DiC Episode: "Fractious Friends")
The Sailor Guardians fake a falling out between them and Sailor Moon in the hopes of luring the Dark Kingdom's attention so they can find a way to their secret base. But is it truly a charade or are there hidden issues between the girls that still need to be addressed?
Tropes in this episode include:
- Adaptational Jerkass: The DiC adaptation was not kind to Sailor Mars.
- In the original version, Usagi internally begged her friends not to save her out of fear of falling into Kunzite's trap while Rei knew her intentions and tried her best to keep the others from going in. In the DiC version, Serena actually wanted her friends to save her while Raye kept everyone due to wanting to get a good reading on the portal.
- It's also established that Moon gave the Silver Crystal and Moon Stick to Mars to watch over while she made her deal with Kunzite and his youma. In the dub, Mars reveals that Moon left it in her room so she kept it.
- Alliterative Title: "Fractious Friends" in the DiC dub.
- All for Nothing: The Guardians' efforts in pretending to have a falling out crumbles after Oniwabandanna notices them hiding out in some nearby bushes. It isn't all for nothing, as they do get a reading on the portal.
- Batman Gambit: The Sailor Guardians stage a fake breakup in order to get the Dark Kingdom to open a portal and expose an entrance. It (sorta) works.
- Breaking the Fellowship: The girls try to trick the Dark Kingdom into thinking that they want Sailor Moon out of their league so they can take her to their base.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Usagi tries to convince Naru that Sailor Moon is far too kind and noble to get into a petty argument with her team.
- Camera Fiend: Nana/Oniwabandanna/Ninjanna is very quick to use her camera on the Sailor Guardians.
- Chekhov's Skill: Mars accidentally sight fire to the ground where her Sailor teammates where standing on. She would use this technique to stop Oniwabandanna and her clone army.
- Choke Holds: Oniwabandanna/Ninjanna uses her bandanna to strangle Sailor Moon.
- Combination Attack: Jupiter and Venus combine "Supreme Thunder" and "Crescent Beam" to attack Kunzite.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Played with. Oniwabandanna tries to split herself up into clones to take on each of the Guardians, but Mars sets fire to the ground underneath them, rendering them useless.
- Deadpan Snarker: After the others move in to help Sailor Moon, Jupiter points out she wanted to do this earlier.
- Did You Actually Believe...?: Kunzite taunts the Guardians by asking if they actually believed that he didn't notice their break-up scheme.
- Doppleganger Attack: Oniwabandanna pulls off a Shadow Clone Jutsu technique when she faces the Sailor Guardians alone.
- Dub Name Change:
- "Oniwabandanna" is called "Ninjanna".
- Nana Asahina is named "Nancy Vargas" in the DIC episode.
- Eyelid Pull Taunt: Minus the eyelid, Usagi and Rei stick their tongues out at each other twice in the episode.
- Fighting Your Friend: The Sailor Guardians invoke this by directly fighting against Sailor Moon.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Oniwabandanna gloats that she'll take the Silver Crystal from her corpse, Sailor Moon informs her that she doesn't even have the crystal on her. It's later revealed that she gave it to Mars.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision:
- Kunzite "promises" to let Sailor Moon see Endymion in the Dark Kingdom under the condition that she relinquish the Silver Crystal.
- In the DiC version, Raye keeps ahold of the Moon Stick after Serena leaves it at her house without telling anyone, implying that she had her own scheme going to usurp Moon as the leader. In the end she decides to forget her plan to go help Sailor Moon.
- Genre Savvy: Queen Beryl is not all that convinced that the Sailor Guardians are breaking up and suspects it of being a trap. She was correct.
- Here We Go Again!: The girls aren't thrilled that Moon and Mars end the episode with another argument with tongue sticking.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Despite insisting they hang back so that the plan won't fall apart, Sailor Mars ultimately can't stand seeing Sailor Moon in pain and rushes into action. To Usagi's face, however, she claims she just got annoyed over hearing her once again cry like a baby.
- Hurt Foot Hop: The girls are left hopping and jumping when Mars accidentally sets fire underneath them. Mars later uses this technique to stop the ninja Youma's clones.
- I Can Explain: In the DiC version, when Mars pulls out the Moon Stick, she explains that she didn't mean to steal it, but sinks herself further when she says she kept it. Needless to say, it doesn't help.Sailor Venus: Hey! You know that wasn't right!Sailor Mars: It's not because I want it!Sailor Jupiter: Are you sure?
- Improbable Weapon User: Venus and Mercury attack Sailor Moon with a bush and math book respectively.
- Instant-Win Condition: Kunzite believes that by killing Sailor Moon, the Silver Crystal will be of no use to the Guardians which would makes things easier for him to achieve victory.
- Intrepid Reporter: Discussed with Nana. Artemis finds it strange that someone as unknown and new as Nana was able to cover just about every major political and entertainment story in recent times.
- Kayfabe: The Sailor Guardians stage a fake breakup, but it starts to feel all too real to Sailor Moon, as she starts to suspect that her friends (and especially Mars) really do want to be rid of her as a leader. The DiC version all but confirms that Mars certainly did.Sailor Moon (DiC): (thinking) Maybe they do want to get rid of me. Maybe that was the whole point of this thing..."
- Literal Ass-Kicking: Sailor Mars uses her red heels on Sailor Moon's fanny throughout their pretend fighting.
- Meaningful Name: Oniwabandanna uses a bandanna. Her Dub name "Ninjanna" is a portmanteau of "Ninja" and "Anna", which doubles as a rhyme with and is an anagram of "Nana", her original name.
- Ninja: The Monster of the Week is the Ninja Youma: Oniwabandanna.
- Oh, Crap!: Sailor Moon realizes that the villains intend to use her as bait to lure out the other Guardians.
- Outdated Outfit: The anime is set in the 1990s but Nana dresses in clothing straight out of The '70s!
- Paparazzi: Nana Asahina is a freelance writer who covers all types of stories that are dripping with drama and topics worthy of a good tabloid.
- Pinned to the Wall: Naru and her mom Mayumi get stuck to the wall after trying to find out what Oniwabandanna is doing in their jewelry store.
- Shadow Walker: Oniwabandanna moves from place to place via shadows.
- The Starscream: The DIC adaptation writes Mars as potentially this. Instead of Usagi handing Rei the Moon Stick in secret like in the original, in this version its written that Serena left it at her home and Mars instead keeps it for herself without telling anyone.
- Tabloid Melodrama: Nana works for the Weekly Dokiri; a sleezy magazine company that posts any story that isn't even true.
- True Companions: This episode solidifies Usagi and Rei as this when it's revealed that the former gave Rei the Silver Crystal to hold on to knowing that she would easily surrender the crystal to the Dark Kingdom.
- The Usurper: Usagi at one point accuses Rei of actually wanting her to leave just so she can take over as the leader. The DiC version goes a step further by implying this was Raye's scheme all along, but has a change of heart to save Serena at the last moment.
- We ARE Struggling Together: The Sailor Guardians bicker with each other while trying to stop Oniwabandanna from robbing Osa-P.
- Wham Shot: Sailor Mars pulls out the Moon Stick and Silver Crystal and shows it to the others.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Mars tries to stop the others from saving Moon, Jupiter pushes her aside and asks if she truly hated Sailor Moon.
- Would Rather Suffer: Sailor Moon would rather let herself be strangled to death by Oniwabandanna before letting her friends expose themselves in front of the enemy.
- Wrecked Weapon: Oniwavandanna's sword is broken when Sailor Moon uses her Moon Stick to defend herself.
Alright, that's it! You're not allowed to use my butt for practice kicks!
