Sometimes peace of mind is gained by a piece of cake!
“What a relief! Chibi-Usa's all better! But now she's back to hitting on Mamo-chan! The cure for my jealousy? Cake of course! But who's this mysterious woman in the bakery?! Ahh! The Guardians have all turned into fattening treats! That's it! No more sweets for me! In the Name of the Moon, I'll punish you!”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DIC Episode: "Emerald Takes Over")
Esmeraude begins her first mission on Earth by locating areas in the past known as Negative Points. And her first stop just so happens to be the grand opening of a dessert shop which is attended by the heroes.
Tropes in this episode include:
- A-Cup Angst: Usagi is the only one that gets distressed upon Esmeraude disparaging the sailors for having flat figures, due to her own insecurity.
- Age-Appropriate Angst: Upon their first meeting, Esmeraude belittles the Sailor Guardians by calling them "skinny, pimply schoolgirls with flat chests and flat butts". Jupiter returns the favor by calling her "an old lady".
- Annoying Laugh: When meeting the Sailors, Esmeraude lets out such a loud and high-pitched Noblewoman's Laugh that Usagi and Minako cover their ears, unable to endure it.
- As You Know: Saphir shows a hologram of the Future Guardians defending Crystal Tokyo from the invading forces of Prince Demande.
- Badass Normal: Mamoru takes on Marzipan in his civilian form to give the girls time to transform.
- Beam-O-War: Sailor Mercury uses Shine Aqua Illusion against the Droid's pastry attacks and proves to be the winner.
- Big-Breast Pride: When Esmeraude disparages the Sailor's "flat figures", she puts her High-Class Fan on her chest to emphasize what she means.
- Big Eater: Both Usagi and Esmeraude hold no punches in stuffing themselves with pastries at the bakery.
- Buffet Buffoonery: Usagi and Esmeraude take advantage of the dessert shop's "All You Can Eat" offer by engorging themselves on all the cake they can eat, disturbing everyone watching.
- Cartoon Throbbing: After Usagi punches the metal pole, her fist becomes red and comically large, to illustrate how it's swollen and throbbing.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Usagi is in a jealous fury for most of the episode due to her "allowing" Chibi-Usa to go on "date" with Mamoru. It's the reason why she gorges herself in the cakes at the buffet.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: Esmeraude to Rubeus. Rubeus employed the Spectre Sisters to target future Crystal Points while he planned to take credit for their efforts, Esmeraude works alone and is directly involved in nurturing Negative Points. And while Rubeus can be described as a grim, sinister monster who's treated very seriously by the narrative, Esmeraude is more of a comedic villain because of her pompous attitude mixed with the misfortune she suffers during her missions.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Esmeraude decides to make all the women customers the first sacrifices to her Dark Henge as punishment for judging her during her eating session.
- Dowsing Device: Using her black crystal earring, Esmeraude is able to locate potential Negative Points.
- Ear Ache: Venus and Moon have to cover their ears when Esmeraude delivers her Noblewoman's Laugh.
- Edible Theme Clothing: The Sugar Rush Droid, Marzipan, wears candy wrappers, chocolate roses, and Hershey's kisses as part of her costume.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Sailor Mercury picks up on the hint in Tuxedo Mask's speech on how water can melt away Marzipan's sugar attacks.
- Even the Girls Want Her: When Esmeraude proudly walks around town in her civilian disguise, some of the women civilians are shown blushing as they gaze upon her.
- Evil Plan: Esmeraude explains to Prince Demande that her project will be an inversion of Rubeus' scheme. She'll be tracking locations in 20th Century Tokyo which are already filled with negative energy called Negative Points and place henges in each site. The henges will transmit Dark Power from their future base to those Points which will overrun the surrounding areas with amplified Dark Power. Once enough henges have been placed and matured, the Black Moon Clan will be able to transmit an excessive burst of Dark Power that will corrupt the entire world.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Esmerause is disappointed by how the Sailor Guardians look upon meeting them, calling them "skinny, pimply schoolgirls with flat chests and flat butts" while also boasting about her own beauty and figure.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!: Usagi's friends try desperately to stop her from making an absolute spectacle of herself as she eats the desserts with Jabba Table Manners.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Esmeraude manages to garner the attention of the men in Juuban as she does a Supermodel Strut down the street.
- Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Usagi resorts to eating as many pieces of cake as she can to cope with Chibi-Usa "stealing" Mamoru from her again.
- Ignored Expert: Ami gives a quick warning on how cakes lack any nutritional value but is shut down by her friends who just want to eat in peace.
- Instant Costume Change: Esmeraude uses her powers to instantly change her civilian clothing into her usual Black Moon outfit.
- Internal Reveal: Esmeraude introduces herself to the heroes as the next representative of the Black Moon Clan.
- It's All About Me: Esmeraude commissions Saphir to create the Dark Henges in her image which he finds to be in poor taste.
- Jabba Table Manners: Usagi and Esmeraude show no restraint as they devour all the cake in the shop.
- Literally Shattered Lives: Sailor Mercury warns Venus that their friends have turned into sugar and the slightest bump can cause their bodies to shatter into tiny, bite-sized pieces.
- Logical Weakness: Cakes are known to melt away when they come into contact with water or liquids. Mercury uses Shine Aqua Illusion to weaken the Sugar Rush Droid and save the day.
- Mutagenic Food:
- Esmeraude laces the new batch of pastries with her dark magic which turns anyone who eats a piece into solid sugar.
- Marzipan's main attack involves turning the Sailor Guardians into living pastries.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Esmeraude has a moment of panic after realizing that she let herself get carried away in eating the cute desserts which led to her public humiliation.
- Never Gets Fat: Neither Usagi nor Esmeraude gain a single pound from their binge-eating.
- Never My Fault: Usagi instantly blames Chibi-Usa for making her eat all the cakes.
- Not So Above It All:
- Ami is won over by the power of sweets and accepts that they're nourishment for the soul.
- Esmeraude talks about how everyone in the 20th century is a savage and how everything there is beneath her, but gets comically distracted by the free cake buffet and how delicious they are, to the point she forgets about her usual composure and engages in Jabba Table Manners.
- Oh, Crap!: Esmeraude gets this reaction when she sees all the cake shop customers judging her for her sloppy eating habits.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Esmeraude's civilian disguise is comically inept at hiding who she is, especially since some of her most iconic visual features, such as her long green hair and her High-Class Fan are still present in it. The only reason the Sailors didn't recognize her was because they hadn't met her yet.
- Punch a Wall: Usagi is so frustrated with letting Chibi-Usa go off with Mamoru that she punches a metal pole. It goes as well as you expect it to.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tuxedo Mask nopes out of the scene when Esmeraude tries to flirt with him.
- Skewed Priorities: Mamoru warns Usako not to eat the cake after seeing them turn the customers into sugar. Usagi instead focuses on how he called her by her Affectionate Nickname.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: Demande, Esmeraude, and Saphir all take shots at what a failure Rubeus was for being incompetent and fruitless in besting the Guardians of Tokyo's Past.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Luna suggests that Usagi join Chibi-Usa and Mamoru on their outing so she won't be left out and maybe she can have a chance at talking to the guy. But it's too much for Usagi to handle.
- Stepford Smiler: Usagi puts on a brave face by allowing Chibi-Usa to hang out with Mamoru. She does this because A. she doesn't have the money to properly treat her. And B. she doesn't want to show how miserable she is with as they're still broken up.
- Sticky Situation: Marzipan attacks the Guardians with some goopy white frosting that gets stronger and more adhesive when applied more. She successfully immobilizes Moon and Mars with the stuff, almost turning them into living pastries.
- Supermodel Strut: When Esmeraude first comes to Earth, she does so with a confident, hip-swaying strut that causes everyone to turn and stare at her.
- Super-Speed: Marzipan is exceptionally fast as she succeeds in evading the Guardians' attacks while turning them into pastries.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: Upon meeting Tuxedo Mask, Esmeraude flirtatiously notices how handsome he is. His response is to nope away and let the girls handle her.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Before disappearing to the future, Esmeraude promises the Sailor Guardians that she will succeed in defeating them and conquering the past.
- Villainous Glutton: Esmeraude binges on pastries alongside Usagi (who is quite gluttonous herself), to the disturbance of all the customers inside.
- Worth It: Minako declares that all their battles and tribulations were worth it now that she and her friends can eat the delicious desserts.
- You Are Fat: Artemis warns Minako that she and her friends will get fat if they indulge in the sweet temptations, and they lock him up in a bag as their response.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: The Guardians get this reaction when Esmeraude gives a bloated, over-the-top speech about how great and powerful she is.
