“What in the world?! A human got turned into a monster? Now I can't punish him! I've never encountered anything like this in my entire career as Sailor Moon! But this is no time to worry about that! What the heck! I'm just gonna do it! In the Name of the Moon, I'll punish you!”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DiC Episode: "Jupiter Comes Thundering In")
Usagi meets up with a rather tall girl named Makoto Kino, who rescues her from being mugged on her way to school. Everyone sees Makoto as a violent bully because of her history of getting into fights in the past, but Usagi is able to see otherwise. To Usagi's surprise, Makoto happens to be a Sailor Guardian herself.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The DIC dub removes a lot of Crane Game Joe's Jerkass behavior, including him rejecting Makoto, and states that he donates the prizes he wins to poor children.
- Ascended Fangirl: Makoto admits to being a fan of Sailor Moon and is immediately turned into a Sailor Guardian who gets to fight alongside her.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Makoto instantly picks up from Usagi and Rei's bickering that their friendship is strong and that they really do care for each other.
- Badass Normal: Even before unlocking her Guardian powers, Makoto proves to be an incredible hero on her own right. Along with taking out street creeps like the trash that they are, she also challenges Zoisite and Gamecen into individual fights and proves she can handle them.
- Blatant Lies: When offered one of Makoto's snacks, Usagi claims that she's not a Big Eater.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: As Crane Game Joe showcases, a person who has their Rainbow Crystal taken from their bodies by Zoisite is transformed into they were reincarnated from.
- Breaking Old Trends: Luna informs Usagi that she has to purify the Monster of the Week instead of destroying them like before. Justified since the monster in this episode Was Once a Man.
- Canon Foreigner: The Seven Great Youma were created specifically for the anime. They were regarded as some of the Dark Kingdom's greatest warriors but were sealed away in the shards of the Silver Crystal.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: Queen Metalia informs Beryl that the key to finding the Silver Crystal is to search for its shards known as the Seven Rainbow Crystals. Queen Beryl would then explain to her remaining Generals that the Crystals are locked away in six humans and a cat, living in the human world/Japan.
- Dub Name Change:
- Makoto Kino is named "Lita Kino" in the DIC version.
- Sailor Jupiter's attack "Supreme Thunder", is called "Jupiter Thunder Crash".
- "Crane Game Joe" becomes "Game Machine Joe", and "Gamesen" is "Game Machine Man" in the DIC version.
- The "Moon Stick" is called the "Crescent Moon Wand".
- Establishing Character Moment: Makoto effortlessly destroys three brutish men after witnessing them trying to mug Usagi and then generously offers Usagi some of her lunch.
- Internal Reveal: Zoisite reveal himself to Sailor Moon as her next opponent and another member of the Four Heavenly Kings.
- Here We Go Again!: The ending has Makoto fall in love with a new guy: Motoki Furuhata.
- Jerkass: Joe rudely pushes away Makoto even when the latter tries to help save him from Zoisite.Joe: I don't care about her. Besides, giant girls like her really aren't my type.
- Mind over Matter: Joe is revealed to have some level of telekinesis which he exploits to win at claw games.
- Monster of the Week: The Youma/Negamonster of this episode is "Gamesen" or "Game Machine Man". Who attacks with a long and retractable whack-a-mallet from his arm.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands:
- Queen Beryl modifies Nephrite's black crystal to detect the Earthly reincarnations of the Seven Great Youma.
- Additionally, Sailor Moon learns Moon Healing Escalation to purify humans who were turned into youma.
- Post-Stress Overeating: Makoto tries to do this by ordering a big plate of curry after being rejected by Joe. But she decides to switch to tea instead.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Seven Great Youma were imprisoned in the rainbow shards of the Silver Crystal. From there, the Rainbow Crystals were transported to Earth and now reside in seven Earth beings of the new world. And by Zoisite pulling out the crystals with his own, the Youma return by taking over the bodies of their reincarnations.
- Sissy Villain: Zoisite swears vengeance on Makoto for striking a blow on his flawless cheek.
- Something Person: "Game Machine Man", Gamesen's DiC dub name.
- Story Arc: This is the first episode of the "Rainbow Crystal" Arc.
- Transfer Student Uniforms: Usagi at one point asks why Makoto's uniform is different and she responds that Juban Middle doesn't have a uniform in her size, so she's allowed to wear her old one.
- Villain Opening Scene: The episode starts with Queen Beryl using the collected human energy to reawaken Queen Metalia.
- Wham Episode:
- Queen Beryl manages to reawaken her master, Queen Metalia.
- Makoto Kino is revealed to be the fourth guardian, Sailor Jupiter.
- Luna gives Usagi the Moon Stick, a symbol of her new role as the leader of the Sailor Guardians.
- Who Dares?: Makoto does not hold back on Gamecen when he attacks Sailor Moon.Makoto: I am a huge fan of Sailor Moon! How dare you hurt her like that!
- Word, Schmord!: The DiC dub gives us this sick burn after Lita transforms for the first time.Sailor Moon: Lita's Sailor Jupiter!Game Machine Man: Ah Jupiter, Shmupiter!
- Would Hurt a Child: The three thugs at the beginning have no problem threatening to mug a 14-year-old girl.
- You Remind Me of X: Makoto develops a crush on Joe because his crude attitude reminds her of the senpai who broke her heart.
