“You offer free haircuts to girls with little money but want to look great but you don't care about their feelings when you tamper with their hair? You devious monsters are unforgivable! You agree with me, don't you Tuxedo Mask? And In the Name of the Moon, I'll punish you!”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DiC Episode: "Bad Hair Day")
As Usagi feels despondent over the loss of Tuxedo Mask, Minako offers to spend some quality girl time with her to raise her spirits. They even visit a suspiciously new hair salon where they reunite with someone they never would have expected to see.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Bittersweet Ending: Mamoru's brainwashing was a complete success and Queen Beryl is eager to brainstorm new ways on how to use his loyalty against the Princess. Though Usagi's spirits are in a much better place and she's driven to beat the bad guys and save her Prince Charming.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Tuxedo Mask now calls himself Endymion and has pledged his allegiance to the Dark Kingdom.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Queen Metallia considers Endymion to be a valuable ally and would like to keep him alive and unharmed for as long as possible.
- Combination Attack: Mars and Jupiter combine Fire Soul and Supreme Thunder to take out Mitsuami's Swiss-Army Weapon.
- Commonality Connection: Rei sympathizes with Usagi as she knows what it's like to lose the man she loves (her with Mamoru and Usagi with Tuxedo Mask).
- Contrived Coincidence: Of all the hairs on Mina’s hair, the DNA scanners isolate one that got mixed in after she used the same brush as the real Sailor Moon.
- A Day in the Limelight: This is Minako's first real focus outside of her role as Sailor Venus.
- Dreaming of Times Gone By: Usagi dreams about her past as Princess Serenity as how she tried to chase after her Prince from running into danger.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: The fact that Sailor Moon's crush uses his rose attack on her sets up his new allegiance to the Dark Kingdom.
- Foreshadowing: It's Minako who tries to shake Usagi of her depression, despite not knowing her as well as the others do. It will turn out she can relate to such heartache more than she's let on.
- Fusion Dance: The Hair Styling Youma: Mitsuami is created when the brainwashed hair salon attendees rally together and form one body.
- Gave Up Too Soon: The youma mistakes Minako for Sailor Moon, after the Rapid DNA Test picked up the wrong hair. She was literally in the process of washing Usagi's hair when this happened.
- Good Is Not Soft: Artemis insists that they find a way to help Usagi push through her depression so she can prepare herself in using the Silver Crystal.
- Heroic BSoD: Usagi's depression still lingers after losing Mamoru to the Dark Kingdom. She isn't as cheerful, she's barely focused in any of her activities, and she still has nightmares about the tragedy of Silver Millennium.
- Hope Spot: Just as Sailor Moon is about to purify the Monster of the Week and be done with this plot, she suddenly gets hit in the wrist and then sees a rose on the ground.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Despite her commitment to being a Sailor Guardian, Usagi secretly wishes that she could go back to being a normal girl who doesn't fight monsters.
- Innocently Insensitive: Makoto mentions how weird it is for Rei to sympathize with Usagi given their bad history. Though she does apologize when she remembers that she too is a victim of loss.
- Instant Sedation: When the salon workers believe they found Sailor Moon, they use spray bottles on the attendees to render them unconscious.
- Makeover Montage: Minako and Usagi imagine a variety of hairstyles that the latter could pull off.
- Mood Whiplash: Usagi struggles with nightmares and keeps tossing and turning. Luna expresses concern about this trauma, only to suddenly get comedically pinned by Usagi's arm.
- Mythology Gag: Minako is mistaken for Sailor Moon by the Monster of the Week. A major plot point in the manga was Minako pretending to be the Moon Princess to protect Usagi from the Dark Kingdom.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Rei of all people understands what Usagi is suffering through due to losing the man of her dreams and insists that they be patient with her.
- Plot Hole: Supposedly the youma believes that Minako is Usagi because the comb she was using to brush with got some of Usagi's hair which ended up on Minako's head. However, there's no mention or reference of Minako ever using the same brush before they reach the salon.
- Rapid DNA Test: Kunzite's first plan to discover Sailor Moon's civilian identity is to use a single strand of her hair and match it to all the girls who visit his hair salon. The tests themselves are done with the salon's hair dryers.
- Rule of Symbolism: To show that he's now playing for the dark side, Tuxedo Mask's (Endymion's!) roses are now black instead of red.
- Swiss-Army Weapon: Mitsuami's right hand comes equipped with a variety of hair dressing tools that can be used to kill Sailor Moon.
- Tactical Withdrawal: Double-teamed by Endymion and a Monster of the Week, Sailor Moon runs out the nearest door.
- Tears of Joy: Sailor Moon, and later Sailor Mars, sheds these when she sees that Tuxedo Mask is alive.
- This Cannot Be!:
- Moon reacts this way after seeing Tuxedo Mask working alongside the youma.
- When Venus warns Mars of Tuxedo Mask now being an ally to the Dark Kingdom, Mars straight up begs Tuxedo Mask to tell her that it isn't true.
- We Will Meet Again: Endymion, after being ordered to retreat by Metallia.
- Would Hit a Girl: While Endymion is not a man who hurts women, he's willing to cross that line if it means obtaining the Silver Crystal.
- You Are Not Alone: In the last scene, Makoto assures Rei that she doesn't have to suffer her heartbreak alone and can reach out to the others if she wants to.
