Usagi: How dare you attack famous fashion designer Yoshiki Usui!
Chibi-usa: Yeah! His cute designs are a gift to this world!
Usagi: That's right! Plus, he's supposed to make a special wedding dress just for me.
Chibi-usa: What?! That's not fair at all!
Usagi: Not now! We have to fight! In the Name of the Moon
Both: We'll punish you!
Chibi-usa: Yeah! His cute designs are a gift to this world!
Usagi: That's right! Plus, he's supposed to make a special wedding dress just for me.
Chibi-usa: What?! That's not fair at all!
Usagi: Not now! We have to fight! In the Name of the Moon
Both: We'll punish you!
(CWi Episode: "Clothes Call")
The famous and flamboyant fashion designer Yoshiki Usui has come to Juuban to promote a new store with outfits that captivate the Inner Girls. But his sudden block in creativity makes him an easy target for Fish Eye who takes over his clothing line as his new muse.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Ambiguously Gay: Yoshiki and his assistant are heavily implied to be romantic partners but nothing is ever confirmed.
- Achievements in Ignorance: Usagi herself lampshades this when she manages to help Yoshiki overcome his artist's block despite not understanding what he's talking about. And since she's getting a wedding dress for free, she's rolling with it.Yoshiki: As thanks for helping me, please allow me to create your wedding dress.Usagi: Okay! I don't know what's going on, but that makes me happy!
- Avenging the Villain: Gomimario plans to kill the Sailor Guardians to avenge his dear cousin Puko.
- Be the Ball: Gomimario, the Sea Lion Ball Lemure, takes on the form of a beach ball when attacking the Sailor Guardians. Though he does take on a human form after Tuxedo Mask pierces him.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: After helping him reignite his passion for fashion, Yoshiki accepts to make Usagi her personalized wedding dress free of charge.
- Book Ends: The story begins and ends with the Inner Girls spectating a fashion show by Yoshiki Usui.
- Call-Back: Fish Eye's Lemure, Gomimario, reveals his cousin was Puko the Balloon Girl who tried to smother Sailor Moon to death.
- Career Versus Man: Fish Eye forces Yoshiki to choose between him, a model that can replenish his career, or his assistant, whom he's in love with.
- Characterization Marches On: While Usagi's immaturity has increased in several ways during this season, she notably makes it clear while out window shopping that she's happy with simply looking at Yoshiki's clothes and doesn't expect nor want Mamoru to buy her anything. When he does offer to buy her an outfit (because she's spent hours gushing over the clothes and the employees are losing their minds), Usagi takes this as some sort of grand gesture and makes it clear she is legitimately grateful that he bought something for her even though she never asked.
- Close to Home: While talking in the park, Usagi correctly guesses that her fashion idol is in a creative slump.
- Continuity Nod: Gomimario is the second cousin to Puko the Balloon Lemure and vows vengeance for her untimely death.
- Crush Blush: All the girls turn red when they see the model wearing a fabulous wedding dress.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- Grossed out over the surplus of male targets, Hawk's Eye openly wishes that there was a law that forbade men from having beautiful dreams.
- After being pushed aside by Yoshiki's assistant and told to back off, Fish Eye orders for him to be terminated.
- "Eureka!" Moment: After his conversation with Usagi about her trying to shameless con him into making her a free wedding dress, the designer realizes that he forgot his true dream was to enjoy designing clothes rather then just working to make them.
- Fashion Show: The theme of the episode revolves around fashion and Yoshiki holds a couple of them to promote his new business.
- Goal in Life: Yoshiki's dream is to make extraordinary outfits that can express the dreams of the women who wear them.
- Hypocrite: Fish Eye has the gall to ask if Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon ever feel embarrassed being seen in their sailor outfits. This coming from someone who wears a blue padded jumpsuit decorated with a fish skeleton.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Fish Eye's collection of fashion is blatantly based on fish and sea-life that (while it looks gorgeous on paper) is horrendously tacky in real life.
- The Main Characters Do Everything: Subverted. While the Inner Senshi attended Yoshiki's fashion show at the beginning of the episode, they otherwise had no involvement in his artistic dilemmas nor any idea he was being targeted by the Dead Moon Circus. In fact, Usagi only ended up helping him by accident because she happened to see him in the park and had the audacity to request a free wedding dress from him.
- Mood Whiplash:
- Fish Eye's first encounter with Yoshiki is portrayed as ominous and surreal as the designer proclaims that he'll make a valuable model. It then cuts to Fish Eye who can't control his laughter while he's being measured by Yoshiki's crew.
- Gomimario's first attack is played quite seriously. But then it's halted after Sailor Moon catches him like an actual ball.
- The Muse: Fish Eye presents himself as a new muse to get closer to Yoshiki which leads to a collection of ridiculous sea critter costumes. In the end, he makes a Sailor Moon themed outfit in honor of the Sailor Guardian who saved him.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: Fish Eye does this after the assistant quits leaving Yoshiki all to himself.
- The Prima Donna: As soon as Yoshiki begs him to be his new model, Fish Eye begins to assert his dominance over everyone by calling the shots for the outfits and criticizing the crew for minor offenses.
- The Promise: Played for Laughs. Usagi promised to herself that she'd wear a wedding dress made by Yoshiki Usui when she decides to tie the knot.
- Pun-Based Title: "Clothes Call" is a play on "close call" in the Cloverway dub.
- Related in the Adaptation: In the dub, the artist and his assistant are brothers.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Yoshiki's fashion crew decide to collectively quit in regards to his new muse's ridiculous decisions.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Usagi makes it clear she doesn't know what Yoshiki's talking about when he thanks her for reinvigorating his desire to create, but if it gets her a free wedding dress then why not.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Yoshiki's "partner" is willing to step back to cater to his new "muse's" demands, even if Fish Eye is acting like a possessive asshole.
- Villainous Crossdresser: Subverted. Instead of dressing like a woman like in other episodes, Fish Eye presents himself as a boy when meeting his idolized fashion designer.
- Villains Out Shopping: This literally happens as Fish Eye saw Yoshiki's fashion show and bought one of his outfits.
- Worth It: Mamoru earns the annoyed reaction of a sales clerk over his girlfriend loudly gushing over clothes for several hours without buying anything. And when he does, it leaves him completely broke. But seeing Usagi expressing gratitude for his gift lets him know that it was worth it.
- Writer's Block: Or artist's block in this case. The fashion designer is having trouble coming up with a new lineup of outfits for his Spring collection.
- You Were Trying Too Hard: Usagi's simple declaration of liking Yoshiki's clothes for what they are unintentionally gives him the freedom from his artistic block. He recalls his early days when he enjoyed designing clothing for the fun of it, and realized he got too far into his own head worrying about deadlines and the business that he stifled his creativity.
