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[OP - "Moonlight Densetsu"]
In an open field beneath a railroad bridge, a large hairy swordsman is issuing a kendo challenge... to a small girl (the kid looks no older than Chibi-Usa!) with long blue hair. The girl, who says her name is Akiyama Miharu, accepts the challenge, and the two charge at each other and exchange blows with their bokken [wooden practice swords].
Usagi, Makoto, and Rei, who are watching the fight from a distance, are impressed with the girl's style; Usagi says that the contest is just like an old-time Samurai battle. Makoto points out the girl's camp, complete with a wooden sign proclaiming her name and kendo school, directly beneath the bridge. Rei says that the girl has been camping there for three days and has won ten kendo matches so far. (By this time, the little girl has defeated the swordsman from before.)
Usagi is surprised to see Chibi-Usa (who is wearing a headband) run up to Miharu and ask the girl to be her teacher. Miharu apologizes, but says she's still learning, herself, and can't teach anyone until she becomes the number one warrior [actually, the word she uses is "kenshi", sword-fighter] in the country. She starts to walk away, but Chibi-Usa stops her with an offer of "three meals and a nap." ^_^
[title screen]
Usagi stares in shock at her room, which has been stripped of everything (including the carpet) and turned into a temporary martial arts dojo for Miharu. Chibi-Usa explains that she couldn't just leave Miharu outside where it could rain, so she invited her to stay at the Tsukino house (and got Ikuko-mama to help fix up Usagi's room). Miharu says she'll return to her tent beneath the railroad bridge if she's causing trouble, but Usagi quickly says Miharu can use the room however she likes.
Later, the Tsukino family watches appreciatively as Miharu slices vegetables with her bokken. Miharu says she's a little embarrassed to be seen showing off like this, but she wants to help out since she's staying rent-free. Ikuko asks if her parents aren't worried about her. Miharu says that her father died of illness years ago, but she stops before saying anything about her mother. She quickly goes back to chopping vegetables. Usagi frowns at her evasiveness.
In the Dead Moon Circus bar, the Amazon Trio are looking over their pile of photographs in search of a new victim. Tiger's Eye selects the picture of Miharu. Hawk's Eye wonders if he can handle a girl who aspires to be the toughest warrior in the country, but Tiger's Eye thinks it will be an interesting challenge. Fish Eye is looking forward to seeing Tiger's Eye's technique; Tiger's Eye, with an evil smile, says he's looking forward to this, as well.
In the open field near her camp, Miharu is hitting a practice dummy when she's interrupted by another challenger--a tall, blue-haired woman with a shinai [bamboo sword]. Usagi and Chibi-Usa, who are watching, cheer far Miharu, but the woman quickly defeats the little girl, then continues to hit her repeatedly with the shinai, telling her that she's training in vain and should just quit. Finally, Usagi steps in and tells the woman to stop--the match is over. Miharu informs Usagi that the woman is her mother.
Later, Miharu explains to the two that her mother disapproves of her training... but Miharu is training to fulfill not only her own dreams, but her father's as well. She wonders why her mother doesn't understand, and begins to cry as she remembers being with her mother before their conflict began. Watching her, Usagi looks angry.
Some time later, Usagi and Chibi-Usa stand at the front door of Miharu's school (which is also her mother's house)--"The Way of the Holy Single Sword"--yelling over and over for Miharu's mother to let them in. After a minute or so of this, Miharu's mother comes up the steps behind them, carrying a bagful of groceries, and asks what they're yelling for. ^_^ They ask her why she doesn't help Miharu instead of opposing her, but the woman tells them not to butt into family business and proceeds into the house, saying that Miharu's trouble is her refusal to do anything *except* train. Usagi and Chibi-Usa continue to stand outside yelling for her to reconsider. Chibi-Usa says that even Usagi is a little better than Mihuaru's mom--a comment which quickly starts a fight between the two girls.
Back at the bridge, Miharu is practicing against the dummy again and wondering how she's going to defeat her mother to become the strongest warrior in the country. She looks over and sees a man in a strange frilly costume (Tiger's Eye), who introduces himself as Miyamoto Torazo of the Dead Moon Way. Miharu takes this as a challenge, rejects his attempt to distract her with a cup of tea--and then turns hurriedly when he yells "One!" and she hears something behind her. Tiger's Eye's Dream Mirror extraction platform disappears back into the ground as she turns. (Apparently, she reacted too quickly and he doesn't want to blow his cover yet.) Tiger's Eye takes out his own sword, and the two prepare to fight.
[commercial break]
The sword in Tiger's Eye's hands starts spinning, and then he leaps at Miharu. She knocks the sword out of his hands as he flies past her, but it continues spinning as it hits the ground and disappears. Miharu turns to see Tiger's Eye ready with another sword. The two charge at each other again and exchange several blows. As she confidently dodges one of his sword-strokes, his sword magically extends until it hits her midsection and knocks her down.
Tiger's Eye starts to walk away (he's reading a martial arts classic by the famous warrior Miyamoto Musashi as he leaves), but Miharu gets up and asks him to wait. She says she's impressed with his skills and that he must be a famous warrior. [Note: The joke in the following dialogue, as far as I can tell, has to do with Tiger's Eye's misreading of the kanji for the name Miyamoto Musashi.]
Tiger's Eye: Well, not so widely known, but my warrior style
is related to the famous Miyamoto Takezo.
Miharu: Miyamoto Takezo?
Tiger's Eye: What? You don't know the famous Miyamoto
Takezo? The guy who fought with Sasaki Kojiro at Ganryu Island!
Miharu: Are you talking about Miyamoto Musashi? Tiger's Eye:
God! His name should be read Musashi... Damn! They should have
spelt out the proper pronunciation!
Miharu: Excuse me...
Tiger's Eye: Right! The guy who couldn't be famous because
his name was so similar to the famous Miyamoto Musashi, the
mysterious founder of the deadly sword style!
Miharu asks Tiger's Eye to be her teacher. He says that he can't really teach anyone because he's still in training himself--but, since she has such a beautiful dream, he'll make an exception for her. She eagerly follows him off the field.
Usagi and Chibi-Usa are returning from Miharu's house. Chibi-Usa is still fuming over the behavior of Miharu's mother, but Usagi wonders if maybe the woman's position makes sense after all.
Usagi: She seems to do it on purpose...
Chibi-Usa: What purpose?
Usagi: ...for some reason...
Chibi-Usa: What reason?
Usagi: I don't know! I just don't know, either! But it must
be true that no mother doesn't love her children...
As Tiger's Eye leads Miharu to his "secret" training location, they are spotted by Rei and Makoto (who appear to be returning from a shopping expedition). The two girls are surprised to see Miharu with a strange man. They decide something is wrong.
Tiger's Eye leads Miharu to a secluded spot in what looks like a park. He tells her that his style is very difficult to master and orders her to close her eyes. She obeys him (though she now seems to have some doubts about the whole thing), and he changes into his regular Dead Moon Circus outfit and begins to count. "One!" A board pops up from the ground and hit Miharu in the back. "Two!" Shackles appear and fasten her to the board. At this point, her eyes snap open; he scolds her for not following directions, and gloats about how easy it was to trick her into following him. He finishes counting to three, and her Dream Mirror appears.
Suddenly, Usagi and Chibi-Usa come running up and transform. Tiger's Eye finishes looking through Miharu's Dream Mirror, expresses disappointment that all his hard work has come to naught, and prepares to kill Miharu. He is stopped by a well-aimed Sparkling Wide Pressure from Sailor Jupiter. She and Sailor Mars, along with the two Moons, make the usual intro speech. In response, Tiger's Eye summons up a knitting lemure (shaped like a spider) who appears to be playing cat's cradle with some string. Tiger's Eye disappears, leaving the lemure to finish up.
Mars and Jupiter tell Moon and Chibi-Moon to take care of Miharu while they handle the lemure. Mars throws a Fire Soul at the monster, but it forms a sort of tunnel with the string which redirects the attack back at her.
Miharu recognizes Sailor Moon, and prepares to attack the lemure (which now has Jupiter and Mars on the run). The lemure forms another angular shape with the string; the shape then becomes huge and crashes to the ground, narrowly missing the Senshi. The Senshi tell Miharu to run, but she says that the rules of her discipline don't permit running away. She charges at the lemure, but it just leaps over her. Jupiter dissolves the huge string structure with her attack, picks up Miharu, and carries her back to the others, dodging more string projectiles on the way.
Mars taunts the lemure about its seeming inability to make any more of the string weapons, then attacks as the monster lets its guard down. This proves to be a mistake, however, as the lemure dodges the attack and throws enough string to wrap up the Senshi and take them out of the fight. The monster snags Miharu's bokken with more string and tries to pull the weapon out of her hands, but the little girl won't let go, even with the Senshi yelling at her to get away. Finally she simply releases the bokken, which snaps back and hits the lemure in the head. While it's stunned, Miharu unties the Senshi and the two Moons do thier Twinkle Yell-Moon Gorgeous Meditation attack. Once the lemure is blown away, the Senshi gather around to congratulate Miharu on a battle well fought.
Later, back on the field near Miharu's camp, Miharu and her mother confront each other once again. The mother charges forward, but steps into a trap and falls into a shallow pit (apparently dug by Miharu in advance). Miharu tells her mother that she has finally realized the importance of paying attention to things other than training, and from now on she'll be a "multi-talented warrior." Her mother says that she's glad, but that she'll have to punish Miharu for using such a trick in a sword fight. She picks up the little girl under one arm and carries her off, Miharu laughing all the way. Apparently, their good relationship has been restored.
Chibi-Usa asks Usagi if Miharu will ever be the strongest warrior in the country, and Usagi says yes--because she's with such a nice mother.
[ED - "Watashi-tachi ni Naritakute"]
Copyright ©1998-2000 Stephen Congly
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