Based
on Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon S episode 99:
Otokono yasashisa! Yuuichirou Rei ni
shitsuren?
Nota
Bene: This is the longest summary I've ever
written. You're going to be scrolling down for a
while. Don't say I didn't warn you!
|
|
Our
story opens with darkness, and flickering
firelight. Observe Hino Rei as she sits
before the fire altar, attempting
divination. The pallor of her skin; the
tension of her features; the stillness of
her form. She is concentrating more
fiercely on this reading than she has on
any other in her life.
See
with the mind's eye. There is a city. It
is destroyed. There is a bright light. It
splits into three. There is a wall of red
light. It sweeps across the desert land
and the Sailor Senshi fall before it.
There is nothing left. This is Rei's
dream.
|
|
Yuuichirou
stood by the door and watched, immobile,
barely breathing. Rei was unaware of his
presence, and he was aware of nothing but
hers.
So
it came as kind of a shock when he
realised Rei's Grandpa was standing right
behind him. (You ever see Grandpa
in a dark room, holding a light under his
face? Kind of a 'world's most evil walnut'
effect.)
|
|
'Young
man, you have a lot of problems! What are you
peeping at this late at night?'
Yuuichirou
hastened to assure Grandpa that he wasn't peeping,
or at least not the way Grandpa thought - he was
worried about Rei because she kept sitting up all
night by the fire, trying to see the future. It
couldn't be good for her. Grandpa became more
serious, and said that although Rei was pushing
herself too hard, she wouldn't listen if they tried
to talk her out of it. He advised Yuuichirou to let
her get it out of her system, whatever it might be.
She would stop when she was good and ready. (And,
according to Annapuma's script, he quoted the
Buddha. Since when is Grandpa a Buddhist? Oh well,
they say Shinto is a very inclusive
religion...)
It
may be easy to take this philosophical view of
things when you're an old fart, but when you're
young and the girl you love is running herself into
the ground and you don't know why, you've got to do
something.
|
Offering
her a pot noodle is just one way of
dealing with the situation.
Unfortunately,
Rei appeared oblivious to his words,
oblivious to everything except the fire
before her. Yuuichirou pressed on,
determined to at least get her to stop for
a snack. Three-minute curry, microwave
spaghetti, Rei's favourite omelets, tuna
sandwiches, rice balls, natto rolls,
coconut jelly (OMG I LOVE COCONUT JELLY)
and bananas for dessert - even with his
best efforts, up to and including pitching
them to her like a TV ad, she never broke
her concentration. (Cloverway's dub
featured a nice line when Chad described
the curry as 'uh, some kinda
meat.')
|
|
Yuuichirou
couldn't help but wonder what she was trying to
see. Edging closer, he wondered if there was any
way he could help. The heat from the fire beat
against his face; Rei ignored it. Currents of hot
air lifted strands of her dark hair and carried
them towards the flames, singing them. The effect
was almost hypnotic, and Yuuichirou slowly reached
out to hold back her hair, as Rei was chanting,
'rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai,
zen!'
|
|
The
moment was broken; no vision came to Rei,
and she relaxed, disappointed. Only then
did she notice Yuuichirou, who jumped away
from her as if he had been stung and tried
to look as though he wasn't doing
anything, certainly not trying to
touch her hair, heavens no. Probably
afraid she was going to blow her top, as
Rei all too often does. Instead, she
smiled wanly at him, and before he could
speak said 'Sorry, but could you ask me
later? This is a really important
divination...'
|
Yuuichirou
could think of nothing better to say than 'Please,
at least tie your hair back so it won't get
burned.' He untied a cord fastened round the
shoulder of his uniform and gave it to her, then
left, feeling helpless to do anything.
After
this tensely emotional scene, we now bring you
several seconds of frenzied yammering and hooting
from the ever-irrepressible and absolutely barking
mad Professor Tomoe, plotting with his assistant
Kaolinite over a work of 'living art,' one of his
nasty little Daimon eggs. Their goal: to find the
Holy Grail and the Talismans and bring about the
end of the world: the Silence.
Of
course, the other imminent Armageddon-like event of
the S series was high-school entrance exams. As Rei
walked down the street next day, feeling like death
warmed up after her sleepless night, she wondered
if she should skip that afternoon's study meeting
with the other girls. She just couldn't stop
yawning. Yuuichirou, still in his role as
ineffectual guardian angel, watched her from behind
a telephone pole.
|
'Rei-san,
you must be very tired...'
'"Rei-san,
you must be very tired..." Yuuichirou said
as he watched Rei from afar...'
Hey,
who's narrating this little drama now, me
or Usagi? Guess I gotta bow to her, she is
the Moon Princess and all. She popped up
behind Yuuichirou and prompted him,
'Please, continue!' Yuuichirou was a
little surprised to see her
|
|
'You
want to watch over your sweetheart! I know the
feeling. Hey, handsome, you make me jealous! You're the best guy in Japan!' Usagi beamed. (I think Yuuichirou should totally use this as a testimonial.)
'Oh...
thanks... N-no! That's not it! I'm just worried
about Rei-san...' Yuuichirou explained the
situation and asked Usagi's expert diagnostic
opinion.
|
|
'Oh,
please! I'm a girl! Rei must be like "I
can't even sleep at night"... of course,
she must be worrying about her
love!'
Y'ever
feel like a big red heart with the word
LOVE in it fell out of the sky and hit you
like an anvil? Probably not, this sort of
thing really only happens to hapless
romantics in anime. Yuuichirou was a
little shaken, to say the
least.
|
'Who's
she in love with?!'
'Silly!
She's trying to find out about how you'll do when
you two are married!'
'R-rei-san
and I... married?'
Usagi
had no idea how deeply this pronouncement affected
Yuuichirou.
'Don't
be shy! It's wonderful! I want to live with Mamoru
- but don't joke about it, I'm shy! Oh, and don't
tell Rei-chan about it, okay? See ya!' And
Hurricane Usagi was off again, leaving Yuuichirou
in transports of bliss, to the interest of several
passers-by.
Speaking
of transport, Kaolinite's interests seemed to have
run that way. She was planting the Daimon egg on
board the To-den train, to lie in wait for
passengers with pure hearts. This is just the sort
of thing Sailormoon villains do while
waiting for the next major plot point.
All
being once more right with his own little world,
Yuuichirou was strolling home with an armful of
groceries when he happened to see Rei talking to a
young, blond man, who was leaning against a parked
motorbike. We the viewers, of course, would
recognise the 'man' as the boyishly attractive
Ten'ou Haruka, dressed, as is her wont, in a loose
white shirt that disguised her figure, but
Yuuichirou was not privy to this information. (This
is positively Shakespearean!)
Haruka
was teasing Rei about her sleepy
appearance.
'Oh,
I did not yawn out loud!' Rei
protested.
'There!
You have shadows under your eyes!' Haruka touched
Rei's face to make her point, and Yuuichirou's
world crumbled around him. Haruka offered Rei a
ride home on her motorbike, saying it would be easy
for her to have an accident if she was unsteady
from lack of sleep. 'Lucky me!' Rei cried, and
hugged Haruka's arm. If anything could have made
Yuuichirou feel worse, this did.
Before
|
After
|
'I...
I've lost her. Rei-san, with a man like that... my
wonderful love is over.' Yuuichirou let his
shopping bags fall to the pavement, and crept
away.
|
Unaware
that he had seen them, the two girls were
getting ready to go. (Safety helmets on, I
was glad to see.) Haruka asked Rei if she
was all set, but Rei wanted her to wait a
moment while she tied back her hair so it
wouldn't whip about.
'What's
with the piece of string?' Haruka asked.
'Haven't you got a ribbon?'
'It's
okay,' Rei said, pulling tight the cord
Yuuichirou had given her. 'This is like a
lucky charm for me.'
|
|
Haruka,
not knowing the backstory, just expressed amused
disappointment in Rei's lack of faith in her. 'I'm
a safe biker!' And they were off with a hiss and a
roar.
As
it turned out, Rei did not skip the study meeting
(would've been difficult given that it was held at
her house), but you couldn't really say she was all
there. Sleeping with your head on the table does
not count as revision in most people's books.
Minako and Makoto tried to wake her and she sat up
with a gasp. Although she didn't tell her friends,
she had been visited by the same evil dream.
Everyone was worried about Rei; Ami went so far as
to say that even with exams coming, she shouldn't
work too hard.
'Oh,
I'm not that desperate!' Rei said, trying to laugh
it off. 'I'll just go and wash my face.' She left
the room. At this point, Usagi got the
giggles.
'How
wonderful! As the saying goes, life is short, let's
enjoy it with love, pretty girls!'
That
got their attention. Minako asked Usagi if she knew
something, and Usagi claimed 'girl's
intuition.'
'But
your intuition is totally unreliable!' Luna
complained. While Ami and Minako tutted about
taking exams seriously, Makoto grew thoughtful, and
slipped out after Rei. She found her in the hallway
outside.
|
'Could
our dresses be any tighter?'
'Talk about Waiting to
Exhale.'
|
'I
don't think it's love. Even if you were
worried about that, you would look happier
than you do. It's something different,
isn't it? Is it about the new enemy?
Please don't worry about it all by
yourself - tell me what's
wrong!'
Rei
thanked Makoto, but said she couldn't yet
pin down what was troubling
her.
'Well,
when you do, the Sailor Senshi will launch
into action!' Makoto declared. 'Oh - but
could it please not be the day before the
big exam?' The two girls laughed. It's
good to have a friend like
Makoto.
|
|
In
a park, in the dark, Yuuichirou was trying
to forget his troubles with physical
training, but could not get what he had
seen out of his mind. Who was that
man? Poor guy. He stopped at a fountain to
get a drink of water, and was distracted
by the sound of music. Silhouetted against
a full moon, her face angelic in its
serenity, Kai'ou Michiru was playing the
violin. As Yuuichirou watched, she was
joined by a figure he recognised as the
man from earlier. Michiru and Haruka spoke
of their mission, to recover the
Talismans. Haruka wondered why they were
making the effort when the outcome seemed
inevitable. Michiru pointed out that they
knew that when they started. 'The wheel of
fate has begun to turn.' Bathed in
moonlight, they vowed to sacrifice
everything if necessary.
|
'Anyone
ever told you you look like Leonardo
DiCaprio?'
|
|
|
Yuuichirou
did not see two girls talking about
calamity in the future; he saw one girl
and one no-good low-down two-timing jerk.
No gentleman, no-one with an ounce of
chivalry, could forgive such behaviour!
There was only one thing to do.
|
|
The
problem with a challenge to single combat
these days, even with an appropriate
setting like a barren vacant lot, and the
weather obligingly providing heavy rain,
thunder and lightning, is that you are
likely to get an opponent who looks at his
watch a lot and says 'Can we make this
quick? I'm kind of busy.' Haruka, in the
boys' uniform of her high school, stayed
under her umbrella and asked the dripping
wet Yuuichirou 'What have you got against
me, anyway?'
|
|
'Ask
yourself!' Yuuichirou wasn't interested in talking;
he was spoiling for a fight. In a scene that would
have been comic if it weren't so pathetic and
humiliating, Yuuichirou tried repeatedly to hit
Haruka, who avoided him without apparent effort
every time, leaving him to stumble headlong into
the mud. Rei, passing by, overheard the noise and
was astonished to see who was making it.
'Yuuichirou!' she cried, and at the sound of her
voice he fell flat on his face. On his hands and
knees in the mud, he looked up at the two of them,
Haruka still provokingly casual, Rei angry, upset,
demanding to know what he meant by this.
'You
really are together...' Yuuichirou said, getting to
his feet. 'Please... don't say anything.' Turning
to Haruka, he added, 'You have to be a
man.'
'Hey!'
said Haruka.
'Don't
break Rei-san's heart. End it with that other girl!
That's all I wanted to say... Rei-san, I wish you
much happiness.' And with that, he left, trudging
through the mud. (Dubbing note: Although Cloverway
were not always careful about following conventions
established in DiC's episodes, as when they gave
Unazuki/Elizabeth an extra brother called Paul,
whoever scripted this episode remembered that Chad
claims to be a musician. As he leaves he says 'So
long... I gotta put a blues band together.' My
friend Kevin really liked that bit.)
|
|
'Shouldn't
you go after him?' Haruka
asked.
'I
don't know...' Rei said. 'He's such an
idiot!' She picked up Yuuichirou's jacket,
which had fallen in the mud, and looked
miserable.
|
Rei's
friends were waiting for her back at Hikawa Jinja,
where the rain had just stopped. The cats were
worried, imagining her alone and soaking wet
somewhere in the city.
'Yuuichirou's
out too,' Usagi said, 'so I bet they're together,
sharing an umbrella and...' she mimed a big kiss.
'Right?' Usagi's overheated imagination made its
usual impression on her audience. Just then, Makoto
burst in and cried 'Come quick! There's a
problem!'
|
Outside,
Yuuichirou, duffel bag on his back, was
taking his leave of Grandpa, who
complained that this was awfully short
notice. 'Please forgive me.' Grandpa must
have been taking Philosophy Prozac that
week, because he just murmured something
gnomic about many things having their
place in a long life, and wished
Yuuichirou well. Speaking very formally,
Yuuichirou said he would never forget his
kindness. He turned to go, but was
surrounded by the four girls (who, in a
glaring continuity flub, had somehow gone
from street clothes to school uniforms in
no time flat), demanding to know where he
was going. 'Please, don't ask.'
|
|
-Song-
Tomorrow,
I'll leave here forever,
With
a person you don't know.
Actually,
it was supposed to be you.
To
the Shinano-way, where Spring hasn't
come...
As
Yuuichirou was leaving, Rei came up the stone
stairs from the street. Time seemed to slow down.
They passed each other without words, and there was
a heartbreaking moment when their eyes met, before
Yuuichirou hurried away. Rei turned to watch him
go.
|
|
|
Girls
who don't love you don't give you
this look when you
leave.
|
'Fool!
Yuuichirou, you're a fool!'
Rei's
friends reached her.
'You've
got to go after him!' Minako said.
'It...
doesn' t matter,' Rei said.
'But
Rei-chan, he's really leaving!' Usagi
exclaimed.
'Who
cares where a stubborn idiot like that goes?' Rei
retorted. Usagi grabbed her by the shoulders,
forcing her to look her in the eye.
'Rei-chan!
Yuuichirou-san was worried about you - he really
cares about you!'
'Then
- then why can't he believe in me?' There were
tears in Rei's eyes.
'Rei-chan...'
Usagi said gently, 'why don't you go and tell him
the truth?'
Rei
hesitated. 'Go on! Reconcile with him!' Usagi
slapped Rei on the back, and the others gathered
round to encourage her. 'I'll hold your bag!'
Minako said. (I just like that.) Rei looked round
at her friends and knew what she had to do. She
took off after Yuuichirou.
Right
now, what I recall
On
the way is you
I
am hoping that the loneliness
Will
one day fade out gradually
|
Yuuichirou
walked to the railway station, lost in his
thoughts and memories, images of the time
he had shared with Rei, the times when he
had thought she might care for him,
flickering in his mind's eye.
|
|
'Goodbye'
is the final word
I
couldn't say it forever
For
me, you are still
One
of the pleasant memories
Of
my youth.
I
must leave you.
Rei
arrived just as the train pulled into the station
and Yuuichirou was about to get on board. Before
she could call his name, dark light beamed out from
the carriage, and the Monster Of The Day, the
Daimon To-den, burst upon the scene. Yuuichirou
stared in bafflement at what appeared to be a woman
with green skin, pink hair and train accessories
sticking out all over her body. Kaolinite appeared,
doing that villain-levitation thing that looks so
cool, and at her command To-den drew the crystal
that represented Yuuichirou's pure heart from his
chest. He dropped to the station platform,
unconscious.
'Stop
right there!'
With
the fanfare that you get for being one of the
goodies, Sailormars appeared on the station roof,
looking seriously ticked. 'To steal that man's pure
heart... the agent of love and passion, Pretty
Soldier Sailor Mars, won't forgive you! In the name
of Mars, I'll punish you!'
Don't
you love it when they make those little 'I'm
here to kick ass and eat candy, and I've just run
out of candy' type speeches? Muhammad Ali would be
proud.
'Would
those of you who are standing please hang onto the
strap!' Or else, apparently, the strap will hang on
to you. To-den trapped Sailormars with one of her,
er, accoutrements. Kaolinite, meanwhile, examined
Yuuichirou's heart crystal and was disgusted to
find that she had wasted her time: it was not a
Talisman. It was suddenly snatched out of her hand
by the links of the Venus Love-Me Chan, and neatly
fielded by Sailormercury. (This is a wonderful
entrance for the Senshi - you see them all
silhouetted against bright white light. Very
dramatic.)
'No
accidents, and obey the rules, is the To-den line's
motto!' Sailormoon exclaimed. 'If you break the
rules, I'll punish you!' Battle ensued. I'm no good
at describing battles, so I'll just tell you the
pertinent fact that Mars stopped the To-den Daimon
with a swift ofuda to the head (To-den: 'Emergency
stop?') then exclaimed 'Now it's our turn! Your sin
for trying to steal Yuuichirou's heart is heavy.
Prepare yourself!' How does one prepare for
a Burning Mandala? And I'm sure you're not supposed
to bring pyrotechnics on board public transport!
Sailormoon finished the unfortunate To-den off with
a Moon Spiral Heart Attack. Kaolinite being long
gone, the Senshi were able to turn their attention
to the unconscious Yuuichirou, gently replacing his
heart crystal.
Some
time later, Yuuichirou awoke to find that he was
lying on a bench at the deserted station, his head
cradled in Rei's lap. Trying to get up, he couldn't
suppress a little 'ouch.'
|
|
'Don't
move so suddenly,' Rei said, fussing over
him. 'You're hurt.'
'Where's
the monster?' Yuuichirou asked, still
disoriented.
'What
monster? You slipped and fell. You must
have dreamed it.' (Yes, the MIB need
Rei-chan.) Seeing that his left arm was
hurt, she proceeded to bandage it, binding
it with the same cord he had given to her
earlier. Yuuichirou recognised the
cord.
|
'You
haven't got the sense you were born with,' Rei
said, smiling. 'Next time, you should give me a
proper ribbon!'
Yuuichirou's
heart was full. 'Yes,' was all he said.
|
'Now,'
Rei went on, 'let's go home. Can you stand
up?' As she helped Yuuichirou to his feet,
something occurred to her, and a wicked
smile appeared on her face. 'And you'll
have to apologise to Haruka later! You
picked a fight with a pretty
girl!'
'A
girl!? Ouch!'
|
|
Still
scolding Yuuichirou affectionately for his
rashness, Rei offered to carry his bag for him.
(Bag-holding, the mark of true friendship.) As they
started home, Yuuichirou was walking
unsteadily.
'Do
you need support?' Rei asked.
'I'm
okay.'
'Don't
worry about it. Lean on me!'
Fade
out....
Ooooooh!
Time for shipper episode analysis!
- Yuuichirou's
unconditional support for Rei, even when she
won't tell him what's troubling her, is just
beautiful (besides his TV commercial act being a
hoot!). I'm reminded of a line from Crowded
House's 'Distant Sun': 'I don't pretend to know
what you want, but I offer love.' And, of
course, microwave spaghetti.
- He
seems to feel he can't touch her, drawing back
when he realises she would notice him touching
her hair; Yuuichirou just about worships Rei. I
just find that rather sweet, if sad. If he could
work up the nerve to make the first move things
might progress more; it's only ever been her
kissing him, and once he was unconscious! (how
non-threatening is that?)
- The
cord from his robe as a good-luck charm? I call
that proof positive of romantic sentimentality
on Rei's part! (Well, I would, wouldn't I?)
Seriously, this shows Yuuichirou has powerful
positive and supportive associations in Rei's
mind, as someone you love would. The cord is
precious to Rei because of who gave it to her.
Otherwise, it's just a cord; she has one of her
own, I've seen her bundle up the sleeves of her
robe with it in earlier episodes, when doing
housework.
- The
scene of trying to fight with Haruka
demonstrates Yuuichirou's true nobility; even
after such total humiliation, his first thought
is for Rei; even when he believes she loves
someone else, he wants her to be
happy.
- I
love the scene of Rei and Yuuichirou passing
each other at the shrine gate way too
much. The setting, the sunset backdrop, the
brief, painful glance - it's beautifully done.
And damn, Yuuichirou is hot!
- It's
great how Usagi and the other girls are rooting
for Yuuichirou; I can't feel bad about being a
big Y&R shipper when all the Inner Senshi
are too! While Usagi is too quick to assume
Rei's pensiveness is because of Yuuichirou, what
she says helps bring the issue to the surface...
of course, it's not like Rei needs to be
worrying about a relationship at the same time
as an imminent Armageddon, but life isn't always
convenient and neither is love. As Giles has
pointed out in Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
there is no good time to do the things that
belong to ordinary life when you have a secret
life fighting the forces of darkness. You just
have to try to fit in some happiness (e.g.
Buffy's birthday party) wherever you can. I also
like the fact that although Makoto gives Rei the
support she needs in understanding there's a
bigger issue bothering her (Mako-chan is such a
great girl), Usagi is the one to give her the
right advice about Yuuichirou. She doesn't
always get it right, but when she does, it's
so right.
- Funky
train youma. Sorry, thought I needed a lighter
note! Interesting, also, that the very vehicle
of Yuuichirou's leaving becomes something evil.
The universe is telling us they should stay
together!
- Generally,
this is such a good-looking episode!
Yuuichirou's wild takes are hilarious, yet we're
also shown how gorgeous he can be. Those moody
eyes... He's always been a comic character, and
still is, but his feelings are taken seriously
in this episode, and this is reinforced by the
style in which he is drawn.
- Another
interesting dubbing point: I found myself
wondering if Cloverway were trying to make up
for DiC's hack job that made Raye appear to be a
big giant bitcah, because this episode
emphasised her love for Chad to the point of, I
thought, overplaying it. Their conversation as
she helps him down the road home is outright
romantic, and appears to leave no doubt that
from now on she considers him her boyfriend. A
conclusion which is hardly borne out by the last
Yuuichirou and Rei episode. I think it's nice
that Cloverway's scriptwriter (who, as I've
pointed out, gave Chad some nifty lines)
believes in their relationship so much, but he
or she missed the point that it's always
deliberately been kept ambiguous (otherwise,
Yuuichirou would have to be in a lot more
episodes and Rei's story would become wildly
divergent from her manga story, which might
annoy Naoko - oh, and I guess it's just possible
that a show aimed at young girls might have some
ethical qualms about depicting a
sixteen-year-old living with her boyfriend) -
and, of course, that implying they live happily
ever after is poor continuity. Maybe they lived
happily ever after until the next morning, as
Spike Milligan once ended a
fairy-tale.
In
this episode Rei is forced to face up to how much
she takes Yuuichirou for granted, and how precious
to her he really is. Obvious, yeah, but so
important. She wants to be with him; it's as simple
as that, or she wouldn't go after him. And by the
end there really seems to have been a turnaround in
how she behaves toward him; it's wonderful to see
Rei taking care of Yuuichirou as herself, in
addition to protecting him as Sailormars (which,
after all, he was never gonna truly appreciate
since he's always unconscious when she does it),
and teasing him affectionately about the Haruka
mistake rather than yelling at him. She gives him a
cue to advance (asking for a ribbon 'next time')
and helps him home, offering the same unconditional
support ('Lean on me') that he offered her in the
beginning. True reciprocity, my friends. If there
were never anything else about their relationship
in the series, you could just feel good about how
this turns out. In fact, the only episode I know of
after this, in the SuperS season, is kind of
a dud - then again, SuperS is generally
agreed to be the weakest of the seasons. So let's
just hold that last image of the two of them
walking together in our minds, and fade in the
music... personally I recommend 'Walking After You'
by the Foo Fighters.
back
to top
|
|
