“Oh no! The world of animation has become a target! An evil force has set its sight on the trendy anime artists who bring children's joy and dreams to life! How dare they take advantage of passion and friendship! They will pay for this! I am Sailor Moon! And In the Name of the Moon, I'll punish you!”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DiC Episode: "An Animated Mess")
Nephrite's next target is an animator who's been struggling to complete her projects for the upcoming Sailor V movie. Mercury catches on to his plot and informs Usagi and Rei that they're going to the animation studio to investigate, much to their jubilation.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Accent Adaptation: Hiromi (renamed Lori) is given a southern accent in the DiC dub.
- Age-Appropriate Angst: Ami quietly reminds Rei that they'll be in high school soon and questions if she should still be gushing over anime.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Hiromi shouts this to Usagi and Rei when they don't stop squealing like pigs.
- Can't Catch Up: Hiromi catches a glimpse of Kazuko's art pieces and feels worried about not being on the same level as her.
- Closet Geek: Rei is revealed to have an interest in the Sailor V anime and intended to get some autographs from the animation staff.
- Combination Attack: Moon, Mercury and Mars combine their powers into a triple layered attack that annihilates the blunder twin duo.
- Contrived Coincidence: Thanks to Hiromi running across a busy street with Kazuko, she drops her animation folder which get picked by Ami which leads her to Studio Dive which is where Nephrite targets Hiromi.
- Creator In-Joke: Studio Live, the episode's animators, are represented through the fictionalized Studio Dive. With Kazuko and Hiromi based on animation directors Hiromi Matsushita and Kazuko Tadano.
- Deadpan Snarker: Highlighted in the DiC dub when Zoisite shows up to give Neflite crap about his latest plan.Zoisite: Your plan is to poison Sailor Moon with lemonade?Neflite: You've been studying human sarcasm, I see.Zoisite: It's required.
- Didn't Think This Through: Ami turns into Sailor Mercury to confront Nephrite but does so without telling her friends.
- Dub Name Change:
- Hiromi is named "Lori"
- Kazuko is named "Cassie"
- Castor And Pollux are called the "Gemini Warriors".
- The studio boss is given a name, "Mr. Masterson".
- Effective Knockoff: The twin youma use the same attack as Sailor Mars and Mercury which prove to be dangerously effective.
- Everyone Has Standards: The boss is offended when the animator duo believe that he wanted Sailor V to look sexier. He even states that he's a father and he'd never approve of anything so problematic.
- Fainting: Kazuko does this during the part where Hiromi's pencil engulfs her in darling imagery.
- Fangirl: Usagi is all too eager too visit Studio Dive so she can see the production of the Sailor V anime and maybe snag some free animation cells.
- Flashback: Hiromi remembers the time she and Kazuko saw a case of special animator pencils and deciding to buy them.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The second Hiromi orders Usagi and Rei to be quiet, there's a frame that shows them turning into stone.
- Frothy Mugs of Water: In the DiC dub, Zoisite explicitly refers to Nephrite's drink as lemonade, even making a joke about him poisoning Sailor Moon with some.
- Funny Background Event: While Ami tries to get information from Kazuko about anything strange happening in the studio, her friends can be heard fangirling over the animations while fighting each other as usual.
- "Gaining Confidence" Song: The song that plays when the Guardians save the day is called "Tsuki ni Kawatte Oshioki Yo!
" which involves Usagi gaining the courage to transform and fight. - Gender Flip: The animator Hiromi is based on in real life is a man. He and the real Kazuko are married in real life. In fact, the in-universe Sailor V anime seems to have an all-female animation team.
- Killed Off for Real: A brainwashed Hiromi proclaims that she plans to kill off Sailor V in the final scene.
- Magic Feather: Hiromi admits to herself that using the pencils inspires her to make better drawings.
- Mean Boss: While not outright mean, Hiromi thinks of her boss as being super critical and difficult to please.
- Monster of the Week: Two for the price of one this time. We have Castor and Pollux, the Gemini warriors, twin Youma personally trained by Nephrite.
- Never Say "Die": Hiromi plans on killing off Sailor V while under Nephrite's influence. Lori tones this down to being consumed by the dark forces. The DiC dub also implies the new show is meant to teach kids about the glory of the Negaverse.
- Not So Above It All: Kazuko admits to have used her set of special pencils out of fear that Hiromi would surpass her.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Ami gets this reaction when she sees Masato/Nephrite driving in his cool car.
- Both Usagi and Rei get this when Hiromi accuses them of wanting free stuff mixed with Kazuko asserting that they're not freeloaders.
- The Promise:
- Kazuko and Hiromi vowed that they would only use their special pencils for ultimate anime projects as they grow into better animators. Unfortunately, Hiromi broke that promise quite often over the years. Though Kazuko admits in the end that she's just as guilty.
- In the end, the girls make a new promise where they'll keep working to make children's dreams come true with their anime.
- Shadow Archetype: The Gemini Warriors are this to the other bickering couples, Hiromi and Kazuko, Usagi and Rei or even Nephrite and Zoisite.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Castor and Pollux immediately argue about who should deliver the finishing blow which leads to them breaking off their friendship, allowing the Sailor Senshi to finish them off.
- This Cannot Be!: Nephrite is stunned by Castor and Pollux losing.
- Who Would Want to Watch Us?: When Usagi laments about wanting her own anime, Luna snarks that no one in their right mind would want to see her.
