Live Action Update (Fortieth Episode Synopsis)

Tuesday, July 20th - 03:00 pm
Update - Jay Navok

Sorry, this was the most exciting picture of the episode I could find.

Screencaps credit Serecindra with picture hosting thanks Bill Heineman.

LAUNCH CHECK: OKAY! A HUGE, MEGA, ULTRA, SUPER, GIGANTIC, MAGNIFICENT, CHOU-, INCREDIBLE, FANTASTIC, SUPERLATIVE-TASTIC CAN'T-BELIEVE-WE'RE-AT-EPISODE-40 THANK YOU!! to Hoshiko and Kenji this week for preparing this synopsis of Act 40 of the live action series!!! THANK YOU!

Act 40

Minako sits staring straight ahead. "Artemis," she says, "I've...decided." Artemis turns around to face Minako, making a little noise of surprise. "I'm going to quit singing," she declares. "Minako!" "The time remaining to me is gradually becoming smaller. I can't afford to do unnecessary things any more." Artemis skits closer. "W-w-wait! I want you to have time, not as Sailor Venus, but as Aino Minako." Minako turns around to look at him. "Why?" she asks. Artemis sputters in disbelief. "'Why'?!" She gazes at him seriously. "I was reborn in order to fulfill the mission of the Past, so I must live for that." She turns her head to stare straight ahead again. "Other than Sailor Venus, there is no me." "Minako..." Artemis drops his head sadly. Minako gets up and walks to the window, staring out at the lights of the neighboring buildings. "I have to tell the president." A small smile comes to her lips. "Even though he'll have a fit."

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OP
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"I see," says Ami, "It's not whether the Earth is destroyed or not, it's about not letting it be destroyed." She looks at Usagi, who nods. "I'm going to try and do my best to not use the power of the Illusionary Silver Crystal, even though I still use it without knowing," she finishes up that last part looking down at the table, seeming a bit embarrassed. "You can do it. I'm sure of it!" encourages Rei. "And we'll support you!" adds Makoto. Usagi nods happily. "It's as you believed," says Luna, "Chiba Mamoru wasn't an enemy, right!" Usagi looks down at the watch she has in her hands and agrees, "Yeah."

---

In the Dark Kingdom, Jadeite hesitates visible for a few seconds before steeling himself to approach Beryl. "Queen Beryl," he says, dropping to one knee. She turns. "Ah, Jadeite! I'm glad you came. Your loyalty to me wasn't shaken by that trivial matter." Jadeite struggles to keep his face calm as he remembers the incident when Beryl made the Shitennou's weapons to come to life against them. "You're the only one I can entrust with Endymion," she says. Jadeite flinches and looks pained.

---

In a fancy restaurant, Minako waits alone at a table set for two. She takes a sip of her tea, and as she sets down the cup, Sugao, the company president can be seen peering in from the window outside. Minako waits patiently and Sugao dramatically peers around a corner, eyeing her for a second before making his presence known. "Good morning!" Minako returns his greeting with a smile. "Good morning!" Sugao strolls to the table and sits himself down on the empty seat. "What is it? You suddenly become so formal and want to talk to me about something. Isn't that unusual?" "Actually-" starts Minako, but she's cut off almost immediately. "I know! I know! I know! You don't like the drama job, right?" "No-" "You might not like being an actress, but it's necessary, you know." Minako tries again, "It's not that-" "I said I know!" he interrupts, "When the recording for the new song is over, I'll let you have a little break." "President-!" Minako starts desperately, but to no avail once again. "So, the commercial and photo book, you'll do them, right?" Minako hesitantly agrees. "I got it..." "Okay!" Sugao says cheerfully, "Then, shall we eat something?" He flips open the menu and starts to order while Minako sits, disappointed. "Veal fillet stuffing and round croquette, please."

In her room, Rei sits on the floor reading a book. She's so engrossed she doesn't notice Artemis' appearance at her door, until he bangs on it. "Sailor Mars!" he calls. She looks at him in surprise. "Artemis!"

At Studio Q, Minako is half-heartedly putting on her make-up in the dressing room. A knock at the door causes her to snap out of her daze. "Come in!" The door opens and entering in dramatic fashion is Sugao. "Good morning!" "President?" she asks, "You said you weren't coming today." "The photoshoot has been cancelled! Cancelled!" he says eagerly. Minako turns around in surprise. "It's sudden, but the photo book won't be of you, but of another girl. Come in!" he calls loudly. Another girl comes walking down the hallway and steps into Minako's dressing room. Minako stands, surprised. "Maaars Reiko!" announces Sugao. Rei stands there, radiating defiance. "An amazing find, don't you think? She's a diamond in the rough! A diamond in the rough!" Minako glares back with surprise. "We decided that she would be our agency's most recommended idol! We're going to go all-out in supporting her! Oh!" Sugao's hand flies to his face in a dramatic expression of surprise. "That commercial I talked about yesterday, Reiko will do that, too." Rei continues to glare icily at Minako.

I like sparkles.

Shiny confetti falls from the sky as Rei poses dramatically, cameras flashing. Minako watches, fuming, as Rei seems to really get into the role, posing like a model with umbrella, fan, and even violin bow to the encouragement of the camera man. "Yes, that's good! Yes! Very pretty! Yes, that's good. A little more! Good!" Minako continues her fuming and finally bursts out with, "It doesn't matter. I would have quit no matter what." Turning, she starts to walk away, but Sugao conveniently picks that time to drawl loudly, "Somehow you're different from Minako." Minako stops and looks at Rei, who's still posing but manages to direct a satisfied glance at Minako between poses. "Reiko, you're the best!" Sugao cheers. Minako stares daggers in their direction. "Good!" gushes Sugao, "That's good!"

---

Mamoru walks into Crown and smiles. Motoki's hunched up over the counter, lying on a big turtle stuffed animal. "Mamoru!" Motoki bolts upright, revealing that the turtle is wearing the muffler Makoto gave him. "What's up with you? Recently, I haven't been able to contact you at all." "Sorry," Mamoru apologizes, "I've been busy with various things." The rattling of glass announces the arrival of a person awkwardly carrying a tray. Mamoru watches the person, who stops right in front of Mamoru. Nephrite lifts his face from the tray and, noticing Mamoru with surprise, goes back to focusing on the tray. "Oh him," says Motoki, "Recently, he's started as a live-in part-time employee. He's Neph-kichi." "Neph-kichi?" repeats Mamoru. "His name is hard to remember, so I gave him that nickname!" Motoki makes a thumb-up sign, pleased with himself. Mamoru glances at Nephrite and a laugh escape before he can help himself. Nephrite's heard jerks up at hearing Mamoru's laugh, and he angrily approaches Motoki. "You bastard! Did you give me a laughable name?" "Hey! It's not like that!" insists Motoki, "It's endearing!" His smile quickly fades as Nephrite edges closer angrily. "Oh! I have to clean up inside, so I'll leave the rest to you, okay!" Motoki runs away frantically. "You're safe," Mamoru says gently. "It would have been preferable if I had died!" Nephrite replies, not meeting Mamoru gaze. "Idiot," responds Mamoru, "Didn't it turn out okay for you?" Nephrite hesitates for a moment before turning to Mamoru and pleading, "Master! Please take me to the Dark Kingdom! I beg you!" "What will you do if you go?" Mamoru asks. "I'll go against Queen Beryl..." Nephrite is shaking visible from his barely contained rage, "It's for that that I haven't died yet." "Forget that," Mamoru urges, "You've become a normal human." "So I should throw away my pride as a Shitennou?!" Nephrite asks. "It would be better that way," Mamoru replies, surprising Nephrite. Mamoru's expression softens and he says gently, "If anything happens, consult Motoki. He's a good person." Mamoru turns and leaves Nephrite standing there, bursting with emotion. In a burst of frustration, he throws the tray on the ground and clenches his fist.

---

The lights turn on at Rei's photo shoot. A staff member runs on set and announces, "Okay! Break!" Sugao gushes in English, "Marvelous! Marvelous!" He bows and tells the staff, "Thank you for all your hard work." Minako watches in frustration. "You'll be a hit, there's no mistake!" Sugao tells Rei, who responds with an almost pretentious, "Thank you!" Minako presses her lips together in anger as Sugao fawns over Rei. "You aren't hot? You aren't hot? How's your hips? Your legs?" Minako gathers herself and steps forward. "President!" she says loudly, approaching them. "Oh my! Are you still here?" asks Sugao. "The canceling of the photo book, I can't consent to it!" "Well, that, you see..." he starts with a grand nod. Rei does her own nod with an oily smile that makes Minako glance at her. "Oh, your new song, I thought I'd let Reiko do that, as well. It's perfect for her debut CD." "The new song, too?" asks Minako. "Oh! Do you have some kind of problem with that?" Sugao baits, "The way I've seen you lately, it didn't seem like you'd want to sing it." "I'll sing it!" declares Minako. She turns to face Rei. "It will be better than if it were done by Mars. Without a doubt!" Sugao mutters loudly, "Here it is! She hates to lose." "If you say that," purrs Rei, "we should decide by a contest." "Contest?" repeats Minako.

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CM break 1
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Usagi is in her dining room, laughing and watching TV when her Teletia S rings. "Yes? Hello?" she answers it absently. "Yeah. Huh?!" Suddenly, all her attention is on the phone call. "With Minako?! I'll go! I'll go right now!" Closing her phone, she leaps to her feet, Luna in hand. "Mama! I'm going to go out for a little bit! If you're not watching the TV, can you turn it off!" she asks as she runs out of the dining room. Ikuko doesn't seem to have heard. She's staring into a pink hand mirror, back to the TV. "I wonder the plan for becoming a reporter failed? I thought it was good." She perks up. "Ah! Sugao's video must have failed!" On the TV, Suzuyan says, "Madam, I don't think so!" The audience laughs. (Suzuyan is PGSM director Suzumura is a cameo role.)

Why don't they walk out to the Rocky theme? WHY? WHY??

A Orange Broadcasting, a stage is all set up for the contest. Sugao steps out in a flashy outfit to emcee the event. In a rather sedate manner for him, he introduces the show. "A special presentation. The contest for the new song. Aino Minako versus newcomer Maaars Reiko. Battle tournament! Wagering the recording of the new song, the top idol and the newcomer bring their friends and have an all-out battle. And now, the curtain rises." He gestures and the girls appear. Minako and Rei are first, followed by Usagi and girl Luna on Minako's team and Makoto and Ami on Rei's. Minako's team is wearing white tank tops and Rei's team has the exact tank top in red. Usagi and Luna wave their hands about excitedly, cheering "Yay! Yay!" The girls stop and the cameras move closer. "It's starting!" whispers Usagi to Luna, who nods. "Minako! Let's do our best!" encourages Usagi. "Wow, how nice," Makoto says enviously. Turning to Ami, she whispers. "But, what's the meaning of this? This Mars Reiko?" Ami whispers back. "It's Rei's business, so I think she has some sort of idea, but..." Rei stands by herself, a smile playing across her lips. "Okay okay okay!" Sugao says loudly, "No talking during the recording! Okay, then...the captains, please go to the special boxes!" Minako and Rei do as they're bid, opening up the doors to two adjacent chambers. "Oh, and what's your name?" Sugao asks. "Ki-Kino Makoto!" "Kino Makoto. How cute!" Makoto let out an embarrassed laugh. Sitting down inside the chambers, Minako speaks to Rei through the clear wall as they both remove their hats. "What are you thinking? Dragging the Princess into this?" "We ordinarily don't call her Princess," replies Rei, "and we don't treat her like a princess." Minako looks at Usagi who's waving to her energetically. "Oh! You're so tiny, aren't you?!" Sugao asks Luna. "I'm not tiny!" Luna responds indignantly. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Well then, the first match, a jumping showdown! Usagi versus Makoto!" Makoto is up first. Ami cheers her on from the background. "Mako-chan! Good luck! Yay! Fight! Mako-chan!" Makoto nods and starts running towards the jumping wall. She jumps onto a trampoline and then reaches as high as she can, her velcroed jumpsuit and mitts causing her to stick. She's reached the edge of the green section, almost into the highest blue section. "You did it!" Ami cheers with big pink pompoms while Luna sighs. "Yay!" says Ami. Makoto holds up her fist in triumph, but then looks around for Usagi. Spotting her, her eyes widen in surprise. "Usagi! Good luck!" cheers Luna. Usagi's all the way on the other side of the stage, stretching. "Here I go!" she says. She readies herself, then runs wildly towards the wall, jumps of the trampoline and crashes painfully. When she recovers enough to extract her face from the wall, she notices that she's reached up past the blue section. Turning around, she displays her red nose and cheers, "I did it! Ouch!" "Winner!" declares Sugao, "Minako Team!" Luna twirls around in her chair, cheering. The balloon above Rei starts to inflate. "If the team loses, the balloon above the leader's head will gradually get more and more dangerous, so be careful. Minako looks worried.

"The next battle is Donketsu!" It's Luna versus Ami. Usagi cheers Luna on loudly while Luna hums and strolls to the platform. "Ami, good luck!" cheers Makoto. Not to be outdone, Usagi uses her megaphone and shouts, "Luna! Don't lose!" Luna turns and waves. She's swaying back and forth excitedly on the platform while Ami just readies herself. When the music stops, she sticks her butt out and Luna goes flying off. Usagi and Makoto are stunned. Ami turns to see Luna's legs kicking in the air. "Sorry," Ami apologizes. The balloon above Minako gets bigger. Rei looks over at Minako and laughs.

"The third match is a tail tag game! The one who gets their opponent's tail first is the winner!" Usagi readies herself, but Luna stops her. "If it's tails, it's gotta be me," she says, pulling her own tail into her shorts. Brushing foam from her hair, she goes ahead in front of Usagi. With a white cat tail and a white cat ear headband on her head, Luna steps into the fenced off area. Makoto stamps her foot. She's got a cow tail and cow ears. She turns and poses menacingly, causing Luna to cower. "Ready....Fight!" Makoto chases Luna all around the playing area. "Luna! Wait! Luna!" Luna eludes her grasp, though, until Makoto manages to get her cornered. She edges towards Luna, arms open to grab her. In a desperate move, Luna ducks as Makoto tries to grab her, and grabs Makoto's tail as she crawls through her open legs. "I did it!" Luna cheers. Makoto turns and falls to the ground in disbelief. "Winner!" announces Sugao, raising Luna's arm up. "Minako Team!" Minako raises her fist in triumph before catching herself. Rei hunches lower as the balloon gets bigger.

She is not upset at having to do the math problems. She is more disturbed by YOUR FACE. Oh snap!

Sugao rips two big pieces of paper off the wall. Behind are massive math problems. Ami, glasses on, turns to Usagi with a smile. Usagi looks worried for a second and then whips out a calculator, smiling. Frantically, she punches in numbers, but it's not enough. While she's still fiddling with the calculator, Ami's already writing the answer: 2040893.50042. "Done!" she says. Usagi freezes and looks over in shock. Sugao examines Ami's answer with his glasses and looks up at Ami in shock. Raising her arm, he announces. "Winner!" Usagi lets out a wail on disappointment. The balloon over Minako's head gets bigger.

Makoto challenges Luna to a contest of moving beans from one plate to another using just chopsticks. With a smile, Makoto moves her beans easily while Luna fumbles around. A timer goes off and Makoto announces happily. "I'm done!" "Okay!" Sugao grabs Makoto's hand. "Winner!" To Rei's delight, the balloon over Minako's head gets bigger again.

Usagi challenges Makoto to tug of war. Usagi heaves with all her might at one end while Makoto holds on casually with one hand on the other. With a little "Hoi!" Makoto tugs hard and sends Usagi flying. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Makoto flexes her muscles in victory. The balloon over Minako's head gets bigger again. Rei crosses her arms over her chest in satisfaction.

Luna and Ami challenge each other in a plate spinning contest. They're spinning their plates on top of pointed poles, when Luna sneezes. She disappears and her plates drop. Sugao's jaw drops. "Oh! She disappeared!" "Okay! Okay! Next! Next! Next!" Usagi runs in and ushers him off while he's still in shock. "She disappeared! She disappeared!" Minako flinches and looks over at Rei, who glances away with a satisfied look.

Usagi steps into the ring wearing a full body sumo outfit. She beats her chest. Makoto steps up, tugs up her suit's belt and does a few palm slaps in the air. "Makoto! Good luck!" cheers Rei. Usagi and Makoto ready themselves in a crouch and then both stand trying to bump each other out of the ring. "Go! Go!" cheers Rei. Minako clenches her fists as the fight continues, the look on her face getting more and more pensive. Rei notices with a smile. Usagi falls to the ground. "Reiko's Team are the victors!" announces Sugao. Ami cheers wildly. The balloon over Minako's head grows even bigger until finally, with a loud noise and a cloud of white, it pops, showering Minako with white powder. Rei looks down at her. "Too bad," she says. Minako glares miserably at her, covered in white. She gets to her feet angrily. "Not yet!" she says.

"And now for a commercial break," Sugao announces.

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CM break 2
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I do this every night before I go to sleep.

"Finally, the final showdown! The Leader Balloon Smashing Battle!" Minako and Rei each have balloon strapped to their helmet, stomach, knees, and elbows. They're also each equipped with a large foam sword. They ready their swords and go at each other as if they were real swords. Usagi, Ami, and Makoto cheer loudly in the background, but stop when a helmet affixed with a balloon like Minako and Rei's is held out to them. "Won't you help your leaders?" Sugao asks. The girls break out into big grins. Usagi grabs the helmet and stands up. "Okay!" Minako and Rei are fighting with each other when a shout from Usagi makes them look up. "Let's go!" The three girls go charging towards Minako and Rei, who dodge and run around them. "Oh dear! Intruders! Intruders!" announces Sugao. "Hey!" says Rei, "What are you doing?" asks Minako. They look at each other then quickly spring away, bringing their swords at ready. Their glares melt into laughs and together, the charge the other three girls. Rei runs over to Usagi and points towards Minako. With a cry, Usagi goes over to Minako and the two teams attack. "Usagi!" cries Minako, "circle around back!" Usagi nods and runs off. Makoto takes the opportunity to come in and pop the balloon on Minako's head. "Got it!" she says. "Makoto!" Minako cries and chases after her. Rei laughs and gets the balloon on her head popped for it. "Carelessness is one's greatest enemy!" exclaims Usagi happily. "Usagi!" Rei runs after a screaming Usagi. Ami gets the balloon on her head popped by both Minako and Ami, and Usagi turns around to get whacked in the head. Chaos soon erupts as balloons get popped left and right. The girls are running around frantically, their excited squeals echoing throughout the stage. Sugao gestures to one of the camera men and dismisses him. He nods and says into his microphone, "Everyone ok! Everyone ok!" All the other crew members start to leave, leaving only Sugao and the girls, who are still trying to pop each other's balloons. "Minako," he says, "I won't forgive you quitting singing." A cg Luna walks up next to a cg Artemis and gives a sigh of relief. Artemis echoes her sigh, but appears to be sad. Minako drops to the ground, exhausted, and is soon followed by Rei and the other girls. They all laugh.

---

Makoto, girl Luna, Usagi, and Ami are walking home, still laughing. "Oh, that was fun!" exclaims Usagi, "Being together with Minako!" Luna nods emphatically. "We've never done anything like this until now, even though she's our ally." Ami pauses and turns as the other girls keep walking. "But you know, Minako..." continues Usagi. Ami smiles, "Could it be that Rei did it for that reason?" Blinking, she realizes that she's getting left behind and runs to catch up.

Rei approaches a building. Inside, Minako's recording her new song. "Don't make a face like you're saying "I'm sorry." / My sadness is such that I forget even how to walk / Those nights we can't meet, who's with you? KISS KISS It's love's fault, right? / BANG BANG That a hole has opened in my heart." Sugao watches Minako record, a proud smile on his face. Minako waves. "I won't show my tears. / Because that's the battle inside me. / ALL RIGHT"

"A love that is not just a smiling face, / overcoming the pain, I will protect it to the very end. / When I think of you, I become warm. That's the only thing I believe in. / I'LL BE HERE." Makoto, Luna, Usagi, and Ami continue walking along, laughing and gesturing excitedly. Rei stares at the building as Minako finishes up her song.

Luna whirls around. "There's a youma's presence!" she says. That grabs the other girls' attentions quickly. The all stop and turn. "What?!" Following the youma's presence, they run down a flight of stairs. Waiting at the bottom are the cloaked youma. "The ones that always show up again," says Usagi. "We still have energy left from the game," Makoto says, "Let's go in one move!" They nod and face the youma.

NEVER MAKE HAPPY FACE AGAIN.

Minako's singing again, providing some cool background music for the fight with the youma. ^_~ "Though someday, someone may be hurt by this, / my heart won't stop. / I CAN TRY IF I WANT TO / I CAN TRY LIKE I HAVE IT RIGHT. / I want to be by your side, but..."

"A love that is not just a smiling face, / overcoming the pain, I will protect it to the very end. / When I think of you, I become warm. / That's the only thing I believe in. / I'LL BE HERE." Sailor Moon jumps in the midst of the youma, slapping one and kicking another. Jupiter allows her wrists to be captured by two youma. Bringing her arms together in one big effort she slams the two youma into each other. She cheers. Mercury back up into a youma and uses her butt bump to knock it over while it's confused. Sailor Luna gets cornered by three youma and she ducks through the legs of one, getting through, and pushes it back into the wall. She poses victoriously. The four senshi ready themselves and all together, finish the youma off with moonlight stick and star tambourine. The youma disappear in a flash of light. "We did it!" cheers Sailor Moon. The four run together and give each other a four-way high five. "Yay!"

Rei stands with Minako outside near the water. "Did you do that in order to make me sing?" Minako asks. "I'm not that kind," says Rei, "I'm just irritated that all you see is the Past." "We have a mission," replies Minako. Rei ignores the comment and walks past Minako. "Recently, I've come to hate the word 'Past.'" "Mars!" says Minako heatedly, "We inherited a mission from the Past, and-" Rei spins around. "That's not it!" she yells. Calming herself, she goes on, "It's not like that. Your present is the problem. If it were me, if the probability wasn't zero, I'd have the surgery." Minako is speechless for a few moments, looking down without expression. Then, raising her gaze up, an annoyed look crosses her face. "You still don't understand the weight of our mission!" she cries and then walks on past Rei and away. Rei turns to watch her leave. Minako walk on in a huff, stopping when she sees Artemis in front of her. "Minako..." he says sadly. Minako remembers the fun she had earlier that day, laughing with everyone. She looks down at her palms, and a drop of moisture blooms on one of them with a splash. She reaches up to feel her cheek and is surprised to find herself brushing away tears. Wrapping her arms around herself, she cries.

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Act 41 Preview

Exciting preview pictures preview things for you.

"Looks tough!" says Naru, standing in an apron with Usagi, Ami, and Makoto. Children run by behind them.

"It's terrible!" Naru exclaims, grabbing Usagi by the hand and pulling her away from hanging up the laundry. She drags her away. Two of the cloaked youma approach Naru and Usagi. Naru lets out a frightened wail. "What are they?!" she asks from behind Usagi. "Naru!" urges Usagi, looking around.

"Is something going on?" asks Naru, coming up behind Ami and Usagi. "Let me join, too!"

Naru, in her apron, looks on as Princess Sailor Moon walks by amongst flames. "Usagi...what's happened?"

There we go! So many, many thanks to Hoshiko and Kenji!!

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