 Ep.20 "A Friend in Wolf's Clothing"
Jap.24 "Naru-chan's Tears! Nephrite Dies for Love."
This is a defining episode for the Sailor Moon anime as this episode features the first dramatic death of a major character. Sure Jaedite had died previously but his was the typical supervillian kind of death (well sleep actually) that didn't exactly get one's eyes watering.
By connecting Nephlite to Molly, the previously one dimensional villian has become someone the audience can care for and what's more, someone that would be missed should ge ever be taken away. Add to this the fact that Nephlite has recently been exhibiting signs of heroic behavior and the posibility of him switching sides and his death becomes that more tragic.
The episode starts with Molly and Serena talking about Nephlite who, due to what happened in the last episode, is now known to be inhuman by Molly. However, Molly still loves him and is torn in two over what to do with her feelings. Serena is concerned for her friend.
Over in Nephlite's base, Nephlite has begun to wonder why the Sailor Scouts acted as if they knew Molly and comes to the conclusion that Molly may know who Sailor Moon is. Zoicite is watching Nephlite think out loud and decides to keep a close watch on him from now on.
Nephlite puts in plan into action right away and visits Molly who had been sleeping in her bedroom. He finally tells her that his name isn't Maxfield Stanton and that he's from the Negaverse. He also tells her that he needs to speak to Sailor Moon and that if Molly could tell him who she is she would be saving his life.
Molly of course has no idea who Sailor Moon is and tells Nephlite as much but he doesn't believe her and leaves, though still listens to what Molly does next... she rings Serena to talk about Nephlite.
Nephlite hears the name "Serena" mentioned on the phone and decides that Serena must be Sailor Moon.
Later as Serena and Luna are running towards Molly's house Luna sees Molly being carried by a Negaverse villian though the sky! Luna races after Molly and yells at Serena to catch up.
As soon as Luna is a fair way away however, Nephlite uses his powers to warp reality around Serena, causing her to panic and assume the Negaverse is up to something and transform into Sailor Moon! As soon as she does so though, Nephlite returns reality to normal and appears before Sailor Moon and tells her that he knows who she is!
He attacks Sailor Moon with numerous energy blasts and actually has Sailor Moon on the ropes until Tuxedo Mask shows up to save the day. Nephlite isn't detered by the arrival of Tuxedo Mask however and is about to continue his attack but he is suddenly distracted by Molly's voice screaming for help a far way away.
He teleports away though promises Sailor Moon that he can now attack her anywhere and at any time from now on.
Moments later, Nephlite arrives at an abandoned building where three Negaverse creatures are keeping Molly hostage. They all attack him but suprisingly, Nephlite puts up a rather impressive fight with both physical and magical attacks.
After defeating all three (but not destroying them) he frees Molly and takes her to a nearby park.
As they sit down, Molly notices that Nephlite's arm was cut in the battle and immediately rips a part of her pajamas to make a bandage for his wound. They talk a bit, laugh a bit and even discuss the possibility of a date at one of Molly's favorite ice cream shop. Their conversation is interrupted though by the arrival of the three Negaverse creatures who open fire on the two would be lovers. Nephlite gets skewered by a root attack that leaves him dying on the ground.
Molly won't accept Nephlite's fate and attempts to pull the severed roots out of Nephlite's bleeding body. Despite the roots being electrified, Molly's almost able to remove them but the three creatures attacks once more and Nephlite throws himself in front of Molly to save her and ends up pushing the roots through his body further.
Just then, Sailor Moon, Mercury and Mars appear. Mercury hides them all with her Mercury Bubbles Blast attack (which also disable's one of the creature's red bomb attack) and Sailor Moon and Mars fire off their attacks which combine into a super powerful combo attack and kills all three creatures at once.
They all gather around the dying Nephlite. He slowly turns to Sailor Moon and tells her that it looks like her secret will be safe afterall. Molly is upset beyond words and cries her heart out. Nephlite appologises for not being able to go on the date that they had planned and with that his body gives out and begins to fade away, disolving into a wonderous shiny dust that floats towards the heavens.
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars all have tears running down their faces. Molly continues to cry.
 Monster of the Day
Interestingly enough, this episode features three monsters of the day all of which were summoned by Zoicite to kidnap Molly and make life Hell for Nephlite. Each creature (we're not given their names) has their own unique powers. One with the ability to through small red bombs, the other creates distortion waves and the third can form tree roots with her arms and seperate those roots from her body when needed. All three can fly and they were all killed by a Moon Tiara Magic and Mars Fire Ignite combo attack.
 Shopping Info
This episode of Sailor Moon is avaliable on the DVD "Sailor Moon #4" from Amazon.com for the Region 1 DVD and HMV for the Australian Region 4 DVD (which has the same picture and sound, but better menus and navigation). If you're after the original Japanese episode with English subtitles (and no English audio version) you can get it in the Sailor Moon Season 1 DVD Box Set which is only avaliable in the American Region 1 type of DVD so make sure your player is multiregional before grabbing this. Copies of all Sailor Moon DVDs are selling out fast as the distribution rights for the show have expired so no more copies of DVDs, Videos or CDs are being produced. If you're thinking of buying something Sailor Moon related, buy it fast. You have been warned.
<- Episode 19 - Sailor Moon Anime Guide - Episode 21 ->
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