Mistress 9- the Messiah of Silence.
And we’re back with the penultimate set of episodes for Sailor Moon S! When we last left off, there was a ton of stuff revealed- our villain is called Pharaoh 90, and is an unseen otherwordly force. His primary agent speaks through innocent young Hotaru Tomoe, and her father, the mind-controlled Professor, creates monsters as part of the “Death Busters” organization.
The Witches Five are the field agents of the Death Busters, but three have died so far. Hotaru, feared as the “Dark Messiah” that will create The Silence (aka Armageddon) than the Busters are seeking, is the means to their end, which means that the “Outer Sailors” (Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) want to kill her before the world can be destroyed. Horrified at the thought of killing their friend, Sailor Moon and her friends are opposing them. So there’s a TON of drama going on here.
Tellu- appearing only in this episode, for reasons of “Oh shit, we ran out of time.” Ironically, this makes the final Witches Five members more like the manga versions (who are almost always one-offs) than any other “Generals” seen in the show thus far.
EPISODE #121:
The last one on this DVD starts where the last one left off, and the Inner Sailors plead with the Outers to allow Hotaru to live. This is one of those moments where you really see the aloofness of the Outers, as they’re all like “Nah, you’re being naive!” when even SAILOR MARS & JUPITER are pleading in the name of peace. Uranus says some weird thing about “we want to create a different world than you!”, which probably makes more sense in the original Japanese.
This episode is, famously, the only appearance of Tellu, the Third Witch, as “General”. I remember reading this all the way back in the day, learning about the show for the first time, or looking it up on the Anime Web Turnpike (back when “Webrings” were a thing). I was like “wow, the Witches Five were killing each other off? How merciless!”, and then read about the “single-episode” Witch, who died the episode after she took control. Tellu has green hair and a “bun-head” hairstyle.
Tellu’s method for extracting Pure Hearts? Why, A FAD BASED AROUND A NEW SHOP, OF COURSE!!! I am ASTONISHED by the sheer power of her originality here, you guys. I mean, who would have ever guessed that she would get a bunch of people obsessed with a new fad. Her “Tellu Flowers” boast that they do not require water nor fertilizer to bloom. And OMG, it’s a SETSUNAH episode!!! Which has like, never happened before! Except all she does is pick up the flower study it using a computer at her home, and then arrive to meet the Usagis, before they all check out the flower shop. The “Tellun” flowers are stealing Pure Hearts, and Pluto injures herself jumping in the way of an attack meant for “Small Lady”, but Usagi wipes out the flowers.
Tellu’s all “You’ll pay for that!” and creates a Hyper Tellun that seeks out Pure Hearts and then explodes. She brags a bit while leaving, leading to Tuxedo Mask disarming her of the black star that was holding all the Hearts she’d grabbed, which leads to the Hyper Tellun grabbing HER, and though she snares it with her vines, they both disappear in a screaming flash of light! And… that’s it for Tellu. I gotta say, her anguished death-screams are MUCH harsher in the original Japanese; she just yells out “Stop!” in English.
Viluy, whose tea-cozy headpiece probably meant the animators were happy she’s just a one-off.
EPISODE #122:
And now we get another one-shot villain, in Viluy (pronounced “Vill-YOU-ee”). She has a pretty terrific design, with white hair and a cleavage-baring, light-blue outfit, resembling a lot of “Snow Queen” designs in a way. The weird “doileys” all over her outfit make her stand out, too. And her plan is to lure a ton of students into the “practice exam” room at Mugen Academy, then swipe their Pure Hearts. And then she calls out Kaolinite, all “Why don’t YOU collect some Pure Hearts, instead of just flirting all the time?”. BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH.
Viluy’s “student” look.
Ami meets Viluy in her civilian disguise as “the other girl who got a perfect score on the national practice exam”, and she brags about how anyone with high marks is allowed to teach at the Academy. Ami, however, is DIGUSTED with the idea, as high marks alone shouldn’t cut it- a good instructor has to be able to understand the feelings of even the students who are struggling! Viluy chides her for being “naive” and not sounding like the kind of person who could get a perfect score, then taunts Kaolinite AGAIN, and enacts her plan to get the school’s computers to steal Pure Hearts.
Meanwhile, Haruka & Michiru arrive in the basement, finding the freaking MESSIAH OF SILENCE in her “room of dolls”. They plan to attack, but Ami is there for some reason, and she stands right in the way, refusing to allow harm to come to Hotaru. Haruka gives the same “naive” insult, but then Viluy arrives and attacks with her Mosaic Buster, which eats the targets alive using nano-robots. Mercury actually counters the attack that wipes out the two elder Sailors, but another button press sends the robots at her. Viluy taunts, but then the OTHER Sailors arrive, and the distraction allows Uranus & Neptune to transform, each one blasting Viluy.
She tanks the attacks pretty well, but the Rainbow Moon Heartache breaks her wrist-device… so when she attacks with the Mosaic Buster AGAIN, it turns on her! As she screams and hits the ground, being devoured by the robots which don’t recognize her, Ami chides her prior sentiment that “Science doesn’t require feelings”, because now those “unfeeling” robots had turned on her, since there’s no understanding in them. Viluy thus fades away into nothing, her wristband disintegrating as well. Kaolinite just chuckles that now she’s saved the trouble, while Chibi-Usa is comforted by Mamoru & Setsunah (who is becoming a very maternal figure here, and seems more naturally suited to the maturity of Mamoru- something that I believe comes up in the manga but not the anime). And now, the Death Busters know the identities of the Sailors!
In a great ending bit, Haruka & Michiru stand before the Sailors, with Haruka saying “Ami Mizuno… your naivete has allowed the Messiah of Silence to escape. But it also saved us.” Michiru adds that for now, they’re very grateful to her. This episode was actually REALLY GOOD, breezing by at a good pace, and giving some interesting character bits from Ami, who can often be a bit dull (deliberately-so). Kate “Frankie Stein” Higgins just KILLS IT in this one, doing a really good job making Ami’s points sound very sympathetic- her sadness and concern when she points out that “good grades don’t necessarily mean you’ll make a good INSTRUCTOR…” is pitch-perfect delivery.
Cyprine & Ptilol, the final remaining members of the Witches Five, which of course number six.
EPISODE #123:
With four Witches 5 members gone, it’s time for the last one, Cyprine, to take over. Meanwhile, Kaolinite schemes to take the advantage, by scoring the “purest heart there is”- that of Chibi-Usa! Cyprine takes the pure heats of an army of Mugen Academy students, and the Sailors get right to fighting- but Cyprine appears immune to their attacks! And she has a “duplicate”- the red-themed Ptilol! It turns out that the two of them can reverse anything thrown at them, so they make short work of the girls. But then the Sailors use their Limit Breaks… and by that I mean SEASON ONE ATTACKS, BITCHES!!! Bubble Spray! Fire Soul! Moon Tiara Action! And all of that is just a distraction for Jupiter to goddamn TACKLE Cyprine, sending her chasing the most talented of the Sailors. Then Sailor Mars channels the spirit of the Macho Man and hits a FLYING DOUBLE-AXEHANDLE on Ptilol! Damn, too bad she didn’t spin her finger around in a circle afterwards.
Mars & Jupiter are being chased down and about to get blasted… at which point Mercury’s old “Fog of War” trick causes Cyprine & Ptilol to blast EACH OTHER, resulting in a screaming death for both. Goddamn these girls are good once they get going. Meanwhile, Sailor Chibi-Moon enters Hotaru’s home, and is immediately beaten by Kaolinite. Tuxedo Mask & Sailor Pluto, the Back-Up Rescue Squad, arrive to distract her, but are easily avoided and the villainess abducts Chibi-Moon.
The Sailors, including Uranus & Neptune now, find the rift in space holding the hideout for the bad guys, and see Chibi-Usa on a slab, surrounded by a force field and a bunch of hanging bells. That whole “bells creepily ringing every time magic is used” thing is just SO anime. And then THAT GODDAMN CREEPY SINGING STARTS UP, with the “laaaaa laaaaaa… LA LA LA laaa…” as Hotaru powers up into “Messiah of Silence” mode, stealing Chibi-Usa’s pure heart. Sailor Moon BEGS Professor Tomoe to spare everyone- “You’re Hotaru’s father! If you love her…!”, and he inquisitively responds “LOVE? What is that?”
Mistress 9 appears!
And of course as soon as she gains power, Hotaru turns from a good child into an evil adult woman (because adult women = evil, if this show’s taught me anything). Uranus & Neptune are astonished- “That’s not Sailor Saturn!” And indeed, this is the true Messiah of Silence– Mistress 9. She makes a crazy friggin’ face as lightning bounds about, and Mercery delivers the exposition to make the viewer understand: “The Death Busters must have placed something inside Hotaru that has just awakened!”. Kaolinite is delighted to hear the Professor tell her she’s worked hard, but before she can say she loves him… Mistress 9 just casually executes her. “Kaolinite’s role is done”. Mugen Academy explodes as the Sailors flee.
Mamoru’s life force can keep Chibi-Usa alive (in the manga, he’d shown Healing Powers already… here, it’s just like an “Oh, their bodies are linked now” like this is just something they figured out how to do), and the Outer Sailors are prepping to kill Mistress 9.
So, um, yeah- this just got pretty epic.
(First Appearance: Cyprine, Ptilol, Mistress 9)
SWO Productions 