The Mysterious Sleeping Sickness: Protect the Girls in Love

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Despite the title, this episode is not about trypanosomiasis, but about a mysterious radio show that causes lovesick teenage girls (and lovesick teachers) to be really sleepy. This episode also marks the first proper appearance of Jadeite (the man) as the Villain-Of-The-Season, disguised as the extremely creative J. Daite.

This kind of inoffensive filler episode is the heart and soul of Sailor Moon. No, nothing important really happens here, but the episode is incredibly enjoyable - and these padding episodes make the significant episodes feel way more meaningful in the end. It has an interesting message that resonates well with the target audience, unlike last episode.


This episode marks the first appearance of Usagi's disguise pen; a device that feels criminally underused throughout the whole show, as it appears in only a handful of Classic episodes and then never again.

I do feel like it's a shame that Luna's ability to create these useful gadgets is never really used properly in the show after this. Whilst her first power is given to her by Luna, her subsequent powers are then given to her by, in order: herself, Tuxedo Mask, some cup, a paedophile, herself again, and the literal Universe.

It also marks the first real sign of Usagi's attraction to Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru, with the very obvious foreshadowing of her walking into Mamoru whilst talking about her future boyfriend...


The animation in this episode is hilariously terrible at places, though. The bit of Jadeite walking is literally just a cel of his face moving around the frame a bunch, presumably to avoid animating his walk cycle.


Overall, this episode is an example of filler done right - it's a fun, interesting episode with some key foreshadowing to the future of the series. I give it a 3.5/5.


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