Computer School Blues (Interim Episode)
| Episode Data | |
 Sailor Moon is stumped by Garoben's questions. | |
| Original Episode | |
| Name (Kanji/kana): | 天才少女は妖魔なの? 恐怖の洗脳塾 |
|---|---|
| Name (Romaji): | Tensai Shoujo wa Youma nano? Kyoufu no Sennoujuku |
| Name (Translated): | Is the Genius Girl a Youma? Brainwashing School of Terror |
| Name (Viz Dub): | The Girl Genius Is a Monster: The Brainwashing Cram School of Horror |
| Episode Number: | 8 |
| Director: | Junichi Satou |
| Writer: | Sukehiro Tomita |
| Animation Director: | Kunihiko Natsume |
| Air Date: | May 2, 1992 |
| Previous Episode: | Usagi Learns a Lesson! The Road to Stardom is Tough |
| Next Episode: | Usagi's Misfortune! Watch Out for the Rushing Clocks |
| TV English Dub Episode | |
| Name: | Computer School Blues |
| Number: | 5 |
| Company: | DiC |
| Air Date: | September 1, 1995 (Canada) September 15, 1995 (USA) |
| Previous Episode: | So You Want to be a Superstar |
| Next Episode: | Time Bomb |
| Tokyo Side Stories Interim Episode | |
| Name: | Computer School Blues |
| Segment: | Pinako asks about Sailor Mercury, Central explains that she nearly got Sailor Mercury killed before she could be awoken by misidentifying her as Garoben |
| Number: | 161 |
| Previous Episode: | The Sweetest Dream |
| Next Episode: | Computer School Blues |
Usagi and Luna meet Mizuno Ami, a girl of genius level intelligence. While Luna is suspicious that she may be an enemy, Usagi is keen to befriend her.
Contents
Summary
In the Dark Kingdom, Jedite informs Queen Beryl of his research into the Japanese education system. However, the system in question seems to be making little impact on Usagi, who is dreading her latest test results. While her mother despairs over her poor grades, Luna is frustrated by her lack of commitment in finding the princess. That night, Luna goes into the Game Center Crown and uses the Sailor V game to speak to an unseen contact. She reports sensing a strange aura around a girl she recently encountered, and suspects that she could be one of the enemy.
The girl in question is Mizuno Ami, a student attending Usagi's school. When the mock exam results are published the next day, Ami is placed first — not just in the school, but in the whole country. Naru, Umino, Kuri, and other students are all loud in their disapproval of her, thinking Ami is stuck-up and arrogant, but Usagi is not so sure. They lower their voices when they see Ami staring at them sadly.
After school, Luna follows Ami and jumps onto her shoulder, still sensing the strange aura. Usagi apologises to Ami, and wonders if Ami might be able to teach her the secret of her being a genius. Despite Luna's protests, she decides to befriend her, and takes her to the Game Centre Crown. Ami tries playing the Sailor V game and is incredibly good at it, even though she has never played video games before. She gets the highest score, but hurries away when she realizes that she is late for cram school. After she has gone, Motoki finds a floppy disk she dropped, and asks Usagi to return it.
Usagi and Luna arrive at the cram school, and discover that the disk is actually the "Crystal Disk" produced by the school, allegedly used to boost intelligence. They are about to go inside when Usagi's nemesis appears, and asks her if Luna was just talking. Usagi denies it and runs away, but she still hasn't returned the disk. Luna decides to use this opportunity to investigate Ami, and takes the disk to the computer lab at school. There they discover the disk's true purpose: a brainwashing program from the Dark Kingdom. Luna declares that there is no doubt about it — Ami must be one of the enemies.
They return to the cram school, and Usagi gets inside after using the Disguise Pen to disguise herself as a doctor. She warns the students to get away from the computers, and seeing Ami, transforms into Sailor Moon. But it transpires that Ami's teacher is actually the Youma Garoben, who takes Ami hostage and attacks Sailor Moon, first with razor-sharp test papers and then with the brainwashed students. Meanwhile, she finds that the brainwashing program has no effect on Ami, and decides to kill her. At the same time, Luna sees a symbol appear on Ami's forehead, and recognizes it as the symbol of a Sailor Senshi. She gives Ami a transformation pen and Ami runs from the Youma, transforming into Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury uses her signature attack, Sabão Spray, to create a mist that confuses the Youma. Sailor Moon is then able to destroy the monster using Moon Tiara Action. Usagi is relieved to have Ami as her partner, but alas, she is still not forthcoming with the secret of her genius.
Interim Season
Note: When this episode was rebroadcast in the Interim fifth dub season of Sailor Moon, it contained new bookending segments with original story material. Terms and aspects of the DiC Dub are used in this section.
Pinako, exasperated after failing her “Energy classes,” vents to Central Control, who expresses confusion over such a subject even existing. Central recalls that while energy studies may now be used for self-defense, they were once exploited maliciously by the Negaverse. She confesses that she too made mistakes in the past—specifically during the events which led to another Sailor Scout's awakening. She reveals that she nearly had a Sailor Scout (later revealed as Sailor Mercury) destroyed before awakening, due to misidentifying her as the Negaverse monster Garoben. Both Mercury and Garoben were seen near each other, and both wore glasses, leading to the confusion.
As the conversation transitions into the episode, Central summarizes Jedite’s latest plan: targeting humans' thirst for knowledge.
After the episode ends, Pinako confirms that Sailor Mercury was one of the two powers Central sensed. Central elaborates that due to flawed intel, she mistook Mercury for the monster. Pinako humorously notes that “Garoben” is the name of her current teacher—sparking a flashback to her own recent classroom encounter. In this sequence, Pinako is superimposed into a scene from the original episode, where she jokingly fails her class in similar fashion to how Mercury was nearly failed by fate.
The conversation shifts toward Sailor Mars, whose famously short temper is used as a segue into another memory. Central notes that Mars was unique among the Sailor Scouts in that she operated the very target location attacked by the Negaverse—making the assault feel especially personal.
Before the segment ends, Central asks Pinako to bring Artemis to her school, joking that she has Mina's permission and that it's time he pays for his mistakes. Pinako agrees, closing the segment with a playful nod to the legacy of the Sailor Scouts.
Episode trivia
- This episode, which was based closely upon Act 2 of the manga, introduced Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, her transformation pen (and the first transformation pen in general), Mercury Power, Make Up, and Sabão Spray.
- This was the second and last episode to feature the animation direction of Kunihiko Natsume, the first one being episode 3.
- In the DiC English dub, Motoki Furuhata/Andrew mentioned that Amy scored over 100,000 points on the video game, even though the screen only read "6,850 points." Several other changes were made to this episode: Usagi imagining her mother strangling her with the dog leash was removed, Luna using the school's computer lab was changed to using a computer store, and Usagi using the Disguise Pen to disguise herself as a nurse was changed to Serena using the Luna Pen to disguise herself as a school superintendent.
- In the Interim Season's Bookend, Pinako is lamenting taking 'Energy classes'. Grass Valley Junior High School, even in the Tokyo Side Stories dub, does not have such a class, possibly indicating that this episodes bookends takes place before "Start of a New Generation" or an equivelent event.
- In the Viz English dub, during the scene where the girls were discussing Ami's IQ, Umino mentioned that Ami's IQ may be over 9000. This was a reference to a translation error in the English dub of Dragon Ball Z.
Cast
- Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon - Kotono Mitsuishi
- Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury - Aya Hisakawa
- Luna - Keiko Han
- Game Machine - Yasuhiro Takato
- Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask - Tohru Furuya
- Naru Osaka - Shino Kakinuma
- Gurio Umino - Keiichi Nanba
- Ikuko Tsukino - Sanae Takagi
- Motoki Furuhata - Hiroyuki Satou
- Queen Beryl - Keiko Han
- Jadeite - Masaya Onosaka
- Female Student - Mayumi Seto
- Garoben - Hiroko Emori
