Act 15 - Infiltration, Sailor Mars (episode)


 * This page is for the fifteenth episode of the second anime series. For the fifteenth chapter of the manga, please see Act 15 - Infiltration, Sailor Mars.

Act 15 - Infiltration, Sailor Mars is the fifteenth episode of the second anime series. It had aired in Japan on February 7th, 2015.

Summary
Usagi is determined to find out just who Chibiusa really is and what her true purpose is here on Earth. Meanwhile, Rei warns the others of an impending threat she had seen earlier while meditating before the mystical fire in her sacred shrine. Elsewhere, a new enemy begins its very first attack on the five Sailor Senshi; starting with Sailor Mars!

Plot
A bright pink-haired girl also named Usagi demands to the teenage Usagi to hand over the Silver Crystal, threatening her with a gun. Usagi and Mamoru become scared. When the girl pulls the trigger, roses and confetti pop out, revealing that the gun is a toy. However, Usagi collapses and Mamoru attempts to take hold of the girl, but she runs away.

On a distant, dark world, a group of four people discuss about capturing the Legendary Silver Crystal. The leader, named Prince Demande summons Wiseman, who tells him to seize the crystal as soon as possible, as it could bring ruin upon them. A man named Crimson Rubeus steps in and summons the four Spectre Sisters. The youngest of the sisters, Koan, is selected for the job. She is excited to find the girl who has powers to control fire just like her. Rubeus gives her the Code 001 - Operation: Recruit.

Usagi wakes up and with Mamoru, goes looking for the little girl in the park. They find her sitting alone on a swing. Mamoru calls her Chibiusa and takes her hand, when he suddenly sees a vision of a crystal castle that disturbs him. They carry her to Usagi's home, where everyone begins to wonder who this cute girl is. Chibiusa summons an umbrella and hypnotises Usagi's family. In her room Usagi demands to Chibiusa to break the spell over her family but she refuses. As Ikuko called them for dinner, Chibiusa runs out when Luna sees another legendary Silver Crystal and a silver key around her neck in a chain.

The next morning, Mamoru assures Usagi that he would keep a close eye on Chibiusa. Usagi meets with the other girls in a fruit parlor where they talk about Chibiusa and who she might be. Luna presents them with new transformation pens- the Star Power Sticks- and new communicator watches. A boy names Ittou Asanuma comes to visit the girls where he reveals that he admires Mamoru (who is studying in the same school).

Rei leaves to prepare for her school fair. She meets the president of the Supernatural Research club, Kotono Sarashina. Kotono tells her that many people are claiming that they have seen UFOs, and shows some of the photos. Kotono talks about spontaneous combustion, where a person suddenly catches fire without any reason. Several cases have been reported in Japan. That night, Rei has a nightmare of a man being burned to death by a mysterious woman, and it troubles her.

The next day, in the school fair, Rei poses as a fortune-teller when she hears of another student doing the same thing, predicting the deaths of many students. She confronts the student, who introduces herself as Koan Kurozuki. Rei rebukes her and leaves with Kotono, with the intention of reporting the matter to the nuns. Chibiusa falls right in front of her, when Rei sees a group of nuns with black upside-down crescent moon symbols on their foreheads. Kotono smells something burning and Rei runs behind the nuns, only to find a nun burning to death. Kotono faints after seeing what she believes as spontaneous combustion.

Rei sees her friends coming and all of them transform. The nuns turned out to be droids. Sailors Mercury, Jupiter and Venus dealt considerable damage with their attacks onto the droids, realizing they are much more powerful now.

Koan appears before them and tells her need to seize the Legendary Silver Crystal. Sailor Mars performs her new, attack Burning Mandala but is trapped by Koan's own blue fire. Sailor Moon attacks her with Moon Tiara Boomerang, but Koan reflex the tiara, now covered with flames, back at Sailor Moon but she is saved by Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Mercury performs Shine Aqua Illusion attack onto the flame barrier, which proves futile. Tuxedo Mask holds the hands of a frantic Sailor Moon. The Cutie Moon Rod appears, created from their love. Using the new weapon, Sailor Moon performs Moon Princess Halation and destroys Koan.

Rubeus suddenly appears and he takes Sailor Mars with him alive to his masters' hideout and all watch in shock as Sailor Mars is taken before their very eyes while Sailor Moon screams her name in grief and misery.

Changes From the Manga

 * When Koan arrives on Earth, she kills a little girl who witnesses her arrival, not an adult man.
 * Umino is also present when Chibiusa hypnotizes Usagi's family.
 * Ittou Asanuma appears for a second time at Rei's school, where he and the other members of the Sci-Fi Research Club help out the Supernatural Research Club. He also makes an appearance before the Fruits Crown Parlor when he sees Usagi and Mamoru together.
 * Unazuki Furuhata makes her first appearance at the Fruits Crown Parlor.
 * Makoto and Minako are not present during the battle and Mars' kidnapping. They appear afterwards at the beginning of the next chapter.
 * Chibiusa never spies on the Inner Sailor Senshi while they are at the Fruits Crown Parlor.
 * Koan makes another appearance as Koan Kurozuki before the school fair when Kotono is surprised to find that another club is doing the same presentation as them.
 * Rei and Kotono do not bump into Chibiusa during the school fair.

Changes From the Original Anime

 * The Cutie Moon Rod was slimmer in appearance.
 * Sailor Mars was never asked to join the Black Moon Clan nor did she have dream about them.
 * Koan didn't kill anyone during her missions.
 * Koan was reformed by the Silver Crystal's healing ability.
 * When Sailor Mars was abducted by Rubeus, Sailor Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter were abducted as well.
 * Burning Mandala released multiple small rings of fire.
 * The Cutie Moon Rod was given to Sailor Moon by the spirit of Queen Serenity to eliminate the Cardian created by the two aliens, Ali and An in the "Doom Tree" arc, long before the Black Moon Clan even appeared.
 * Droids varied in appearance and evil abilities; they never appeared in great numbers all at once.
 * Sailor Moon's new transformation sequence, triggered by her Crystal Star brooch, had a few differences from her previous one triggered by her original Transformation Brooch.
 * Kotono never appeared and Asanuma made a small cameo during the Nehellenia arc of Stars.
 * The Sailor Guardians did not receive new transformation devices until later in the story arc.
 * In the original anime, Saphir, Demande and Esmeraude did not appear until after the four Spectre Sisters had been purified, roughly halfway through the story arc.

First Appearances

 * -|Characters=
 * Black Moon Clan:
 * Wiseman
 * Prince Demande
 * Rubeus
 * Saphir
 * Esmeraude
 * Spectre Sisters:
 * Koan
 * Petz
 * Calaveras
 * Berthier
 * -|Items=
 * The Star Power Sticks
 * The Cutie Moon Rod
 * Time Key
 * -|Attacks=
 * Moon Princess Halation
 * Burning Mandala
 * Shine Aqua Illusion

Trivia

 * Having broken their regular, standard transformation pens in their battle with Queen Metaria, Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako each receive the Star Power Stick that greatly increases their Sailor Guardian abilities.
 * Sailor Moon obtains the Cutie Moon Rod and its attack, Moon Princess Halation.
 * The Time Key was shown gold in the trailer but in the episode it was shown as silver.
 * As of this episode, shots of Queen Beryl, the Shitennou, Queen Metaria, the Moon Kingdom, and Queen Serenity, and Sailor Moon's original Transformation Brooch have now been replaced by shots of the primary members of the Black Moon Clan (Prince Demande, Wiseman, Saphir, Rubeus, and Esmeraude), Chibiusa, and Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Moon now bears the Crystal Star as her brooch in the opening sequence.

Error

 * When Sailor Moon used Moon Tiara Boomerang and threw her tiara at Koan, her tiara was present on her forehead as Koan repelled the tiara at her and Tuxedo Mask appeared to block it, this error was later fixed on the Blu-ray release.
 * After using Moon Princess Halation, when Sailor Moon lowers her left arm her brooch from season one is there instead of the Crystal Star Brooch.