Protect the Dreams of Children! The Friendship Bound in Anime

“'''Protect the Dreams of Children! The Friendship Bound in Anime'” is the 21st episode of the first season of Sailor Moon'', and the 21st episode overall. It first aired in Japan on August 8, 1992. The DiC English dub title for this episode is "An Animated Mess", and it first aired in North America on October 3, 1995.

Summary
Nephrite uses his most powerful Youma to target an animator working for the new Sailor V movie.

Plot
Usagi sees an ad for the Sailor V anime on TV. After it ends, she says, "I wish someone would make an anime of me." Luna replies that nobody would be interested.

Two animators were talking to the producer of Sailor V. The producer said that their sketches weren't good enough.

After the meeting, Hiromi and Kazuko were disappointed. When Hiromi said that she wanted to stop being an animator, Kazuko got upset. Hiromi said that she was just joking, and they ran back to Studio Dive. Hiromi dropped one of her sketchbooks just as Ami came out of a bookstore. Ami picked it up, but she had to go to a juku (cram school). So Ami decided to return it later.

Nephrite decided that he was going to use his strongest youma on Hiromi. That night when Ami was looking for the studio, she saw Sanjouin Masato driving in a speeding car. She knew it was Nephrite.

In the studio, Hiromi was drawing Sailor V. But she couldn't draw it the way she wanted. Then she took a peek at Kazuko's drawings. It was very good and Hiromi thought that she wasn't as good as her. So she took out some special pencils. When they were still in school, Hiromi and Kazuko went and bought a set of special drawing pencils for professionals. It was very expensive, so they split it. They promised that they would use it only in special cases, and that they would let each other know when they were going to use it.

Hiromi opened up her pencil case and all of the pencils were gone except for one little one. She had been using it a lot without telling Kazuko.

Then Sanjouin came to the studio. He said that he was a fan. He picked up the pencil and put some youma in it. Just as he was leaving, Sailor Mercury came and met him at the door. She said, "What are you up to? I won't let you go." But Sanjouin jumped over to her and hit her off of his car. Then he drove off saying that he had left a strong youma for them.

Kazuko came back with some dinner for Hiromi. Hiromi turned around and gave a very mean look to Kazuko. Then Ami came and returned the sketch book to Kazuko. Kazuko thanked Ami and asked Hiromi to thank her too. But Hiromi just got up and walked into another room. Kazuko asked Ami to come back again later. Ami tried to see what Nephrite had done, but she couldn't find anything.

The next day at school, Ami told Usagi about what happened. Usagi said that Ami should have called her too. Usagi said, "I would have gone." But Usagi really wanted to get some Sailor V cells. Then Ami said that they should go to Studio Dive later to check up on what Nephrite had done. Usagi was so happy and agreed. Usagi said, "If Nephrite appeared we can't just leave it alone."

Kazuko was surprised at how much work Hiromi had done overnight. Then Hiromi said that she would use the room by herself again. Hiromi was thinking that she would not lose to Kazuko with her pencil.

When Usagi called Rei and told her about going to Studio Dive, Rei said, "An anime studio! Anime is something for kids, right. I'm not interested." That day, Usagi had to stay after school to do some extra school work. When Usagi and Ami came out of the school, Rei yelled that they were late. Rei had been waiting for a long time. Rei was really interested in going to Studio Dive. Ami was surprised and said, "Earlier you said you weren't interested." Then Rei replied, "If Nephrite appeared we can't just leave it alone." When Rei turned around, Rei's bag ripped open and a lot of white boards to get signatures dropped out. She quickly said that it was for her friends.

Nephrite and Zoisite were waiting, and Nephrite was full of confidence.

At the anime studio, Rei and Usagi were having a lot of fun looking at the sketches. They were screaming loudly. Ami was talking to Kazuko, asking if something strange had happened recently. Then Hiromi came out and yelled at Rei and Usagi. Kazuko got mad at Hiromi for getting mad, saying that they were their fans. Then Hiromi got a phone call from the producer. The producer liked the drawings that he had seen. Then Hiromi shocked everyone by saying that she would kill off Sailor V in the last scene. Kazuko asked Hiromi what had happened. But Hiromi went off by herself. Rei said that she felt the presence of a youma.

Hiromi went to the roof. Kazuko and three girls went after her. Hiromi had been possessed by the youma. Then the youma appeared. It was a pair of girls. Kazuko passed out. Luna told the sailor girls to transform. "Moon prism power.. Mercury power.. Mars power.. Make up!"

Nephrite told Zoisite that it was a twin youma with a strong friendship. He said that it would be the end of the Sailor Senshi. The youma were tied together by a ribbon (friendship). The youma said, "You can't beat us." They blasted the girls with the same techniques that the Sailor Senshi used. Then as the Sailor Senshi were on the ground, the youma started arguing who would give the final blow. They got mad at each other and untied the ribbon. Sailor Moon takes advantage and says, "We'll show you some real teamwork", and they combine their attacks and defeat them.

In the end, Hiromi confesses to Kazuko that she has used her pencils, but surprisingly, Kazuko has also used her pencils as well. The two make up and become friends again.

Changes From the Manga

 * This episode was a filler. None of the scenes happened in the manga.

Dub Changes

 * In the Catalan dub, when In the Name of the Moon, We'll Punish You played, it was replaced by an instrumental version of A Maiden's Policy.
 * In the Portuguese dub, it was replaced by an instrumental version of Luna Luna.
 * In the Korean dub, it was replaced with a translated version of Moonlight Legend.
 * In the Hebrew dub, the song was replaced by an instrumental version.
 * In the English, German and Castilian dubs, the song was removed completely.

Trivia

 * When Usagi is watching the trailer for the Sailor V anime movie, the Sailor Moon theme can be heard.
 * This is the last episode where a Dark Kingdom general attempts to steal energy. In the succeeding episodes of the season, the focus is shifted on retrieving the Silver Crystal.
 * At one point, one can see a poster of Sailor V, that also contains Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Artemis, and Tuxedo Mask.
 * There is a possible 4th wall joke, when Usagi says she wishes her life was an anime.