From: sunniechan@comcast.net   
      
   Chris Kern wrote:   
   > Episode 71 - For friendship! Ami and Berthier clash   
   >   
   > There's a new opening for this episode, but it seems a bit early --   
   > Demand, Esmeraude, Safir, and Sailor Pluto haven't actually appeared.   
   > But maybe it makes it a good preview for what's coming up after   
   > Rubeus.   
      
   They should have waited in my opinion, but oh well.  At least the other   
   girls are actually in this opening a bit more.  It was weird seeing them   
   so little in the previous opening.   
      
   >   
   > And we have yet another Ami-centered episode with the animation   
   > directed by Ando. Is it just me, or does he seem to get Ami episodes a   
   > lot?   
      
   SK and I noticed that too.  Poor Ami-chan...   
      
   >   
   > There's some Mako-Ami at the beginning, then Ami blushes and says "I   
   > met some wonderful friends" (but "tomodachi" can be singular too) to   
   > the old man, then she has her Tuxedo Mako save her with Sparkling Wide   
   > Pressure when she's in trouble.   
      
   That was our two big notices, as well as the fact that Makoto, who knows   
   nothing about chess, decided to accompany Ami to Usagi's to watch them   
   play chess.  Also, when Beruche is starting her overall 'i'm going to   
   destroy you and me!' scene, if you look closely (and read too much into   
   things), the location of Mercury and Jupiter's hands look a bit like   
   they're reaching out to grab the other's hand. ^_^;  For a moment, I   
   even thought they were holding them, but a glance back showed I was   
   wrong.  Oh, and Jupiter's the one that congratulates her holding on   
   during the ice chess battle.  Proud Mako. ^_-   
      
   Oh, and was it just me, or was Makoto ticked off when Usagi was   
   cheerleading?  Minako just looked embarrassed to be around Usagi, but   
   Makoto looked genuinely mad.  Perhaps because Usagi would be   
   embarrassing Ami in front of her chess peers (even if she couldn't   
   actually see/hear what was going ont)?   
      
   >   
   > It was good that they kept using Koan -- none of the 4 sisters show up   
   > after R (they hardly show up after this arc, but they do at least put   
   > in one or two more appearances in R), but they weren't completely   
   > forgotten about.   
      
   While I'm glad to see Koan there again, I didn't like that Mercury took   
   a backseat after holding off Beruche.  It just felt odd that it wasn't   
   her doing the talking, convincing her to hold out for Koan's sisterly   
   love or something.  I mean, yes, it makes sense that Koan said it   
   herself, but it also felt like Mercury was a distraction in her own   
   episode.  That might just be me being possessive though.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)