From: chriskern99@gmail.com   
      
   Episode 97 - Water labyrinth!  Ami is the target   
      
   Out of all the character development episodes for the inner senshi in   
   the series, this one is my favorite.  It has superb writing that is   
   above what we usually see in the series, some original BGM (overall   
   the BGM of the S season is higher quality than Classic and R), and a   
   very realistic dilemma for the main character.  I like the scene   
   between Mamoru and Ami, because Mamoru so rarely interacts with the   
   rest of them outside of battles.   
      
   One thing about these pure heart extractions is that they look really   
   painful; this is one of the worse ones with Ami getting hit from   
   behind.  The fight is good though, Dovelin with her life preserver and   
   snorkel is leading the seires down to the path to sillier and sillier   
   daimons -- I especially like when she has the snorkel in her mouth at   
   the beginning so she just mumbles, then she takes it out and just says   
   "Dovelin!".  Then "I'm lucky to have a lifesaver!" when TM knocks her   
   into the water.  It's a somewhat bizarre choice of the series to   
   increasingly put the majority of the silly humor in the fights while   
   the rest of the episode is serious, but it works pretty well.  The   
   cats get into the fight once again.   
      
   It's also interesting the way Ami's situation is resolved -- rather   
   than discovering that she has other talents than studying, she just   
   decides that she has to work hard at what she can do, even if it is   
   mostly studying.  Then, of course, we get the funny scene at the end   
   with Ami pretending to be interested in Tuxedo Mask.  All in all, one   
   of the best episodes of the series.   
      
   (Another anecdote about this episode -- I had a friend in college who   
   liked anime, and I had already showed him all the Utena I had, so SM   
   was the only series I had that he hadn't seen.  I decided to at least   
   try showing him S.  He watched the first tape and said it was OK, then   
   after the second tape he seemed more interested -- he told me that   
   during the tape he had decided he wasn't going to watch any more of   
   the series but this episode changed his mind.)   
      
   I also think the preview is interesting.  If you don't remember, the   
   next episode is the one with the tire daimon where Uranus leaves   
   Neptune behind when she gets captured by Kaolinite.  The preview has   
   Uranus saying that she'll make any sacrifice to complete her mission.   
   Usagi says she doesn't understand, and Uranus uses the metaphor of   
   having to leave behind some steak to make room for ice cream.  Usagi   
   says she'll just eat both, and Uranus says she should have used a   
   better metaphor -- but actually, Usagi's answer does reflect her   
   viewpoint towards the real situation.   
      
   Dovelin is played by Maru Tamari, who did Roger's voice in Star Ocean   
   3.   
      
   -Chris   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)