From: phoenix@mediaone.net   
      
   Act 28 - Welcome Back, Ami!   
      
   This was a really dreary episode. Yes, Ami is back with the senshi,   
   but geez, did they really have to be lost in the Dark Kingdom forest   
   for the whole darn episode?   
      
   *sigh*   
      
   OK, we left Usagi for dead with a recovered Mercury cradling her head.   
   Kunzite attempts to teleport them all back to the Dark Kingdom but   
   fails. For some reason, Usagi and Ami end up in the Dark Kingdom   
   garden, a sort of nightmarish forest. They are both back in civilian   
   form, Usagi in the outfit she was wearing earlier and Ami in a new   
   outfit, not the one she was wearing in the last episode and not even   
   the one she was wearing when she first transformed into Dark Mercury.   
   These senshi outfit rules are certainly capricious. ;)   
      
   So pretty much the whole episode was Usagi and Ami attempting to   
   escape this dark forest while Kunzite sends youma to attack them (Oh   
   yeah, Usagi woke up as Ami cried over her lifeless body so she's OK).   
   All the time they are wandering, Ami is wailing and whimpering about   
   all the horrible things she must of done to Usagi and the others _and_   
   how it was all their fault for ignoring her. (Actually, she didn't do   
   much of _anything_ to the others except for a few half-hearted   
   fights). I really, really hope that she becomes a more upbeat and   
   happy person after this episode. I don't think I can stand much more   
   of this self-flagellation.   
      
   In the meanwhile, Luna has revealed her identity to the other senshi   
   (Actually Rei sensed it already) and told them of the capture of Usagi   
   and Ami. The girls decide that they must go to Venus for advice. To do   
   so, Rei finally and reluctantly reveals Venus' civilian identity.   
      
   They find Minako, who sends Artemis to help them find the gateway that   
   Kunzite used to travel to the DK. They arrive at the building where SM   
   and Mercury fought, but the inside is twisted, with the doors opening   
   into random rooms. Something about the space becoming distorted, but   
   no real explanation is given as to why this should be happening. So   
   Usagi and Ami are lost and wandering in one world and Makoto and Rei   
   are lost and wandering in ours.   
      
   Finally, all four of them meet up in the lobby of the building, seeing   
   each other through the open dimensional gateway. Makoto and Rei reach   
   out and help Usagi and Ami return to their world.   
      
   Kunzite appears with his youma to attack. All four girls transform   
   and, except for SM, are given the new tambourine weapons. Despite   
   being smashed in the last act, Usagi's Moonlight Stick is also   
   restored. Sailor Venus appears, ordering them to combine their weapons   
   to form a single attack. It looks sort of like the anime Planet Power   
   attack, but this one is called Moonlight Attractive Attack. It   
   destroys the youma and makes Kunzite retreat.   
      
   Given the length of the wind-up for this attack (Knights of the Round   
   from FF7, anyone?), it seems like this attack should have been able to   
   wipe the entire Dark Kingdom off the map, but Kunzite brushes it off   
   with just a swirl of his cape.   
      
   Kunzite suddenly reappears and attempts to strike down Mercury. He is   
   blocked by the sudden appearance of Nephrite who said he just wanted   
   to get in Kunzite's way. Kunzite grumbles and vanishes. Nephrite looks   
   at Mercury, she looks at him and then he vanishes too. (So, more   
   evidence for something between Mercury and Nephrite. Now all they need   
   are tight jeans and ratty tennis shoes and they can both emo together.   
   ^_^;).   
      
   As Venus looks on from a distance, the four senshi hug each other and   
   welcome Ami's return.   
      
   --   
   Phoenix   
   www.phoenixanime.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)