Luna2: The following story unfolds
       amidst strange situations...
Luna1: ...while the girls were frantically studying
       for their high school entrance exams.
Ami: Good morning!
Ami's First Love
Ami's First Love
Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon SuperS plus
Ami5: I'm Ami Mizuno.  Born September 10th, a Virgo,
      blood type: A.  My hobbies are reading...
Ami4: Every morning, I'll get to school
      40 minutes early to read.
Ami3: I love sandwiches, because
      I can read while I eat them.
Ami2: My favorite colour is blue,
      and swimming is my favorite sport.
Ami1: Math is my best subject.
Ami3: One thing I'm not good at receiving...
AMI: ...a...
Ami2: ...a...
Ami1: ...love letter!
Mako: Well, it sure is a problem I'd like
      to have, getting a love letter. 
Usagi: No doubt. 
Ami2: It's not like I've received
      a lot or anything, but...
Ami1: ...it's just that I get this
      horrible reaction to them.
Rei: Taste aversion, I think it's called...
Minako: Ami, you know what they say:
        "Life's short and love's a battle."
Minako: Was that wrong?
Artemis: I think the correct saying is
         "Life's short, love while you can."
Minako: I guess that's another
        way of putting it...
Ami2: You know, I think there's only
      one thing we should be...
Ami1: ...passionately doing in our last year
      of junior high school, and that is...
Everyone: Studying, we take it?
Ami: That's right!  Right now, in my dictionary,
     there's no such word as love!
Chibi: Scary...
Mako: Is there something wrong?
Ami: Take a look at this.
Ami: Look on page 42.
Mako: Page 42...
Ami: It's the rankings for the
     national practice exams.
Mako: First place: Mercury,
      100% in all five subjects?
Usagi: That means a perfect
       score on every exam!
Chibi: Mercury... that's you, right Ami?
Ami2: That's right.  You send the results in under a
      pseudonym and they rank you accordingly.
Ami1: The problem is that person!
Rei: There's another perfect score!
Mercurius
Minako: Mercurius?
Artemis: That's "Mercury" in Latin.
Ami2: Lately that person has been keeping
      first alongside me in every exam...
Ami1: ...they may be challenging me. 
      Perhaps it's a new type of enemy!
Usagi: Ami, I think you're
       overanalyzing things.
Luna: That's right, you're overanalyzing!
Ami: I may be overanalyzing, but I can't help but
     wonder what kind of person this Mercurius is...
Ami: Oh, the results of the
     practice exams...
Ami3: That's it!  If I take more exams, and go to more
      tutorial seminars, maybe I'll meet this Mercurius!
Ami2: I've never felt so passionate before...
      it's so thrilling to have a rival!
Ami1: All right then, I won't back
      down from this either!
Luna: The next day, something in
      Ami changed suddenly...
Luna: Ami, I think maybe
      you're overdoing it.
Ami: Oh!  We're tied for first again!  This person is
     not just anybody to be placed first every time!
Rei: And what does that make you?
Ami2: But what is this person
      like, do you think?
Ami1: I do wish I could meet him...
Mako: She's crazy...
Minako: Ami, it almost seems like you're
        in love or something.
Ami: No, no.  He's a rival!
Rei: How do you know that it's a he?
Usagi: The name "Mercurius", doesn't
       reveal anything like that...
Ami: Well, yes.  I guess.  But...
Minako: So Ami, what do you look
        for in a man anyway?
Mako: Yeah, tell us!
Chibi: What's he like?
Ami: What I look for?  He's...
Others: He's...?
Ami: ...like Einstein!
Usagi: Who?
Luna: And so began their little plan...
Rei: I've never seen Ami like that.
Mako: The way her eyes sparkled!
Usagi: Acting so... feminine!
Chibi: Perhaps this is...
Others: Ami's first love?
Minako2: All right!  Minako, the goddess
         of love will help her out!
Minako1:  It's no skin off my neck!
Artemis: Cut that out...
Minako: Anyway, we've got to help her
        find out who this Mercurius is!
Chibi: But how?
Artemis: No plan, hey?
Chibi: Seems so...
Luna: Now, Usagi is up to some scheme.
Girl: See you!
Naru: Usagi!
Usagi: Naru!
Naru: Umino is going to make predictions
      on what will be on the exam!
Usagi: Umino...
Umino2: Is there...
Umino1: ...something on my face?
Usagi: Umino, you're dependable when
       it comes to stuff like this!
Umino: Pardon?
Usagi: Do you know anything about
       Mercurius, the exam ace?
Umino: Well, yes... he's my friend.
Usagi: Really?
Umino: Really!
Naru: Are you okay, Umino!
Usagi: Lucky!
Luna: At the same time...
The Number One Tutorial Seminar
Ami: Here I am, to wreak havoc
     in the tutorial seminars!
Luna: Are you okay?
      You look stressed...
Teacher: In this third example, I and J are...
Ami4: Watch out Mercurius, I can study
      and study and study...
Ami3 ...and rest a bit... and study and
     study and study some more...
Ami2: ...and rest...
Ami1: Oh my!  It's the first day,
      and I'm falling asleep in class.
Mercurius
Terakoya2: I can feel it... an unspeakably lewd aura...
Terakoya1: Oh... there she is, that girl's in love...
Ami: Mercurius...
Terakoya2: She's filled with lust, thinking only
           about a man... She's easy prey for me.
Terakoya1: I've been in this business for over a
           hundred years.  Her desire will be mine!
Luna: Be careful, the Terakoya
      feeds on the desire of others...
Ami: My head hurts...
     maybe I'm getting sick...
Umino: Here it is!  Mercurius' seminar!
Usagi: Are you sure he's at a dump?
Umino: It may look a bit run-down, but it
       has a long and respectable history...
Umino: Oh!  Mercurius!
Mercurius: Hey Professor Googly-Glasses!
Umino2: Professor Googly-Glasses
        is my pseudonym.
Umino1: What's the matter?
Luna: Something's not right with Ami!
Ami2: My body won't move...
      Mercurius, are you doing this to me?
Terakoya3: She's being haunted by her desires...
           then she must be ready for the final act.
Terakoya2: The start of all desires:
           The Love Letter Attack!
Terokoya1: No one is unaffected by the
           anticipated desires sealed within!
Ami2: I can't move!  Oh, no...
Ami1: ...this reaction I'm getting...
      they're love letters!
Terakoya: That's not all...
Ami2: Oh, no!  All those equations I memorized!
       They're leaving my brain!
Ami1: Wait!
Ami: Wait!
Ami: Wait!
Chibi: Here we are...
Mamo: What's wrong?
Usagi: Should I or should I not tell her
       about Mercurius' identity...
Chibi: What are you mumbling about?
Ami: No!
Usagi: Ami!
Ami: No!
Ami: No!
Terakoya: All your knowledge will flee your mind,
          and you'll become a slave to your desires.
Ami3: Who...
Ami2: ...are you?
Ami1: I can't see... My mind's all
      cloudy and I can't focus...
Usagi: Ami!
Terakya: Who's that?  
Chibi: That's what we'd like to know!
Terakoya: Me?  I am...
Ami: You're Mercurius!
Terakoya: No, I am...
Ami: It's all your doing!  My headache,
     my drowsiness... you play a dirty game!
Terakoya: Excuse me, but I'm not...
Ami2: I won't back down!
Ami1: Mercury crystal power!  Make up!
Ami4: Exam results + seminars +
      stress (sabotage/ rival) = Enemy!
Ami3: You wanted to be number one at
      all costs!  It can't be forgiven!
Ami2: I am the Sailor Soldier
      of love and exams,
Ami: Sailor Mercury!
Ami1: Stick your head in some cold water
      and think about what you've done!
Usagi: I'm telling you, she's not Mercurius!
Ami: I knew you were my rival, but I didn't
     think you'd get inside my head!
Usagi: Help me!
Ami: It's the end of this never-ending
     battle for first place!
Terakoya: But I'm not...
Ami: This is my equation for victory!
Ami: Mercury...
Ami: ...Aqua Mirage!
Terakoya: But, I'm not...!
Ami: I feel so much better!
Chibi: Ami, are you all right?
Mamo: Ami!
Ami: But I sure would liked
     to have seen him.
Others: Hey, hey...
Minako: Rival = Enemy, hey... I hope that
        my grades never get that good.
Artemis: I don't think you have to
         worry much about that.
Minako: Pardon me?
Usagi: Anyway, we shouldn't mention
       Mercurius in front of Ami.
Mako: That's a good idea.
Ami: Then, you saw him?
Chibi: Ami!
Ami: What was he like?
Minako: Kind of like this guy here.
Usagi: Right!  Right!
       The year's hottest young star!
Ami2: That's what I imagined him
      to look like a young Einstein!
Minako: A little shallow, don't you think?
Usagi: But if she finds out that he
       looked exactly like Umino...
Merc: Hi!
Mako: But why use the name Mercurius?
Usagi: Let me explain.  His name is Suri Curume,
       kind of like Mercurius backwards.
Ami: Why?
Mako: What's wrong?
Ami: I destroyed Mercurius, and
     he's still in the rankings!
Usagi: Well, Ami...
Ami: Don't worry everybody,
     leave him to me!
Others: Him, as in him?
Ami: Okay...
Luna: So the battle goes on
      for high standard Mercury.
Ami: I'll keep giving it my best!
Song: La. La. La.  Never give up, I'll give it my best,
Song: I'm betting everything on this,
Song: Passion, passion, my heart is racing.
Song: Stories can be rewritten at my age,
Song: Profile of love.
Song: Listen to me, afterschool trickster,
Song: It's love at first sight, looks like my last boyfriend,
Song: Going around in circles, maybe I'll get hurt again,
Song: What should I do?  But I've already decided,
Song: I want to agitate on purpose,
Song: My sailor uniform flows in the wind,
Song: Lets be "like that".
Song: La. La. La.  Never give up, I'll give it my best,
Song: This time for sure it's my turn,
Song: Thump, thump, my heart is racing,
Song: Stories can be rewritten at my age,
Song: Profile of love.
Producer: Toshihiko Arisaka
Entered industry because
he thought it looked fun
Hobbies: Sleeping
Curriculum Vitae: Hokuto no Ken
Theatre: Slam-dunk, Sailor Moon Supers
Favorite Character: Like them all
Director: Takuya Igarashi
Entered industry because he didn't
want to enter corporate world
Hobbies: Girls
Curriculum Vitae: Goldfish Update (Kingyo Chyuiho)
Sailor Moon TV series
Favorite Character: Likes them all
Animation Director: Miho Shimogasa
Entered industry because
she liked to draw
Hobbies: Eating
Curriculum Vitae: Minky-Momo, Sally the Witch 
Favorite Character: Chibiusa
Screenplay: Ryota Yamaguchi
Replied to an ad in the classifieds
Hobbies: Motorcycles 
Curriculum Vitae: Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, Gundam
Favorite Character: Chibi Moon
Art Director: Junichi Higashi
Began as a part-timer
while in school
Hobbies: Musical Instruments 
Curriculum Vitae: Dragonball films (95 Summer, 96 Spring),
Gundam 
Favorite Character: Ami
Music Director: Yasuyuki Konno
Entered industry because he loved movies
Hobbies: Travel 
Curriculum Vitae: Kamen Rider V3, Saint Warrior Seiya
Sailor Moon
Favorite Character: Ami
Arisaka: How did you enjoy Ami's First Love?
A5: This 15 minute episode was introduced
    after the 60 minute Sailor Moon Supers movie.
A4: The reason we chose this was
    because we wanted to portray...
a3: ...Usagi and her friends during their high
    high school entrance exam preparation.
A2: Luckily, the staff had this episode created in
    which Ami encounters a number of obstacles...
a1: ...so we picked up on this and
    went along with the idea.
A2: This is Igarashi's directorial
    debut for theatre animation...
a1: ...and we'd like to start off with some
    of his comments on the experience.
Igarashi3: Yes, well, film is quite different from TV,
           with different frame sizes and shapes.
I2: So the layout format was new,
    and I had to pay attention to that...
I1: ...the staff, and especially Ms. Shimogasa,
    were extremely helpful.
Shimogasa4: Well, it's only 15 minutes,
            but it is still a film, so... 
S3: ...the acting out of the characters
    had to be in finer detail than for TV.
S2: We were much more careful...
S: ...even in those areas where we don't
   usually pay too much attention to...
S1: ...but because of the extra effort, I think
    we've made a very good episode.
Arisaka2: Being 15 minutes, it seemed
          like it was very short...
A1: ...but the contents are worth at least
    a 30 minute episode, if not more...
Yamaguchi3: We did put in some characters
            who were really not necessary...
Y2: ...that were not in the original storyline. 
    Such characters were Chibiusa and Mamoru.
Y1:  We also used Luna's voice for narration.
     We had a lot of fun.
Arisaka: There was a lot of substance...
Yamaguchi: Probably as much as the usual TV episode.
 And it was 5 minutes shorter, so...
Igarashi3: In a sense, I felt that the shortness
           of the show in a theatre film...
s: ...made the production quite a challenge.
   There's original music too, so...
I1: I think it's better.  It seems like a short film.
     I mean, we don't want it to drag...
Konno5: I don't feel that it seemed very short.
K4: The animation was solid in each frame,
    and I can actually remember details.
K3: The theme, I usually remember, but details are
    something I usually forget very quickly, so...
K2: But these 15 minutes were pretty memorable.
     Everything is organized for me.
K1: It's the actual animation and the composition
    that I really liked... in a theater setting.
Igarashi1: Often, in TV, there are a lot of scenes where people
           are still, like in mob scenes, for instance...
i: ...but I asked the technicians to put more
   movement in, and I think that's paid off...
Konno: On TV, you can't understand
       the background sometimes...
Higashi: I've never done a TV series or an animated
         film, so Sailor Moon was a first for me... 
H3: Since there are already some colors set, I
    asked about what I could do and couldn't do... 
H2: But Igarashi gave me full control, so
    I did it in my own colour and style...
H1: ...which made things a lot easier.  Only young
    people can make such drastic decisions...
Igarashi3: For example, in the Hikawa Shrine scene, the
           contrast and lighting of the sky and shrubbery...
I2: ...as well as the length of the steps
    is something I get asked about a lot...
I1: I mean, how long are those steps?
Konno: That's a good question.
Igarashi3: I wanted to create the atmosphere
           of the Hikawa Shrine...
I2: ...so that from the shrine, you can overlook the
    whole of the 10th Street District in a glance.
Higashi2: I used past episodes as a reference with
          respect to style, space and contrasts...
H1: ...with colour, since it is a fantasy story, I stuck
    to using colors that kept that fantastic look...
Arisaka: Higashi's contrasting is very crisp.
Igarashi: Yes, it's very crisp.
Arisaka2: The scene I was most impressed
          with was the school.
A1: The 10th Street District
    School never looked better.
Igarashi: It's the scene with the sunset, right?
d: That was a very fresh look at the school.
Igarashi4: There was also another place which
           has never appeared in the TV series...
I3: ...and that's the Number One Tutorial
    Seminar that Mercurius was going to.
I2: There was a mysterious look to that,
    which I asked to be included...
I1: ...we talked about the mist, and how it made the
    place look mysterious, and that was good...
Konno2: If you look at the original stages, even then,
        the details were very fine, like...
K1: "Ami goes from right
    to left"...Everything...
Igarashi2: "Back to front", how's that
           gonna work, they asked...
I1: I was really concerned with the frame of the film,
    because it was so new, in terms of detail and such...
Konno: Yes, you were.  Even after the decisions
       were made, you talked about it.
Igarashi4: When the characters were coming into
           the frame, that was a major concern...
I3: ...with the fact that we had stereo
    sound, that we could play with sound...
I2: ...made it more difficult and interesting...
I1: We wanted to use the sound to its fullest
    potential, as we discussed with Arisaka...
Konno4: So, like we said in the beginning, Dolby adds
        another dimension to the movement...
Konno3: ...and if the picture doesn't have the same
        movement, the Dolby isn't used to its fullest.
K2: The way it was done, it was much
    easier to add the soundtrack. 
K1: With TV, there isn't this aspect to
    sound, and that's what I enjoyed.
Igarashi7: Yes, we were given the opportunity
           to do a lot with the Dolby and stuff...
I6: What I enjoyed this time is that,
    with TV, a lot of the sound is recycled...
I5: ...and the animation
    gets constricted by that.
I4: This time, Arisaka gave us the go-ahead
    on all new sound and effects.
I3: That was really great...
I2: Everybody's personalities and their unique
    styles were really brought out in this...
I1: ...and maybe that made it a better Sailor Moon,
    because we were all aware of our differences...
Arisaka: Since we're talking about this episode,
         let's talk a little about Ami...
Konno3: Ami is such a serious,
        straight character...
K2: ...and she's hanging out with this group of
    kids, and she's still trying to stay serious...
K1: ...but something is not right, even with her,
    and that is what I find unique and funny...
Igarashi: And she does make some jokes sometimes,
          so it was a matter of how far to take that...
Yamaguchi4: Ami is a good, normal girl.
Y3: In the past, we did some things
    that you wouldn't expect her to do...
Y2: ...like getting interested in music,
    or wearing over-alls...
Y1: This time for the film too, we thought it would
    be interesting to bring out another side of her...
Igarashi5: There's a scene in which she
           puts on glasses, for example.
I4: For me, this act of wearing the glasses
    symbolizes a change in Ami.
I3: Kind of like Ultra Ai of Ultra Seven, who
    goes weird when he wears something.
I2: Because she never wears them, and because
    that symbolism is so strong in me...
I1: I thought that the "wearing of the glasses"
    itself made for action in the film.
Shimogasa: I was so happy that Ami's
           glasses were all brushed in tint.
Igarashi2: That was really tough... I mean,
           in such a small space... 
I1: It was supposed to be there, and that
    was the plan, so we put it in, but...
Shimogasa: Ami's character was the most difficult
           to draw of any character I've drawn...
Arisaka: She was difficult to draw?
Shimogasa3: Yes, it was very difficult.
S2: Chibiusa is the easiest, so when I found out that
    the main character was Ami, I thought, oh no...
S1: I tried to make her look
    as cute as possible, but...
Arisaka: Even compared to the other four?
Shimogasa: Her droopy eyes are very
           difficult for me... always...
Igarashi3: Characters that women
           draw are very cute...
I2: ...and when men draw, sometimes it gets
    too clinical, clean, so in that sense...
I1:  ...Ms. Shimogasa's work
    really shone through.
Shimogasa: Thank you.
Igarashi: No, thank you...
Konno: Okay, so shall we do
        "Ami's First Love - Part 2"?
Igarashi: Maybe an eighty
          minute episode, or more...
Arisaka: I believe that Sailor Moon will continue
         for many episodes to follow...
A3: ...and without restricting it to Ami, we still have
    Makoto, Rei, Minako, and of course Usagi, so...
a2: If we could make episodes for
    each, maybe 15 or 30 minutes...
a1: ...we'd like to keep doing these kinds of projects,
    so thank you and please keep watching.
