Sailor Mercury: Soldier of Love & Exams.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

You no like, you no read.

So picture yourself seven episodes into the show. So far, Moonie's been doing alright, but her strategy is less than fantastic (Cry, than use the plot device). Also, you distinctly recall that Luna mentioned that Sailor Moon was one of the scouts sent to protect the princess. So, by these pieces of logic, naturally there should be another scout somewhere along the line, right? So where are these mythical extra fighters that will make the show more interesting, and will certainly help Moonie do her job in a much more efficiently?

At Cram school, having her energy stolen by a PC.

Meet Amy/Ami Mizuno, the new student at Juban Middle School. Rumored to have an IQ of over 300, and being the top of the exams only supplements this, Amy is widely treated as the black sheep out of admiration and despite. Because she has so much more smarts than most of the student population, there is a wide regard that she "must think us all too stupid to hang out with". This isn't helped out by Amy's own shy nature, which is wrongly translated to snobbery. This is only dusted by Moonie, who ends up befriending the girl after Amy nearly hears Luna's voice, and after Moonie discovers Amy's skills at the Sailor V. Video Game. Highly insecure about herself, and quite literally breaking into a rash at any romantic provocation, Amy is the smart-nerdy girl nerdy people like myself could relate to.

And, once again, we find out this strange new students is not from the negaverse (Fire your computer, Luna) but instead the Sailor Soldier of Justice, Knowledge, Wisdom and Exams (quite literally one of her titles). She is Sailor Mercury. The Japanese for Mercury translates roughly to "Celestial body of water" which is why Mercury's main powers have always been modeled around water and ice. As a scout, she stands as the one who makes the plans and figures out monster weaknesses. For these she has a handy-dandy notebook hand computer and a scanner that links directly to it.

On a trivia note, Amy's family life is one of the few referenced, as it hinges on her character development. Her Mother, the workaholic Doctor, and her father, the painter, are divorced and Amy lives with the former. She idolizes her mother, despite the fact that she's never around, and hopes someday to become a Doctor herself. This is highlighted in several episodes, and the girl studies hard enough to get there by going to two schools and spending her free time doing school work. In fact, she's often the one who scolds the other scouts for not doing their own work. But she's far from overbearing. Compassionate and kind-hearted, she's the sweet-heart of the sea.

I'll be honest,she didn't resonate with me when I was child. I was practically High of Moon Dust, and had eyes and ears for Moonie only. Still, she existed in my Moon-spehere. The water scout was fine by me, and I preferred her way over the one that came next. I liked that she was super smart, but I never really sought out much more about her. In fact, I sought out very little about the other senshi other than the outer-senshi.  But, now that I'm older, I see more of her than I did before. I see a smart girl who is very self-conscious, and an unfortunate low esteem.

In truth, she was supposed to be a social commentary on the Japanese school system, but she doesn't really come across as such. I mean, I know girls like this in real life. Their at the top of their classes and have received several scholarships. Still, the idea that education can be harmful and hurtful is certainly a valid argument, and anything in excess can be dangerous. It certainly has its drawbacks for Amy here, as she can't speak out for herself very well, and tends to find herself out of her league quite a bit. This is kinda sad, since this prevents her from having a huge social life. Still, it's a nice counterpart to the every vain Protagonist who seems to be failing all her classes.

But is it too much? I get the character is supposed to be some kind of statement, but one must always wonder if a character arch type is being played too strongly. Still, I enjoyed the character, for what it was worth, and was happy to see Serena befriend someone who was as much of a saint as she was...
...which is more than I can say for next time.

Next time we look at a character that I cannot stand in any version of the show. Meet the pot who continually calls the kettle Black.

Toodles!