Rainbow Chara X
Impossible to gauge!
- 129
- Posts
- 9
- Years
- Shiny Hunting in Sinnoh
- Seen May 12, 2025
I find it incredibly amusing that the chapter with the ice dungeon gets put up now of all days. That said, Merry Christmas, guys.
I wouldn't quite call Mercury's solo chapter a Christmas miracle, though.
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Chapter #4 - Ice Ice, Baby[/font][font=verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]
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Spoiler:
[Current OST: Switzerland]
"Zoicite's Hi Stone is dormant somewhere under all this snow..."
Last time on Sailor Moon Another Story, all the Inner Senshi split up to look for the Light halves of the Four Heavenly King stones. Why? Something something Rose Crystal to heal Mamoru's injuries after he got trashed by the Opposito Senshi.
Today we're dealing with Mercury in Switzerland and I gotta say, the background looks hella pretty.
"Youma? How... How can I possibly fight off so many Youma? I can't do it all by myself!"
Normally I would just try to power through all of them, but Mercury is not an attacker so... yeah, we're kinda hosed right here?
[Mercury backs up but goes one step too far and falls off the cliff]
The brains of the team, everyone. All that test cramming sure went to good use, huh?
[Thud SFX, complete with the "Mercury damaged" voice clip]
You know, if Ami wasn't in her Sailor Mercury form right now, she'd be dead. A fall that high onto solid, icy dirt? Ooof.
"What's a girl doing here!?"
"I have to get her some medical help quick!"
I just like that sprite for some reason... But yeah, a girl in a sailor suit falls from the sky into your isolated village. Now that would be a good conversation starter.
"Where am I?"
[The guy who rescued her shows up]
???: "You were exhausted. You fell down here, underneath the glacier."
???: "I'm Hans. Who are you?"
Ah yes. He doesn't have a portrait yet he's still a significant character... for this part only, at least.
Still, I'm astonished Hans was able to cure sheer blunt force trauma via medicine. RPG mechanics come to the rescue!
"Thanks for helping me. Where am I?"
Hans: "Kainess Village. This village lies underneath the glacier."
Hans: "For 200 years, this village has been beneath the glacier. You're the first person to come here in years."
Okay, hold up. So, Kainess is a village situated underneath a glacier. Alright, whatever, they carved out an entire cave system and decided to build houses in there... but you're really telling me Ami is one of the only new visitors they've gotten over the span of 200 years?!
Jesus christ, that's a little much.
Hans: "Please, don't strain yourself."
"Well, I have been enough trouble. I really shouldn't impose on you anymore."
[Hans walks off]
Alright, no fuss, I guess. Just walk it off.
How about her stats now that she has a chapter all to herself?
* HP: *** (Bad)
* Attack: *** (Bad)
* Defense: ********* (Excellent)
* Speed: ******* (Good)
* Evade: ******* (Good)
* Moveset:
- Shabon Spray (2 MP - weak one-enemy attack that lowers enemy attack)
- Shabon Spray Freezing (3 MP - weak one-enemy attack)
- Shine Aqua Illusion (4 MP - strong attack)
- Mercury Aqua Mirage (4 MP - strong attack that hits all enemies)
* Preferred Gemstone/Equipment: Sapphire
Mercury is the tank of the Inner Senshi in that she can take a lot of punishment, even in spite of her limited HP growth. Her most important feature is actually not her defensive capabilities, but instead Shabon (Bubble) Spray. See, what it does is that it lowers enemy attack every time it's used.
This matters quite a bit in battles that would otherwise be devastating to even a full team - I'd argue as far to say it breaks the game! Fuckin' bubbles, man.
... I would forgive you for not knowing this, though, because they never even drop a hint for it.
Hmm. Looks like the person he's tending to has far bigger problems than us, but nothing we can do right now.
Dude has a nice house. Also, fire in this game is not actually animated - it's more or less a glowing tile with the illusion of movement.
[The stone glitters in Mercury's hands]
"Zoicite's Kage stone is glimmering... So the Hi Stone must be around here somewhere. Zoicite's cave should be somewhere near this village."
Side-note, I do like the theme/look for this chapter even if it's my least favorite of all the "Stone Hunt" mission locations.
Much like traditional RPG fare, you can rest in an Inn for a convenient price. Weird that a place outside of Japan will accept Yen, but let's just let that slide from now on...
[Current OST: Inn]
Interesting how the Inn ditty turns into a completely different song, almost as if it's going to be re-used later on.
"I wanna see what's outside too..."
So are these people a gated community? Are they physically unable to leave? I have a lot of questions, but I don't think it'd be quite wise to answer them considering that's not the point of why we're here.
This made me giggle though. Yeah, it's cool because we're a JRPG protagonist you see? We can break into people's houses, rob them and nobody would care.
Alright, this guy is pretty neat for an NPC. He's effectively a guide for this entire chapter - you can ask him what to do next if you ever get confused... a welcome addition, really.
Here's another note for the "brothers are important" subtext for the entire adventure.
There's also a shop here in case you need stuff. I strongly urge you to buy some chocolate, Ice Shards (they give you 4 MP), Schwartz Medicine and accessories for the road later on.
The instant you get to walk outside of the village, you'll get bombarded with monsters that will all murder you without proper planning. You'll see what I mean...
Hans will stop you from leaving due to the monsters... at first, anyway. Let's go see what he wants.
Hans's Mother: "Thank you Hans. [Cough, cough] You're always looking after me..."
Ah, so that woman on the bed is his sick mother. No wonder he's so concerned.
For a one-off character we'll never see again after this chapter, Hans has quite the expressive sprites. Like I don't think we get to see this "hands on hip" sprite past this scene.
"Someone must go to Andeng village. I need someone to get the doctor. For mother..."
[His mother coughs some more]
Hans: "Mother, hang in there..."
[Mercury walks past Hans and checks the mother's forehead]
Mercury to the rescue. That's my girl.
Hans: "Don't!!"
What the hell? Why not?
[He drags Mercury back]
Hans: "We need Dr. Schwartz for this. No other medicines will work. He has to make a special medicine. It's the only way."
Hans: "It's hopeless, we already tried!"
Oh jeez, the whole "this character has a non-specific super illness that can't be cured by normal items" debacle. Alright Hans, lay it on me.
[Mercury bows her head down]
Hans: "... Forgive me. I really should be thanking you for your kindness."
At least he knows to thank us for showing a little bit of human decency, even if we don't have quite what he needs.
Hans: "Andeng Village is east of here..."
Hell yeah, boy.
Hans: "Take care outside of town. There are a lot of monsters. It's very dangerous..."
Hans: "I beg you, just be careful."
This is cute and all, but I really should stress that you don't discredit Hans's advice about the monsters because... well...
Name: WSenicienter
HP: 25
Attack: 24
Defense: 10
Speed: 28
EXP: 9
Yen: 200
Item Drop: Life Water (Revives and cures 200 HP)
Monster Type: Daimon
Based off of: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net...4d/210o.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150504083638Cenicienta
* If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon S (Season 3, episode 12)
That horribly mangled name aside, White Cenicienta is one of the new enemies here that might give you some trouble. She may be a palette swap, but...
whoaaa there
"I'll be fine" she says as she gets ripped apart by the first few monsters she meets.
Too much damage just for one enemy. It was because of this that I actually died on the first (offscreen) battle before this, so I swapped Mercury from the center row to the back just to guarantee her some survivability.
See, you have to be mindful about what you equip on your Senshi of choice and what position they're in from this point on because it matters. It matters a lot.
Center row does almost five times Palette Swap's health, but it's still too dangerous to stay like this.
(Keep in mind this is not the same enemy, I'm actually experimenting with different fights here)
Front row doesn't do as much damage, but it does allow Mercury to live a little longer and lets her deal a moderate amount of damage.
This attack is Shine Aqua Illusion, her attack for the majority of Season 2 (R). This is what it looks like in the anime.
Name: Breezer
HP: 20
Attack: 22
Defense: 11
Speed: 25
EXP: 8
Yen: 50
Item Drop: Life Water (Revives and cures 200 HP)
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Blizzar
* If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Classic (Season 1, episode 38)
Oh my god... It's the dumbest Youma they ever designed in the show. Like what do you say to Mc. Snowman Tits here? To top it off, she has a snowman face on her crotch.
Like legit, there may be some villains later on that look ridiculous but it was around Blizzar that they started to get... noticeable. I do like how they chose her for the ice area, but maybe they could have picked someone else for that?
Droid Nipasu is one they could have used and she's a cutie.
This brutal-looking attack is Mercury Aqua Mirage, her only multi-hit spell for only 4 MP. Not only is it very useful, it's actually a reference to one of her strongest moves yet.
Aqua Mirage was first used in the manga against one of the Death Busters, but its most famous use was actually in a anime special called Ami's First Love. Basically, a specter called Bonnon latches onto Ami's body and makes her sick, forcing her to hallucinate that someone called Mercurius (someone that scored perfectly on some exams) is trying to sabotage her.
Unfortunately for Bonnon, Ami transforms into Sailor Mercury (under the impression that Bonnon is Mercurius when they're not) and unleashes this super-powerful move that she only uses once in the entire show, instantly killing Bonnon.
This is what Mercury Aqua Mirage looks like in the anime and boy howdy is it one of the most impressively animated attacks in the entire series.
It was actually so good that they re-traced the entire animation for Crystal.
[Current OST: Cave]
The cave music is nice, but I wish I could enjoy it a bit more without all these random battles.
You get here by going up and to the left. Going to the right takes you to Andeng Village, but that's not where the doctor is, so... yeah, we're going the long way.
Oooh, nice!
Remember how I mentioned the different Senshi have special gemstones? Mercury's is Sapphire, and they give her greater boosts than run-of-the-mill equipment.
Sure it drops her attack by four, but it increases everything else, including even her health.
Name: Darkened
HP: 60
Attack: 40
Defense: 13
Speed: 35
EXP: 18
Yen: 80
Item Drop: Pork Chop (Removes "accident" status effect)
Monster Type: Youma
Based off of: Shakoukai
* If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Classic (Season 1, episode 37)
Well... that's an interesting choice for the ice cave. Darkened, or Social Circle (aka. what her real name means) is a Youma from around the end of Season 1. She was originally an English aristocrat called Countess Rose but got turned into a Youma by Kunzite to find out Sailor Moon's real identity.
In a sharp contrast to Blizzar, I actually really like Social Circle's design with all the clams. She's like a high class clam mermaid.
That's nice and all, but her most dangerous aspect in not only the show but also in the game is her ability to trap people in this sticky green goo. In the game it's called Barrier(?) and if it hits you, you're stuck with the Accident status effect.
That sounds hilarious given the context, but it's actually Petrification. It's effectively the same thing as death, so you get a game over if it hits everyone in your party... given how it's just Mercury right now, that's a real dick move.
Doesn't help that they're uber beefy compared to most monsters we've encountered so far, with a staggering attack stat of 40. Like even with the defense boost Mercury just got with the Sapphire Earrings, they were still pounding her for 20-30 damage each.
Thankfully, Barrier rarely hits and the Social Circle gets disbanded by Aqua Mirage.
Pork Chops cure accidents (somehow? Do they whack the goo away with it?), so at least when we have a full team this won't be a problem later on.
Name: U-Choden
HP: 45
Attack: 43
Defense: 15
Speed: 44
EXP: 20
Yen: 300
Item Drop: Alarm Clock (Wakes up character from sleep status effect)
Monster Type: Daimon
Based off of: U-Chouten
* If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: Sailor Moon Super (Season 3, episode 30)
Whoah, look at them big ol'... stars. In all seriousness, U-Chouten has to be the skimpiest villain they've ever put into the show. She only has like two star stickers covering her breasts for corn's sake.
It was actually so much for the American side of things that they had to draw in a bra for her, so whoof. That said, damn she has like the cutest face out all the Daimons.
In Another Story, she's even stronger than Social Circle but only inflicts Sleep via Sound Wave. Since that move has a similarly low success rate, they're not too much trouble.
Wow, they sure give a lot of EXP. I guess since we're going to be here for a while, this is good.
The best part is that button inputs you make are remembered through fights. Like let's say I ended a fight with Aqua Mirage.
It will stay on Aqua Mirage the next time we get into a random fight and your MP is back to full after you run/win. If you really wanted, you could spam the turbo button on fights you already know you've won and speed through the dungeon.
I recommend this because, again, there's no Repels to stop the monsters from appearing... might as well get some use out of these.
Towards the end of this cave, we finally meet the good doctor himself. Only one problem, though...
[The doctor paces around the room, looks at Mercury for a solid few seconds and turns away]
He doesn't seem notice that we're here, oops.
Doctor Schwartz: "Huh?"
It takes Mercury being assertive to finally get his attention, hah.
Doctor Schwartz: "Mmmm... yes, I'm Schwartz. You... how'd you get here? There are so many monsters around here. Huh...?"
[A heart balloon pops over his head. The doctor runs in front of Mercury]
Oh hell no.
[Current OST: File Select]
Oh no, we're really doing this.
Doctor Schwartz: "My dear, may I ask you how old you are?"
[Mercury backs up a step]
Doctor Schwartz: "Excellent!
Sssstop right there.
Doctor Schwartz: "When's your birthday?"
Doctor Schwartz: "So then, my pretty..."
What the fuck, I'm dying.
Kick him in the nads, do something. This is too much for me.
[Mercury hits her back against the wall]
Doctor Schwartz: "Do you have a boyfriend??"
[Mercury gets pissed]
Blast him with Shine Aqua Illusion. Do it.
Doctor Schwartz: "Oh... Ohh. I'm sorry."
[The doctor backs up]
Doctor Schwartz: "I tend to go a little crazy over cute girls like yourself."
No kidding. Like I get it, he lives alone in an ice cave surrounded by monsters but that's definitely no excuse to act like an ephebophile... in fact, it's worse in his case because he's old enough to be her grandfather.
Like Jesus Christ.
Doctor Schwartz: "Hmmm? What did you say? (oh no!)"
Freeze him already.
Doctor Schwartz: "What did you want to tell me?"
Oh right, we came here to save the mom, not murder a man in literal cold blood.
Doctor Schwartz: "So you want me to visit him, right? But the problem is... There are so many monsters outside of this cave."
[Another heart balloon pops over Schwartz's head]
"I'm going on a date with this cute girl... It's been such a long time.
I'm watching you, boy.
With all that awfulness out of the way, we get another piece of Sapphire equipment.
Shabon Spray going to work. Keep in mind, this is the same enemy that was hitting me for around 30 before, yet now they don't even get past the double digits.
Good shit.
People underestimate Mercury, but she's a Sailor Soldier for a reason.
We make our way towards the neighboring town to rest a bit and to restock our supplies. There's nothing actually important here barring one thing.
A puzzle piece. Yes, you not only get them from battles but also from obscure, seemingly random pots on the overworld. You just have to scramble your way through them and hope they're the right one... also, get these while you can because they're unobtainable later on.
It's not too big of a deal if they randomly appear through battles, but at the same time don't have permanently missable stuff in your long-ass roleplaying game, please?
... I would hope a girl with blue hair in a decorated sailor suit running around in this arctic weather looks a tad off to the local people.
I know it's a fantasy story and Mercury has magic to stop from turning into a human popsicle, but it's that extra touch, you know?
... This is supposed to be the mom of this household, so this just reminds me of one particular exchange from Ed, Edd n' Eddy.
The point of this house is to talk about accessories being your equipment, but they do it in such a weird way.
"Let's be off then, Dr. Schwartz. She's over here."
[Everyone walks over to the ill mother]
"Mm mm mm!! I know now!! She needs some Halyomoss urgently!"
Hans: "Huh!? Is that some kind of mochi rice cake?"
How does Hans, a resident of Switzerland, know what a mochi rice cake is? Friggin' Japan has its tendrils everywhere in the Sailor Moon universe.
Dr. Schwartz: "The Halyomoss is the only cure to this very rare disease. I don't have any of it on me right now."
Halyomoss is something they made up just for the game, by the way, because the only search results I got lead me straight back to Another Story.
Dr. Schwartz: "There's a small cave behind my lab."
Hans: "Ok then, I'll just go and get some!"
Reasonable argument.
Hans: "No. It's even more dangerous for a girl like you. You can't go."
What the shit, Hans? Where did this sudden sexism come from? He was cool with us going before, knowing that we were going to wade through the same cave full of monsters yet now he's not?
I don't understand the reluctance because Mercury is arguably 100x stronger than him.
I love this woman.
And then he's suddenly cool with going again? Hans, sit down and take a break. You're clearly not alright.
Hans: "Dr. Schwartz, we're going to get some Halyomoss."
Dr. Schwartz: "Alright Hans, I'll take care of your mother."
Hans: "I'm in your debt. Thank you very much!! Let's go, Mercury!"
Nice. Now let's just cut through a million encounters and...
We're there! For you guys it was one image to another, for me it was an unholy slog through a long passage filled with random encounters.
In his attempt to reach the
Hans: "I'm all right. Hey, where's the Halyomoss?"
[An exclamation balloon pops over Mercury's head]
Hmmm? What's the deal?
Oh shit it's what we came here to get in the first place!
So not only can we cure Hans's mom, we can actually finish our original mission. Sweet. Let's go grab it and -
[The screen shakes]
Hans: "Uwaa!! What's happening?!"
[The screen shakes violently multiple times, followed by the Hi Stone falling into a sudden hole in the ground]
"Where did Zoicite's Hi Stone go? I wonder where it went... But I should give Hans's mother the Halyomoss first... Or should I?"
Now this is interesting. You have a choice to go back to the mother first or you can go down the hole to get the Hi Stone. Contrary to most choices we've made so far, this is NOT a but-thou-must situation - choosing no will take you straight to the final boss fight of Mercury's solo chapter, and they're tough.
I would actually recommend against the "no" option for once just so you can get some more time to prepare.
"I've gotta get back to Hans's mother first. Hans! Let's return to your mother first."
Hans: "Ok, Mercury?"
Joking aside, this is more in character for Mercury and it's just so sweet of her to do this.
"Let's get the Halyomoss to your mother."
He didn't even say anything before that, so I don't know where the "arguing stubbornly" bit came from.
Hans: "Thank you..."
Oh boy, another slog. Cutting straight to the house.
"You've come back!!"
He's very excitable, this doctor. Would it be weird to say that I'm actually more comfortable around the monsters than him? At least they're obvious.
Hans: "Doctor, here's the Halyomoss."
Dr. Schwartz: "Ohh, very good. You found it. If you'd been any later, it might've been a bit dangerous for your mother, Hans. Ok, I'll make the medicine at once."
Yeesh. Kinda glad it wasn't a timed mission to get the moss back to Dr. Schwartz otherwise that'd be a pretty gruesome non-standard game over on Mercury's behalf.
[Mercury walks away while his back is turned. The mother coughs a bit]
Hans's Mother: "Thank you..."
Hans: "Hey, it wasn't just me that got it for you. Mercury also helped..."
[He turns around and sees that she's disappeared]
Hans: "Huh? Where'd Mercury go?"
Why did we walk out of there? Strange that we wouldn't even bother to check if the mom is fine afterwards.
[Dr. Schwartz walks back in]
Dr. Schwartz: "The medicine is ready."
"Her face has gone back to normal!!"
Excellent! At least we saved one person, right?
... Also, you didn't see it, but the mom made this weird "KOKUKOKU" noise. I have no idea what that's supposed to sound like, especially since she's being cured, but it's just... there.
[The mother falls back asleep]
Hans: "Mother!!"
Dr. Schwartz: "Hey, she's okay. You can rest easy. Take it easy for a while. Soon, she'll be as good as new."
Hans: "Thank you very much, Dr. Schwartz!!"
At least he's a competent doctor if he was able to whip up a effective cure in less than a few minutes.
"I wish I could stay for a while. In case of a relapse or anything like that. Goodbye, Hans..."
Awww. Yeah, this seems like a nice place, but Ami has priorities to keep up, so...
[Mercury walks out the door, but he stops her]
[Hans runs into the scene]
Hans: "Are you going already?"
Hans: "Can't you stay a while before you go...?"
Hans: "Maybe, when it's over, you can come and visit me again?"
Awwwwww. I mean... come on, don't do this.
Hans: "Come back to this village and see me some day, won't you...?"
[Mercury runs out the door]
Hans: "Mercury..."
:origin()/pre00/b7bc/th/pre/f/2013/147/3/8/reaction___sad_riolu_by_minusoneball-d66t4tb.png)
With all the sad out of the way, we should probably get the stone before the Opposito get to it.
"It's too steep to climb down. Well then, there's still that other cave to the east."
Oh god damn it.
This is the cave she's talking about. You go up and to the right this time... also, keep track of these stairs for later because it'll be the site of one of the most dangerous fights in the game.
Right now it's already pretty tough, but I'm talking superboss levels. You'll see what I mean.
I'm finally confident enough to place Mercury back in the center of the Cluster position. Just watch how much she does against the regular enemies now.
Ahahahaha! Bow before me, puny mortals!
... I mean, yes. The attack multipliers in this game are insane if you know how to do them properly.
That said, this is like the worst cave of all. It has this aggravating winding maze-like quality that, when combined with the random battles, absolutely drives me up the wall.
This game would benefit so much from the Earthbound style of enemy encounters... and given how there's a super-sprint function right off the bat, it'd be even faster than Earthbound.
My head is spinning with all kinds of tweaks this game could get to make it even better.
Make good use of this Luna P ball because you'll need it.
[Not Mercury teleports in]
[Current OST: Apsu]
Bring it on then! You won't even last a second!
[Current OST: Opposito Senshi Battle Theme]
Name: Nabu (1)
HP: 150
Attack: 45
Defense: 30
Speed: 30
EXP: 30
Yen: 10
Item Drop: Moon Shard (Cures 120 HP)
Allegiance: Opposito Senshi
Official Art: Here.
* If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: N/A
The first human boss in the game and the first Opposito we get to fight! I love the slower remix of the boss theme they used for the Opposite Soldiers, plus I like how she's effectively a moodier, emo version of Mercury, complete with the highest defense stat we've seen so far.
Also, she said she wasn't going to tell us her name, yet the game straight up tells us anyway via an interface spoiler. So much for that, huh?
... Not that it means much, considering she gets nuked by Shine Aqua Illusion immediately.
I meant what I said, you see.
(Yes, very edgy.)
"Indeed... Anshar-sama warned me of this."
I like how she doesn't give a straight answer and goes straight to the death threat.
[The screen pixellates out]
[Current OST: Crystal Tokyo]
"Are you okay with that? Isn't the Silver Crystal's power such a wonderful thing? Scientists haven't been able to understand its power... But how could such power, one that science can't understand... how could it protect the world? I wonder...?"
(As a side note, I adore the music that plays in Crystal Tokyo. It's so soothing...)
So... huh. She really is Evil Mercury after all. It's like if Ami decided to be incredibly pedantic with her advanced intellect.
Not-Venus is just looking at her all confused, like "what the hell are you talking about, my dude?"
[The screen darkens]
[Not-Venus walks in front of Nabu all confused]
I love Not-Venus's reactions to all of this destiny talk, to be honest.
"What you say is true, that miracle could never last forever."
I do find it interesting just how much weight the Silver Crystal holds in not just this game, but also in the entire series. It's what allowed Crystal Tokyo to come into existence and breathe in a new Silver Millennium, really... but just how does that affect the people?
Granted Another Story doesn't go quite deep enough to truly answer that, but at least this powerful macguffin and Usagi's actons as Neo Queen Serenity are being questioned.
[Nabu is brought up via a pillar of darkness, with Not-Venus running in. The screen fades back to Nabu and Mercury]
"I'll keep going till the end!!"
[She runs into Mercury again]
Nice flashback... but trust me, you'll learn to hate it due to the next part of this boss fight.
Name: Nabu (2)
HP: 220
Attack: 61
Defense: 40
Speed: 45
EXP: 270
Yen: 2500
Item Drop: Moon Shard (Cures 120 HP)
Allegiance: Opposito Senshi
Official Art: Here.
* If applicable, what was their debut in the show/manga: N/A
Despite looking the same as before, this version of Nabu is infinitely more difficult to take down... to the point where people have grinded on the monsters outside for hours just to do more than four or five damage to her.
That ten point increase in Defense may seem negligible, but holy hell it escalates this fight into a place it shouldn't have gone.
Also, while we're at it, Nabu is the Mesopotamian god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes and wisdom... very appropriate considering the Another Story one is Mercury's counterpart.
Not only is Nabu stronger (she must have used the evil version of Heroic Will that's so prevalent in anime protagonists), she has Toxic Mist to poison you so even if your defenses are high enough to shrug off her physical attacks, you still take a set 21 damage at the end of every turn.
It sucks, so be sure to carry some Schwartz Medicine to heal it off.
You see this? This is after all the grinding we did, being in the perfect position to do the most damage and having the best equipment (Sapphire Ring/Earrings + Attack accessory) and yet it still only does... 41 damage.
Like what the hell, man? You think you could have toned down the defense a little bit, maybe three points if you wanted to make it a little more fair and less grindy? Considering this is the first major boss fight you'll have on your own, it's ridiculous. I get it, she's tough, but come on.
If your attack stat is below 40 before you make it into this fight, you are not going to kill Nabu. Plain and simple.
Doesn't help that you have to regenerate your MP via the Ice Shards from before due to how often you have to keep using Shine Aqua Illusion. Shabon Spray only takes two MP and does a consistent 12 damage, but that's so little compared to her gigantic 220 health.
You'd have to pepper her with Shabon Spray eighteen times to kill her and that's just plain no.
That said, she gives you a hella reward when you do beat her. I feel it's really unfortunate that such a durable boss is placed right at the start of the game like this, but can you do?
Video games back then didn't have patches to fix stuff like this.
"I'm so exhausted... fighting for the stones in such a small place like this. Letting you have this stone will be no hindrance at all. But you will be unable to get all the stones in time."
How much you wanna bet, Nabu? I would complain how she's just handing us the stone, but I think Mercury would brute force the stone into the inventory after all we've gone through.
Don't mess with the quiet ones, you see.
"If she can stop you, then you'll never be able to heal Tuxedo Mask."
A playable Tuxedo Mask would be super cool, but he's doomed to be a support character no matter where he appears...
[Nabu floats into the air]
[Nabu vanishes]
If me and several other players of the game are anything to go by, then good god yes she is.
But hey, it all turned out alright in the end!
"I'll never be able to meet Hans again. If I saw Hans again... I'm sorry. Wait for me to come back. Important friends are waiting for me. I can't go back to everyone, but..."
Scratch everything turning out fine in the end - Ami broke some poor sod's heart.
She's stone cold, yo.
"Farewell..."
I mean, she still has to go to school in Japan and she has friends there, so unfortunately this long-distance relationship just won't work out.
Oooh boy, we completed Ami's chapter! Thank goodness too because the amount of backtracking through thin, long hallways were driving me insane.
Next time on Sailor Moon: Another Story, we meet up with Mars in Nepal! See you then.
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Team Set-Up:
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~Fun Sailor Moon Fact~:
Ami was originally designed to be a cyborg with an accelerator? This is kind of the reason why she has genius level intellect despite being a 15 year old girl. She was planned to lose an arm and die from it, but Ms. Takeuchi's editor was like "no" and they decided to make Ami just a regular human girl... with advanced intelligence.
This idea would be later re-used in the manga's version of Hotaru, where she has cybernetic limbs. Cyborg Hotaru wasn't included in the anime for some reason.
Also, Ami is a Virgo because the astrological sign has a connection with Mercury, so I see what you did there.