The Breakup Breakdown
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We're shown what a normal date between Mamoru and Usagi looks like, now that they're together for realsies.
Episode 60 - Boat Date
Mamoru...
from now on we'll always be together, right?
Mamoru:
That's right, Usagi...
Usagi:
This is the happiest moment of my life...!
Mamoru:
Hah...! Don't exaggerate, Usagi...!
Pretty evocative of his date with Rei in Ep. 15, they even share the same music cue! We can immediately make a comparison between a Mamo who's not into his date, and a Mamo who's in love with his girl.
Episode 15 - Boat Date
Ahh... didn't know there was a park like this in the city.
Rei:
Unfortunately, they'll make it disappear soon...
Mamoru:
How?
Rei:
They're gonna construct an office building here.
Mamoru:
That's a shame...
It's a beautiful park, so full of nature.
You think so too, Mamoru?
Mamoru:
Yes,
I believe man should think more about protecting nature.
Rei:
Oh, Mamoru...
Usagi's date has him keen on what she's saying and smiling. Rei's date has him focused on the scenery.
Compared to Usagi, he does downplay the romanticism of the moment, but he doesn't let her down.
Episode 60 - Kiss
Careful now...
They get out of the boat, and Usagi falls onto his arms, being her clumsy little self. As a response, he leans down to kiss her. Much to her surprise, actually!
This would also be a perfect chance to tease her as he's known to do, but he chooses to kiss her instead.
Subtle, but a nice way to establish how their relationship has evolved.
His proactivity in returning her affections also dispels any idea that he's being held at gunpoint to date her. I'd say he seems rather confident in what's going on, possibly to the point of taking it for granted if their little exchange and contrasting attitudes is anything to go by.
Speaking of being held at gunpoint, here comes the baby.
Episode 60 - Naoko Moment
What... What fell on me?
Who-!
Who is that INTRUDER!
Chibi Usa is Mamoru and Usagi's child from the future. We're not meant to know that yet. Still the imagery of a casual kiss on a casual date causing a baby to appear is pretty impactful, evoking that 'don't you go around kissing boys or you might get pregnant' playground rumour.
If the goal is to fling more responsabilities at our protagonist now that she's gotten exacly what she wanted, Chibi Usa and her introduction are the ideal way to do so.
Episode 60 - Hostage Negotiation Skills
If you are Usagi Tsukino, you have it...
The Silver Crystal.
Hand it over immediately.
Mamoru:
Hey now, calm down...
That's a toy gun, isn't it?
Usagi perceives a threat in Chibi Usa and the way she's holding Mamoru. Mamoru perceives a threat in the fact Chibi Usa is pointing a fuckin' gun at his girlfriend.
I'm not saying this has to mean more than it does, but it's consequent with their priorities.
Episode 60 - Usagone
What did you DO
Usagi...?
Damn toy...!
Hey, you shouldn't be playing with those things!
Mamoru not reaching her in time is the one distiction from how this scene plays out in the manga, which means the animators made the conscious call to change it.
Act 15, vol 3 - Usagone
This is either some sick ass big brain foreshadowing for Mamoru's failures as a human being, or the comedic timing was just funnier.
Episode 60 - he protecc
She fell from the sky?
Mamoru:
Yeah, I can't think of anything else...
And that's not the only thing,
I'd like to know how does she know about the Silver Crystal.
Usagi:
Mamoru...
Mamoru:
Don't worry.
I'm here.
Chibi Usa succesfully gaslights Usagi's family into accepting her as one of their own by pretending to be Usagi's cousin and using Luna-P, prompting a memory of the talk Mamoru and Usagi had after she fled the scene.
Mamoru seems concerned with the logistics of it; where Chibi Usa came from, how does she know about the Silver Crystal... and he reassures Usagi that he's gonna be there for her.
No doubt he meant it against any possible enemy threat, but we later see Usagi recontextualizing it as an assurance of his love for her, interpreting Chibi Usa as a different kind of threat:
Episode 60 - he love
You should be strong, Usagi...
Usagi:
True...
Besides, Mamoru loves me SO much!
Don't worry.
I'm here.
Cute little detail to highlight their differences in priorities once more.
It's also my assurance that reading into things like this is fine, since the characters themselves are shown to have different interpretations of the exchanges they've had.
Episode 60 - Girls Gossip
Don't you think you're worried over nothing?
Makoto:
You solved your problems with An and Ail,
and your romance with Mamoru is going pretty well,
ain't it so?
Rei:
...And because nothing is worrying you,
you're trying to find something that's stimulating, right?
Usagi:
THAT'S NOT TRUE
Rei:
Are you sure?
The Scouts discuss the Chibi Usa Situation with Usagi and we get some nice highlights. Mainly that Ail and An are taken into consideration for the continuity, and that Usagi and Mamoru have been going so strong that she might be looking for trouble on purpose.
No reason to doubt their relationship whatsoever.
Later on the Scouts are taken out by Chibi Usa spiking their drinks (the absolute menace) and it's up to Sailor Moon to defend the little creature from Koan who seems intent on murder.
Episode 60 - Don't Touch the Child
Tuxedo Mask has been missing in action since Classic, so this is his official return to action.
Lovely display of how well they work together and establish their roles in action scenes, with Tuxedo Mask showing up to keep Chibi Usa out of danger, and create an opening for Sailor Moon to land the finishing blow.
She struggles considerably less than in Classic, and this time around it's both of them working together for a common goal, rather than being in the dark about what each of their motives are.
It also doubles as parents protecting their daughter, even if they don't know that yet.
Sailor Moon has never been shy about showing masculinity as the support for femeninity via the roles of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, so it's interesting to see how these roles evolve and adapt to a family dynamic now that Chibi Usa is on the scene.
Episode 60 - First Premonition
I believe your enemies are coming from somewhere else now.
Sailor Moon:
Thank you for helping me, Tuxedo Mask!
Tuxedo Mask:
It seems like someone is trying to kill this little girl...
When Tuxedo Mask holds Chibi Usa, we get our first glimpse of the premonitions that are gonna haunt him for the rest of the season. So far they only show what we can assume to be Crystal Tokyo, given the landscape and the baddies' mention of it through the episode.
He's no stranger to quest-giving dreams, so this is reasonable.
Episode 60 - Nothing's Wrong
Tuxedo Mask?
Tuxedo Mask:
Huh?
Sailor Moon:
What's wrong?
Tuxedo Mask:
No, it was nothing.
It also makes sense he wouldn't want to worry her at this point since he doesn't know what this means, nor if it's gonna be recurrent.
It's Usagi who's been shown through this episode to preoccupy while Mamoru seems fairly confident in the state of things, so it wouldn't make sense for him to bring it up to her without knowing what it means first.
This episode is good at establishing the way Usagi and Mamoru interact when left to their own devices, and also the way the girls discuss personal affairs and scout duty seamlessly blending the two topics.
Given the Breakup Arc starts proper in the next episode, it could be argued that we don't get to see much of Mamoru and Usagi being a couple before things go badly, but we don't really need to given all the information that's relevant is here: they are happy together, and any threat that they may face is external.
