The Breakup Breakdown
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A brief recap of what happens in Classic: Mamoru and Usagi spend 34 episodes building up from strangers who don't like eachother very much to accepting a budding friendship, which comes to a head in the episode where the truth about their relation to one another is revealed. Here's where we find out they were destined to be together, right on time for Beryl to melt his brain and turn them against eachother. They'll spend another 12 episodes apart as enemies, with Usagi desperately trying to get him back now what that she knows who he is, only for him to snap back right at the end where Everyone Dies.
Usagi's dying wish is to start all over and for everyone to have a normal life away from Scout duty, but this comes at the expense of everyone's memories. No friends, no Mamoru. Artemis tells Luna not to worry, for they'll meet again, as Destiny is a major theme in the show. Perfectly bittersweet so far.
We get into Sailor Moon R and Usagi is launched right back into being Sailor Moon, spending this mini-arc trying to make Mamoru remember who she is, making another 12 episodes where they're technically apart and not in a relationship, potentially aiding the tedium the audience feels with these two and the constant push and pull the writers subject them to. I don't know. I can't speak for you, but I can vouch for this decision:
What makes their dynamic during the Hell Tree arc different is that Usagi is presented with a choice.
A big deal is made out of how she feels about her return to Scout duty with episodes 47 and 51:
Episode 47
What should I do...? I can't leave Artemis and the people of the city like this...
Heavens, it can't be helped!
Usagi, I'm sorry; go back to being Sailor Moon!
Heavens...
Who am I?
No... No more battles...
I wanna be a normal girl...! normal...!
No...!
Episode 47
Life of a normal girl...
...Goodbye.
Episode 51
What am I gonna do now...?
My transformation is good for nothing...!
Luna:
Usagi...
You were revived as a Sailor Scout...
but the truth is-
Usagi:
Yeah, I know...
The truth is that I wanna carry on being a secondary school student like everyone else...
Luna:
As long as that's what you want,
you won't be able to use the Moon Tiara, nor transform into Sailor Moon...
Usagi:
No...! How can I save them?
What do I have to do?
Our girl struggles to accept that destiny has plunged her into this thing she doesn't wanna be doing once more, but she inevitably rises up to the responsibility of being Sailor Moon.
This is not the case with Mamoru, however. His role in Usagi's life is not treated as a package deal with her duty as Sailor Scout.
Episode 48
I'm so worried...
If only Mamoru could get his memory back!
He's not interested in me at all...!
Artemis:
Please, Usagi,
now is not the time to talk about these things...!
We must make them recover their memory, Artemis!
Usagi:
What?
You can make Mamoru get his memories back?
Luna:
I wasn't talking about him!
We'll make Ami, Rei and the others remember their past
so they can go back to fighting as Sailor Scouts!
This mini-arc also introduces a love square with Ail and An, each of them going for one half of our main couple and serving as secondary romantic leads. In a meta way we know nothing will come out of these potential relationships, but what's important here is that they serve to highlight that these two have options when it comes to romance.
At this point Usagi wouldn't have to pursue Mamoru if she didn't want to and could have shown the same reluctance she shows with her Scout duty. Mamoru also has gone back to his jerkass ways while Ail has already fallen for her and she's shown to be receptive of his advances, meaning that Usagi is also presented with an easy choice if she just so happened to be in love with the mere idea of love. By all means, getting back together with Mamoru is not to be taken for granted, and it's laid out in such a way that it's the harder path to walk.
And yet that's what she chooses to do.
The way the arc plays out gives us a quick glimpse of what it'd be like if you let the pair organically fall in love with eachother if one of the parties is actively pursuing the other, and by the end of it Mamoru is rewarded with his memories after risking his civilian ass to protect this superhero goddess, like any man in love would.
We get one episode of their relationship proper before the pink menace falls from the sky and the breakup arc takes over... which might feel like a little annoying after all that faffing about, until we realize we never really got a proper answer on Mamoru's end of things.
Having his mind wiped once more, it's not like he could make an informed choice on the matter of destiny. The real deal with the Breakup Arc is to present him with a choice now that we've put Usagi through the same position.
This is probably the only time we'll get insight straight from the source when it comes to Mamoru's feelings for Usagi. It won't be until S that their relationship settles into a comfy rhythm that fades into the background, a trend that carries over into SuperS, but despite being an important part of the main cast, he doesn't seem to get a single focus episode like the girls tend to do.
So instead of complaining, let's take a look at what the breakup arc gave us
