"For Whom is the White Rose? The Moonlight Knight Appears" is the 3rd episode of Sailor Moon R and the 49th episode overall. It first aired in Japan on March 20, 1993. The English dub title for this episode is "A Knight to Remember" and it first aired in North America on November 24, 1995.
Summary
Makoto is saddened when a Cardian monster targets her best friend named Shinozaki, and she has to fight to protect him even though she isn't up to her full strength after donating her blood. On top of it all a mysterious new ally appears who calls himself the Moonlight Knight.
Plot
The episode begins with Usagi begging Ami to give her answers for an upcoming test, to which Ami refuses and Makoto admits that was her same reason for tagging along with them. Their conversation is interrupted by the yelling of a boy who is being attacked by a monster. The boy's energy is then drained from him and when Makoto intervenes she realizes she recognizes the boy to be her friend Shinozaki. In the process of saving Makoto Shinozaki flies over an cliff and injures himself enough to lay in a pool of his blood. Before the monster can attack Makoto, Ami and Usagi arrive and the monster disappears. Shinozaki is then rushed to a hospital to receive a blood transfusion, after the nurses realize they won't have enough type O blood for the procedure Makoto offers her own blood.
Ail and An are seen with their Doom Tree and the monster from before, revealing it to be a Cardian whose name is Faraion. Ail uses his flute to collect the energy Faraion stole using a magical wheel which he then feeds to the Doom Tree, causing its leaves to bloom and for their life source to be generated.
While in the hospital with Makoto and the resting Shinozaki Ami and Usagi question who he is to Makoto to which she replies "he is someone important". Makoto says he was always there if she needed someone and has a flashback to being abadoned by her boyfriend in a park while "Anata no Sei Janai" plays in the background, and after she stands alone in the rain Shinozaki appears with an unbrella.
Back home Usagi is drawing pictures in order to get Mamoru's memory back on her own when Luna comes in and begins to talk to her about school and meeting the other Senshi to discuss the day's event when she realizes Usagi wasn't working on school work at all.
The following day the Senshi, minus Usagi, along with Luna and Artemis are at Hikawa Shrine discussing the appearance of a new enemy. Elsewhere An, under her disguise as Natsumi is attempting to get Mamoru to go on a date with her to which he refuses and calls her weird. Usagi then shows up and tries to job Mamoru's memory with her cartoon drawings of the history of the Silver Millennium . Natsumi cuts Usagi off during her story and the girls then realize Mamoru left somewhere in the middle of it and Natsumi goes chasing after him. Usagi begins to worry that he will never remember their time together and that he will fall in love with Natsumi. While she thinks a rose crosses her path and she believes it to belong to Tuxedo Mask ; however, it is revealed to only be Ail posing as Seijuuro who confesses his love to her. Before she accepts his roses, she drops her pictures and scurries to pick them up and runs off, leaving Ail behind more determined to win her love than ever.
Back at the shrine, Rei conjures up an image of Faraion using her powers as a miko. After determining Faraion is searching for another victim, the Senshi leave the shrine where they encounter an out of breath Usagi who wants to know why they're all transformed and where they're heading. As the girls head to the location of the Cardian's next attack, Sailor Jupiter becomes and faint and Sailor Moon pleads to her to go back home, to which she refuses.
Upon arriving at the scene the Senshi find Faraion ready to attack a couple, but they intervene and begin to attack it, but Sailor Jupiter is attacked before she could finish her attack command and both Sailor Mars and Venus were attacked before their attacks reached the Cardian. Sailor Moon was left to fight it until a white rose struck down near its feet. The newcomer introduces himself as the Moonlight Knight and breaks Faraion's magical wheel before disappearing. As Sailor Moon thinks about the Moonlight Knight, Faraion attacks and pins her to the ground while Sailor Jupiter regains consciousness. She thinks about Faralion hurting Sailor Moon and Shinozaki and attacks with Supreme Thunder and destroys the Cardian forcing it into its card form again.
At the hospital, Makoto, Usagi, and Ami watch Shinozaki leaving the hospital and Makoto says she'll watch from a distance like he always has for her. Later that night, Usagi wonders what Makoto and Shinozaki's connection really is and if what she said is true about him being more special than a lover. Her mind drifts to thinking about the Moonlight Knight before Luna reminds her of her math test tomorrow and Usagi begins to whine saying math is harder than a relationship.
Changes
Changes From the Manga
None of these events happened in the manga.
Dub Changes
A dubbed version of this episode for the Swedish dub of Sailor Moon was produced but it never aired. The apparent reason for that was because the studio in charge of the dub couldn't leave out the songs.[1]
