Cutting It Close

"What I do know is that it's impossible for mothers to hate their daughters."

-Serena Cutting It Close is the 12th episode of Sailor Moon Super S. It was preceded by Driven Dreamer and followed by Clothes Call.

Plot
Serena and Rini come across a girl named Miharu, who is training to become a champion swordfighter. She has won 10 duels in a row. Realizing that she has been living in a tent under a bridge for three days, Rini has her stay at Serena's house.

The Amazon Trio pick Miharu as their next target.

Another fighter appears and easily defeats Miharu, viciously beating on her with the wooden sword. The challenger is Miharu's mother, and walks away laughing. Miharu explains that her mother thinks she won't achieve her dream of being a champion swordfighter. When the girls talk to her, she says that Miharu is trying too hard, and Serena suspects that she is actually trying to help Miharu.

Tiger's Eye appears and challenges Miharu to a duel, and wins. He then makes up a story about famous swordsmen and samurai schools, and Miharu asks him to teach her. After taking her toward the graveyard, Tiger's Eye traps Miharu and extracts her dream mirror. Serena and Rini arrive and transform. Tiger's Eye looks into Miharu's dream mirror and does not find Pegasus. As he is about to kill her, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mini Moon arrive. Tiger's Eye summons a Remless named Ayatoriko to deal with them.

The Sailor Scouts fight Ayatoriko, who ties them up with spiderlike threads, leaving only Miharu. Ayatoriko tries to grab her sword, but she eventually lets go, causing the sword to hit Ayatoriko. Sailor Mini Moon summons Pegasus with Crystal Twinkle Bell, and Sailor Moon uses Moon Gorgeous Meditation to destroy Ayatoriko.

Miharu enters a rematch with her mother, and defeats her with a trap. She says she now knows that her mother only acted that way toward her because she was too serious to be a champion.