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Episode 1 -	First Contact
	SAMĪ daichi ni satsu!
	[Sammy Stands on Solid Ground!]*
First aired -	4th October 1996

It is a very special day in the magical kingdom of Juraihelm; the 208th queen is about to be chosen at the ascension ceremony. However, the ceremony is late to start — one of the three candidates has not arrived, and candidate Ramia is losing her patience. When the missing candidate, Tsunami, finally arrives, Ramia is positively outraged to discover that she was late because she had to water her flowers.

The ceremony begins, and each of the candidates must present their case for leadership to the royal council. Romio, the first candidate, proposes to continue the work of the previous queen. Ramia presents a comprehensive plan to reverse Juraihelm's declining population, increase public order, employ more armies and put a complaints box in the palace. Finally, Tsunami reveals her proposal; quite simply, to plant flowers throughout the whole kingdom. Ramia thinks she is a shoe-in for the crown, until the council decides that Tsunami is the best candidate for the queen of Juraihelm! Ramia and Romio are sent packing via convenient trapdoors beneath their feet, and Tsunami is presented with the crown. The council now explains that Tsunami must carry out an important task before she can be declared ruler. The balance of Gemini (a pair of scales that measure the flow of good and evil in the kingdom) has shifted towards evil since the death of the previous queen one year earlier, and Tsunami must choose a kindred spirit from planet Earth to do good deeds, ultimately restoring balance to Juraihelm. Tsunami has already selected a young girl by the name of Sasami Kawai...

Ramia returns home in a foul temper. After taking out her initial frustrations on the furniture and her unfortunate younger brother Rumiya, she calms down enough to concoct a wicked plan to ensure Tsunami fails in her task. She plans to choose her own kindred spirit as her representative on Earth to do her bidding. She sets off for Earth, dragging her reluctant brother with her.

Meanwhile, Tsunami is also headed for Earth to recruit her kindred spirit. To help her on this quest, she has enlisted the aid of Ryo-Ohki, a creature that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a cat (although this is what Tsunami thinks Earth cats look like). Ryo-Ohki is assigned to live with and assist Sasami on Tsunami's behalf, so Tsunami sends him ahead to meet her kindred spirit.

Morning arrives in the town of Umi no Hoshi (Sea Star), and Sasami is late for school. After a hasty breakfast, she catches a lift part-way to school with her father in his motorbike and sidecar. On the way there, she meets her best friend Misao Amano to walk the rest of the way to school. However, Eimi, the class president has spotted Sasami, and gives her a stern warning about riding motorbikes to school. Just as she is dragging Sasami off to report her, Ryo-Ohki drops out of the sky and lands right on her. In the ensuing panic and confusion, Sasami and Misao make a dash for it, with Eimi chasing them all the way to school!

During homeroom, the teacher, Mihoshi Mizutani, asks each pupil to stand up and tell the class what they want to do when they leave school. Sasami encourages the bashful Misao to take her turn, and she eventually mutters that she would like to be a pianist. Finally, it is Sasami's turn, and she tells the class that she would like to grow up to be as kind as her mother and marry a man as cool as her father. Watching from a distance, Tsunami utters an apology to Sasami; as much as she wants it, young Sasami's life is about to become anything but normal.

As Sasami and Misao walk home from school that afternoon, Misao thanks Sasami for helping her in class. Just then, they come across Ryo-Ohki waiting in the road for them (although they can't agree on whether he is a rabbit or cat). Sasami recognises her as the creature that fell on the class president that morning, so she decides to take him home and give him a saucer of milk as a reward for getting her out of trouble.

Misao returns to her apartment to find it empty, with a message from her mother on the answerphone. Once again, she is working late, meaning Misao will be alone until the next morning. However, there is someone waiting in the apartment for her. Ramia appears through the wall, with Rumiya (currently transformed into his bird form) perched on her shoulder. Misao tries to run, but Ramia locks the door. Staring hypnotically into Misao's eyes, she tells her that she came for her from a magical kingdom...

Back at the shop (Sasami's mother runs a music shop, CD Vision), Sasami is surprised to find a visitor waiting for her. The visitor introduces herself as Tsunami, and explains that Sasami has been chosen to become a magical girl with a mission to restore world peace. As if this strange request were not shocking enough, Sasami now discovers that Ryo-Ohki can talk, and he assures Sasami that she is the only one that can do the job. Tsunami hands over the magical baton that can transform Sasami into Pretty Sammy. Sasami considers the situation; with magical powers, she could get all the clothes and video games she wanted, so she agrees to give it a try. Using the magic incantation "pretty mutation magical recall", she transforms into Pretty Sammy, and takes a look at herself in the mirror. Suddenly, she begins to have second thoughts; the costume is pretty crummy, and since it doesn't do anything to disguise her, it's more likely to make her a laughing stock than a heroine. However, Tsunami says she is running late, and rushes off before Sasami can protest any further.

Meanwhile, Sasami's mother receives an order for a CD to be delivered. Little does she know that Ramia has placed the order, and she sends her new creation, a magical girl of her own, to meet Sasami at the delivery address. Her brother Rumiya, still in his bird form, accompanies her.

When Sasami arrives at the address, she finds it is just a deserted lot, but suddenly Ramia's magical girl appears with a wicked laugh and confronts her...

Episode 2 - The Crash Course >>

* The Japanese title of this episode ("Samī Daichi ni Tatsu") pays homage to the title of the first episode of the 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, replacing "Gundam" with "Sammy". Several other anime shows have used the same format for an episode title, including Saber Marionette J and Steel Angel Kurumi.

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