(Mako looks out at the dance floor, standing with the others)

Mako: In the end, I guess I was infatuated with the dance itself. A dance on this floor where people would want to make room for me.

(Mako squees with Unazuki, holding hands)

Mako: All right, this time I WILL find a wonderful prince!

Usagi (standing with the other three): Looks like we don’t need to worry.

Mako admits her true infatuation was not really with the guy she barely knew, but the wonderful experience she had being accepted at the dance and the good feeling of having a guy want to dance with her. Awww. She didn’t want that experience to be damaged. And she knows there’s no shame in that. She just has to be sure to value herself too.

And rather than let this rejection and bad experience get her down and color her outlook, Mako chooses to be excited for the next dance, and still holds out hope there’s a man who can value her out there and she will find him. She’s strong, she will move on to the next things. The other girls are glad to see Mako moving forward, and know that she will be fine.

I think it’s significant that we never hear Mako mention or dwell on “the senior who broke her heart” again after this episode. (The closest she comes is speculating that Chibiusa COULD have a crush on an upperclassman, but that’s more assuming everyone shares her taste than dwelling- clearly she has a THING for older men in the anime) Could it be a coincidence? Well, it’s more than a whole season of something that used to come up quite frequently never being mentioned again, so I do think it’s significant. In fact, in StarS, she does NOT engage in unhealthy behavior in regards to men at all or put herself out for them- she has a crush on the Three Lights, but never bends over backwards for them or takes any guff or any of the somewhat self harming behavior she engaged in previously.

So I really do think this episode was significant for her as character development- she really did decide to deal with rejection and put her bad experiences behind her- move forward and value herself more, while not losing hope she could find someone someday- but she knows she’s just as strong alone and doesn’t need to harm herself out of desperation.  After all, her friends love and support her.

I LOVE MAKO THE END.