Sailor Moon
Yeesh. Talk about being behind. It's been almost five months since the first installment of my "Sailor Moon" re-watch. You think that's bad? Just wait until I get started again on "Orphan Black." I don't know about you all, but I'm ready to dive right back into the adventures of my favorite magical girls.
"The Mysterious Sleeping Sickness: Protect the Girls in Love"
Umino: "This is crazy. Usagi, do you have any idea what could have happened to Miss Haruna?"
Usagi: "Why are you asking me? I just got here. But I totally lucked out! I know that!"
- Usagi, focusing on what's really important. But seriously, why was Umino asking her?
All the women in town are obsessed with a radio show where the host reads love letters aloud, including one from Usagi's teacher, Miss Haruna. The next day at school, Miss Haruna shows up wearing the flower given by the radio host to women who's letters he reads on air. When Miss Haruna passes out in class and doesn't wake up, followed by Naru, who also has a letter read, Usagi and Luna head to the radio station to investigate. Can Sailor Moon put an end to this sleeping sickness or will every woman in love be drained of energy?
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| Jane Pauley is that you? |
You know, Queen Beryl is pretty laissez-faire about Jadeite's failures right now. She's just sitting there peering into her crystal ball or whatever and is like, get that energy. I'm sure you'll do fine, even though you failed twice in a row and we just started this. Maybe if she had a firmer hand from the jump, this whole thing would have gone better for the Dark Kingdom.
I was watching this episode with one of my roommates and before he went to bed, he made the comment that Usagi's teenage girl tendencies and her want to run away from danger rather than towards it made it difficult for him to root for her. I had to disagree. One of the things that I like the most about Usagi is her realness. This feels like what would happen if a fourteen-year-old girl became a superhero. She wouldn't automatically be running into the fire and kicking ass and taking names. But even though Usagi is not super psyched to fight Queen Beryl's monsters she always comes through in the clinch.
Take this episode. When Usagi realizes that Jadeite is duping the women of the Juban district, she storms into give him what for. She doesn't hesitate. She knows that he is the bad guy, but she doesn't care. That is what I love about Sailor Moon.
There are some great things introduced in this episode. Usagi gets her transformation pen. Adding the "beautiful" caveat to her newscaster is classic Usagi. Usagi also meets Jadeite for the first time. I was super into this idea that female energy is the most potent and powerful, especially the energy of women in love.
Grade: B+
"Learn How to Be Skinny from Usagi"
Usagi: "He's cute."
Naru: "I love his glasses."
Usagi getting completely fooled by Jadeite's ingenious Clark Kent disguise.
Usagi is upset about some recent weight gain. She and some of her friends find out about a local gym, endorsed by a famous actress, that promises revolutionary weight loss in just a few days. When the gym's clients emerge thin, but ready to pass out at any moment, Usagi and Luna suspect this is another plot by the Dark Kingdom to drain energy. Can Sailor Moon put an end to this scheme and get fit?
"Sailor Moon" is a show that is aimed at teen girls. Teen girls (and teen boys) struggle with body image issues, so it makes sense that the writers would feel like doing an episode aimed at those issues would be a good idea. Buuuutttt.... this episode doesn't really do a great job of addressing those concerns in a good way.
It all starts with Usagi's family. When she's freaking out about losing weight, they don't try to console her, assure that she's fine the way she is, nope. They just count down the ways that she is not fit and why she is getting fatter. OK, so Luna will console Usagi, right? She wants her to be this badass Sailor Guardian. She's going to tell her she's OK the way she is. Nope. She presents a picture she drew of Sailor Moon as the Michelin Man and lets Usagi know that's where she's headed if she doesn't get serious about diet and exercise. What the fuck, Luna? That being said, it's not a bad picture for someone who has no opposable thumbs.
At school, Usagi and Naru and two other random girls get together and commiserate. Actually, they throw weird shade at each other until Umino shows up. Apparently, Umino has been stalking Miss Haruna and taking pervy yet oddly well posed pictures of her. Thank God for Naru. She is the only one that is outraged at Umino's gross behavior. Usagi just wants to know where Miss Haruna went to get so skinny so fast.
The episode finally gets around to what I assume is the lesson: You're fine just the way you are, but it comes from Motoki after an extended fantasy sequence of Usagi passing out in his arms because she hasn't eaten. Yowza.
If there is one positive to this episode, it's that we really get to see Sailor Moon lay the smack down on the bad guys who are transformed meathead trainers at the gym Jadeite took over. It's great to see Sailor Moon kicking ass and taking names, as long as you ignore the fact that her motivation is Luna telling her fighting is ag great way to get fit.
This is definitely not the episode I would recommend to "Sailor Moon" neophytes, but we watched it and it's passed. So, let's just move on.
Grade: C
Next up, Usagi finally gets around to officially adopting Luna as the family pet and then she learns about jazz!
What do you guys think about these episodes? Do you miss the other Sailor Guardians or are you enjoying these solo Sailor Moon adventures? Was the second episode one of the worst in "Sailor Moon" history or am I being too rough? Let me know in the comments.
Naru: "I love his glasses."
Usagi getting completely fooled by Jadeite's ingenious Clark Kent disguise.
Usagi is upset about some recent weight gain. She and some of her friends find out about a local gym, endorsed by a famous actress, that promises revolutionary weight loss in just a few days. When the gym's clients emerge thin, but ready to pass out at any moment, Usagi and Luna suspect this is another plot by the Dark Kingdom to drain energy. Can Sailor Moon put an end to this scheme and get fit?
 |
| Yikes |
It all starts with Usagi's family. When she's freaking out about losing weight, they don't try to console her, assure that she's fine the way she is, nope. They just count down the ways that she is not fit and why she is getting fatter. OK, so Luna will console Usagi, right? She wants her to be this badass Sailor Guardian. She's going to tell her she's OK the way she is. Nope. She presents a picture she drew of Sailor Moon as the Michelin Man and lets Usagi know that's where she's headed if she doesn't get serious about diet and exercise. What the fuck, Luna? That being said, it's not a bad picture for someone who has no opposable thumbs.
At school, Usagi and Naru and two other random girls get together and commiserate. Actually, they throw weird shade at each other until Umino shows up. Apparently, Umino has been stalking Miss Haruna and taking pervy yet oddly well posed pictures of her. Thank God for Naru. She is the only one that is outraged at Umino's gross behavior. Usagi just wants to know where Miss Haruna went to get so skinny so fast.
The episode finally gets around to what I assume is the lesson: You're fine just the way you are, but it comes from Motoki after an extended fantasy sequence of Usagi passing out in his arms because she hasn't eaten. Yowza.
If there is one positive to this episode, it's that we really get to see Sailor Moon lay the smack down on the bad guys who are transformed meathead trainers at the gym Jadeite took over. It's great to see Sailor Moon kicking ass and taking names, as long as you ignore the fact that her motivation is Luna telling her fighting is ag great way to get fit.
This is definitely not the episode I would recommend to "Sailor Moon" neophytes, but we watched it and it's passed. So, let's just move on.
Grade: C
Next up, Usagi finally gets around to officially adopting Luna as the family pet and then she learns about jazz!
What do you guys think about these episodes? Do you miss the other Sailor Guardians or are you enjoying these solo Sailor Moon adventures? Was the second episode one of the worst in "Sailor Moon" history or am I being too rough? Let me know in the comments.
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