Sailor Moon
If these two episodes have something in common, it's the hostility that exists between Rei and Usagi. Both episodes find the two teammates butting heads over everything. It's good to have a theme and I guess female competition is as good as any.
"Usagi vs Rei: Nightmare in Dreamland"
Ami: "Hey, Usagi's gone. Where did she go?"
Luna: "She's probably goofing off somewhere."
Ami: "I doubt she'd do -- "
Usagi: "Hey guys!"
(cut to Usagi riding the carousel)
Usagi: "Giddy up, horsey. Giddy up!"
Luna: "Unbelievable."
It's a good thing there are now three Sailor Guardians because the Dark Kingdom isn't slowing down in their plans to drain people of their energy. Their newest is an amusement park called Dreamland. Usagi is, of course, obsessed with it even though 50 of their visitors have disappeared mysteriously. Can the Sailor Scouts shut down Jadeite's evil plan and escape Dreamland for good?
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| Is he that irresistible? |
Ami and Usagi got close pretty quickly and even though they are different, they accept each other. That is... not how it is with Usagi and Rei. It wouldn't be the most realistic if every Scout became besties right away and Usagi and Rei are about as far from that as you can get right now.
Just like Ami, Rei is very gung ho about being the best Sailor Guardian she can be, but it's unclear if she is really that invested this quickly or if she's just trying to take it more seriously than Usagi so she can rub her face in it. Rei brings a great energy to the show and I really, really enjoy it. It's clear why the fiery dark haired teen is Sailor Mars. Rei has a lot of great moments in the episode. She undermines Usagi at every turn after Luna pairs them up at Dreamland. When Rei and Usagi end up on a kiddie train behind Mamoru, Rei immediately comments on how Mamoru looks a lot like Tuxedo Mask. This leads to one of my favorite Usagi/Mamoru moments where she goes off on him. It's great to see Mamoru flustered for a change instead of Usagi and he never answers why he's on the kiddie train in the first place.
The contentiousness continues when the girls transform to confront the creepy doll like Princess Dream aka the youma, Murido. Mars interrupts Sailor Moon's newest post-transformation speech and I legit guffawed. The design of Murido is great. I've always hated those creepy puppet like baby dolls and that is exactly what Murido is. She traps the girls in a weird fantasy land with a fake Tuxedo Mask that both Scouts are fawning over. Seriously, Mars? You too? What is the draw of this dude. The real Tuxedo Mask shows up to break the spell and then flounce away. Sigh. Though, there is a great visual comedy moment of the girls riding brooms down the hall.
We are going to be with this trio for a little bit so it's nice to see these dynamics and how they work out.
Grade: B+
"I Want a Boyfriend: The Luxury Cruise Ship is a Trap"
Usagi: [to Naru] "Oh just imagine. Sailing away by the light of the moon.
Naru: "I know. But I've heard that the tickets have been completely sold out for a month."
Umino: "Looking at those romantic cruises, huh? They do seem nice. *nerdy guffaw* A luxury liner with room for 666 passengers. Supposedly the view of the stars as the ship travels from Tokyo to Yokohama is enough to make any man and woman fall in love.
[During this we cut to a gauzy dream sequence of Usagi and Umino enjoying the view of the stars on the ship until Usagi elbows him in the gut, shattering the dream]
Usagi: "Well now you've just gone and me seasick. Thanks a lot."
One of Queen Beryl's chief subordinates, Thetas, approaches Jadeite with a fool proof plan to drain energy from the humans. Apparently romantic couples have lots of energy, so they set up a love cruise that people are clamoring for, including Usagi. It's Rei who wins free tickets and invites Ami. Usagi sneaks on but can she rescue the girls when Thetas enacts her evil plan.
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| What a douche. |
This episode begins in kind of an odd way. Thetas, random woman we've never met before, shows up to chat with Jadeite. Normally, Beryl berates Jadeite and offers him one last chance. Don't get me wrong, that does happen, but not until the end of the episode this time. Apparently, Beryl has other subordinates other than the main four that we've never met? And this one is in love with Jadeite. We do get to see some choice emotional abuse from Jadeite, so that's great. Just keep giving us more reasons to hate him. It's very odd.
We get some more conflict centered around Usagi and Rei and it's even more entertaining than their conflict in the last episode. Rei possibly using her poorly defined psychic powers to rob Usagi of the cruise is choice pettiness. And if you know, you know that I am Peppermint Petty, so I am super into it. To add insult to injury, she completely ignores Usagi's begging and invites Ami to come with her, even though Ami could not care less.
Usagi is not deterred and is willing to abuse her Sailor Moon abilities to get on the ship. She uses her transformation to change into a lesbian photographer and have an awkward encounter with Jadeite, who she of course has the hots for.
The reason Rei and Usagi can't get along becomes a little clearer in this episode. They are very similar. Rei may not be as flighty and klutzy as Usagi, but she is just as boy crazy. It turns out she maybe didn't only just try to win the tickets to stick it to Usagi. She's VERY determined to land a man to the point where she's on the lookout for unhappy couples on the verge of breaking up so she can snatch them on the rebound. All of this is just hilarious, including Ami's reactions. I always laugh watching Rei rage eat in the dining hall. The shocked faces of the passengers behind her. Ami grateful when they are shuffled off to a ballroom so it forces Rei to stop. It's comedy gold.
It turns out the magic on the ship is aimed directly at coupled up so Ami and Rei are not affected. This really sticks in Rei's craw and she wants everyone to know she COULD get a boyfriend, OK? Usagi transforms and distracts Thetas, giving time for Ami and Rei to join the fight. Alls well that ends well except for Jadeite being kind of responsible for Beryl losing one of her faves. He tries to lay blame on her. Real classy, dick. But we all know she only did this because she wanted Jadeite to fuck her and he used that. What a tool. But, Rei does make a dig about Usagi's clothes, so that's fun.
Grade: A-
Next up, the Sailor Guardians finally have a showdown with Jadeite and Nephrite enters the scene.
How do you all feel about Rei and Usagi's frenemy status? Do you love it? Does it wear on you after a while? Let me know in the comments.
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