Sailor Moon
It's ice skating and the unbreakable bonds of family, both the one you are born into and your chosen family in today's post. Those things definitely go together, right? Makes a lot of sense.
"Paired with a Monster: Mako, the Ice Skating Queen"
Zoyrin Geller: (Youma Janelyn) "I can finish her off!" (Youma Misha) "Be my guest!"
Sailor Moon: "For making a weapon of the graceful sport of figure skating and taking delight in using it to torment innocent girls, I, Sailor Moon, will never forgive you! In the name of the moon, I'll punish you."
The people are entranced by the Olympic gold medal figure skaters, Janelyn and Misha, and the Dark Kingdom has taken notice. Against the advice of Endymion, Kunzite turns Janelyn and Misha, into his newest youma and uses them to draw young girls to the new ice skating arena, hoping that one of them will be Sailor Moon. Usagi and Minako are two of the skaters many fans but it's Mako, a natural, who catches Misha's eye. What will Mako do when she's the target of a jealous Janelyn, who is also a monster?
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| Such cute ice skating outfits. |
Just when you thought "Sailor Moon" couldn't possibly get any gayer, they do an episode featuring figure skating. Seriously. I'm sure "Sailor Moon" was a lot of queer peoples sexual awakening but I wonder how many little queers can point to this specific episode as the one that specifically turned them gay.
I think it's funny how Queen Beryl let's these two dudes just metaphorically measure dicks in her throne room every time she gives an order. All this talk about honor from Endymion and Beryl says nothing. If I were her, I'd be a little bit concerned about all that, but what do I know? I'm not the head of an evil kingdom. Maybe this is just par for the course.
It's funny to me that in the glimpse we get of Janelyn and Misha prior to them being taken over by Kunzite, they feel like kind of terrible people. Griping at each other. On the verge of breaking up. Not people that I'm immediately rooting for.
Of course ice skating was a favorite pastime in the Moon Kingdom. Why wouldn't it be? Ice skating on the moon. And Princess Serenity was ice skating in her full gown. Sadly, Usagi didn't retain any of that from her past life because she can't stay upright on the ice. That's right. The girls see through the Dark Kingdom's obvious ploy, but can't help but walk right into it because they are teenage girls and teenage girls, all teenagers really, are dumb. Yes, this is clearly our enemies trying to draw us out, but we really want to meet these famous athletes.
It's always nice to see Mako get a spotlight and the show playing up the comedy of every attractive boy Mako meets reminding her of the guy who broke her heart. Mako continues to subvert gender roles by lifting Misha up. The confrontation with youma Zoyrin Geller. I most enjoyed Sailor Moon having skates appear on her boots and still being bad at skating. And Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask doing a synchronized couples skate to defeat the youma. Why not?
Grade: B
"The Legendary Lake Yokai: The Bond of Usagi's Family"
Sailor Moon: [clapping to get the Yokai's attention] Hey monster, over here! You can't just run amok out here. You have to pay for threatening innocent tourists and ruining the Tsukino family's vacation. In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
Luna wakes up to find the Tsukino family gone and a note from Usagi saying they have headed to a hot springs at Lake Yokai. At the same time. Kunzite sends Endymion to investigate the energy surrounding the lake that is very similar to the energy that the Dark Kingdom uses to create their youma. Usagi confronts Endymion but he has no memory of her. Usagi's mother tells her daughter the story of the legendary lovers of Lake Yokai and the bitter woman who ended up enclosed at the bottom of the lake. When Endymion frees the vengeful spirit of Lake Yokai, will Usagi be able to keep her family safe?
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| Father and protector? |
One of the things I love about "Sailor Moon" is the Tsukino family. Aside from Rei's grandpa, they are really the only family members of the Sailor Guardians we meet. They feel like a real family and it's a real treat to get to spend the majority of the episode with them.
I particularly enjoyed the scene with Usagi and her mother when she tells her daughter the story of the legendary lovers. It's extremely heartwarming to see Usagi just sort of melt against her mother and for her to just kind of revert to a little girl. It feels so genuine and real and I could watch it over and over again. We've seen Mrs. Tsukino freak out about her daughters horrible grades, but it's nice to see them have a real, genuine loving mother/daughter moment. She even tells Usagi that she hopes if her daughter does get a boyfriend she will introduce him to the family. This is a much more reasonable reaction than Mr. Tsukino who is ready to plow the family car into oncoming traffic at the mere whiff of a suggestion that his daughter could be dating. You're maybe interested in a boy?! We're all going to die!
The scenes with Shingo and Usagi are fantastic and feel pretty realistic for an anime, too. From them fighting over Shingo's handheld video game in the car to Shingo snatching Usagi's towel when she's ribbing him about being too shy to get into the hot springs to Shingo's real worry when the family can't find Usagi after the Yokai has been banished. If you have a sibling, you've probably been in a lot of these situations before and I'm sure they hit home for you.
The family theme carries over to Usagi's relationships with the other Guardians who show up to save the day at just the right time. It's a nice that the girls had no idea Usagi was in danger and showed up because they wanted to spend time relaxing with their good friend. It's a real delight.
The stuff with Usagi and Endymion falls a little flat. It just feels like we are hitting the same beats over and over. The show refuses to commit to this idea that Endymion is actually a bad guy so it is really lame and it drains any sort of dramatic tension out of the previous confrontation between Usagi and Endymion earlier in the episode. It is nice to see Sailor Mars step up to the plate and be the one to take out the Yokai.
Grade: B+
Next up, the Dark Kingdom rounds up the previous rainbow monsters and we learn more about what Minako was up to while she was Sailor V.
What do you all think of these episodes? Are you kind of over this evil but not really Tuxedo Mask? Let me know in the comments.
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