Sailor Moon
If you are only familiar with the Americanized DiC dub of the original "Sailor Moon" then these final two episodes of season one could look very different to you. They edited these two episodes together because they wanted to shield kids from all the death, which is crazy to me. Kids were definitely used to hearing/seeing death in cartoons. I mean, look at Disney. It's finally time for the girls to face down the Dark Kingdom after they sent their cats and they failed. Let's go!
"Death of the Sailor Guardians: The Tragic Final Battle"
Sailor Moon: "Hey, you monster! How dare you trick me? You guys are really mean for trashing the pure love a young girl can have for someone special! Even though I was a little stupid to fall for your sill trick. Now you've gone and made me really angry! So, now I'm going to..."
Sailor Mars: [interrupts] "We get it."
Sailor Moon: "So, anyway, now, in the name of the moon, I'll punish you!"
It's time for the Sailor Guardians to confront Queen Beryl and stop Queen Metalia and hopefully save Mamoru. When the girls teleport to the North Pole to get to the entrance to the Dark Kingdom, they are confronted by the DD Girls, who taunt them with visions of people they love. After a number of battles, the DD Girls are gone but so are the majority of the Sailor Guardians. All alone, Sailor Moon enters the breach to bring this saga to an end.
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| Sailor Mars stuns even in death. |
Here we are. The penultimate episode of the first season of "Sailor Moon." It's an interesting second to last episode. It starts off a little oddly. Luna and Artemis are still smarting from the last episode. I know it's all very serious and kind of sad, but I'm sorry, seeing them bandaged up is like really adorable to me. Is something wrong with me? Don't answer that. We also get a scene of Usagi making dinner for the rest of her family. I kind of understand this. This episode is pretty serious, so they decided to try to interject some comedy right at the beginning. No one is surprised that Usagi doesn't know how to cook. And it was pretty funny that her entire family waited for her to have a bite before they tried it themselves. It's just odd when you think of the episode as a whole. By the end of the episode, Sailor Moon will be the only Sailor Guardian still living, so why not start off lighthearted? The girls also meet up at the Shrine before teleporting to the North Pole and Usagi takes that moment to rib Rei about kissing Yuichiro, which will come full circle, believe it or not.
Queen Beryl sends the DD Girls after the Sailor Guardians and these are maybe Beryl's most powerful youma. Seriously. Why didn't she just send them after the girls from the jump. Things could have turned out very differently for the Dark Kingdom. Honestly, Sailor Moon is kind of at her worst in this episode. She repeatedly falls for the DD Girls illusion of Mamoru, even after the girls point out to her that it is an obvious trap. To add insult to injury, Jupiter falls for it when they try to project Motoki. Sidebar, Jupiter still has a thing for Motoki? Then, when Jupiter sacrifices herself, Sailor Moon is ready to give the Legendary Silver Crystal to the Dark Kingdom to save her friends. Even after the other Guardians threaten to kick her ass, she still is ready to throw in the towel. I get that this is just reinforcing Sailor Moon's compassion and love for her friends, but come on, gal.
Each one of the Guardians, follow Jupiter's suit until it's only Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon left. The relationship between Mars and Sailor Moon is definitely one of the most interesting on the show so it's no surprise that they are left for last. And if there was any doubt, Sailor Mars lets us all know that she and Sailor Moon are friends and she takes out the last two DD Girls because she's a badass. Sailor Moon uses the spirits of her friends as strength as she prepares to take on the Dark Kingdom by herself.
Grade: B
"Usagi's Eternal Wish: A Brand New Life"
Princess Serenity: "Moon Healing Escalation!"
Sailor Moon confronts Queen Beryl and an uber possessed Endymion. After saving Mamoru and Mamoru sacrificing himself to save Sailor Moon, it's time for the final battle between a merged Metalia and Beryl and Sailor Moon. Can Sailor Moon harness her past life as Princess Serenity and stop the Dark Kingdom once and for all?
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| True Love |
The finale of "Sailor Moon" kind of plays out the way you would expect it to play out. Sailor Moon and Endymion confront each other and when all hope seems lost the love that Usagi has for Mamoru finally breaks through and saves him, just in time for him to die saving her. Queen Beryl and Queen Metalia merge and Sailor Moon harnesses her past life as Princess Serenity to unleash the full powers of the Legendary Silver Crystal, knowing that it will kill her. When all hope seems lost, she calls on the spirits of her dead friends to lend her the strength to top Metalia once and for all. It's not a lot of story to fill up a 22 minute episode and honestly it's one of my least favorite episodes of "Sailor Moon" as a whole. As a finale, it's kind of weak and if I'm being completely honest, the Dark Kingdom are some of the weakest antagonists the manga and anime have. They aren't the weakest of the series, that will be antagonists that are we going to meet very soon.
There are a ton of deus ex machinas in this episode. They aren't going to end the season with everyone dead, so they have to find a way to bring them back to life and so they are, but it's ill defined and not really explained. Something about them being reincarnated as the same people, but with no memories of being Sailor Guardians or being friends. It's kind of a low point to end the season on, especially since the friendship between the girls is what the show has been built on.
That being said, this show does hit on the themes that make the show great and super beloved. The theme that love conquers all. Honestly, that is how Sailor Moon wins. Her love for Mamoru is what finally snaps him out of Beryl's control. Mamoru's love for Usagi is what makes the roses he throws so strong, strong enough to break through her crystal projectile. It's telling when Beryl can't comprehend love being that strong. You're fucked in the Sailor Moon verse if you can't get down with love like that.
The theme of friends as family. Sailor Moon couldn't defeat Metalia without the help of her friends, even though they are dead. She reaches out to them and they give her the strength to do what needs to be done. Even when they are not with her, the lessons and strength that they have given her are sill there and help her overcome any obstacle.
Even though this episode isn't the best the series has to offer, it's still meaningful as a vehicle to those themes that make this anime so wonderful and those things are maybe more important to us today as they were when the show premiered.
Grade: B-
Next up, the girls get their memories back to confront a new threat and they meet the Moonlight Knight?
That's it! Season one is in the books. I'd love to hear your thoughts on these final episodes and this season as a whole. Hit the comments with those hot takes!
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